Work Text:
Tick-tock, tick-tock.
Denki's gaze drifts to the clock. He exhales softly; twenty minutes to go. He turns to watch Kirishima mindlessly drawing on his notebook as Aizawa drones on. Behind him, Shinsou sits, listening intently; slender fingers lightly gripping his pen as he jots down notes.
Tap tap tap tap tap tap.
The rapid sound has him glancing over to Mina's desk. As if sensing his stare, the girl looks back at him, questioning. He shrugs and turns back to face the board.
He knows he’s been distracted lately. Placed in the back row, he’s spent more time observing others take notes and listening to the teacher in class than he has paying attention to keeping his own notes up to date. It’s gotten to the point that he thinks, maybe it was time to take up on Aizawa-sensei’s advice and pick a hobby to help take his mind off of things. He does a brief search of popular hobbies online and scrolls through the first link he finds. Considering he’s a poor, high school student, he chooses the only thing he’s capable of doing: photography.
Denki starts off taking pictures of random things. They don’t turn out very nice. The angles are off; the pictures over-exposed or blurry. Nothing he’s captured sparks his interest. He begins to think that maybe this whole photography thing isn’t for him.
Then, one afternoon, he’s studying with Shinsou. As in, Shinsou’s finished his homework already, but Denki had begged the boy to sit with him for moral support.
Shinsou's eyes are closed, head tilted as he cups his chin in his hand. Music emits softly from his earphones: a slow, steady beat that has clearly put the purple-haired boy at peace.
His heart beats a little faster at the sight, and Denki’s scrambling for his phone instantly. His phone lights up the moment his hands touch the device, courtesy of his quirk, and he navigates through his apps to the camera.
Denki holds his breath, leveling his phone on the table and accidentally leaning too heavily as it shifts and puts pressure on Shinsou’s elbow.
“Hm?”
Amethyst orbs open as his sleep-laden gaze peers through the lens perfectly, almost as if staring into one's soul. His eyebrow - the one with a piercing he'd got last year - is raised slightly in question. Faint scars run across his arms; proof of his hard work and clear destiny as a future hero. There's even a slight tilt to the corner of his lips, brought on by the moment of relaxation he had been drifting in.
The focus is completely on Shinsou, with everything fading into the background. He looks absolutely ethereal. Denki's finger presses down on the button, capturing the once in a lifetime moment...
And he falls in love.
“Kaminari?” Shinsou asks.
He pulls out of his mild shock, phone slipping from his grip and thankfully landing face-down. “Er, I need help with this question,” he hurries to point somewhere on his homework sheet.
The taller boy’s gaze follows his finger and he snorts, “What? Did you suddenly forget how to spell your name?”
Denki looks down too and sputters out something incoherent. Shinsou shakes his head - used to his antics, and begins to pack up his stuff, “I promised to train with Iida and Midoriya, so I better get going.”
The blond deflates slightly, heart still thumping wildly in his chest, fighting the urge to curl up from embarrassment. “Right. See you.”
Art by Pastel
Art by Sae
Perhaps picking up photography was a mistake, because the next thing he knows, he’s got a whole folder dedicated to candid pictures of Shinsou.
They all capture a side of Shinsou he's never seen. From the intense stare he holds when feeling stubborn or competitive, to the innocent expression he adopts when petting kittens.
Unsurprisingly, Sero is quick to pick up on his odd behaviour, “Hey man, are you okay? You've been kinda distracted lately.” They’re all sitting in the cafeteria, but Denki has barely touched his food.
The blond hesitates, eyes flickering over to another table before sighing wistfully, “It’s... nothing.”
Kirishima tilts his head at him, taking on a consoling expression, “C’mon Denks, you can tell us anything.”
He groans, knowing better to ‘fess up before he gets it harassed out of him. He pulls out his phone, tossing it on the table. The others, excluding Bakugou - who doesn’t give a shit - lean over to see the image.
“Oh my god!” Mina is the first to squeal, “You like Shinsou ! Damn, he’s photogenic! Look at those biceps.”
Denki groans again, taking his phone back before they start swiping through and finding more pictures that he’d sneaked over the past week. He directs his gaze over to where Shinsou is sitting with Midoriya and the others, “What should I do?”
Bakugou leans back and kicks up his feet, scoffing, “Just grow a pair and confess, Pikachu. This disgusting mushy shit’s making me gag.”
The others quickly turn to chide him for his harsh words, but Denki can only look down to his lap, thinking with dread; What if Shinsou thinks I’m disgusting for taking all these photos?
After much deliberation and pacing around his room, Denki finally decides he should just… own up; tell Shinsou how he feels. So, he musters up all his courage and starts searching in Shinsou’s usual spots around the dorm.
Denki ends up finding him in the nook of the common room, book in hand. Shinsou’s other hand is occupied as he runs his fingers through the dark fur of the stray cat he’d found a few months ago. She’d been lovingly dubbed as Coffee.
Almost cooing at the sight, Denki pulls out his phone to capture the moment. The floorboards creak and Shinsou turns to stare. “Hey," he looks at Denki's frightened expression, then back down to Coffee, "Did you want to pet her?”
Denki hastily shoves his phone away, “Uh, I like cats, but they don’t really like me… since,” he holds up his hands as they zap with electricity to explain, a sheepish grin accompanying it.
“That… is the saddest thing I’ve ever heard,” Shinsou comments. He then puts the book down to walk over, still holding the cat, “Don’t worry, she’s friendly,” he says, dumping Coffee in his arms.
“She’s so fluffy…” Denki gasps, eyes widening in wonder. He pets a little harder, the fur fuzzing up from the static his hands create as he runs his fingers through the softness.
There’s a soft chuckle from beside him. Shinsou's face is alight with joy, eyes scrunched up as he laughs.
“Holy fucking shit,” Denki stops petting and wraps his arms around the cat a little tighter, feeling her squirm in his grip. Shinsou looks absolutely stunning when he smiles, and Denki’s entranced - completely focused on the visual heaven before him.
“C-Can I take a photo of you?” he suddenly blurts out lamely, “Because you look… you look so bright when you smile. And I love it - all the different sides of you.”
The reaction is immediate, a scarlet hue spreading across high cheeks and the tips of adorable, elvish-like ears. “O-Oh,” Shinsou says, clearly flustered, “Is this why you’ve been taking the photos?”
Denki’s blood freezes and, welp , there’s no denying that. He grins sheepishly and nods, mentally preparing himself for Shinsou’s expression to turn sour, “Yeah. They don’t really do you justice though.”
Shinsou simply stares at him, face blank as he seems to process Denki’s words. The room is silent, and Denki has the stifling need to break whatever tension he’s just created.
“Well then!” Denki exclaims, feeling awkward. “Uh, you can take Coffee back and I’ll… I’ll just go now.” He shuffles over, transferring the ball of fluff back to her owner’s arms. He can just feel himself flushing red with shame.
A hand reaches out to stop him from leaving. “I like it,” Shinsou whispers.
Denki blinks, “What?”
The taller boy clears his throat, “I like that you pay attention to me. It’s nice.”
The blond’s hopes are rising, heart jumping for joy in his chest, “Really? Because I will take a gazillion photos of you if that’s what you want. In case you didn’t realise that I really fucking like you.”
There’s a sharp inhale of breath as something flickers in Shinsou’s eyes, “Can I try something?” he questions. Denki gulps and nods, inhaling sharply as the other opens his camera to the selfie mode and shuffles closer, leaning in close and murmuring into his ear, “I… like you too, Denki .”
Denki can almost watch himself in slow motion, his amber eyes widening as the other shifts and places the most delicate kiss upon his cheek.
Shinsou pulls back with the widest, yet somehow bashful, grin, “Would it be bad if I said I’ve taken pictures of you, too?”
.
.
.
[For the next whole month, Shinsou changes his lockscreen daily to a different photo of Denki - starting with the one of him kissing the other on the cheek.]