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Class 2-A's dynamics had been established since perhaps the USJ incident all the way back in their first year. Additionally, by this point in time, everyone knew everyone's personality traits: Katsuki Bakugo was the brash and proud pottymouth, Momo Yaoyorozu was the genius, Denki Kaminari was the stupid, yet endearing dork, Tenya Iida was the rigid rule-adhering straight student, et cetera, et cetera.
Naturally, for someone like Kyoka Jiro, this led her to using some nicknames for each of her classmates.
Perhaps her finest work was ‘Jamming-yay’, a play of words on Kaminari's favorite pre-Quirk age novelist, Ernest Hemingway (She still can't believe Denki reads books just as much as he plays video games in his free time), and the dunce-like state he goes into if he overclocks his electricity. It was such a good nickname that some of her classmates even resorted to using it from time to time, much to the playful ire of Kaminari.
‘Yaomomo’ was another good one, but she honestly doesn't know anymore who coined the nickname. It still didn't stop her and the rest of the girls, and even some of the boys, from using it endearingly. Momo herself was confused initially, but grew into the nickname; she supposed her surname was a tongue twister in itself.
Apart from those, there were a bunch of other nicknames. Some were so on-the-nose, like calling Shoto Todoroki ‘Zuko’ much to his confusion. Other times it was just being clever, like calling Mina ‘Cotton Candy’. She'd called Hanta Sero ‘Daft Punk’ from time to time due to how the helmet in his hero costume looked. A lot of the time though, it was just a bunch of simple stuff, like ‘‘Rockhead’ for Kirishima, and ‘Cakeboy’ for Sato.
Out of everyone though, the one person she'd surprisingly given the most nicknames to was Izuku Midoriya.
The only reason she knew this tidbit of info was because Ochaco pointed it out during one of their girls’ nights. It turns out, Kyoka had more nicknames for Midoriya than she'd had for Denki. The latter only had more usage because he was in her friend group and often subjected himself to situations that would see the punk girl calling him by his nicknames.
As far as Midoriya goes, she couldn't help it. It was easy to just say something. She'd called him ‘Mophead’ or ‘Broccoli-head’ for his unusually unkempt hair. Then there's the fairly simple ‘Green’. A new one that she'd taken a liking to was calling him ‘Freckles’ due to being a little bit closer to him over the past few months of their second year.
Throughout all this, Midoriya just sat there taking it, a light blush on his face every time she'd use a nickname.
That was the dynamic between her and the hero nerd.
And it was about to change drastically.
“Hey there, Kyoka.”
“Hey there, Treetop.”
A groan escapes Midoriya’s lips, a sound that she’s been growing to love hearing as of late. It was just too easy, and he wasn’t taking it to heart too much, so she was going guns ablazing with the teases.
“Come on, Kyoka… that’s like the tenth new thing you’ve called me.” He grumbled as he took his seat. “Besides, does that even fit anymore given I’ve shaved the sides of my head?”
She suddenly stood straight from her seat, giving a regal bow that fit more in a medieval setting. “My sincerest apologies, Successor to Mightimus.”
“... Seriously.” He deadpanned.
“This lowly entertainer shall draft up the most befitting of nicknames for your perusal, my lordship.” She continued the bit. Bakugo, who was peacefully trying to take a nap, grumbled as he gave his purple-haired seatmate a side-eye.
“You’re hopeless.” Midoriya chuckled.
Kyoka thought it was nice seeing Midoriya grow out of his shell even more ever since she’d unexpectedly become one of his closer friends this second year. The guy wouldn’t even think of biting back with his own snark at her a year ago, hell, any single one of her nicknames would’ve probably sent First-year Midoriya into a babbling and incoherent mess.
She chuckles back at him as she finally dropped the jester act, placing both her hands on her hips. “You’re just mad you can’t come up with something that’ll work on me, Broccoli-boy.”
“Come on, Kyoka…” Hearing her given name escape his lips was an odd thing to hear, but it wasn’t unwelcome. “The only thing that gets you flustered these days is if someone f-flashes you or something… Not like I can come up with something right away.”
“And that’s why you’re never gonna get one over me, Moptop.” She confidently bit back at him. A hint of an annoyed grumble escapes the boy as he scratches at the buzzed part of his hair.
“Know this though, Kyoka… I will get you.” He turned to her, a newfound cocky confidence in his voice, albeit a bit wobbly.
“Don’t be so cocky, nerd.” Bakugo spoke up, clearly having given up on catching up on any sleep he might’ve missed the prior night. “You can barely hold straight sentences without stuttering like an engine. Earlobes will eat you right up if you even so much as try.”
“You’re awfully chatty today, Pomeranian.”
“Say that again and I’ll yank your jack.”
“Kacchan. In the past month alone, there were like seven instances of people in our class calling you ‘Kacchan’ as well, a-at least give me some credit.” Midoriya’s shaky voice remarked, making the blonde crackle some explosions on his palm as he turned behind him with a huge scowl.
“I told you to fucking quit influencing Shitty Hair and Elbows, Deku.” Bakugo snarled out. At least now that he and Midoriya were on even better terms than before, the guy’s signature malice had disappeared and he instead seemed like just a brash teen.
“Can’t lie, he’s got you there, Spiky.” Kyoka giggled as she sat back down.
“Yeah, Kacchan!” Sero interjected after turning his phone off, finally deciding to join the three of them. “It does roll off the tongue better than your name, you know?”
“Shut it.”
“Regardless…” Kyoka held her hands up. “I’m confident Midoriya’s got nothing on this gal.” She pointed a thumb to herself, doing her best to emulate Bakugo’s proud smirk.
Midoriya huffed, a smirk evident on his face as he slaved away writing in another one of his Hero analysis notebooks. “Sure, keep telling yourself that, Jackie Chan.”
…
…
…
Kyoka’s eyes widened.
The confident smirk on his face had been wiped clean.
What did Midoriya just say?
“PFFFT- HAHAHAHAHA!!!”
Sero’s boisterous laugh filled the room instantaneously.
“Sero-kun! You are being too loud! Aizawa-sensei could be walking down the hallways any minute now!” Iida reprimanded as he got closer to the black-haired boy.
“Gahaha- Hmph- My bad, prez!” Sero clutched his stomach as he wiped a tear off the corner of his eye. “Oh man, that was priceless, Midoriya! That’s actually a clever one!”
Kyoka turned to look at Sero behind her, her jaw dropping at just how much he found it funny.
“Oh man, Jiro! You gotta admit, he got your ass!”
“P-please…” Kyoka, not wanting to admit defeat just yet, put up a false bravado. “I-it’s not even that good of a nickname! It’s corny! Right, Bak-”
Kyoka stiffened.
She didn’t know why, but she’d somehow convinced herself that Katsuki Bakugo, brash, sailor-mouthed, grump, no-nonsense, no-bullshit, would not find Midoriya’s nickname funny.
But no.
The guy was stifling a laugh.
After turning away from all of them and turning back, seemingly composing himself, Bakugo exhaled.
“Hey, Bakugo, I saw that, why are you trying not to laugh?!”
Sero instigated, calling the explosive blonde out, and the guy was straight up pursing his lips and closing his eyes tightly to stop himself from laughing.
Katsuki Bakugo was laughing at her expense.
What in the fuck was going on?
She turned her eyes to Midoriya, doing her best to muster up any venomous stare she could, but instead of seeing his usually timid, non-confrontational demeanor, the greenette had a smile on his face, as if he was doing his best to rage-bait her.
No. Scratch that. He was rage-baiting her.
“Damn it, Freckles, it’s not that funny! It’s a stupid nickname!”
And it was working.
The commotion died down when Iida motioned at them to quit it, signalling that Aizawa was in the hallways.
Seconds later, they had composed themselves and Aizawa was giving them the rundown for the rest of the coming days.
Through all of this, she could hear Sero stifling giggles as he scribbled on something, passing it to Kirishima, which would then follow with the redhead stifling his own laughs.
She snarled. Okay, Midoriya. You win this battle.
It didn’t take long for Kyoka to plot out a retaliation for Midoriya’s sudden bombardment.
Rather than doing something productive like Ectoplasm’s homework or practicing that surprisingly-funky bassline from the new Pop☆Step single, here was Kyoka Jiro being the most petulant schoolgirl imaginable and relishing in her new plan, a cartoonishly-evil giggle escaping her mouth.
Still, she didn’t want to put this out right away.
After all, revenge is a dish best served cold.
So instead of releasing the latest patch of Midoriya nicknames tomorrow, she would instead consult her plan with the girls. It was their scheduled girls’ night after all, and they’ve all chosen to hang out in Mina’s room, so off she went.
It had been two days since Midoriya first called her ‘Jackie Chan’, and as much as she loathed getting one-upped in the nickname department, she had to admit, that was some clever wordplay on Mophead’s part. It did not help that she only had one earphone jack left which made the ‘Jackie’ part more intimate and that people in Japan tended to use the ‘Chan’ suffix for endearment. The namesake legendary stuntman-slash-actor from centuries ago just so happened to be the icing on the cake.
Because of course, only Midoriya would actually be smart enough to come up with a nickname for her that happened to have multiple double entendres in it.
God, she can already see the dumbasses like Jamming-yay eat that shit up… Curse that damn Bushhead.
Whatever. Wordplay wasn’t the thing that makes good nicknames stick. You end up sounding too tryhardy if you force it, Kyoka thought.
She’ll be back from that one blunder and nobody would even remember it. Sero and Bakugo may have found it funny then, but it’s not like they’ll even think of it a week later, especially with how their schoolwork was starting to ramp up this year.
Eventually, Kyoka was in front of her pink classmate’s door and gave three knocks, bracing herself for the psychedelic colors that were about to hit her eyes upon the door opening.
Who greets her is Yaomomo, who gives her trademark smile.
“Hey, Yaomomo.”
“Hello, Jackie.”
…
“...” Kyoka stared blankly at her.
“Kyoka?”
“Huh?”
“Is something the matter?” Yaoyorozu asked, her hand finding its way to Kyoka’s arm.
“O-Oh, nothing!”
“Are you sure?”
“Y-yeah! I just thought I was hearing things…” Kyoka giggled uncomfortably. That couldn’t have been a slip of her ears, right? Crap. Now she wishes she took that HPSC-sponsored Quirk Checkup last week.
Chalking it up to just a mishear, Kyoka strode into the messy-colored room belonging to one Mina Ashido. Everyone was already present, huddled in front of a coffee table with a laptop streaming the latest animated show they’d been dying to watch, and they were already a quarter of the way through the snacks that they’d bought.
“Hey, look who finally decided to show up!” Toru called out, a huge grin evident on her face. It was still a weird sight to see that the invisible girl wasn’t so invisible anymore.
“Ooh! Hey there, Jackie!” Mina called out as she grabbed a candy bar.
Okay. Now she was certain she wasn’t just hearing shit.
A weird strain croaked its way out of her throat, and Kyoka felt one of her eyes twitch.
“What did you just-”
“Jackie Chan’s finally here.” Tsuyu called out, her voice especially blunt, but Kyoka could feel the slightest hint of a sadistic streak in that sentence. “Perfect timing, we’re in the martial arts arc in the show.”
“Heehee… I still can’t believe that nickname!” Ochaco giggled not out of malice, but even she couldn’t help but be impressed by it. “It’s so cute when you say that last part out all cute like ‘Jackie Chaaaan~’”
All the rest of the girls giggled, even Yaomomo, who was standing behind her.
The twitch in her eye got stronger as she tried her best to put up a grin that didn’t look like she was annoyed.
“Who told you about the nickname?” Kyoka managed to let out as she sat down, staring at Mina, awaiting her answer.
“Hmm? Oh! Eijiro told me about it! I gotta say, it’s nice to call you something other than your name, Kyoka!” The pink girl grinned ear to ear.
“Shut up!” Kyoka let out, though, it ended up sounding like a playful thing rather than an imperative tone.
“Come on, Kyo, you can’t deny, Deku-kun got you good with that one!” The round-faced girl replied as she bit on some mochi. “I wouldn’t be surprised if he continues using that with you!”
She’d wanted to get their opinion on some of the new nicknames she’d drafted for Midoriya, but there goes her plans when everyone is so fixated on calling her ‘Jackie’. Great. Screw you, Midoriya, you nerd.
She grumbled in defeat, and she’d felt even more defeated when Toru’s now-visible face was laughing at her expense.
The rest of the night continued on as usual, though, the only difference was they were now calling Kyoka something else. It was different, and while Kyoka loved hanging out with them, it was a reminder of her loss two days ago.
Wait, why the hell is she being this dramatic about it? It’s just a nickname. Yeah, the girls said it here, and maybe Midoriya will grow a spine and say it again after a couple of times and get guaranteed laughs from the others, but that’s it! It’s not anything to be mad about! It’ll come and go!
One of the newest features of being a second-year student in UA was that they now had freshmen hero course students looking up to them.
It was surreal. Kyoka knew that this would be a thing; she and the rest of her friends did experience it in middle school after all, but for it to happen in UA was a little different.
For starters, not a lot of first-year students could say that they participated in a grand war between heroes and villains and then tell the tale after the fact. Kyoka, however, was one of them. Their particular Hero Course batch had actually achieved something of a celebrity status thanks to winning the war last year. The now-third-years actually looked up to the current Class 2-A and 2-B, and they’d even get recognized in public. Kyoka even managed to snag a discount perk at a local bakery not too far from campus thanks to being recognized as one of the war heroes.
But the freshmen? Oh, their admiration for them was on a whole ‘nother level. And she couldn’t blame them, really, and this wasn’t her tooting her own horn or anything, she was certain that had she been a year younger, she would be looking up to Yaomomo, Mina, Bakugo, Midoriya, and everyone in their batch.
Walking down the hallways, there’d be times where she’d be stopped by some freshmen asking for autographs. It’s insane, really. Giving out autographs when you weren’t even a graduate yet? She imagined she’d be doing this stuff when she was out there or if she was in a concert or something.
Today was another one of those days. Readying herself to call it a day, Kyoka was on her way back to the dorms when three female students walked up to her, expressions clearly very giddy.
“Earphone Jack-senpai! Hello! My name's Burosomu, we’re huge fans!” The first girl, a brunette with a bowtie in a ponytail spoke.
“Oh! Hey there, thanks for the support!” She smiled.
“Oh my god I got Earphone Jack to thank me that’s so cool!!!” Burosomu exclaimed.
“Please sign our uniforms!” The pigtailed blonde said, their uniforms already riddled with countless other signatures. Some of which she recognized, such as Todoroki’s simple signature and Monoma’s extravagant signature that just screams like it’s trying to take all the attention. She hands a Sharpie to Kyoka, the latter taking it and signing on the girls’ blazer.
“Alright. But don't go blaming us if your homeroom teacher scolds you for vandalizing your uniform.”
“Wouldn't dream of it! I-If you don't mind, m-may we ask for your name, Miss?”
As Kyoka was about to answer, the remaining girl, who had a sharp-looking face and black hair, scoffed.
“Oh, come on, Baburu, we already know it!”
“I'm not talking about their Hero name, Batakapu-chan! I meant their name name!”
Batakapu groaned, turning to Kyoka. “Sorry about Baburu, she's kind of an airhead…”
“Hey!” Baburu pouted.
“Again, sorry, Jackie-san.” Batakapu bowed.
…
Oh god, no, it's spreading.
Midoriya, what did you fucking do?
“Uhh… my name's not that on the nose, kid.” Kyoka let out.
“H-huh?”
“My name's Jiro. Kyoka Jiro.”
“W-wait, i-it's not-” Batakapu blushed. “Oh my god, I'm so sorry for assuming-”
“D-Don't be! It's fine… Probably just an honest mistake, I used to do that all the time, ehe…” Kyoka lied to make the girl feel better.
“Welp, this was fun, but we've been called for training, you two!” Burosomu said as she looked at her phone. “Thanks for indulging us again, Jiro-senpai! I hope we meet again!”
Kyoka said her goodbyes to the three girls as they ran as fast as they could towards one of the many gyms on campus.
On her way back to the dorm, a tiny vein popped on her forehead from time to time.
The nickname was spreading. So much so that people were starting to confuse that for her real name.
Jackie Chan had never had a moment's peace since… hey what the- Ow! What?! I'm narrating- Okay okay! Let me do that again, okay?! Ahem-
Kyoka (you happy?) had never had a moment's peace since Midoriya started calling her ‘Jackie Chan’ offhandedly.
The nickname stuck. And it spread like wildfire.
It's been a month since. She was fine with just letting it spread within her class. She'd gotten used to Yaomomo and the other girls calling her ‘Jackie’; it did have a nice ring to it.
While it was easy getting used to the girls calling her that, it got a bit weird when some of the other boys began using it. There wasn't any teasing nature to it, it felt like they'd adopted it out of habit.
Tokoyami, for example, blushed when he realized he'd said it, going on about how it ruined his dark aesthetic resorting to such nicknames. Mineta, for as freaky as he tended to get, had even begun using it, much to her chagrin. Even the stoic ones like Shoji and Koda, the latter who was rather comfortable speaking when it was with her, had even referred to her as ‘Jackie’ from time to time.
Then you have the rowdy bunch.
Kirishima and Sero often used it to get a rise out of her. Try as she might not to fall for the bait, she'd unfortunately taken it every single time.
Kaminari was especially annoying, mostly because he finally had ammo to fight back against Kyoka. Ever since the nickname found its way to him, he'd stopped using Kyoka's name altogether. He frequently drew out the ‘Chan’ part, enough to get Kyoka angry and poke his eye with her remaining earphone jack at one time.
The only people she hadn't heard using it were Bakugo and Todoroki, but it still was not as reassuring given that Bakugo was still snickering when he'd hear someone call her ‘Jackie Chan’. Even Todoroki let out light chuckles here and there.
Surprisingly, Midoriya himself, despite coining the nickname, had used it sparingly. She'd only hear it from him when they'd get into their little moments of teasing each other, and she hates how she's no longer at an advantage due to how potent ‘Jackie Chan’ seemed to be.
“-Jiro!”
“Gah! Wh-”
“Ugh… Of all students to not pay attention, it's the one with superhearing.” Aizawa grumbled, as he tapped his clipboard, seemingly waiting for her answer.
“O-oh, uh, present!”
“Jiro-san seems out of it, is she okay?” Kyoka heard Kendo ask.
“She's probably just thinking about something…” Momo answered.
“Something silly!” Mina followed up.
“Jiro!”
“Yes, A-Aizawa-sensei!”
“Pay attention.” He grumbled. “Or what, have you decided to adopt ‘Jackie Chan’ as your given name?”
What in the-
No fucking way- Even fucking Aizawa is in on this shit?!
“Hah! That's quite the clever nickname, Shota!” Vlad King bellowed beside him.
“I have to agree, Kan-sensei.” Monoma followed up. “It's just so endearing, that it makes me even more sick of 2-A.”
“Dude, you're behind. Kendo and the girls have been using ‘Jackie Chan’ for a while now.” Awase spoke up.
“Ugh, quit it, Draco Malfoy.” Kyoka bit back at the copycat, feeling a sense of pride at seeing Monoma fluster at her nickname for him, which managed to draw out some snickers from most of the 2-B students.
“Anyway.” Aizawa continued. “I'll draw lots. Jackie, you're in Team F with Kodai, Honenuki and Ojiro.”
Kyoka scoffed when Aizawa actually called her that, and she could swear there was a hint of a grin on his face just barely obscured by his capture cloth. “Seriously?”
“... Are we that bad of teammates?” Honenuki asked.
“Wh- No! No! Not what I meant! I meant-”
Honenuki chuckled. “I'm pulling your leg, Jackie.”
“Oh, fuck you.” Kyoka grumbled as Kodai and Ojiro looked on.
“Hey there, mom, old man.”
“Ah, it's great to see you again, baby girl!” Kyotoku ruffled her hair.
Going back home was always sure to put Kyoka in a good mood.
It hadn't been too long, but it was nice to finally be able to get back home to your actual house post-war.
She set her bags on the couch and plopped right beside them as her parents took other seats.
“Please, I was gone for a week.”
“A week too long!” Kyotoku remarked.
“So, what have you two been up to while I’m busy heroing? Any new music?”
“Not quite, we’re still hard at work helping DJ Xilonen for her album.” Mika commented, Kyoka perking up slightly at the mention of the musician-slash-hero hailing from Brazil.
“I see, I see… Have you two been… busy? Do I got a baby brother or sister on the way?” She teased.
“... Maybe.” Kyotoku's eyes glinted.
“... Wait, seriously?!”
“Kyo!” Mika slapped her husband's shoulder, making him whimper. “I thought we agreed to keep it a secret until after Kyoka's birthday?!” She whispered.
“Wow… Okay, that's actually big news, but I'll just pretend I didn't hear that for Dad's sake.”
“Oh, Kyoka, you're a lifesaver.” Kyotoku remarked.
“Zip it or you're sleeping in the doghouse.” The Jiro matriarch scolded, making Kyotoku slouch in his seat at his mishap.
“Huh… Still, I'm gonna be a big sis. That's actually crazy… Can I even be one?”
“What kinda question is that? You literally already have one! What was her name, Eri?” Kyotoku asked.
“Hey, I love the little unicorn to bits, but it's still a pretty big deal to me that we're gonna have a little Jiro on the way.” Kyoka giggled. “Do you guys happen to have a name thought out?”
Mika hummed. “We're still in the deliberation phase actually, but we've been thinking of giving her a foreign name to spice things up.”
“Really?” Both Kyotoku and Kyoka perked up, the latter furrowing her brows at her father. “What do you mean, ‘really’?”
Mika playfully scoffed. “Yeah, given your dad's track record of keeping secrets, it's a good thing I kept this one out of the loop.”
“Oh, come on, honey, I slipped up once!” Kyotoku groaned. “Though if you're thinking of foreign names, I've actually got one that either of you might be on board with!”
“This had better be good, Kyo.” Mika deadpanned.
“Hey, actually, I'm optimistic about this. Dad's actually not bad at giving names for stuff.” Kyoka remarked.
“Ah, it's great to know someone acknowledges how much of a virtuoso I am for this stuff.” Kyotoku cleared his throat. “Ladies, I present to you, the name of the latest addition to the Jiro family…
… Jackie Jiro!!!”
Kyoka tensed up, grabbing hold of the armrests of the chair she sat on, her eyes visibly twitching as she let out an uneasy grin.
“Hm? Kyoka, are you alright?” Mika asked.
Instead of responding normally, Kyoka pursed her lips, fighting back the feelings of frustration and annoyance.
She turns to face her dad, doing her best to look friendly and failing to do so. “Are you playing games with me right now, old man?” She said through grit teeth.
Kyotoku stares between Mika and Kyoka. “Uh… the name's not that bad, right?”
“No! No, it's fine!” Kyoka reassured, but it ended up sounding sarcastic. “I'm just really curious as to how you came to decide on that name!”
“Mika, help me out here!” Kyotoku whispered.
“Hey, you're the one that came up with the name, don't look at me.” Mika retorted.
“Well? I'm waiting.” Kyoka said through a fake smile.
“W-well, I just thought it'd be cool… I-I actually have been watching a lot of pre-Quirk martial arts movies back then and his name stuck out!!! You can even use the ‘Chan’ part like how we use it!!! Clever wordplay, you know?”
“... Dad.” Kyoka dropped the act, her face now sporting an unimpressed glare directed towards her father.
“Y-yes, sweetie?”
“You do realize I also double as a living lie detector, right?”
Kyotoku visibly gulped. “Uh…”
“Who put you up to this.” Kyoka deadpanned.
“... We've actually managed to snag the number of that Midoriya boy you've been hanging around with lately. We talk every now and then.” Mika answered.
“Mika!”
“This is payback for ruining our secret.”
“Yeah, but at the cost of the boy's life?!” Kyotoku put his hands up, clutching his hair.
“I see.” Kyoka nodded. “Okay.”
“That isn't a convincing ‘okay’. What are you gonna do, Kyoka?”
“Nothing you need to worry about, old man.” Kyoka devilishly smiled.
There was a sudden need for mobilization of Heroes to deal with a recent surge of crime over the past days.
It may not have been as bad as last year's dark ages, but it was still wise to purge anything threatening the booming peace they were experiencing right now.
Hero Course students from varying schools were free to work under the agency they were a part of in their work-studies, provided they assemble the necessary paperwork. Naturally, Kyoka wouldn't skip this opportunity for the world. She already snagged work under Gang Orca, she'd be crazy not to keep learning on the job.
Unfortunately, this did put a wrench in one of her plans.
Following the revelation that her mom and dad were practically chat-mates with Midoriya and that that was how his little nickname for her spread to her own household, Kyoka had been concocting some much more potent methods of payback. How they even got to be chat-mates in the first place was insane and why that damn mophead never said anything to her is enough to make her irate to some degree. What even warranted her parents to get all buddy-buddy with Midoriya was something she simultaneously wanted to get to the bottom of and leave up in the air.
However, as mentioned, the recent need for mobilizations have made her postpone said petty revenge for now. Once this is done, she'll be able to spend all the time in the world tormenting Green.
For their current setup, Kyoka and Shoji, who had worked under Gang Orca, found themselves performing a tandem operation with the Lurkers, seeing the two of them team up with Kaminari, Mineta, Sero, and Shiozaki. They'd just finished an arduous task that saw them apprehend approximately a dozen high-profile villains around the prefecture. Resting up in the Lurkers’ agency was now their current priority before moving on to other aspects of their job.
“Good god, I'm beat.” Jamming-yay wiped the sweat off his brow as he sank into his seat as Shiozaki grumbled at his word usage.
“Why did we collectively agree to do this?” Mineta downed an entire bottle of an electrolyte drink from the nearby vending machine.
“Dude, we've been through worse than this, don't tell me you're gonna quit.” Sero gave the grape boy an unimpressed stare.
“I just might if we have to run dozens of kilometers again.” Mineta groaned. “At least Shiozaki-chan can use her hair to get around somewhat.”
“You do realize it's just as tiring, right, Mineta-san?” The vine-haired girl reasoned.
“At least the worst part of it is over.” Shoji cut in.
“That's not true. We still haven't done the paperwork.” Kaminari half-joked, earning bemoaning groans, even from himself.
“You just had to say it, Chargedolt.” Kyoka slouched over her desk.
“I'm sorry.” Kaminari said, his voice sounding like it was on the verge of crying.
“You know, if you guys really don't wanna do the paperwork, you could help Edgeshot and Gang Orca out with dealing with the media, answer some questions here and there.” Mt. Lady peeked her head in and spoke. “That's what I always do anyway.”
“I call dibs.” Kyoka shot up from her seat. Anything was desirable compared to doing paperwork.
“Aww! No fair, Jackie!” Sero complained.
Oh no. No, no, no, no.
“Jackie?” Takeyama furrowed her brows.
“I-It's nothing!” Kyoka frantically tried pushing this down. The last thing she wants is for that damn nickname to spread while at work.
Shooting Sero a killer glare, she returned her gaze to Takeyama. “A-anyway! Interviews! Where do we go?”
The actual process of dealing with the media was not that bad of an experience. Sure, it was jarring seeing all the camera flashes and the dozens of reporters screaming at them to hopefully get noticed and picked for them to ask their questions, but for the most part, it was manageable. She'd probably get sick of dealing with the media after some time, but hey, anything to get away from paperwork. Besides, Edgeshot and Gang Orca were the ones that gave most of the answers anyway.
By the time they were finished, the sun had just set. Still, there was a little bit more work left to be done before they could be let go.
“Hey, they're finally back!” One of the many sidekicks in the agency called.
“How're you doing, Shinya?” Kamui Woods asked.
“I didn't expect them to ask that many questions. I'm just glad it's over with.” Edgeshot spoke.
“Hopefully it won't be as many the next time around… We've still got five more villains on our list to arrest before we can rest easy.” Gang Orca followed up. “I hope you picked some lessons from that, Earphone Jack.”
“Don't worry, sir. I definitely did.”
“So, how was it hogging the spotlight, Jackie Chan?” Takeyama spoke up, a grin present on her face.
“Wh-”
“... Jackie Chan?” Kamihara may have had his face covered thanks to his hero costume, but it was evident he was confused at his teammate's words.
A couple minutes of exposition and explanation to the confused pro heroes from Sero made everyone understand the joke and sure enough, it didn't take long for everyone to start finding the nickname endearing and funny.
“Hm… Hehe.” Gang Orca let out a little giggle.
“Oh no, not you too.” Kyoka mumbled to herself.
Gang Orca held his hands up. “My apologies, I don't mean to demean you. It is a cute secondary name, Jiro, and that Midoriya is a clever one to come up with something as smart as that. I think it'll do you well to embrace it.” The orca reasoned.
Barring the fact that hearing Gang Orca say the word ‘cute’ was like getting whiplashed, this was not good. Now not just one, but two hero agencies knew of Midoriya's nickname for her.
She shot a glance at her classmates. Sero and Kaminari started howling. Mineta and Shiozaki were stifling their laughs. Only Shoji seemed to be the only understanding one of the bunch, sending the girl an apologetic nod.
“K-Kyoka this isn't funny- Whoa, watch it!”
“Get down from the fridge dude, you're not a cat.”
“No! Get away from me! I'm not stupid!”
“Get down and let's have a nice little chat.”
“Yeah? Then what, you hit me with that steel chair in your hand?”
“... I just wanna talk.”
“You just swatted at me five seconds ago like you're a seasoned pro wrestler!”
Kyoka could get him to come down by using her jack and sending some sound waves, but she didn't wanna risk getting detention if Aizawa found out.
That and if she used her Quirk, Mophead for sure will use his to evade her, and there was no beating him in a speed contest.
So it was the old-fashioned chase around the dorms.
A couple of their classmates present with them in the dorms looked on in amusement, torn between letting the chaos unfold or stepping in to get the punk girl to stop harassing the hero nerd.
“Aw come on, Jackie, quit being so tough on the guy!” Kirishima teased.
“Stay out of this, Hair Gel. This is between me and Broccolini.” Kyoka swung the chair above the fridge, Midoriya barely dodging it.
“Kyoka, I said ONE nickname.” Midoriya spoke.
“That doesn't explain you being chat buddies with my parents, you nerd. And you really had to suggest that name for my soon-to-be little sibling?”
“T-to be fair, I thought it'd be funny- Whoa! Watch it, are you crazy?!”
“Whoa, Jackie Chan's gonna be a big sis? That's so cuuute!!!” A floating set of clothes began bouncing up and down as she squealed.
“Quit calling me that already, damn it!”
“Kyoka, if I apologize, will you stop swinging that chair at me?” Midoriya asked.
Kyoka contemplated this for a moment before a deadly glint in her eyes popped up. “I'll stop if you apologize and you do all my homework for a month.”
“Kyoka!” Yaoyorozu exclaimed, horrified at the idea of academic dishonesty.
“Deal.” Midoriya slowly got down from the fridge and stood in front of the girl.
“Well, Green? I'm waiting.”
“O-okay, okay, hold on.”
Midoriya cleared his throat and let out a huge sigh.
Right before he says his apology, however, Kyoka notices a mischievous glare in his eyes as his mouth curves upward in a devious-looking smirk.
“Oh, you son of a-”
“I apologize for giving you the best nickname known to mankind, Jackie Chan.”
Midoriya cackled as he ran off, making a beeline for the dorm's entrance.
Flustered, Kyoka immediately scrambles to grab the chair and gives chase once more. “Hey- Get back here, damn it!”
Kyoka Jiro would forever rue the day she egged Midoriya on, as after this, the number of times she'd been called ‘Jackie Chan’ would triple and continued all the way until their third year, with the only hope of it stopping after graduation.