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It was a little late in the evening, and now that the day's festivities had come to a delightful end, students from both classes 1-A and 1-B were all out on the front porch of the dormitory building, chugging down sodas and juice, while fighting over cookies and cakes all baked by Sato Rikido.
As odd as this picture seemed, Kendo Itsuka and Yaoyorozu Momo had managed this miracle, pleading with their respective classmates and calling for a truce, at least for this one small night.
And so far, nothing dramatic had ensued, much to the two girls' utter joy. Everyone was chatting away, some in large groups, some face-to-face on the side-lines, about food, about video games, about school, about motivations, about dreams...
The dark-haired and the roux-haired girls caught each other's eyes, and then grinned brightly. This was all going even better than expected. Much better even, since most of them had been a tad hesitant, if not rather sceptical, about this gathering, all due to only one particular student. Monoma Neito.
But then all their apprehensions, which held firm at first, had ceased and dissolved into nothing, right after a strange set of circumstances no one from Class 1-A could have possibly envisioned.
Neito could apparently get drunk...on banana juice - according to his three classmates, Kuroiro Shihai, Honenuki Juzo, and Awase Yosetsu, who knew about this very well, and fully exploited that weakness for this event - his demeanour changing significantly, ever since his eighth glass.
He had become alarmingly agreeable, much to the astonishment of 1-A as he suddenly fell into a random conversation with Shoji Mezo and Ojiro Mashirao. As if they were the best of buddies, spouting things to them he'd most certainly NEVER admit out loud when...'sober'. So to speak.
It was rather incredible for him of all people to declare, without any filter, things such as 'You're all pretty amazing, guys' or 'I wish I wasn't such an utter bastard to you all the time' or 'Can't help it though, I'm envious and petty', and not even reacting in the slightest when his classmates laughed and kept poking fun on the fact that, tomorrow, he'd surely be raging, albeit mortified, at having openly made such confessions.
Despite that, most of the girls from 1-B had joined forces with some from 1-A, and together were relentless, pestering the typically irritating and overly arrogant boy with question after question, curiosity fuelling their need to extract any juicy gossip - just to spice things up a little.
"So, Monoma-chan. Is there a girl you're interested in, here in UA? From your class, maybe?"
Neito seemed to consider this as he regarded every girl from his class, before eventually shaking his head: "The 1-B girls are sisters to me. ...That's why I'm so protective of them all, I guess."
Rather than take any offense, this actually seemed to make the girls from 1-B really happy, with Tsunotori Pony and Komori Kinoko being the most genuinely delighted by this, judging by the way they were now beaming brightly and hugging tight onto Monoma like two tiny teddy bears.
"How about in our class, Monoma-chan?" inquired Asui Tsuyu further with a tilt of her head, whilst pretty much most of the students around them all quietened, and nosily leaned in to listen.
And that, was how everyone heard an admission, about to fully revolutionize the night's events.
"Hm... I guess Jiro-chan's pretty cute-"
"...JIRO?!"
Kaminari Denki had snapped his head towards the gossiping group at the speed of lightning, an undecipherable look crossing his features as he stared Neito down, with narrowed amber eyes.
"Oh no, I have such bad feeling about this," whispered Uraraka Ochako, looking rather worried, the other 1-A girls falling silent as they shared her concern "A rival for Jiro-chan has appeared."
Puzzled by their reaction, Midoriya Izuku leaned in to inquire on it, so Ochako explained, going over a certain chat - though not too in detail - which occurred between the girls at some point(1).
All Might's protégé's jaw dropped while his eyes bulged out of his skull, not once expecting a single word of what he'd just been told, before glancing over at the two blonds now at the centre of everyone's attention: "What the-? Seriously?"
Ochako and Tsuyu both nodded in confirmation, leading Izuku to gulp uncomfortably, before he started glancing around, tensely searching for the very girl currently being the hot topic of discussion, wondering what she had to say about all this.
Unfortunately, or perhaps fortunately enough, she was absolutely nowhere to be seen - probably having gone back inside, for some reason or another.
In the meantime, Neito was staring wide-eyed at Denki who genuinely looked like he was stuck somewhere between forcing himself to remain civil...and wanting to strangle the other blond: "Ok then. But why do you like Jiro though? Like why would YOU even like her at all? HUH?"
Whilst Iida Tenya, Tokoyami Fumikage, Koda Koji and a couple of others gawked on, rather confused by the blond teenager's explosive reaction, a few others, like Mineta Minoru, Aoyama Yuga, Sero Hanta, Izuku and nearly all of the girls, were either grinning naughtily or tittering nervously, wide eyes raptly riveted on the unexpected drama steadily unfurling in front of them.
Since this was too good to miss. And it was maybe the most entertaining thing of the night, so... All eyes on them, right?
'The battle for Jiro-san has begun,' observed Izuku, worried eyes wide, while Shiozaki Ibara, had closed her eyes and clasped her hands together, as she was in the middle of a silent prayer.
'Oh, the poor souls. I hope their quarrel will be resolved smoothly. And that nobody dies, yes.'
'Cute though,' sighed Ochako dreamily, hands to her blushing cheeks, while Todoroki Shoto...
'Hm. I wonder if sweet soba can taste just as good as any other soba. Ah, if that's even a thing.'
"Ouch," winced Shoda Nirengeki, almost looking like he wished he was anyplace else, far away "This doesn't look good at all."
"No, it doesn't," concurred Ashido Mina with a solemn expression, before she broke into a grin "So, who wants popcorn?"
Several hands immediately shot for the large bowl she had just produced, including a laughing Bakugo Katsuki, who then called out to the others, amusement wild and high in his deep voice: "Hey, anyone recording this?'
"Way ahead of you," scoffed Tokage Setsuna smugly, her phone already out, flipped open and recording all of it, which Katsuki, Mina and Sero all grinned and nodded to in absolute approval.
"Do you have any chill at all?" muttered Rin Hiryu as a group of them, from both classes alike, all sat around the bowl of popcorn and eyed the scene before them, like it was some soap opera.
"I'm the fuckin' Explosion King," deadpanned Katsuki, which his Squad cheered to rowdily, whilst a few others either sweat-dropped, like Tenya did, or laughed nervously, like Izuku did.
"...Point taken."
Meanwhile, Neito was getting rather uncomfortable under the other teenager's intense scrutiny, wondering what the heck his deal was, before clearing his throat and putting up a wonky smile: "Like is a kind of a strong word though, to be honest. It's more of this crush - maybe. Let's see, it's like... Well, she's a girl that gives off this very 'rock' vibe, right?"
There were a few collective nods all around, even though neither Neito nor Denki paid attention.
"But there's also an unexpected girly side to her, and... Hm, it's kind of hard to put into words," finally admitted the teenager awkwardly, really wishing he had kept his mouth shut 'Especially with you glaring like you want to electrocute the heck out of me. The hell is wrong with him?!'
"No, no, no. Keep going. Please," stressed out Denki through grit teeth, a scary smile to his lips "I'm all ears, Monoma-san."
With the honorific sounding anything but cordial, Neito felt uneasy again: "Ha, sure. U-Um..."
"What is wrong with your classmate?" wondered Kaibara Sen "He almost looks...constipated."
"More like rabid. It's like he's going to bite Monoma's head off," remarked Tsuburaba Kosei.
By this point, half of Class 1-B, Katsuki and the Bakugo Squad were all guffawing like crazy, struggling to keep their voices down, and only attempting to do so because Itsuka had threatened to punch them, and Momo was glaring daggers at them, neither of them wanting the night ruined - although it regrettably looked very much like it already was.
Hagakure Toru, Kodai Yui and Yanagi Reiko had started taking bets, something both Tetsutetsu Tetsutetsu and Kirishima Eijiro had initiated after Katsuki himself had suggested - ordered - it.
And so far, by the looks of nearly everyone's votes, Kaminari Denki was winning by a landslide.
When Neito had failed to utter anything more, Denki blinked at the other, seeming a bit relieved: "So, you're just interested in her overall appearance though? That's all you've been mention-" "Well, you've got to admit her lame outfits are pretty cute-"
At that, Denki exploded, his Quirk going haywire as he seethed, eyes shining with livid anger: "LAME?! IS THAT IT?! HM?! YOUR HONEST OPINION ABOUT HER?! THAT IT?! SHE LOOKS LAME TO YOU?! ARE YOU IMPLYING THAT SHE'S LAME?! YOU DARE?!"
'Whoa. Scary,' winced Kamakiri Togaru and Shishida Jurota as they took a wary step back, while everyone else just stilled and stared, utterly baffled, Denki's behaviour now lost on them. What was wrong with him? Most of the students knew the guy was friends with Jiro. But this...
"...I was talking about her clothes," mumbled Neito, slightly intimidated now, before he shook his head and glowered at the rest of those of Class 1-A "Is this a sensitive matter or something?"
"Jiro is NOT lame, damn it," defended Denki fiercely before anyone else could say anything, as he calmed down a bit from his high of outrage...but not enough to think as clearly yet, so he ended up rambling "She's more than just 'cute'. She's MORE than a pretty face - which she a hundred percent has, NO doubt, by the way. She's trendy as hell. She's cool, and brave, and strong, and- and beautiful- And so much more."
The gentle sound of crickets suddenly became the only noise that could be heard, as the entire group of kids, from the most indifferent to the most interested one, all focused on Denki alone, an abrupt epiphany striking them all at once. Only, not a single one of them dared to voice it...
None of them, except Monoma, staring at the other in shock, as he began to blush: "Kaminari-san, it sounds like you- I don't know, like her too? Or something. Ah, I mean- No, don't pay-"
"No, I- I don't just like her. Rather, I- I- Ah, damn it. I'm in love with Jiro."
A beat. And then it was utter chaos.
The girls, every single one, all squealed as they gasped in awe and clapped happily, with Pony whistling on the side-lines, while Toru and Mina began dancing up and down, giggling giddily.
Most of the boys, including Shoto, Tenya, and Fumikage, looked totally flabbergasted, Mineta was grinning, Eijiro seemed shocked but genuinely glad for his friend, Fukidashi Manga's face, for some reason, had drawn a Denki lookalike, repeatedly being struck by lightning, and even Katsuki was visibly dumbfounded, his jaw dropping open, two or three popcorns tumbling out.
Denki was blushing pretty damn hard, but was also determined to not back down, now that it was all out and everything anyways: "Yeah, I love Jiro. So what? What's not to love? She's the greatest girl- the greatest person I've ever met in my life. And she's also-"
He only realized now that the others' new, sudden silence wasn't just because of his declaration.
"Sh-She- She's standing right behind me, isn't she?"
And indeed, low and behold, there stood a very rigid Jiro Kyoka, cheeks dusted by a faint flush.
'SHIT,' panicked Denki, though he attempted to show nothing of it "Ah. Um. Hey there, J-Jiro."
"...Kamina-"
"WAAAAH, I'M SO SORRY!"
"Wha-? Wait! WAIT! KAMINARI!"
But Denki simply ran for the hills and far way, not once looking back, mortified beyond reason.
'No, no, no,' lamented Denki as he kept on running, heading deeper into the UA's nearby forest 'This isn't happening. This is NOT happening right now. Why'd she have to hear me say that?!'
The blond teenager yelped as he suddenly tripped and fell face forward into the dirt, confused.
There hadn't been anything there to cause him to lose his footing, so how the heckity hell-? Oh.
Glancing down, Denki found that his legs were now glued together by Bondo Kojiro's Quirk, all because the blond hadn't been paying any attention as to where he was putting his feet down. And he had stepped right into a thick puddle of glue. Lovely visual.
"Gah! Not cool man," snapped Denki at the other, who just shrugged unapologetically, before the blond teenager caught sight of who was here as well "Oh, hey, Jiro. Didn't see you there."
"Don't 'oh-hey-Jiro' me! Damn it, Kaminari! I hate running," glared Kyoka as she struggled to catch her breath, before glaring even harder "Didn't I tell you to wait? What was that just now?"
"Uh, um, I... Ano, I- I didn't think you'd hear that, Jiro-sama."
"No, I- Not that, Hemmingway no baka. Why'd you run?"
Now that he had done his part in helping the girl from 1-A, which had been suggested by Izuku - what with all his knowledge of Quirks - Kojiro discretely peddled out of there, going back, and leaving the other two to sort this between themselves in private. They would be needing it.
"Because I don't know," confessed Denki to Kyoka in a soft, miserable whisper "I just bolted."
"...Yeah, guess that's kind of like you," she nodded, before she looked away, shuffling her feet "What you said though..."
Denki wanted to find a hole and disappear in it, feeling terrible at the mere idea of offending or hurting Kyoka: 'Oh my God, here it comes. I'm going to lose her because I couldn't keep quiet-'
"D-Did you mean it?"
Snapping to attention, Denki's chaotic thoughts came to a sudden, screeching halt: "...Huh?!"
"I'm asking if you meant those words," she repeated softly, before bristling as he gaped at her "N-N-N-Not because I care or anything, I- I just... I really want to know."
Twirling one of her earphones reflexively around her finger, as though it was a strand of hair, Kyoka really looked as nervous as he felt, like she was concerned if his earlier words were true. Or just a bunch of lies.
Biting his lower lip anxiously, Denki eventually decided to be completely honest with her...and hope it wouldn't bite him back later.
"I, uh- Yeah. I mean, yes. I did. Still do, in case you're wondering. And, if you don't return my feelings, it's fine, Jiro. Don't want to pressure or ruin our friendship, if you don't feel the sam-"
He never finished his sentence, Kyoka reaching out for his collar and tugging him towards her.
Bracing himself for the punch he had been waiting for since the very start, Denki shut his eyes.
Instead of pain however, the blond teen felt something delightfully soft and rather sweet settle gingerly, tentatively upon his m- HOLY BLIMEY N' HELL, Kyoka Jiro was kissing him?!
Amber snapped wide open. She was. She was kissing him, eyes gently shut, but her face scarlet.
It was innocent, a simple, gentle touching of their lips together. Yet Denki felt electrified by it. And so had been Kyoka.
The magic of the moment was regrettably broken when they both had to pull back then...for air, completely forgetting themselves and having to inhale rather desperately, just to breathe again.
'We're idiots,' they both mused at the same time with Kyoka feeling mortified, Denki...shocked.
Short silliness passed, upon gulping back enough oxygen, they hesitantly glanced back at each other, onyx meeting amber with Kyoka blushing beetroot as she twitched nervously and Denki looking for an explanation.
Because that had been AWESOME, yeah - definitely, not doubt, he had just been kissed by the girl he loved, damn it - but also confusing and unexpected as heck. Was he missing something?
"Y-You were talking too much. And I couldn't say a thing. Because of you," admonished the dark-haired girl lightly, blushing prettily as she traced her lips and then peeked up at him from underneath her long lashes "So, I- I- Me too."
He started by staring at her all wide-eyed, warmth and wonder colouring his flushed features. And then he realized what she had just said.
"You- Y-Yeah?"
"Yeah," she admitted softly, sheepish but sincere "Didn't want to botch up our friendship either, so I kept quiet about it."
But she had told the other 1-A girls, though she mostly confessed her secret under peer pressure.
Denki, meanwhile, was on a whole other level of bliss. Kyoka returned his feelings. Just wow. And she kissed him. ...Was it bad that he really wanted another one? His mind was on overload.
"Oh, I- Wow. This is crazy. B-But great, don't get me wrong. Really. ...So-? What now, Jiro?"
When she finally gathered the courage to reply Kyoka's face had never been this red in her life, despite her voice sounding a tad on the coy side: "How about you kiss me this time, Kaminari?"
Beaming brighter than a thousand watts, in awe that this was actually real, Denki smiled gently: "Gladly, Jiro."
And from that day forward, Denki and Kyoka became an item. All thanks to freaking Monoma.
The End