Work Text:
After dinner, Kaminari arrived at Sero’s dorm with his homework in hand. He knocked, and grinned when his boyfriend opened the door.
“Hey! Thanks for agreeing to help me study,” He greeted with a wave, and stepped inside Sero’s room. Sero stepped aside as well, shutting the door behind the two of them.
“My grades are in the toilet right now,” Kaminari whined, setting up his homework on the floor. Sero snorted and joined him.
“Aren’t they always, though?” Sero joked, laughing when Kaminari elbowed him in the side.
“It’s like my brain can’t keep anything in it, unless it’s something I like,” Kaminari complained, sighing heavily as he held his pencil in his hand. His eyes passively scanned the worksheet in front of him, not seeking to work with it or retain it in any way.
“I feel like everyone’s like that, to a certain extent,” Sero replied thoughtfully. “Like I can’t memorize math formulas for shit, but hey, I can memorize a meme after looking at it once.”
“I mean, yeah,” Kaminari continued, laughing a little. “But I feel like for me it’s more than that.”
“I can’t remember shit we learned in class yesterday , even when I try,” Kaminari’s voice grew more exasperated as he continued speaking. “It’s like my memory just… stops.”
“It’s annoying,” Kaminari suddenly lowered his voice, cutting his rant short with a heavy sigh. He craned his neck down and furrowed his brows, starting to actually try and read the first problem on their chemistry worksheet. He fidgeted with his pencil, twirling it in his fingers.
“That’s why I’m helping you study, babe,” Sero spoke, grabbing his own pencil. “We’re not gonna use this shit after high school anyway, so memorizing it all isn’t really a big deal.”
“Eh, I guess you’re right,” Kaminari muttered, his eyes scanning the problem in front of him for the fifth time. Once he stopped speaking, he brought his pencil to his paper, prepared to write an answer. He looked over to his boyfriend's paper, and gaped when he saw that Sero was already almost halfway done with the page.
“How the fuck did you do that so fast?” Kaminari practically squeaked, glancing back and forth between Sero’s paper and his own. “I don’t even have anything down for number one yet!” Sero laughed, looking over to Kaminari’s paper.
“Don’t think about it too much, it’s easier than it seems,” Sero assured, turning his attention back to his own paper after a moment. Soon, Kaminari’s pencil was heard scribbling on the worksheet, and Sero continued moving through the problems at his own pace.
The room was mostly quiet, with the occasional question about specific formulas or how to approach getting an answer. After getting help on a question, Kaminari had read the problem after the previous one five times, and it wasn’t making any sense. He felt himself grow restless and frustrated. He huffed as he moved to lay down on his stomach, setting his chin down on the textbook he was using as his writing surface.
Kaminari was suddenly all too aware of Sero’s pencil loudly scribbling away. It seemed like it only took him two seconds to finish one problem. Kaminari had read the same problem for five minutes now and it still wasn’t clicking in his brain. Frustrated, he moved onto the next one and found himself dealing with the same issue.
The silence in the room was too loud, making Kaminari’s ears ring. He wasn’t sure what was more irritating, the loud pencil scribbling, or the ear-ringing silence. Kaminari released a breath he didn’t know he was holding, along with a low groan that came from deep in his chest. He was starting to get a headache now, and he couldn’t focus on anything , let alone his homework. Kaminari moved his feet back and forth, but still felt something within him vibrating. He felt like he needed to walk laps around the school, or something. Doing nothing was starting to cause him what felt like physical pain.
“You okay? You haven’t said anything or written anything down in fifteen minutes,” Sero observed, drawing Kaminari back to reality.
“I don’t get it,” Kaminari replied simply. His voice sounded like an angry toddler; he felt pathetic as the words left his mouth. He wanted to speak again, but those four words were all his brain could offer.
“What don’t you get?” Sero asked, trying to be helpful. For some reason, the question made Kaminari more irritated than he was before. He huffed, rolling onto his back and clashing his knees together to hopefully satisfy his sudden need to move.
“Everything!” He exclaimed, dropping his arms to the floor. “I’m never gonna understand this shit.”
“It’s not as hard as it looks, trust me,” Sero began, setting his homework down. He looked to Kaminari and the sympathetic look on his face changed to one of concern when he noticed his boyfriend was crying.
“I’m such an idiot,” Kaminari’s voice failed, his lip quivering rapidly. “I can’t do it.”
“Yes, you can,” Sero coaxed gently, moving closer to his boyfriend. “Let me try and help you.”
“My head is pounding , I can’t do anything ,” Kaminari cried, rolling back onto his stomach. He put his head down between his arms.
“I’ve been reading the same problem for the last fifteen minutes,” Kaminari sobbed, his voice muffled. “My stupid fucking ADHD jello brain can’t do anything right. I can’t even fucking read .”
“Hey,” Sero’s voice was sympathetic yet firm, causing Kaminari to lift his head up. Sero’s expression softened upon seeing how red and blotchy his boyfriend’s face was.
“We can take a break,” Sero suggested. Kaminari sighed, rolling back onto his back and staring at the ceiling.
“If we take a break everytime my brain decides to check out, we’ll never get this done,” Kaminari laughed bitterly. “I just have to work through it.”
“Breaks are important,” Sero advised. “You’ll probably feel a little better if you step away for a minute.”
“Please, with me , taking a break for a minute turns into taking a break for three hours,” Kaminari laughed bitterly again. He opened his mouth to speak again, but the words died in his throat. A sigh escaped his lips instead, and he sniffled.
“You’re not stupid,” Sero reminded, his voice soft and gentle. That was enough to make the tears return to Kaminari’s eyes.
“I sure feel stupid,” Kaminari’s voice broke, and his lip quivered again. He sighed heavily, thinking for a moment.
“I have the lowest grades in the class, and no matter how hard I study, no matter how many questions I ask, no matter how much help I get… my grades don’t go up,” Kaminari’s voice was more level now, with only a few tears falling down his cheeks.
“I’m busting my ass five times harder than the top students in the class, yet it’s getting me nowhere,” Kaminari vented, a heavy sigh swaying his chest. He sniffled, before scoffing.
“I think that means I’m just an idiot,” Kaminari resigned in a sour voice, glancing to Sero. “I don’t know why I try so hard anyways.”
“Having ADHD doesn’t make you an idiot,” Sero assured, placing a hand on Kaminari’s arm.
“Everyone else sure thinks so,” Kaminari mumbled, sniffling as he sat up straight.
“I don’t,” Sero replied quickly. “And I doubt anybody really thinks that.”
“Why does Bakugo call me Dunce Face, then?” Kaminari muttered bitterly, teary-eyed.
“Bakugo calls his own boyfriend Shitty Hair,” Sero pointed out. Kaminari gave a watery laugh in reply.
“True,” He replied, sighing as his laughter faded. The room was silent for a minute.
“You really think I’m not stupid?” Kaminari questioned incredulously, his voice low.
“You’re not stupid, Denki,” Sero replied in a firm tone. “I promise you, you’re not stupid.”
“Certain subjects in school just don’t catch your interest and there’s nothing wrong with that,” Sero continued. Kaminari looked to his boyfriend, his eyes somewhat sad yet intrigued.
“You may suck at chemistry, sure, but you’re great at Japanese Literature, music, and art,” Sero added, fondness noticeable in his voice. “You’re incredibly smart and passionate about the things you like, and chemistry just isn’t one of them.”
“What about math, or English, geography, or civics…” Kaminari trailed off, struggling to think of more subjects. “I suck at all of those.”
“So? As long as you get a C, who cares?” Sero laughed, shrugging. “Academically smart isn’t the only kind of ‘smart’ you can be, Denki.”
“What kind of smart am I, then?” Kaminari probed, his voice small. Sero thought for a second.
“You’re socially smart, artistically smart... and you know how to comfort people when they’re down, and you’re an amazing person to be around,” Sero replied, the fondness in his voice growing stronger. Kaminari’s light smile started growing into a bright grin.
“Just because you’re not good at academics doesn’t mean you’re stupid,” Sero assured again. “You don’t really focus on things that don’t interest you, that doesn’t mean you’re an idiot.”
“Besides, your main goal here isn’t to be academically smart, it’s to graduate and become a Pro Hero,” Sero finished, smiling warmly.
“As much as I appreciate hearing that, Sero, I kinda have to pass my classes to graduate,” Kaminari laughed awkwardly.
“Hey, I’m baring my soul here, don’t argue with me,” Sero scoffed, elbowing his boyfriend in the side. Kaminari laughed, and Sero joined him. After a moment, their laughter faded away and the room was silent.
“Anyways, if you’re an idiot, then you’re the smartest idiot I’ve ever met,” Sero finished, feeling like he achieved his purpose when Kaminari laughed brightly.
“No, but really, though, Hanta,” Kaminari spoke again, his voice uncharacteristically soft. “Thank you.”
Sero chuckled, planting a kiss on his boyfriend’s forehead. “Ready to pick up again?”
“Ehhh, can we wait just a bit longer?” Kaminari whined. Sero laughed.
“Sure, we can wait,” Sero replied. “Wanna watch a TV show or a movie or something?”
“Absolutely!” Kaminari chirped, his voice back to its usual volume and cheerfulness. They both got comfortable on Sero’s bed, and Sero grabbed his laptop to open up Netflix.
They ended up watching a few episodes of The Office before returning to their chemistry worksheet. Kaminari felt nothing but relief upon finishing it, and Sero told him he was proud of him for sticking with it. Kaminari countered his compliment by saying that was a stupid thing to be proud of someone for. Sero disagreed and kissed his boyfriend on the forehead again. Kaminari didn’t argue with him anymore after that.
They continued to watch The Office until late at night, neither of them wanting to move or do something else. Sero sighed and smiled upon noticing that Kaminari had fallen asleep on him. Sero thought for a minute, and then concluded that he wasn’t opposed to having a sleepover.
Sero slowly moved out of Kaminari’s grip to turn off the light, and then returned back to bed. Kaminari’s eyes opened slightly, and they closed again once Sero got comfortable. An arm slung around Sero’s waist, and Kaminari nuzzled his head onto his boyfriend’s chest.
“I love you,” Kaminari mumbled sleepily. Sero chuckled, giving his boyfriend one final kiss on the forehead.
“I love you, too, Denki,” Sero replied, sounding equally as tired as his boyfriend did. He exhaled slowly, eventually slipping away into sleep.