Chapter Text
Todoroki and Kaminari. Denki and Shouto. Two completely different people that seem to never hang out with each other, right? The only time they actually acknowledged one another is when Kaminari would wave to the other male as a friendly greeting. But even though their friend groups are at war with each other (according to Bakugou), they were the closest of friends--boyfriends-.
No one had actually seen them try to communicate to each other (except when Bakugou tried to kill Izuku), but no one knew the history between the two U.A students, so how would they ever know?
When Todoroki was a kid, his dad was an abusive asshole that broke one of history’s best accomplishments, ending quirk marriages. But the Kaminari’s were just the same. The blonde’s mother and father willingly had sex to make a kid with a stronger quirk than their own. They had sex multiple times, not bothering to wait for their first child to come out of the womb. They wanted to have enough time to raise the perfect kid. If the others weren’t to their expectations, then the two parents would neglect them. They would have to entertain each other on their own.
Once Enji found out what the Kaminari’s were doing, he didn’t report them as a hero should. He actually started working with Rai (dad) and Nora (mom). As horrible as it sounds, it was a terrific thing for the two unlucky kids.
Todoroki was ten when he first met Kaminari. His dad didn’t tell him that he was going to meet someone new. All Endeavor told him was, “Shouto, you better not embarrass me today. Don’t make all my hard work go to waste.”
He didn’t say it as a statement; it was an order. Todoroki knew better than to go against his father’s wishes, so he nodded in response. The No. 2 Hero grunted at his son before looking in front of him. The scared boy heard his sister say something, but fear had overtaken him. Her words slipped in one ear and out the other.
Suddenly, the door opened, and two adults with blonde hair stepped into the room. Todoroki stepped behind his father and hid behind his leg, making sure not to be too close to his dad. The small boy didn’t dare take a peek from behind his old man. He just wanted to shrink and disappear, “Your home is very organized, Endeavor-san,” One of them said.
“Yes, thank you, “ The red-head rushed, “Let’s get to work.”
“Oh, yes! If I recall correctly--sorry if I’m wrong- you told us that we were going to meet a little special someone,” The bi-colored boy didn’t want to like whoever freely talked to Enji, but the tone of their voices was so kind that he couldn’t help himself but feel like a bit less nervous.
Todoroki’s dad abruptly grabbed the boy’s arm and pulled him in front of him, “This is Shouto,” Endeavor informed the two of them.
He felt Enji’s glare burn into his back; he took a deep breath and tried to swallow the growing lump in his throat before looking up at the people in front of him. He quietly and quickly observed the two of them. The first person he saw was a female. She had short, choppy, blonde hair with curtain bangs covering the corner of her eyes. Her eyes were a bright amber, and she had a few beauty marks, two in the corner of her left eyes, one of her lip, and one at the edge of her forehead. Todoroki turned his gaze to the other adult in the room, a male. He had wavy, light blonde hair accompanied by an undercut. His undercut had tiny black lightning bolts on it. They were barely seeable because of how long his hair was, but you could see them if you looked hard enough. His freckles complimented his mellow yellow eyes. He also had a sparkle in his eyes.
The bi-colored kid instantly bowed to them, not wanting to get scowled by his father for being rude. The female was the first to speak, “Oh, how cute!” She beamed as she bent down to pat his head, “You can call me Oba-san!”
After Kaminari- Oba-san lifted her hand off his multi-colored hair, he pulled himself up, making sure he was standing straight, “You can call me Kaminari-sama,” The male told Todorki as he stared at the boy.
Todoroki didn’t respond; he gave the grown-up a nod instead. He had the sudden urge to play with his sleeves, but that would be seen as unconfident, so he bit his lip to try to suppress the action, “Where is that BOY at?” Endeavor asked, the “BOY” part being spat out venomously.
Kaminari-sama gasped, “Right! Sorry about that, let me just-” He looked behind himself before turning all the way.
Todoroki tried to see what he was hiding out of pure curiosity. He just heard his dad say “boy”.., so was he just like him? Was this a good thing or a bad thing? There was only one way to figure out the answers to his questions. The duo-boy saw something shine from the light, but the object quickly disappeared, “Come on- stop being so stubborn…” He could hear the venom in his voice drip out thoughtlessly, “Make sure to smile, alright boy? Good.”
He spun himself around. He smiled at the two of them, “Guys, meet Denki.”
Kaminari-sama gave a tug of a metal leash handle, forcing the boy hiding behind him to be visible. ‘So that was what it was’ Todoroki that to himself, “H-Hi!” The boy chirped, having a slight accent to his voice.
Enji stared at the boy beneath him, “Show me what you can do,” He demanded.
“Slow down, Endeavor-san. Let’s let him introduce himself first, yeah?” Oba-san cut in.
“You already did it for him-” The No. 2 Hero started, but he was quickly interrupted.
“It’ll be quick, I promise,” Oba-san told him.
He let out a sigh, “Get it over with.”
The blonde women gave the boy a small pat of reassurance on his back, “My name his- no… is Denki!” The boy began.
He looked so eager at the beginning, but now he looked nervous and uncomfortable. Oba-san speedily leaned down and whispered something in his ear. The boy seemed to understand and nodded, “Please call me Kaminari-san, Todoroki-kun! E-E-” His mother murmured something into his ear, “Endeavor?” Oba-san nodded as Kaminari-san looked at her for reassurance. He turned to look at Todoroki, “You may call me Kaminari-kun.”
Todoroki looked at the boy up and down. He had stopped nibbling on his lip to observe the kid in front of him. Kaminari looked to be around his age, but he was most likely older than him because he wanted to be called Kaminari-san. If that was the case, then why was he shorter than him? It was only two inches, but that’s still a noticeable difference. His hair was a dandelion yellow with a black lightning bolt on of left bang. The bangs were pretty long, so Todoroki didn’t know how the bolt could’ve appeared. Maybe it was dyed? His eyes were a shade of honey and gold that had a non-stop shine to them. They were filled with curiosity and joy. He had freckles like his dad, but they were just a tad bit darker.
“Now, show me what you can do,” Endeavor repeated, his arms crossed in front of his chest.
“Right!” Kaminari-sama whispered something into the boy’s ear.
He grabbed his wrists and put them in a bowl shape, “Show them what you can do.”
Todoroki cocked his head to the side. What did he just say? He wasn’t speaking in Japanese anymore, so what language was he talking in? Before he could figure it out, Kaminari had stepped in front of him and grabbed his attention away from his thoughts. He had shoved his hands in front of Todoroki, wanting him to look at his hands. The blondie looked down at his hands as well. His face was painted with concentration as sparks started to come out of his hands. The electricity was wildly bouncing around his hands. The bi-haired boy stared in amazement. As if that wasn’t cool enough, the energy slowly grouped into a petite ball. The ball wasn’t a complete sphere, there were still a few stray sparks, but it was still very spectacular.
When Todoroki looked up, Kaminari was sweating tiny beads of sweat, “Yeah! Did you see that! I did it again!” He cheered.
Kaminari bounced up and down. He grabbed Todoroki’s hands and made him jump with him, “Wasn’t that amazing! It took me a super duper long time to be able to do that!”
His eyes gleamed even brighter than before. Todoroki didn’t even think that was possible, but Kaminari was pure evidence of how incorrect he was. He didn’t understand what Kaminari was telling him because it sounded like random squabbles. He swore on his life that it wasn’t Japanese, no way. Todoroki didn’t know how to respond to something he couldn’t understand, so he didn’t give a reaction. He started to feel a bit dizzy from the jumping but couldn’t bring it in himself to stop the energetic other. As if Kaminari-sama had read his mind, he put a hand on Kaminari’s shoulder, “You’re gonna get him dizzy, slow down.”
“O-Oh, right!” The electric blonde rubbed his thumbs over Todoroki’s hands, “S-Sorry…”
There was a sudden cough that interrupted the... silence? No one really knew (ISTG, It feels like young love, but you can’t ship ten-year-olds together- so-), “Anyways..,” Endeavor growled, glaring at Todoroki.
The duo-boy quickly ripped his hands out of Kaminari’s grip and stood beside his father, “That was… impressive,” He committed slowly, “Shouto, take Kaminari to your room. I want to talk to these two privately.”
Without a second thought, he grabbed the blonde’s wrist and dragged him away. But before he could actually step out of the room, the electric blonde’s wrist was yanked out of his clutch. He let out a pained gasp as he fell onto the floor. Nothing happened for a few seconds. Todoroki stared at the boy, fear painted on his face. Did he not want to go with him? He should’ve known better than disobey HIS father’s wishes, “Oh! The leash is still attached. Here let me just-” Kaminari-sama begun.
The adult gave another tug at the leash, harder this time. Kaminari nibbled at the inside of his cheek before forcing himself up. He made sure he was stable before making his way to his dad. Kaminari-sama slipped his finger underneath the collar and gave a harsh pull before unclipping the leash. The young boy gave him a thumbs up and a bright grin before rushing back to Todoroki, “Let’s g-go!” He commanded as he put the bi-colored boy’s hand back on his wrist.
Without responding, he pulled him out of the room, successfully this time. He looked down the wooden rail to see no one there. A memory flashed in his head of his siblings playing ball together. Todoroki quickly shook his head before walking even faster. He swiftly slid the door open before shoving Kaminari inside. He shut the door behind him as he stepped inside. It was already a second that the electric blonde was in his room, and he was already exploring the place, “It looks a bit bare in here, but it’s nice! The floor mats feel comfy! What are they called again… tatami mats? Yeah, I think that’s what they are!”
“What are you saying?” Todoroki asked, finally wanting his answer.
Kaminari turned to look at him with confusion mapped out on his face, “What?”
“What are you saying?” He repeated, “Language?” He re-worded, trying to make it easier for the boy to understand.
As if he understood it word for word, the blonde’s face glowed, “English! Do you speak it too?” He shoved his face in front of him, wanting to get a response the second the question was asked.
“No,” The duo-boy shook his head.
“Oh..,” He replied, looking a bit disappointed, “Do you want to learn it? Or maybe another language? I know a bit of Vietnamese if that helps! Or maybe Spanish? That’s always easy to learn if you know English, but since you can’t speak that then I don’t know how that matters…”
Todoroki watched as Kaminari rambled on and on with a few English words here and there in his sentences. “Hey, Todoroki-kun?”
“Yes?”
“Do you want to give each other nicknames?”
He choked on his spit, “W-What?” The bi-colored boy stuttered out.
“Wanna give each other nicknames? Like just the two of us?” He repeated, more excited this time.
This time, Todoroki didn’t choke on his spit. He blinked a few ties, trying to register the new information.
.
.
.
Wait, what?! They barely knew each other and he wanted to make nicknames for one another?! No one ever wanted to do something like this with him. What was this feeling? It felt so bubbly and… warm? It wasn’t the feeling that made you feel like you have butterflies in your stomach. It was like he just got complimented? Like the feeling, he just got praised after having a wonderful day.
“Well? You don’t half to if you don’t want to!” The electric blonde reassured him.
“Wrong..,” He mumbled.
“W-What?” He questioned, turning to look at him.
“You said HALF, H-A-L-F. I think you mean to say HAVE, V,” He corrected hesitantly.
“Oh… Can you help me with my Japanese?” Kaminari requested, shoving his face in front of his.
Todoroki paused for a moment, “I-I guess..,” He chewed on the inside of his cheek, “Puppy…”
That grabbed his attention, “Puppy?” He repeated, his honey-golden orbs sparkling.
“I-Is that too weird?” He muttered.
The blonde vigorously shook his head, “No, No, it’s fine!”
The duo-boy nodded. It was silent again.
“Can I call you FrostyFlames?”
His hand subconsciously moved to his scar, covering his left eye. Before he could respond, Kaminari started to speak again, “How about Winter?”
Todoroki immediately agreed. He just didn’t want a nickname that had anything with his fireside. Winter… Winter had a nice ring to it.
The two of them stayed quiet. No one muttered a word for a second, but Kaminari being the way he is, couldn’t let that be, “Why?”
“Why what?”
“Why the nickname ‘Puppy?’”
He thought about it for a little, “You give me Golden Retriever… feels.”
“Golden Retriever vibes… Call me Sparky when someone’s around, okay?” The blonde told him.
“What’s the point of the nickname if you want me to call you that?” He asked.
“I don’t think Mommy and Daddy would be happy if you called me that. Plus, I think people outside would be weirded out..,” He paused, “The nickname Sparky is pretty popular for someone like me, so this way, we’re just a bit closer? Like something personal!”
“Sparky…” He mimicked.
“Yup!”
“...”
“Okay.”
Yeah, this was okay. Kaminari wasn’t that bad of a person.
There was a sudden knock that interrupted the peacefulness, “I got it!” The blonde got out of Todoroki’s face and went to the door, carefully sliding the door open.
Endeavor stared down at him. “Give me Shouto.”
The blonde was gonna call after him with his brand new nickname, but he got a bad feeling of daying it in front of the No. 2 hero. He was about to tell him, but Todoroki beat him. The boy was standing right beside him as Kaminari turned to get him. How was he so silent? Todoroki’s gotta teach him how to be that quiet! “Is there something you need? Father?” He questioned.
“Kaminari will be staying with us for a few months. He will be sharing this room with you,” The adult turned to the electric blonde, “You better not ruin my best creation, you hear me?”
“Yes sir!” He responded, giving him a salute as he stood up straight.
Endeavor grunted as he slammed the door and stomped away, “You gotta teach me how to be as quiet as you are!” Kaminari requested.
He grabbed the boy’s hands put slipped his fingers through his own. Todoroki looked up and stared at his golden orbs. His eyes shined so brightly. They were so bright that they scared the darkness that his father brung whenever he was around. No, he was very wrong. This wasn’t okay, this was perfect.