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Jirou Kyouka wasn’t a stranger to surprises or weird propositions, less of all coming from Kaminari Denki of all people. He would often come to her and say the first thing that came to his mind, and she wouldn’t be surprised as much anymore.
It wasn’t as strange that some people pointed out Denki spent most of his afternoons in her house, Kyouka mused, despite both of them being up-and-coming pro heroes with a space of their own. More so, being friends for so long, she was accustomed to the warm, solid presence of Kaminari in her house.
Ever since they met one another, they had gotten each other—they just clicked, plain and simple. Sometimes Kyouka thought they might as well be carved in each other’s lives at this point, with how well they knew one another.
Denki might as well be living here, with how easily he put his shoes on the entrance mat, before sitting down on her couch—bones feeling lax and frown immediately disappearing as his shoulders relaxed—with how familiar he was with the routine of putting a kettle on to prepare two cups of tea—one cinnamon apple teabag and another of green tea. Everything he did in her house was muscle memory at this point; he moved around the space effortlessly, always was attuned to it.
It had gotten to the point that Kyouka knew it was him behind her door before he even came in; three ramps of his knuckle against the door, although unnecessary, of course. After all, he was her emergency contact, the only person other than his mom and Momo that had a key to her house.
Kyouka and Denki were great friends, despite deep-rooted feelings of a very different kind taking place in her ribcage, thanks to an amalgamation of deep understanding. They had never gone beyond anything platonic, but it was loud and clear that they were close enough that they might as well officially move in together. They were close, despite the feelings that pulled Kyouka’s heartstrings tight and made her sides ache for more each time his breath would fan over her face or his hair would caress her nose whenever he got over-excited and pulled her into a hug.
She trusted him. Kyouka would go as far as telling him about anything she hid within her heart other than her feelings.
Yet, it still took her by surprise when, in one of their movie nights on one of their days off, Denki turned towards her just as the criminal got caught on the screen, and said, “I need a girlfriend for some months.”
Kyouka’s hand halted in its place inside the popcorn bowl.
Denki cleared his throat.
Before Kyouka could utter a word, Denki continued, voice slightly high-pitched, “Press stuff. My PR Agent’s been really in my case lately, says I’m not serious enough,’’ he made quotes with his fingers and rolled his eyes, “and that I need someone to help.”
“Oh?”
“We know each other enough; it wouldn’t be strange, they said, if we went out together. You in?’’ He grinned at her.
An electrifying thrill went down her spine. Although she was sure Denki hadn’t used his quirk, his words had made Kyouka think for a moment she had been momentarily short-circuited.
Her mouth went dry and she blinked owlishly at him, looking for any sign of deceit or something that told her it was a joke. She found none.
She settled on muttering, “What?’’ which, in hindsight, wasn’t one of her brightest moments.
Denki didn’t hesitate as he answered, “Fake dating!” He gestured between them. “You and I need to fake-date.”
Blinking once, then twice, Kyouka’s mouth opened slightly.
“Let me know if I’m understanding correctly.” Kyouka’s words made Denki raise his eyebrow. “You want us to fake date—” she thought that sounded utterly ridiculous as soon as she said it, “because the public isn’t content with you right now and—?”
“—and everyone loves you!” Denki nodded, making something in Kyouka’s heart snap tight. “And everyone knows we’re already friends, so you’re perfect! It wouldn’t be unbelievable. Yes.” Denki put his hands together.
Kyouka felt like in a dream, like she was floating. She blinked at him, once, twice, the dim light upon her feeling too bright. Right then and there, she had so many questions about what Denki was proposing—how would it work? For how long? What did you do?—yet the only thing she could manage to say was, “Why me?”
You could’ve asked anyone else, Kyouka didn’t say. I’m not that best with the public in any case; they don’t hate me, mostly just because I keep to myself, but they don’t love me either.
You could’ve asked anyone else, Kyouka thought, fist clenched tightly, knuckles almost white. Mina wouldn’t have batted an eyelash before accepting nor would’ve Hagakure. Maybe Momo would’ve accepted too—and she was well-loved—had she not been dating Shouto already.
Looking suddenly strangely sober, Denki looked her straight in the eye and said, expression calm, “Because I know you better than anyone else.”
What was with that serious expression? Kyouka felt her throat tighten.
“Anyone else would’ve accepted,” Denki nodded, strangely serious, “but no one would be as believable as you.”
His hand sneaked towards her, and his fingertip brushed against her skin. She took in a deep breath, waiting for his words.
“And anyone else isn’t you, Kyouka. I know that I have to do this, but if I do it with you, this won’t come back to bite me in the face.” Denki grinned, eyes shining bright making her squirm in her place. Kyouka inhaled deeply, waiting, waiting. His voice lowered as he said, “I know we can pull this off together.”
Kyouka found herself nodding, feeling somehow soothed by his words. “Okay, let’s do this, together.’’
The smile she got in return was bright, almost blinding. He was beaming. Kyouka didn’t think the way her heart almost skipped a beat was good for her health, even though it made her feel great.
“Great!” Denki beamed. “Do you want more onigiri?”
Kyouka nodded and Denki immediately went to the kitchen. Her eyes focused on the TV, hoping this wouldn’t come back to bite them in the face indeed.
Together, she mused, what a pretty word.
(It was days later that she realized she didn’t ask for a paper nor a text from his team.
It was days later when she realized she hadn’t actually asked why, exactly, he needed a fake date.
It was days later when she realized she just went by his word about the whole deal, not even asking for a confirmation or proof about his PR Team’s ruse.)
✸✸✸
It was sunny outside the day Kyouka first met Kaminari Denki.
She literally stumbled into him upon their first meeting, as if it were in the center of the world and no one else mattered. At the age of 15, Kyouka had just passed UA’s threshold when she stumbled upon him on her first day of UA. Immediately, their hands found each other’s elbows to not fall, and she found herself looking up at Denki, taller than her and still so very bright even at the age of 15.
“Woah, there!” he had said, taking his hands off her shoulders once she was steady enough. It took her a second more to remove her hands from his, her fingers lingering on his sleeve. “Where are you going so fast?” He tilted his head.
Kyouka had huffed and acted closed off at first, not sure about striking a friendship with someone that seemed so, so—incandescent. Kaminari Denki, even at 15, was loud and charming despite all odds; through the days, she found herself looking at him often, and they struck an inevitable, reluctant friendship.
Denki, it turned out, could effortlessly charm and talk to anyone he put his mind to. Her included. Despite the ways she had tried hard to keep to herself, Denki still slipped through the cracks of the walls she put up. Denki was really, really hard to ignore. Even when they didn’t intend to be together, they found themselves orbiting towards the same friend circles—even if she had wanted to focus solely on her future as a hero, he was soon enough by her side offering friendship, jokes, while carrying a shared music taste.
(The fact their quirks were rather compatible hadn’t aided her, not when the teachers paired them together more often than not.)
He was often over-excited and bright, happy. Most people would consider him rather goofy, but Kyouka, through the years, knew better—he was intelligent and kind, and a magnificent friend always willing to listen.
She had even found, as their friendship went, that although he was a rather forgetful person, he had never forgotten anything regarding her. Denki had never forgotten a tiny detail about her; instead, it seemed like he had stored all the information about her within his heart.
Kaminari Denki was indeed one of Kyouka’s first friends—and she would be damned if something like her feelings went between them. She would rather have her feelings burn bright and perish than confess and lose him as a friend.
(Kaminari Denki was one of Kyouka’s best friends and nothing more—but her heart hadn’t caught up to the fact yet.)
✸✸✸
To start planting the seeds of their romantic relationship, they had started sharing more pictures together on social media.
They weren’t supposed to make public appearances yet, but they had to start planting the seeds of their romantic relationship through social media updates.
Now, whenever they hung out together, Kyouka would take a snap of the movie they were seeing and upload it to her Instagram stories. She would share an old picture from her apartment, of her plants with some tree emojis, then a picture of the screen in front of them, always tagging him.
—Loving the Queen documental! <3 w/ @Chargebolt
Then, to try to not make it as obvious, she continued uploading other pictures—the view of a rooftop from patrol, pictures of her friends, a stray cat she would find on the streets—while Denki was in charge of resharing everything she tagged him on to his own social media.
✸✸✸
When Kyouka was still at UA, she hadn’t placed high in the Sports Festival other than in her third year when she got third place. So, she hadn’t always been into the spotlight or well-liked by the public, but she certainly was now.
Upon becoming a pro hero, she had to make different strategies to figure out which one would be better to approach the public. After all, being a pro hero wasn’t easy feet, less of all for women. She had decided on being herself—playing concerts and donating the money, doing double patrols. But it was definitely the time a villain with a quirk-canceling quirk had attacked close to her agency and Kyouka had rushed there, ending up fighting with him in hand-to-hand that propelled her up in ranks.
She was soon admired within pro hero circles, as an up-and-coming combat hero. Although she wasn’t the most friendly with people—the people liked her well enough.
Which was why Denki asking her, out of all people, to fake date, wasn’t that far-fetched. At least that was her reasoning and what she had told her friends.
“Oh, sweetie,’’ Mina said, clicking her tongue in the camera after Kyouka had explained the situation.
“Kyouka-san…’’ Momo’s expression looked soft on the screen; her eyes looked open, as if she was still going over everything Kyouka was saying. “I don’t think it’s just because of that…’’
Kyouka’s furrow deepened.
“I just think,’’ Ochako chirped from her place on the screen, seated in the corner of her room, “You did well in accepting. Maybe this will put some other things into light.’’ She shrugged.
“Put what into light?’’ Kyouka tilted her head to the side.
“Oh, you know,’’ Mina cooed, wiggling her eyebrows at Kyouka. “Your very obvious mutual pining we’ve been subjected to watch since high school.”
“Mina!” Kyouka’s hand flew to her face, her cheeks suddenly warm. She huffed. “There’s not a mutual pining anywhere here.”
“Sure, sure.”
Mina waved her off as she clicked her tongue. Momo immediately giggled through the spoonful of apple in her mouth, while Ochako stood up to go grab her bowl of cereal.
Kyouka smiled, happy to have her friends by her side. Even though things with Denki would no doubt take a strange turn due to the fake dating, she could still count on her friends’ humor brightening her day.
✸✸✸
Following the fake dating arrangement, they needed the public to know. To make it more believable, they didn’t have to make it too obvious, just start going out together more.
Soon enough, instead of staying in to watch movies, they started going to cinemas with less of a disguise than before—just sunglasses, so it wouldn’t be too obvious there was something sketchy or that they wanted to be spotted, but also not hiding as much so no one would suspect it was them, two pro heroes, in a… date. The times they usually went to have coffee, they ended up going to highly popular ones.
That was how Kyouka found herself sitting in a studio chair, dressed in a crop top and jeans, her eyes closed as Miwa, the stylist, put lipstick on her. She wasn’t a stranger to photoshoots, so she hadn’t prepared beforehand when she had gotten a text from Denki announcing they had a photoshoot scheduled.
Denki [09:00]: SUP!!! I know you don’t have anything scheduled tomorrow,,, so… team scheduled a valentine shoot *finger guns* and us, aka gresteast couple, needs to be part of the Love’s Day session!!!
Since he was right and it was one of her free days—he knew her schedule too well, she had mused while squinting at the screen—she had decided to go. After all, she was committed to seeing this arrangement of theirs through.
Joint photoshoots were nothing if not common between pro hero couples; Kyouka had seen her fair share. Apparently, since the press had had a field day upon speculations they were dating, this one would be the official announcement. They would be featured in a magazine along with other pro hero couples, most of them from UA; Shouto and Momo had been in a loving relationship ever since they graduated, Mina and Kirishima too.
Kyouka felt her cheeks flame, upon the sudden wish of it being real and no pretense.
“Here.’’ Miwa, from the stylist team, handed her a hand mirror and jolted her out of her thoughts. “You look so pretty.’’
She had never been too accustomed to compliments from strangers. She smiled bashfully and said, “Thank you, Miwa-san.’’ The woman smiled at her and left Kyouka to her own devices.
She looked at the image of herself in the mirror, and a smile took over her face. Although she wasn’t one for make-up, she loved to use dark lipstick; the shade mixed seamlessly with her clothes too. She looked good, she felt pretty.
After taking a quick glance at the clock, she quickly left the changing room, realizing time was about to happen.
“Earphone Jack-san!’’ A woman waved at her from the center of the room.
Kyouka hurried towards her, until she stood over a white carpet next to a white wall with heart patterns awaited. The background of the photoshoot, most likely.
She gave a soft smile at the woman, who was still beaming brightly at her. “Just Jirou is okay!’’ The woman shook her head vehemently and Kyouka said, “Really! I feel like I’m still on patrol like that.’’ She chuckled and the woman laughed alongside her.
“Okay, Jirou-san,’’ she nodded, “I’m Aika. I’ll be your photographer today.’’
“Nice to meet you.’’ Kyouka bowed her head slightly. Then, a frown took over her face. “Are we still waiting for—?’’
A deep breath halted her musings.
Turning around slowly, she found Denki just a meter away from her—how had she missed him? He was too stealthy for her own good—with his hair styled casually and dressed in a suit that matched the red of her lips. His eyes opened in wonderment once his gaze fell upon her.
“Woah…’’ Denki cleared his throat. “Kyouka, you look beautiful.’’ He looked at her from head to toe, then settled on her face. He added, “You are beautiful.’’
She blinked, once, twice. She wasn’t a stranger to Denki complimenting her—he was a very good friend—but as a side effect of having to pretend to date, she was left idly wondering if he was being truthful or if his words were because there were people around them, always looking and with no doubt a cell phone in hand, prepared to take a video in case anything interesting happened.
Her heart clenched. Without thinking, she shot back, “You look gorgeous.’’
His eyes widened as he looked at her, suddenly gaping like a fish out of water. Kyouka had to fight the urge to blush and smile; it wasn’t any day where she left him at a loss of words. Awestruck was a look good on him, she mused, especially if it was because of her.
“This is perfect!’’ Aika’s voice turned their attention towards her. She had her hands entwined and a grin was on her face. “I usually have to put couples closer and tell them to look in love,’’ she drawled, then smirked, “but you’re already looking like it without my help!’’
At that moment, something happened quicker than she was able to see. A moment they were standing next to each other, the next, Kyouka was very glad she wasn’t touching Denki—to actually be some centimeters away from him—because she watched almost in slow motion how his eyes widened, his cheeks reddened, and he proceeded to short-circuit the wires of the entire room in quick succession.
“No!’’ Kyouka mumbled, suddenly faced with the pitch-black room.
“Oh, oh.’’
“Sorry!’’ he yelled. “Sorry! I can help fix it!’’
All the tension suddenly left Kyouka’s body, her shoulders feeling light. Instead, she let out a loud, bright chuckle that Denki quickly followed with his own.
✸✸✸
“Hello,’’ Kyouka cooed as she appeared behind Denki’s desk. He jumped slightly on his seat.
He had been sulking, so she had figured paying him a surprise visit wouldn’t hurt.
The smile pulling up the corners of his lips as he turned around towards her with bright eyes proved she was right.
“Oh!’’ he grinned, sitting straighter in his chair, “What brought you here?’’
“Nothing.’’ She shrugged, an amused smile dancing on her face. “Just thought visiting my…’’ she hoped the sudden furrow in her brow wasn’t noticeable, “boyfriend wouldn’t hurt.’’
Denki blinked up at her, the pen in his hand falling to the desk and rolling over the wood in his astonishment. He quickly shook his head and returned her amused smile.
As she stood in Denki’s cubicle, she too wondered what she was doing there—sure, some press wouldn’t hurt, but 1) no press was allowed inside the agency, and 2) they already did enough for the public eye with their scheduled Sunday outings. Also, it wasn’t like they weren’t basically living together already! After each day of work, they often found themselves in Kyouka’s house, listening to music, watching movies, or just chatting after a particularly grueling day. Why would she go out of her way to visit him now, when they could see each other for any other thing elsewhere?
Denki shook his head before nodding at her. “Do you wanna have lunch, then? My treat.’’ He hummed, a tiny smile on his face. Kyouka arched her brow and he quickly added, gesturing around, “You know, girlfriend-boyfriend date and all that. Maybe we’ll get some good old press on us.’’
Kyouka turned around before he could see her face. “Yeah, let’s go.’’ She mumbled, quieter, “girlfriend-boyfriend lunch and that…’’
She didn’t know why her heart clenched at the thought of how easy-going he was, how casually he could mention their fake relationship when the mere thought made Kyouka’s breath stutter inside her chest and her heart ache each time.
They soon exited the building, no more than 5 centimeters apart, and with sunglasses that looked too wrong for such a cloudy day. Kyouka thought it was good for pretense’s sake, so she didn’t question it; hopefully, there were some people taking pictures, so their ruse was still up. Each outing of them pushed Denki up in the rankings, and his past indiscretions as the goofy, non-serious hero were forgotten for rumors and speculations of their relationship.
She didn’t dwell much on the fact that, in between joke and joke, she ended up entering an in-the-wall, secluded coffee shop often visited by pro heroes so they wouldn’t be spotted at all… nor in the fact that wasn’t the purpose of their arrangement at all.
✸✸✸
Kyouka was sitting on the couch, back pressed to the seat as she tried to get a grip of the situation. Although she knew her friends wouldn’t send her bad articles about her, (the article attached to a message from Mina that said URGENT!!! SOS accompanied with an eyes emoji), she still felt apprehension at the thought of looking at the article, where she would find no doubt something that would make her ache for more.
She took in a deep breath before gulping and looking down at the screen, eyes quickly roaming over a title and 10 subtitles.
10 irrevocable pictures that prove Chargebolt and Earphone Jack are dating!
She took in a deep breath. She swiped through the article quickly, then she moved backwards. Her eyes settled on the first part: the number one ranked evidence—title ‘DEFINITIVE PROOF THEY’RE DATING AND MORE SO, IN LOVE WITH EACH OTHER’, and under it, three attached pictures that made Kyouka’s breath stutter inside her chest.
She blinked, once, twice. Her heartbeat went wild and her lips parted as she stared at the pictures, looking like a taunt.
The pictures her eyes zoomed in, without context, weren’t particularly incriminating (there was literally a picture on the article of them holding hands, her head resting on his arm that felt far more like proof). Yet, it was these pictures—innocent enough for anyone else other than Kyouka—that made Kyouka’s world tilt into its axis and turn upside down.
It was a succession of three pictures, taken with no more than 10 seconds of difference in between. In the first picture, Kyouka was dressed in a rather thin shirt—she remembered the weather had been colder than they expected, so it had taken her by surprise. Beside her, Denki was wearing a red scarf.
In the next picture—she noticed as she clicked to zoom on it—they were so close their breaths fanned on each other’s face. Denki stood in front of her as he wrapped the scarf around her neck. The Kyouka on the screen was unable to do anything but look up at him. Their faces looked relaxed, an almost imperceptible smile pulled up her lips but Denki? Denki was beaming.
In the last one—Kyouka’s heart stuttered against her chest as she looked—they were walking side by side again. Kyouka had his scarf around her neck, and their hands brushed by how close they were as they moved by each other’s side.
Somehow, despite the fact the paparazzi had most likely not been subtle at all, she didn’t remember seeing a glimpse of cameras pushed their ways, even if she remembered that day clearly. She remembered the sandalwood scent so like Denki clutching onto the scarf, the way the wool felt brushing against her nose, and the tingling sensation of their fingertips brushing.
Her heart beat wildly against her ribcage. Kyouka realized that, from that moment, she remembered nothing but him.
Kyouka’s eyes widened as she stared at the picture, at the way her cheeks were flushed pink. The Kyouka and Denki in the picture couldn’t have been more than 5 centimeters apart from each other.
She remembered the moment vividly, which was why she felt shocked… These three pictures—the dubbed number one evidence that proved they were dating—had been taken before they even started their fake dating arrangement. This was them strolling down the streets three months before Denki’s proposal, this was them as friends. Nothing but good, old, platonic friends.
Kyouka’s heart stuttered inside her chest and her hand went up to her mouth.
Oh.
Everything else in that article was romantic in tone, a product of a well-crafted staging from their PR Teams, but that one chilly afternoon where they had been walking to a coffeehouse and he had pulled a scarf around her neck because she felt cold? It had been just them, Kyouka and Denki without pretenses, before the agreement, before the public’s problems, before the stunts that made her heart ache with yearning. It was purely them.
Her heart clenched with something akin to hope at the thought.
Maybe, maybe… Hope had never been a bad thing.
✸✸✸
Chargebolt⚡️ ✅ @realchargebolt:
4 months and going strong, baby!😎 I feel the luckiest and the happiest w/ you. (For all those that said she would get bored of my jokes, joke’s on you!:p)
[Photo attached: Kyouka and Denki’s Valentines Day photoshoot. It seems more candid than other professional photos. Kyouka laughs while Denki’s cheeks are red.]
↳ Bakugou Katsuki 💥 ✅ @Dynamight:
Replying to @realchargebolt
whipped lil shit! hurt her and we’ll talk!!!😍
🗨️19k ⭮ 10k ♡ 7.6k
↳ Chargebolt⚡️ ✅ @realchargebolt:
Replying to @Dynamight:
man i don’t think that emoji’s what you think it is for😫😫
↳ Bakugou Katsuki 💥 ✅ @Dynamight:
Replying to @realchargebolt
STFU!!!😍
↳Earphone Jack💜 ✅ @earphonejack:
Replying to @realchargebolt:
stop clowning katsuki… he’s got enough with technology and y’all as his friends☃️
🗨️ 20K ⭮ 50k ♡ 70k
↳ Chargebolt⚡️ ✅ @realchargebolt:
Replying to @EarphoneJack:
yes ma’am🤠💘
🗨️ 40K ⭮ 70k ♡ 90k
Earphone Jack 💜 @EarphoneJack:
Get yourself someone whose joke you don’t have to fake-laugh because he’s funny already. Get yourself someone that’s already your best friend and the best partner you could ask for, so there’s not a dull moment.
[Photo attached: Kyouka and Denki’s Valentines Day photoshoot. It seems more candid than other professional photos, as if taken in a spur of the moment. Kyouka’s cheeks are red, her hair floats around her as she laughs bright while Denki’s poking out his tongue.]
↳ Chargebolt 💥 ✅ @realchargebolt:
Replying to @EarphoneJack:
<3 <3 <3
🗨️20k ⭮ 40k ♡ 70.2k
—
Kyouka sat next to Momo in her weekly outing to drink tea in Momo’s backyard. Mina and Ochako sat next to them, Ochako smiling upon serving the teas in such tiny cups without spilling a single drop.
“Yay babe!’’ Mina cheered. Ochako beamed at them, pushing her thumbs up.
“I’ll soon be brewing my own tea.’’ She giggled, pushing her sunglasses up her nose.
“I’ve missed you all so much.’’ Momo sighed, clapping her hands together. Then, her expression turned soft around the edges. “These are some teas Todoroki sent me from overseas. I'm so excited to drink the others when he gets home.''
“Momo,’’ Kyouka interrupted, suddenly feeling like her chest would escape from her heart. All the eyes were suddenly on her. She had been reminiscing about the article and her feelings about Denki for days now. She knew her friends could help. “How did you know your feelings for Shouto were reciprocated?’’
“Well,’’ Momo’s finger flew to her chin as she hummed thoughtfully, “One day you’ll look at him, only to find he’s already staring at you.’’
Kyouka’s heart thundered in her chest, thinking back on the pictures of the article that had been roaming her mind all through last week. Images of Denki knowing her exact order whenever they ate out, the fact he knew what was her comfort movie whenever she felt bad, that he sent her music because it reminded him of her, and the fact she caught his eyes upon her some times when she would look back at him.
Gulping, she felt suddenly determined to talk to Denki now. She cleaned her sugar-coated fingers in a napkin before standing up, the chair dragging against the grass below her at the sudden motion.
“I need to go,’’ Kyouka explained at the curious glance of her friends. “Thanks for the sweets and thanks for hosting, Momo. I’ll see you next week?’’
“But the tea!’’ Ochako looked at her with puppy eyes, “It’s going to get cold!’’
“It’s important… I need to talk to him!’’ Kyouka called back. “Please don’t wait for me.’’
“Oh.’’ Ochako’s eyes widened.
Momo picked up her cup of tea and took a sip while Mina pumped her fist up and screamed, “Go get ‘em!’’
✸✸✸
“I need to tell you something.”
“I have to confess something.’’
Kyouka’s eyes widened. Then, she blinked. After shooting up a message to Denki to meet up and he had immediately answered, she hadn’t expected this to be the first thing he said upon entering her place—
In hindsight, though, Kyouka would admit maybe asking to meet up at her place would’ve been awkward, but she was buzzing and wasn’t thinking about what could go wrong.
—but that was what happened. He looked breathless, as if he had run all the way here.
“Confess something?’’
He tilted his head to the side. “Tell me something?’’
Clearing her throat, Kyouka sat down.
“I know things have been hard lately, with all the press upon us,'' he nodded, sitting down next to her, "I know you don’t usually like to be in the spotlight.'' His hand moved to grab hers and Kyouka's heart was wild against her ribcage. His thumb brushed against her knuckle with reverence. "And it was never my intention to let you put you in this situation. I know you’ve never had any of your past relationships to the public for a reason—’’
“—Past relationships?’’
Denki continued talking, just sparing her a glance before avoiding her gaze. “And I don’t want you to feel uncomfortable. I know how much you value your privacy, and you’ve done enough by putting yourself in the spotlight for me. You’re my friend first and foremost so I understand if you would like to end—’’
“Wait wait! End this? I’m not trying to end this.’’ Kyouka blinked. “I didn’t call you because of that!’’
“Then why?’’ Denki looked at her with wide eyes. “I thought…’’ He cleared his throat. “I thought you… Well, you said we needed to talk and…’’
“I do think we shouldn’t continue our arrangement.’’ Kyouka nodded and Denki gulped, stilling in his place. “But not because… I want to end whatever this is. But because I’ve been thinking, lately, that we’ve never been quite just friends.’’
A beat where she could hear nothing but Denki's ragged breathing and her own heartbeat against her eardrums. "What?''
"I mean,'' she cleared her throat, "We've never been just friends. You're my friend and I love you, but it's not the same... as what I have with Katsuki or Shouto or Koda. We both know this. You're so much more than just a friend, at least to me.''
Denki nodded, his hand suddenly entwining with hers. He looked at her and he was beaming—Kyouka couldn't help but think, yes, this was it; there wasn't a wrong step where it came to the feelings between them—
"Oh god.'' He chuckled, shaking his head. "I thought you were going to kick my ass and this would end horribly and—''
"I thought so too.'' Kyouka rolled her eyes. "But that's just us being... oblivious to everything around us.''
Leaning closer, Denki was suddenly just centimeters away from her. She could see his sun-kissed nose and she idly thought he looked brighter than she had ever seen him.
"Pretty damn oblivious, aren't we?''
She nodded, leaning closer too. She liked the golden speckles shining in his eyes, bright and vibrant. He looked happy, she noticed.
Happiness was a good look on him.
"So,'' he cooed, "Is there some things we can do, now that we are more than just friends, uh?''
Kyouka rolled her eyes. "Just kiss me, idiot.''
"As you wish,'' he stared into her eyes before adding, taunting, ''baby.''
She would've complained or returned his taunt, but upon feeling his warm lips upon hers, she could only sigh into the kiss and lean forward.
It felt good, to be close without pretenses or arrangements, to have the feelings that often threatened to burst out of her chest reciprocated. She leaned into the kiss and then and there, in her living room, they were just Kyouka and Denki, who knew each other like they knew themselves, and kissing like they did everything else: with trust and warmth, just with a spoken love hanging between them.