Chapter Text
Their group had barely passed the train station near the school when Shinso shot Kaminari a questioning look out of the corner of his eye, lightly nudging the blonde with his elbow as he said, “So we’re… walking, then?”
“Yeah, sorry,” Ashido piped from where she was skipping a few paces ahead of them, arm linked with Kirishima’s. “Public transit and Bakugo don’t really get along,” she laughed, smacking Bakugo on the back right before deftly dodging a small explosion that Bakugo clearly didn’t let loose with the intent of actually hurting her.
Shinso smirked a tiny bit at that, but blessedly decided not to comment further.
It was a decent start to their outing.
The bowling alley they were going to was barely a forty minute walk from the school, which may seem like a lot, but their options were severely limited.
Not because there weren’t many alleys around, but because of what usually happened at them.
But it was a nice enough day, the late afternoon sun was slowly setting behind the tall buildings that lined the street. It was a little windy, and a tiny bit cold, but Kaminari was glad it wasn’t raining like the last time.
He’s never been much of a fan of rain before. Rain brought storms, and storms beckoned lightning, which would sometimes be attracted to Kaminari when he allowed himself to get a little too excited.
And sometimes that was cool- to Kaminari, at least. But he didn’t need to be scaring the shit out of all the innocent passersby by literally and figuratively being struck dumb on the sidewalk.
Also, well- Shinso just started being comfortable holding his hand in public, so he couldn’t mess this up by electrocuting his boyfriend on the street.
“You alright?” Shinso murmured in a low voice, too quiet for any of the rest of the group to hear.
“Huh?” Kaminari voiced. “Oh! Oh, yeah. Totally. Just… glad it’s not raining,” he said sheepishly, scratching at his neck.
Shinso hummed softly and gave his hand a small squeeze. “I dunno,” he murmured. “You didn’t seem to mind it too much last time.”
And Kaminari almost asked what he meant by that, but then the image of a wet, shirtless Shinso slammed into his brain so hard that it almost made his knees buckle. “Oh, well- that’s a little different.” He gave Shinso a quick onceover. “I imagine you’re wearing layers this time?”
“I am,” he affirmed quietly. Then his mouth twitched into a little grin as he turned to face forwards, musing, “Too bad for you, I guess.”
Kaminari laughed. “A damn travesty.”
Shinso squeezed Kaminari’s hand again, leaning closer to whisper into his ear, “If you want to see me shirtless so bad, all you have to do is ask.”
The toe of Kaminari’s sneaker immediately scuffed against the sidewalk and he stumbled, yanking on Shinso’s arm.
Because where the hell did that come from?
Shinso’s been doing stuff like that more and more since their date at the cat café- teasing and trying to fluster him, flirting with him.
Kaminari cleared his throat before stuttering, “W-would you really?
“Sure,” Shinso replied easily, shrugging before muttering, “Plus, I kinda wanted to see your reaction to me saying it, so.” He smirked again. “You didn’t disappoint.”
Oh.
Okay, yeah.
It’s probably a good thing that the rest of the squad was with them, because Shinso was still a private person, and so he wouldn’t flirt with Kaminari too hard.
But the caveat was that instead of being blatant about it, he’d do things like this- always whispering in Kaminari’s ear with that voice of his and his breath teasing the sensitive skin of Kaminari’s neck.
It was going to be a very long night.
Kaminari would be embarrassed if he wasn’t so excited about it.
“So,” Shinso mused to him as they made their way through the automatic doors of the bowling alley. “This is where you guys usually come?”
“Yeah, sort of,” Kaminari said, not quite able to keep himself from chuckling a bit nervously while the rest of their group made their way into the building behind them. “For better or worse.”
Shinso quirked a brow at that. “And that means?”
The purple-hair immediately stood up a bit straighter, bristling when he felt eyes on him. And Kaminari couldn’t really blame him for the reaction either. Their entire group- usually the epitome of chaos- was stood, shoulders hunched and feeling inexplicably like children who just received a stern talking to.
They all turned in tandem to an old woman sat at the front counter, lit cigarette perched between her fingers as she eyed them with her lip curled in pure disdain.
Kaminari leaned slightly towards Shinso, covertly gesturing towards the woman as he quietly remarked, “She’s uh- she’s not very fond of us.”
Kaminari was used to this- they all were, not counting Shinso. He couldn’t really hold it against the woman either. Their group was loud as hell- or rambunctious, you could say if you were trying to be nice. And one member in particular was incapable of following rules, or respecting authority, or keeping property damage close to anything that resembled the minimum.
Hence why they were all at this bowling alley.
Because they’ve been banned from all the others even remotely within walking distance of the school.
Because of-
“What?” Bakugo barked rudely, expressing none of the meekness that the others showed in being stared down by an adult.
The woman scowled at him, not bothering to try and hide her contempt. She looked over the blonde standing tensely in the center of their group before rasping out, “No outside shoes on the lane!”
Bakugo scoffed at her, rolling his eyes. He gave what could barely be considered a nod in acknowledgement before brushing her off with a dismissive, “Yeah, yeah. I fuckin’ know, lady.”
She snapped her fingers to get his attention again. “No throwing the balls!”
“I know!” he seethed through clenched teeth, taking a sharp step towards her.
She stood from her stool and repeatedly pounded her fist against the counter, cigarette ash floating through the air before she pointed an accusatory finger at Bakugo’s snarling face and shouted, “No fighting!”
“Oh my God! What the fuck ever!” Bakugo yelled, throwing his hands up and storming over to the shoe counter, clenched fists already billowing smoke.
Kaminari chanced a look at Shinso to see the boy very clearly trying not to laugh as he watched Bakugo fume.
And this is exactly why Kaminari wanted Shinso to come bowling with them so badly.
See, Kaminari does not support bullying of any kind. Like, bullying was definitely not cool. But… well, Bakugo kind of did it to himself. If Bakugo was being a dick to someone who didn’t deserve it, it was an unspoken rule that they were all allowed to give him shit for it. Bakugo certainly never agreed to take the criticism with his hands behind his back, but sometimes he was nice enough to sort of barely tolerate it.
And Kaminari knew that Shinso was the happiest- or, was most amused- when he was messing with Bakugo.
“Hey! Redhead, purple-boy!” the woman called after them.
Shinso quirked an amused brow at the name choice as him and Kirishima glanced back at her.
She thumbed towards where Bakugo was stood sulking by himself. “Keep that one in line, will you?”
And Kaminari’s not sure he’s ever seen such a menacing smile light up Shinso’s face before. The look melted away in an instant as Shinso turned to face the woman fully, wearing a charming grin that almost rivaled Kirishima’s. “Of course,” he said, throwing her a boyish half-wave as his eyes crinkled. “Will do, Miss.”
The woman puffed her cheeks and immediately busied herself with stacking receipts on the counter, muttering, “Miss,” and “Young enough to be my grandson,” under her breath in a way that would’ve seemed irritated had she not had an immensely pleased smile threatening to take over her face.
They all made their way to join Bakugo, who was currently being handed shoes for only himself and Kirishima. As Ashido and Sero pounced on the opportunity to pester Bakugo about his blatant favoritism, Kaminari couldn’t look away from the sparkle of amusement brightening Shinso’s eyes as he watched the group interact.
“You look happy,” Kaminari pointed out with a grin, a teasing lilt to his voice as he tacked on, “Or demented, I’m really not sure anymore.”
Shinso glanced over at him, the telltale smile still on his face even as he said in a deadpan, “Aw, that’s real sweet of you.”
Kaminari laughed at that, lightly elbowing him in the side. “Oh, come on. I can already tell you’re loving this.”
Their eyes strayed to where Bakugo was sat on a nearby bench, angrily stuffing his feet into a worn pair of bowling shoes with Kirishima seemingly standing guard directly in front of him, his hands held up placatingly as Sero and Ashido loudly commiserated over how Bakugo apparently didn’t love them.
Bakugo looked furious.
Shinso chuckled softly. “It’s just… it’s really funny.”
“Yeah,” Kaminari replied with a fond smile. “I figured you might think that.”
Kaminari grabbed Shinso’s hand in his and led him over to the shoe counter. Once they had their shoes, they took a seat on either side of Bakugo on the bench.
Bakugo immediately threw out both his elbows, attempting to shove them away. “Don’t sit next to me!”
“Where else are we supposed to sit with you manspreading like that?” Shinso asked, leaning to lace his shoes before straightening and throwing Bakugo a shit-eating grin. “Kirishima’s already on the lane, so who exactly is that invitation for?”
There was a brief moment of silence as Bakugo squinted at Shinso critically, glaring at him as if the action alone might set him ablaze. Bakugo’s eyes quickly sought out Kirishima, amicably bumping shoulders with Sero on the lane. Then the blonde stood, stuffed his hands into his pockets, grumbled, “Something’s fucking wrong with you,” and hurried off to join the rest of the group.
Kaminari sighed loudly, catching Shinso’s curious eyes as he said, “Ya know, it’s funny that you like to mess with Bakugo, but does it always have to be so…” He gestured vaguely with his hand before settling on, “So… flirty?”
And Kaminari’s certain he’s never seen Shinso look quite so baffled before. “What the actual fuck are you talking about, Denki?”
But Kaminari just levelled his boyfriend with a knowing look before he rolled his eyes good-naturedly. He waved Shinso off, standing and offering both of his hands as he said, “Don’t worry about it. You ready to bowl, babe?”
They made their way to their group’s reserved lane, and somehow managed to walk into a conversation that had Ashido’s name written all over it.
“No!” she said loudly, absolutely cackling. She pointed at Kirishima, who was leaning back against the ball return, blushing face hidden in his hands. “No, Kiri, don’t even play with me right now. Did you forget about seventh grade?” she asked, gleeful at having flustered the redhead. “Hmm? You forget all about that field trip where you were caught kissing-”
“Mina!” Kirishima pleaded, voice shrill as his eyes worriedly flitted between Ashido and Bakugo. “C’mon, man! Don’t do this to me!”
Kaminari had a few good guesses on what this was about. “What’s this?” he asked amusedly as he tugged Shinso onto the lane behind him.
“It’s not a big deal, dude,” Sero piped from where he was stood next to a silently-fuming Bakugo. “Seriously,” he added, glancing to Kaminari and Shinso. “Like, how many people have you guys kissed?”
And Kaminari and Shinso both blinked at Sero owlishly before silently pointing at the other in explanation.
“Aww!” Ashido gushed, wildly gesturing at them. “See, now that’s cute.”
“Sure,” the brunette mused. “If they’re telling the truth, that is.” Sero slid doubtful eyes to Shinso, making him visibly bristle.
Which was… weird.
Shinso nonchalantly leaned back against the table next to the brunette, swinging his elbow out quickly enough for it to have almost looked like Sero’s merely slipped off the table by some unseen force. Sero barely caught himself from falling before looking at Shinso, a slow grin taking over his face as he asked at a totally normal volume, “There a problem, friend?”
And Kaminari’s not 100% sure what Shinso grumbled to the brunette under his breath, but it sounded an awful lot like, “Stop it right now.”
Kaminari quirked a brow at that, never before having seen the two interact one-on-one before. And Shinso was basically the direct opposite of a touchy person, so this was… actually a little suspicious.
“When did you guys become such good friends?” Kaminari asked, trying to cover the nerves in his voice with a laugh.
“Funny story, actually,” Sero said with a shit-eating grin a second before he audibly yelped when Shinso full-force stomped directly on his foot.
And, okay- Kaminari did not like this. He didn’t like this one bit.
“What’s going on?” he asked seriously, eyes flicking between the two.
“Nothing,” Shinso said too quickly at the same moment that Sero began to chuckle in amusement.
"Dude," the brunette laughed out. "Just tell him we accidentally kind of kissed, it’s no big deal."
"We did not!” Shinso blustered, whipping his head towards Kaminari when he heard the blonde gasp aloud in shock. “It was a fucking training accident!"
Kaminari’s brain must’ve gone completely dormant.
“You… kissed?”
“No!” Shinso cried. “No, it wasn’t like that at all!” He ran both of his hands up the side of his face as he went on to explain, “Our lines got crossed and we- we like, bashed our faces together- painfully.”
“I busted my nose on his chin,” Sero said with a laugh as he tapped at his now completely healed nose, moving to amicably prop his elbow on Shinso’s shoulder as the purple-hair furiously shoved him away.
“Wait wait wait. You’re saying…” Kaminari never claimed to be a smart man, but the imagery of ‘nose on chin’ while their lips were together?
There’s no way.
“You’re saying that you guys… you did a Spiderman kiss?!” He turned to stare at Shinso, betrayal written on every inch of his face. “Hitoshi, you always said those were stupid and you wouldn’t do it with me!”
It was hard to ignore Sero’s snickering and Ashido’s singsong of, “Ooooh, someone’s in trooouble!”, but Kaminari’s focus was completely on Shinso’s anxious face and how oddly defensive he was being.
Shinso visibly swallowed before weakly saying, “It was not a Spiderman kiss.”
“So it was some other kind of kiss?”
“No!” Shinso blurted, dropping his face into his hands. He elbowed Sero again, and it was hard enough to make the brunette stumble to the side. “Sero, this is literally your fucking fault. Help me out here.”
“Okay, okay,” Sero laughed, waving his hand lazily in surrender. “So, basically…”
They had a free training day a few weeks ago, which almost never happened when Aizawa was leading an exercise. The entire class was gathered within Ground Gamma, theorizing with each other about how best to utilize the gym’s urban landscape to maximize their training.
Ashido was pulled away from their group almost immediately by Ojiro and Sato; both wanting to test their agility by trying to avoid her acid. Bakugo and Kirishima paired up and wandered off as per usual. Their Quirks were well suited for training together, though Sero’s certain that wasn’t the driving factor between them pairing up.
Which left Kaminari and… maybe Shinso.
Sero really wasn’t sure where Shinso stood when it came to their group. It was obvious- almost painfully so- that Kaminari was obsessed with him. And Sero hadn’t been surprised in the slightest when the blonde practically busted his door down in a rush to tell him when they finally got together the week before, though he had been surprised that Kaminari confessed first.
He had to give the blonde props for that- it wasn’t really his style to be so brave.
He eyed the pair as they quietly chatted together. Kaminari laughed softly at something Shinso said, and then he reached up, grinning as he playfully yanked Shinso forwards by the capture weapon spooled around his neck.
Sero tore his eyes away, almost feeling like he’d been intruding on something private- or perhaps obscene.
It kind of always felt like that whenever the two of them were together.
He looked up when he heard footsteps approaching him and was genuinely surprised to see Shinso come to a stop in front of him, having split off from Kaminari when the blonde went off on his own.
Sero nodded at him once in greeting. “Shinso.”
“Hey,” the purple-hair said dully, none of the spark in his eyes that he always had when talking with their resident dumbass. He eyed Sero wearily before looking away, fiddling with his binding cloth as he said, “My capture weapon is similar to your tape- when it comes to agility, at least.”
Sero raised a questioning brow at that. “And so it is?”
Was Shinso asking to train agility with him?
Sero startled when Shinso’s eyes suddenly locked onto his. “We could race,” he offered simply, speaking as if he was merely pointing out a possibility, but the challenge in his eyes was unmistakable.
The brunette couldn’t help grinning at that. “You’re on, but keep in mind,” he warned as he fell into step beside Shinso. “I can cut my tape loose- and I have a lot of it. You only have one capture weapon.”
Shinso glanced at him, his eyes alight with something. A slow smirk made its way onto his face, amusement coloring the usually-dull purple of his eyes.
And Sero was man enough to admit that Shinso kind of intimidated him. He was all height and shoulders and perpetually exhausted glares that Sero was unable to decide whether they were actually hateful or if that’s just the way his face looked.
“The binding cloth is stronger,” Shinso said like it wasn’t even up for debate, which sent a thrill of competitiveness through Sero that he wasn’t used to feeling.
What exactly- besides Kaminari, of course- could make this guy tick?
Sero kind of wanted to find out.
He smirked in spite of himself. “You down to test that theory?”
They decided on- with as few words actually spoken as possible- the best two out of three rules. Their first pass-through of the gym was done on a no-holds-barred premise, where they could navigate any path they wanted and whoever made it to the rear door first won.
As much as Sero hated to admit it, Shinso destroyed him in their first race. The purple-hair was obviously at home in the dense cityscape with so many things to anchor his capture weapon to, and he seemed to have the superior endurance between them for the long race around the gym.
As they were about to call start on their second race- a straightaway down the main center street of the gym grounds- Shinso glanced over at him, smirking as he took hold of both ends of his capture weapon and cheekily asked, “Best two out of three, right?” like he already won.
“Yeah,” Sero spat, almost sneering in challenge. “I wouldn’t be so cocky if I were you, Shinso- this path is short on streetlights, and you cling to them so desperately,” he remarked savagely, throwing the purple-hair a grin. “Almost makes me think you’re afraid of the dark or something.”
Shinso settled into a stance that made him look so similar to Aizawa that it was almost frightening. He tipped his chin at Sero just enough to be condescending, his voice low but still bleeding with amusement as he asked, “And why would I be afraid when I have a Quirk as cool as yours at my disposal?”
And then they were off.
Sero immediately shot his tape to plaster against the windowed building closest to him- glass has always been kind to his Quirk. As he swiftly propelled himself forwards and upwards, Shinso’s previous words rang through his head, and he wanted to get as much distance between them as possible. He didn’t know how Shinso was planning to use Sero’s Quirk to his advantage, but he really didn’t want to find out.
Sero suddenly felt a tug on the line of tape he was about to cut free, and when he glanced behind him he was shocked to see Shinso’s binding cloth anchored to Sero’s tape.
Is that even allowed?
He begrudgingly supposed that it was, and then he cursed himself for not expecting something along those lines when Shinso purposefully waited a moment after Sero launched himself from their starting point before following after him.
Sero cut his tape quickly once he realized what Shinso’s plan was, but Shinso was fast- impressively so without having a Quirk to push him along. Shinso had just enough powerlines and streetlights spotted along the street to anchor his weapon to in between bouts of stealing use of Sero’s tape.
The brunette resigned himself to only using his tape in short bursts so that there wasn’t enough material for Shinso to easily grasp. He thought that was a solid workaround, even if it meant he couldn’t travel as far on each swing.
But then Sero felt a quick, sharp pull on his leg, and he almost fell to the ground at the sheer audacity that Shinso just anchored his weapon around Sero’s ankle.
Sero clicked his tongue in equal parts disapproval and begrudging respect for actually pulling off such a ballsy move. “That’s a cheap trick!” he shouted down to the purple-hair, watching as he rocketed himself off Sero’s ankle and just barely managed to pull ahead of him.
Sero shot out another short length of tape, and just as it fixed itself to the underside of the overpass they were flying beneath, Shinso lashed out with his capture weapon, all snark as he called, “Oh, you wanna see a cheap trick, do you?” and waited until Sero’s tape was pulling taught to once again anchor himself to the line.
But Shinso must’ve miscalculated, because there’s no way this ended the way he wanted it to.
Shinso, soaring quickly through the air, anchored his weapon too close to the middle of Sero’s tape, and when the purple-hair used the anchor to launch himself forwards, there was enough force to bodily yank Sero towards him.
The sharp change of Sero’s direction happened too quickly for either of them to evade. Sero considered cutting the line, but was worried a drop from this height, while he could manage it (because tape), might actually hurt Shinso.
And while such a move would definitely be considered unheroic, which went against everything Sero believed in to begin with, doing so would also unquestionably lead to Shinso being injured, and Sero didn’t have the composure to placate an upset and worried Kaminari face-to-face.
Both of them grit their teeth as they barreled towards one another in open air, resigned to shouldering the impact and calling a draw on the race.
The collision wasn’t nearly as dramatic as Sero expected it to be, but when he felt his nose crunch harshly against Shinso’s chin at the same moment that Shinso yelped as Sero’s tooth tore into his lip, Sero couldn’t help the hysterical laugh that bubbled up from his throat.
They crashed together violently, and Sero barely had a second to wrap his tape around Shinso before he plummeted towards the pavement. They fell in a barely-controlled, uncoordinated heap of limbs and fabric and tape and blood.
Both boys laid unmoving on the street for a few moments, blinking through cloying dust as they tried to get their bearings despite the pain in their faces.
Sero recovered first.
“Well,” he said as he tried to sit up, his speech muffled by the blood dripping into his mouth from his definitely broken nose. “That wasn’t very heroic of you.”
Shinso only groaned in response.
It took a long few minutes before they managed to completely untangle themselves from one another. Shinso slowly respooled his capture weapon around his neck as Sero cut the mangled tape from his elbows.
They stood side-by-side on the edge of the street, silently staring at each other’s faces in the reflection of the building’s grimy windows, taking stock of their injuries.
It definitely wasn’t as bad as it could’ve been. Shinso had a nasty split in his lip and a harsh bruise quickly discoloring the pale skin along his jaw, and Sero’s nose was definitely broken and- did his shoulder always make that clicking sound?- regardless, it could’ve been worse.
Shinso was quiet, wincing slightly as he turned towards Sero.
Shinso looked him dead in the eye, an expression on his face that Sero doesn’t think he’s ever seen before. The purple-hair roughly cleared his throat before sternly saying, “Denki cannot find out about this.”
Sero eyed him curiously, vaguely gesturing between their faces clearly smeared with each other’s blood. “Dude, he’s totally gonna know.”
“He’s not gonna know,” Shinso said quickly. “We can play this off.”
The brunette couldn’t stop himself from laughing aloud. Is this really something Shinso was worried about? “Are you sure that’s a good idea? It was an accident, he’s not gonna care.“
“No,” Shinso said again with feeling and- was he shaking? “Just… no.”
Sero rolled his eyes, deciding to extend this olive branch in an effort to calm him. “Call this my win and my lips are sealed,” he offered with an assured grin.
Shinso raised a doubtful brow at him, blood actively gushing from his torn lip, and Sero felt compelled to amicably pat the other boy’s shoulder before he started actually freaking out. He grinned playfully at Shinso, musing, “What’s a secret between friends, anyways?”
“Secrets mean fuck all, apparently! And you,” Shinso blustered, jabbing a chuckling Sero in the chest. “Are not my friend!”
Seemingly anticipating an impending fight, Kirishima threw a hardened arm over Shinso’s chest from behind, lightly guiding him away from the brunette.
“Dude, get off!” Shinso snapped, pushing his elbows out to break the redhead’s grip on him.
Kirishima chuckled sheepishly as he slowly backed away and held his hands in front of him in surrender. “Sorry, man,” he said, cocking his head towards where Bakugo was watching the exchange with amusement. “It’s a reflex.”
Sero took a quick step away and threw an apologetic look to Kaminari before he nodded at Kirishima. “Would you say your Spidey-senses were tingling?” he asked with a self-satisfied laugh.
Then Kirishima was slapping his hand over Sero’s mouth, and Kaminari was shoving himself between the two boys with a gentle hand pressed to the center of Shinso’s chest.
Ashido clapped her hands together. “We haven’t even had time to start a game and y’all are already fighting?”
She worriedly glanced towards the alley’s main door, and then she instantly shirked back at the dead-stare the old woman was currently giving them.
“Kami, I can’t believe I’m saying this but, take him,” she said, blatantly pointing at Shinso. “Outside.”
Then, when Shinso made an irritated face and opened his mouth, clearly about to argue, Ashido shot him a dirty look and clapped her hands again, snapping, “Now!”
Shinso looked nothing short of rabid as Kaminari led him through the alley’s automatic doors with a hand gripping his arm. When they stepped into the cool evening air and Kaminari released him, Shinso immediately sat down on the curb and dropped his face into his hands.
“Your friends are infuriating,” he gritted out. “I’m going to kill every single one of them.”
And Kaminari couldn’t help smiling a little bit at that as he asked, “Even Kiri?”
Shinso actually shot him a glare at that, but Kaminari waved him off. “They’re just messing with you,” he explained, leveling Shinso with a placating smile as he crouched down next to the purple-hair and rubbed a hand over his shoulders. “I swear they’ll mellow out.”
“What?” Shinso asked irritably. “Am I being hazed?”
“Yes,” he laughed as he pinned Shinso with a look. “You know, Sero was just doing to you what you always do to Bakugo.”
Shinso furiously pouted in response to that, but he still grabbed ahold of Kaminari’s wrist and tugged him down to sit next to him on the curb. Shinso pressed his face into Kaminari’s shoulder, winding his arm around the blonde’s and pulling it against his chest.
“You and Sero are actually pretty similar,” he mused. And when Shinso roughly tugged on his arm in retaliation for the comment, it made Kaminari chuckle. “You know I’m right.”
Then it was quiet, and Kaminari could feel how quickly Shinso was breathing, and how tightly he was gripping Kaminari’s arm.
It’s what tuned him into the fact that Shinso wasn’t actually mad.
He’s nervous.
Kaminari knew he wasn’t exactly a people-person, and maybe it was all the strong personalities mingling around him, but clearly this wasn’t something Shinso would usually agree to.
But he did agree to it.
Because Kaminari asked him to.
So Kaminari leaned his head against Shinso’s shoulder, catching his eye as he batted his lashes and mused, “You look nice.”
Shinso scoffed, but he still had a soft flush on his face when he turned away. “Poor attempt at distraction.”
Alrighty then- on to Plan B.
He nudged Shinso with his elbow and tilted his head as he looked over at the purple-hair, offhandedly asking, “And how do I look?”
And Kaminari’s absolutely aware of what he was doing and that it could possibly be construed as… manipulative. But Shinso actually seemed kind of irritated and Kaminari couldn’t stand to let it continue.
Predictably, Shinso completely deflated at that. “That’s not fair,” he grumbled, pouting and shifting his eyes over Kaminari’s face, then roaming them down his chest and back up. “You look nice,” he said with a sigh, voice low and soft and so much deeper than usual.
Kaminari’s brain had to’ve melted out of his ears by now, he’s certain there’s nothing left up there. And what Shinso’s psychotic ass did next had the blonde one move away from tackling him right there in the parking lot.
“Actually,” Shinso mused slowly, suddenly slipping a finger beneath the choker sat flush against Kaminari's throat. He lightly tugged on it once before looking the blonde in the face and muttering, "I really like this on you."
"Is that right?" Kaminari asked, his soft words flooding the hint of space separating them with heat. He swallowed heavily and watched as Shinso’s eyes tracked the motion. "Would you let me put it on you?"
And Kaminari almost melted at the raspy chuckle Shinso gave him in return.
Kaminari raised a curious brow as Shinso smirked and asked, "You think it’d look good on me?"
And Kaminari really couldn't help himself. He was so far gone on Shinso he was surprised he still existed on the mortal plane.
“Yeah,” Kaminari said with a crooked grin, grabbing the collar of Shinso’s hoodie to tug him forwards until they were sharing the same air. He licked his lips, lowly musing, “I think it’d look amazing on you.”
“Wow,” Sero’s unimpressed voice suddenly floated over from a few paces beside them, startling the two. “What a horrible day to have eyes.”
“You’ve gotta be fucking kidding me,” Shinso grumbled to himself, looking to the sky in what Kaminari could only assume was a silent prayer. His eyes flicked over to Sero, his tone pinched and irritated as he asked, “Are you seriously trying to start more shit?”
“Hitoshi,” Kaminari murmured softly in warning.
“No, I actually came out here to apologize,” Sero stated matter-of-factly. But when Kaminari just raised an unimpressed brow at him, Sero rolled his eyes, scratching at his neck a bit guiltily as he tacked on, “Per Mina’s request, of course.”
“Of course,” Kaminari echoed back.
Kaminari wasn’t surprised in the slightest that Sero decided to mess with Shinso, but he really did take it too far for their first hangout. It was a little cruel, which was Sero’s style but- well, this was Shinso they were talking about.
It’s possible that Kaminari was a little protective of him.
“Play nice, boys,” Kaminari said in warning, giving a harder-than-necessary smack to Sero’s shoulder as he kissed the back of Shinso’s hand and walked back towards the alley doors.
“Did you seriously leave them alone together?” Ashido blurted in surprise the second she saw only Kaminari walk back into the building, very much sounding like it was the worst idea she’s ever heard.
“They’ll be fine,” Kaminari assured, waving her off. “Sero actually feels bad, so there will be no more provoking from him.”
“And Shinso?”
Kaminari couldn’t help smirking. “Oh, he promised to be on his best behavior.”
“Gross,” Bakugo grumbled. “Just tell ‘em to hurry the fuck up. I’m tired of waiting.”
Things eased up after that. Sero behaved himself, and Shinso seemed like he was having a decent time talking to Ashido and Kirishima between throws.
All in all, not too bad.
That is, until Kaminari was up to bowl.
He laughed sheepishly as his second throw plummeted directly into the gutter. He turned back to Shinso, stood watching emotionlessly by the ball return. “I swear I’m usually better at this.”
“Don’t believe him,” Bakugo said with a snide laugh as he walked by, ball in hand. “He’s really fucking not.”
“Bakugo!” Kaminari whined in protest, shaking the blonde by his sleeve as Bakugo furiously tried to push him away.
“Yeah, he’s not,” Ashido agreed, nodding as Sero laughed and added, “He’s awful, really.”
“Guys!” Kaminari said, voice shrill as he aggressively gestured towards Shinso. “He’s right there!”
“And?” Sero asked with a teasing grin.
“And you’re embarrassing me!”
“The only one embarrassing you is yourself,” Bakugo grumbled. “At least he’s not doing too badly.”
“Aw, thanks, Kacchan,” Shinso said brazenly as he expertly side-stepped the elbow Bakugo immediately threw out in response. “It’s good to be amongst friends.”
Then Shinso leaned to speak closer to Kaminari’s ear, muttering, “I hope you know I’m only doing this because you bullied me into it. This has all just been dumb luck, I’ve literally never bowled before.”
Kaminari’s mouth fell open. “You’re joking.”
“Depends,” Shinso said with an amused grin. “Does Wii bowling count?”
“God,” Kaminari muttered, shaking his head in amusement. “Bakugo would be so mad if you somehow beat him and he found that out.”
Shinso raised an incredulous brow at him. “Somehow?” he repeated in mock indignation. “You lack faith, my dear.” A savage grin broke out on his face as he looked towards Bakugo. “Nothing makes me want to do well more than knowing it’d piss him off.”
“I’m sensing a competitive spirit!” Kirishima chimed in from seemingly out of nowhere. He set a hand on Shinso’s shoulder, suddenly giving him a pleading look as he urgently whispered, “But seriously, man, please don’t tease him too much. We can’t get banned from this alley, too.”
Shinso raised a curious brow at that, a small grin lighting up his face. And Kaminari wanted to be happy because Shinso was excited and he looked cute, but at the same time Kaminari knew what was happening inside that pretty head of his and it literally could not happen.
Kaminari patted Shinso’s cheek to get his attention (perhaps a little harder than he needed to), and Shinso raised both brows at him, looking nothing short of delighted by the action.
Kaminari’s resolve was wavering fast.
“Hitoshi,” he said in warning, desperately trying to be stern but Shinso was grinning and Kaminari could not handle this. “That was not a challenge!”
“I know, I know,” Shinso said placatingly, holding his hands up. “So long as I piss him off along the way, it’ll feel like I won no matter what.”
Kaminari hummed at that, eyeing Bakugo as he hesitantly said, “I feel like I should be kind of jealous of this little… thing you have going with him.”
Shinso’s eyes narrowed. “Define thing.”
Sero poked his head between the two of them then, having obviously been listening in on their conversation. “Kami means the horrific amount of tension between the two of you whenever you’re together. It’s bordering on obscene.”
Ashido threw her arms around Shinso and Kirishima’s shoulders as she leaned in to join their group. She smacked Shinso on the back, saying, “It’s actually sort of gross. Not because it’s you, but because it’s Bakugo.” She gestured around them, explaining, “He usually explodes anyone who messes with him unless they’re part of the squad. Which I guess means he really likes you.”
And this was nice in theory- everyone finally getting along and trying to incorporate Shinso into the group. But when it was only Kaminari and Shinso stood off to the side, it was able to be overlooked, but now that it consisted of quite literally everyone but Bakugo, it was impossible to not look conspicuous.
“What the hell are you losers talking about?” Bakugo demanded from his spot on the lane, quickly stomping up to them and wrenching Kirishima’s hand from Shinso’s shoulder. “It’s your roll, Mindfuck!”
Shinso grinned, leaving the group to grab his ball from the return before looking down at it, then glancing around at them all.
Then his eyes snapped to Bakugo.
“You brought your own ball?” Shinso asked, an amused quirk to his brow as he eyed the violently All Might themed ball in Bakugo’s hands.
Bakugo shot him that unimpressed ‘Are you fucking stupid?’ look before gesturing to his bag and saying, “No, I just carry this shit around for fun.”
“It’s…” Shinso began, tilting his head as he stared at the ball. “It suits you.”
“Yeah, I have great fucking taste,” Bakugo grumbled, impatiently tapping his foot as he waited for Shinso to take him turn.
But Shinso threw an amused look back at him, voicing, “The only thing good about your taste is Kirishima.”
Kirishima held a hand to his chest, giving Shinso a heartfelt smile as he said, “Aw, thanks, man.”
And Bakugo angrily smacked Kirishima on the back of his head, ignoring the redhead’s yelp of surprise as he grit out, “What the fuck? Don’t thank him!”
“But it was nice?” Kirishima replied questioningly, pouting while tenderly rubbing his head.
But that seemed to only piss Bakugo off more. “Are you fucking stupid?” The blonde threw his hands up, frantically shouting, “He’s insulting me!”
Then Bakugo was snatching the ball from Shinso’s hands, spinning on his heel, and setting off a small explosion as he full-force pelted the thing down the lane. It landed with a loud crash, only managing to take down the rightmost pin before barreling directly into the gutter.
Bakugo continued to do very not good as they started their next frame. And Kaminari is proud to say that Shinso didn’t make a single sarcastic comment about Bakugo’s playing, which he was extremely surprised about.
That is, until Bakugo shouted something about their lane clearly not being flat, and how the “cucks who run this shithole” were going to hear from him about it.
That’s when Shinso’s up-until-this-point genuine smile got an amused little edge to it that looked a tiny bit predatory and very not what they needed right now.
“See,” Shinso said, smacking Bakugo’s arm as the blonde snarled at him. He gestured towards a little girl a few lanes over from them.
Her face was set in oddly intense concentration as she grabbed a hot pink bowling ball that was clearly too heavy for her in both hands, clumsily swung it back between her knees, and threw it with all her might for it to crash directly into the gutter.
Bakugo whipped back around to look Shinso in the face, his scowl deepening from the girl’s unearned cheering. “See what?” he seethed. “Failure?”
“No, she’s got the right idea.” And before Bakugo could shout again, Shinso pointed to the family’s game screen displaying their scores. “See, she has more points than you.”
A small explosion sparked from Bakugo’s shaking hands. “They’re four frames ahead of us, that doesn’t fucking count!”
But Shinso merely pursed his lips at that, like he really didn’t understand why that mattered. The purple-hair tilted his head, putting on a guise of innocence as he suggested, “Maybe you just need to work on your form?”
“No one could fucking win bowling like that!” Bakugo shouted as his eye twitched in irritation. Then he full-force punched Shinso’s shoulder, barking out, “And nothing’s wrong with my fucking form, asshole!”
When Shinso only quirked an amused brow at the blonde, Kaminari had to say a small prayer to himself.
There was only one way this was going to end.
As Shinso approached the lane for his next roll, he turned and shot Kaminari a boyish grin, pointing at him as he said, “This one’s for you, babe.”
Kaminari knows he’s joking- probably just trying to rile Bakugo up- but hearing it still made those fireflies light up in his chest regardless.
Shinso grabbed his ball from the return, foregoing use of the grip holes by taking the ball in both hands like the little girl had before. His amused grin told Kaminari that he could see Bakugo eyeing him wearily in his peripheral.
And Kaminari can admit that Shinso kind of looked like a psychopath (in like, a cute way), crouching slightly to swing the ball between his legs like that. But when he threw the ball and it started it’s agonizingly slow descent down the lane, Kaminari couldn’t help but laugh.
The whole thing is completely ridiculous. Shinso is ridiculous.
Kaminari’s having such a great time.
For some insane reason, Ashido- soon followed by Kirishima and Sero- started cheering, egging Shinso on like it’d somehow help the ball stay centered.
“This is so fucking stupid,” Bakugo grumbled from his spot sat at their lane’s computer, roughly elbowing Kirishima sitting next to him when the redhead called out an impassioned, “You’ve got this, Shinso!”
And Shinso is still crouching at the mouth of the lane, hands held over his mouth as if in prayer as he watched the ball’s descent.
The group went oddly silent the closer the ball got to the head pin, and then there was a collective gasp when it finally hit with a soft tink.
The first pin went down smoothly, followed by the two behind it, and then the three behind them- just the way they’re supposed to.
When the last row of pins clumsily toppled over, the group was eerily quiet for a solid minute.
Because Shinso just got a strike.
Shinso, still crouching, quickly whipped his head around to stare at Kaminari, his mouth hanging open in genuine shock. He then slid his eyes to Bakugo, who was sat gaping at the overhead screen depicting the deranged strike animation you’d only see at such a rundown bowling alley.
Shinso stood slowly, and as he walked past Bakugo sat quivering with rage, he pumped his fist a single time in victory, chuckled out a quick, “Got ‘em,” and winked at the blonde.
And Bakugo, predictably, absolutely lost his shit.
“That’s cheating!” Bakugo yelled, slamming his hands on the keyboard in front of him as he stood on his feet, his face marred with fury. He pointed a shaking finger in Shinso’s face. “You’re fucking cheating!”
Shinso rolled his eyes good-naturedly, lightly nudging Kaminari with his elbow as he thumbed at Bakugo and loudly said, “Can you believe this guy?”
That’s when Bakugo lunged over the ball return, only held back by the arm Kirishima immediately snagged around the blonde’s waist in preparation.
“No, get off me!” Bakugo shouted, blindly throwing an elbow behind him. “I’m gonna fucking kill him!”
“Yeah, man,” Kirishima huffed, finally achieving his goal of locking his arms around Bakugo’s chest, pinning the blonde’s own to his sides. “That’s kind of why I can’t.”
It only took a moment for the loudspeaker to crackle to life, immediately blasting the furious woman’s voice overhead as she spat, “Blondie on lane six, get the hell out!”
Which is exactly when Bakugo lost his shit for real.
Shinso continued laughing like an absolute maniac as they hurriedly exited the building, only being guided along by the tight grip Kaminari had on his hand.
It’s once they were in the parking lot that they had a chance to catch their breath.
Everyone looked disappointed at the two children of the situation who were- expectedly, Bakugo and, unexpectedly, Shinso.
“Bakugo,” Shinso wheezed, casting bright eyes to Bakugo’s furious face. “That’s the funniest thing I’ve ever seen in my life.” He heaved a breath, wiping at his eyes. “We got kicked out of a bowling alley because you-” Shinso paused to stifle another laugh, looking up to the sky and concluding with, “Because you were mad that I was bowling between my legs?”
“No!” Bakugo yelled, shoving Shinso in the chest. “I’m mad because you cheated!” He threw his hands up. “You can’t seriously fucking win like that! You had to’ve been cheating!”
Shinso outright cackled as he straightened. He wiped a stray tear from his eye, his face fully flushed in amusement as he smirked at Bakugo and brazenly said, “Or maybe I’m just better than you.”
The next two minutes were a flurry of shouting and a few punches thrown with the force of an explosion behind them.
“Is now a bad time to mention I’ve never bowled before?” Shinso interjected with a smug grin.
“Hitoshi!”
It took a sharp smack to the back of both their heads from Ashido for the two to finally calm down.
Then she dramatically threw herself at Kirishima, who barely managed to catch her before her head cracked against the pavement. “But you guys! You’re forgetting the worst part!” she whined, throwing her head back. “We got banned!” She shot a disapproving look directly at Bakugo. “Again!”
“Don’t look at me!” Bakugo seethed, wildly gesturing towards where Shinso was now sat, giggling on the curb. “It’s his fault!”
“No, he’s actually right,” Shinso interrupted as he stood, brushing the back of his pants off. “I literally manifested that,” he added with a laugh.
“Of fucking course I’m right!” Bakugo shouted after Shinso as the purple-hair started walking back towards the doors to the alley.
And Kaminari knew that Shinso was in a good mood prior to now, but the fact was cemented when Shinso turned to look directly at Kaminari from the doorway, shooting him a wry smirk before entering the building.
It was a few minutes later, after everyone asked Kaminari multiple times what Shinso was up to, that the purple-hair returned to the parking lot, a look of smug victory on his face.
“You’re allowed back.”
There were a few surprised blurts of, “How?” and “What’d you do?” before Bakugo tilted his head in confusion and asked, “Did you use your Quirk on her?”
Then, when every member of the squad slowly turned to look at him, all horribly unimpressed, Bakugo hunched up his shoulders, defensively shouting, “What? I’m not allowed to ask fucking questions now?”
“Of course I didn’t,” Shinso answered, rolling his eyes. “I’m just a natural charmer.”
Bakugo may have scoffed in response, but Kaminari believed it.
Because he couldn’t tear his eyes from Shinso’s grin the entire walk home, and he couldn’t stop thinking about how Shinso initiated the hand-holding this time.
Or how Shinso pressed a kiss into the side of Kaminari’s hair whenever the group paced ahead of them, leaving them in their own little bubble where nothing else was important enough to matter.
@bakusquad
Shinso
Goodnight to my wife
Fuck the rest of y’all
Mina
Awww Shinso ❤️❤️❤️
Kami
About 1000% sure he was talking to me
Shinso
I was actually talking to Kirishima
Kiri
Bro 🥹🥹
Bakugo
OKAY WHAT THE FUCK
Kami
You know I’ve gotta agree with Bakugo on this one
Sero
What a shame I’m literate
As Kaminari giggled at the inane, yet weirdly comforting back-and-forth of the group, he startled when his phone pinged in his hand with a text message.
Hitoshi [10:26 pm]
I was talking about you
I just wanted to piss Bakugo off
Denki [10:27 pm]
I sure hope so 😂
You almost had me jealous for a minute there
Hitoshi [10:27 pm]
Perish the thought
Denki [10:28 pm]
You’re right
Cause we’re actually ✨besties✨
Hitoshi [10:28 pm]
Have I mentioned that I hate it when you do that?
Denki [10:29 pm]
Once or twice ❤️
Hitoshi [10:30 pm]
Loser
Kaminari didn’t waste a single second as he tapped the button to call Shinso, and the line only rang once before the purple-hair picked up.
“Denki, what-“
“Hitoshi, that is so sad!” he laughed into the phone. “Alexa, play Deepthroat by Cupcakke.”
“What the fuck are you even talking about?” Shinso laughed breathlessly through the receiver, earning a delighted grin from Kaminari for making him laugh so hard.
“I really like your laugh,” Kaminari said shamelessly, unable to help himself as he immediately shoved his blankets to the side, sprang to his feet, and followed up with a hopeful, “Meet me downstairs?”
And the sound Shinso made in return could definitely be considered a snort, which really shouldn’t sound as cute as it does. There was only a moment of contemplative silence before Kaminari heard the distinct creak of Shinso standing from his desk chair, the smirk in his voice unmistakable as he offered a simple, “I’ll race you.”
Then there was a rapid flurry of sounds as they both sprinted out of their dorm rooms and into the closest stairwell, phones still held up to their ears.
“Wait! Hitoshi, this isn’t fair! I have a whole other flight to go down than you do,” Kaminari complained, nearly tripping in his rush to get down the stairs. “And your legs are longer!”
“Oh, are they?” he asked, sounding amused. “I hadn’t noticed.” And Kaminari could hear the teasing little grin in his voice when Shinso followed up with, “You gotta train harder if you want to grow up big and strong like me.”
Kaminari laughed. “You think you’re real cute, huh?”
“No,” Shinso responded quickly, his voice lowering when he added a teasing, “But you do.”
“Damn right,” Kaminari called, rounding the landing to the second floor.
“You could try to catch the elevator,” Shinso suggested. “You know, if you wanted to cheat.”
“That’d hardly count as cheating!” Kaminari argued as he started taking the stairs two at a time. “I think you might be biased.”
“Are you questioning my integrity?” Shinso asked, the seriousness in his voice betrayed by the incessant undercurrent of giggles tumbling from his mouth.
Kaminari smiled. “What integrity?”
Shinso’s responding laugh bounced off the walls of the stairwell so loudly that Kaminari wondered if the sound might echo through his head forever.
He really hoped it would.
When Kaminari made it to the common room, he was delighted to see that Shinso’s breathing was just as labored as his own. He really did run all the way down there. His chest was basically heaving, like he’s excited and-
He’s wearing Kaminari’s sweater again.
Kaminari blinked.
Was he planning on wearing it to bed? Has he done that before?
Kaminari felt himself blush in surprise, knowing he’d think about this sudden bit of information heavily later on.
He walked up to Shinso, unable to suppress his satisfied grin as he lightly tugged at the hem of the sweater, peering up at Shinso through his lashes as he slowly mused, “This looks familiar.”
And maybe Shinso forgot about it, because he’s suddenly scratching at the back of his neck, his face flushing. He rolled his eyes but smiled, nonetheless. “Oh, this old thing?” he said with a flustered grin, flippantly waving his hand. “Just something I threw on.”
Kaminari only hummed in response, his eyes roving over Shinso standing there in mismatched socks, sweatpants, and Kaminari’s sweater.
Dammit, he looked good.
“Hey, Hitoshi?” he voiced, waiting until Shinso’s eyes raised to his before murmuring, “I really like you.”
“Oh, thank God,” Shinso laughed, his face going red. “For a second there, I thought you were coming onto me.”
Kaminari feigned a scoff, flippantly saying, “Bold of you to say that when you flirt with everyone with a pulse.”
“I’m sorry, what?”
“It’s actually sort of funny,” Kaminari mused, a teasing lilt to his voice as he grinned at Shinso. “You know, you’re all…” He waved his hand around vaguely. “Like that with Bakugo, but I’m like, ninety-nine percent sure you don’t actually like him like that.”
And Shinso just squinted at him, looking suspicious as he slowly asked, “And that other one percent?”
Kaminari chuckled. “Well, I mean, he is an attractive guy, so.”
Shinso pouted at that, and Kaminari really wanted to kiss him. “You tryna make me jealous or something?”
“Or something,” Kaminari mimicked with a grin, his amusement bleeding into his voice. “But I gotta say,” Kaminari mused after a moment, knowing he’s severely pushing his luck but not caring one tiny bit. “It doesn’t hold a candle to how you act around Aizawa.”
Shinso’s mouth dropped open in shock, and then he blurted, “What the fuck are you talking about?”, sounding so uncharacteristically worked up that it made Kaminari want to test his luck and push even harder.
“I’m talking about your intense girl-crush on him, obvi.”
“Denki, what-” Shinso sputtered, tripping over his words before rushing out, “I do not!”
“I’d be jealous, but it’s honestly pretty cute. And I guess I get it?” Kaminari voiced, tilting his head in thought. “I mean, he’s got that whole ‘I’m not here to make friends’ kinda vibe about him.” He gave Shinso a quick onceover, eyes flicking to his face as he mused, “And I guess I’m into that, so.”
Shinso blushed. “Shut the fuck up,”
Kaminari threw his arm over Shinso’s shoulders then, roughly musing that soft hair of his. “You’re gonna look at me and you’re gonna tell me that I’m wrong?” he laughed. “Am I wrong?”
And Shinso barked out a laugh in genuine delight as he futilely shoved at the blonde’s arm, fake-groaning, “Unhand me, you absolute fucking creature.”
“Aw, come on now,” Kaminari urged, laughing all the while. “I’m being pretty selfless here, if you ask me. Here my boyfriend is, one percent in love with the most talented guy in class, and ninety-nine percent in love with our badass teacher.” He put on his biggest pout, jostling Shinso as he demanded, “And where does that leave me, Hitoshi? Where’s my love, huh?”
And when Shinso glanced over at him at that, he laughed.
It’s such a nice sound- Kaminari thinks it just might be his favorite one.
“I don’t know what you’re complaining about,” Shinso murmured lowly, scratching at his neck as their eyes met. “You’re already getting all of it.”
That hit Kaminari so hard that he felt goosebumps wracking over every inch of his skin.
And Kaminari just wanted to grab him then, and kiss him, and touch him anywhere Shinso would allow.
But Shinso only grinned a bit as he tucked some hair behind Kaminari’s ear. “In the meantime,” he mused, easing a bit of laziness into his tone. “I’ll be dreaming of you.”
And okay, yeah. Kaminari might be about to pass out.
But instead, he just smiled. He lightly tapped Shinso on the nose, saying, “You better.”
Kaminari kissed him softly, swiping his thumb over Shinso’s cheek before hopefully asking, “Tell me about it in the morning, yeah?“
Shinso opened his mouth to respond, and then immediately snapped it closed with a clack of teeth as he looked away.
He was blushing- like, really hard.
“Oh ho ho?” Kaminari said, on the edge of too-pleased. “What’s this? Something you need to tell me, Hitoshi?”
“Stop it right now.”
“Something dirty, perhaps?”
“I’m going to bed.”
Kaminari couldn’t stop himself from forcibly grabbing Shinso’s face in his hands and squeezing his cheeks as he gushed, “God, you are so cute.”
Shinso cringed. “Ew,” he said with feeling.
“Don’t you ‘ew’ me!” Kaminari laughed. “I’m right!”
And when Shinso started laughing too, he leaned forward, eyes crinkling as he tapped his forehead against Kaminari's and then sealed his lips over the blonde's.
It stole Kaminari's breath away.
Like, literally.
Because Shinso was still laughing, and as their lips met he gasped and straight-up forcibly sucked all the air from Kaminari's lungs.
Kaminari audibly choked and Shinso lost it.
"I- I'm so sorry," he gasped through his laughter, an iron-tight grip on Kaminari's shoulder to keep him from tipping away. "I- are you okay?"
Kaminari was bleary-eyed and coughing into his elbow when Shinso locked eyes with him.
God, his eyes were shining so brightly.
Shinso took Kaminari's chin in his hands, giggling as he smiled at him a little guiltily, but in that hopelessly amused way like when they got kicked out of the bowling alley earlier.
He cleared his throat, but small giggles still tumbled from his mouth, pitching his voice when he repeated, "I'm sorry. Are you okay?"
That’s about the time when Bakugo stormed into the common room, shouting, "Oh, my God. Will you guys shut the fuck up?"
But then he got a good look at the scene that was unfolding in front of him- Shinso, curled over Kaminari on the floor, his face buried in the blonde's neck as he laughed hysterically, one hand clutching at his stomach and the other cushioning the back of Kaminari's head.
While Kaminari's certain he looked like a frightened baby deer, blush burning up his neck as he locked eyes with Bakugo across the room.
But Bakugo looked downright flustered. The blonde quickly whipped his gaze to the wall next to him, scowling as he pointedly looked anywhere but at the two of them.
"This is a common area!" Bakugo spat at the wall, his arms crossed tightly over his chest. "Have some fucking respect!"
"A common area, he says," Shinso laughed breathlessly, turning bright eyes to Bakugo. His voice caught as he gasped out, "Have some respect, he says!"
“Hitoshi!” Kaminari admonished at the same moment that Bakugo turned back towards them and seethed, "I'll fucking kill you!"
"Kiri!" Kaminari groaned helplessly, knowing the redhead couldn't be too far behind when Bakugo stormed downstairs like this.
It was when Kirishima darted into the room, barely managing to snag a hardened arm around Bakugo’s waist before he lunged at the pair on the floor, that Kaminari started laughing, too.
Because Shinso fucking snorted and that actually made Bakugo bark out a surprised laugh and amusedly demand, “What the fuck was that?”
And now Kaminari and Kirishima are left staring at each other incredulously as they support the full weight of Shinso and Bakugo. Shinso draped over Kaminari, gasping with a death-grip on the blonde’s shirt, and Bakugo, leaning back against the Kirishima, laughing as he childishly demanded, “Do it again!”
“D-Denki,” Shinso gasped, reaching out a hand to desperately grab at Kaminari’s shoulder. “I’m gonna die here, I can’t breathe.”
It’s just a fun, innocent, goofy sort of love.
So the only thing Kaminari could think to do was tug on Shinso’s shoulder so the purple-hair was leaning more fully against him, brush some of that soft hair behind his ear, then bury his face in it as he continued laughing.
The way Shinso pressed kisses up his neck between gasps of laughter had Kaminari heart skipping all over the place.
Honestly, the whole situation was absolutely ridiculous.
It was all laughable, really.