Chapter Text
PART 1: MORNING
Be scared with me, Honey; Be scared, I am too
The rays of the sun hitting his eyes was what woke Kaminari up that one Thursday morning. Another morning has come, another day of work as a pro-hero.
It’s been years since he graduated, and morning shift at his agency don’t start as early as his high school classes, but the familiar dread at seeing a big 8:00 flashing across the alarm clock screen the moment he wakes up never went away. He’d have to remind himself every time that he was not late for school and that he had an hour before his shift starts.
Well, old habits die hard, as they say. The fact that he was in a relationship with one of his high school classmates didn’t help either.
Speaking of his girlfriend, he suddenly remembered that he had fallen asleep in the middle of a text conversation with her last night. Pushing away the sleepiness, he rolled around on his bed and reached for his phone to check his messages, bracing himself to see a barrage of annoyed texts from her. But there was no new message after his last message, telling her to take care of herself while on patrol. She must be very busy last night, he thought with a slight disappointment.
Come to think of it, he didn’t see her much these past few days. And that fact bothered him. Yes, she would come every morning after her shift to crash on his couch and rest (because she claimed that his apartment is nearer to her agency than her own place. Well, more often she would crash his bed rather than his couch, but that’s hardly something to be bothered about. If anything, he was rather happy about that. What bothered him was the fact that they didn’t have much time to just be together. These past few weeks he’d only see her for a few minutes before he had to leave for work, and then when he got home, she had either gone home to her place, was getting ready for her night patrol, or had even left for work.
Maybe that’s just how it is being in a relationship with someone who’s basically your polar opposite. Kaminari was more of a daytime crimefighter while Jirou was more of a nighttime stealth hero type. Their schedules were mostly incompatible because of that.
Looking once again at the alarm clock — which was now flashing 8:15 across the screen — Kaminari pushed himself up from his bed and started to get ready for work. Fifteen minutes later, he was ready in his costume and gears, sipping his morning coffee to get his mind ready for another day of hero work. As usual, he prepared one cup of black coffee for Jirou to drink when she came after her patrol.
As he was sipping his cup of coffee, his eyes fell on the Halloween decorations he had put up in his living room. Toy spiders and suspended toy bats and Jack-o-lantern-themed ornaments were scattered across his living room. He even draped a holed sheet on top of his TV. He chuckled when he saw how silly that looked. Ah, yes, Halloween is today, he mused to himself.
He loved Halloween. But then again, he loved almost all of the festivals and celebrations. He enjoyed putting up decorations and the anticipation for the holidays. He loved how during those times people would get together, enjoy each others’ company, and do stuff they would not usually do in their everyday mundane lives. He loved the mood and atmosphere, the laughter, the excitement.
But Halloween… Halloween was sort of special. For him, it was a time to be silly, to put on over-the-top costumes, and just let loose. And he loved being silly and over-the-top.
But there was another thing about that holiday...
Halloween was also the day he first realized that he had such a strong feeling for Jirou. A feeling like he had never had for any other person before. Back then, when he was just a high school student, he thought it was just a huge crush. Now though, he pondered whether it was love from the beginning.
And with a fond smile on his face, Kaminari's mind was transported to another time, to their last year as high school students.
***
Third Year of High School...
“Today’s Halloween!!!” was Mina’s loud declaration as she came down for breakfast, startling the other students who were already eating. “I can’t believe we don’t prepare anything! We have to do something to celebrate!!! It’s our last Halloween as high school students!” Her eyes swept through the whole dining room as she looked at her classmates with clear distress on her face.
“We could have a little party after school!” said a voice that came from what looked like a floating school uniform.
“That’s the spirit!” Mina said with a wide grin, pressing her palms together in front of her face. She looked at her other classmates expectantly, waiting for them to agree on Hagakure’s idea.
“Oh! We can wear costumes!” said Uraraka excitedly.
“Yeah, sexy costu-” Mineta started, but was quickly silenced by Sero’s tape.
“We could go to a Halloween Parade! Musutafu's Parade is held in the evening anyway,” Kaminari suggested. He always wanted to join those street parades he’d seen so many times online. But his suggestion was shot down quickly by Iida.
“We have a Math test tomorrow. We should stay here and study instead!” Iida said sternly. “Especially you, Kaminari, if you don’t want to place last again.”
“Buzzkill!” Kaminari said, throwing Iida a disapproving look. Iida, of course, ignored it.
“Well, what do you propose we do instead then, Iida?” Tsuyu asked him calmly. “Mina’s right, it’s our last Halloween together as classmates. We have to do something together, at least.”
“Oh, I know!” Sero exclaimed with his signature grin. “We could have a horror movie night! We can just get together in our common room, no-one needs to buy or make any costumes.”
“Or bothered Momo to create costumes with her quirk,” Mina said, placing her hand on Momo’s shoulder as she went on to sit beside Momo. Momo smiled at her appreciatively. From Momo’s other side, Jirou nodded approvingly.
“We could invite class B as well, if they have no plans for Halloween,” said Kirishima. “It will be fun if all the students in our year can celebrate together.”
“I’ll bake some snacks for us to eat while we watch the movie,” said Satou, already planning to bake some Halloween-themed cookies.
Murmurs of agreement soon followed, and the whole class excitedly planned for their Halloween Horror Movie Night. Some were debating what movie — or movies — to watch, some were discussing snack ideas with Satou, and Iida kept on reminding them that movie marathon is out of the question since they all need to study for tomorrow’s test too. In the end, they all settled to watch an old horror movie called The Eye.
Kaminari would have liked it better if they chose Japanese now-classic horrors like Ju-on or Ringu instead of a movie in a foreign language, but the majority has spoken. Besides, if he remembered correctly, The Eye had a relatively good ending, probably a better choice if they had to focus on studying for tests afterwards.
“Alright, that matter’s settled! Let’s put our dishes in the sink and get ready for class!” said Iida, waving his arm robotically as usual.
When Jirou stood up from her seat to bring her dishes to the kitchen, Kaminari’s eyes fell on her. He suddenly remembered that Jirou had never attended any of their previous horror movie nights. He knew she was scared of scary supernatural things and doesn’t like horror movies, but surely she’d want to attend this movie night. Like Mina said, it’s their last Halloween as high school students.
Standing up from his seat, Kaminari followed Jirou into the kitchen.
“Hey Jirou, you’re coming for tonight’s horror movie night?” he asked as he caught up with her.
“No,” she replied immediately. “I’ll just stay in my room as usual”
“But this is our last Halloween together!” Kaminari said. Jirou suddenly turned and looked at him with one eyebrow raised, and he added quickly, “As classmates! It’s our last Halloween as classmates!”
Coward, Kaminari chided himself.
“We’ll have other holidays before we graduate,” Jirou said calmly, placing her dirty dishes in the sink.
“But this is Halloween!” Kaminari protested.
“You know I am easily-scared of horror movies, Jamming-Whey,” Jirou said, looking at him with her piercing purple eyes. Her earphone jacks wiggled menacingly at him, as though she was thinking of stabbing him with them if he did not drop the topic. “Is there any specific reason why you think I should join and watch it this time? Are you planning to prank me or scaring me or something?”
“Of course not!” Kaminari said indignantly. Truth be told, he couldn’t think of any particular reason why he wanted her to be there. He just knew that he wanted to watch the movie, and he wanted her to watch the movie with him. But as to why did he specifically want her to be there with him... Now that, that was the real question. Sure, he enjoyed being friends with her. But this… feeling, this need, it felt different somehow.
He looked at Jirou, who was still staring at him with a piercing gaze, as though she was trying to read what was on his mind. “Just… consider it?” Kaminari pleaded. “It’d be fun. All of us will be there, so you won’t have any reason to be scared.”
She pondered the thought for a moment, and said “No. Still not convinced,” while shaking her head.
“You can hold my hand if you’re scared,” he said to her without thinking, winking his eyes at her. He didn’t know why he said that, but at that moment, saying that felt right. Until he felt her jacks jabbed his ear and strong vibrations running through his ear canal, making him dizzy.
“Do you have to be so violent?!” Kaminari said, nursing his ear after Jirou retracted her jacks.
“Just drop it, Jamming-Whey,” Jirou said, turning around and leaving him in the kitchen. Just before she turned around, for a split second Kaminari thought he saw a slight blush on her cheeks. But as he watched her going away he decided that it was just his eyes playing tricks on him.
Throughout the day, Kaminari's mind kept wandering. He tried to concentrate on the lessons, but he kept on thinking about tonight’s horror movie night and how it somehow won’t feel complete if Jirou wasn’t there. More than half a dozen times, he caught himself looking at her during class, pondering how best to convince her to join them. He thought she noticed him looking at her a couple times, although she did a good job of not acknowledging it if she did.
As the end of the day drew near, Kaminari tried to convince himself to be less disappointed if Jirou remained unbudged in her decision. He’d still get to watch the movie with the rest of his classmates. But there was this little nagging question in the back of his mind, asking himself why it was such a big deal if Jirou won’t watch the movie. One part of his mind would remind himself that Jirou was just one among the plenty of people he knew, until another part of his mind told him that yes, Jirou was one person among many, but she was one that mattered. And that very thought made him uneasy. Was he… was he having a crush on her? If he was, why now? They’ve been friends for three years. Surely if he was going to develop a crush, it would have developed long ago? Or was he just realizing it now?
When the bell rang to mark the end of the last lesson, Mina squealed excitedly from beside him, and immediately pack her stuff, not even waiting for Mr. Snipe to leave the classroom. Mina’s excitement managed to drive his thoughts away from Jirou for a while. He left the classroom together with Kirishima and Sero, discussing among themselves the latest chapter of their favorite manga.
Later that evening, after everyone had freshened up, the class gathered together in the common room to watch their selected horror movie. Kaminari didn’t know how Kirishima (who was in charge of inviting Class B to the horror movie night) managed it, but all members of Class B were also there. Even Monoma, who self-proclaimed as the sworn enemy of Class A, was present. Kirishima also managed to get Bakugou to join them, although getting Bakugou to join the rest of the class had gotten easier as they enter their third year of high school. Satou baked pumpkin pies and a Halloween cake, and Midoriya had bought snacks and drinks from a nearby store. Everything was set for the horror movie night.
Then, just as they were about to start the movie, Jirou arrived at the common room.
“Yay, Jirou!” Mina exclaimed excitedly, drawing Kaminari’s attention to Jirou.
Kaminari was very surprised to see her, but before he could open his mouth to say anything, Jirou said, “If I don’t join in on our last Halloween as high-school students, I’d be a fool, wouldn’t I?” Kaminari thought her sentence was directed more to him than anyone else in the class.
“Yesss!! The whole class is here now!!” Hagakure exclaimed ecstatically, waving her invisible arms.
Jirou made her way to the couch where Kaminari was seating, and to his surprise, she stopped right in front of him.
“Hey, scooch over,” she said, and Kaminari did as she asked. He turned his head to look at her quizzically as she settled on the couch next to him. What made her change her mind? And why did she choose to sit right beside him? Was she… was she pranking him somehow? He looked at her, then at the other members of the class to see their reactions, but the rest of the class didn’t seem to see this as a big deal. Some were already munching on snacks, some were chatting between themselves, and some were urging Iida (who had the remote control) to start the movie.
And then the movie started. All eyes were glued on the TV, but Kaminari’s mind was on the girl sitting next to him. Throughout the opening scenes, he kept glancing at her, looking at how she reacts to the movie. He hoped she won’t be too scared. But wait, if she’s scared and grasped his hand out of fear, wouldn’t that be a win?
Jirou seemed fine for the first few minutes. The scary part of the movie didn’t come until almost half an hour in.
And then it came… the escalating tension in the movie’s background music as the protagonist saw something that shouldn’t be there, and sudden silent, then the equally sudden loud beat as the ghost appear and lunged forward.
High pitched screams filled the common room.
And then Kaminari felt it. Someone was holding his hand. Tightly.
He looked to his side, and he saw Jirou closing her eyes tightly, distress was clear on her face.
“Jirou?” he called her, as gently as he could.
She opened her eyes and looked at him. And upon realizing she was holding his hand, her cheeks blushed. “You said I can hold your hand if I’m scared,” she said, her whole face was red, but she did not withdraw her hand.
“Yeah,” was his only reply. At that moment, it seemed that ‘yeah’ was the only word in his vocabulary.
And his heart was beating fast. He could hear it clearly as they continue to watch the movie.
Thump thump...
Thump thump…
Another escalating tension came, and another loud noise as another ghost suddenly appeared, and Jirou tightened her grip on his hand.
On any other day, he’d probably protest because her grip is causing him pain. But at that moment, all he could think about was how his heart was beating faster as her grip grew tighter.
Thump thump thump thump…
She could probably hear his rapid heartbeat by now. She had a heightened sense of hearing after all… He wondered what she thought of it.
He looked at her again, but it doesn’t seem like she noticed him and his heartbeat. She was looking at the TV, but he could tell from her expression that she’d rather close her eyes the whole movie. Not that that would help, because with her hearing, she’d still hear the horrifying background sounds that accompanied the ghosts’ appearances.
He kept on looking at her for a while, until a jumpscare scene caused her to jump in her seat. It somehow made her move closer to him, and he could hear his heartbeat grew louder. Except that… he realized that it didn’t sound like it’s coming from him at all. He moved a little bit closer, close enough to hear better but far enough that she won’t notice. And he was right. The rapid heartbeat was not his. It was hers. She must have accidentally amplified it with her quirk somehow.
He wondered how it would have felt for her. With her acute hearing, the effect of the background music must have been amplified too. Horror movies that rely on background music to increase the audiences’ fear must have been several times more scary for Jirou. And the heartbeat too. Her quirk can amplify her heartbeat. And it would not be a nice sensation to feel your heart beats rapidly from the increased adrenaline. No wonder she hated horror movies!
The familiar escalating tension background music was heard again, as the movie protagonist began to see a ghost while she was alone in an elevator. Kaminari heard Jirou muttered something like "oh shit, oh shit, I’m not gonna go inside the elevator alone again" as she saw this scene.
The movie protagonist turned her back from the ghost in fear, but then she gave in to her curiosity and turned around... The music was escalating again as the ghost was about to reveal his gruesome face… The protagonist fully turned around now, and as the ghost came face to face with the protagonist, the music became horrifyingly loud and scary… And the light went out in their dormitory.
Everybody screamed.
Jirou screamed too, withdrawing her hand from Kaminari's and curling up in a ball. In Kaminari’s mind, her scream was the most distressing sound he had ever heard. His instinct was to hold her and calm her, but he managed to restrain himself before he could actually do it. Instead, he patted her back with his hand to calm her down.
“It’s just power outage,” he told her. “Nothing to worry about.”
Somewhere in the middle of the room, Iida was reminding everybody to remain calm too.
“Can’t you use your quirk to turn on the electricity, Dunce-face?” came Bakugou’s hoarse voice from somewhere on Kaminari’s left.
“I’m not your personal generator!” he answered.
“That won’t be efficient,” Momo’s voice was heard in the darkness. “We don’t know how long the power will be out, and we couldn’t possibly ask Kaminari to power the whole building, let alone the whole room for a long time. No matter how much stronger he had gotten.”
“Tch… Weak!” Bakugou replied.
“We can use these emergency lights in the meantime,” Momo said, creating a few small emergency lights with her quirk.
“Wait wait wait, no!” Mina said suddenly. Even if they were in total darkness, Kaminari knew she had an excited and a mischievous glint in her eyes.
“What do you want now, Racoon Eyes?” Bakugou said, notably irritated.
“How about… we play Hyakkumonogatari ?” Mina said.
“No!” was Jirou’s immediate answer.
Pony from Class B asked what it was, and Honenuki proceeded to explain the rule of the 100 Candles Game to her. “So we all sit in a circle, each tell a ghost story, and every time one of us finished, we’ll blow one candle?” Pony repeated.
“Yeah, that's basically it,” answered Kendou.
“But, what would happen when the last candle is blown?” Hagakure said in a spooky tone.
“But it won’t be 100 candles and 100 stories. There are only 40 of us,” Pony said.
“The unlucky number makes it more scary,” Todoroki said, speaking for the first time.
“Yes!!!” Mina said excitedly. “Let’s play!”
“We also didn’t prepare any candles,” Uraraka said.
Some pinkish light was seen, and everyone knew that Momo was already creating candles with her quirk. Hagakure and Mina took some of the newly-created candles, lighting them with a lighter Momo also created, and started distributing them.
“Can we just... not play that game?” Jirou asked, almost pleadingly.
“Come on, Jirou. It will be fun!” said Mina while handing her a candle, oblivious to the fact that her friend was scared. Jirou didn’t move her hand to take the candle.
Feeling suddenly (and strangely) chivalrous, Kaminari took the candle from Mina and said, “Jirou and I will play as a team.” Making the number of candles 39, which now didn’t sound so unlucky. How did he came up with that idea? Even he himself did not know.
Several mocking ‘oooh’s were heard through the dark room, and Kaminari was sure he heard Sero whistled.
“If you’re okay with it, that is,” Kaminari added in a low voice, so that only Jirou heard him.
“...Yeah, I don’t mind,” Jirou answered after a few seconds of silence.
“Come on, let’s gather in a circle!” Iida said, seating himself on the floor in front of the TV while placing his candle in front of him. Everybody followed. “We should start with Ashido, since this game is her idea, and we’ll go in a clockwise direction.”
Jirou sat on the floor next to Kaminari as he placed one candle in front of the both of them.
Mina started her story, telling them about a spooky encounter she had in middle school while she was left behind after extra-curricular activity. As she finished, she blew her candle out, and Aoyama started telling his story, telling them about a surreal experience he had while checking his reflection in the mirror. And then it was Mineta’s turn, his story somehow more gross than scary. Bakugou’s story was brief, and didn’t even feel like a ghost story at all. But nobody was going to protest, as his rage was scarier than any ghost story. Afterwards, Tokoyami told them a tale of a ghostly knight, whose sword is passed down from generation to generation. It ended up being more of a gothic fantasy tale than a ghost story.
One by one, the many candles were extinguished, and as the room became darker, and the story somehow became more and more scary, Kaminari felt one of Jirou’s earphone jacks wrapped around his wrist. He looked at her, and she was sitting there beside him, hugging her knees, looking like she’s listening intently to her friends stories while trying to calm herself at the same time.
It felt strange, but at that moment, he was overwhelmed with a protective feeling. Like he wanted her not to feel scared. To feel comfortable, not distressed. And if he can do anything to make her feel safe, he would do it in a heartbeat. He knew she was strong, he knew she could kick his ass in any combat training, she had done just that quite a few times before. But in rare moments like this, moments where she showed just how vulnerable she can be, all he wanted to do was to make her feel safe and happy…
Just like when he first suggested that she sang at the cultural festival during their first year, because he knew how happy she can be when she listened to and played music…
Like when during the class 1A vs 1B training in their first year, he was really worried when she was about to get hit, and how relieved he was when Bakugou saved her...
And it was then, looking at Jirou’s outline under the candle light, that Kaminari realized that he had a really strong feeling for her. Something that had probably been there since their first year. He was just too dense to realize it.
He had a crush on her.
He liked her.
Wow, that’s definitely unexpected...
Of all the girls he knew... he had a crush on this rude, snarky, and sometimes violent girl. And yet, she was also caring in her own way, and smart, and strong, and amazing… And he liked her. He wanted to be her boyfriend. Damn…
Thump thump thump thump…
There’s the heartbeat again. Was it his heartbeat this time? Or hers?
If it was hers, he hoped it was more because of him and because they essentially were holding hands, and not just because she was scared.
And what should he do about his feelings? Should he act on it? Should he… should he ask her out? What if she said no and laughed at him? Could his pride take it?
But before Kaminari could find an answer within himself, the lights turned on.
Some of his classmates cheered, but Kaminari felt a little disappointed because as soon as the lights came on, Jirou unwrapped her earphone jack from his wrist, as though she does not want anyone else to see that.
“Alright! We’ve watched half a movie and played 100 Candles Game. It’s almost 9 o’clock, let’s call this a night and go to bed!” Iida said, standing up from the circle.
Mina and Hagakure made some protest noises again, but other classmates seemed to agree with Iida. Some had already stood up while blowing the remaining candles. Jirou was among those who immediately stood up.
Kaminari stayed on the floor, though. He kept looking at Jirou, trying to make out what her expression and her slightly blushing cheeks mean. Could it be that she felt the same? That would explain her heartbeat and her blush. But what if it was just wishful-thinking on his part? He tried to catch her eye, but for some reason, she kept glancing away from him.
When he realized that he was the only one left on the floor, Kaminari stood up and started to make his way to the boys’ wing.
“Kaminari wait,” he heard Jirou’s voice calling him. She called him with his last name. Not Idiot, not Jamming-Whey, none of her usual nicknames.
He immediately turned around, and there she was, standing in front of the passage that leads to the girls’ wing.
“You need anything?” he asked her.
She seemed hesitant at first, but then she said, “Thank you. For letting me hold your hand while we watched the movie and played the candles game.”
“Sure,” was the only word that came out of his mouth.
He silently cursed himself. He could have said anything else. Hell, he could have even asked her to go grab a coffee with him. He could ask her out on a date!
But then, asking a reward for an act of kindness wouldn’t be very heroic.
“Well then, good night,” Jirou said. She didn’t wait for an answer and immediately went to catch up to the other girls.
He stayed there until she left his view. He knew what he should do. He’d tell her he liked her… Probably not tomorrow, but before the year ended, if possible.
***
Kaminari was awoken from his brief reverie as he heard the sound of key turning on the keyhole. The door soon opened, and there in front of the doorway, stood the most amazing woman he had ever known. The woman who was strong and stubborn, and yet she allowed herself to be scared and vulnerable in front of him.
“Good morning,” he said to her with a wide smile. He took the cup of coffee he made for her and handed it to her as she arrived in front of him. “Made you a cup of coffee as usual.”
Jirou looked tired, her eyes sunken and her hair a mess, but she smiled when she took the cup from his hand and took a sip. “I love you, you know that? You know how to make the perfect coffee,” she said, as she took a seat and reached for a loaf of bread.
Kaminari just grinned. He didn’t need to answer. She already knew he loved her more than anything else in the whole world. And hearing her say those three words to him was the only fuel he needed to get through the day. They might not see each other much because of their schedules, but as long as they are committed to keeping their strong feelings for each other alive, he knew they’d be alright.
“Right, time for me to go to work,” Kaminari said, looking at his watch.
“Go give those villains what they deserve, Chargebolt,” Jirou said, before taking a bite of her bread.
Kaminari gave her a kiss on the forehead before heading out, as he usually does. “And you go get some rest, Earphone Jack. You deserve it.”
He was almost halfway to the door when he remembered. “Hey, you managed to have tonight off right?”
“I didn’t forget our Halloween plan, if that’s what you’re asking Jamming-Whey,” Jirou answered, winking at him.
Kaminari chuckled. She knew him so well. “So we’re still going to the Halloween Parade right?” he asked again, just to make sure.
“I’ll meet you there, 4 PM sharp.” Jirou said. “Now go! You don’t want to be late for work.”
Kaminari smiled widely, and with a wave of his hand, he turned around and walked out of his apartment, ready to face another day of work as a pro-hero.