Chapter Text
It had started off simply enough – when he rescued Kaminari Denki from the train tracks two nights ago.
That would have been a straightforward and uncomplicated event, save for a few key facts:
- Takahashi Yatsujanai was Quirkless.
- Kaminari Denki was number 8 Pro Hero “Chargebolt” – so enigmatically popular that you’d be hard-pressed to find someone who wasn’t at least infatuated with him.
It was the work of a few seconds. Yatsujanai had been staring at a letter in his hand when he brushed shoulders with the famous hero, recognizing him later as he walked towards the opposite platform, a little past midnight.
When he turned to speak to the man, he was flung towards the tracks by what looked like a massive backhand – a swipe from a drunk commuter with little control over a strength Quirk.
It was one of those moments where Yatsujanai didn’t even pause to think – he ran towards the scene and jumped onto the tracks, even as the drunk offender fled.
“Denki-kun. Are you okay?”
It was surprisingly a lot worse than expected, maybe because it was an accident versus an attack that the man could defend himself from – Denki had a nasty-looking bruise on his head, and he stared at Yatsujanai before his eyes rolled back and he was out cold. When Yatsujanai saw the lights from an incoming train from the distance, he knew there was no use thinking about their monumental bad luck.
How he managed to heave all 82kg of Lightning Hero onto the platform as well as himself before the train slowed to a stop, he could hardly recall, but there was never a moment’s doubt that he wouldn’t leave Denki on the tracks.
“Are you insane? Did you really jump in to rescue that guy?” someone had yelled.
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The thing was, that wasn’t even the first time he had heard that question, and he had come to accept this about himself: Takahashi Yatsujanai was insane.
He was not meant to be a Hero.
He had always been ambitious in that dream as a child, and had kept that fierce enthusiasm even when it became clear that he had no right to do so. When it emerged that he didn’t have a Quirk, he had approached his devastation with fervid hope – or misplaced denial, as his cadre of childhood bullies taunted. Even his best friend had told him he couldn't be a Hero and that he would be a liability.
He had given up on getting into the Yuuei Academy Hero Course, settling for the General Studies course in Ketsubutsu Academy High School instead. Instead of becoming a Hero, he had settled on helping behind the scenes by becoming an analyst for the Public Security Intelligence Agency.
For some reason however, it seemed like he never could really stray from the path he was told to leave.
He ended up being one of very few Quirkless Ketsubutsu student chosen for a special program spearheaded by Yuuei focusing on promising individuals. Some of his strongest friendships were with people from UA, like Hero Course alum Monoma Neito, Honenuki Juzo, and underground hero Eraserhead among others.
Most tellingly, his notable Hero-fanboyism had translated into a specialization in Quirk Intelligence, and his services were so sought after, that he was mandated only on the most high-priority assignments supporting the country’s top heroes. Heroes like Kaminari Denki, who were meant to do the actual rescuing.
He wondered what his idol would think of him now, as he lay on the train platform, heaving in shock next to the unconscious Number 8 Pro Hero, who he had just jumped in front of a train for.
He didn’t even think when it happened – his legs had started moving on their own.
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But also, it was Kaminari Denki.
It wasn’t just anyone. Yatsujanai knew him. Sort of.
Setting aside his known hero fanaticism, Yatsujanai was indeed the most sought-after Intelligence Officer in the agency and worked only with the country’s top heroes.
He had also been Denki’s Handler for their latest mission.
They had never met face to face before, but for four months straight before that night, Yatsujanai had been Denki’s guide and support in an especially sensitive operation investigating an underground syndicate that brokered illegal Quirk Marriages. Through their direct two-way communication line, they pretty much had constant access to each other throughout the mission.
Yatsujanai never had any shortage of knowledge about heroes in general, and he knew that Denki was known for being outgoing and flirtatious. During their mission however, Yatsujanai discovered that Denki was also more than insightful in his observations, endearingly awkward in his sincere interactions, and a bit too critical of his own weaknesses. Despite all that (or perhaps because of it), it was refreshing to work with him – he was surprisingly easy to talk to, and he always listened back.
Something about that particular mission struck a deep chord within them both, and it wasn’t long before its disturbing emphasis on Quirk selection had Yatsujanai sharing his own experiences about not having a Quirk.
“I suppose I’d have no value when it comes to these matches, considering I don't have a Quirk of my own.”
Denki had gone deathly quiet at that comment, until he slowly and haltingly opened up about his family’s own harrowing experience with Quirk marriages. There weren’t enough words for Yatsujanai to share his grief, “Denki-kun.”
“I don’t know why I tell you these things,” Denki had confided, hesitating. “I haven't even told my friends about it yet.”
“Hm, maybe because I’m nothing but the invisible voice in your ear.” Yatsujanai had joked back, trying to lighten the mood, “You can pretend I don’t really exist.”
“No. You’re pushy, you can’t mind your own business, you understand too much, and you're fluent in so many languages it's amazing you can keep track of which one you're using.” That was just the way Denki was – expressing his thoughts directly when he wasn't flirting or pretending to be dumb. “But you’ve never let me down, and I’m glad to know that you’re here, somewhere, existing. It probably won't sound like much, but you're my hero.”
Yatsujanai started at that, for once at a loss for words. But Denki continued. “Promise me one thing, Daremo.”
“W-what’s that?”
“Don’t listen to what they say about you. You’re so much more than just a Quirkless person. If there’s anything that this mission has reminded me, it's that I’d rather choose a Quirkless person who's like you than be forced by my mother into marrying someone for nothing more than their Quirk.”
That mission had ended two weeks after that conversation, and they hadn’t had the opportunity for a face-to-face debrief, but Yatsujanai knew that it had left Denki shaken. It wasn’t a hard leap to make, that a man who had tried and failed to weaken his Quirk would be left unmoored after a mission that hit too close to home.
Which was why Yatsujanai thought it was more than a bit lucky that he ended up bumping into the man in person by accident that night – why he had made the first step towards making himself known.
You’re worth so much more than you realize too , he wanted to say.
Because that was the other reason why Yatsujanai, and therefore this whole situation, was ridiculous:
- Takahashi Yatsujanai was Quirkless
- Kaminari Denki was number 8 Pro Hero “Chargebolt”
- Takahashi Yatsujanai was also just a little bit in love with Kaminari Denki
Of course, that was before a drunk idiot and a train turned it all to shit.
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His friend, of course, found it amusing.
“You have an uncanny gift for getting into the strangest situations. Are you sure that’s not your hidden Quirk? What are you doing in a hospital anyway?”
Yatsujanai gave an indignant huff and took a moment to glare at his phone screen – Underground Hero Monoma Neito’s picture smirked back at him. “You got all that just because I texted that I’d be late tonight?”
His neighbor and Intelligence Agency colleague snorted, “There’s always something more to the story when you say that ‘something came up’ – and I wanted dinner.”
“For the last time, Neito-kun, I am not your personal chef!” Yatsujanai dodged some nurses as he tried to keep track of Denki. “We may live in the same building, but it doesn’t mean that you get to stalk me when food doesn’t magically appear on your doorstep—wait a second, how did you find out what I’m doing?"
“Fine, you may get takeout on your way back,” Monoma drawled back. “You’re better off not knowing how I found you. What are you doing in the hospital, anyway?”
Yatsujanai took a deep breath and lowered his voice. “It’s Denki-kun.”
There was a cut-off laugh on the line. “Wait – Denki-kun? That kid Kaminari Denki? A-gumi scum lightning rod who you have a fat crush on Kaminari Denki?”
“Yes, he was accidentally slapped by someone with a strength Quirk, and I saved him from being run over on the train tracks, and now they won’t let me see him, because I’m not family, when I know he has crap relatives, or at least one big crap relative—”
“Wait, hang on, this needs to be explained again – slowly and carefully. I need to make sure I can tell Ayame in full detail later. Kaminari fell onto the tracks, and you saved him?”
Yatsujanai frowned. “Yes.”
“This is your Kaminari? Pro Hero Chargebolt? My Yuuei ex school mate? The one you’ve mooned over so much that it’s practically a conflict of interest?”
Yatsujanai blushed. “Well—”
“Number 8 hero Chargebolt? In-denial Pikachu, Kaminari? ‘I’d rather marry you than any of the Quirky wunderkind my mom presents to me’ Kaminari?”
“YES! Yes to all of that, yes, thanks Neito-kun. Where are you going with this?” Yatsujanai snapped back despite himself, bowing hysterically when people stared.
Monoma’s voice was surprisingly quiet, “And they wouldn’t even let you know how he’s doing?”
Yatsujanai deflated. “They said family only, and really,” he gulped, “I am nothing to Denki. I don’t even know what I’m doing here.”
“You are nothing except his work-spouse, therapist, and now saviour, apparently. You’ve chosen a great way to introduce yourself to your Pikachu in person.” Monoma’s wry voice returned. “You do know that this is insane , right?”
Yatsujanai gave a small huff. “Well, we did speak each day and night for the past few months…”
There was a dramatic sigh on the other line, “You even got him to tell you things he hasn't even told his friends…”
Over the coming days, he would try to recall this part of the story as best he could—would try to wonder if he could have done things differently. At the time however, Yatsujanai could only force out a watery smile as he tried to make light of the situation,
“I even got him to say he'd marry me.”
A nurse froze behind him as he said those words, just as he covered his eyes with his palm.
“I’m sorry to hear that.” Monoma replied, and Yatsujanai could only nod. It felt a lot more devastating than it had any right to be. “Do you want me to call for a car to pick you up? I can even call for food.”
Monoma was volunteering to move his default can’t-be-bothered ass to help. Yatsujanai didn’t sound that bad, did he? He swallowed past the lump in his throat and did not wipe the tears that were definitely not crowding his eyes.
He was interrupted by a gentle hand on his shoulder.
The nurse was looking at him with bright, practically glowing eyes.
“If you want to see Kaminari-san, I can help.”
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Kaminari Denki had always been distinctly beautiful, but it was still jarring to see him pale, unconscious with that swelling bruise on his cheek, and a ventilation mask.
That he had completed a several-month-long mission relatively unscathed but was then downed by a simple accident didn’t bear thinking. Yatsujanai made for his bedside quickly and turned back to the nurse.
“Will he be okay?”
Before she could respond, the door opened to admit a flock of distraught Pro Heroes.
Yatsujanai had to take a step back – there was the commanding creation hero Creati, the upright turbo hero Re-Ingenium, the gravity hero Uravity with her bright eyes, the colorful Ridley hero Alien Queen and sturdy hero Red Riot, and all of them were talking at the same time.
“Oh Kaminari-san—”
“He doesn’t look too good. The others are on their way…”
“We need to understand the prognosis for Kaminari-kun before jumping to conclusions…”
Between his worry for Denki and his bewilderment at the situation, there was a small detached voice within him that wondered if he should be internally screaming and rolling on the floor to see so many famous idol heroes all in the same room… and if he should be getting their autographs.
The head doctor emerged from the Yuuei wonder-class huddle and addressed the Creati, “Yaoyorozu-san, as you can see, the patient had suffered from blunt trauma to the right side of his head, and further trauma here at the frontal lobe, leading to supratentorial coma…”
Coma .
Denki was in a coma – the doctors had stabilized him, but they had to watch for signs of improvement towards waking. Yatsujanai wasn’t alone in his horror at those words, but inexplicable guilt also dogged him – had he moved sooner, or perhaps if he had actually spoken to Denki instead of waiting to gather his nerves—
“I am here! I came as soon as I heard!”
The door opened again to let in a policeman and no less than the Symbol of Peace himself, and from where he was standing, Yatsujanai let out a little squeak of shock and distress.
“All Might?”
It was clearly the wrong thing to do, as he had now been noticed and now held everyone’s attention in the room. Sweat broke behind his neck and he suddenly found himself lifting his hands defensively. He could practically hear them thinking:
Who the hell is this stranger and what is he doing here?
One of the junior doctors recognized him, “You! I recognize you from earlier, and you’re not meant to be here. Only family or named emergency contacts like Yaoyorozu-san are allowed—”
Something within Yatsujanai still made him wince at those words – he could see All Might’s eyes narrowing, in all likelihood trying to place where they’d first met.
Exit now, dammit.
You don’t belong here, and not just metaphorically .
“Of course, he belongs here,” the nurse’s clear voice rang out as she faced the junior doctor disapprovingly. “He’s the patient’s fiancé.”
Yatsujanai choked on his own thoughts. What?
“What?”
“What?” someone repeated.
Yes! What, what, what!
“I—I’m sorry but what? I’m—”
However, his stuttering went unheard, as the policeman who had come in with earlier weighed in this time:
“This is Takahashi Yatsujanai. This is the man who rescued your patient today.”
“Tsukauchi—” All Might began. Oh, so some of the people here knew the Detective Inspector at least.
“I can confirm that this man jumped on the tracks himself and lifted Kaminari Denki out just as a train was about to come into the platform.”
There was a sudden silence at the simple absoluteness of his statement.
The detective turned to him, seemingly unbothered by the impact of his words, “Takahashi-san, I’m sorry to have to take your time again. We’ve spoken to the witnesses and covered the CCTV footage of the accident, but we wanted to confirm a few statements just in case. I can wait for you outside and we can speak once you’re done visiting your,” he paused as he took out a notepad, “fiancé.”
Yatsujanai’s eyes darted between him and the shocked peanut gallery of heroes and medical professionals, and he tried again.
“Detective, I—”
That’s when the blasted door opened again – dammit, don’t those doors have bloody locks—and in came Denki’s mother, magnetic hero Pull.
“What is the meaning of all this?”
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However unprepared Yatsujanai felt (and whatever circle of hell this chaos had descended into), something in him rose to attention the moment Pull started bandying the words, “medical incompetence” taking her son into her “private facility” despite Creati’s protests because he was “weak enough to get hurt in an accident”.
Given what Denki had told Yatsujanai about Pull and what she was capable of as far as her son’s wellbeing was concerned, would Yatsujanai be able to bear it if the woman walked away with her unconscious son?
“Absolutely not!”
For once, Yatsujanai did not cower when all eyes turned his way – and he especially did not shrink back when Pull turned her steely glare at him.
“You are not leaving with Denki-kun.”
For some reason, he was able to ignore Pull’s sneer of disdain at his impudence – and Yatsujanai was for once grateful for his unique ability to summon his sponge-like memory under the least appropriate of circumstances.
“Denki made it clear many times that he did not trust you and would never put himself in your care. There was a reason he filed for emancipation the moment he could; he even went as far as to ensure that his emergency contact and key decision maker was his friend Yaoyorozu Momo—” Here he looked at Creati, who’s eyes widened at his words. “He knew you’d even try to control his siblings to get to him, no wonder they haven't seen each other since before he applied to Yuuei and got accepted. And we’ve not even gotten to the part where he tried to file a restraining order during his middle school years—”
“Enough.” Pull all but snarled at him. Yatsujanai could see her fingers twitching in anger but felt unafraid. “Who are you to say these things? You have no right—”
“I am Takahashi Yatsujanai, and no, I am not anybody special. I am as Quirkless as they come, and I don’t have any wealth or power to my name. I do know, however, that Denki deserves to be rescued and kept safe , even if it means keeping him away from people like you .”
Creati’s gaze snapped to him; All Might started. Somewhere at the back of his mind, he could imagine Monoma doing a slow clap.
Pull gave a disbelieving laugh. “It figures that my son would associate with useless Quirkless rejects like you to get back at me. I'm putting an end to this rebellious phase of his right now. I am his mother and not one of you have the authority—"
“Well,” someone—Yatsujanai risked a glance and saw that it was Red Riot—spoke with deliberate casualness that was anything but casual. “We kind of do.”
Pull whirled towards them, but this time, Creati stood firm with him. “With all due respect, ma’am, I am Kaminari-kun’s chosen decision maker by lasting power of attorney,” and she turned to give Yatsujanai a meaningful look. “And more than that, Takahashi-san here is his fiancé.”
Yatsujanai jumped. What—this again?
But Ingenium also stood with Creati. “His fiancé,” he repeated, “who also saved him earlier today.”
And Pull actually roared at hearing that. “That is a lie! I refuse to accept that a Quirkless rescued my son.”
For some reason, those last words were what it took for everyone to stand against Pull. The medical staff held firm behind Creati, and even All Might was able to lend his support, as strong a figure as ever as he stood next to her and Ingenium.
“I believe their decision counts more than yours at this point; Kaminari is not going anywhere with you.” Tsukauchi looked towards the woman, “Pull, I suggest you think very carefully about what you would do next, in front of these witnesses, servicemen and professionals.”
That night, Yatsujanai learned that what a restraining order couldn’t do, the people in that room could:
They managed to keep Pull away from Kaminari Denki.
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Yatsujanai was not proud of how he later scrambled to corner the nurse into telling him why in the world she said that Yatsujanai was Kaminari Denki’s fiancé.
“Why would you say that?”
He was shocked to see that the nurse looked just as confused as he did. “On the phone, earlier. You said that you rescued him, and he was going to marry you.”
Yatsujanai’s eyes widened. No. Nooooo.
“But… it’s not true! And t-that was a private conversation! Really, I was mostly talking to myself. I mean, I did rescue him, and I really wanted to make sure he was okay,” The more he spoke, the deeper he realized the hole he was digging for himself, “but I am not engaged to him. At all.”
The nurse stared at him dubiously.
“Well, the next time you talk to yourself, maybe tell yourself that you’re single, in any conversation.”
Yatsujanai gawked, dumbfounded.
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“…And that was what happened, and I hope you’ll forgive me. And by the way, they invited me to Uraraka-san’s birthday at the 3-A safe house. Apparently, your classmates pooled in together to buy a house that any of you can stay at if you need to? If I hadn’t told you yet, it bears repeating – you and your Yuuei classmates are epic.”
Yatsujanai lifted his head from Denki’s bedside.
“And I’m so sorry again, Denki-kun, for some reason, people seem to think I’m your- um, your fiancé. I never meant to get you caught up in something so stupid. It’s all just a big misunderstanding. Even if you did say you'd rather marry someone like me than anyone your mother chooses for you.”
He didn’t know what he was doing, confessing to the unconscious hero. But in the absence of someone to speak to who could 1) make sense of the past 24 hours 2) wasn’t a 3-A Pro Hero who would find Yatsujanai insane once he tried to explain himself 3) wasn’t Monoma Neito at his cutting, sarcastic best – he found that it was probably best to talk to the person who he owed the truth to most.
His “fiancé”.
He’d been in that room with Japan’s best Pro Heroes and a lie-detecting Detector when that wild misconception happened, and Yatsujanai was frankly shocked no one had realised it was a mistake. It just didn’t make sense.
Yatsujanai sighed, “And I know that this makes me sound like an idiot. Honestly, I don’t know what I was thinking. Before I knew it, I was jumping in after you; before I knew it, I was telling your mother to lay off.” He shook his head. “I suppose I didn’t even think, each time.”
He put his head in his hands, “And I swear – all I wanted was to make sure you were okay. Even at the train station, before all of this happened —I just wanted to talk to you. I knew you weren’t okay…” he shook his head.
“And I know that we’ve spoken before. And I know you wonder too. About whether or not people actually see you, or if they just see the Quirk you have – or don’t have. And the truth is, at that moment, I wanted to—talk to you, for real. To see you properly, for the first time, and maybe, to get you to see me properly too.”
He turned to Denki again. “I wanted to let you know that you’re not alone. I feel invisible sometimes, like I'm not quite where I want to be, but I'm not sure if I deserve to ask for more.” He rubbed at the stinging in his eyes. “ You do, though – you deserve more. So much more, Denki.”
He let out a deep breath.
“And you have such wonderful friends. You’ll never be alone with them. I mean, I’ve only just met them, and they made me feel so welcome – for once, it didn't feel like I didn’t belong. Do you know how amazing that is? You should hold onto them. I mean, they held me in the tightest, most ridiculous group-hug after Pull left earlier, and I didn’t want to let go.”
Yatsujanai huffed out a small laugh; Denki, of course, remained sadly silent.
“And I know this is ridiculous, me talking to you this way in the middle of the night. I’m not sure that you can even hear me, but I wanted to let you know, anyway: You deserve the best. You’re not alone. It was wonderful to be your fiancé, even if it was just an honest mistake because of a phone call.”
He moved to squeeze Denki’s limp hand reassuringly. “Don’t worry, I know what to do. I’ll fix this, Denki, and I'll tell your friends the truth tomorrow.”
“So I suppose, this is goodbye.”
He exhaled and made to let go, but he stayed where he was.
Perhaps he could spend a few more moments with Denki – never mind that he wouldn’t be able to tell. He closed his eyes.
“You’ll still have me, Denki, if you want me after you wake up.”
Behind him, he didn’t see Yaoyorozu Momo and All Might as they stood silently in the doorway.
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What do I do now? What—what should I say?
Yatsujanai stared at the driveway before him; one turn and he’d be coming onto the 3-A safe house. It was, to his bewilderment, found in one of the more exclusive areas in Naruhata.
Well, he thought to himself, he only had to tell them the truth tonight.
He turned the corner and was surprised to find Creati waiting in the cold in the driveway. She straightened as soon as she saw him. Just the person he wanted to talk to.
You can do this.
“Takahashi-san,” Creati greeted him. There was an unexpected look of relief on her face, “I’m so glad to see you here. I wasn’t sure you would come.”
“Oh.” Yatsujanai struggled to form a reply as he put a hand to the back of his head. He offered her the flowers and bottle of wine he was holding onto. “Really, I should be thanking you for inviting me at all. In fact, I was hoping to get the chance to talk to you about—"
But Creati interrupted him by offering her hand, “Of course you’re welcome. I know we didn’t get the chance to properly introduce ourselves earlier. I am Yaoyorozu Momo.”
Yatsujanai slowly lifted a hand to shake hers. “It’s such a pleasure to properly meet you, Yaoyorozu-san. There’s something I really wanted to tell you.”
But Yaoyorozu seemed to ignore what he just said. “I never really got to thank you for what you did earlier for Kaminari-kun.”
Yatsujanai blinked. “Uh—did you mean with Pull? Y-you don’t need to thank me for that. I’m just glad Denki-kun has you to make sure the worst didn’t happen with his mother. You wouldn’t have let Pull leave that hospital with her son.”
Yaoyorozu gave him a measuring look. “No, I don’t think you understand. Despite everything that Kaminari-kun had done to be free from his mother, Pull is powerful and known enough in the public eye that none of those measures might have worked. I would have tried my very best, and I was glad All Might was there too. But if you—” she paused to speak slowly.
“—If you hadn’t come in as his fiancé and fought so hard on our behalf, we wouldn’t have had a case against Pull. Without you, we wouldn’t have the stronger legal ground with you as his next-of-kin, and Kaminari-kun wouldn’t be free of his mother. Do you understand how important that is?”
Her eyes bore so intently into his as she spoke, and Yatsujanai swallowed. “Yaoyorozu-san. I… it’s just that, there’s so much you don’t really know yet…”
To his shock, Yaoyorozu shook her head vehemently, “I know. And honestly, we don’t know much about you and Kaminari-kun – he’d been so hard to reach, over the past months. I know that we’ve only just met you, and I’m sure we’ll learn a lot more over time. But please…”
And here, she suddenly put her hands on his shoulder, pulling him closer. He was staggered to hear the plea in her voice as she whispered.
“Please, Takahashi-san, remain his fiancé – just for a bit longer.”
Yatsujanai’s eyes widened. She knew the truth? It took a moment, but finally, he processed her actual words.
“What are you…? But the truth…”
Yaoyorozu nodded as she held on. “Please… I don’t know you, but I know that you care for Kaminari-kun. If you want to help me keep him safe until he wakes up, then please don’t say whatever it is you wanted to tell me. Nobody else has to know.
“Please, stay his for now.”
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Yatsujanai felt all breath abandon him at Yaoyorozu’s words. Is she saying what I think she is—
Before he could respond however, the doors to the house burst open and out came Uravity with Alien Queen behind her. Her cheeks were rosier than usual when she whooped at the sight of them.
“Takahashi-san! You came! And you brought more wine!” Her vibrant smile was infectious.
Alien Queen winked at them as she helped Yaoyorozu with the wine. “Glad to know that Kaminari-kun chose well! I hope you handle your drink better than he does!”
There was a booming laugh behind them as All Might emerged to herd them in, “I am glad you are here, Takahashi shounen.” He winked at Yaoyorozu.
“Come in, come in!”
Owing to the suddenness of the events from the past several hours, he met the same people from the hospital in the house, which was both a relief (fewer people to have to lie to) and a disappointment (apparently, he had just missed some of their classmates - including Underground Hero Deku and his Limelight Hero boyfriend Dynamight).
What was unexpected was how surprisingly easy it was to talk to Denki’s friends, as well as to answer what ought to be difficult questions about their relationship.
“So, Kaminari-kun never introduced you to us.” Alien Queen, Ashido Mina nudged as she offered him a drink.
“It was all quite sudden for me as well. We were introduced for the first time five months ago at work, and I only really started getting to know him a little more than four months ago.”
“And now you’re engaged?” Ingenium, Tenya Iida exclaimed, “That’s uncommonly fast, even for Kaminari-kun.”
Yatsujanai took a larger-than-usual sip from his drink. “I, uh, really didn’t expect it either.”
“That must be why Kaminari-kun also kept the engagement secret.” Yaoyorozu mused out loud with a cough from across the room. “Because he has such a high profile, and he didn’t want you to be overwhelmed.”
Yatsujanai blinked at her, “Yes—um, that. We are, uh,” he desperately tried to come up with something helpful. “We’re a private couple. It’s one of Denki's more… endearing traits.”
The funny thing was that most of his answers weren’t lies to begin with.
“Tell us more!” Red Riot, Kirishima Eijirou egged on further, “We haven’t really been in touch with him recently. What was it about our lightning boy that attracted you?”
“Was it the flirting? People have been going crazy about that since high school!” Uravity, Uraraka Ochako giggled.
“Ah.” Unfortunately, he’d already inflicted this conversation on his long-suffering neighbor before. “It was how—helplessly awkward he was when he wasn't flirting. I thought it was…” cute, irresistible, wildly endearing .
“Seriously? That’s adorable!” Ashido squealed. “He’s a bit hit or miss, that one. It’s cute sometimes.”
“Right? Like how he wanted a pet—”
“But he thinks animals are scared of him.”
“Exactly, which was ridiculous, I told him to just get one that likes him. And then there was this one time when I told him I’d lost a bet so one of my friends had free reign with my hair, and he mentioned that he had another friend who had his hair frizzed while training with him—”
“That was me!” Kirishima realized with wide eyes.
Yatsujanai nodded enthusiastically, “That was you? Then you know that he was genuinely worried that he was a curse on hair everywhere, that he was this—
“Hair Destroyer.” They whispered conspiratorially, making the room break into peals of laughter.
It was just as surprising for him to realize that he knew quite a lot about Denki-kun based on his long conversations with him during their mission. It was also quite unexpected, how his classmates seemed to treat Yatsujanai’s relatively fewer interactions with him with more weight than theirs… as if his meagre time with Denki was important enough to be on par their own experiences with him.
Of course , he thought, as he met Yaoyorozu’s inscrutable gaze across the room, these are the sort of things a fiancé should know .
“You’re absolutely right, dude.” Kirishima wiped tears from his eyes. “It’s hilarious how silly he is.”
“I made that joke once,” Yatsujanai said softly, “he thought it was a bad pun. He,” he laughed to himself, “he stopped responding to me for an entire ten minutes.”
“I’m sure he overcomes those slights quickly enough!” Iida put in a token effort to make their erstwhile classmate less uncool.
“Ah, not always.” Yatsujanai found himself exhaling, guiltily remembering Denki’s face when he extinguished his fire side—after using it for the first time in decades. “He doesn’t like it when I question him during missions, when I try to get him to see things differently. He thinks I’m, uh, too pushy sometimes.”
This time, it was All Might who coughed to interrupt, “I’m sure we meant to ask this earlier, Takahashi shounen, but would you mind telling us what it is that you do exactly?”
The strange irony and sense of being caught out rose within him, considering what All Might already might know of him. He hoped he didn’t disappoint.
“I’m an Intelligence Officer for the Public Security Intelligence Agency. I, um, I specialize in Quirk Analysis and designing support gear.”
Uraraka’s eyes grew wide, “The Intelligence Agency? Some of our Yuuei ex-schoolmates regularly coordinate with your office.”
Iida cleared his throat, “Do you know Honenuki—”
“Ayame?” Yatsujanai couldn’t help but smile proudly. “Yeah, she consults with me on gear upgrades sometimes, and she's a good friend.” He flushed a bit, “In fact, we worked on some improvements to your belt, Uraraka-san. I hope it’s been working better for you.”
“That was you? The Agent that Honenuki-kun had been working with?” She gasped, “It’s helped so much with keeping my balance in the air!”
Yatsujanai couldn’t help himself. “I’m so glad! I actually suggested it for stabilizing low postures as well. I know you specialize in rescue missions, but I’m sure you’ve also seen the offensive potential of your—”
He only realized that he was halfway through another mumble-storm when the room grew silent around him. Yatsujanai paused and had flashbacks from his middle school years, from when only Aoyuuga had was able to keep up with him and been by his side.
“Not- not that I would presume to know how to utilise your Quirk better than you! I just love studying them. Please excuse my rude behaviour, I wasn’t thinking!” He turned to bow deeply.
“Are you kidding me?” Uraraka all but yelled when she found her voice again, “That was amazing. You should tell me more. Now I want to experiment with what I can do with my Quirk!”
Yatsujanai started; he was still unused to being praised by anyone other than Aoyuuga for his hero analysis. People were normally so suspicious and wary of him as a result. The fact that he was Quirkless also never helped—
-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-
“I can’t thank you enough for helping Kaminari-kun like this, Takahashi-san.” Yaoyorozu told him with a low voice as she handed him pillows and a blanket for the couch. “It can’t have been easy, doing all of that with everyone else tonight. I’m glad you’re staying over.”
Yatsujanai shook his head, “I’m more worried about what happens when Denki wakes up. Setting everyone else aside, this can’t be fair to him.”
Yaoyorozu paused and gave an inscrutable look in the distance, “We can worry about that when it happens.” But Yatsujanai could tell that she was thinking about it. “In the meanwhile, I’ll be here to help and make sure you can pull this off and keep him safe. We’ll try to keep his condition away from the media as well, which can help protect your identity.” She gave him a smile, “It won’t always be comfortable, but I’ll try to make it as easy for you as I can.”
She opened her palm to him, revealing an understated but obviously expensive silver band, a tasteful lightning bolt--shaped set of diamonds nestled into the metal.
Yatsujanai couldn’t find it in him to answer. Could only stare at the ring as it glinted in the darkness. Yaoyorozu gave him a soft look.
“Takahashi Yatsujanai, would you do me the honor of pretending to be Kaminari Denki’s fiancé?” She raised her brow as she lifted the ring to his finger.
Yatsujanai finally exhaled and gave her a watery smile, “I think it’s better if you call me ‘Yatsujanai’ going forward. It’s only polite, if we’re going to be conspirators and all.”
She flashed him a beautiful smile of relief.
“Then you better call me Momo.”
-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-
Of course, whatever bravado he had summoned the night before out of some sense of poetic justice went flying out of the window as soon as he heard a heartstoppingly familiar voice at the doorway in the early hours of dawn.
“Just completed a mission. Sorry I missed your birthday, Uraraka.”
Yatsujanai froze as he lay on the couch.
“Don’t be ridiculous. Better safe at 5 am than never.” He heard Uraraka respond. “Welcome back, Aoyama.”
Shit, shit, shit. Aoyama Yuuga.
How could he have forgotten – it was class 3-A after all.
“How’s Kaminari doing?”
How could it have slipped his mind that Denki could be friends with his childhood crush friend?
“He’s stable, and we were able to keep Pull away, thanks to All Might, Momo, and his fiancé.”
Of course, Denki would know one of the other best-known Pro Heroes from their Yuuei class. The one that Yatsujanai had spent years keeping away from out of respect for his old friend.
“What the – did you just say Kaminari had a fiancé?”
“Shush, stop being so loud – he’s agreed to stay the night and he’s in the living room right now. You really should meet Takahashi-san! He’s great, we all like him.”
He felt eyes burning into his back as the heroes looked in at him from the doorway.
Please let him not make the connection. Please make him forget that I was his best friend and the only person who truly believed in him.
“Takahashi? – as in Takahashi Yatsujanai? Daremo? Kaminari’s fiancé?”
This was not supposed to happen.
“Yes! How did you know?” Despite Uraraka’s delighted tone, Yatsujanai didn’t need to turn around to feel the incredulous narrowing of Aoyama’s dewberry eyes.
They had been so close to getting away with it.
“Impossible.”
-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-
Aoyama Yuuga had just come back from a very difficult extraction mission to hear that his classmate and friend Kaminari had met an accident and was in a coma. He had rushed back to the 3-A house to ensure that he could show his support as soon as possible.
Learning about the involvement of a Fiancé that had somehow been hidden by said Lightning Hero under their noses this whole time had been odd to say the least.
Armed with coffee that could wake the dead, he sat on his perch on the stairs and watched the figure silently making his way to the door. He glanced at his watch – 6am – and drawled,
“Good morning.”
Kaminari’s fiancé jumped with a small squeak and whirled to turn to him.
When thought finally came back to him, all Yuuga could think about was that he was glad he was sitting down, and that his coffee mug was now half empty.
Takahashi Yatsujanai. He had heard the name and had thought he knew what to expect. Setting aside the personal issues that still needed unpacking from his younger years, he had more than enough memories to associate with the kid from his past. It was unlikely he would ever forget.
But the man before him was far from the boy in his mind.
This was a grown man, tall and solid, as if his body had finally caught up and filled out in the best way possible to make him look nearly irresistible. The jeans didn’t need to stretch much to show toned, muscular limbs; the yellow plaid button up shirt had its sleeves rolled up across well-built forearms; and above that was a face framed with long pale lavender curls, a smattering of freckles underneath still impossibly large blue eyes.
The eyes, at least , Yuuga couldn’t help thinking, are still the same .
“…Ah, you scared me.” A blush spread underneath the familiar eyes. “Good morning—” after a pause, “Aoyuuga.”
Aoyuuga. This was Daremo.
He hadn’t actually expected a blast from the past, this early in the morning.
“Well this is a surprise,” He was amazed at how he managed to force the words out. “I don’t remember Kaminari mentioning you before, Daremo.”
Maybe it was the mention of the name that snapped time into place for them.
Daremo suddenly straightened. If he had looked caught out at Yuuga’s words, it disappeared too quickly as his eyes shined and he lifted a shoulder in a shrug.
“That’s probably because he didn’t.”
Yuuga saw the silver glint of a ring on his finger as he placed a hand behind his head and offered a seemingly cheerful smile.
“Don’t worry Aoyuuga; he didn’t talk about you to me.”
Yuuga’s mouth dropped, and he raised a brow.
This one had teeth.
For some reason, he felt like baring his own fangs in response.
Before he could reply however, the phone in the other man’s hand came to life, and the bold look on his face gave way to panic. “Car.” He blinked and motioned outside. “I have to go. I am really late, and I’ll just…er, go.” Another pause. “It was, uh, something, to see you again, Aoyuuga.”
Yuuga stood up as he moved towards the doorway. “Daremo.”
The nerd all but whirled on his feet as he turned back and started muttering, “Okay, look, I know that this is—"
“I heard that you jumped in front of a train to save Kaminari,” Yuuga interrupted him. “I’m sure my classmates have said it already, but thank you.”
“Oh.” The acknowledgement, more than anything, seemed to disarm the man. He gave him a wary look as he shrugged his jacket onto his wide shoulders. “Then… you’re welcome.”
He escaped through the door, with just a single word to Yuuga. “Bye.”
Yuuga walked towards the window, brows furrowing incredulously when he saw the nerd mumble rapidly to his phone and jump into what was obviously an expensive executive car.
He belatedly realized that he did not know what Daremo was doing now, and where the car was taking him, and how he got caught up with Kaminari in the first place.
“Merde.” What the hell just happened?
-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-
The annoying thing was that that was just the beginning.
Running on even less sleep, he stared at Kaminari’s prone form and kept trying to twig onto his unease by asking his friends.
“Don’t you think there’s something really suspicious about Kaminari’s ‘engagement’?”
“Yeah, how did he manage to find such an amazing guy when we weren’t looking? What the hell, Kaminari?” Kirishima asked the unconscious man as he bit onto his sandwich.
Yuuga sighed. “Listen, I’ve known that guy since we were kids, and—
“Whoa, you knew Takahashi?” Ashido sounded excited, “What was he like, growing up?”
“He’s—” Yuuga paused. He took a deep breath. “We were kids back then, and things were different.” I made my best friend cry when I told him he couldn't be a Hero and now he's apparently engaged to one of the people I became friends with in high school . “All I know is that it’s strange, how he suddenly showed up as Kaminari’s fiancé.”
“It’s not ideal, but it figures that it would take an accident for such a big thing to come out.” Iida weighed in over his cup of coffee.
Uraraka gave a small laugh. “And what a ‘thing’! I don’t know what I expected—or even if I should have expected at all! I guess it makes sense that Kaminari-kun would go for a super smart looker with nerves of steel, but Yatsujanai-kun is also…"
“—So adorable? He looks so cute when he starts mumbling and gets all shy."
“Then why did he sneak off this morning?” Yuuga interrupted testily, putting a hand on Ashido’s face to stop that train of thought. “Why is he not here with us in the hospital, right now?”
“The guy has a job, dude – he’s coming by later. Did you know that he works for the Intelligence Agency? That’s how he and Kaminari met. How manly is that?”
It was Yaoyorozu who put an end to any further debate as she raised a hand, “We all know that Kaminari-kun hasn’t been as… connected—since he moved out months ago, especially with this latest mission. Whatever his thoughts were, this must have been quite a large decision for him, and it seems to have happened quite quickly too. I wouldn’t be surprised that he kept these things to himself.” She looked away as if it pained her.
“Shouldn’t we just be happy that our friend chose well?”
-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-
The truth was Kaminari had been more distant than usual over the past months, so none of them really knew.
Yuuga had always had a complicated relationship with his friend. Having Kaminari to compete against made him push to improve himself in ways he couldn’t have ever fathomed. Yuuga had pushed him as much as he grew with him. Whatever knowledge they had, they knew they had earned each other’s respect and could rely on each other without fail.
They might have not been friends in any sense of the word, but he thought that Kaminari at least trusted him.
When Kaminari moved to his own place, he had given a copy of his keys to Yaoyorozu and Yuuga only. While he tended to go off on his own, he always came back when he was needed, or when he was ready. The last seven months of silence had more than just his closest friends worrying, however. Whatever his recent mission was, it was difficult when he simply stopped reaching out to them.
The day Yuuga found out about the accident was the first time Kaminari had actually reached out to him in months.
Do you think it’s not too late for me to use my full Quirk?
It had been a shock. Yuuga knew what it must have taken for Kaminari to ask about using his entire power, after trying to weaken it for so long for personal reasons. Him trying to weaken his Quirk had been what had caused his “short-circuiting” after all.
But the timestamp had been from the morning before. Underneath, there were several missed calls and panicked messages from their other friends.
Kaminari had been in an accident. In a coma, then, later, stable. They would visit again, and he was free to join as soon as he could.
Later still, Kaminari had been engaged this whole time; Kaminari had a fiancé.
Which was even harder on Yuuga, as he thought he knew him better. At least to know what it was that had him reconsidering his Quirk... and considering marriage of all things.
He then knew, somehow, that he had to do better; to make more of an effort with the people around him going forward, so that none of them would be so caught off guard when a shock like this happened.
But Daremo – Daremo was even harder to understand. Having his name come up in the middle of it all was beyond comprehension.
There was a lot of complicated history for Yuuga, as far as Daremo was concerned. He was far from the only person Yuuga had picked on, growing up. As a child, he had an inferiority complex, impatient ambition, and a crippling inability to tolerate weakness – mostly in himself but also in others; and his road to growth had been littered with many mistakes. He had treated many people as not worth his time, or obstacles to prove he could be a Hero even with his Quirk that hurt him. Age, experience and the presence of the people from Yuuei had humbled him to the point of self-awareness. Along with extensive therapy
With Daremo however, his experience was infinitely more difficult and just as hard to explain.
( I knocked him down )
( He just kept coming back )
( He refused to give up on his dreams )
( Making me fear that I would never be good enough to make mine a reality )
Before meeting All Might, Kaminari, and the numerous heroes that were leagues better than Yuuga, he had loved and respected that Quirkless boy first and foremost; the one who kept looking back at him with that smile, even as tears tumbled from his eyes, who wouldn’t back down even as his body trembled in fear and his dreams were stomped on by nearly everyone and Yuuga was the only one who understood he was a boy and not a girl.
It was one of those important things that he had never let himself forget, now that years have passed and he's earned a better sense of self; unfinished business that he knew he had to fix. Some of the things he had said and done were too difficult to even contemplate – even forgive, which he could freely admit in his darkest moments. He'd told Daremo he couldn't be a Hero; not because he was weak in any sense, but because he didn't want to lose him.
However, with everything else speeding on in his life at the moment, he figured he would somehow get to it when he’d figured his shit out, or when the ‘right’ moment came.
Apparently, that moment had just come.
The Quirkless boy had come back all grown up, no longer teary-eyed and far from the damaged mess Yuuga had feared he could have become with only Yuuga and his dad in his corner.
And in a mere handful of months, the man had somehow done enough to turn Kaminari’s head far enough to want to marry him.
( Was it those wide cerulean blue eyes and that dimpled smile, that transformed into narrowed crescents and a saucy smirk in mere seconds? Or those idiotic freckles that went everywhere – the cheeks, his nose, those damn exposed forearms, and even more places? )
Merde, he hadn’t just grown up. Apparently, he also threw himself on train tracks to save Pro Heroes and ran his mouth against powerful jerks like Pull.
The annoying thing was that it wasn’t just Kaminari: his friends were just as delighted by Daremo. As if Kaminari – and consequently all of them – were lucky that the man had said yes. As if he was the best Kaminari could have ever chosen, instead of Kaminari being lucky to have Daremo in any sense.
Daremo was Yuuga's best childhood friend. How had he gone from being Yuuga’s luckiest charm, to their friends’ most exciting discovery? To Kaminari’s future husband?
That this had all been hiding under his nose and that he had just somehow not seen it was too improbable to be true. It just didn’t make sense.
There was something more to this – he just knew it. If only to understand for Daremo's sake, at least. He had to know what made Kaminari worthy of Daremo, what made the lavender-haired boy choose the blond.