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Kyoka wasn’t jealous that Denki and Izuku were together. She wasn’t! So what that Denki had broken up with her, and in response, she’d focused more on her studies and gotten close to Izuku. That didn’t mean anything!
She had no issue that the guy she had been dating, and then broke up with her, was dating the guy she wanted to date. And anyone saying otherwise was lying.
And sure, she may have pressured Denki into it slightly because she was getting confused by having feelings for Izuku while she still had feelings for Denki, so when Denki had suggested something along the lines of opening the relationship, she lashed out.
But what was she supposed to do? Sure, she was bi, and Denki knew that, but he’d never said anything about being bi; he just made jokes about her making out with a girl in front of him. So maybe it was egg on her face for assuming he wasn’t, but whatever.
She wasn’t jealous or upset or anything else negative about Izuku and Denki being together. No matter how many times she woke up in a cold sweat from dreams of being in the middle of that sandwich.
“Kyoka? Are you alright? You’ve been staring rather angrily at that rice ball for a while now.” The sweet tones of Momo’s voice pulled Kyoka out of her violently spiralling thoughts. Because that’s right, she was in the middle of the cafeteria having lunch. And glaring at Izuku and Denki sitting at a table by themselves and being all lovey-dovey.
A place far from conducive to getting lost in thoughts about lost love. Especially when yet another was sitting next to her.
Not that she ever dated Momo, no, that crush never made it past infancy with how quickly the prim and proper class president had shacked up with Itsuka Kendo, her motorcycle-loving counterpart from Class 1-B. Well, 3-B now that she thought about it.
“They are so cute, aren’t they?” Mercifully saving Kyoka from that rabbit hole is the cooing tone of Mina as she watches Denki press a soft kiss against the reddened freckles of Izuku.
While her pink-skinned classmate’s attention was in the same direction as Kyoka’s, thanks to the sacrificial rice ball, no one else realised that. Allowing Kyoka’s glaring to remain hidden from her friends.
“Uh, yeah, they are.” Responding in a stilted tone, Kyoka hoped it didn’t give the game away. But at the same time, Kyoka felt immense relief that she’d convinced Denki to keep their relationship on the down low. Not only was he saved from the righteous fury of her friends going after him for dating Izuku almost immediately after breaking up with her. But Kyoka was also spared the unwanted pity of her friends for it.
Pity wouldn’t make her the middle of that sandwich.
Giving her head a good shake to finally dislodge that train of thought for good, Kyoka scarfs down the rice ball before anyone can start questioning her again. However, as she scarfed down her lunch, Kyoka missed the gleam in Mina’s eye as she looked back at her.
Leaning forward, Mina smiled a predator’s smile at Kyoka, “Y’know, Kyoka, I thought you were a shoo-in for dating one of those two.”
Slamming a fist into her chest, Kyoka desperately tried to dislodge the air bubble that was suddenly caught inside. Feeling the worried stares of her friends, Kyoka gave it one more good thwack before feeling the air flow normally.
Coughing a couple of times to recover, Kyoka looked over to Mina with watery eyes, “What was that?”
But Mina just looked at her like she was crazy, “Y’know, you and Kami, or you and Midori. I thought for sure the two of them were dancing around you. I even thought we would’ve gotten a good ol’fashioned love triangle! I almost handed in my love guru status when they hooked up instead!”
Biting down hard on her lower lip, Kyoka fought the urge to blurt out the fact that she and Denki had actually been dating. The last thing she wanted was to sic her girlfriends on Denki and Izuku like that; they were happy, happier than either’d be with her. So she’d just continue brooding in her room, pretending she wasn’t writing the next big Pop-Punk album.
Luckily, as she lost herself in her head for the umpteenth time that lunch, Mina had lost interest in her and started gossiping about Todoroki and Bakugo. Apparently, Mina and Toru had seen them sneaking into the dorms last night, and Bakugo had a large bandage on his neck this morning.
“Are you alright, Kyoka?” Momo’s voice was quiet as she slipped Kyoka’s attention away from the conversation. But while appreciating the care her best friend was offering, Kyoka could only offer the closest thing to a smile she could currently manage.
“I’m fine, Momo. I just think I lost my appetite a little after the whole choking on air thing. I might head to class early.” Receiving an understanding smile, Kyoka rose to her feet and tray in hand. Leaving the cafeteria, Kyoka missed that the two boys’ eyes followed her out.
Lying on her bed, Kyoka was not listening to her breakup mix-tape. She'd just happened to pick one that had all the same songs on it… yeah.
Rolling over with a groan, Kyoka tried to ignore the empty pit in her stomach. So what if she'd wanted to keep their relationship just between them for as long as possible? So what if she'd done some dumb stuff after realising she had feelings for Izuku while she was dating Denki? Did that really mean she was exiled to this empty void of feelings?
Why does she miss out every time? What was it going to take for her to get a happy ever after? Was her life some karmic joke? Did she kill puppies and babies in a past life? Like, she was even the only person to get brutally injured in the war, and she doesn't even get a partner out of it—
As soon as that thought swept through her mind, Kyoka flung her tape player away. "Ok… too much emo music…" Stunned at just how depressing her internal monologue got, Kyoka just breathed in and out slowly for a few minutes. However, before she could completely calm down, there was a knock at her door. A very specific knock only one person would do.
Jumping to her feet with an expression two steps above a scowl, Kyoka opened the door. And was stunned to see Izuku. "Hi Jiro. Uh, we were hoping you could help us with the art history assignment? Just because it's on a hero who's so involved with music, and well, you're the expert."
Ignoring the way Izuku calling her an expert made her heart flutter, Kyoka's mind stuck on something else. "Wait, we? But you're all alone."
Before Izuku could answer the question, the answer revealed himself from behind Izuku with a dumb smile, "Hi, Kyo! Can you save us?"
For a moment, Kyoka considered closing the door on their faces, but after a second more, she was confronted with their painfully cute faces. Well, she couldn't bring herself to do it. So with her head hanging, Kyoka stepped back and pulled the door open more.
"Alright, come on in then." Sighing out the words, Kyoka barely managed to avoid getting bowled over by Denki sprinting through the door. Closely followed by an apologetic Izuku. "Sure, just run right in then," muttering under her breath, Kyoka closed the door and turned towards the two boys.
"Thanks again, Jiro. We really appreciate it, Denki just wasn't understanding it from what I was saying, and he thought you might be able to help."
Kyoka's face scrunched at Izuku's words. Denki had never understood anything she tried to explain to him. Why did he think differently now?
"Uh, ok, well, I don't know how much help I'll be, but I'm willing to try." Taking a seat at her desk, Kyoka turned the chair to face Izuku and Denki. "So what exactly do you need my help with? Wasn't the assignment just to research how a hero formed their identity? What do you need my help with for that?"
The two boys were quiet for a moment, not speaking words but instead communicating with just their eyes and minute facial expressions. Watching it returned Kyoka's sour mood. But before the sour mood could force her to expel her intruders, Izuku spoke.
"Well, so Denki wanted to do his on Kabuki, the hero who had the quirk that allowed him to use certain movements to move the air. And well, music is a big part of Kabuki theatre and as such Kabuki's identity."
Winding her jack around her finger, Kyoka started to speak, and hated every word she spoke, "So I think you guys might be barking up the wrong tree. Sure, I like music, and a lot of music, but the way they use it in Kabuki theatre is very different to the stuff I know. I'm not sure how much I can help that you wouldn't already, Izuku."
But to Kyoka's surprise, rather than responding in any litany of different ways that could be considered apologising, Izuku glared at Denki. And he looked back rather sheepishly at Izuku. To make things even more confusing, Izuku turned back to Kyoka, his mouth already open to start speaking, but he was interrupted by Denki slapping his hand over Izuku's mouth.
"Alright then, sorry for wasting your time, Kyoka. We'll get out of your hair." Pulling Izuku out of the room, Denki stopped just before crossing the mantle and made a show of having an idea, "Ooh, how about in response, me and Izuku are at your beck and call for the next week. We'll do anything you want. Anything…"
Before Kyoka could figure out or even just ask what the hell that was supposed to mean, Denki and Izuku disappeared from her room. Rolling her eyes at the insanity of her totally not crushes, she fell back onto her bed with a loud sigh.
"Stupid Denki and Izuku. All lovey dovey in front of me." Jolting upwards, Kyoka's eyes widened in shock. "That arsehole! He was just rubbing it in!" scowling, Kyoka started pacing along her room. "This was him going—" Kyoka put on a rather unflattering impression of Denki, "Oh well, you could have been part of this if you hadn't broken up with me. You could have been all lovey-dovey with Izuku and me."
Falling back onto her bed, Kyoka slammed her face into her pillow and let out a scream. Once she sufficiently exorcised her issues through screaming, she grabbed her phone and started listening to her breakup playlist. Drowning herself in the wailing cries of her favourite musicians.
“Wheeee…” Hearing the almost iconic noise coming from the zonked-out Kaminari, Kyoka gave her ex an award-worthy side-eye.
“Shouldn’t your boyfriend be here, Jamming-whey?” Muttering under her breath, Kyoka blew air like she’d been smoking, “Just my luck getting partnered with you, and you go overboard.”
“Wheeee…” but Kaminari offered no response.
Resting her chin in her hands, Kyoka prepared to continue her pity party, but before she could, someone else barrelled into the infirmary. Coming to a stop, Momo stood there, her eyes darting around the room frantically as Izuku’s unconscious body lay limp in her arms.
“Recovery girl, are you in here? I need help! Midoriya collapsed!”
Her eyes widening in worry, Kyoka jumped to her feet to help Momo carry Izuku inside. “What happened? Is he okay?” As worry filled her tone, Kyoka helped Momo lift Izuku onto the empty bed next to Denki.
Looking surprisingly sheepish, Momo looked away from Kyoka before saying something quietly. "He snuck up behind after the exercise to… congratulate me, and I freaked out and hit him in the face with a matryoshka doll launched at full speed."
Kyoka desperately tried to stifle the snort that forced its way out of her at Momo's confession. "Wow, death by matryoshka, huh?" However, as she stepped back and saw Izuku's unconscious body next to Denki's, her smile fell. "Peh, well, at least the lovebirds are together now."
Absorbed in staring at the two, Kyoka missed Momo's knowing look between her retracted, still organic jack and the unconscious bodies. Stepping forward, Momo rested a hand on Kyoka's shoulder.
"If you ever want to talk about anything, and I do mean anything, Kyoka. I'm always here."
Something stuck in Kyoka's throat, so she could only nod at first. But after a moment, her voice returned, "Thanks, Momo. But there's nothing wrong with me that I need to talk about. But you go on ahead; I can keep an eye on the love birds. I wanted to talk to Recovery Girl about my prosthetic anyway."
While Momo didn't quite look like she believed her, she listened to her friend and bowed out. As she watched Momo's retreat, Kyoka let out a breath she didn't realise she was holding. Turning back to look at Izuku, she missed her jack trailing down her arm as she rested her hand on the edge of the bed.
"Even asleep, you're way too cute…" Pouting in a way that she'd kill anyone for seeing, Kyoka stared longingly at Izuku's freckled face.
"Cute…" out of nowhere, Izuku mumbled something. Jumping backwards with shock filling her features, Kyoka stared at the still, seemingly unconscious boy, waiting for him to speak again. But to her dismay, he stayed quiet.
"Pssh, now you've even got me imagining things… You dummy." Unable to stop herself, Kyoka found herself smiling softly at Izuku. Swinging her head back, Kyoka let out a groan, "Urrrgh… It's so unfair that Denki got to you first."
"Wheeee…."
Hearing Denki start making noise again, Kyoka rolled her eyes before turning back to face him, "Don't try to freak me out. We both know that you don't remember anything once you snap out of it. You can't scare me out of thirsting for your boyfriend." But even as she stared confidently, she let out a disappointed sigh, "I am so pathetic."
But pulling Kyoka out of her self-hating spiral was Izuku, slowly coming back to reality, "Urgh… why does my head hurt so much? Kyo-Jiro? What are you doing here?" With a dazed tone, Izuku looked with wide eyes at Kyoka. Something she tried to ignore had an impact on her.
But as always, she had sarcasm and wit to fall back on, "Keeping an eye on your boyfriend." Clearly surprised by Kyoka's words, Izuku bolted upright to look over at Denki, his cheeks ever so slightly tinted red.
"Denki… ugh, what did I say about being careful?" Scowling at Denki, Izuku slipped off his bed and approached the still-out-of-it boy. Reaching around to the back of Denki's head, Izuku did something Kyoka couldn't see, and suddenly, Denki was alright.
"Whoo, that was a weird feeling." For a moment, Denki stared wildly into the middle distance. But seemingly as soon as he realised Izuku was there, he got an expression that could only be called love-struck idiot. "Hey, Boyfriend. Looks like your idea worked, huh? Knew you were clever."
Turning away from the intense stare of his boyfriend, Izuku scratched his cheek as it grew even redder, "Uh, yeah, but still! I told you to stop going overboard! It's training, there's no need to risk hurting yourself!" But in response, Denki just started giggling like a love-struck idiot instead of just smiling.
"Well, yeah, but then you wouldn't have an excuse to touch me, would you?" Izuku tried to stammer out a response, but no words would come out.
And before any did manage to come out, Kyoka interrupted with a groan, "God, you lovebirds are disgustingly sweet." But rather than offending either of them, Denki jumped to his feet and sauntered towards her.
"Aww… are you getting jealous? If you ask nicely, Izuku might have the space for you." Kyoka couldn't help the scowl that slipped onto her lips as Denki teased her.
"Fine, I get it. I'll get out of your hair. I can tell when I'm not wanted." Turning around, Kyoka stormed out of the infirmary, missing Izuku, clapping Denki on the back of the ear.
Having left Denki and Izuku in the infirmary, Kyoka didn't feel much like talking to anyone. So she did what she always did when she felt like that and hid away in her room. Plug her jack into her guitar and start playing.
It was after about half an hour of this that Kyoka was eventually interrupted by a knock at her door. A knock she ignored. If she'd wanted to interact with other people, she wouldn't have hidden herself away after all.
But to her eternal frustration, whoever it was that was knocking didn't seem to care about her locking herself away. Since only a few moments later, they knocked once more. But Kyoka persisted in her ignorance. Even as they knocked again, Kyoka simply continued playing.
It was only upon the fourth set of knocks that Kyoka finally folded, detaching her jack from her guitar and getting to her feet. "Yeah, yeah, I'm coming."
Finally, likely due to hearing her voice float through the door, the knocking ceased. Pulling open the door, Kyoka was only slightly surprised to see Izuku standing on the other side. "Uh, hi, Midoriya. What's up?"
Standing on the other side of her door, looking even more like a wet dog than usual, was Midoriya. Who, albeit Kyoka was sure it was just a trick of the light, seemed to perk up at the sight of her.
"Hi, Kyoka! Look, uh, I just wanted to talk a little. Could I come in?"
For an instant, Kyoka considered denying him, but just the act of glancing at the wet puppy face he was making made it an impossibility.
"Yeah, come on in, Green." Pulling open the door with a sigh, Kyoka waited for Izuku to make his way into the room before closing it.
This time, without Kyoka's prompting, Izuku took a seat on her bed. However, unlike the last time he was in her room, He was somehow even more uncomfortable than he was last time. But Kyoka knew better than to comment on it.
So, taking a seat at her desk, she just waited for Izuku to speak. Which he eventually did, "Look, uh, Jiro, I wanted to apologise for what Denki said earlier. and really just how he's been acting recently. He…" As Izuku trailed off, Kyoka could help jump in herself.
"Psh, don't worry, Izuku, I'm more than aware of how capable Denki is of sticking his foot in his mouth. No need to apologise to me for it." Kyoka almost told Izuku what had happened between them. Knowing Denki, he'd already told him, but even so, Kyoka didn't want to admit it to him.
However, rather than the reassurance Kyoka had expected her words to offer Izuku, they instead seemed to worry him more. "yes but Denki… he's got this stupid plan and I keep telling him it's going to blow up in his face, but he's confident it'd work again," Izuku made an uncharacteristic scowl as he looked to the side, "Not that it worked the first time. I don't know why he keeps saying that it did."
While Izuku's words made a measure of sense to Kyoka, she did know very well what Denki was like. It felt like there was something that she was missing, something that Izuku wasn't saying. Something she thinks she wants to know.
"Midoriya… what is Denki trying to do?" Getting to her feet and crossing her arms, Kyoka crept forward, her eyes squinting at a suddenly twitching Izuku. "What worked the first time? What does it have to do with me?" the questions came slow, with more than enough space for Izuku to answer, and yet he just stammered out sounds that weren't even words.
And it didn't stop Kyoka. Even as Izuku made noises, she kept creeping forward until there was barely the space for air between them.
"Izuku…" Kyoka didn't know what it was that compelled her to use his name, and yet she did. "What is it Denki's trying to get you to do? You know as well as I do, he's liable to get himself hurt trying something."
Finally, Kyoka seemed to crack through Izuku's admittedly weak armour, and with a sigh, he hung his head. "He's… trying to bring you into our relationship."
Kyoka doesn't know how long she was staring at Izuku with her mouth gaping. Her gut instinct was to laugh. The only thing stopping her was that the absurdity of what Izuku had said had crossed so far that it wasn't even funny anymore, just shocking.
But Izuku didn't seem to notice Kyoka's reaction; instead, he hung his head and kept talking. "I know it sounds crazy. Denki told me how the two of you broke up; he also told me it was apparently my fault. Well, that's not what he said exactly, he said that he brought up opening the relationship because he wanted to ask me out, and well, reacting the way you did—"
"Denki's an idiot." Finally, Kyoka spoke, a snap that jumped back into the conversation in the middle of Izuku's sentence.
"—is understandable." But still, Izuku finished speaking.
Pinching the bridge of her nose, Kyoka swore under her breath, "Shit, sorry… You don't deserve that, Izuku. Look, you've seen me. Denki suggested opening it like he wasn't satisfied, and why would he? So I snapped and ended it. And really, he seems to have done a lot better out of it. So, no, I don't really believe that he or you want me in your relationship." Kyoka's tone grew more sardonic with every word that slipped past her lips.
Words that scandalised Izuku, "What! What do you mean? What's that supposed to mean, Kyoka?" Not even realising that he used her first name, Izuku just let out stammered noises of confusion at Kyoka's confession.
Kyoka let out a dry laugh at Izuku's confusion, "Please, Izuku, just look at all the other girls. Even limiting yourself to just our class, I don't measure up. Especially if Denki wanted someone else. Like, I mean, I even tried coming onto you when Denki broke up with me, you didn't even notice."
It was at this point that Izuku tried to interject, to bring up that he didn't notice Denki coming onto him for a long while either. But Kyoka didn't give him the chance. She just kept going.
"Like seriously, Mina, as much of a love guru as she purports to be isn't dating anyone, and she's way hotter than I am, I mean, have you seen how cute she is when she blushes. And yes, Momo's already dating Itsuka, but if you're going to add someone, then I don't think mixing two couples is much more difficult."
Izuku was saved from trying to wade through Kyoka's rather blatant neuroses by Denki appearing behind her. Clearly, having been listening in on the two's conversation. "Well, that's stupid."
Blundering headfirst into the conversation, Denki made a face like a turd was under his nose as he looked between Kyoka and Izuku. "And honestly, I'm offended." Crossing his arms, Denki filled the gap that had widened between Kyoka and Izuku with his arrival.
Squinting up at the blonde, Kyoka's face scrunched with confusion, "You're offended? Why are you offended? This has nothing to do with you?"
And while Izuku was sure it would be a relationship faux pas, he couldn't help agreeing with Kyoka. Why would Kyoka's totally unfounded insecurities about her physical attractiveness be offensive to Denki?
Denki, well, he just rolled his eyes at the response. "Well, it's obviously offensive to me, and Izuku, really." Denki paused for a moment, just long enough for Kyoka and Izuku to grow even more confused, "Like if you're ugly, then what does that mean for Izuku and me? I mean, we're attracted to you, so that means by your logic we're attracted to ugly people. Which means that we're ugly cause we're attracted to each other. So yeah, it's understandable for me to be offended."
As Denki smiled triumphantly at Kyoka and Izuku, immensely confident in his logic. The other two teens could only stare in stunned silence. The painful logic made just enough sense that it hurt Kyoka and Izuku to consider, and there wasn't enough of a hole in it for them to point out.
But Denki was oblivious to their reactions, "Oh, dammit! Now you know we were trying to seduce you! Now it won't work." Pouting at the still stunned Kyoka and Izuku, Denki took a seat in the corner of the room, "You foiled my foolproof plan, Izuku."
But finally, the direct call out snapped Izuku out of it and made him jump to his feet. Izuku spoke with a hoarse voice, "Denki, I keep telling you it was too complicated! And your attempts to ask me out already proved that it wasn't foolproof." Exasperated by his boyfriend, Izuku approached Denki.
But Denki simply rolled his eyes before leaning forward and pressing his lips against Izuku's. stepping back with a dazed expression and a dopey grin, Izuku took a seat on the bed again. "Heheh…"
Momentarily stunned by the effect Denki has on Izuku, Kyoka recovered quickly, "Alright, I apologise for implying that you and Izuku are ugly, Denki."
Smiling in a way that made it clear how proud of himself he was, Denki nodded at Kyoka's exasperated response, "Thank you, Kyoka. I am glad you understand now. However, that is only one of the things I need you to say."
It took Kyoka a moment, but she quickly realised what Denki wanted. And to be honest, she wanted to say it. She wanted to say yes, but she still couldn't quite believe that Denki and Izuku would want her, especially considering how she ended things with Denki. So she just couldn't make that leap.
No matter how much she wanted to.
"Urgh…" seemingly having come back to his senses, Izuku let out a groan, "Come on, Denki. We've approached her about it now, and she is not only not willing to play along with your…" Izuku's face made a range of expressions as he tried to think of what exactly to say, "plan, she isn't interested in dating us."
Finally, Izuku's words broke through to Denki and the blonde deflated. "Yeah… Guess so. Oh well, I'm sure I can have my fill with just you, huh, Izu?" as a smirk, just a single step below salacious slipped across his lips, Denki reached up and pulled Izuku down to press a kiss against his temple.
Kyoka hated it. It was sappy, painfully fluffy, horrifically sweet in a way that was trying to give her diabetes, how she was screaming in her head that she wasn't the one kissing Izuku. Or the one being kissed by Denki.
"I'll do it! I want to date both of you!" Somehow, Kyoka's voice went AWOL, and her lips made the words without any input at all from her mind. Meaning that when Izuku and Denki looked over to her, she looked just as stunned as they were.
But the boys recovered quickly, Denki gaining a triumphant smirk and Izuku smiling widely as tears started streaming down his face. Wrapping his arms around Izuku, Denki pulled him in close, "I told you! I told you it'd work!"
But Izuku ignored him just like he ignored the tears, his eyes focused solely on Kyoka, "That's great, Kyoka! I'm—We're so glad that you're willing to join our relationship. Denki kept getting upset that he was still happy and you weren't."
Kyoka felt her heart twinge at Izuku's words. That sure did sound like Denki. Approaching the couple as they playfully fought, Kyoka gently wrapped her jack around Denki's neck and pulled him away from Izuku and towards her.
Reaching up, Kyoka brushed her lips against Denki's cheek and smiled at the blushing blonde, "Thanks, Denks… and I'm sorry about how I ended it the first time. I was worried you were just trying to spare my feelings and avoid breaking up with me. I didn't realise you'd figured me out."
Smirking Denki pulled Izuku and Kyoka in close, "Yeah, well, I am pretty impressive, huh?" In near-perfect sync, Kyoka and Izuku rolled their eyes at who was now their boyfriend.
"You know, it's a good thing you brought me in green. Being stuck with Jamming-whey alone might've driven you crazy." As Denki looked at Kyoka in mock offence, Kyoka pulled away from Denki just enough to pull Izuku closer with her jack, brushing her lips against his cheek as well. "And that's just to even things out."
Seeing the crimson faces of Izuku and Denki, and knowing she was responsible, Kyoka couldn't help but believe she'd made the right decision.
"What do you thinks going on over there?" In full love guru mode and her fingers steepled in front of her, Mina stared with an inquisitive gaze at Kyoka, Izuku and Denki sitting in the far corner of the cafeteria. At first glance, it hadn't seemed strange at all, but the longer they'd been over there, the stranger it had appeared.
Unlike prior lunches, Izuku and Denki were much more reserved. Their romantic expressions are restricted to hand touches and simple physical closeness, things that, if Mina didn't know better, they were including Kyoka in as well. Hence, the question to the other girls sitting with her.
"Well, I'm sure Kyoka's just enjoying herself with her other friends again. After all, it has been some time since she's spent any time with either of them. They've been rather… absorbed in each other after all." Momo's measured tone gave away no emotion. Especially not the thoughts she had about why the duo had changed to a trio.
"Kero, yeah… She's been off recently, so it doesn't really matter why she's happy now. As her friends, we should just be happy that she is." Chiming in, Tsuyu made a face like she also had an idea of what was going on. But was similarly unwilling to divulge those thoughts to Mina.
Even Ochako seemed surprised at Mina's confusion. Even though the focused teen usually avoided these sorts of discussions, even to her, it seemed clear.
"I dunno… I think Mina might be right; there's something fishy going on with the three of them. If I didn't know better, I'd say all three of them were dating." Toru let out a shaky laugh, clearly not really believing what she was saying. But when no one else laughed, the group settled into an uneasy silence. Well, silence, excluding the whirring of gears in Mina's mind as Toru's words flipped a switch.
"No… It can't be that… Izuku… He's gay, isn't he? He has to be, cause he's a catch. He can't have been on the market for that long and not have already been snatched up by a girl if he wasn't, that's why him and Ochako never happened…" Oblivious to the faces her friends were making, Mina started mumbling in a very Izuku-like manner, "And if Denki's into Kyoka, why'd they never hook up before? no…" Mina quickly devolved into even quieter muttering.
"Oops, looks like I broke Mina. Sorry, guys." Apologetic, Toru gently patted Mina on the back as the other girls shared knowing looks. However, all were oblivious to the smirk Kyoka made at the sight of them.
"Are you sure you don't want to tell anyone you're dating us, Kyoka?" glancing at his new girlfriend, Jeez, Izuku wasn't used to being able to say he was dating two amazing people, yet Izuku softly questioned her. Glancing back, Kyoka's smile softened before she quickly pressed her lips against his and her hand softly squeezed his under the table.
"Nah, it's fun watching them try to figure things out, it's what Mina deserves for what she kept saying." Comfortable in her friends' distraction, Kyoka risked leaning in closer to Izuku; she would've leaned into Denki, but he'd abandoned them for the other side of the table.
But even so, even with just Izuku, Kyoka felt right. She felt comfortable in a way she didn't even know she was missing. And she felt prettier than ever; it was amazing what two cute guys telling her she was beautiful was doing for her self-esteem.
"You know, guys?" breaking the easy silence of the table, Kyoka looked between the attentive Denki and Izuku, "Next time you try to recruit someone into a polycule, just ask them. Don't try to lure them in. We could've been doing this a week ago."
Denki responded to Kyoka with an exaggerated pout, "Well now, I—Izuku, what are you laughing at?" as Denki tried to defend himself, Izuku couldn't hold back a laugh. One that sent nice vibrations through Kyoka.
"Just laughing at the fact I got proven right in the end." As Izuku continued laughing, Denki flung a spoonful of rice at Izuku but missed. Which set off another round of laughs. Relaxing in the feeling of being near Izuku and Denki, Kyoka was confident in the idea that this was where she was meant to be. Even as Denki fired off another ball of rice, this time hitting her.
It just felt right.