Work Text:
Light flickered in irregular patterns across Jirou’s room, expelling shadows from under her eyes as they fluttered open. 04:23 blared bright white from her phone screen and she fell back onto her bed to try and get at least a few more hours sleep before Iida came round, guns blazing, to wake everyone up for school.
Unfortunately it wasn’t meant to be, and now she was awake after a decent amount of sleep she couldn’t just drop off again. Instead she watched the eerie light illuminating her dorm in blank sepia until her gut shifted in unease and she knew something was wrong.
In the distance she heard a faint scream, more frustrated than terrified, but a scream all the same. She shot out of bed and pulled a jacket on. This was part of a hero’s duty, and after plugging her earjack into the wall to find that no one else was awake, she decided she was the only one who could perform it.
The night was thin as she cut through it, trusting her feet to follow worn pathways down into the grounds near the 1-a dorms. Suddenly a burst of light erupted from a few feet away. Jagged rockets shot through the sky, glowing lonely and gold as they tore through the darkness. A stray lightning bolt raced towards her, the closest pathway to the ground. Crackles and pops scrunched the air with static as she swore and somehow dodged it, the blade of light dulling as it sank into the floor and dissipated.
Ragged panting drew her attention as she blinked the remaining spots of light out of her vision and turned to see Kaminari slumped on the ground. His whole body trembled, his hands especially and in the dim light from her phone they looked like they had been rubbed red raw as he dug his fingernails into the dirt.
“Kaminari?” Her emotions went from an exasperated confusion to a full on panic as she ran forward, wary of any aftershocks that might occur. “What are you doing, idiot? Your hands are burnt. We need to get inside and treat them.”
She reached for his arm only to shout and drop it when a burst of electricity ran hot through her veins. Thick, angry scars branched and bloomed across his arms, some fresh and some milky white and aggravated around the edges. The fist in her gut clenched.
“Kaminari we need to get you to Recovery Girl right now. Can you hear me?”
“…I know,” he croaked, unmoving.
“What?”
“I know I’m an idiot!” he spat through gritted teeth. “I know I’m stupid and weak. I have the worst grades and I’m stupid. My quirk’s the only thing I have going for me and I can’t even use it properly! I can’t compare to anyone else at UA like this. I get it!
“I thought it was supposed to be similar to Todoroki’s. He can control it. I can’t. I’ve tried for years and I can’t fucking do it. What kind of hero can’t control his own quirk properly? I can only fuck up and be stupid and incapacitate myself without any special equipment, okay? You don’t have to fucking tell me.”
He sniffed and wires of electricity danced over his body, crooked and frantic.
“I know I’m not good enough.”
The hand in her stomach loosened allowing her heart to drop into its palm, ice cold. Vulnerable words from her best friend to match the own residing in the back of her head. Now that was something she didn’t expect.
She had always thought he had the confident foundations to support his happy-go-lucky personality but maybe she was wrong. Looking back, she had brushed over the way his shoulders would slump at the end of conversations mocking his intelligence or skill, or how sometimes he laughed behind a smile that didn’t reach his eyes. Their mutual self-deprecation when they hung out should’ve been an obvious clue too. It looked like she needed to work on her observation skills, both for her hero training and her friends.
“You’re not stupid.”
He snorted.
“Really? Because that’s not what you’ve been saying ever since we met.”
She clenched her jaw and averted her eyes from his scars while reassurances and re-evaluations put themselves together in her head.
“You don’t have the best grades but that doesn’t decide your whole intelligence. You can read people well. Better than me, for sure,” she snorted to herself. “You’re good at literature and English. Your reflexes and team work are great. And without special equipment I’m even worse off than you so I don’t know why you’re bitching to me. Suck it up and work with what you’ve got. We’re given hero costumes and training for a reason, y’know, and Aizawa hasn’t expelled you yet. You’ll be fine.”
She noted him relaxing at her hard tone and hoped it came off as tough love instead of shaky advice. Harsh words and realty checks she could do. Consolation and affection, not so much.
“Let’s go get your burns healed,” she said, her usual flat tone returning once more as she hoisted him up and yanked his arms around her shoulders. “Lucky you’re so fucking short I can carry you.”
“What are you gonna do if Momo ever needs a hero in shining armour to save her, then?” Kaminari teased, his head lolling to rest on her shoulder.
“Die and leave it to Aoyama.”
He hummed in response, keeping his mouth firmly shut as some after effects of overusing his quirk kicked in and saliva began to pool in his mouth.
It was quiet and peaceful as they made their way across campus and into the nurses office, which thankfully was open at all times. Students rested in preparation for learning opportunities of a lifetime that were waiting just around the corner and two best friends stumbled in desperation to nurture one’s shattered self-esteem.
“Hey Jirou,” Kaminari whispered as she began climbing the stairs, in the homestretch at last. “Dyou really think I’m not stupid?”
“Yeah,” she replied. “Promise. I guess you need a new nickname and the damp patch on my shoulder says I should take a leaf out of Bakugou’s book and go with ‘Drooly’.”
“Drooly and Long Ears, then. Chaotic best friends saving the world and being gay.”
“Being gay is always the priority,” she agreed, feeling his breathing even out just as they reached the door and realising he had fallen into a well-deserved sleep.
For once she was torn about pretending she was just skipping class to fuck with the system instead of wanting to watch over a friend. As the white linen gave her a blank space to disentangle her thoughts, she decided that some friends were worth the drop in reputation. Just this time.