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Kaminari is greedy.
He knows this, its something hes been aware of since he was six, begging his mother for far too many toys. Its something hes tried to curb but has consistently failed to.
He’s gotten better, atleast. He waits before he takes and and tries to be more considerate of those around him. Hes kept his wants close to his chest and they usually dissipate once he relises that 'he can’t have'. It sizzles in his ribcage but it’s only for a moment before hes preoccupied with other things, other wants.
But there is one want-need-that doesn’t go away. A buzz in the back of his mind that is never silent. A pound in his chest that sounds like the beating of drums on his poor heart.
Hanta Sero.
Or his want for Hanta Sero, his best friend. He and Hanta have been friends since the first week, drawn together by their personalities and the rest of the "bakusquad". It wasn’t love at first sight for Kaminari, he didn’t really believe in such a thing. It was after they had dubbed eachother best friends. He doesn’t remember the exact day, just that it was at some point after the training camp and before Kamino. When they still didn’t know where Bakugou was or if he was okay.
He had been hanging out with Hanta, trying to keep their sour moods up with snacks and video games at Hanta’s house. He remembers looking around the sero household and seeing his decorations and family. It was all very welcoming and served as the topic to some of Kaminari's teasing.
They had been talking about something and Kaminari must have said something funny or dumb (probably a mix of the two)and Hanta had laught heartily at it. Not the 'i feel obligated to laugh' or 'that was kinda funny' sort of laugh but a true, heartfelt laugh. It wasnt very beautiful or graceful in the way that the boy was tearing up and snorting but it still caused his cheeks to flush.
The way his silk hair had glistened when his shoulders shook or how his smile was so wide denki thought he would rip his cheeks with the force.
The feeling crept in slowly, like the slow pouring of water into his body. He wanted hanta. he wanted hanta in the way that caused the familiar feeling in his chest. And just like that he felt like he was six again, pulling his mothers hands towards the toy isle even as she told him he had too many.
And now, nearly a month from then, the feeling doesn’t go away (not that he wants it to) and he wants more. He wants his best friend in a way he has never wanted anything else. It was obvious in the way the feelings had never left him. This wasn’t something that would just pass with the wind or be swept under a rug.
He doesn’t dare say anything, though. He doesn’t want to make Hanta uncomfortable just because he can’t keep his metaphorical (and literal) hands away from him. He doesn’t want to chase his best friend away, or worst, pressure him into a situation he doesn’t want to be in.
So he doesn’t say anything, and years pass by. They graduate, then they become adults and pro heros. He an Hanta work in prefectures three hours apart with their classmates scattered around in different cities. Kaminari feels as if he’s chipping piece by piece as he and Hanta orbit around each other. He doesn’t get to see the his friend often due to their hero schedules but when they do it feels like he’s burning up just by proximity. They call regularly but Hanta seems to have moved on in his life, no longer doting on him as he used to. And Kaminari can’t be mad. He can’t expect Hanta to validate feelings he doesn’t know exist.
And its with this thought process that Hanta seems to notice him.
He calls in more than he usually does, spending more time on call. He grins at him more than he teases. He brings the blonde gifts. They’re things that Kaminari deeply appreciates even if he couldn’t ask them from Hanta. Hanta is just kind like that. Noticing changes in his friends and trying to remedy any negative feelings.
He’s amazing, and Denki couldn’t have found a better person to fall for.
Thats what he tells Hanta on his 26th birthday. He had handed him his gifts, and somehow between talking about the gifts and telling Hanta happy birthday he had said something so idiotic. He chose Denki to spend most of the day with out of his friends and now he’s backed him into a corner.
nice going, Denks.
He remember it being awkward. He remembers stumbling out an apology. He remembers Hanta grabbing his flailing hands.
He remembers Sero pulling him closer for a kiss.
When they pulled away the taller man explained that he had liked Denki since their first year in UA. How he had thought Denki wouldn’t like him back. He told him how it hurt, and how he tried to distance himself from his feelings, from Denki.
(How it had hurt the person he loved in the process.)
They kissed and they called out each other for how dense and stupid they were. But that was then, and this was now. Now that he knew his love was reciprocated, the burning in his chest that had become so familiar over the years seemed to fizzle to warm that rested over him.