Work Text:
“Dude!”
Kaminari’s voice carried across the hallway as he ran to catch up with Hitoshi after hero training today. Hitoshi hid his smile in his capture weapon before turning around and pretending to be annoyed. Why he pretended to be annoyed he didn’t know, but it probably had something to do with his declaration that he wasn’t here to make friends. Image consistency is important. That’s why Aizawa never let anyone see him smile.
“Yes, Kaminari?”
“You’re going back to the dorms now, right?”
Hitoshi rolled his eyes. Kaminari knew he was going back to the dorms. He had moved into Mineta’s old room after Mineta had been expelled and all of 1-A got together to clean it for him. They were pretty alright sometimes. Kaminari was still smiling, despite Hitoshi’s less than kind looks. What an idiot. Hitoshi liked it.
“I know, I know, obviously I know that you’re going back to the dorms but maybe you had plans! Or a hot date!”
Kaminari winked at him, and Hitoshi’s heart skipped a beat. The blonde really had to stop doing that it was bad for Hitoshi’s health. And image.
Hitoshi pushed out the doors, expecting Kaminari to leave him for his friends. Hitoshi wasn’t bitter about it, Kaminari always invited him, but the small selfish part of him wanted Kaminari all to himself.
They walked in companionable silence for a few minutes, Kaminari seemed content with it and it wasn’t Hitoshi who was gonna be the one to start talking.
“It’s so cold!”
Kaminari pulled his scarf closer around his neck. The electric hero had thrown his puffy winter jacket, scarf, and mittens on over his hero uniform after class. Hitoshi’s uniform was long sleeve and all black anyway, but he’d thrown on a fleece lined hoodie that ‘Zashi had bought him for his birthday over it.
“Yeah. Should’ve brought more winter gear.”
Hitoshi meant the comment to be offended, just a throw away to get Kaminari to keep talking. Sure, the mind control hero talked to Kaminari more than he did other people, but that still didn’t mean he was talkative. Kaminari turned to him, eyes wide.
“Your hands are like blue, dude!”
Before Hitoshi could react, Kaminari had taken his hands and brought them to a stop.
“What?”
Kaminari didn’t respond, just cradled Hitoshi’s hands in his, before bringing them up to his mouth.
Hitoshi stopped breathing.
Kaminari created an oven with his hands, using the small opening to blow into them, warming Hitoshi’s hands instantly. Sure, if he was Todoroki or someone with a different quirk he could have warmed them up another way, but all Kaminari had was his breath, his mouth, his lips dangerously close to Hitoshi’s hands.
Hitoshi was staring at their hands. Staring at Kaminari’s mouth. Staring at the blush on Kaminari’s face as they met eyes. The warmth there was enough to burn him. Hitoshi was blushing; he was too afraid to think about what his eyes were saying. He hoped they were still cold, he couldn’t handle melting today.
The moment was broken by the sound of a door slamming somewhere, but Hitoshi’s hands were warm all the way to the dorms.
Hitoshi was slumped over their table while Kaminari jiggled his leg next to him. Hitoshi sighed, pressing his leg against Kaminari’s and handing him his fidget cube. Kaminari always lost his so Hitoshi kept extra on him, just in case. No, that didn’t mean he was getting soft, shut up Monoma.
“Okay, so now you’re going to practice taking each other’s heart rates.”
Hitoshi sat up reluctantly while Cementoss handed them out the worksheets and timers. Obviously, he understood why they had to know this, but that doesn’t make him any more enthused to be here.
Kaminari was still smiling even though Hitoshi knew he hated school. How the fuck did he do that?
“Okay! I’ll go first!”
Hitoshi blinked.
“Okay.”
Hitoshi did not think this through because next thing he knew Kaminari had grabbed his hand and was looking at the worksheet with an expression of concentration on his face. Oh fuck. Oh fuck. Hitoshi looked for the nearest exit. Kaminari was taking his pulse. There was no way he was gonna miss the fact that Hitoshi’s heart was racing. Why was Kaminari still holding his hand like that, delicately and gently? He was just reading the directions! There was no reason for him to be holding his hand!
Kaminari continued serenely, oblivious to the gayer than usual crisis happening in Hitoshi’s head. When he finished, he looked up at Hitoshi with a smile on his face, flush high on his cheeks. Maybe Hitoshi’s crisis hadn’t been as expertly hidden as he thought.
“Okay! Let’s get this started!”
Hitoshi could feel his heartbeat rise to his skin, seeking out the heat where the pads of Kaminari’s fingertips pressed against his wrist. He was going to die.
The bell rang.
Kaminari looked up, concentration broken. He’d leaned in to get closer to Hitoshi’s hand, and now they were almost touching. When Kaminari looked up, they were almost kissing. Hitoshi’s heartbeat surged more than he thought possible.
“I guess we should…go.”
Kaminari’s voice was quiet, and he was looking softly at Hitoshi’s eyes. He didn’t let Hitoshi’s hand go. Hitoshi looked at Kaminari’s lips. Kaminari looked at his. This wasn’t happening.
“Yeah, we should go!”
Hitoshi was a brave man, but there was only so much he could take. He ran out of the room.
“Shit.”
Hitoshi let out the swear quietly, before bringing his finger to his mouth to suck off the blood. All he wanted to do was make dinner for himself and Aiz-Dad. He was calling him Dad now and he was going to bring him dinner. Normal things.
Okay, maybe Hitoshi was freaking out. Four days ago, it was a year since Aizawa had adopted him. Three days ago, he slipped up and called Aizawa Dad. He’d been calling Present Mic Hizashi and then ‘Zashi for awhile now, but for some reason calling Aizawa anything else but Aizawa had been too close to home for him. His subconscious obviously disagreed.
Two days ago, ‘Zashi had come to him and told him how happy it had made Aizawa. And yesterday Aizawa had finally addressed it.
“I love you, Hitoshi. You’ve been a son to me since the before I signed the papers to make it official. You don’t have to call me Dad if you don’t want to, I understand accidents happen. No matter what you choose I love you the same, nothing will change that.”
Hitoshi burst into tears and next thing he knew Aizawa was crying too. ‘Zashi burst into Hitoshi’s room and pulled them both in a hug, telling them how much he loved them both. It was an emotional night.
So yeah, he was calling Aizawa dad now, and was making him dinner to try and show his gratitude for everything Aizawa had done for him. If he could stop fucking up.
Hitoshi didn’t realize he had been standing there, dripping blood onto the counter until he felt a hand grab his.
“Hitoshi!”
Kaminari’s voice was cheery, but quiet as if he could sense that Hitoshi couldn’t handle anything more right now. Hitoshi hadn’t even heard him come in.
“You’re bleeding.”
Kaminari pulled Hitoshi over to the sink, running his finger under the water.
“I’m aware.”
Hitoshi finally found his words, but still let Kaminari pull his hand out from the faucet and dry it off with a paper towel.
“Here!”
Kaminari brandished a band aid from the box under the sink. This wasn’t a rare occurrence, but Hitoshi still thought he was better than this. Kaminari opened the band aid before gingerly placing it on Hitoshi’s fingertip.
Suddenly Hitoshi was very aware of the fact that Kaminari had backed him up against the sink and placed his leg between Hitoshi’s feet. They were very close. Again. Neither of them had mentioned the health class incident, and they never would.
Kaminari smirked then, glancing at Hitoshi before moving their hands. What the fuck was he doing?
Kaminari kissed Hitoshi’s fingertip.
“All better!”
Hitoshi stared at him, stunned. Kaminari stepped back, still smirking but now he’d added a blush to the expression. It was going to be the death of him.
“Now, let’s get that dinner going for you and Aizawa.”
At Hitoshi’s shocked expression, Kaminari’s smirk changed into something softer, more genuine.
“Come on dude, what kind of best friend would I be if I didn’t know some things about you.”
Hitoshi let himself smile back, something small and private just for Kaminari.
“Yeah, you’re a pretty good best friend.”
The smile he got in return was blinding, fiery. Probably warm enough to cook the food and have some power left over to melt Hitoshi’s heart.
“Come on!”
Kaminari ran ahead of him towards the zoo entrance. Hitsohi rolled his eyes. He hadn’t wanted to come with the “bakusquad” to the zoo, but Kaminari had managed to ask him if he was doing anything and he said no before the bomb had been dropped, and Kaminari’s pout had been particularly hard to resist that morning.
Kirishima and Bakugou were already at the entrance, arguing loudly about who was gonna pay and brushing their fingers against each other. Oblivious idiots.
Sero and Mina were next to him, Mina was trying to convince Sero to carry her on his shoulders, or at least use his tape to make a baby bjorn he could carry her in. All of Kaminari’s friends really were just as dumb as he was, huh?
Kaminari finally realized that Hitoshi wasn’t going to catch up, so he turned around and ran back, bouncing on his feet in front of him.
“Yes?”
“Come on! Let’s go! I don’t wanna miss stuff!”
“Kami, we’re almost there. Calm down.”
Mina and Sero fell into a stunned silence beside them, looking at Hitoshi like he had two heads. Or actually in a world with quirks that was probably normal. Looking at him like he’d done something ridiculous. Liked called Kaminari a nickname. Shit.
Kaminari was looking at him like he’d played the best prank on All Might in the world, like he’d let him copy off his test, like he’d told him there was free food in the cafeteria. Like he’d just called him a nickname. Shit. But before Hitoshi’s freak out could fully set in, Kaminari had grabbed his hand pulling him towards the entrance.
“Come on dude! Let’s go!”
Hitoshi’s hand was nestled in Kaminari’s, warmth seeping in and up his arm followed by light electric shocks. He could see the tips of Kaminari’s ears turning red as he jogged to keep up with Kaminari’s excited run.
Kaminari didn’t let go of his hand when they reached the entrance, taking the pause to readjust their position so Hitoshi’s hand was more securely nestled in the smaller hand; palm touching palm.
Hitoshi was so distracted he didn’t even notice Kaminari paying for both their tickets and dragging him into the zoo until he saw a hand waving in front of his eyes.
“Dude? Shinsou?”
Hitoshi snapped his eyes back to Kaminari’s, seeing the warmth he always found there.
“Sorry, what?”
“I was just saying! If you want,” Kaminari hesitated, “You can call me Denki! Not that Kami doesn’t work too!”
Hitoshi didn’t respond for a second, looking down at their hands. Kaminari still hadn’t let go.
“Okay.”
Kaminari’s eyes sparkled. That was dangerous.
“You can call me Hitoshi. If you want.”
Hitoshi looked away. He’d never had a friend close enough to call him by his first name before, and despite the overwhelming evidence otherwise, a part of him was afraid that Kaminari would reject him. Reject this.
“I’d love to, Hitoshi.”
Kaminari’s voice was soft, but his smile was deafening.
The door to the locker room hit the wall as Hitoshi pushed in, the sound reverberating through the room, through his bones. It felt good. Hitoshi pushed forward, trying to calm his breathing and being unable to. Fucking Monoma. Fucking training. Fucking his past. Fucking his own mistake trying to corner Monoma alone. Hitoshi punched his locker. He was going to have to explain to everyone why he ran off the field so quickly, especially his dad. Great.
He was better than Monoma in hand to hand, he knew that. Monoma knew that. But Monoma had got a lucky hit in. Monoma hadn’t talked yet, but he managed to put Hitoshi in a headlock, forcing Hitoshi to be silent while he struggled for air and the time limit on his last statement to run out.
“Good match, Shinsou!”
Monoma’s voice had been too cheerful, more than just a normal victory. He should have known.
“Whatever.”
Hitoshi’s eyes went wide as his own quirk took over his body. Why was Monoma bothering with this, he won anyway.
“Tell me,” Monoma’s voice sing-songed, bouncing around the alley, “what’s the thing you want to hear most? Use your voice modulator to make it realistic.”
Hitoshi tried to fight his own quirk but he wasn’t Midoriya, he wasn’t strong enough to resist. He could fee his voice modulator change and before he could react his mothers voice was coming out of his own mouth. It had been so long, he’d only heard it in his dreams.
“It’s okay. It’s not your fault. I love you. I forgive you. It’s not your fault.”
Monoma dropped his control immediately. And Hitoshi shut his eyes. Memories played over memories. This couldn’t be happening. He pushed Monoma out of the way.
“I’m sorry I didn’t think- I thought it would be something about your crush on- I’m sorry!”
Monoma’s words were lost behind him as Hitoshi ran to the locker room, tears burning behind his eyes. If he could he would use his quirk on himself, tell him to pull himself together, stop crying, stop caring.
“Hitoshi?”
Hitoshi was distracted from his spiraling thoughts by Kaminari’s voice. No. He couldn’t see him like this. Hitoshi frantically wiped at his eyes, looking around for a hole to crawl into or a way to avoid this.
“Don’t try to run away. It’s okay.”
Kaminari’s voice was kind, not too loud or too quiet like he was treating Hitoshi like a dangerous animal. He always knew just what to say. Hitoshi knew everyone though that Kaminari was some bumbling idiot but he was better at reading people than anyone Hitoshi knew. Especially him.
Hitoshi had slid to the floor after punching the locker, and now he was joined by Kaminari. Kaminari’s hair was pressed to his forehead with sweat, uniform askew like he’d been in the middle of a battle. Now that they were up close Hitoshi could see his chest heaving, almost like he’d ran there. For him.
“Monoma-“ Hitoshi couldn’t continue. Couldn’t explain how much he wanted to pretend like what he said was a lie, that he wasn’t hoping for an impossible thing.
Kaminari reached his hand out, placing it on Hitoshi’s, silencing him.
“It’s okay. You don’t have to tell me.”
Hitoshi turned his hand over. He could do this. He could allow this.
“Whatever happened it’s not your fault, Hitoshi. It’ll be okay, I promise.”
Their fingers intertwined, and Hitoshi leaned his head on Kaminari’s shoulder.
“Thanks, Denki.”
“Any time, Hitoshi.”
The last thing Hitoshi felt before he fell asleep, emotionally and physically exhausted, was a kiss on his forehead.
Denki bounced on his toes as he stood in front of Shinsou’s door. Today was the day. They’d held hands five times already. Shinsou let him call him by his first name. Yesterday after they’d finished studying Shinsou had stayed in his room, watching movies and making dry comments until he fell asleep on his bed. It was now or never.
Kirishima grinned at him from around the corner, giving him a thumbs up. Stupid idiot thought that ever since he had gotten together with Bakugou he was a romance expert. Denki rolled his eyes internally as he gave Kirishima a thumbs up back. What a lovable moron. Denki would have to remember to give Bakugou the shovel talk later, even though he probably didn’t need to do it, it was the principle of the matter.
Denki started knocking and continued knocking. It was their thing. He knocked on Shinsou’s door for as long as it took Shinsou to come to it, whether it be one second or, their current record, 48 seconds.
Shinsou opened the door, looking exhausted. That is to say: looking the way he always looked. Denki didn’t know how he managed to make dark circles look so beautiful, but Shinsou always managed to surprise him somehow.
“Can I come in?”
Shinsou moved out of the way, letting Denki walk in and sit on his bed. He could feel his heartbeat in his fingertips and it was taking all his courage not to shock himself to give him an excuse to leave. No. He was doing this.
The bed dipped as Shinsou sat next to him, looking at him curiously.
“Are you okay? You look upset.”
Denki blinked once. He knew Shinsou cared about him and was his best friend, but it was still weird to be around someone who could read him so well. Everyone else took the lovable idiot thing at face value. Well, he was lovable, but idiot was kind of hit or miss.
“Yeah, I just”, Denki paused, before reaching forward to grab Shinsou’s hand. He needed to do this right, “have something to tell you.”
Denki looked up, eyes finally meeting Shinsou’s. The taller boy’s eyes were looking into his, unafraid of whatever was going to happen; full of trust and warmth and maybe even a little bit of hope. Denki gripped his hands harder.
“I like you.”
Shinsou opened his mouth to respond, but Denki had more to say and if Shinsou started talking he was never going to get it out.
“Like, like you like you. Want to date you and kiss you like you? And I think I’m like falling in love with you? I don’t want to ruin our friendship so it’s okay if you don’t feel the same way, I just wanted to let you know. But you haven’t ran away so I think that’s a good sign. Please, Hitoshi. Can you give me a chance?”
Denki’s eyes had never met Shinsou’s, which meant he was treated to the sight of a smile larger than he’d ever seen gracing Shinsou’s face. It was beautiful. It was a warm fire in a log cabin, warming Denki from within.
When Shinsou leaned in, Denki saw it coming and met him halfway. When their lips touched Denki felt the warmth, all the way down to their entwined fingers.
After a long moment Shinsou pulled back, eyes focused on Denki’s lips.
“Yeah. I think I can give you a shot.”
Denki smiled, pulling Shinsou in for a second kiss by their joined hands.