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Shinsou did not want to go out. He would much rather stay in his dorm and listen to music than attend class A’s party. Monoma, however had different plans.
“Shinsou, listen,” he had said. “If you don’t go, it will make class B look bad. Everyone else is going. We must portray a unified front, elsewise those plebeians will continue to look down on us!”
Kendou, for her part, looked at Shinsou with an encouraging smile that said humor him, please.
With a sigh, Shinsou relented.
Now he was in his room, dressing up for A’s little “dance party” which would surely be a disaster of pop music and hero course rivalry. He shrugged out of his uniform shirt and slipped on a loose black t-shirt, not bothering to change out of his uniform slacks. He would put forth the least amount of effort for this event.
He was about to hook his phone up for a quick charge when he heard pounding at his door.
“Shinsou,” Monoma shouted from the other side. “We’re leaving now. We must be the better class and arrive promptly.”
Shinsou rolled his eyes and tucked his phone into his pocket.
“Yeah, yeah,” he said opening his door. “Let’s get it over with.”
Monoma scoffed, eyeing his outfit with undisguised contempt.
“You didn’t change?”
“I thought you liked me as I was,” he quipped. Shinsou turned and locked his door as Monoma grumbled.
“You could have at least put on some decent trousers,” he admonished. “No time to change now. We will just have to show them up on the dance floor.”
“Something tells me he isn’t the dancing type,” Kendou said as they walked together downstairs.
Monoma was about to protest when Shinsou cut him off.
“She’s right,” Shinsou said stiffly. “You’ve got a warm body. That’s all you get for your ‘unified front.’”
Kendou chuckled.
Most of class B was gathered downstairs in the common area or else they were sitting outside on the steps. Monoma rallied the troops, spouting something about a “dance to end that wretched class A” that Shinsou tuned out. Once he ended his speech, the rest of the group--who had also tuned out most of it--noticed he was done talking and started filing off to the class A dorms where the party was being hosted.
Shinsou was glad to be in class B. For the most part, they were a quiet bunch. They would never host a dance party under the guise of “strengthening bonds” or whatever. Aside from Monoma, they weren’t inclined to meddle or intermix.
In fact, Monoma was probably the one that knew class A best of all, although he would be loathe to admit it. Shinsou could barely remember their names. Their classwork didn’t often bring them together, but he could at least remember a couple stand-outs. Midoriya, Bakugou, and Todoroki were easily the top of the class in terms of power. Kaminari he remembered well because he called him hot at one point. The feeling was mutual, although he’d never voiced that opinion aloud.
Aside from that, he didn’t know much about Kaminari at all. He was sociable, had a good sense of humor, a unique sense of style, was a little bit of a dunce and a meme-lord, but--oh Shinsou wasn’t fooling himself at all. He knew plenty about Kaminari. That stupid blond flitted across his thoughts on a near daily basis.
The few times he’d interacted with Kaminari seemed imprinted on his brain. It was almost annoying, but at least being in separate classes meant he could compartmentalize his feelings. If they didn’t interact, no problem. He could keep his infatuation at a manageable level. No need to get in deep if he avoided the guy.
Of course, Monoma put a wrench in that plan by forcing Shinsou to attend the hero dance party. Shinsou was hoping he could avoid socialization as much as possible by sticking to the edge of the room. Maybe he could ask Kuroiro to cast a good shadow for him to hide in.
They were shown in to the other dorm by class A’s rep.
“I am pleased to see you have arrived promptly,” he greeted with a chop of his arm.
Shinsou noted the proud gleam in Monoma’s eyes.
“Of course,” said the blond haughtily.
They were led inside by the class rep, whose name escaped Shinsou entirely. All he could remember was how fast the guy was.
He seemed to be starting in on some sort of lecture when he was interrupted by some high-pitched feedback. A couple of the students from class A were tinkering with a sound system when the music blared suddenly.
The volume was corrected but a moment later and Shinsou was pleased to hear indie rock streaming through the speakers.
“Jirou!” the class rep admonished a short-haired girl from his class. “Please be more mindful of the volume!”
Shinsou scanned the room. It looked almost identical to his class’ common area, except the color scheme was green instead of blue. There was a good amount of decor strung up for the party as well. Streamers stretched between corners in UA’s blue and white, and there were colored lights pointed at the walls and ceiling that seemed to pulse in time with the music.
He chose the path towards the kitchen with the least amount of people, hoping to get a beverage and then park on a wall for an hour before slipping away into the night. Monoma wouldn’t even know he was gone.
“Shinsou!” someone shouted at him as he entered the kitchen.
It was Kaminari.
His heart thumped loudly.
“Hello,” he tried to sound bored as he set about ladling some punch from a bowl on the counter.
Kaminari was leaning against the other side of the kitchen island next to a tall boy with dark hair and a distinctive grin. On his left was a beefy guy with red hair.
Has class A always been this hot? Shinsou asked himself in a gay panic.
“I’m Kirishima!” the redhead stated. “You probably don’t remember us, right?”
Shinsou shrugged, not willing to admit that he knew Kaminari’s name, but not the rest. The implications of that were incriminating.
“I’m Sero,” the tall boy said, lifting his hand in greeting.
“I’m baby,” said Kaminari.
Shinsou died a little, trying not to choke on a laugh and managing to cover it up with a cough. A meme-lord ‘til the end.
Sero elbowed Kaminari. “You can’t just meme everything,” he said with a laugh.
“Nice to meet you,” Shinsou said flatly. Trying to sound disinterested was getting harder. Now that Kaminari had said something like that, he couldn’t resist teasing him. “Well, if you’ll excuse me,” he said, raising his punch glass in a gesture of departure, “Kirishima, Sero, baby,” he pitched his voice just a touch lower for Kaminari and walked away.
He could hear a slight sputtering behind him, but resisted the urge to turn around and see the expression on the blond’s face. Gotta play it cool, he thought.
-
Kaminari’s face turned as pink as Ashido as he sputtered. Shinsou called him baby in that silky smooth voice .
Sero chuckled, patting him on the back. “Nice,” he said. “Although I’m not sure if he’s flirting with you or if he genuinely doesn’t know your name.”
Kirishima gave him an encouraging punch on the shoulder that was just a touch too hard. The blond simply stumbled into Sero, still in a daze.
“I don’t,” Kaminari tripped over his words as he recovered from the shock. “I don’t know if I should be happy or not that he doesn’t know my name.”
“Do you want to correct him?” Sero’s grin grew impossibly wider, his eyebrows disappearing under his bangs.
“Well, no,” Kaminari admitted. He would very much like for Shinsou to call him “baby” forever.
Kirishima chuckled. “Hey man, good luck!” he said. “I’m gonna go dance, you guys want to join?”
“Let’s go,” Sero urged, steering Kaminari by the shoulders.
The blond let himself be led to the dance floor--a cleared out section of the room where the furniture had been pushed out of the way. There was a small group dancing already, a surprisingly even mix of both classes. He started to loosen up when he felt the bass as the next song started, something fast and danceable.
He noticed Shinsou standing along the wall, looking bored and out of place. Kaminari had the barest inkling of a thought to ask him to dance when he heard a shout.
“Denki!” Ashido called to him. “Get over here and dance with me!”
With a last glance at Shinsou, he followed her call to dance, and willed himself to forget about the purple haired dreamboat.
Kaminari had let it slip early on that he thought Shinsou was good looking. It certainly wasn’t a secret to anyone. The Bakusquad knew the extent of his crush, Sero in particular gave him shit for it, especially when he caught Kaminari staring at Shinsou during lunch break.
“Why don’t you just talk to him,” he’d asked.
“He doesn’t know I exist,” Kaminari scoffed. “Remember he said he didn’t want to make friends. I bet he hates class A just like that Monoma guy.”
Sero rolled his eyes, but Kaminari continued.
“Besides, what would I even say?"
"I don't know," Sero shrugged. "Bring out one of your high grade memes. That's sure to impress."
Well, it wasn't high grade, but it was a meme.
Kaminari stepped off the dance floor for some water and scanned the room for Shinsou. He appeared to have gone home before the blond could ask for a dance.
-
Shinsou followed Kaminari to the kitchen on the pretext of refilling his punch. Really, he couldn't resist teasing him again. Silently, he strode up behind Kaminari, who faced the tap to fill his glass.
"Hey, baby," he said close to the blond's ear. Shinsou got a whiff of light fragrance, something like fresh laundry.
Kaminari jumped and fumbled the water glass, just barely managing not to shatter it in the sink.
His face colored brightly, to Shinsou's delight.
"Shinsou, I didn't see you there," he chuckled weakly. "You uh, do know my name, right?"
Shinsou could hardly contain his glee, suppressing it into a smirk.
"Of course, Denki," he said smoothly.
He could practically see the electricity short circuit the poor guy's brain. Hearing the pink girl shouting on the dance floor for him with his given name was just the cherry on top. Shinsou made a mental note to thank Monoma for forcing him to the party.
"Or is it baby?" Shinsou tapped a finger on his chin as though he were considering the matter. "What do you prefer I call you?"
Shinsou hummed, practically a purr as he watched Kaminari's face go from pink to red.
Kaminari opened and closed his mouth, unable to form words.
Perhaps, Shinsou thought, I teased him too much. It could be that he'd short circuited after all.
"I like," Kaminari stuttered, "I like it when you call me that."
"Call you what," Shinsou smirked. "Baby?'
The blond nodded.
"On one condition," Shinsou said.
Kaminari's expression went from embarrassed to panicked as he considered what demands the other boy might make.
"Go out with me."
His voice sounded confident out loud, thanks to his voice acting lessons. Shinsou's heart betrayed him, doing a little tapdance to best the beat of the song playing in the background.
He hoped he was as good at reading people as he thought he was. Most of his hero training depended on that after all. If he couldn't pick up on a high schooler's crush, he'd be worthless as an underground hero.
Kaminari nodded and then shook his head. Shinsou's brain seemed to switch off for a brief moment of panic.
"Do you actually know my name?"
Shinsou thought he could hear doubt in Kaminari's voice. Like he was just playing with him.
"Kaminari Denki," he said. "I couldn't forget your name if I wanted to."
The truth came out easier than he'd meant, but from the glow on Kaminari's face, it had been the right thing to say.