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Since their joint training session in their first year, Kaminari and Shinso had grown much closer, eventually becoming good friends. Despite Shinso’s initial reluctance to make friends when he first met class 1-A, Denki was persistent. It didn't stop there, though. Denki was a flirt. That much has been obvious since the first time the pair had met. His first reaction upon seeing the purple-haired boy was to compliment his looks and make sure to comment on how much he liked him.
This shameless flirting continued throughout the whole year, nothing much, just little lines when he got the chance.
It wasn't a conscious decision for Denki to flirt with Shinso every chance he could. Sure, at the start of it, he did. He did that with all his friends. Eventually, though, it grew to be natural. He did it without realizing it. His pickup lines were horribly cheesy. He had the worst jokes and even worse timing.
One instance in particular showcased just how poor the blonde's timing was when he and Shinso were in their second year. Neither of them was working as an intern for a hero agency but they needed practice and exposure for going on patrols with heroes. Being their teacher, Aizawa was the unfortunate pro who would have the pair follow him on his night patrols. It was on one of these patrols when a chance at a flirty line came up.
After using his point-and-shoot technique to stun a villain, Denki turned to Shinso and smirked smugly. He motioned to the groaning villain as he spoke, "You make me feel all tingly without a stun gun."
It was one of the more notoriously bad lines. But what made the timing truly disastrous was the fact that Aizawa was right there to witness the whole thing.
It was then that Kaminari learned why Aizawa and Shinso act so similar. Shinso had learned his behaviour. He was Aizawa's adopted son and his father did not appreciate the nearly-comical poorly timed line. Denki got detention for the next two weeks and had to write 'I will not flirt with the teacher's son' one hundred times. It doesn't sound like a lot, but when Aizawa was there to watch it was absolutely terrible.
Still, Denki considered it a good experience. He had never heard Shinso actually laugh. Not a real, full, laugh. Not until that day at least. That instantly became the main motivation behind his flirting. He wanted to hear his laugh more often.
In his opinion, Shinso’s line was something that everyone deserved to hear at least once. If it was compared to his relatively deep voice, it would shock everyone. His laugh was higher-pitched than his speaking voice, and it was loud enough that it would definitely be heard by others around him, but it wasn't obnoxiously loud.
It was addicting.
Denki discovered, through a particularly lucky accident and even more horrendous lines, that when Shinso laughed, his nose would scrunch up. If you got him laughing hard enough you may just be lucky enough to hear the little hiccup that occasionally separates his laughs. Shinso tried to hide it every time. This didn't usually work, though. While his quirk may let him control people, he had a hard time controlling his laughter.
"Man, you're so whipped." Kirishima laughed, pulling the blonde from his flashback of his and Shinso's patrolling. That memory was when they were in their second year. Now here they were in their third and final year of UA.
"What are you talking about? I wasn't even talking about him!" Kaminari elbowed Kirishima with a groan. It wasn't a secret that he liked Shinso, it was obvious. Everyone knew. Everyone except for Shinso but no one could figure out why he hadn't realized the blonde's feeling yet. Denki wasn't good at hiding his feelings, and he definitely wasn't subtle.
"You're staring at him." Denki's eyes widened, while he was deep in thought he wasn't aware of his surroundings. If he was looking at Shinso, it wasn't on purpose. At least, not consciously.
He looked up, and sure enough, when he did, he met Shinso's stare. The purple-haired man was sitting across the 3-A common room. When their eyes met, Shinto raised a hand in a small waving motion to acknowledge the eye contact. Denki smiled widely and waved back, moving his hand in more of a waving motion than Shinso had. When he stopped, he turned and looked back at Kirishima.
"I didn't mean to look at him. That was purely a coincidence, man. I was just thinking." He crossed his arms and turned his body position, so his chest was facing Kirishima in a more confrontational way.
"Uh-huh. And who were you thinking about?" Kirishima raised an eyebrow though it quickly got hidden by his hair which was down in its natural state rather than up in his up-do. When Kaminari opened his mouth to give a rebuttal but then closed it right after, Kirishima took it as his cue to laugh, "See. You're whipped."
"You don't get to talk about being whipped." Denki leaned back against the armrest of the couch, taking up more space than he needed to. Normally he wouldn't, but not everyone was in the common area, only him, Kirishima, Bakugo and Sero. On the other side were Shinso, Midoriya, Todoroki, and Iida. The others were all either in their rooms or in other groups around the dorms.
"What's that supposed to mean?" Kirishima tilted his head. Kaminari got the impression that Kirishima really didn't understand what he meant.
"You're dating Mr. McBlasty who has the temperament of an angry purse dog. You can't judge me while you put up with that. You've gotta be a special level of whipped to deal with him." Denki paused, not noticing the increasingly angry expression that was growing on Bakugo's face, "Is he that angry in bed too?"
While Denki was talking Bakugo sat up from his resting position against Kirishima's shoulder. Now, he was standing up and towering over Kaminari. His eyes were narrowed and his eyebrows were furrowed together.
The way he looked now affirmed Denki even more than his comparison about purse dogs was accurate.
"Say that again I dare you!" Bakugo growled, Kaminari didn't move from his position on the couch. He'd known and had befriended Bakugo for a while now. He knew that as much as he sounded like he hated him, he wouldn't use his quirk on him or do anything to really hurt him. He'd just yell and Kaminari made it his job to tease him. It was just how their friendship was. Though one of these days Kaminari knew he was going to push a little too far.
Denki smiled and looked away from Bakugo and across the couch to Sero, "Do you see what I mean?" Sero didn't respond, he was too busy biting his lip to keep his laughter in so that he wouldn't irritate Bakugo even more.
"I'll kill you. You fucking portable charger!" Denki turned his head to look at Bakugo and respond but before he could say anything someone else spoke.
"Bakugo?"
"What?" Bakugo snapped, turning around to face whoever spoke. Of course, Denki knew who it was without looking. The silence that followed Bakugo's reply confirmed it. Shino was standing just behind Bakugo with both of his hands in his pocket.
"Leave Kaminari alone. Go upstairs to your dorm." Shinso said calmly, his facial expression didn't change and stayed stoic like usual. Bakugo obediently agreed, walking towards the doorway of the common area towards the stairs.
Sero finally let go of his bit on his lip and started laughing loudly at Kaminari's comparison now that Bakugo wasn't much of a threat anymore.
Shinso looked back at Kaminari. Bakugo was still under his control and he'd learned how to have one person in his control while having his attention somewhere else. "It's past his bedtime anyway." Shinso commented earning more laughs from Sero.
It was later in the night, almost ten o'clock and Bakugo, in addition to his foul mouth, was notorious for going to bed before nine. To be honest, they were surprised he was still up.
All someone needed to get out of Shinso's mind control was a different stimulus strong enough to overpower Shinso's quirk. Apparently, the point about his 'bedtime' was it. Baku turned around despite Shinso's controls but stayed where he was in the hallway. The light shining from behind him cast shadows over his face so his expression was hidden. Kaminari would be lying if he said he wasn't scared.
"Oh, Kaminari you better run." Sero said quickly, still laughing.
Denki didn't need to be told twice. He stood up from his spot on the couch and ran past Shiso, grabbing his hand and dragging him along as he did. "He's gonna want to kill you just as much as he wants to kill me." The purple-haired boy didn't need any more explanation. After he'd gotten his footing back, he was running beside Kaminari still holding onto his hand.
They could hear the other's shouting behind them. Midoriya and Kirishima were shouting at Bakugo in an attempt to stop him. Sero was shouting at Kaminari, telling him to run while Iida was shouting at all three of them telling them how they should all be ashamed of running in the halls.
"Get back here! I'll kick both of your asses!" Bakugo's voice echoed behind them and was loud enough everyone in the dorms probably heard it.
Kaminari glanced back and saw Bakugo rounding the corner of the hallway, hot on their heels. He laughed loudly and looked ahead of them as the three of them raced through the halls. He felt Shinso tighten his grip on his hand, though he didn't comment on it. He was too busy laughing to grasp the seriousness of the fact that they were essentially running from imminent death.
"How can you possibly be laughing right now?" Shinso questioned. He didn't turn his head to look over at Kaminari while he spoke, he was focused on running. His voice wasn't monotone like normal. There was a hint of entertainment and excitement in it, one that others didn't get to hear often. Not as often as Kaminari did, at least.
"I laugh when I'm nervous." Denki explained, reaching out to hold onto the railing which lined the hallway. The railing curved with the corner of the wall and Denki's grip on it helped him and Shinso to turn the corner without messing up the turn and skidding into the wall.
As they turned the corner, they could both see someone standing in the hall. Someone who they were really hoping they wouldn't.
Mr. Aizawa was standing in the center of the hallway with one hand on either hip. He was waiting for them. They were loud enough he would have been able to hear them coming. Aizawa used his quirk, his eyes glowing and his hair lifting though since neither of the two was using their quirk it had no effect other than for theatrics.
"Hitoshi, Kaminari." He warned when he saw them but didn't move out of the way as they ran closer, "What do you think you're doing?"
Shinso pulled Denki closer to him and ran forward aiming for the small space between his father and the wall. There was enough space for one person at a time. He ran through first and held his hand behind him to lead Denki through the same space, "Sorry Dad, gotta go!"
They could hear both Aizawa and Bakugo yelling at them in the background for different reasons now. This time it wasn't Denki who laughing. Shinso was laughing loudly and if it weren't for Bakugo's shouts behind them the blonde likely would have had to stop to admire the sound. His nose was scrunched as he laughed and his eyebrows were in a more natural position rather than being furrowed in an emotionless expression. The raised position of his eyebrows let light hit his face in more natural ways which helped the shadows under his eyes look less dark. Denki wasn't focused on running anymore, he was watching Shinso. Wishing he got to see this more often, wishing others could see Shinso the same way he did.
Kirishima was right. He was completely and absolutely whipped for this boy.
"Do have somewhere for us to run or did you just run before thinking?" Shinso questioned, his smile was still showing but he was beginning to start breathing heavier from running. Denki was in a similar state. He knew he couldn't outrun Bakugo and he had left the common room without thinking meaning he didn't have a set destination.
"Well, I kinda just decided I'd rather run than die on the couch there." Denki explained, laughing at himself and the situation as he did, "So no. I don't have a plan. Any ideas?"
Shinso didn't respond, thanks to his dad being an obstacle in the middle of the hallway. Bakugo would have been slowed down. His dad was more likely to stop and question Bakugo than he was to question him.
Using this to his advantage, he turned another corner quickly. Bakugo wouldn't have been able to have seen them take the last corner so he wouldn't find them. Or, not quickly at least. Shinso opened the door and dragged Denki in before closing and locking the door behind them. Once they were in the room, Denki recognized it easily. It was Shinso's dorm room.
Shinso laughed, quieter than he did when they ran, but still rather loud as he walked over to his unmade bed, sitting down to catch his breath. He was still holding onto Denki's hand so he didn't have much of a choice but to sit down beside him. As if he wouldn't have anyway.
"One of these days, you're really gonna piss him off." Shinso had let go of Denki's hand when they sat down and ran his hand through his hair to calm himself down.
"Ya, I think that day was today." Denki laughed, falling back so he was lying on the bed with his legs hanging off the edge. When he did, his feet lifted off the floor.
Unlike the others in the class, he didn't grow much in the past two years. He was 5'8 which made him the shortest in the class. He was half an inch shorter than Midoriya now. He was sure that if Minetta was still in the class, he would hold that title. At the start of their second year though, after Mineta had pulled multiple inappropriate jokes on the girls, he was removed for harassment. Class 2-B had an assessment to see who would take the empty spot. Ultimately it was Shinso who won and moved into the class. Monoma was a close second and was only three points behind him.
Shinso laid back beside Denki. Both of their chests were rising and falling heavily and of course, in the silence, Denki thought it was the perfect time to make a pickup line.
"I didn't know you were that good at running, but I guess you get good practice from running through my head all day."
Shinso lifted one of his hands and groaned, rubbing the bridge of his nose with a chuckle. Denki had, over the years, grown to notice how Shinso's chuckles were deep like his voice, unlike his laughs was higher pitched. He preferred the laugh, so that line had not helped him achieve his goal.
"I really think that's one of your worst ones yet."
"Shh!" The blonde shushed him quickly. "If you laugh and Bakugo finds out we’re in here I'll never forgive you." Denki moved his arm making sure to nudge Shinso's arm with his, "Also, I'm quite proud of that line. Do you have a better one?"
"I do, actually. Anything is better than that one." Shinso moved his hand from his face back to beside him as he spoke. His hand landed beside Denki's. Their pinkie fingers pressed together but neither of them made an effort to move.
Denki was curious to hear what Shinso would say, in the two years of him making terrible lines, they were rarely returned. He made sure to ask Shinso if he was okay with him saying the pickup lines. The purple-haired boy reassured him every time that it was okay though the lines were rarely reciprocated.
Denki turned his head. The right side of his face was resting against the blankets on Shinso's bed so that he could look at the other boy. He wished that others got to see this joking side of Shinso. They always saw him as aloof and stoic though, at the same time, he was happy that it was just him. It made it more personal, and more meaningful. "Okay, let's hear it then."
Shinso turned his head pressing the left side of his face to the bed which allowed him to make eye contact with the blonde. Their noses were barely even an inch away from each other.
"After all that running we're gonna be sore. How about I help you do some stretching?" He had a smirk on his lips the whole time he spoke. His eyes flickered from holding eye contact with Denki to his lips. Whether it was absentmindedly or not? Denki wasn't sure. His mind was a little preoccupied with trying to process what he'd just heard.
Once he heard the full line, his eyes widened and his jaw dropped. He could feel a blush racing to heat up his cheeks. "What the hell man? I've been saying pickup lines for two years while you've been holding onto ones like that?"
He had to convince himself not to take the innuendo in any personal way. He had to convince himself to play it off like any other pickup line.
Shinso laughed, looking back up at the ceiling. "My Pa' always flirts with Dad. It makes dinner insufferable sometimes but I hear some good lines."
He'd been around Shinso's family enough since he found out about Aizawa being his adoptive father to learn about their family dynamic. Mic and Aizawa had adopted Shinso when he was young. Based on what he knew of their personalities, it wasn't hard to guess that Mic, in this story at least, was the one flirting.
Denki was about to respond, but a voice from the door stopped them both, "Hey, mindfucker." only one person called Shinso that. It was the same person who gave everyone else some type of nickname, "You're not quiet."
Denki looked up at the roof, "Like I said. I'll never forgive you."
- - -
Throughout the next week, whenever Denki made a line towards Shinso, it was quickly returned with a flirty innuendo. In those moments, Denki was not the only one who was observing and learning things he liked about the other.
Shinso had figured out that if you flirted back with Denki, he would turn into a stuttering mess. If you do it well enough, he'll get nervous enough that the electricity he discharges will make his hair go staticky and stand. He, of course, used this to his advantage. In training whenever they were paired against each other, all that Shinso had to do was say a flirty line in the form of a question and Denki would respond in a series of stutters. Shinso took that as his chance to use his quirk. He did it multiple times and Denki continued to respond, every time.
Others in the class had noticed the change in the duo's interactions too. It wasn't one-sided flirting anymore. Sero had even brought it up when he and Kaminari were walking back to their dorm building from training. "Hey man, did something happen between you and Shinso last week?"
Denki raised an eyebrow at the question, "No, why?"
Sero scoffed, "Dude, he's flirting with you now." He explained with a blank expression, "He's using it against you now too in training. He doesn't seem like the type of guy to randomly flirt. Not like you. I thought if he randomly started flirting it meant something had happened."
"And what are you suggesting might have happened?" He questioned. Denki understood why Sero believed Shinso wouldn't usually flirt, he didn't see Shinso the same way Denki did. He didn't see the smiles or his nose-scrunch when he laughed. And God, his laugh. Sero was unlucky in the way that he didn't get to hear his laugh. Although, as he thought about it, the flirting did come out of nowhere. After two years, now the flirting was reciprocated.
"I don't know. Maybe he said he liked you back or something. I mean, it's pretty obvious that you like him." Sero reached for the handle of the door and held it open for Denki, "No offence, of course. You're just not all that subtle."
"Nah dude, nothing happened." Denki answered truthfully, though it was on his mind now. Sero had a point. It was strange, and it was on his mind for the rest of the night.
Later that day, which was exactly a week after the incident with Bakugo chasing Kaminari and Shinso throughout the dorms they weren't sitting in the same groups. Aizawa had told them if something like last week's "fiasco" happened again, they would all be writing lines in detention. Denki had already had that punishment once in his second year. He wasn't about to have it again, so he made sure not to meet up with his normal group tonight.
He went to the only other place he went at night, aside from his room of course. He was on the roof. Whenever he went up here, he would always bring a blanket up and lay on his back to see the stars. It was something he'd done since he was a kid.
His thoughts raced when he slept. As a remedy, his mom bought glow stars for his ceiling when he was a kid so that he could count the start to sleep. He kept them up until he moved into the dorms. Eventually, glow stars were substituted for real stars like this. When he wanted to relax, he'd come up here and look at the stars. He would stay up here for hours.
The stars both reminded him of his childhood and his family. They also managed to help him feel less lonely. Not that he had any issues with his friends, he had close relationships with all his friends including Bakugo. Still, something was missing. There was a closeness he longed for. Maybe intimacy? He found comfort in the stars. If there was life out there on another planet, maybe another boy was watching the stars like him. Another boy somewhere out there who was absolutely smitten with his friend.
"I thought I'd find you up here." Denki sat up quickly with a gasp and looked behind him to the source of the voice. Shinso had climbed the fire escape up to the roof to get up like Denki had earlier.
"Don't sneak up on me like that, man!" Denki rolled his eyes and laid back down but he moved over so that there was more room on the blanket for Shinso to lay down if he wanted to. "If you keep scaring me, you're gonna make my heart go crazier than you already do." He laughed at himself and his line.
"I really think you're just getting worse at those." Shinso sat down beside Denki, "But it'll be fine. If you get scared, you can jump into my arms."
Denki rolled his eyes and laughed loudly, "And you have the audacity to say my lines are bad."
Shinso didn't say anything. He laid down beside Denki and moved his hands so they were below his head and could act as a pillow while he looked up at the sky.
"Do you think there's life out there?" Denki kept his eyes on the sky looking at the stars with a content smile.
"Like aliens?" Shinso turned his head to look at Denki who was still watching the sky. There wasn't much light on the roof, but the light from the moon reflected enough light that some of Denki's facial features were illuminated. Hitoshi continued with his answer but didn't look up at the sky. "Ya. I think there are. It's so big out there, there's too much space. We can't be alone, right?"
Denki chuckled, "Well of course there's 'too much space'. It's space, Shinso." He turned his head and made eye contact with the other.
Shinso didn't make any response to Denki's comment, "Call me Hitoshi."
Denki was quiet at first as a smile formed on his face, "Really? You mean it?" Shinso didn't say anything. He just nodded with a soft smile forming on his lips. Denki gave a breathy laugh and his smile grew, "Okay, Hitoshi. But only if you call me Denki."
"I mean, it's a nice name." Hitoshi looked down to Denki's lips then back up at his eyes, "But, how about I just call you mine?"
Denki turned his head and looked at the stars again, "You’ve gotta tell me where you're getting all these lines. They're pure gold."
Hitoshi sat up from his spot and turned so that rather than his back facing Denki he would be facing him. "It's not just a line, Denki."
It took the blonde a few seconds to realize what he meant, he sat up quickly when he did. Their faces almost touched, there were only a few inches of space between them now. He could feel the blood rushing to his cheeks. He could feel the static building up in his body from his nervousness and excitement about the situation. "Wait, are you serious?" Hitoshi nodded but didn't say anything, so Denki continued. "Are you asking me out?"
Hitoshi moved his arm and scratched at his neck anxiously, "Well, ya. I guess I am." He nodded, "I'm asking you out. Be my boyfriend, Denki?"
Denki smiled, "So you're saying my pickup lines worked then."
Hitoshi rolled his eyes with a smile still on his lips, "I will take it back."
"No, no!" Denki laughed, "No don't take it back. I want to, I want to be with you." He couldn't see his hair, though he was relatively sure that it was showing his excitement and nervousness with static, which was making it stand.
Hitoshi smiled and moved closer to Denki, his eyes flickering down. "Can I kiss you?"
Denki didn't verbally, he moved forward and pressed their lips together. Obviously, neither of them thought through their situation. With all the static coursing through Denki's body, when their lips touched the electricity moved from Denki to Hitoshi, shocking his lips as they kissed.
Denki was the first to pull back as soon as it happened. He was muttering a string of apologies when he did. He would have continued his apologies but he had stopped when he heard the laugh he adored so much. Hitoshi was laughing hard enough that occasional hiccups were separating his laughs. His eyes were closed, and his nose was scrunched up. Denki couldn't help not laughing along with him.
"I can't believe you shocked me." Hitoshi’s laughter had subsided to a point where he could speak.
"What can I say, I'm just that shocking." Denki laughed, partially at himself, but also in shared glee with Hitoshi. Hitoshi rolled his eyes at the line and pushed Denki a little, not hard just a playful shove.
"Can we try that again?" Denki questioned, still giggling softly.
"No more static?" Hitoshi questioned. He raised an eyebrow with his question. He was mainly teasing, but a part of him was serious. He wasn't wanting to get shocked again.
"No. No more static. It's all gone now." Denki laughed.
Hitoshi looked from Denki's smile to his hair to check. He didn't see any static affecting his hair, so he assumed Denki was right. He gently raised his hand, softly cupping the left side of Denki’s cheek. He leaned in to press their lips together.
Denki froze for a moment but before Hitoshi could pull away to see if he was alright he kissed back. He moved his hands to Hitoshi's shoulders, holding him close. He was careful not to let out any electricity this time. Hitoshi's lips were slightly chapped against his, but he didn't care. He'd waited two years for this.
The kiss started slow and cautious but it had progressed into something more passionate.
The pair seemed to fit better than Denki had expected them to It was like every single aspect of their lips was meant to fit like a puzzle. The way that Hitoshi's hand fit so perfectly on Denki's jawline and cheek, the way that Denki could rest his hands so perfectly on Hitoshi's shoulders. It was even more proof that they were two pieces of a puzzle.
Denki was the first to pull away from the kiss. He was breathing heavier than before and he was sure he was blushing. In the dim-lighting on the roof though he didn't think that Shinso would be able to see it. He was thankful for that.
"I didn't shock you, right?" He questioned, his forehead resting against Hitoshi's.
"No, you didn't shock me. Not that time." Hitoshi confirmed. He moved his hand from Denki's jawline and brushed some of his hair behind his ear.
"Oh, bummer." Denki joked, "Wanna try again?"