Chapter Text
It was going on 10:30pm, and everything felt unreal. Their patrol of the city had ended a half an hour ago, but Kaminari and Jirou were still out on the streets. The dim street lights illuminated the streets, light reflecting on the wet asphalt. It was very pretty. They could hear the wind as it rustled through the few trees that lined with small green areas beside the sidewalks. They walked and walked, not saying anything to each other, only staring ahead, occasionally glancing over at each other. It has been an uneventful night, which was both good and bad. On one hand, it means the city was relatively safe for the night, but on the other, it meant that they were not really tired.
Jirou heard in the distance the sound of live music. She turned to Kaminari, tapping his shoulder to get his attention. “Hey, wanna find out where that music is coming from?”
Kaminari’s amber eyes gleamed under the streetlights “Yes. Let’s go!” He grabbed Jirou by the arm and pulled her forward toward the sound of the music. Jirou let out a laugh and join him in his light sprint. They stopped at the source of the music: a storefront with a neon ‘open’ sign glowing in the window. There was an outdoor staircase that led down to a lower level that the music seemed to be coming from. Cheekily Locking arms, Kaminari and Jirou descended the stairs.
Kaminari pulled open the door and grandly gestures for Jirou to enter. “Ladies first”. Jirou chuckled and stepped inside, Kaminari following behind.
The establishment was a seat yourself sort of place where you would place any drink or food orders at the bar. Jirou spotted an empty round table near the wall and started walking toward it, but Kaminari touched her arm. “Let’s go over there instead. It’s closer to the stage” he vaguely gestured toward a small round table a few feet from the stage. Jirou nodded and follow Kaminari to the table. Kaminari scooted his chair closer to Jirou’s and angled it toward the stage.
He leaned closer to Jirou “Did you want anything?”
“Yeah, a sense of purpose” she joked.
Kaminari chuckled and elaborated “I meant food or drinks”.
“Strawberry margarita would be cool if they got it. Otherwise just a water is fine. Oh, and maybe a thing or fries to split? Here, lemme get you some money-”
She reached for her pocket but Kaminari held up his hand. “No need. I got it covered. ” He grinned and Jirou watched as he confidently waltzed over to the bar. He leaned on the bar and flashed a dazzling smile at the bar tender. Jirou could see her blush as Kaminari spoke, and she returned a few minutes later with some beverages and a cardboard basket on a small tray. A few minutes later, he returned to the table with two drinks and a basket of fries.
“Kaminari, did you pay for that?” Kaminari popped a fry in his mouth, his eyes gleaming mischievously and a grin on his face.
“Kaminari, you can’t just charm people to get things for free. You actually should use real currency and support the business, idiot.” She took a fry and shoved it in her mouth. his grin widening.
“Oh, so you think I’m charming?”
Jirou playfully shoved him “to other people. To me, you’re a little shit”.
Kaminari playfully pouted, making puppy dog eyes and sticking out his bottom lip. “Awww Jirou, don’t be so cantankerous”
“Wow, really pulling out the big words tonight, aren’t we? You know, for someone who does and says so many dumb things, you surprise me every time with some SAT word or some other profound shit. You’re a closeted nerd.” Jirou mused.
Kaminari smiled in response, becoming a slight shade of pink. “What can I say, those sort of things take up one of my two brain cells”. Jirou laughed loudly in response.
there was a rustling sound and Kaminari whispherd “Oh, I think the next act is getting ready to start”.
On the stage, there were now four people casually dressed: one at the drum set, one with a bass, one with a guitar, and one at the keyboard.
The one with the guitar leaned into the microphone and said in a low voice. “Testing one two one two three. Alright, looks like audio is good.”
Then with more enthusiasm: Hey everybody , how we doing tonight?” Jirou, Kaminari, and a few others let out a small whoop.
“Alright! We” he put his arms out dramatically “are the Vigilantes! And tonight, we’re gonna rock this place. Are you ready?!”
Another whoop, more enthusiastic this time around, came from the audience. The drummer yelled, tapping his drumsticks together “ ONE TWO THREE FOUR” and the band began to play.
Kaminari and Jirou both shared a common interest in music but in different ways. Kaminari enjoyed listening to the lyrics and getting caught in the emotions. Jirou listened for the resounding beat of the bass and the drums and how it struck her to her core. Jirou was bobbing her head to the beat and Kaminari tapped along to the beat of the song and listened to the lyrics closely.
During the bridge, the lead singer yelled “Alright everybody! Clap, clap cmon!” They, along with other members of the audience, joined in and clapped along to the beat before the final chorus. “We have been the Vigilantes, and thanks for coming out tonight! Thanks again to the Crawler’s Pub for hosting this open mic tonight! Thank you!” They left stage and regular pop starter playing from the overhead speakers.
“Well, I think that’s enough for tonight.” Kaminari jumped up to his feet. “Shall we head out, my lady?” He offered his hand to Jirou. Laughing, “Alright Sparky, let’s go”.
Bursting outside into the cool night air, they locked arms. Jirou started singing softly, barely above a whisper. “Take me to your best friend’s house, going round this roundabout oh yeahh…”
Kaminari, immediately recognizing the tune, join in with full enthusiasm and volume “Take me to your best friend’s house, loved you then, loved you now, oH YEAHHH”
Jirou laughed, and she started to sing a little louder in response. “Don’t take me tongue tied! Don’t wave no goodbye!” Kaminari, ever dramatic, ran to the nearest bench and leapt up, gesturing dramatically as he sang. “Take me to your best friend’s house, loved you then and love yOU NOWWWWWWWW!”
Jirou jumped up next to him and followed suit, singing together. “Don’t leave me tongue tied! Don’t wave no goodbye! Don’t leave me tongue tied! Doooooooo’nt” Kaminari took Jirou by the hand and they hopped off back onto the pavement, swinging arms in time with the song. As they were singing the last few lyrics, Kaminari took Jirou’s hand and twirled her around as she laughed, landing her right against his chest.
Jirou stopped laughing and gazed up at him for a moment before glancing away, her face bright red. Kaminari grinned, cheeks flushed pink and he let out a small chuckle, mumbling “Oops, sorry Jirou. Got caught up in the moment!”
Jirou shrugged. “I don’t mind.” She took a step back and spun on her heel, jogging ahead a few feet. She turned back around and started walking backwards, facing Kaminari. “You know, like, the band was really really good and like I feel so energized-I’m not really tired after that. I got off tomorrow morning, how about you?”
Kaminari grinned “Yep, same here. You wanna meet for brunch or somethin’?”
“Why don’t you just stay over at my place? I mean we usually hang out Tuesday afternoons anyways, and I can make pancakes for us in the morning if you want.”
Kaminari responded “Oh dude, that totally would be sick. Let’s stop by my apartment on the way really quick on the way so I can grab some things, okay?” Jirou nodded and they walked side by side in a pleasant silence through the dimly lit streets.
After a few minutes they stopped out front of Kaminari’s building. He fished his keys out of his pocket and started up the steps to the front door. Jirou leaned up against a telephone pole to wait when she saw Kaminari standing in the now unlocked doorway gesturing for her to follow.
“C’mon Ji, it’s okay for you to come in! I promise my apartment is presentable!” Jirou hesitated for a moment before following him into the apartment building. Up the stairs and down the hall on the right was Kaminari’s apartment. He unlocked the door to let them in.
“See, I told you it wasn’t besmirched with clutter or anything. You can take a seat on the couch, Ji. I’ll only be a few minutes.” He disappeared into the bedroom at the end of the short hallway. Jirou didn’t sit down, but instead started investigating the photos of the walls. Different photos in frames were hung up haphazardly. One photo was a selfie of Kaminari, Mina, and Sero from high school sticking out their tongues and flashing a peace sign. Another was of their whole graduating class lined up side by side proudly flanked on each side by their teachers at UA. Another photo was of herself and Kaminari. She remember this one. He had caught her off guard one morning before class. “Jirou! Selfieeee!” He angled the phone to get her frazzled self and him in frame. She remembered feeling so embarrassed, but now she could only smile contently looking at it. She and Kaminari had had an interesting friendship, that’s for sure. They were polar opposites in personalities: Kaminari was this energetic, gregarious guy who had tried so hard to be cool. Jirou was more withdrawn and kept to herself, content to do things her own way. Their friendship was definitely a case of opposites attracting.
Jirou then felt a light tap on her shoulder blade, interrupting her from her thoughts. “Hey Jirou? I’m all good to go.” He patted the backpack slung over his shoulder.
Jirou looked back at the photo, asking “You remember this photo, Sparky?”
“Of course. You were so reluctant to be in a photo that I had to surprise you in order to get you in one! You were so camera shy. And you were sooo mad at me for taking that photo. But I wanted photos of everybody important to me just in case we never saw each other again after high school, and of course you fall into the criteria” he smiled fondly at the photo on the wall.
“You know, in retrospect, I’m glad you made me be in a stupid selfie with you. Like, yeah, you were annoying and I was like super insecure but idk, I like the memories that it brings back.”
“Me too. Makes me feel all nostalgic...Well,” Kaminari cleared his throat, jocularly bowed and held out his hand. “Shall we head out, Miss Jirou?”
Jirou giggled as she took cheekily his hand “Why, of course sir”.
After locking his apartment door, they walked out hand in hand, arms swinging, singing a duet with each other as they made their way to Jirou’s place. A few blocks later, they arrived. Jirou unlocked the front entrance then they made their way down the corridor to her apartment door. Unlocking it, she said “Okay, so I do need to set up the pull out couch for you, but that shouldn’t take long.”
They entered and Kaminari set down his bag next to the door. “No rush.” His amber eyes lit up and he excitedly asked “Can we watch a movie first?”
“Yeah, that’d be cool. Lemme change first. You can change in the bathroom. I’ll change in my room. Be back in sec, k?” She walked down the hall and entered her room, closing the door behind her. Kaminari went and changed into some pjs, put up his hair, took out his contacts and put on his glasses in the bathroom, then made his way to the living area to sit on the couch. A few minutes later, Jirou emerged from her room wearing pjs and carrying a fuzzy blanket. She plopped down on the couch next to Kaminari, and grabbed the remote from the side table.
“Alright, whatcha in the mood for, sparky? Comedy? Thriller? Action?”
He playfully shoved her “You already know what I want to watch”.
Jirou sighed “You’re so predictable” as she clicked on the Princess Diaries, Kaminari’s favorite movie. She wouldn’t openly admit it to anybody else, but she liked the movie too. Kaminari leaned against her arm and Jirou draped the fuzzy blanket across their laps. Halfway through, she noticed that Kaminari had nodded off. She chuckled quietly to herself, and started to get up.
“Ji- no. Stay. You’re warm” he mumbled, patting the sofa where she had just been.
”Idiot, you have a blanket” she smirked, sitting back down. Kaminari shifted from sitting to laying down. ”Mmm, come here” he sleepily tapped the space in front of him.
“You are soo much, you know that?” She chided. She settled in the space in front of him, nuzzling against him. She could feel his heartbeat and their breathing synced up. When the credits rolled, she rolled over to face him.
“Kami,” she said gently, “time for bed.” Kaminari yawned but didn’t move. Jirou rolled over and stood up and pulled him up gently by the arms. “C’mon sleepy head, I gotta set up the pull out couch.”
“Mmm” he hummed in response as he delicately placed his arms around Jirou’s neck and buried his face in her shoulder. “Too much work.”
“What? You wanna sleep on just the plain couch? You’re weird.”
Kaminari hummed again. “Mmm...no...”
“Alright, wow you’re gonna take the floor? Bold move, Sparky.”
Kaminari looked up from her shoulder, took both her hands in his, and looked into her eyes. Jirou caught her breath as he said in an uncharacteristically serious tone “Ji, we have been dancing around this for years… You know how I feel about you…and from how you act around me...I know that at least some of it is mutual.”
Jirou frowned a bit “I know... I just...I don't know... I, I don’t want to complicate our friendship...I love being around you and I don’t want to lose that if things go sour... I couldn’t bear losing that....”
“I know, Ji... but, think about it at least? For me?” Kaminari was grasping her hands in his, looking at her with pleading eyes.
“…Yeah” she nodded. “I…I can do that.”
She let go of his hands and started folding down the couch when he playfully bumped her hip. “Nah, Ji. I got this. Go to bed.” She laughed quietly, the tension seemingly have left the room.
“Goodnight Kaminari”.
(END CHAPTER 1)