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Sometimes it astounded you how dumb Denki Kaminari could be.
He wasn’t a complete moron. At least, not all the time. Sometimes he could be really smart and insightful. He was competent when it came to using his quirk when it counted. He’d even surprised you in English class occasionally when he answered a question correctly about what you were reading.
This time, though, it was not one of his shining moments.
You were lucky (or unlucky, depending on how you looked at it) enough to share a wall with the electric hero in the UA dorms. He was usually decent enough to be quiet. Sometimes you could hear music through the wall, but it was never loud enough to complain about. He didn’t slam his door like Bakugou or stand creepily outside your room like Mineta. He was a decent neighbor and it wasn’t so bad that you’d ended up next to him.
However, he did have one habit that made you roll your eyes, and on that boring Saturday night at one in the morning, you were unsurprised to catch a whiff of something pungent wafting underneath your closed bedroom door.
You didn’t care that Denki smoked weed. You did too, occasionally. The issue was that the dumbass liked to take bong rips in the middle of his dorm room without shoving a towel under the door or opening a window. He was just asking to get caught and chucked right out of the hero program at this rate.
You sighed, closing the book you’d been reading and standing from your bed. If he wasn’t going to try and prevent himself from getting caught, you had to take matters into your own hands. He was your friend, and that on top of the fact that you were harboring less than platonic feelings for him, made it feel like you had to help him. This wasn’t the first time you’d had to warn him, and you knew he probably didn’t even realize that he was stinking up the entire floor. Again.
Your slippers were quiet on the linoleum flooring as you stepped into the hallway, the smell of marijuana growing stronger as you walked next door. You knocked twice, stepping back and waiting as you heard Denki mutter quietly, knowing he was working on clearing up what he was doing in case you were a teacher, or even worse, Iida.
“If you don’t think Aizawa knows what weed smells like, Denks, then you’re stupider than I thought.” You said loud enough for him to hear you, holding back a giggle when you heard him curse to himself.
The door cracked open a moment later, bloodshot yellow eyes peering at you through the opening. “What’s the password?”
“Listen to me, derp face,” you said fondly, ignoring his request. “You need a towel under the door or a spoof if you’re going to keep insisting on hotboxing your room.” You waved your arm in front of your face as remnants of smoke poured into the hallway.
“A what? And that’s not the password.” He frowned, squinting at you.
“It’s takoyaki.” You finally conceded, rolling your eyes when he opened the door wider and grinned.
“Correct. You may enter.”
“God, I could blindfold you with a piece of dental floss right now, you fucking stoner.” You stayed put, folding your arms over your chest. “Do you really not know what a spoof is?”
“No?” Your yellow-haired friend blinked at you stupidly, and you sighed.
“Do me a favor, just don’t smoke anything for a few and open the balcony doors or something. Give me 10 minutes, I’ll be right back.”
You didn’t wait for his reply, turning and walking towards the elevators, and pressing the button.
“What are you doing?” He whispered loudly at you from down the hallway.
“Saving your life,” You said cryptically as the elevator doors slid open. You stepped inside, disappearing from his view and shaking your head.
--
You walked out of the elevator and into the common area, rolling your eyes at the sight before you.
Bakugou, Kirishima, and Sero were all fast asleep on one couch. Sero had his head tilted back, soft snores coming from his parted mouth. Beside him, Kirishima was snuggled against Bakugou’s chest, the blond’s head leaning against his with his arm wrapped snugly around his waist. Mina and Kyoka were on the other couch, both fast asleep as well. The TV was on, the tail end of a movie you recognized still playing, your friends succumbing to sleep before they could finish watching.
You padded by them quietly, moving towards the kitchen. You headed straight for the counter, plucking the roll of paper towels off its holder and then turning to find the kitchen scissors. There was a lot more paper left on the roll than you’d been hoping, but you shrugged, using the scissors to cut the cardboard roll out of the middle. You knew there would be questions later, but you decided you didn’t care, and would probably just act like you had no idea what happened.
Cardboard roll in hand, you made one more trip to the laundry room, grabbing a handful of dryer sheets and shoving them in the pocket of your sweatpants, before heading to the elevator again. You had half a mind to wake your friends, but decided the less people upstairs in their rooms meant the less people to complain about Denki and his foul smelling habit.
One last stop in your room had you searching for a hair elastic, and then you were back at Denki’s door, knocking again. You sniffed the air, noticing the smell had dissipated slightly. It didn’t take long for him to answer, his eyes still half lidded as he smiled at you.
“Welcome back, Sparky.” He giggled. “Miss me?”
“So much. Every moment I was gone felt like an eternity, Denks.” You deadpanned, pushing past him and smacking him over the head with the cardboard roll as you walked by.
“I knew you were into me. Sero owes me a thousand yen.” He chuckled, rubbing at his head idly and closing the door behind you.
You didn’t correct him, walking further into the room and surveying the area. Walking over to the balcony doors, you pulled them shut and pulled the dark zebra print curtains closed. “Don’t you have any music you can play?”
“Trying to set the mood? I can vibe with that.” He shuffled over to his Bluetooth speaker and hit the button, pulling out his phone.
“If you put on Bob Marley I’m leaving.” You threatened.
“No Marley? Too stereotypical, huh?” He quirked an eyebrow as you sat on his bed, pulling the dryer sheets from your pocket. “What’s that for?”
“Shush, let me work. Put on some Arctic Monkeys or something and get over here.” You instructed.
“Bossy.” He grumbled, but he had an easy smile as he clicked around on his screen, the beginning notes of R U Mine? playing from the speaker.
When he was settled beside you, you got to work. “Listen, I’m going to show you how to make this once, and you can keep it. Just make sure you switch out the dryer sheets occasionally to keep it fresh.”
“Okay, but what is it?” He asked, confused, picking up one of the sheets and rubbing it between his fingers.
“It’s called a spoof.” You explained, settling more comfortably. “Alright, so you take a cardboard roll like this one,” You held it up to show him. “Then you fold the dryer sheet over like this to cover the hole on one end.” You demonstrated, holding the edges around the tube. You used your teeth to pull the elastic off your wrist and over your hand, using it to secure the dryer sheet onto the tube. “Got it so far?”
Denki just nodded.
“Okay, then you take the rest of the sheets and shove them into the other side.” You flipped the tube, taking the remaining sheets and separating them before shoving them into the tube as far as they would go. “Where’s your bong?”
Denki hopped up, pulling the bong from its hiding place on the far side of his dresser. He brought it over to you, reaching into his pocket to hand you a lighter.
You dropped the tube beside you, shifting on the bed until your back was leaning against the wall, your legs stretched out in front of you. You put your mouth on the end of the glass, one hand hovering near the bowl as you flicked the lighter and lit the bud that was nestled inside it. The embers flared as you breathed in, water bubbling quietly as the tube filled with smoke. When you were ready, you lifted the bowl from the glass to clear it, the smoke traveling up the glass tube and into your lungs.
Denki watched with rapt attention as you sat back, holding the smoke in your lungs for a moment. You dropped the lighter and moved your hand to find the cardboard tube you’d constructed. Keeping eye contact with him, you moved the open end of the cardboard to your lips and blew the smoke into it.
The smoke came out the other side, smelling a little less like weed, and a lot more like fresh laundry.
“Holy shit.” Denki breathed, eyes wide. “That’s…”
“Now you try.” You held out the bong to him and he took it, shifting to sit close beside you, his arm brushing against yours, and his legs straightened out in front of him as well. You searched for the lighter on his blanket and gave it to him, sitting back to watch.
His attention moved to what he was doing, repeating the same steps. You tried not to watch as he breathed in, his chest moving as his lungs expanded and he cleared the glass. You held out to spoof and he took it, putting it to his lips and blowing the smoke through it, white tendrils whisping out the other side and filling the room with the smell of clean spring.
The room was quiet except for the music as you both watched the smoke dissipate. He turned to look over at you again, his smile contagious.
“I have two things to say.” He started, swallowing thickly. “First of all, you’re a genius. Like seriously? Holy fuck. Where did you learn that?”
You shrugged. “I’ve picked up some tricks I guess.”
“Damn.” He licked his lips, offering the bong back to you. “Second of all, I don’t know why, but watching you hit that was probably the hottest thing I’ve ever seen. I should not be turned on as much as I am right now.”
You blushed. “Denki, really? Don’t-“ You took it from him, poking at the ash in the bowl idly, wanting to look anywhere but at him.
“I thought we were a great team in class already, but this just adds a whole other level on top of that.” He giggled. “What would I do without you?”
He was right, you were a great team. Your quirks perfectly complemented each other. Denki could conjure electricity and wield it, although sloppily. He wasn’t able to direct it well without his point and shoot and had issues with overloading himself if he went too hard.
You could wield electricity too, but you couldn’t create it. You needed a source, which was why your costume came with a taser. You didn’t need it with Denki around, however. He could zap you and give you what you needed, and then you could direct it wherever you pleased. When he charged up beside you, you could take the excess energy from him and keep him from making himself stupid. The two of you were a force to be reckoned with in class, and you always talked about the possibility of working together once you graduated.
“You’d probably be kicked out of here.” You joked, taking the lighter from his outstretched hand. “If Aizawa catches you, you’re toast.”
“I know, I wasn’t thinking. Could you smell it in your room?” He sighed, letting his head hit the wall behind him.
“Yeah, dude. It was pretty bad. You’re lucky half the class is downstairs and passed out on the couch.” You took another hit, reaching out blindly for the spoof when you had the smoke in your lungs. You blushed when your hand grazed against his in your search, nearly choking. You managed to get it to your lips before you coughed it out, letting your head thump back against the wall.
“Bakugou and Kiri cuddling again?” He asked, taking the bong back when you held it out towards him.
You snorted. “Of course.” It was no secret in your group of friends that those two were in love with each other. The betting pool was getting competitive, all of you waiting for the moment that Katsuki got his head out of his ass and finally made the sturdy hero his boyfriend.
Denki took a hit, using the spoof again, before leaning down and pushing his finger into the bowl. “It’s cashed. You want more?”
You shook your head. “Nah, I’m okay.”
He hummed, shuffling off the bed to hide the bong again, opening a drawer and shoving the spoof inside.
You didn’t want to smoke and run, but you didn’t want to overstay your welcome either, so you began shuffling off the bed as well.
“You leaving?” He asked, pouting when he turned around.
You blushed. “I mean, I can stay if you want. I wasn’t doing anything important anyway. I just kind of barged in here to begin with so-”
“Dude, no! I always want you to hang.” He said shyly, rubbing at the back of his neck. “We don’t get to hang out enough, just the two of us. We’ve always got the Bakusquad around.”
He was right, so you just nodded, biting your lip. You were feeling floaty, so it made the anxiety of hanging out with Denki without your other friends fade to the background.
“Great!” He grinned, walking over and pulling the curtain back, opening the balcony door to filter air out the room. He clicked on the lamp on his desk across from the bed, and then shuffled over to hit the switch on the wall, turning off the main light, casting the room into near darkness. You watched as he moved back towards you and crawled onto the bed beside you and squirmed until his head was resting on his pillow. “Come up here.”
You turned, laying down beside him on your back, the music still playing in the background. Your eyes caught the plastic glow in the dark stars he had stuck to the ceiling above the bed. “Speaking of the Bakusquad, what were you saying about Sero owing you a thousand yen?”
Denki snorted. “Yeah. Well...I kind of told him that I thought you might have a thing for me.”
You turned to look at him, feeling your face heat up. He looked embarrassed, his gaze locked on the fake green stars. “Really?”
“Yeah, I mean, I wasn’t serious. I never thought you’d ever think about me that way, which is kind of how the conversation started anyway.” He turned to meet your eyes finally, shrugging.
You hummed. “Would that be a bad thing though?” You wondered out loud.
“Would it be a bad thing if you had a crush on me?” His eyes widened slightly. “No, I think it would be a good thing.”
“Oh.” You were both quiet, staring at each other.
“Wait, do you?” He turned a little so he was facing you fully. “Be honest.”
You turned on your side as well. “Well, I mean…” You were suddenly nervous. He said it would be a good thing though, and you wanted to know exactly what he meant by that. You sighed. “Yeah. I do.”
He blinked a few times like his brain was trying to catch up to the conversation. “You like me?”
“Denki, you are making this so awkward right now. Yes, I do. Happy?” You wanted to crawl into a hole and die. His lack of positive reaction was not helping.
“Shit.” He whispered. You studied his facial expression, watching as his tongue slipped out of his mouth to wet his lips.
“If I just ruined everything just tell me and I’ll go back to my room and never come out again.” You mumbled, fully prepared to slip backwards off the mattress and hide forever.
He didn’t reply, his hand moving to your face, his thumb brushing along your cheekbone. You shivered involuntarily at the contact. “You didn’t ruin anything. I think it just makes this easier.”
“Wha-” You started to ask, fully confused. You were cut off when Denki leaned forward and pressed his lips to yours. Your eyes fluttered closed, your mouth parting with a small gasp. Your hands fisted into the front of his t-shirt and pulled him closer on their own volition, your body reacting without a second thought.
He hummed, his fingers threading into your hair as he shuffled closer, his tongue sweeping into your mouth. He pulled back slowly to breathe, his nose brushing against yours, his breath warm and mixing with yours. “This okay?”
“Mmm.” Your head felt fuzzy, but you felt incredible. This was a moment you’d thought of since your first year at UA. Denki had been one of your first friends at school, you’d been hanging onto your crush on him ever since, settling for spending time with him as friends, too afraid to do anything about it. You were used to the constant teasing from your squad about the two of you, and Mina’s nagging about when you were going to man up and make a move. It was hard to focus on any of that when he was here in front of you, laying on his bed, his hand moving down to grasp your hip and pull you impossibly close, your bottom lip between his teeth.
When he pulled away again, his golden eyes were bright, his lips quirking up into a smile. “You don’t know how long I’ve wanted to do that.”
Your eyebrows furrowed, your thoughts moving slowly. You kind of regretted smoking as much as you did, afraid you were imagining this moment. “I didn’t even know you wanted to do that.”
He groaned. “I know. I’m the worst. I was so scared you didn’t feel the same way and then I just…”
“So what you’re saying is you like me too?” You asked, realizing it was probably a stupid question, but wanting to make sure you were on the same page.
“Yeah, like, a lot.” He snorted. “We are bad at this.”
“So bad.” You sighed. “I’m just really baked and kind of worried I’m dreaming.”
“Not a dream. Unless we’re having the same dream, which would be kind of freaky.” He looked thoughtful for a second. “That would be a fucked up quirk huh? Like, if you could make people have the same dreams and then they wake up and realize it was all a lie?”
“This is the most Denki thing ever.” You giggled. He looked confused so you continued. “I just mean that you got me here, in your room, on your bed, fully ready to make out until we fall asleep, and you’re going on a tangent thinking about weird dream quirks.”
He nodded solemnly. “Unfortunately, you’re right. Get used to it, I’m not always the smartest.”
You rolled your eyes. “I’m not complaining. Get over here, discount Pikachu.” You pulled him by his shirt and kissed him again, smiling against his lips when he grunted in surprise. You let your hands travel to his back, nails raking lightly against his shirt, legs tangled together. He shivered and gripped your hips tighter. You felt a jolt of electricity from his fingers surge through you.
He pulled back with a chuckle. “Guess we’re lucky you can absorb my electricity, huh?”
You hummed, smirking at him. “You better be careful. If you charge me up too much there’s no telling what I’ll do to you.”
“Oh my god, that’s so hot.” He groaned, kissing you again. “Seriously, fuck.”
“Maybe I should go back to my room,” you said in between presses of his lips against yours. “Don’t want to start something we can’t finish anyway.”
“What? No, don’t go.” He pouted. “You can’t leave me by myself for too long, you’ve seen what happens!” His fingers moved a piece of your hair from your face, his expression twisting into a suggestive grin. “Plus, who says we won’t finish?”
You huffed, rolling away from him. “That’s right, when left alone you smoke out your room like a dumbass. How could I forget.”
“But that won’t happen anymore, ‘cause I’ve got you to make sure I don’t fuck up.” He grinned, leaning over to kiss your cheek.
“Yeah, you do.”