A few weeks had passed since I transferred One for All to Mirio. I noticed that I was better off without All Might's quirk. I just felt freer. The weeks passed, carrying us from July into mid-August. Kyoka's birthday came and passed.

We threw a birthday party for her in the lounge area, as we had done for me. Sato and Kacchan worked together (albeit a bit reluctantly on Kacchan's side. Sato didn't appear to mind.) to bake Kyoka a glorious cake. It was decorated with musical notes and musical instruments. The way that Kyoka's eyes had lit up when she saw the cake warmed my heart. I had given Kyoka a new set of headphones. The gift didn't make much sense if you really thought about it, she could plug her earphone jacks into her phone and listen to things that way, however, Kyoka had confided in me once that it could get annoying having her wires in the way, so I thought a pair of wireless headphones seemed like a pretty good gift. Kacchan had got Kyoka a book full of music. It was basically sheet music for some pretty old songs which Kyoka still really liked. All of Kyoka's gifts from her friends were greatly outshined by what Yaomomo decided to get her girlfriend. I knew that Yaomomo came from a wealthy family, everyone knew, but my mouth went dry and my heart stopped when I saw what she had gotten Kyoka. She had bought Kyoka a ¥160,000 lilac and white bass guitar. I think the whole class's mouths hung open when they saw Kyoka holding a Fender bass guitar. It was one of the more expensive ones from the shop. I don't think anyone was more surprised than Kyoka, she had sat in stunned silence for minutes before she leapt into her girlfriend's arms and started kissing her all over her face in gratitude, only after she carefully placed her bass on the sofa, of course. The look of relief on Yaomomo's face when Kyoka reacted was hilarious. Nothing extremely eventful happened after Kyoka's birthday. Well unless you count the Bakusquad somehow nearly completely destroying the flower garden eventful. I still, to this day, have no idea how they managed it.

"Come get it, motherfuckers!" Kacchan shouted from the kitchen. Kacchan had decided to be nice and cook the entire class breakfast, though I suspected that he was going to ask or do something later on in the day and planned to use the fact that he had cooked breakfast to coerce people into doing what he wanted. "It smells delicious." I complimented Kacchan as I passed by the countertop, stacking pancakes onto my plate as I went. "I wouldn't be feeding you dickheads it if it wasn't good," Kacchan grumbled as he ruffled my hair affectionately. I smiled up at the significantly taller boy as I left the kitchen and headed into the dining room, taking a seat between Iida and Shoto. "Good morning, Love." Shoto smiled at me, leaning in to kiss me on the cheek. I smiled at the soft feeling of Shoto's lips on my cheek. "Good morning, Sho." I beamed in return. "OMG! YOU GUYS ARE SO CUTE!" Mina squealed a bit too loudly. I flinched slightly in my chair, though nobody seemed to notice. "Ashido! Please do not speak so loudly in the morning!" Iida chastised, being a bit of a hypocrite seeing as he was also shouting to get his point across to Mina. Mina blew a raspberry at Iida before settling into her seat beside Hagakure again. Iida harumphed and scowled at his glass of orange juice. "Don't worry, Iida, I'm sure she'll listen to you someday." I comforted the down boy, trying to keep the smile out of my voice as I spoke.

After we had all eaten our breakfast, the entire class shuffled onto the training field to meet Dad. Every morning we would all meet on the training field to get instructions from Dad before we went our separate ways to work hard all day with our quirks. When we arrived, Shota was surprisingly already there, usually, we had to wait for him to drag himself onto the field. "Good, everybody is here," Dad muttered under his breath before raising his voice a bit to address the entire class. "As you know, for the last couple of weeks you have all been pushing your quirks to the limit. The reason for this, as I've previously stated, is so that you can take your provisional license exam in a week." Dad began, his monotone voice carrying around the silent crowd. "One part of being a hero is having a good finishing move. Something which ends a fight fast or otherwise severely weakens your enemy. My fellow teachers and I all feel as though the best way for you to pass your provisional license exam is for you to develop some special moves, therefore today we will be working in Gym Gamma with Cementos to develop them." Dad explained as the class let out exclamations of excitement. "Now go and get changed into your hero costumes and meet me back here in 15 minutes. If your late, you'll have to run 3 laps of this field." Dad ordered, already retreating into his sleeping bag. I had no idea where he kept that banana coloured monstrosity or why he thought whipping it out and sleeping in the middle of a field was a good idea, but I didn't want to question him. I decided to just follow the rest of my classmates towards the school where our hero costumes were.

There was a buzz of chatter in the boy's locker room as I entered. Nobody really took notice of my entrance, just continuing to strip of their clothes and pull their various hero costumes on. I made my way through the room, winding between bodies until I reached my usual spot in the corner of the room. I kept my eyes downcast as I changed, keeping my back to the wall as I did so. I knew everybody already knew about the scars crisscrossing over my back, but I was self-conscious about them. Even the thought of anyone seeing the horrible scars which Hisashi had left on me was enough to make me feel a bit nauseous. "Sweetheart, are you nearly done?" Shoto's voice asked from above me. I practically jumped out my skin at how near to me his voice was. My head snapped up to see that Shoto was stood barely a meter away from me. "Oh! H-h-hi, Sho." I stammered, wanting desperately for my racing heart to calm down. I had to remind myself a few times where I was and who I was surrounded by. I was with my friends. I was in the UA boy's changing rooms. I was safe. "Sorry, Love, I didn't expect you to be so zoned out," Shoto said, a very small frown marring his features. I could see concern for me flickering in his eyes as he looked down at me. I was still a bit peeved that he was a whopping 20cm taller than me. There was nearly a foot between our heights. "I'm fine. Let's get to the field. If we don't hurry my dad is going to shout at us." I said in a false bubbly tone, taking my boyfriend's hand and pulling him out of the room.

By the time we arrived on the field, nearly the rest of the class was present as well as Cementos. Shoto and I jogged over to our friends and were welcomed by a few smiles and muttered greetings. Nobody was really talking, there were just hushed conversations bouncing around the assembled group of 18 students. As far as I could see, the only two missing were Shinso and Kaminari. We didn't have to wait long for the remaining two students to rush over to us, both muttering apologies to a slightly annoyed Shota. "Now that you're all here," Dad stopped to cast a look at a red-faced Kami and aloof looking Shinso, "Cementos will be leading you towards Gym Gamma, where we will be conducting today's training. Halfway through today's training, All Might will be joining us to give you some advice and consultation. We have 10 days until the Provisional License Exam. In this time I expect you to both develop your special moves and make any adjustments to your costumes you feel are necessary." Dad finished, letting his gaze sweep around us before he turned to Cementos and gestured for him to lead the way to Gym Gamma.

The short walk to Gym Gamma was full of conversation. I could hear Mina teasing Kaminari behind me. Kacchan and Kirishima talking about some sort of viral exercise routine. Iida and Yaomomo talking about class president things. Kyoka and Tokoyami were talking about their favourite musical artists. "So, Izu, what happened to that new song you were working on?" Ochako asked sweetly, brown eyes piercing straight into mine. "We've actually completed it. We're going over it and recording it tonight." I beamed. I really loved the song Kyoka and I had worked on together. I think the main reason I was so enthusiastic about it was that it was a joint effort between me and Kyoka. It just made it more special in my eyes. "Really! Oh, can I come and listen, I won't make a peep. You won't even be able to tell I was there on the recording." Ochako begged, clasping her hands in mine and giving me puppy eyes. I laughed lightly and ruffled Ochako's hair, "No need to beg, Ocha, you can come. It isn't the first time we've recorded with people present. The Bakusquad, Shoto and Yaomomo sit in whilst we record all the time." I chuckled as the pleading look on Ochako's face faded into one of joy and relief. "Yes! I can't wait to hear this song. You and Kyoka have been talking about it for so long." Ochako smiled at me. I nodded my head and looked at Kyoka out of the corner of my eye. I hoped she would be ok performing it in front of people. After all, the song was about a rather sensitive topic for her.

I panted and placed my hands on my knees as I tried to regain my breath. My body had the satisfying ache which always accompanied using my quirk extensively. We had been developing our special moves practically all day. When All Might had popped up, he had given all of us a bit of advice which helped us when it came to developing our quirks. I took his advice to heart and used it in every movement I made. Watching my fellow classmates as they created their special moves was a treasure. I'm always going to be a fanboy at heart, so watching all of their quirks in action and the range of ways they used them to create special moves was a dream come true. If I was allowed my notebooks with me during lessons, I would have been scribbling furiously to get as many notes and observations down as possible. As it happens, I had to write everything from memory later that night in the darkness of my bedroom before I went to bed. "Well done everybody. You made good progress today. Tomorrow we'll be doing the same thing. Again, if you need to modify your costume, go to the support lab and get it sorted out. Go and get changed and then you can do whatever you want." Dad yawned, already slouching out of the gym, his posture screamed 'I'm exhausted, don't touch, speak or look at me'.

"Your moves looked really cool, Izuku." Kirishima enthused as we walked towards the doors of the gym together. I smiled and blushed slightly at his compliment, "You looked really cool as well, Kiri. That form you were in was really scary." I beamed, remembering the state Kiri was in during training. Kirishima smiled slightly and rubbed the back of his neck. "Yeah. I've still got a long way to go before I'm as good as you, Bakugo or Todoroki though." he chuckled slightly. He tried to hide it, but I saw the brief flash of doubt and pain in his eyes. "Don't think like that, Kiri. I think you're just as good as anyone in our class. Look how close you got to beating Kacchan at the sports festival. You're amazing. Not to mention your quirk makes you the perfect hero if you really think about it. You can fight, support and rescue. If a building we collapsing you could shelter people and potentially save lots of people." I fanboyed. I will admit, I started my whole tirade to boost Kiri's confidence, but by the end, I was just hyping him up and thinking about what I would do if I had his quirk. It really was a cool quirk. I looked up at Kiri (the fact that I was shorter than the vast majority of my classmates was not lost upon me. It was annoying beyond comprehension.) and saw the look of surprise on his face as I finished. Slowly, a smile developed on his face. Seeing him look so elated made me feel proud. I just wanted him to recognise his own potential. He was amazing. "Thank you, Izuku," Kirishima whispered, the small smile on his face making my heart skip a beat. If I wasn't dating Shoto I might have wanted to date the huge bean in front of me.

"When are we gonna record this song then?" Kacchan asked through a mouth full of food. I cringed away at the sight of chewed food in his mouth, I could see why Kyoka got so annoyed when he lacked table manners. Talking of Kyoka, it seemed she was disgusted by Kacchan eating with his mouth open as well. "Oh my FUCKING gosh, Katsuki! DON'T TALK WITH YOUR FUCKING MOUTH FULL!" Kyoka screamed at Kacchan over the table, throwing her spoon at Kacchan. It hit Kacchan directly on his forehead with a thunk. Kacchan stared at the gleaming metal spoon in his lap for a few seconds, his forehead developing a rather large red spot. "What the fuck?" Kacchan hissed at Kyoka. Kyoka simply glared at her best friend before returning to her food. Kacchan scowled and raised his spoon, presumably to throw it back, but the spoon was yanked out of his hand by Papa as he passed. "We're recording after dinner." I squeaked, distracting Kacchan as he stood up out of his chair to get his spoon back. Kacchan didn't acknowledge that he had heard me, he simply sat back down in his chair and crossed his arms.

After the rest of dinner had passed without coincidence, it was finally time for us to record our new song. Whilst we had played and recorded in front of an audience before, I couldn't help but feel a bit more nervous. It could have been because of the subject of our song, or it could have been the fact that quite a few more people had decided to sit in this time. Alongside Kami, Kiri, Mina, Sero, Momo, Shoto and Shinso, other people had decided to join us. Namely Ochako, Tsu, Iida and Fumikage. As we were setting up the recording equipment, our audience was talking amongst themselves. The hum of conversation behind me did little to soothe my erratic nerves, it was hard not to overthink everyone's reactions to the new song. "OI! Stop worrying, shithead. Everything will be fine." Kacchan huffed, ruffling my hair as he passed me to sit at his drum. I puffed out my cheeks slightly and tried my hardest to fix my hair. Kacchan was like the older brother I never had. In every regard. Which meant he wasn't averse to messing with me and getting super defensive. It was nice, but kind of endearing at times. "OK, the rules are the same as always but since we've got some new faces, I'll repeat them. Whilst we're recording, you can't make any noise since it'll be picked up on the recording. So keep your lips zipped whilst we're playing then once I give you the thumbs-up you can make noise again." Kyoka explained to our crowd, giving each of them a harsh look before turning to start the recording. "Are you two ready?" Kyoka asked, eyes momentarily straying over to us so that she could see us nod before she pressed the record button. I took a deep breath and held the guitar my dad had got me a bit closer, preparing myself to play.

As soon as the recording started Kacchan started playing his part, everpresent scowl smeared on his face, although I could see the exhilaration of playing in his eyes. After a moment Kyoka and I joined in, fingers skimming over the strings of our instruments before Kyoka started singing. "Hey, girl you know you drive me crazy. One look puts the rhythm in my hand..." Kyoka started singing, her husky yet comforting voice washing over me and persuading me to play.

"Do you feel like a man? When you push her around. Do you feel better now, as she falls to the ground? Well, I'll tell you, my friend, one day this world's got to end. As your lies crumble down, a new life she has found." Mine and Kyoka's voices blended together beautifully to sing the chorus of the song. The feelings which we put into the song stemming from our hearts. I could hear the pain in Kyoka's voice as she sang, only making the song sound more authentic and meaningful.

The song ended and Kyoka stopped the recording before giving our friends a thumbs up. Her hand wasn't even down before they burst into cheers and clapped enthusiastically. "THAT WAS AWESOME!" Kirishima and Kaminari shouted simultaneously, gasping and proclaiming 'Jinx!' moments later. The rest of our assembled friends smiled and complimented us as well, patting us on the back. "What's the name of the song?" Yaomomo asked from her place on Kyoka's bed. Kyoka was sat between her legs, back to Yaomomo as her hair was combed through by Yaomomo's fingers. "Face Down (by Red Jumpsuit Apparatus)" Kyoka answered, eyes closed as she allowed Yaomomo to continue to massage her head. "It was so cool. And the emotion Izuku and you put into the song made it sound heavenly." Mina swooned, laying across Sero, Kiri and Shinso who were all sat on the floor. The Bakusquad were all very physical when it came to showing their affection for one another. It was a miracle Kacchan and Shinso survived in the group. "I must admit, it was an excellent song, though I expected nothing less. Thank you for inviting me, Jiro." Tokoyami said in his usual monotone, but I could hear the appreciative undertone in his voice. "Yes, I agree with Tokoyami. Your musical talent is very admirable!" Iida shouted, swinging his arms around. All of the praise made blood rush to my cheeks. I ducked my head as I placed my guitar down, trying in vain to not let anyone see the blush covering my cheeks. I would never get used to the praise showered upon me and my friends by our classmates and others. 

It's August 1st and you know what that means. Happy birthday to Kyoka Jiro! One of my favourite characters. It's still extremely sad that I am celebrating fictional character's birthdays. I love Kyoka's character. To me she just comes off as a talented, sarcastic but still really sweet girl who's really good at music. What's not to love? If she was real, I would do everything within my power to be her friend. 

 On another note. Happy birthday to me. Yay. Another year closer to entering the scary reality of the adult world. Can't wait. 

Anyway, thank you for reading chapter 16 and I hope you have a wonderful day wherever you are.