Chapter Text
You know, in retrospect, Denki really only had himself to blame. He knew it was suspicious for Hanta to agree to his hang out so quickly when every year since he moved in down the street the blonde has had to drag the boy out of the house on his birthday, the party isn't even a surprise anymore but that never stops anyone from pretending. Least of all Sero who, up until the end of the day when they finally arrive back at the house - or in this year's case the dorms - to an army of noise makers and streamers, continuously asks what's going on that he had to be shunted out of the building for hours at a time.
But Denki just accepted it. He trusted Hanta to just be tired this year, or to pick the charade back up when they went to leave, or maybe even that his friend was trying to trip him up so he'd be more likely to spill the beans on the party.
Instead, not even an hour into their trip, Hanta managed to 'accidentally' spot a familiar mop of green hair - and a purple one next to it.
"Midoriya! Over here!" Any doubt Denki had about the moment being planned fell through at the terrible attempt at surprise on Izuku's face. The soda in front of him was quickly abandoned as he half stood out of his chair to wave them over through the crowd.
"Hey guys! I didn't know you were out shopping today too!" Lies and slander, Denki's thoughts hissed at Izuku. You were in the room when we made this plan. Shinsou doesn't say anything at the exchange. A lazy gaze shifting between the gangly boy at the blonde's side - who he was not allowed to kill for this because it was his birthday - and the overgrown broccoli - that denki was allowed to kill if he was willing to face todoroki's wrath - before settling on him.
And the blonde has never been more thankful in his life for the way that he experiments in make up because now he could play off the warmth in his cheeks as blush. The way that his breath shudders as Shinsou smiles at him though? Not so much.
Gods, he feels so stupid when he's near the purple haired boy. Like he's short circuted himself but not enough that he can forget about the embaressing things that he says as soon as he snaps out of it. And no matter how bad he stumbles or stutters or how many cheesy pick up lines he falls back on to break the ice and make his heart stop hammering out of control in his chest, Shinsou just smiles that slouchy little grin that makes the edges of Denki's vision go white.
"Is that okay?" There's a hard clap on his shoulder from Hanta and Denki blinks, realizing for the first time that he has no idea how long he's been zoned out. Shinsou is still smiling, but his eyebrows are raised in an unspoken question and Denki prays to every god that will listen that he picks the right answer.
"Uh, yeah, fine with me!" There's a conspiratorial glance between Hanta and Izuku - who as of tomorrow morning are both public enemy number one mark his words. All he'll have to do is frame them for taking Katsuki's poster or hair gel and it'll be war - before both of them smile and Izuku begins gathering his bags. Shinsou though, stays perfectly still in his chair, still just watching the scene unfold in front of him with the same slow gaze, even if the smile has turned a lot less teasing.
"Cool, we'll meet up here in a bit then, I'll shoot you a text when the show’s over." Hanta shakes his phone slightly as Izuku stands next to the other two. Denki's never understood villains before this moment. Not because of his own anger, but because of the flat out evil grin on his friends faces as they turn on their heels and take off like bats out of hell.
"H-hey, can I ask you a question?" He feels trapped by the gaze, anchored to the spot even as the purple haired boy tips his head towards the chair across from him. Gods he wants to sit there, to stretch his feet until they bump against his companion's still shiny combat boots - and really that wasn't a fair fashion choice at all. Shinsou is already so tall what the hell does he need the extra few inches for? Intimidation? A higher vantage point? Check and check on his own natural gift. Denki would kill a man to be that tall, maybe then he could reach all of the things that Ashido and Eijirou have put out of his reach 'for his own good'.
"Depends on what it is," His knees do not tremble at the low, even tone. Absolutely not. He's just.....cold. Yeah, Denki's knees are just very very cold and chattering together like teeth.
"What did, uh, what did I agree to exactly?" The smirk turns to a full Cheshire grin, a single breathe of laughter locking Denki's heart into a death grip at the noise. Shinsou sits up a little straighter in his chair and even if he wasn't sitting and there was no contact between them, the blonde mourns the loss of opportunity to knock feet with the boy. His legs look even longer folded up though, honestly, have black jeans always been so slimming? He has several pairs and never once have they made his legs look a mile long.
In fact, now that he's thinking about it, his whole outfit is wrong for a first impression with the punk boy of his dreams. It's too washed out, a pair of bleached jeans stained with different colors of hair dye and paint that he had always thought made him look arty but now made him feel awkard and klutzy. His worn out converse squeeked against the floor when he shifted his weight like a neon sign that he was forgetful about basic tasks when prioritizing things in his head and jesus of course he was wearing the one tshirt that was least impressive. Denki loved the worn out shirt, he really did. But of all the things to be wearing the first time that he's alone with Shinsou away from school and their bulky uniforms it had to be the yellow tye-dye with bright red cheeks and eyes that made him a living pikachu.
In his defense the outfit had felt fun and bright and it made Hanta smile when he met him in the kitchen to leave, but now it felt childish and thrown together and all he wanted to do was button up the white denim jacket and pray that Shinsou would act as if he had never seen the shirt beneath it to begin with.
"Technically, Izuku asked to take Sero to see a vintage hero’s interview at the cinema because of the guy's similar quirk to Sero," The words are puncutated by a sip to the boy's soda and Denki thinks briefly about a cup with two straws, and holding hands on top of the table so everyone can see and shinsou looking at him - not through him but really looking at him - while he talks about the things that he loves and the way that the boy's face would look talking about the things that he loved and-
"And not so technically?" Denki's voice sticks but just barely. His face feels warm again and he's not sure how long Shinsou has been letting him get lost in his own head. A few seconds? A few minutes? The boy in front of him doesn't answer with words, just shrugs and tilts his head a little bit, scanning the boy up and down.
"Are you going to stand there the whole time they're gone?" and yes, techinically the blonde boy has been standing still this whole time but suddenly it feels like he's fallen on his face in front of Shinsou. The hand comes up to rub at the back of his neck on impulse, a mannerism he picked up from his dad. Dotai used to try and shoot paper balls through the triangular hole it would make out of his arm if he kept it there too long. They would call it Dad-sketball and there was a whole section of her corkboard dedicated to high scores for a few years.
"No! No sorry i just wasn't sure if it was okay if I sat down with you," The laugh that leaves him feels awkward and staged but it brings the smirk back into the terrirtory of a real smile. Its yet another punch to the gut and it feels like he can't breathe.
"Well, I do appreciate the leg room, but honestly you standing there is making people stare," There's a single raised eyebrow and another sip of his soda. Denki doesn't know how to respond verbally, but after just another second of staring at the incredible teen in front of him. He's going to make the best hero, Denki knows that, Aizawa-sensei's got nothing on his potential. But if he had been in his class he would have fallen apart at the seams the first day instead of a few weeks in when he saw the boy's face, that too sharp smile and determined gaze, at the sports festival.
Shinsou is quiet this time as he watches Denki resist the urge to crack a cheesy pick up line about upsizing the boy's meal to include his number. The opening and closing of the teen's mouth as he fidgets doing nothing to encourage a conversation. He just waits, gaze not quite soft but not as sharp as it is around school. Maybe it's because there are less people here who know his quirk?
"So," Denki says, trying not to stare at the pale collarbone thats peeking out from the top of the boy's hoodie - the one that he can't quite stop thinking about stealing and wearing as pajamas. Shinsou isn't that much broader than he is, but he's broad enough that the hoodie would swallow him just enough to be cozy as pajamas or for movie nights or-
"So?"
"Uh, how's your training?" It's a desperate grab at something that they can talk about first and foremost but Denki is curious how that's going. Especially given that so much of their class's training relies on peer interaction and group work and Shinsou's being trained without any of that. When the electric boy finally tears his gaze away from the boy's hoodie there's a look there that he wishes for the life of him that he could read. Not quite surprised, but less hostile than open suspicion for sure.
"Good," Shinsou doesn't actually drink out of his cup, just plays with the straw. The smile is gone, but his features still haven't slipped back into that closed off glare that he sported most of the time at school. "how'd you hear about that?"
"Izuku mentioned it in passing one day."
"and you remembered?"
"Yeah, we're friends Shinsou. If it's something important to you i'm going to remember it." Denki purposefully turns his eyes to the plate of fries in front of tilts his head ever so slightly so that his bangs will fall into his eyes. It's a little barrier but it's one that brings him a touch of comfort, less flushed skin for the boy to see. "Can i have one?"
"Yeah, sure." The plate is pushed towards him and Denki avoids looking at the boy's face still. He couldn't be sure if there would be a teasing smile or a confused glance and he wasn't sure which would make him feel more sick. The fries, at least, he knew what to expect from them. The tone of voice isn't enough for him to judge, it never is with the purple haired boy. Picking up on social cues was never one of the Kaminari family's better skills. Apparently his mom flirted with his dad for two years before the guy got the hint that she didn't hate him.
"So do you think you'll be joining the hero course sometime soon then?" the fry is popped into his mouth and Denki can’t help but notice that it’s not as warm as it could have been. How long had Shinsou been sitting at the table with Izuku? What had Izuku told him to keep him there that long? Did he know that Denki was coming or was he just as blindsided as the blond had been? Denki’s thoughts are broken by a slight shrug, golden eyes lingering only briefly on the shoulders that he would kill to rest his head on.
"I'm not sure. It's probably going to take a little while but Aizawa-sensei seemed to think I had a pretty good chance at transfering in next year at the latest." Shinsou’s hand reaches for a fry and for a moment Denki considers reaching for another too for a chance to brush his hand against Shinsou’s and make some sort of joke about being free on fry-day or how he’d ask Shinsou to buy him dinner first but its fine if he keeps sharing his.
"That sucks you're going to miss the class's summer festival." Instead Denki’s hands come back to himself, one holding his head upright, the other left on the table in case he finds the courage later. Shinsou’s eyes catch on the movement for just a second but Denki can’t quite read the expression in them.
"Summer festival?"
"Yeah, we're not completely sure what we're going to do yet but there's a pretty good chance we're going to go with a concert." Shinsou nods, popping another fry in his mouth and Denki’s heart beats ever so faster at the eye contact.
Gods he was hopeless.
"And what type of music would you want it to be?" There’s a beat where Denki can almost convince himself to answer normally. That maybe Shinsou is asking out of genuine curiosity and this could be a moment to get to know the boy he’s been crushing on for forever a little bit better and let himself be known in return.
"Is this your way of asking what my taste in music is? Because I'd like anything that I could duet with you to," The flirty tone and wiggling eyebrows feel natural with Shinsou, but Denki still feels a bit of disappointment in himself. How hard is it to be open just once in his life?
"There it is," When his eyes land on the teen across from him again instead of just at his own hand, Denki’s rewarded with that easy grin that makes him feel like he’s swallowed a thousand fireflies that are warming him from the inside out.
"What?"
"Your pick up line. It was getting late into the conversation and you hadn't used one," Shinsou shrugs again and how often does he do that? Every time he does his hair moves like it's in its own little bubble of wind and Denki wants to run his hands through it so bad. “I was starting to worry.”
"You noticed?" Is all that manages to come out of his mouth and gods, he hopes it doesn’t sound as dumbstruck as he feels right now. Shinsou raises an eyebrow, but the smile never slips and the cup in Shinsou’s hand is suddenly being held out towards Denki like the purple haired boy is using it as a pointer.
"It's hard not to."
"Oh, right," Denki’s voice feels far away as he thinks about leaning forwards and taking a sip. The image of an indirect kiss like that, and the bravery that it would take, makes his face feel like it’s burning. How pink can he turn before he’s unable to blame it on makeup?
"I didn't mean that in a bad way. It's fun," Shinsou’s cup is pulled closer to his chest again, fingers spinning the straw absentmindedly.. "It's kinda cute."
Denki's heart stops, lodging itself in his throat. Before he can say anything about that, before he can return the compliment or extend a hand to take Shinsou's in his own or even let his shock slip into joy that this absolute beacon of a boy thinks he's cute - his cell phone rings in his pocket.
The noise startles the both of them, Shinsou’s shoulders jumping ever so slightly upwards, and Denki all but falling out of his chair at the sound of Sonic the Hedgehog’s theme.
Tenya never admitted that it was funny to him but sometimes he could catch the stern boy’s eyes lighting up a little more than normal at the sound. Tenya wasn’t the easiest person in the world to read sometimes, but Denki had had plenty of time to figure it out from a distance over the years.
So Denki didn’t have to even look at the ID to know who was calling, and when he accepted the call and Tenya was in the middle of a sentence with someone that he couldn’t hear from this end of the line, he knew that the boy was beyond stressed or flustered at something.
“Tenya? What’s wrong?”
“I, uh, I apologize for the inconvenience. I know your role in the plan was to distract Sero, but there was an issue with the first pressure cooker and Bakugo asked me to set up the new one while he worked on the other parts of the meal-” Denki tries not to think about how worried Shinsou’s posture is. Shoulders leaned in towards him, brow furrowed. The lips that Denki has watched smirk and laugh and sigh now drawn into a frown. He tries not to think about the fact that Shinsou is interested in his life, that he might even be worried for him.
“You need help setting up a pressure cooker?” Denki interrupts and he watches the boy across the table from him relax, the worry slips into confusion. The one on the other end of the line though, takes a nervous breathe and then finally comes his murmured response.
“Yes, if you could.” His heart drops at the thought of leaving the food court table. The plastic is harsh against his back and butt and he feels like he’s embaressing himself more than wooing his crush, but every minute he spends with Shinsou is still a minute that makes him feel alive.
“Uh, sure, no problem. Do you need me to head back to the dorm?” There’s a shift in the boy across from him, but not a word slips from the insomniac. Which, is how Denki has the ability to hear the loud crash of something breaking and the explosive pops and shouts that follow it.
“It’s probably safer that you don’t, Bakugo is...not pleasant to be around right now.”
“Okay, well, uhm,” Denki only hesitates for a second before launching into the basics of setting a pressure cooker up. It’s been a year or two since he’s had a new one to worry about but the process isn’t all that difficult and Shinsou, for what it’s worth, pulls up the actual manual for the device online when the blond begins to falter without it in front of him. When he asks shinsou doesn’t even tease him, just makes sure that Tenya double checks the information he gives them so they get the right manual.
It takes them a good twenty minutes to walk the straight laced boy on the other end through the process of double checking the sealing ring and making sure he knows how to relieve pressure so it doesn’t build up to a dangerous level - something that elicits a small oh on the other end after explaining. And by the time that they’re done Denki is only half sure that the boy isn’t going to be killed by Katsuki for letting the pressure cooker - and the rice dish that was going in it - explode for a second time all over the kitchen. There’s a few moments of silence as Denki realizes that Shinsou is still leaned over the table, their hands almost touching as they look at the phone screen together. Just a few inches to the left, no more, and gods Shinsou looks like he’d have warm hands. The perfect balance for his that always run a little bit too cold because of circulation issues from all his quirk usage.
“So, never took you for the resident tech kid,” Shinsou doesn’t pull back, just tilts his head a little at the blond and Denki is the one to move. He has to. There’s warmth radiating off of him and Denki feels like he’s going to melt away into nothing but goo at his feet if he doesn’t.
The distance does nothing to help with the way his face burns though. Shinsou takes a moment longer to slide back into his seat but when he does, the trademark grin is there still.
“I’m not really. But if someone has a question that they’re a little embarrassed to ask the others they know that I won’t give them too much trouble for it.” It’s a little vague but he isn’t exactly eager to broadcast that his family has money and a lot of the kids he knows that also have money don’t remember a time without it.
“Oh,” Denki braces himself, ready to hear some comment on how it’s weird considering how he isn’t the smartest in his class, or maybe something along the lines of how much of a nerd he must be to be willing to look up manuals for household appliances all the time. Or maybe even a comment on how quiet his social life must be for him to be available for his friends so often.
“That’s really nice of you. I’m glad your friends have someone like you to turn to.” The wince never comes, the pit in Denki’s stomach loosening as the other shoe doesn’t drop. Shinsou just looks at him, something that Denki thinks is suspiciously soft in his eyes. It’s probably just wishful thinking but there’s something different in the way that Shinsou looks at him, the smile reaches his eyes a little bit more, an extra line or two at the corners of his eyes.
Denki swallows hard, heart beating in his ears louder and louder and louder by the minute and fuck it, whats one more rejection?
“Do you maybe, I don’t know, wa-”
“Hey” Hanta’s voice makes Denki startle. His whole body jolts and there’s a quiet snort from the other end of the table that makes him feel like he’s fallen through the cloud he was just floating on. “We tried to text you guys!”
“Oh, sorry,” Denki’s face must betray his flustered state of mind because Hanta immediately switches to that stupid I know what you’re thinking grin he gets when Denki has a crush. Izuku doesn’t exactly have a trademark look that Denki recognizes but there’s a scheming glint in his eyes that lets the blonde know that he’s on the same brainwave anyways.“we ended up getting a phone call from Tenya so the notifications must have gotten buried.”
Their amusement seems to melt away instantly and Hanta goes so far as to groan, a hand coming up to his face. Meanwhile Izuku pulls out his phone to, Denki assumes, check for messages. His face further falls when he finds whatever he was looking for.
“Of all the days for him to call-”
“Something happened with the old pressure cooker I guess, and he wanted to have the other one set up before you got back but it was weird compared to the one he was used to.” Denki stands, stretching his arms above his head in what he hopes is a casual way and not a dorky one. His arms hurt from holding them against the table for so long, not to mention the effort of not fidgeting leaving him full of more anxious energy than he already had.
“Why? Worried that I’ll hold it against you if my birthday party doesn’t have food?” The wide grin that his friend shoots him almost makes Denki forget about the betrayal, so excited to get lost in excitement again.
“Oh, was today your birthday? I thought that was next month.” Shinsou stands, moving to talk to Izuku a foot or two away. It almost looks like there’s a dusting of pink across the bridge of his nose at whatever Izuku is saying and oh, yeah, no, Denki can see the evil glint now. Whatever it is Shinsou is looking for a way out of the conversation.
“Ha-Ha very funny.” a bony arm finds it’s way around Denki’s shoulders just as his best friend’s eyes follow his own and the grin grows, brow furrowing to provide that knowing face all over again. “Hey, Shinsou, you should come with us to the not party that we’re having tonight! You’re probably still banned from the uno circle but we finally got enough controllers for a full blown round of Mario Kart instead of just swapping out people.”
Theres a moment where the insomniac opens his mouth but there’s an elbow to his side from Izuku and Denki tries not to look too hopeful when the tired eyes find his.
“Are you going to play Mario Kart?” Shinsou asks after a second's hesitation and Denki can’t stop himself from laughing, even if it sounds more nervous than amused to his own ears.
“Of course. I have a title to defend.” The boy nods then and the group sets out, Hanta and Izuku pulling ahead even as Hanta turns on his heel to talk at Denki as he moves forward.
“Yeah, how will we cope without our resident bronze 3rd place champion.” There’s a snort from Shinsou. Although the boy has much longer legs somehow he manages to keep perfect pace with the blonde.
“Hey third place is still on the podium isn’t it?” Denki doesn’t think about the way that his arm brushes against Hitoshi’s as he walks. Nor about the way that the purple haired boy keeps sneaking glances at him when he pretends to not be looking.
He does definitely think about how he’s going to destroy Izuku and Hanta in training tomorrow as revenge though.