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It was no secret to Denki that everyone thought he was stupid. It was a running joke in class 1A to make a big deal about his poor quiz scores, everyone teasing him with “better luck next time”s and “all that studying for nothing”s.But Denki did study. He did! A lot! But there was always so much to do; so much going on. His brain was always buzzing with activity, no matter how many meditation tips he got online or advice on how to relax from Aizawa-sensei. While the doctors concluded that his overactive neurons were a result of his higher levels of brain electricity due to his quirk, Denki knew that his mind had never been as organized and sensible as everyone else’s.Denki knew he was born destined to fail. And fail he did: tests, exams, social situations, athletic criteria. Everything and anything that involved above-average skills, Denki was horrible at. Even things everyone else was able to do, Denki was still bad at.In grade school, everyone fit into the perfect groups of friends, cliques of like-minded children, categories of worthy peers. Young Kaminari, however, was always slipping between the lines, zig-zagging from crowd to crowd, forever buzzing and bouncing and jumping and changing, trying to latch onto something, someone, but never sticking, never lasting, never staying still. He was always too much. Too loud, too bright, too energetic, too stupid, too much. Denki Kaminari was too much. But he was also never enough. Not smart enough, not stable enough, not cool enough. He wasn’t smart enough. Not for his teachers, who always found reasons to complain to his parents that their son’s performance was less than adequate. Not for his tutors (and ex-tutors, for which the list was extensive), who were constantly exasperated by his seeming lack of interest in studies and inability to meet their expectations. Not for his younger self’s schoolmates who, for the most part, tried their very hardest to ignore his existence and reject any attempt at friendliness he offered them. Denki’s whole life was dictated by his failure to be what other people wanted him to. In fact, Denki’s whole life was a failure. He was a failure. At least, he was according to anyone whose opinion mattered to him. He learned not to expect much of himself either, allowing himself to fall into the background and never push too hard so as not to draw more unwanted attention to himself.Upon his acceptance to UA, however, Denki finally found something of a friend group, and with it, a sense of accomplishment that gave him the ambition to chase for it more. He started trying again. He spoke, and allowed himself to be heard. He made jokes, and was on the receiving end of more than a few. He trained hard, and began to make progress with his quirk. He was living, succeeding, as himself. But still, no matter what he did, he never got any better at schoolwork. Despite hours of studying, nights spent lying awake at his desk, slaving over flashcards and worksheets and textbooks, Denki’s brain stayed as dumb as ever.It was frustrating. Infuriating, even, for so much work to end with such discouraging results. With everything going on in his mind, none of it was ever anything useful. He never got any smarter, never learned how to do things right, never met average, let alone surpass it. It felt horrible, to always fall short. To fail task after task, even when his friends did their best to help him. In fact, it hurt more to fail when there was someone there waiting for him to succeed. It made his losses even more devastating to know he’d disappointed someone he cared about. Which was why, for the most part, Denki skipped out on the Tuesday night study sessions that the self-proclaimed Baku-squad had made a weekly event. As much as he ached to spend time with his friends, he could deal with their puppy-dog eyes and let down faces each time he refused them, while he wasn’t so sure he could put up with the inevitable jokes and disheartened shrugs that would come when he ultimately failed despite accepting help. Skipping out on such a meeting was how Denki found himself alone in his room, sulking over his latest quiz score and taking way too much Advil to fend off his impending migraine.It was getting dark, but Denki still had hours left before getting through all of the day’s class notes. His body was achingly tired, but his head was still torturously active. He wondered what his friends were doing. They were probably having fun, laughing, joking. Were they thinking about him? Probably not. Though he didn’t like to think so, Denki knew he didn’t add much to the friend group. He wasn’t a leader like Bakugou, or everyone’s favorite person like Kirishima. He wasn’t as quick-witted as Sero or good-natured as Mina. In fact, his role in the group was mainly as the butt of a joke; something to keep the others in good spirits. His own feelings didn’t matter; Denki had learned long ago that protesting his own intelligence never worked out in his favor, and it was better to just laugh it off. Still, that didn’t mean the words didn’t stick with him each time they were casually thrown his way. Sero’s teasing from just that morning reminded him that, despite his fatigue, he had to keep working if he wanted any chance at passing the next day’s testKaminari yawned and dragged his attention back to the review packet in front of him, staring idly at the questions while thoughts ricocheted and collided in his head. He subconsciously bounced his leg as he read the same sentence over and over, unable to focus entirely on his work. Part of him really wanted to give in and go downstairs, even if the happiness of being surrounded by his favorite people in the world was only temporary and would definitely have not so great academic consequences.Still, he persisted, even when it was a struggle to keep his eyes open and he had to keep hitting himself in the face with his pencil to stay awake. He had to study. He couldn’t fail tomorrow. God, he was so sick of being a failure. If he could just stay up a little longer……Denki woke with a start to the incessant banging of someone’s angry fist on the door to his room. He sat up abruptly, tweaking his neck and falling out of his desk chair in the process.Wait, his desk chair? Denki realized with a groan that he had fallen asleep while studying, leaving him entirely unprepared for the test as well as aching all over from the shitty sleep position.“Oi! Dunce face! The hell are you doing in there still, it’s time for breakfast!”
Dunce face.
The nickname didn’t go unnoticed by the sleep deprived blonde, but he didn’t have the energy to think about that right now. Instead, he clambered up from his position on the ground and moved to open the door to reveal a grumpy-looking Katsuki Bakugou.“Fuckin’ took you long enough,” the cranky blonde grumbled before taking a moment to assess the other’s appearance. “Did you sleep in yesterday’s clothes?” he observed, an unimpressed eyebrow twitching to attention.“No!” Denki denied, though he couldn’t mask the embarrassed tint of red that rose to his neck and ears at the remark. “I just got dressed,” he lied.Bakugou scoffed and turned back to the stairwell, calling over his shoulder as he left, “Right. Well, get your ass downstairs before the extras eat everything, cause I ain’t making seconds!”Kaminari took a second to finger-comb his bed head into relative tameness and stuff his unfinished work into his bag to be dealt with later before trampling down to the common room for the so-called most important meal of the day.“Morning, Denki-kun!” Midoriya chirped from where he was writing furiously in one of journals from his position on the couch. Denki had always been jealous of his ability to be so focused on writing that he could get lost in his own world, yet still so attentive to those around him. It was one of the many things Denki envied about the boy, along with his intellect and his relationship with Bakugou. Even though the two weren’t outwardly that close, they had known each other since they were kids, and sometimes acted like an old married couple. The prospect of being married to Bakugou was definitely something Denki should not be thinking about, let alone be jealous of; especially since they were friends and just friends, and Bakugou wasn’t even gay, he didn’t think. And even if he was, it wasn’t like he saw the younger blonde as anything other than an idiot nuisance worthy of a nickname like dunce face.
Dunce face.
“Mornin’ Midoriya,” Denki replied, face aching as his cheeks made their way into a smile. His head was fuzzy with exhaustion and sticky staticy thoughts that whizzed around faster than he could comprehend them.There were a few rounds of greetings from the others sitting at the table, enjoying the delicious-smelling ohitashi with rice and miso soup that Bakugou had prepared. He was something of the mother hen to the group, which meant that in addition to being the leader, he looked after most of their well-beings by supplying nutritious meals and making sure they woke up in time. It was one of the many things about his friend that made Denki feel warm inside, warm and cared for, but he knew better than to say anything about it for risk of getting an explosion to the face. With a simple appreciative nod to the serving Katsuki handed him, Denki went to join the others at the table. Mina and Sero were huddled around the latter’s phone, likely entranced in some new mobile game, while Shoto sat quietly beside Tsuyu, wordlessly sipping his soup while the frog-like girl went on about something insignificant. Iida was speaking loudly with Eijirou at the counter, the two sharing a box of protein bars. Uraraka and Jirou were giggling while watching Bakugou angrily interrupt Kirishima’s conversation to penalize him for eating “shitty processed garbage” and not his home-cooked meal. It was all strangely domesticated and familiar, and Denki recognized how everyone’s individual roles in the group fit together, how they all had something to offer to the equation. The melty happiness that came from being surrounded by the people that mattered most twisted coldly with the unwelcome thought that Denki’s brain happily supplied:
What do I have to offer?
The knot forming in his stomach having ruined the moment, Denki took a seat beside Sero to watch the boy rapidly swipe and tap at the screen, maneuvering his character’s avatar to perform fantastic swings and jumps and kicks, landing punches and hits on the obvious villain character to build up a score in the upper corner of the display. It was interesting enough to watch, and Denki tried to allow himself to relax, to let go, to quit thinking so much for just a moment and be absorbed in the meaningless game like his peers could. But he couldn’t. His mind was always bouncing around, always dashing from place to place, thought to thought, this to that. He wished he had an off switch, something to just turn off his mind so he could release and just be, even for a moment, without having to toggle his attention forever back and forth and back again.The off-button idea was something Katsuki had said in an off-hand comment after Denki had been bothering him with company for too long. It wasn’t meant to be memorable, just a one-off thing to bring happy agreements and teasing laughter from the others, but like everything, it stuck in Denki’s mind. Everything stuck in Denki’s mind. Every moment, sound, observation, brief exchange of words, everything. It fizzed and sparked between his overactive neurons to be processed and processed again and brought up and burned into memory and thought about and forgotten only to join him on the late nights where he’d lie awake in bed and overanalyze, overthink, too much, never enough, not right, not good, not smart, not smart, STUPID.
Dunce face.
Kaminari placed his used dishes in the sink to be dealt with later and dug through his bag for last night’s notes. It was dumb to fall asleep like that, especially before test day. Denki was dumb. He was stupid. And now he was going to fail. Again. Of course. Just like always. As idiotic as he was, nothing was more foolish than hoping for progress. For thinking that he could ever, would ever, succeed. Denki Kaminari always fell short. But he never learned his lesson.Hot black coffee burnt his tongue as he eagerly chugged it down, praying that the caffeine would do something, anything, to fend off how drained he was. This was also a painfully stupid decision. Coffee did not go well with Kaminari’s already abundantly energetic brain, and it never ended well on the rare occasions that he decided to have a mug of the liquid. But he was just so, so tired, and didn’t think nor care enough to find healthier ways to cope with his fatigue.The drug took effect immediately, shocking Denki’s system into hyperdrive until he felt like he was vibrating all over, like he could bounce off the walls, like he could stay awake for class. His teeth chattered, clicking and grinding and wiggling in his gums, and he took another sip just to feel them dancing in his mouth.“Hey, Sparkplug, the fuck are you drinking coffee for?” came the unhappy grumble of Bakugou. Denki was too overloaded to register the concern in his tone, instead tentatively placing the mug on the counter and turning to face the taller blonde with a grin.“Don’t worry, bro. Just a little liquid energy before the big exam!”
You sound stupid, he knows you’re lying, he can tell how stupid you are, everyone knows it, it’s so obvious, so stupid, so STUPID.
Bakugou gives him a disdainful once-over before rolling his eyes and turning away. “Yeah, whatever, dumbass.”
Dumbass.
Denki blames the stinging in his stomach on nerves and decides to go over the unit review once more before class, so everything will be fresh in his mind.
Like that will help.
His brain is still fizzing, bubbling, frothing, flinching, and he can’t sit still, can’t find his off switch, can’t stop moving, no matter how aware he is of his bouncing leg annoying his classmates. His thoughts are crashing through his head like a tornado, like a hurricane, like a tsunami, like everything destructive and wild and untamed and it’s all trapped inside his skull, spinning and popping and breaking and jumbling, threatening to burst out in an explosion of words and pain and stupidity and it takes all that he has to keep his limbs from launching around, shooting every which way, thrashing in horribly disorganized ways, making everyone aware of how fucked up his brain is, how fucked up he is, how STUPID.The words on the page in front of him are running and shaking and darting around, their dark forms mixing and becoming deformed on the stark white contrast, painful to watch, painful to look at, but he has to. He has to read the sentence, make sense of the characters, comprehend what is asked of him, and hopefully hopefully get it right. He has to get it right. Because Denki Kaminari is so fucking sick of being a failure, but the chaos in his brain isn’t getting any easier to deal with.The test is over and Denki didn’t even finish. He couldn’t even make a guess on half of the problems. He was stupid and he was hopeless and he was a lost cause. Because no matter how hard he tries, Denki Kaminari is a failure. He knows he is. Everyone knows he is. It’s hilarious. It’s so funny. It’s such a joke that he can never do anything right. He’s such a joke. It doesn’t hurt. It doesn’t. It’s not painful, it’s funny.“How’d you do, Denks?” Sero casually asks, leaning playfully against his desk and smirking in anticipation.It doesn’t hurt.Kaminari smiles, because it’s funny. “Oh, I aced that for sure. I think Aizawa-sensei is making these a little too easy, for sure.”Sero snorts. “Yeah, right. Have you ever aced anything in your life?” It doesn’t hurt. “Did you get to the second page? I’m pretty sure I got everything right in the first half, but I got a little stumped on the multiple choice relating to the word problem from the first part.” The dark haired boy took one look at Denki’s perplexed expression and burst into a fit of loud laughter. “What am I doing asking you about this? You’re lucky if you got your name right, let alone any of the questions!”It doesn’t hurt. The stab in his stomach is just remaining adrenaline. Sero’s kidding. Because it’s funny. It doesn’t hurt, it’s funny.Mina finds her way over, swatting at Hanta’s head in a light-hearted fashion. “Don’t be mean, ‘Ta. I’m sure Denki did just fine.” She gives the electric boy an eye roll and slight smile, which ever so slightly dulls the gnawing in his gut. The coffee and its side effects are finally fading, and he feels his bone-aching tiredness catching up with him. The faint threat of a headache prods at his skull, causing a preemptive sheen of sweat to coat his forehead as he tentatively touched his pencil to his temple. The static buzz that forever hums in Denki’s head intensifies as a surge of pain washes over it. Damn. He forgot to take Advil this morning.
Stupid.
The class ends, bringing with it a feeling of dread at the thought of training being the next period. He was already tired enough, and with the imminent migraine quickly approaching, Kaminari knew he wouldn’t be anywhere near peak performance today. He’d be lucky if he received an adequate score at all, and the thought just caused another wave of nauseating pain to throb through his head. He was already ready for this day to be over, so he could sleep, so he could briefly escape his ceaseless thoughts, so he could be rewarded with the peace of unconsciousness.Still, he couldn’t let his weariness get control of him, and he let a few brief shocks zap at his eyes as class 1A made its way to the training grounds. He couldn’t give in to the pull of rest. He couldn’t let himself fall behind any more than he already had.In the locker rooms, he was reminded of his physical shortcomings, as his eyes lazily grazed over the bodies of his classmates. They were all impressively built, muscles large and bulky, jaws square and hard, towering over his measly size and thin limbs. Unlike the other heroes-in-training, Denki’s muscles were less prominent and more lean, not building any more mass no matter how many gym sessions he joined Kirishima and the others with. In one of the odd occasions where Denki found himself with Mineta, the boy had casually referred to the blonde as a “twink”. The label still lingered in his mind, even after such a long time, and brought with it the familiar uncertainty of his sexuality.While he was sure none of his friends really cared about who he was attracted to, Denki wasn’t sure he could face it if anyone started acting weird around him- especially his friends of the same gender who, for the most part, didn’t talk much about relationships or crushes or anything like that. Sure, there had been several late-night “guy talks” when Sero came to the others for advice during the brief period when he and Jirou dated. In the end, they decided they were better off as friends, and still had a healthy relationship. During pride month, Kirishima had said something about how manly the celebration of non-heteronormative sexualities was, but Denki was sure that was just Eijirou being an amazing human being and hadn’t read into it too much. In general, Denki was bad at reading people, especially when it came to his gay-dar. Unless they were parading around with a rainbow flag, the boy really couldn’t tell anything about their sexuality at all, let alone how they would feel about him revealing his. Really, the only person whose opinion on his homosexuality mattered to him was a certain emotionally constipated Pomeranian. So many times Denki had watched the boy, stared at him, even before he realized his feelings for the other blonde. Because not only was Katsuki someone he admired sexually, he was someone whose word was held higher than any other in the electric boy’s head. If it somehow got out that Kaminari was gay and Bakugou disapproved of that, there was no way Denki would be able to go on. Which was why he kept his guard up whenever anyone brought up the subject of significant others; he didn’t need the possible homophobic comments from the others, and he especially didn’t need anything from Bakugou that would destroy any remnants of security that Denki had about himself.When they were finished changing into their hero uniforms, everyone gathered together on the edges of the fighting matts to be paired up. Today they were working on hand-to-hand combat, which was good for Denki, since he wasn’t sure he would be able to last long putting his energy into his quirk. This way, he’d be able to focus more on strategy and being quick on his feet without having to worry about deflecting others’ quirk-powered attacks. He always was better at close combat, and that knowledge gave him enough confidence to go against Sero. Despite the other boy being taller, they had similar body composition and were on equal levels of ability. However, Kaminari was already pretty tired, which caused him to move more heavily. Hanta quickly got the upper hand, using his friend’s sluggish reflexes to land several contacts on his lower body and knock him to the ground. Despite his struggling, it wasn’t long before Denki was defeated, having been pinned to the ground for a three second duration and tapping out, letting Hanta know that his hold on the smaller boy was becoming painful and that he gave up. The defeat left a twinge in Denki’s stomach, but they were quick to go again, and Kaminari was more careful to pay closer attention to his opponent’s movements, which ended with their second match a relative success. By their third go at it, Denki was awake with sweat and heavy breath. Exhaustion no longer clung to him like it had been that morning, and he was beginning to feel better. By the time training was winding up, Denki had even won a few rounds, and the staticky buzzing in his brain was quieting down. Overall, things were feeling up for Denki once it was time to shower and prepare for lunch.After rinsing off, Denki joined his friends for the meal, a content feeling of self-satisfaction finding its way into his core. Bakugou had prepared some chicken katsu for the group, and Denki happily shoveled rice and crispy meat into his salivating mouth. He couldn’t help but groan at the pop of flavor and warmth exploding across his taste buds. If he hadn’t closed his eyes in ecstasy, he would've seen the flush of color that rose to the chef’s face at the sound.“So,” Mina began, speaking around a mouthful of shredded cabbage and tonkatsu sauce, “what do you guys think of Todoroki?”There was a resounding groan from the others of the group, who were all used to the pink girl’s habit of finding a new guy to obsess over every week. The laughter at her protests warms Denki in a familiar, comfortable way that comes with being with his friends. The light-hearted topics and casual banter satiated Denki’s busy mind and leveled his spasming thoughts. As much racing disarray his friends caused in his mind, they also soothed him and brought relative order to the torturous organ in his head. The level of trust the yellow-haired boy had in these four people was greater than any he had with others, which was good when he needed consoling, but bad when he was feeling particularly sensitive and took the teasing to heart. Denki knew his friends cared about him. Of course they did. But it was harder for him to tell sometimes, when he got into his head and let their words swirl and spike, twisting their meaning until his insecurities were validated and the boy he left feeling hollow and confused. His own mind was his undoing. But then, it had always been that way, hadn’t it.The squad finished lunch in high spirits, chatting and joking and poking fun. Kaminari was feeling calm and secure, unconcerned, spirits free of his previous anxieties. However, said anxieties came rushing back with a horrible feeling of dread at the sight of the graded tests waiting at the students’ desks. The boy actually physically froze, blocking the doorway to the classroom momentarily as his heartbeat picked up, his breathing became shallow, and the acidic threat of bile rose to the back of his throat. His previous headache came roaring back with newfound power, and Denki’s vision blurred for a moment at the pure shock of the pain. It was like someone had whacked him across the skull with a hammer, and he dizzily made his way to his desk already feeling horrible.Eijirou, the perfect guy that he was, softly elbowed the blonde. “All good, Denks?”Unable to fully register anything, the boy in question simply nodded and forced the lump in his throat back down. Getting grades back was possibly his least favorite part of school, aside from taking the tests themselves.He made his way to his desk feeling disconnected, not noticing a certain pair of crimson eyes watching him with concern. He didn’t notice anything, in fact, except for the glaring red mark scratched on the front of his test. Every mark was like a bloody gash in his efforts, a reminder that he would never be good enough no matter how hard he worked. The dark mindset took over his thoughts as he finally arrived in front of the accused paper, and he couldn’t tell if he wanted to cry or throw fists.Sixty-two. A measly sixty-two percent. After hours of studying, reviewing, practicing, thinking, slaving, torturing himself. He couldn’t even get a goddamn passing score.
What the fuck is wrong with me?
“Alright, brats. As you can see, I very kindly sacrificed my lunch, and with it precious sleep, to finish grading this week’s unit test. As we move on to our next major topic this semester, I expect a few of you-” with this came a pointed look in Kaminari’s direction, “-to focus a little more on class work and try harder. I know being a teenager in the modern day is draining and such nonsense, but being a hero isn’t just about coming in and beating up a bunch of villains. Now, if you’ll turn your attention to the worksheet from Monday…”The bored-looking hero continued his rant, but Denki heard none of it, eyes fixated on the evidence of his stupidity lying on his desk.
Stupid, stupid, stupid, STUPID.
A jab to the shoulder pulled Denki’s attention to a curious looking Kirishima. “Seriously, bro, you good? You seem kind of-” stupid, “-distant.”Denki smiled because it was funny. “Yeah, I’m fine. How was training?” He smiled because it didn’t hurt. His head was swimming. It didn’t. Hurt.“Great! Bakubro and I ended up partnered, and I worked on that new spin-kick I was telling you about- the one Midoriya suggested? Something about a low center of balance and such.” Of course Midoriya had great suggestions for his friends’ fighting techniques. The boy was seeping with knowledge and effortless wisdom; Denki bet he had no trouble with the test at all. No trouble with any tests, in fact. Because he wasn’t like Denki. He didn’t struggle with simple tasks. His mind wasn’t in a constant state of disarray, bordering on manic with the amount of energy coursing through it on a daily basis. No, Izuku wasn’t like Denki. He wasn’t…Stupid.“Oi, dumbasses, you gonna start the assignment or what? Can’t spend all fuckin’ day waiting for your tiny brains to catch up. Human Caterpillar said we gotta be in groups and I sure as hell ain’t partnering with any of those extras, so I’m stuck with you idiots.” Denki didn’t have to turn around to know that the abrasive words belonged to the one and only Katsuki Bakugou.He was joking. Denki knew he was joking. Right? Of course he was. That was just his personality. He was like that with everyone. The grump was always saying things he didn’t mean. And he didn’t mean it. Did he? Or was he serious? Did he really think of Kaminari that way? The words might have been true, but it felt so much worse hearing them from the very person Denki wanted to see him differently. But he was joking. Was he? He had to be. Because it was funny. So Denki smiled. Because it was funny. And it didn’t hurt.“You got it, Kats!” he piped.Already starting on the work, Bakugou only offered an annoyed growl at the nickname, the blush that rose to his face masked in his hunched position. Both blondes were too preoccupied to notice the knowing smile dawning the redhead, all too familiar with the two’s banter.
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
There was very little Kirishima didn’t know about his friends. In fact, he probably knew more about them than they did themselves.He knew Kaminari was constantly beating himself up in his head. He knew Katsuki was fighting with himself about how to help. He knew that Denki was gay, though most of the class could tell by now. He also knew Katsuki wasn’t into girls, or anyone, for that matter, except for a certain ball of energy with a lightning bolt in his hair. And he knew Bakugou’s feelings for Denki were reciprocated.But as much as Eijirou wanted to push his friends together and force them to see their feelings for each other, he knew that pressuring it would only lead to denial and miscommunication. So, he waited impatiently in the sidelines for his two best bros to figure out that they were meant for each other.And they were. Denki’s insecurities could be so easily smoothed over by Bakugou’s convincing words, who needed someone to boost some confidence into so it didn’t all go to his ego. Katsuki’s anger tantrums always deflated at a joke from Kaminari, and the perfect support they would be able to provide for each other was something Eijirou recognized as a once-in-a-lifetime soulmate type bond. But both blondes were too stuck in their own heads to look up and realize that they weren’t as alone as they thought they were. It was driving the shark-toothed boy insane to wait for them to come together on their own, and he as this close to just telling them to fuck already and get it over with. It seemed like neither of them was going to confess ever, and it broke Kirishima’s heart to think that a relationship with such potential would never be just because they were too damn stubborn to admit that they were harboring major feelings for the other.Which is why the third wheel had been so surprised to find the taller of the two knocking on his door late at night a week ago.“Bakubro?” he had questioned, stepping back to allow the other into his dorm, a mixture of concern and confusion evident on his face. The angry blonde never stayed up past his designated bed time, and if he did, it wasn’t for a good reason.“How do you know if you’re in love with someone?”The question was so unwarranted that all Eijirou could respond with was a startled, “...Uh?” before swiftly closing the door and staring at his friend with a startled expression.The blonde looked contemplative, eyebrows which would normally be drawn down in anger instead knitted tightly in a brooding way that caused a thoughtful wrinkle to appear between the two strips of darker blonde hair. If he didn’t look so lost and pensive, Kirishima wouldn’t have taken him seriously. But something about the way the guy’s lips were curved in uncertainty and his fidgety body language told him that this was a genuine need for advice.Kirishima made his way to his bed and sat down, patting the spot next to him to signal for his friend to join him. Instead, the other took the desk chair and looked expectantly at the closest buddy as if there was a correct answer, as if he should know. He tilted his head to the side and, instead of immediately offering advice, simply beckoned him to go on with a “Tell me more.”Clearly stressed, Bakugou carded a hand through his spiked golden locks and let out an anxious sigh. “I heard about that love-at-first-sight, butterflies-in-stomach, heart-eyed bullshit and I don’t know if that’s what I’m feeling or if that even exists but it’s pissing me off cause I don’t know what’s going on in my own damn head and I need to do something about it before I go insane.” He spoke hurriedly, likely a result of hours spent circling the same train of thought and ending no closer to a conclusion.“Whoa, whoa! Slow down, man! What’re you talking about?”Katsuki swallowed thickly and looked at his best friend with bewildered eyes. “I- I think…” He shook the uncertainty from his face and spoke again with a newfound determination. “I think I might be in love with Denki.”Kirishima choked on his own spit. “You what?”“Shut the fuck up! You heard me,” Bakugou growled, a dark red sheen heating his face.“I know,” Kirishima blurted before he could stop himself.“Hah? Fuck you mean you know?”“I know. That you’re in love with him.”Bakugou’s face turned a mixture of anger and embarrassment. “Then what the hell are you surprised for?”“Because I didn’t think that you did.”The other’s eyes widened at the remark, and there was a moment of silence while the two let it sink in before Katsuki spoke again.“Hoo-fucking-ray, we’ve both established that I love the electric idiot. That still doesn’t help my situation of what to do about this shit.”Kirishima laughed, purely because the response was just so Bakugou. “Personally, I think you should just talk to him. I know Denks, and I know how he thinks, and I really think it’d be best to just get everything out in the open.” At the appalled look on his friend’s face, Kirishima sighed. “Listen, man. I know how hard it is for you to open up and be vulnerable and stuff, but trust me. You’ll feel so much better when it’s out. And besides, waiting it out and sitting on your feelings isn’t doing anyone any good. Even in worst-case-scenarios, you’ll at least be able to move on.”Bakugou took a moment to consider this before nodding thoughtfully. “Yeah. That makes sense.” At the satisfied grin on the other’s face, he was quick to clarify. “I mean, I’m not gonna march over to his room tomorrow and fuckin’ confess my undying love, but… I’ll tell him sometime.”“Good. Glad I could help, you love-sick blasty.”“Shut up! And go the fuck to bed, we have leg day tomorrow.”The conversation had ended just as abruptly as it started, and Eijirou was once again alone in his room with his thoughts. He couldn’t help but think of how lucky he was to watch this relationship come together, and he couldn’t wait for his two best friends to make him a third wheel in their heroic romance of manliness.Now, a week had passed since the late-night advice segment, and Kirishima was eagerly awaiting the news that the two were dating. However, Bakugou sure took his time in gathering the courage to talk to his boyfriend-to-be, but Kiri tried not to push it. He knew that doing so would only end badly and he couldn’t imagine a situation that didn’t result in his head being exploded. So, he stuck it out, winking occasionally at his two blonde buddies and trying to subtly hint that they were into each other. His clues seemed to go unnoticed, though, and he feared it would take a literal life-or-death situation to get one of them to confess.Which this very well may be.Somehow, a low-level villain had managed to infiltrate a nearby elementary school and was causing a panic on campus. While the school wasn’t currently in session, there were still several young children on the site of the attack who needed saving. UA was quick to get several of their students on the scene in order to prevent further damage and try to apprehend the villain before any civilians could be harmed, which was why Chargebolt, Ingenium, Red Riot, and a few others were dodging the villain’s quirk attacks any way they could to keep them distracted as Tentacole and Earphone Jack helped young students flee and escape to safety.The villain’s quirk was some sort of creation quirk, which allowed the attacker to dispense sharp thorns from their knuckles and launch them several feet to impale whoever was in range. The ability had seemed harmless enough at first, but it quickly became obvious that a second quirk allowed this particular individual to shoot venomous saliva from their mouth onto any perceived threat. The heroes in training were able to avoid any toxic sprays long enough for the civilians to get out of danger and into safety, and things were looking to be coming to an end. Iida went with Jirou and Shoji to help with damage assessment and medical evaluation while Denki and Kirishima stayed to get the villain in quirk-canceling cuffs.In an attempt to get more insight on his friends’ situation, the redhead asked in his most casual tone, “So, did Bakubro talk to you yet?”Denki turned to him, confused. “Bakugou? Why would he talk to me?” He paused, a horribly obvious mistake, the cuffs not quite latched around the villain’s wrists.Kirishima was about to come up with some excuse when the villain made a disgusting sort of hacking sound, as if they were gathering phlegm in the back of their throat, and harshly spat poisonous slobber right in Kaminari’s face.The blonde let out a startled yelp before swaying on his feet and promptly falling to the ground.
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
Denki felt like he was swimming.His limbs were floating and coming detached and falling off of him and he couldn’t care less. He felt weightless and free; free to let his mind clear, his eyes to shut, his brain to smooth over. Consciousness was subjective- he found himself feeling similarly to how he did after short-circuiting. Usually, the effects wore off after about an hour or so. Has it been an hour? He can’t seem to find the energy to care, instead allowing himself to go numb and thoughtless…He woke a second time slightly more aware. His skin was like barbed wire, but his nerves were too desensitized to register anything other than a deep aching in his flesh. He was faintly aware of his skull, and the way it seemed like liquid behind his eyes. Still in a dream-like daze, he drifted in slumber…Kaminari finally became responsive after hours of drifting between various levels of awareness. His face stung slightly to the touch, but that didn’t stop him from stroking his fingers lightly over his features, checking for any broken bones or bruises. Surprisingly, he found nothing out of the ordinary, and relaxed enough to notice his surroundings.He was in Recovery Girl’s room at the school infirmary. He recognized the dull pale walls and sterile scent of disinfectant, as well as the uncomfortably flat mattress on which he was perched. There was a glass of water on the metal tray, which Denki downed happily before swinging his legs to the floor and steadying himself on the countertop. He only wavered for a moment, his legs momentarily unable to support the rest of his body, before he regained his balance and stood upright.He remembered what happened. Of course he remembered. He remembered the attack, and the familiar claws of doubt gripping at his head when he was called for the sudden mission. But he couldn’t possibly mess this up. It wasn’t an overly dangerous task by any means, and he decided he would prove himself a worthy member of UA by successfully apprehending the villain with ease. Sure, he would never surpass his schoolmates academically, but the least he could do was perform well when relied on for real hero work. If he couldn’t do that, then what business did he have at UA in the first place? So he would do this. He had to. Fuck anyone else’s opinions about him, fuck his own opinions about himself. Even the most incompetent students (including himself) would have no trouble defeating such a low-level villain. Denki would easily be able to overpower him with his quirk, if it even came to that. Most likely, he could get the upper hand just by putting his newer close combat tactics into use, having practiced them just earlier that day. So, Denki shoved any thoughts about school and the test and his score and his failure -god he was such a failure- down into the furthest, darkest corner of his mind until it was out of his sight and he was left only feeling somewhat like a fuck-up and mostly prepared to take down whoever it was that had made a big enough mess to draw this amount of attention.But, of course, he horribly overestimated himself. He kind of had to give himself a pat on the back; not many could reach his level of idiocy. It took a special kind of stupid to achieve this level of underperformance.It had started off alright. Kiri was there, which made him more confident if not pressured. The redhead would have no trouble with this at all. Of course he wouldn’t. No one would. Because it was that easy. It would take a genuine imbecile to screw this one up.But if Denki Kaminari was anything, he was an imbecile.He’d gotten distracted. Because of course he had. His shark-toothed best friend had said something about Katsuki and Denki ignorantly let his mind warm at the thought of his ill-tempered crush. His heart had jumped at the mention of the other’s name and his brain ceased to work properly for the brief moment it took him to recover. Which shouldn’t happen. Especially if he was ever to become a pro. Heroes can’t hesitate. They can’t afford to get distracted. People’s lives were at risk. Heroes couldn’t be stupid. But stupid he was, and nothing compared to the pain that fact held - not even the face-full of slimy acid he earned himself.He felt the dark corner of his mind, where his deepest wounds and most intense insecurities lay, start to take up more room in his head. With it grew his nausea, and he chugged a second cup of water to subside the knot in his gut.
Stupidstupidstupidstupidstupidstupidstupidstupidstupidstupidstupid.
There was a cheap mirror above the sink in the small medical room, and Denki took the time to regard himself.His hair stuck up in all directions, as stubborn and uncooperative as ever. His nose was too small and his eyes were too far apart. Just more ways he fell short. His eyes dropped to where his hands were trembling under the faucet. It took longer than it should have for him to steady the shaking and look back to the mirror. Pale yellow eyes stared back at him. Stared at the sharp point of his chin. The triangular curve of his jaw. The small markings of his eyebrows. The row of teeth worrying him bottom lip. Denki never thought much of his looks. Maybe it showed. Maybe if he did more to look better, handsomer, smarter, then Katsuki would see him as more than the annoying idiot with a lower desirability than IQ score. Maybe if he just tried a little harder, Katsuki would deem him worthy. Maybe then the jokes would stop. Maybe then he could really matter.Maybe then there would be no more nicknames.
Dunce face.
He tore his eyes from his reflection and made his way to the door. He could have checked his phone, which was somehow still in his pocket, to see the time, but he knew there would surely be hundred of notifications on the Bakusquad group chat about how badly Kaminari had fucked up and how funny that was and how ridiculous it was that he never got any better, and he wasn’t sure he could deal with that right now. All he wanted was to crawl into his bed and disappear. Crying never solved anything, so he wouldn’t do that. But he could rest. God, he was so tired. If he could just get away from everything and lay down, maybe it would all just go away. If he could just make it all stop. Even for one minute. One second. If it could all just quit hurting so bad.“Oh! Chargebolt! You’re awake.” Recovery Girl. Probably coming to let him know that he was wasting time, that he had to get up and face life at some point, that he couldn’t keep being so useless, so stupid.
YOU’RE. SO. STUPID.
“I know,” he muttered. He wasn’t sure if he was answering the woman in front of him or the words in his head. He couldn’t tell anymore. What difference did it make anyways.“Are you feeling better? That was quite the quirk, huh? Good thing Red Riot got you here when he did, or I might not have been able to prevent your face from scarring.”So it was Eijirou who had gotten him back to the school. Like a real hero. He would do the world good some day. Not like the nitwit he had the misfortune of calling his friend. Because Eijirou was actually good at things. Because Eijirou had something to offer. Because Eijirou mattered.
And Denki didn’t.
He merely nodded in response and turned to leave. The sooner he could hide in his room, the better. And, as selfish as it was, he couldn’t hear any more about how much better everyone else was. He couldn’t listen to that anymore. It hurt too much.“Oh- Chargebolt.”At the sound of his hero name, Kaminari turned. The movement was sharp and jostled his thoughts, making him aware of how much more of his mind had been taken over by that cloud of anguish. He fought back the urge to gag and blinked the haze from his eyes. Recovery Girl wanted to say something to him.“...Are you sure you’re alright? You really don’t look well. It might do you some good to lay down some more.”He waved her off. Such motion caused pins and needles to form on his wrist and scurry up his arm until his neck twitched to the side and he let out an involuntary zap.Shit.Thankfully, the small bolt had dissipated as soon as it had made itself known, and Denki prayed that the nurse didn’t notice. She gave him an unsatisfied frown but didn’t push it, much to the blonde’s relief. Instead, she sighed and offered a stiff shoulder pat.“Just make sure you’re taking care of yourself. Heroes need rest, too.”Another jerky nod and Kaminari was out of there. Being in that room reminded him of how badly he had fucked up what was such a simple task. Only he would manage to get injured in what was anything but a dangerous mission, and the humiliation that came with that knowledge, and the fact that he’d passed out, was causing the lump in his throat to sharpen and grow with the negative thoughts slowly taking over his mind.He made his way through the halls, mind foggy and aching with discontent. He could hear the voices of his classmates drifting from the common rooms, and took a moment to brace himself for their company, praying that they didn’t say anything about him being the incapable airhead he knew he was.Upon entering the room, he saw a few of his friends huddled on the couch, watching a news report of the accident on the TV. Kirishima was the first to notice his presence, eyes widening at the sight of the frail boy in the doorway.“Kami! Hey, bro, good to see you up!”At the sound of their friend’s name, the others were quick to swarm him and burst with questions regarding his health and what happened. The noise was all too much for him, and their voices went over his head. Instead, he was focused on blank red eyes, which stared back at him from where Bakugou had stopped his pacing.“You were out for so long that Aizawa was about to go throw out your lazy ass!” Sero exclaimed, barking with laughter at his own joke. Denki forced a smile.
STUPIDSTUPIDSTUPIDSTUPIDSTUPIDSTUPIDSTUPIDSTUPID.
“Somebody was very worried,” Mina said quietly, sending a suggestive glance over her shoulder at the leader of their group. Her hint went unperceived, as Denki was too busy trying desperately to find his voice. It was like someone had carved into his throat and stolen his ability to speak, instead replacing it with a thick boulder of diffidence that weighed him down.At her comment, the group parted slightly to allow Bakugou a clear path to the accusing yellowhead. He stomped over, footsteps full of irritation, and stopped just barely an arm’s length away from Denki. From this position, the shorter of the two was forced to tilt his head back and look up at the angry hero. As if he couldn’t feel any smaller. As if he couldn’t be any weaker. As if he couldn’t matter less.“Care to fucking explain, hah, Sparkplug?”
No. I wouldn’t care to explain. I really would not care to explain anything.
Because they already know. Everyone already knows. It’s so obvious that it’s impossible not to know.Denki Kaminari is a failure.“What happened? How’d you manage to take a shot to the face like that? The hell was going through your head, Pikachu? You can’t fuck up like that on missions. Something coulda gone worse. Someone coulda died because of that. You can’t honestly tell me you’re blaming this all on whatever bullshit excuse you’re gonna pull outta your ass. If something had happened… If Shitty Hair hadn’t dragged your ass back here in time… You just can’t keep messing up like this! There’s no excuse for this- this level of stupidity!”It hurt. God, it hurt so fucking bad. Every word was a shard of red-hot glass, cutting ruthlessly into his head, carving into the depths of his mind, burning through any last scarce sliver of confidence until he was left wounded and scarred and broken and bruised and bloody and so ugly useless stupid helpless foolish disgusting unworthy irresponsible careless unreliable cowardly naive gullible overemotional dumb thoughtless messy weak absentminded immature disappointing annoying brainless arrogant insufficient dishonorable exhausting aggravating emotional hideous inadequate pitiful HEARTBROKEN.“I know.”The voice surprised everyone. It sounded so wounded, so pained, so fed up, so self-deprecating, so unlike Denki. It sounded wrong. But it felt right.“I know. Believe me, if anyone knows how stupid I am, it’s me,” he spat. The words were deliciously lethal and he reveled in their bitterness. It was freeing to let his mind be taken over by the thoughts that inwardly consumed him, to just state the obvious and own his stupidity.Bakugou took a step back, his eyes revealing his slight shock, before clenching his fists and screwing his face back into that unhappy scowl that always seemed to be present when Denki was near. “The hell are you going on about?” he growled.“Oh, please,” Kaminari scoffed, letting a hateful grin slide easily into his expression. “You really want me to say it? Alright, fine, I’ll fucking say it. I’m a fuck-up. A hopeless idiot. A good-for-nothing imbecile. A dunce face. You’re so much better than me. All of you are. I know. You’ve made it perfectly fucking clear that you are. Doesn’t mean you always have to act like such a conceited bitch to me all the time, Bakugou.”“The hell did you just say?!”With every comment, Denki had taken another step forward, and in turn Katsuki had stepped forward to meet him halfway. The two were now inches from each other’s face, and the situation would have caused Kaminari to blush if he had any more fucks to give. If he was still foolishly holding onto the hope that the explosive man would one day see him as anything other than someone to put down. But he knew now. He knew that would never happen. He knew it was time to give up. He knew that no matter how hard he tried, how long he spent, how much work he did, he would never, NEVER be more than what he wasA failure.“You deaf, Blasty? Want me to repeat myself? Fine.” Bakugou spluttered, at a loss for the drastic difference in the man before him. As he was finding a response, Denki leaned in, standing on his toes in order to come as close to eye-level as he could. He lifted an accusatory finger and punctuated each of his next words with a swift jab to the chest. It was a dangerous game. Surely, he would get his head blown off. But did he care? Take a wild guess. “I said- You. Are. A. Conceited. Bitch.”At the last poke, Katuski gripped his finger, easily covering the whole appendage with his larger fist, and shoved Denki backwards. Already unbalanced, the latter easily fell backwards, landing with an unsettling thud on the floor. Mina and Hanta rushed to his side while Eijirou gave Bakugou a pointed look before turning to the boy kneeling on the floor. He shoved the others off of him and scrambled back to his feet, eyes seeming to roll in their sockets momentarily before he got his footing and looked to the friend he once dreamed of sharing a life with. Those dreams were long since crushed, replaced with the devastating clarity that Bakugou Katsuki doesn’t care.And he never will.“Get off me, Phone Charger! The fuck is wrong with you today?!”“Maybe we should all just take a deep breath,” Kirishima interjected, trying to step between the two.“Don’t,” Denki hissed, turning towards the dorms’ entrance to leave.“Hey! Where the hell do you think you’re going?!”Kaminari kept walking, ignoring the shouts of the others behind him. They didn’t need him there anyways. All he did was cause trouble. It would do everyone some good if he went to his room and disappeared.Unfortunately, Katsuki had other plans.“You don’t get to just yell a bunch of shit at me and leave, dickhead! Fucking apologize!”Denki laughed, aloud, and shook his head before continuing his exit. A firm hand on his shoulder held him back, though, and before he knew what he was doing, he shoved Bakugou backwards. He only faltered slightly, catching himself before he could fall from the momentum, before taking a moment to realize what just happened and launching himself at Denki.He managed to get a good right hook in, striking Denki in the nose, from which a steady flow of blood erupted, before hands were pulling him back and hauling him away from his bloody opponent.“Yeah, I’m so sorry, Bakugou! I’m so sorry for being such an incompetent bastard! Sorry you have to put up with me! Sorry I’m so stupid! Sorry I’m not good enough for you! Sorry you ever met me! Sorry I was born! Yes, I’m sorry, you asshole! Hear that?! I’M SORRY!”Denki didn’t know if he was being sarcastic anymore. He didn’t know if the words were making it past his hoarse sobs. He didn’t know who was dragging him away, or where he was going. He didn’t even know who he was anymore. He just knew that he was so tired, so exhausted, of feeling like this. He wanted it to be over. Everything. All of it. He couldn’t keep going like this. He couldn’t do it anymore. That much he was sure of.
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
It had been four days since the fight. If you could even call it that.Denki was avoiding his friends- and everyone, for that matter. As unnatural as it felt, he mostly kept quiet and did his best not to call attention to himself.The first night, all he’d been able to do was hunker down alone in his room and cry his soul out until all that was left of any evidence of his feelings were the dozens of soaked tissues and an embarrassing amount of self pity. He had somehow convinced himself that he was over it by now (though that was far from the truth) and was trying his hardest to just pretend that nothing ever happened, aside from evading human interaction like the plague.In order to continue his isolation, he had been skipping class lunches and instead rationed the handful of protein bars that Eijirou had given him to subside his hunger. Speaking of the redhead hero, he was being something of a pain ever since the “fight”. The man was constantly trying to talk to him, pass him notes, staring daggers through the back of his head all class, doing anything to get his attention. Denki didn’t know what that was about, but he couldn’t stand to be around his own friends anymore. He couldn’t take any more of their jokes. Any more of their playful jabs. Even looking at them was like salting an open wound. Every one of Kirishima’s fruitless attempts to talk to him was a harsh jab to the heart, which Denki knew was already broken.So he spent his free time alone in his room, and any time in class lost in his own head. His least favorite thing about class used to be taking tests, but now it was everything. He couldn’t stand to sit in that classroom any more than he could stand to be alone with his thoughts, but what choice did he have? It wasn’t like him putting in effort would make any difference. He failed no matter what. And he always would. Everyone knew it by now. It was only a matter of time before UA kicked him out and his life would only go downhill from there. He knew he should enjoy his time at the school while he had it, and it was selfish to ignore the world and feel sorry for himself, but maybe it would be easier to leave if he started pulling back from the fantasy that was being a hero in training. They would never let someone like Denki be a hero anyways. It was a miracle he had lasted this long, and his luck was sure to run out soon. He didn’t want to make a big deal about it. Maybe no one would even notice if he stopped showing up to classes. Maybe no one would care. Maybe they would be relieved. It wasn’t hard to imagine. He was so sure that these were his last days at UA that he didn’t even question when Aizawa-sensei asked him to stay after class for a talk.This is it, he thought as he watched his classmates file out after the bell. It was fun while it lasted. But nothing lasts forever. It was probably better this way anyways.“Kaminari,” beckoned Aizawa. The student trudged to the teacher’s desk at the front of the room, accepting his fate.He’d be lying if he said there wasn’t a lump in his throat already.“Denki. Do you know why I wanted to speak to you today?” The professor was as bored as always. But if the blonde didn’t know better, he’d almost say there was something like concern in his eyes. But he knew better.“Yes,” he replied softly. His voice was quiet due to lack of use, so he cleared his throat slightly before bowing and speaking again. “I completely understand. Not everyone is cut out to be a hero. I’m just glad I got this opportunity. Thank you.” He bowed again, gripping his elbows tightly and allowing small imperceptible shocks to pass between them, keeping his emotions at bay. When he stood fully upright, however, he found a perplexed look on his teacher’s face.“What..? No. What do you-?” The man took a deep breath and pinched the bridge of his nose. “I’m trying to ask you what’s wrong. You’ve been acting…strange, recently. Did something happen?”Huh?“...Huh?” he answered smartly.Aizawa raised his arm, as if moving to touch the boy, then decided against it and instead used it to rub the back of his neck. “You’re usually much more energetic. But this past week you’ve been more like…well, more like me. It’s unusual for someone’s demeanor to change so substantially in a short amount of time. I’m assuming this has something to do with whatever happened between you and Bakugou a few days ago.” At this, the teen looked up with wide eyes before quickly averting his gaze, a slightly pink tint dusting his features. As much as he told himself his feelings for the explosive, emotionally-stunted boy were gone, it wasn’t quite true. “Relax, you’re not in trouble,” Eraserhead replied simply, mistaking the blush for anxiety. “I’m not upset about that. I just want to know what’s going on with you.”Kaminari glared at the floor. So no getting expelled then? “I…I dunno. Nothing? It’s not a big deal.” He shrugged.“Clearly, if it’s affected you this much, it’s a pretty big deal.”His scowl deepened. “I- I just…” His gaze wandered to the window, staring out at the campus outside. He wondered idly how different his life would be if he had given up earlier. Would it really be that much easier? Could it be any worse? How many battles had he lost, tasks had he failed, yet still kept going? It all seemed so utterly useless now. He was still the same failure he had always been, only now his shortcomings were more important, more impactful. Now his mistakes could cost real lives. And Denki wasn’t worth it. He could no longer push forward with a false sense of hope while he hurt those around him, just so he could satisfy some need within him to keep reaching for things out of his grasp. He looked back at Mr. Aizawa, and he almost wished he was getting kicked out of UA, if it meant he could escape this conversation.Once it was clear his student wasn’t going to elaborate, Mr. Aizawa sighed and leaned back against his desk. “Look. I’ve asked Bakugou to have private study sessions with you. It doesn’t have to be tutoring, necessarily, but clearly you two have some things to work out, and why not do so while doing something productive. I trust him not to get side tracked, but that also means you have to cooperate with him and-”“What?!”Eraserhead looked at the boy with wide eyes, not expecting such an outburst from the recently timid persona his student had taken on. He had a distant look on his face, eyes darting around, and it was clear he was overthinking things. How he always got stuck with the crazy kids, he didn’t know, but he had to fix this before the whole thing blew up in his face.“Don’t argue with me, Kaminari. We both know full well that you need the help, and he already agreed to do it.”Denki’s jaw dropped. He took a moment to recover, swallowing thickly and raising his head to look at the teacher. “He agreed?”It was rare Bakugou allowed anyone to even watch him do his work other than the designated Tuesday night study sessions, though several had tried since the guy really did everything with such ease. His effortless smarts was not only a deep source of attraction for Denki, but was also one of envy. But the boy hated having company while he was trying to work, which was why it was so surprising that he had agreed on a private session, and one with Denki of all people. It was no secret how irritating he found the shorter blonde, nor how hopeless he was. There had been many occasions where Bakugou flung his arms in the air with a dramatic “I give up!” after doing his best to explain something to Denki. That tiny, foolish part of Kaminari that still clung to his feelings for Katsuki sent a flutter of nausea through his stomach, and he found himself biting the inside of his cheek in order to keep himself contained.“Yes, he agreed,” Aizawa repeated, rolling his eyes. “You must sort out where and when, though. I can’t do everything for you. Now go on so I can get some rest before the next class.”Denki left the classroom feeling strangely fuzzy. That small, dumb part of him couldn’t wait. He did his best to shove it down, though. He had to remind himself that this was only happening because he was stupid, and that Katsuki probably only agreed out of pity.…Blasty ༼つಠ益ಠ༽つ ─=≡ΣO))
HeyDenki stared with wide eyes at the notification on his screen. It was rare to get a message from Bakugou, and even rarer for him to be the one initiating the conversation. Shoving down the flurry of feelings that arose with that one message, Denki simply opened his phone to send a quick reply, not wanting to make Katsuki mad by ignoring a direct message.Pikachu🗲
heyHe was currently struggling with Present Mic’s most recent English assignment, which wasn’t unusual since he struggled with everything, but was more disheartening since he was practically fluent in the language. It did little more to help his confidence that he almost wanted to give in and start hoping again, hoping that maybe he still had a chance with Katsuki. But he was more hurt than he was hopeful, so he shoved the feelings down and opened a new tab of Google Translate.It was a while before he finished the work, and by then Denki was no longer sure his thoughts were in any real language, let alone one he understood. To say he was exhausted was an understatement, and he still had at least an hour of work to catch up on since he’d dozed off in Ectoplasm’s class earlier that week.Disheartened by this knowledge, Denki decided to take a brief break (read: procrastinate) and check his phone. He saw a new notification from Bakugou and was quick to open it. His eagerness should have been a warning sign that he wasn’t as over his feelings as he was telling himself he was, but he chose to ignore his brain for the time being in favor of reading the message.Blasty ༼つಠ益ಠ༽つ ─=≡ΣO))
Study session tmr in my room, 5:00p
Don’t be late and bring your shitRight. That made sense. Katsuki was contacting him about the studying that Aizawa probably forced him into. He wouldn’t text Denki of his own free will. Why would he want to say anything to him in the first place? Kaminari seriously needed to stop expecting things from people. He was only letting himself down.He sent a quick thumbs-up before sighing and returning to his work. This was going to take a while.Needless to say, it was past one am when he finally finished, and his head couldn’t hit the pillow fast enough.…The day seemed to pass both excruciatingly slow and dreadfully fast. Denki didn’t know if he was turning paranoid or if Bakugou was really watching him, but it was like he could feel someone’s eyes on him constantly and it was making him slightly insane. Not only that, but he was having even more trouble focusing in class now that he was trying extra hard to be a good student. He was so sick of disappointing everyone who tried to help him with schoolwork, and even though he was still mad at Katsuki about their “fight”, he still couldn’t handle the idea of being such a letdown. Even if it was Aizawa-sensei that was forcing the next top hero to tutor him (or whatever the arrangement was), he still felt obligated to do his best and prove that he wasn’t a total lost cause. Maybe it was petty that he wanted to seem smart for once in his life just because it was Bakugou that would be teaching him, but he really didn’t care at this point. He thought it would be easy enough to fake intelligence if he paid attention during the day’s classes, but there were too many other things bouncing around in his brain for this to truly work.So by the time lunch rolled around, Kaminari was no better off than he had been in the first place, not to mention how much more anxious he was. Every time he looked at the clock, it was closer to the time he would be going to Bakugou’s room. Which- obviously. That’s how time works. But it was also sort of exhilarating to watch the minutes pass by and by, with each one the study session drawing nearer and nearer. Now, there were only a handful of hours before he would be face-to-face with Katsuki, and he hadn’t prepared at all.He shouldn’t be this nervous about it. Excited? Nervous. He wasn’t excited. Why would he be? It wasn’t like Bakugou wanted to be there anyways. It wasn’t like anything particularly good or interesting was going to happen. What right did Denki have to really be feeling anything about it anyways? It really wasn’t a big thing.Only it kind of was. Kaminari was never really one to be a part of drama- well, that is, serious drama. He’d never…verbalized anything. He’d never yelled at someone like that before. Not with genuine feeling behind it. And sure, Katsuki did all the time, but that was just his personality. Kaminari had never been in any real social conflict like this before. Mostly, he was the one cracking jokes and making comments in tense times to make everything less of a big deal. But this wasn’t a big deal. It really wasn’t. He’d just gotten overwhelmed and kind of…blown up. Which was ironic, since the person he was “blowing up” at was the king of blowing up, Mr. Great Explosion Murder God Dynamite himself. Probably not the best judgment on his part, but he wasn’t exactly thinking clearly at the time. He had been so exhausted and sick of everything and just over it that he hadn’t been thinking about much at all, other than that sinking pit of dark thoughts that never seemed to go entirely away. Even now, he could feel it lurking in the depths of his consciousness, offering unsolicited commentary about what was wrong with Denki:
Stupid stupid you’re stupid Bakugou’s going to see, he’s going to know for sure how dumb you are; not like he didn’t before, but now it will be so obvious that he won’t be able to stand being near you anymore. It’s a wonder he’s tolerated you for this long. It’s a wonder anyone has, you stupid. STUPID. It’s a burden to even be associated with you, and yet you’ve gone and fucked up your relationship with the few people who were nice enough to take pity on you. This loneliness is what you deserve, you IDIOT, you deserve to be alone; deserve to hurt, to cry, to be the sensitive, overly emotional dumbass that everyone knows you are. DUNCE FACE.
Denki winced.That was something that did hurt. Most of the time, he could block out the thoughts, just push them down and recognize that, for the most part, they were just nonsense that no one necessarily believed other than his insecure parts. But every once in a while, the line between his own illusions of what people thought about him and how people actually felt blurred, and he would get a sinking sort of feeling in his stomach. Like maybe those thoughts weren’t so far from the truth sometimes. Like maybe the only one Denki was fooling was himself.“-...and that’s all for today. Be sure to finish yesterday’s work packet by next class, and have a lovely rest of your day!” came Midnight’s voice, snapping Denki back to attention. School was finally over. Now there were less than two hours until his meeting with Bakugou.Students filed out of the classroom, laughing and talking, careless and unaware of the worries that were currently gripping the lowest ranking student in their class.How should Kaminari act? Was he still mad? Was he mad in the first place? If he kept acting like this, would things change for better or for worse? Maybe he just shouldn’t act like anything. He was definitely overthinking this. But he felt horribly and obviously unprepared, even though this wasn’t a big deal in any way. God, what should he wear? That was a stupid thing to care about. But, really, would it be better to go in uniform, or change into something casual and comfortable? This was really not something that he should be thinking about at all. It was pathetically insignificant, and yet here he was, worrying about it.
Whatever, whatever, whatever.
It wasn’t like Bakugou was going to notice what he was wearing in the first place, let alone think much about it. He doesn’t care about Denki, much less about what kind of pants he had on.
Katsuki doesn’t care.
Kaminari swallowed and hauled his stuff over his shoulder, dragging himself back to his room and flopping unceremoniously onto his bed.If things were normal, he would probably be joking around with Sero and Mina in one of their dorms, procrastinating on any work in favor of getting to the next level of some video game or ranking who in class was most likely to accidentally eat dog food and secretly like it (Kouda) or which teachers were definitely secretly fucking (Mic and Eraserhead hands down). He might even be preparing to go to the gym with Kiri and Katsuki, or surrendering to his fruity side and doing face masks while watching rom-coms with Ashido and whoever else wanted to engage in girl talk.But things weren’t normal. So he wasn’t doing any of that. Instead, he was here, feeling sorry for himself alone in his room.
Whatever.
He sat up and loosened his tie before tugging it off and chucking it across the room, where it landed against a slumped pile of laundry beside his crowded desk. Denki never had been the tidiest, but it was no secret that his room had become increasingly more disorganized as the week went on. It wasn’t hard to ignore, though, as inconvenient as the permanent layer of dust shrouding everything was.Choosing to be lazy, Denki sat up and stared at his reflection in the mirror that Sero had helped him set up on the wall opposite his bed.His hair was a mess- which, of course. But there were also deep semi-circles of exhaustion beneath his sunken eyes, looking almost translucent in comparison to his sickly pale skin. The yellow of his eyes was dull and ugly, perfect to match the rest of him.
Dunce face.
What was wrong with his face? It kind of just seemed like a face to him. Nothing to write home about, or even really notice at all. Could you really tell his intelligence (or lack thereof) just by looking at him?Denki raised his hands to his face and kneaded the fat of his cheeks, massaging them into strange shapes. He pinched and stretched at the skin, trying to contort his features into something that his brain might recognize, into something that might make him go oh, I see now, there’s the dunce face. His efforts proved futile, and he dropped his hands back into his lap before standing and shrugging off his blazer jacket. He glanced at the digital All Might clock (a gift from Midoriya when they celebrated a joint birthday party last summer) on his nightstand and saw that there was still an hour and a half before he would need to head over to Bakugou’s dorm.Sighing, he shucked off his shoes and pulled out his phone, setting an alarm to wake him again in forty-five minutes. With that, he buried himself in his bedsheets and drifted into unconsciousness.…
Vvvt. Vvvt. Vvvt.
Denki wakes up with a start to the vibrations of his phone. For a disorienting moment, he can’t figure out where he is, before the punishment of his memories returns and he groans and glances at the screen.He has half an hour before he should head over, but now it’s like he’s even more tired than he was prior to his little nap. But whatever. It’s not a big deal.He forces himself out of bed, flexing and stretching to get rid of the pins and needles that had settled into his limbs from the position. Kaminari looks a mess; his mouth tastes like sleep, his eyebags are more pronounced, his hair is slightly matted on one side, and he’s still in his now-rumpled school uniform. His appearance matches his frazzled, disorganized state of mind, and he almost debates canceling on Bakugou. He probably would, if he didn’t know that Aizawa would have his ass when he found out. But he really doesn't feel like being around anyone right now, let alone Katsuki.By the time he’s brushed his teeth, semi-combed his hair, and splashed cold water on his face, he’s got just over ten minutes until he should leave. He uses those last few minutes to sort through the stack of long overdue work sitting undone on his desk chair to pull out whatever assignments Bakugou meant by “bring your shit”. The sorting revealed more angry red marks and reminders of his idiocy, and he leaves his room with a head full of negative reinforcement and an unsettling churning in his stomach at the thought of spending the rest of the afternoon with the very last person he would choose to do so with.He arrived in front of the other’s door much faster than he would have liked, and had to take a deep breath to prepare himself before lifting his hand to knock.Just at that moment, though, Bakugou yanked open the door already looking pissed, stepping forward as if about to chase down whoever would be victim to his wrath, before seeing the shorter blonde positioned in the doorway.“There you are, Sparky! The fuck are you doing just standing out here? Hurry the hell up and get your ass in here.”It was…strange. Not the words, exactly- no, those were normal. But his tone lacked its usual bite, and if Denki didn’t know better he’d almost say he detected some straint of…concern? But he did know better. At least, he did now. Besides, he was too tired and apathetic to really care much about whatever tone of voice Bakugou was using. Instead, he just followed him into the room and shut the door behind him.Katsuki’s room was far cleaner and more assembled than Denki’s; in fact, it was pristine. It had always been weird how much of a neat-freak the guy was, but this was kind of absurd. Even the bed was made.The room itself was relatively plain; a mattress in the corner with a black and orange patterned comforter, free of wrinkles. There were a few posters on the wall, one of an obscure rock band that Denki had never heard of, and a few of heroes that Katsuki had referred to as “badass” more than a few times in conversation. There was even a newspaper slipping from when Bakugou won the Sports Festival. There was a set of weights in the corner, along with a well-loved punching bag, but other than that there were few other personal touches, most of the room's furnishings looking like the basic setup from the default dorm all of the students had.In his scan of the room, Denki took note of the various papers scattered on the desk and remembered why he was here in the first place, returning his focus to his “tutor” without looking him in the eye.“Look…” Bakugou started. Kaminari’s eyes flicked over to his face for a brief moment, before he looked down at his feet. Katsuki cleared his throat and carded a hand through his hair. “About what happened-”“Let's start with math,” Denki blurts, interrupting that train of thought before the conversation can get any more uncomfortable. He ignores the startled expression on Katsuki’s face and instead drops his bag onto the floor and pulls out Ectoplasm’s assignment from that day’s class to start filling out problems.He doesn’t notice the frown that tugs at his friend(?)’s face as he goes to sit at his desk, nor does he register whatever Bakugou was trying to start with that line as anything other than an attempt to get an apology from Denki at his outburst.But Denki wasn’t going to apologize. And he knew Bakugou was too stubborn to even acknowledge that he could’ve done something wrong as well. So they sat in silence, the only sound the scratching of pencils and the frequent screeching of Kaminari’s eraser when he made a mistake.
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
They’re nearly an hour into their study time when someone breaks the silence. For once, it isn’t Denki.“Look, if we’re just going to be doing this separately then what’s the point of this shit in the first place?”Bakugou’s voice is rough and annoyed, even though Kaminari doesn’t think he’s done anything to anger the guy. Then again, Katsuki hardly needs a reason to be angry.They stare at each other for a moment before Denki moves to gather his things. “You’re right, I should probably get going anyways.”“No!” Bakugou blurts, causing Kaminari to freeze in place and turn to him with wide eyes. “No, shit, that’s not what I- Look. I don’t know what the hell that was the other day, and I don’t know if it was something I did, but it’s made everything weird now and it’s shitty so can we fuckin’...solve this or something?”Denki stared at him for a moment. Then he snorted. Since when does Bakugou Katsuki want to solve anything? The sound drew an angry scowl from the other, but Denki spoke before he could say anything. “Alright, sure. Go ahead.”Bakugou just stared at him blankly. “Hah? Go ahead with what?”Kaminari crossed his arms. “I don’t know, I can’t ‘solve this’ by myself. Shouldn’t you apologize or something?” Okay so maybe that was the wrong thing to say. Maybe he was being petty. But maybe he didn’t want to fall back into the same loop of “friendship” that he’d subjected himself to before.It was almost comedic the way Bakugou’s face twisted up in confusion, taking on a baffled expression at the suggestion. “Me apologize? What the fuck do I have to apologize for?!” he retorted.Denki rolled his eyes and hauled his bag over his shoulder, turning to exit. “Right.”“Wait, wait, wait.” His escape was blocked by an arm bracing itself against the doorway as the ash blonde stepped in front of Denki, sighing. “Alright, fine. Yes, I’m an asshole, I know that. I’m sorry, okay? There, I said it - I’m sorry. Now would you tell me what the fuck is going on with you?”Kaminari was kind of…shocked. An apology from Bakugou wasn’t just rare; it was unheard of. Especially since he’d been so sure that Bakugou didn’t care.Did he?“I…I thought that-...” Denki cut himself off and shook the turmoil from his head, defensively setting his jaw. “Why do you care?”Katsuki turned red. Like, bright red. The color spreads across his face to his neck and the tips of his ears (from which Denki can almost see infuriated steam coming out of). “Shut up! Jesus christ, whatever, if you’re going to be an ass about it then just fucking go.” He turns his back on Kaminari, crossing his arms and no doubt glaring at the wall.He almost leaves. He’s so close. But…But what is Denki, if not an incorrigible dumbass who doesn’t learn from his own mistakes?“Shit, fine, you don’t need to pout about it,” he mutters, and sits back down on the floor, picking at his fingernails while he waits for his study partner to get over himself so they can have an actual conversation.After a minute, Katsuki sighs and flips himself around and sits stiffly on his bed, pointedly avoiding eye contact. When Denki still doesn’t make the first move, he grunts stubbornly before giving in. “Do you forgive me?”Kaminari just blinked at him for a moment before swallowing thickly. “What?”The crimson color returns to his face as he meets golden eyes. “Jesus, asshole, as you fucking slow or something?! I said I’m sorry, do you forgive me or not?”Something stings slightly in the back of Denki’s mind, which he ignores in favor of addressing the boy in front of him. “That’s- No, that’s not-” Wild red eyes turn to him at this answer, and the electric blonde is quick to correct himself. “You didn’t do anything wrong in the first place. It’s just…me.”Bakugou looks at him briefly before turning his gaze to the ceiling. The two sit in silence for a moment, the only sound Kaminari’s nervous fidgeting. Finally, Katsuki clears his throat. “Oh.”Yeah.“What’s…wrong? With you?”This is probably the most personal conversation the two have ever had, and Denki tries not to let the fact that it’s about his brain problems sour the thought.
Bakugou cares?
“I…” And what does he say to that? How could he possibly describe whatever it is that’s happening inside his head? Yeah, thanks for asking, I just feel like a total shitbag waste of space most of the time because there’s too much happening in my mind all the damn time and it’s too much for anyone to make sense of, let alone an mentally-challenged idiot like me. No problem, Bakugou, what a great question! It’s just that my self-esteem is below rock bottom and sometimes just being around you makes me feel like an incompetent freak who doesn’t deserve to be breathing the same air. Nothing personal, though! I’m sure you’re a great guy aside from the whole “dunce face” thing. You didn’t know any better! It’s honestly fine!Hell no.So he goes with, “There’s just been a lot going on. Kind of stressed out or whatever. No big deal.”“Bullshit,” Bakugou growls, dropping himself heavily on the floor in front of Kaminari until he was kneeling at eye-level, livid scarlet staring into pools of yellow honey. “I’m not settling for some half-assed excuse. The truth. Now.”Denki stared back at him, as if daring him to follow through with the implied “or else…”, before dropping his eyes to his lap and anxiously gnawing at the inside of his cheek. It was yet another bad habit he’d developed unconsciously, but for the most part he was doing it now to allow himself time to think of the right reply to that.Because, really, what was wrong with him? It wasn’t like being insecure was anything special. Hell, everyone in UA had to deal with the pressure of being the next great hero, and needing to fulfill the potential placed on their shoulders the moment they got accepted into the school. But he clearly couldn’t just say he was “stressed”, and Bakugou would see right through anything else of similar manner. So how does he explain this feeling? Of never being enough, never surpassing mediocrity, always falling behind?“I’m…a failure.”His voice came out weak, the last part of his sentence barely above a whisper. He didn’t need to cry now, no, but he felt the familiar pang in his chest that came from the admission.There was a certain shame that came with saying it outloud, and he couldn’t help but grimace as the words hung in the air, hovering over him, surrounding him, swallowing him, until his own voice was ringing in his ears.“You- What?” Refusing to respond to the explosive hero, Denki stared at the wall, eyes slightly glazed over. Upon this observation, Bakugou huffed out a sigh and moved closer to the smaller boy. “What do you mean?” He kept his voice low, quiet, not wanting to scare off the other. People weren’t usually open emotionally with him, which he had no problem with before, and yet somehow the idea of Denki keeping everything bottled up inside was unacceptable. “You can tell me.”Finally, the brighter blonde met his concerned gaze, teeth worrying his bottom lip. Katsuki was being so… nice? Reasonable? Not-Bakugou? It would be unsettling if the change in persona didn’t bring Kaminari a warm sort of tingling all over.Probably best not to think too hard about that last part.With a deep breath, he started talking. “I failed that stupid test. About a week ago, when Mina was still talking about Todoroki-kun. And it wasn’t anything unusual- I mean, I fail all the damn tests, what did I expect -but it was just like…different, somehow. The same as always, but there was this…feeling, like… like I don’t belong. Like I don’t deserve this. And that it was only a matter of time before everyone else felt it too.”Katsuki listened quietly, watching his crestfallen classmate, acquaintance, friend, crush (as cheesy as that word was) talk so poorly of himself, and felt a part of himself ache because of it.“And then that stupid mistake on the mission happened and I just couldn’t- …” He bit the inside of his cheek. “I was so sure I was going to get kicked out. I was so sure. But I was wrong, as always, and I- I took it out on you and I yelled and if I made you feel like you did something wrong…” Denki stared back down at his lip, picking at his fingers once again. “I’m sorry.”The silence that ensued was so loud, and Denki was sure he’d fucked up somehow by saying everything out loud, and was about to take it all back and leave when Bakugou finally spoke.“You’re not…a failure,” he grumbled. Kaminari looked up at him with wide eyes, but Bakugou stayed stubbornly glaring at the floor. “You’re- Fuck you, you’re amazing. Your quirk is powerful as shit and once you get better at controlling it you’ll be a fucking menace on the battelfield. And your grades? Who gives a fuck about useless classroom garbage anyways? You made it to the best hero school in the whole goddamn country, you got in to the best hero course in that school, and you have the nerve to feel like a failure? Bullshit. You’re not a failure, Denki, you’re a goddamn knockout!”Kaminari didn’t know what to say. He couldn’t process all of the words (compliments?) coming from the other, nor the fact that Bakugou had just called him by his real name, or that he apparently thought Denki was a “knockout”.The way he said it, Bakugou’s words could easily be misinterpreted as insults. His voice was harsh and unforgiving, daring the yellowhead to disagree with him. But their meanings were so full of blatant admiration that Denki couldn’t help but believe them.“You…really think that?”“You- !” Katsuki looked up to meet him with a withering stare. “I don’t say shit I don’t mean, asshole! God, you fucking- You can be so dumb sometimes-”Denki waits for the typical pain that comes with such words, but then-But then-Katsuki is leaning forward, closing the short distance between them, and his breath is on Denki’s face, and he’s so close- his face is so close, and his eyes are so pretty, and he’s still coming closer, closer, ever closer until-Their lips touch, and it’s warm and soft and perfect and everything that Denki has ever yearned for his whole life and Katsuki is kissing him- Bakugou Katsuki is kissing him and he’s kissing back and everything is right in the world.After what feels like an eternity and no time at all, Bakugou pulls back, though only slightly, and searches for something in Denki’s eyes. Denki stares right back, equally lost in the rings of bright crimson. Eventually, Katsuki pulls slightly away, and Kaminari is worried briefly that he’s going to go, to leave, to regret the most magnificent thing that just happened to him, but instead feels a hand coming between them to brush lightly over Denki’s bottom lip, swiping at the bubble of saliva that formed over flushed skin.“Knockout,” he whispers, and Kaminari thinks he might just pass away. It wouldn’t be a horrible way to go. He thinks that maybe if he were to die right here, with Bakugou’s calloused hand cradling his face this way, he wouldn’t even complain. This moment was already heaven.“I like you,” he blurts, and immediately flushes at the statement. As if that wasn’t perfectly obvious. But before humiliation can sink in, Katsuki laughs. Laughs! He throws his head back and lets deep rumbling sounds of happiness escape lightly into the air with soft puffs and air, and Denki is immediately infatuated. He needs to hear Katsuki’s laugh forever, and knowing that he caused such vulnerable joy to the standoffish boy is all the satisfaction he will ever yearn for.“I like you too,” the other responds after catching his breath. “So damn much. Annoying bastard, making me feel shit,” he adds, hauling himself to his feet and pulling Denki up with him. And though the words are harsh, his tone is nothing but affectionate. Lighthearted snickers reverberate in his chest as he hugs Denki to himself. Several inches taller, he rests his chin on bright blonde locks and breathes in their faint scent. His voice is slightly muffled from the position, but his words are still perfectly clear to the human pikachu in his arms. “Don’t ever say shit like that again. You’re not a failure. Alright?” When his only response is a jerky nod, he tightens his hold on the boy. “Alright?”“Y-Yeah,” Denki replies, voice cracking with the abundant happiness jostling through him at this moment. He squeezes Katsuki back, burying his face in the warmth. “Alright.”They stay like that for a while longer, lost in each other’s equally returned love, before Bakugou (ever the grumpy grandpa) insists they go to bed since it's “too damn late to be up at this hour”. For only a moment, Kaminari is apprehensive, thinking he’ll be kicked out to sleep in his own room, but the worry is quickly smoothed over when Katsuki offers him a pair of sweatpants to change into and invitingly pats the open half of his bed.The two fall asleep quickly, warm and content in each other’s arms, but not before the exchange of chaste goodnight kisses and surprisingly tender Bakugou cuddles.…Morning brings the sweet scent of dew, bright yellow sunlight, and the radiating happiness of a warm body cuddled close. Never in his life has Denki woken up so comfortably, a serene sense of peace coating his thoughts in a thick lather of honey.“Hey,” Bakugou mumbles, and holy shit the rumbling sound of morning voice accompanied by the soft vibration of his throat where it lies against Denki’s ear is so unfairly attractive that he’s sure he must still be dreaming.“Hey,” he replies meekly. Katsuki’s arms are curled around him, warm and soft and snug, and he never wants to get out of this bed.They stay like that a moment longer, before Katsuki sucks in a deep breath and slowly withdraws. The fascinating feeling of the chest expanding against his back doesn’t make up for the loss of Katsuki’s body, but it certainly isn’t unwelcome.“Sleep well?” Bakugou asks, stretching his arms above his head and letting out a magnificent groan that does something to Kaminari’s heart.“Yeah. You?” He tries so hard not to sound awkward. Like his heart isn’t exploding in his chest after waking up in the arms of the object of his affections, making polite conversation as if this isn’t the best thing to ever happen to him.Katsuki turns to him and smiles, back propped up slightly against the pillow. The position causes his abs to flex, holding up his torso, and Denki tries not to stare.He does anyways.“Yeah.” Katuski leans down, still smiling, and presses his forehead to Denki’s, lightly knocking their heads together. It’s so random and soft, but the simple action has Denki turning pink. They stare at each other for a second before Bakugou pulls away, huffing a quiet laugh and shaking his head.“What?” Kaminari retorts indignantly.Katsuki looks him up and down for a moment, eyes sliding across the flushed boy before him, and smirks. “You like me back.”The words shouldn’t be as hot as they are, but something about the pureness of the statement coming from the angry pomeranian makes something flutter in Denki’s ribcage.“‘Course I do,” he replies, voice weak with sleep. And then, because his brain-to-mouth filter is dysfunctional as ever, he adds, “Does this mean we’re dating now?”Bakugou squints, as if he has to think it over (he doesn’t), before gripping Denki’s hand and intertwining their fingers. “If you want to be.” His voice is quiet, small, almost like he believes there’s even a sliver of a chance that Denki would say no, and the living ball of energy is quick to correct his doubt.“Yes, YES, yesyesyes, I want to date you.” Lighthearted giggles erupt from him at the admission, and he squeezes Katsuki’s hand where it stays holding his own. “You have no idea how much I want to date you. Have wanted to date you. For a long time.”Instead of answering verbally, Katsuki tightens his grip and pulls Denki to his chest again, nuzzling into his bedhead. “Good.”Two hearts skip a beat as they finally find their happiness, and everything feels floaty. It’s only a little while before Bakugou is leading his new boyfriend out of his room to make them breakfast, smiling goofily as they make their way downstairs, practically radiating heart-eyes. On their way, they pass a certain redhead who, at the sight of their held hands, doesn’t hesitate to offer his input on their new relationship.“FINALLY!”