Work Text:
With only his underwear covering him, Denki was sitting in front of the mirror, head down, and his eyes wandering aimlessly across the floor, his hands, his legs.
At least two hours had passed since he was there, but he had grown tired of standing up.
Footsteps in the hallway alerted him and he stood up suddenly, heading to his bed with intense dizziness that forced him to take a deep breath and blink several times when he managed to lie down, remaining in a fetal position to warm his body as soon as possible.
Already with the blankets over his head and his eyes closed, he pretended to breathe calmly, hoping that the person who had entered his room believed in him again.
He tried to stay calm when his face was exposed and a warm hand caressed his face, thick lips kissed his cheek and that deep voice he knew so much whispered in his ear, "Good night, Den."
Minutes later Denki was letting himself be embraced by Hitoshi's strong body. An arm was wrapped around his waist and his back was flat against the chest of the man behind him.
Denki forgot about everything for a moment and allowed the particular smell of Hitoshi's skin to relax him. It never failed.
///
Denki started his morning as he always did, with a light breakfast, a small exercise routine, and a hot bath, then preparing a real breakfast for him and his boyfriend.
He was finishing ordering everything when Hitoshi hugged him from behind, leaning on his shoulder, "oning". A smile appeared on the blonde's face who quickly flipped to reciprocate the hug, "Good morning to you too, Toshi."
The morning had started normal. That is what he wanted to believe as he watched the other man eat, appreciating every change in him. Hitoshi had grown a lot, now he was much taller, his body was more muscular than before and his face had the perfect mix between tiredness and satisfaction. Hitoshi had really grown up and he was more than happy to have been by his side as he did so.
"Denki...", the aforementioned returned to reality, looking at the man in front of him with a smile that would soon disappear as Hitoshi was looking him straight in the eye. He had that look, the one that Denki knew and hoped wouldn't appear. Hitoshi had really grown and not only physically, because just as he learned the tricks of the purple-haired man, the other had also learned from him.
Shinsou stood up from his seat and walked towards Denki, inviting him to stand as well when he gently took one of his hands. When they were face to face, Denki pressed his lips together and dropped his head.
"Hey... Don't do that", Hitoshi grabbed the small man's face in front of him with both hands and forced him to look at him. "Are we in those moments again?", the other nodded.
Denki closed his eyes upon hearing the heavy sigh that came from Hitoshi's lips, he didn't want to cause trouble. So he was surprised when his body lifted off the ground. Hitoshi had carried him in his arms, one arm going under his butt and the other over his back while lovingly stroking his hair. Denki hid his face in the neck of the man to whom he would entrust his life if necessary, and burst into tears, feeling like a small child.
"It's okay, very good, you have to let it out..." Hitoshi's voice sounded sweet and kind, patient. Denki cried even louder. "Perfect, let it go."
The minutes began to pass and Hitoshi walked through the kitchen with Denki in his arms like a mother does to calm her baby. Sweet words and full of understanding and experience in the same situation filled the small space, making the little blond calm down.
"Do you want to go to bed again?" Denki nodded and Hitoshi walked to the room. Once inside he sat on the bed, leaving the blond on his lap, hugging him even tighter.
When the hug ended, Denki looked at Hitoshi for the first time since he had started crying. His eyes were puffy and red like his face, but it made him look tender in the eyes of the other man who smiled tenderly as he watched him wipe away the remnants of tears with the sleeves of his shirt.
"Don't look at me, I'm ugly"
"Denki, you know very well that you cannot be ugly no matter how hard you try. It is impossible for you. Look at yourself..." Taking both hands of the blond man away from his face, Shinsou adjusted some strands of hair and caressed the cheeks now flushed that he loved so much. "... you are the most beautiful boy in this world. Always, every day I see you when you wake up, when you work, when you have breakfast, on television when you have interviews, in every situation, I wonder what I did to deserve you?, what did I do to be the one who could live next to you like this?... Denki to me you are..."
Denki cried again as the minutes ticked by again and Hitoshi didn't utter a word. The purple haired man had ducked his head and his breathing had become heavy. He was clearly trying not to cry, so Kaminari hugged him again, he wanted to return the beautiful words to him but he couldn't, Hitoshi had hugged him too tightly and his voice had sounded again.
"Everything. You are everything to me Denki. You do not give yourself an idea of the rage that gives me not being able to do anything to get all this out of your mind, erase it forever. I hate to see you feeling bad, I hate to see you suffer for something you don't deserve, I hate it, but for the same reason I am here and I will repeat it to you as many times as necessary... I'm not going away from you, you don't bother me, you don't annoy me, on the contrary, I feel more than happy knowing that you trust me so much to be the only one who knows about all this. I will always protect you my love, always. Even from your past. So don't keep it to yourself, let it go when it appears, don't hurt yourself anymore, you're not alone, I'm here, no matter what happens, I'm always going to be with you, okay? Forever."
They were both a mess, full of tears and sobs. Shinsou had clung to the blonde like a little koala, pressing his face against each other's chest and Denki was the one stroking his hair now, allowing Hitoshi to cry like he hardly ever did.
////
Denki woke up confused and somewhat upset at the same time. Everything was dark and Hitoshi was not at his side so with awkward movements he looked for his phone and confirmed the time, two in the morning, Hitoshi was working.
With a few hours on his side, before his boyfriend came home from work, Denki lay in bed, thinking about the day before and all that had been going through his head.
Hitoshi was his boyfriend for five years already, both decided to take a further step in their friendship at the age of twenty. In that time and even the previous years when they were very good friends, they both learned many things about each other, among these things were Denki's bad habits.
When he was little, contrary to what everyone believed, his quirk was not appreciated by his family because it was dangerous. At the age of eight, Denki learned after a little flu that if his body was weak, his electricity decreased, and his family approached him without fear. And without knowing the consequences, Denki maintained a poor diet for years until his quirk, even if his body was weak, was strong in the opinion of his family.
Later, when his teachers noticed his situation, he was separated from his family, ending up in an orphanage. Luck was with him at that time as he was adopted by a very loving family with electric quirk. Because of that, he no longer had to hold back and his eating habits improved until they became normal. But after what happened in UA, when he accidentally hurt Kirishima, the idea of being dangerous came back to him. Since then there have been times, maybe hours, maybe days or even weeks, when Denki feels bad. Food bothers him, his body bothers him because he looks strong and healthy, his quirk bothers him and he feels alone again.
Denki moved and got out of bed, those memories still hurting him a little. But he was learning to endure them, and he was confident that with time and the necessary care, even if they were there, they would no longer hurt or affect his life. He was willing to finally let it go, because now that he thought about it, even if Hitoshi knew about it, he didn't have to carry everything alone, so he planned to talk about seeking help from someone else.
The hours passed and Hitoshi returned. His dark circles were more noticeable than usual and he looked tired, although his eyes sparkled, crying had helped him too.
The hug was immediate and they stayed like that for a while, together, sharing warmth, caresses, kisses and whispers of love.
Denki was definitely not sleepy but he still went to bed, letting himself be hugged by Hitoshi who took refuge in his chest and let sleep take over him.
Kaminari was truly grateful to have Hitoshi in his life. Shinsou had mentioned that he didn't know what he had done to be able to be with him, but Denki wondered the same. Shinsou was invincible in his eyes. He was an amazing pro-hero by night and a beautiful boyfriend-hero by day. Denki admired him. And with strong feeling and determined thought, Denki kissed Hitoshi's head.
From that day on, some things were going to change. In the future, the only thing that could control his head and heart at will would be Hitoshi, because he could entrust his life to him without thinking twice and he would not regret it, of that he was sure. Denki was willing to heal and understand himself to let those memories that hurt him get away from him.
Feeling stronger than ever, Denki fell asleep. The warmth of Hitoshi's body made him feel at home and the smell of his skin as always, did not fail to calm him down.