Work Text:
Kyouka looked back at the blonde trailing her and rolled her eyes. The duo were looking for any sort of shelter, but most shops were closed this late at night. Rain continued to pelt down at them, her umbrella having been ruined earlier. “Kaminari, you idiot..!” She shouted back at him, keeping her hand held up to her forehead to shield her eyes from the drops.
“Oh come on, what’s that for?” Denki held his hands above his head to protect his hair. He kept his eye out for anything still open.
“It’s your fault we were out here for so long.” She sighed, before noticing something out of the corner of her eye. “Hey, over there!”
He opened his mouth to argue, but turned to where she pointed. “Hell yeah!” A still lit store was illuminating the dark road. They ran up to the doors and stepped in. “Hey, hello? Anyone home?” He spoke into the quiet store.
An audible thump came from under the counter before a young man popped his head up. “Huh? Oh, hello there.” He reached up and rubbed the back of his head.
Kyouka glanced around what appeared to be a small cafe. “Hey there… Do you mind if we wait out the storm here? It’s getting pretty bad out there...” As if to punctuate her sentence, a crack of thunder rolled out.
“Oh jeez, I don’t mind… But I close up in about an hour, and I’m afraid you can’t stay any longer than that…” He frowned, before glancing at Denki’s uniform. “Wait, you’re a UA student?” He opened his mouth to reply before getting cut off. “Yeah, I know you. You were the kid that lost to that vine girl, right?”
“Well yeah, but no! I mean sorta, but it wasn’t like that!” He grinned, as if he won an argument.
Kyouka shoved his shoulder. “Shut up, idiot. Yeah we’re students. We just got caught out in the storm.”
The barista nodded and raised a finger. “Let me grab you some towels. There are some seats over there for you.” He pointed to the corner of the shop before stepping into the back.
Denki rubbed his shoulder and headed to the chairs. He sat down and looked out the window, heavy rain still slamming down. The other U.A. student had yet to take a seat, which he soon noticed. “Hey, Jirou, are you gonna sit? Wasn’t it your idea to find this place anyways?”
“Yeah, alright…” She replied, before sitting opposite from him. They sat quietly for a bit, until the barista returned.
He was holding two plain white towels, and handed one to each of them. “Here you go... How does Hot Chocolate sound?” He said as he crouched down, lighting a small fireplace.
Kyouka didn’t realise how cold she was until the wave of warm air hit her. She wrapped the towel around herself and curled her jacks up. “That sounds great!”
“No complaints here!” Denki grinned, taking the towel to his hair to dry it out.
“Alright, I’ll be back in a minute.” The Barista nodded and headed back behind the counter, out of their view.
They sat quietly, both using the towels to dry off as much as possible. After a surprisingly short time, he returned once again. His hands were glowing incandescently, with a cup in each. “Be careful, it’s hot. But I didn’t touch the handle, so it’ll be safe to hold.”
“Oh, sure, thanks!” The blonde took one by the handle. He slowly moved one of his fingers to the edge of the mug, pressing the tip against it before quickly pulling it away and shoving it into his mouth. “Ah, yeah, it’s hot… Don’t touch it!” He slurred with the finger still in his mouth.
Kyouka laughed, grabbing her own cup. “Wasn’t planning to…” She could see the steam coming out. “How hot even is this?”
The Barista waved his still glowing hand in the air. “I can heat things with my hands, usually only up to around sixty degrees. But after dunking my hands into warm water, I can get up to around eighty. They do take time to cool off after that though.” He smiled and turned to leave. “If you want anything, let me know.”
“Don’t we need to pay?” She raised an eyebrow.
“Hey, don’t remind him.” The other student whispered, clapping his hand over her mouth.
“No worries… It’s on the house. I don’t see the point, you’re the future heroes, your money could be better spent elsewhere.” He shrugged.
“Seriously?! I mean- Yeah, makes sense.” Denki gave a sigh of relief, hand still clasped over Kyouka’s mouth. She gave him an awkward stare, before bringing her cup up to the back of his hand, tapping it lightly. The boy yelped and pulled his hand back. “Hey what the hell, man?” She replied with a quiet shrug. “What if I accidentally shocked you or something, bet you wouldn’t like that!”
She waved one of her jacks in the air. “I was surprised you even remembered you had a hand, seeing as you forgot it on my face.”
“I was just stopping you from making us pay, y’know?” He threw his hands up half-heartedly.
“Shut up, idiot. I know you’re bad with women, but I was hoping you had some decency in there.” She rolled her eyes.
He shook his head and sighed. “I was just trying to save you some cash, no need to be mean about it… Next time I won’t help you out, how would you like that?”
She reached into her pocket, grabbing her phone. “I wouldn’t care. Unlike you, I’m actually not a jerk.” She wiped the screen off on a dry spot on her towel, before opening a music app and plugging in one of her jacks.
“Oh yeah! Well good luck next time your phone dies!” He smirked and leaned over, sneaking a glance at her quarter-full battery. She quickly shoved him back with her free jack.
Kyouka sighed and chose a song, blowing gently on her hot chocolate. She brought it up to her mouth and took a tiny sip, enjoying the warmth.
Denki set the mug on the window sill and rested his head on his hand. He looked out into the empty street, as a bolt of lightning lit up the dark sky. His thoughts wandered to earlier.
He was sitting in the common area with a few others, a light drizzle outside. Class had just ended, so some kids were getting changed out of their school uniforms. Denki hadn’t bothered, just slinging his wet jacket over his shoulder. “Drooly, charge this.” A voice came from behind him as a phone landed in his lap.
He grabbed it and spun his head around. “Y’know, you could ask nicely for once!” Katsuki didn’t bother to look at him, heading towards the kitchen. He sighed and touched his finger to the charging port, letting some power flow.
Ejirou soon came down from changing, taking a seat next to him. “Hey man, you busy tonight? I’ve got permission to train in the T.D.L., and I wanted to test my quirk against yours.”
Denki raised his head. “Oh, sorry man, I’ve scored a date.” He flicked his thumb towards himself and gave a grin.
The red-head tilted his head. “Really? Who?”
The blonde opened his mouth to reply before noticing the time on Katsuki’s phone. “Oh crap!” He shot up and dashed to the door. “I’ll fill you in later, dammit!”
The doors flew open and he flew out. “Augh!” He slammed into someone, sending them both tumbling into a puddle.
“Get off me you perv!” His eye focused on the nothing on the ground in front of him.
“Huh? Ah!” Rolling off and onto the wet ground, he looked back at the slight indent in the puddle they crashed into. “Why are you naked!?”
“Uh, well, I’m just playing hide and seek. Quit looking!” The water shifted, implying she was covering herself.
“Even I’m not dumb enough to play that with you, who’d agree to that?” Picking himself up off the ground, he brushed back his hair. “Wait, I don’t have time for this!” He grabbed the things he dropped and started towards the front gate.
“Gah… Huh…” By the time he arrived, his breath had run out. He checked the time and saw he made it a minute early. A hoarse sigh came from his lungs, which soon became a cough, which took a while to pass.
“Did you get hit by a car or something?” A voice came from the school grounds.
He looked down at his mud-stained and soaked uniform. “No… Just some bad luck…”
“What are you doing here, then?” Kyouka tilted her head, being sure to stay under her umbrella.
He took a deep breath. “I was just planning to head into town… To get stuff.”
She raised an eyebrow. “And you’re waiting at the gate, why?”
“Well it’s not my fault you’re five minutes late.” He blurted out.
“How’d you know… Nevermind.” She shrugged off. “How can I be late when I’m going out by myself.”
“Wait, uh, crap.” He fished around in his pocket and pulled out his phone. “See it’s 4:05, and you were supposed to leave at 4 o’clock.”
“Not my fault I had to help Ashido find Hagakure…” She gave him a double take. “Isn’t that Bakugou’s phone?”
Looking at the screen, he got startled and dropped it to the ground to a loud crack. She burst out cackling as he crouched down. He clicked the button a few times frantically to no avail. “Oh, come on, what do they make these out of!?”
“That’s not gonna work.” He gave her a look of terror. “You’re so dead.” She giggled.
“Alright, here goes nothing.” He gripped the phone in his palm.
“Wait, what are you-” Her sentence was cut off by a burst of electricity. When the light cleared, she opened her eyes.
“Aw, what the…?” He blinked at the charred phone in his hands.
“Kaminari, what the hell?” She grabbed it from him. “I was gonna say you could probably get it fixed, but not anymore.”
“Okay, uh, maybe the support course people could fix it? They make hero gear, so they should be able to fix this up.” He looked at the remains of the phone in her hand.
“Yeah, I wouldn’t let Hatsume anywhere near it unless you want it to come back with a jetpack and turret.” She gave a half shrug.
He remembered his issues with upgrading his hero costume, shaking his head. “Okay, fine… Uh… I’ll just get him a new phone, before he can even notice it’s gone.”
“Yeah, that’ll work.” She mumbled in a sarcastic tone that went over his head.
“Phew. Now that that’s sorted, let’s get going.” He got up, stretching his arms out.
“‘Let’s’?” She sighed, tossing the phone into a nearby trash can. “Fine just keep up.”
“Woo! Alright!” He shuffled close to her, staying under the umbrella.
“Gah-!” Denki’s eyes shot open from a jab to his ear. He reached up and yanked out the jack.
Kyouka pulled it back, sipping the last of her hot chocolate. “Get up idiot, we have to go.”
“Huh?” He looked around the small shop, locking eyes with the barista.
“Sorry about this, kids… But I do need to go, and you can’t stay.” He sighed, pulling out a black umbrella. “Sorry I couldn’t find one for each of you, I hope you don’t mind sharing.”
“No problem.” She took hold of it by the handle. “Thanks again for everything.”
“Yeah… Thanks…” The tired blonde yawned. He got up and grabbed the mug, chugging his room temperature hot chocolate. “Here’s your cup.”
“Come on idiot, let’s get going.” The purple haired girl grabbed his forearm, dragging him to the door. She waved back at the barista before stepping out and putting up the umbrella.
The rain had only seemed to worsen since they had entered, a strike of lightning following their exit. “You don’t need to drag me…” He tried to shake her grip to no avail. “C’mon, let go…”
“Shut up. You’re really just-” Her sentence was cut off by a crack of thunder.
The noise distracted her enough for him to pull away. “Ha!” She continued walking. “Woah, hey, wait up!” He ran up, getting close to stay under the umbrella.
“You happy now?” She glanced to the silhouette of the hill the school stood on. “We’ve still got a bit to go.”
“What… Really?” He sighed. “How are you not even tired…”
“I am… I’m very tired. I was supposed to be out for an hour. And here we are at one in the morning…” She pinched the bridge of her nose.
“Jeez, I said sorry, alright. Not my fault nobody was selling Kacchan’s model.” He shook his head. “I mean, seriously. It’s not even an old phone or anything.”
“Maybe if you didn’t fry every part of it, you could’ve gotten it repaired.” She slipped her own phone out of her pocket.
He frowned. “How was I meant to know-”
As if on cue, her phone rang, cutting him off. She wrapped her jacks around the umbrella handle and answered the call. “Jirou, are you alright? Where are you?”
“Yaomomo, I’m alright. I’m with Kaminari.” She paused for a moment before shoving her elbow into his gut. “Say something.”
“Augh, come on, that hurt.” He rubbed his side. “Yeah I’m here.”
“Okay… We were all worried. Ashido, Iida, and Todoroki are also here. Also Mineta, surprisingly.” There was a brief shuffling before Mina’s voice came out.
“Oh man I was so worried! When are you gonna get back?” She belted out.
“We should be back in half an hour. Hopefully.” She rubbed the back of her head.
“Damn, I thought you two were off in some motel somewhere.” Minoru chimed in, followed by an audible ‘whack’. Kyouka’s cheeks flushed pink.
“This is not an excuse to be late for school.” Tenya uttered sharply.
“I’ll have some tea prepared for when you return. You must be freezing.” Momo offered.
“Thanks Yaomomo, your tea is the best!” Denki shouted to make himself heard over the heavy drops.
“Sorry for making you stay up so la-” Her sentence was cut off by a lightning strike near the top of the hill, followed by a chorus of shouts from the other end of the line. “Woah, hey, is everything alright?”
There was a moment of silence on the other end, before Shoto’s voice came out. “It appears the power has gone out. That tea might have to wait.”
“Kaminari, you better get back here soon!” Mina yelled.
A roar of thunder came across the sky. “Why the hell are you extras up?” Katsuki’s voice was distant but audible.
Ejiro must’ve come with him, as his voice was next. “It’s like, one in the morning.”
“We could ask the same about you.” Tenya said, followed by a shuffling, indicating he picked up the phone. “To answer your question, we are making sure Jirou and Kaminari are okay.”
“Oh man, are they still out? I thought for sure they’d be back by now.” Ejiro replied.
“Huh?” Katsuki mumbled, closer now. “Listen up dimwit! When you get back you’re dead, you hear me bastard? You stole my goddamn pho-”
His voice was cut off abruptly. “Thanks for hanging up… Maybe I shouldn’t go back.” Denki laughed.
“I, uh, didn’t hang up…” She checked her phone to see a blank screen. Hitting the home button revealed the low power icon. “Ugh, charge me idiot.” She shoved her phone towards him.
“No way, I don’t wanna get yelled at by Bakugou. And also, remember what I told you earlier?” He crossed his arms and looked away.
She pulled the umbrella from above him. “You moron, they’re probably worried we cut off for no reason. Plus if the power is out there, I won’t be able to charge tonight.”
“Hey give that here! I’ll get soaked!” He reached for it, but she ducked his grasp. “Hey!”
“If you wanna stay dry, just charge me.” She shoved the phone in her pocket and crossed her arms.
“Fine then… You said it’ll be half an hour, I can wait that long.” He crossed his own arms.
The rest of the walk back was quiet, other than the raindrops and occasional thunder. With no music to listen to, she thought about what had happened to get them here.
The light rain had gotten worse, and they had just left another electronics store. “If you’re so mad, why don’t you just leave?”
“We’re not supposed to be out on our own for more than an hour, and it’s pretty late. Knowing you, you’d get lost and end up dead.” Kyouka sighed.
“Seriously you really give me no credit. I could find our way back on my own.” He glanced around, trying to spot the school. “Uh…”
“Good luck with that one.” She scoffed. “Come on, let’s go check a few more.”
“Right.” He held the umbrella, having grabbed it from her earlier, and started walking. “So, uh, how’s your… Quirk?”
“Huh? What kinda question is that?” She raised an eyebrow.
“Well, y’know. I meant it like: ‘How’s your training’... Or something.” He shrugged.
“Then ask it like that.” She shook her head and fiddled with one of her jacks. “It’s… Fine, I guess… I think it’s alright.”
“That’s… Good.” He muttered. They stayed quiet for a bit before he decided to try again. “What do you wanna talk about?”
Glancing at him, she toyed with her jack. “Uh… I dunno… How’s your quirk?” She mocked.
He pouted. “It’s good. I’m working on a new move… You wanna hear about it?”
“Okay…” She tilted her head.
“Alright, so it’s-” A car swerved around a corner, splashing water all over the two. “Gah!”
“Oh, come on!” She rubbed some water out of her eye, before turning towards the car as it sped off. “Slow down! Jerk!”
“Ugh… What a jerk… You alright?” He turned to face her.
“Yeah, just soaked…” She frowned, wringing out the bottom of her shirt. “Just got this one too…”
He rubbed the back off his head, his hair having been protected by the umbrella. “It’s a… Nice shirt.” He mumbled.
“Oh… Thanks?” She smiled, starting to walk. “So, why’re you wearing your uniform?”
He followed after her, being sure she was protected from the rain. “Well, the entire town is centred around UA, so I figured I’d get a discount on the phone if I was wearing it.”
“Wait, but… Weren’t you wearing it before frying his phone?” She glanced back at him.
“Oh, yeah I was, but… Uh… Okay, fine, I just didn’t have time to change out of it.” He sighed.
“Didn’t have time? That reminds me, how did you know when I was going out?” She crossed her arms.
“Oh, well, I kinda overheard you telling the girls during training.” He frowned.
“That’s pretty creepy, dude.” Kyouka rubbed her chin.
He frowned. “Yeah I know, but… They were all busy so you couldn’t stay out for as long as you wanted…”
“Huh? Wait, you…?” She trailed off. “Maybe it’s not too late to stop Bakugou from murdering you.”
“Yeah, let’s do this!” He grinned.
“Ah, this place looks like they’d sell phones.” She pointed towards a shop on the corner. It appeared to be a phone repair and replacement centre. “Let’s check it out.”
“Sweet!” Denki pumped his fist as they walked over. He grabbed the handle and tugged, just to find it locked. “Huh?”
“It closed twenty minutes ago, looks like.” She crossed her arms.
The blonde pressed his open hand against the glass and peered in. “Seriously!? It’s right there!” He whined.
“Bad luck, I guess. Somewhere else has gotta be open, right?” She glanced further down the street, towards a dead-end. “Or not…”
“Wait, huh? Aghh!” His shout was followed by him falling backwards.
“What!? Are you okay?” She looked in to see a snake-like face staring back, presumably the owner.
“Ouch…” His voice came from the ground, where some electricity was running through him.
“Oh…” She laughed, before noticing what was in his hand. “Kaminari! You idiot!”
He was clutching a charred and tattered umbrella. “Oh, come on. That wasn’t my fault, it’s that creepy snake guy’s.”
The shop they were near had an awning, so it kept them dry, but she wasn’t a fan of the way the owner was looking at them. “Get up, we need to go.” She grabbed his arm and tore him from the ground, ignoring the slight shock from touching him.
“Hey, watch the uniform!” He shouted as he pulled away. “You know how long it takes to replace these!” The blonde mumbled as he followed, protecting his hair.
She looked over at the mountain that UA was stood on. “It’s about a half hour away, we should probably find somewhere to stay!”
“Sounds good!” He shouted back. “Wait, like a motel?”
“No, moron, Aizawa would kill us if we’re not back by the morning. A cafe or something to sit for a bit.” She brought her hand to her forehead to stop the rain from getting in her eye.
“Hey, earth to Jirou.” Denki waved his hand in front of her face. “We’re almost there.”
Kyouka slapped it down. “Yeah, I know, I know…” She hadn’t realised they had reached the gate. “That means we’re about five minutes away.”
“Wait really? Sweet! Can’t wait to get some of Yaomomo’s tea!” He grinned.
“I wouldn’t get my hopes up. Remember, the power’s out.” She pointed at a dark streetlight.
“Well, y’know, I was thinking she’d have made a portable stove or something.” His grin faded.
The dorms entered their view. “Well we’d know if you actually charged my phone.”
“There you two are.” Came a voice from off the path.
They both spun to see who it was. “Mr. Aizawa? Why are you out so late?”
He yawned and pointed at a tangled and torn wire. “I was about to get a support course student to come fix it, but Kaminari, you’ll do.”
“Huh?” He glanced around the scene. “Oh, come on, no way!”
“Consider this your punishment for leaving campus without notice.” He crossed his arms and yawned.
The blonde rubbed his forehead. “But why me? This is super unfair.”
“Why it’s you should be obvious. It’s either this or a lesson until dawn, I’ll let you choose.” The teacher pushed some hair out of his eye.
“Fine, okay, I’ll do this.” He frowned and grabbed the wire, letting a steady amount of his electricity flow. The surrounding lights turned on almost instantly. “Does this count for quirk training, at least?”
“Don’t push your luck.” Aizawa glared at him, his quirk activation indicated by the flicker of the lights. With that warning, he left. She stood back, watching the scene unfold.
“Wait, why didn’t he punish you?” He pouted.
“Maybe because I actually gave them notice.” Kyouka shook her head. They stayed quiet for a minute. “I’m gonna… Uh…” She left for the dorm campus.
As soon as she opened the door, she was grabbed into a hug. “I’m so glad you’re okay, Jirou!” Momo smiled, slightly loosening her grip.
“Hey, thank you… You didn’t need to stay up so late.” She got herself free, rubbing the back of her head. “I should probably get some sleep…”
“Wait, you must be freezing, please have some tea.” She ran over to a portable stove top. “Sorry about this, I made the tea before the power came back on.”
“It’s fine I don’t need any tea…” By the time she finished her sentence, a cup was already in her hand. She slowly took a sip.
“Sorry nobody else is here, Bakugou scared them off.” She sounded despondent.
“Don’t worry, it’s alright.” She bit hard onto her lip. “Do you mind if I have another one?”
“Oh, alright.” She quickly got another cup. “Thank you, Yaomomo. I’m alright now, you can go if you want.”
She took a moment before nodding and heading up the stairs, clearly exhausted. Kyouka finished her cup and grabbed the other one. She grabbed the umbrella and headed back out. “Hey, Kaminari?”
“Huh!?” He was startled by her sudden appearance. “What are you doing here?”
She held out the tea. “Here. And if you’re gonna be out here, I figured you’d want the umbrella.”
He shoved the wire into his mouth and reached out to grab the umbrella before pulling his hand back. “Maybe I shouldn’t touch it this time.” He slurred his words.
“Probably a good idea.” She laughed, taking a seat next to him and propping the umbrella up so it covered them both. “Here’s some of Momo’s tea.”
“Thank you…” He mumbled.
She gave a quiet smile before slowly yawning. “You were saying something about a new move, right?” His eyes lit up.
“Oh yeah! Totally! It’s pretty simple but…” He grabbed the wire from his mouth and sipped the tea. “Ah, that’s hot… Anyways, it’s-” He glanced over at her, finding she was already asleep. “Oh, well… Night…” His eyes slowly shut, the lights flickering out as soon as he fell unconscious.