Archive of Our Own

Out of everything that has happened in Denki’s life, getting into UA has been one of the best and worst experiences. He has made actual friends, and learned how to deal with his quirk in a way that made it so he didn't blank out after, and he’s even learned how to cook. 

But it also led to the two worst heartbreaks he’s ever had. 

In first year, it was Jirou, who was actually still one of his best friends. It didn’t hurt that much comparatively, mainly because as soon as he recognized the fact that he had feelings for the purple haired girl, he confessed, to which she responded with a very nice: “Oh, you’re super cool, Kami. The last thing I’d like to do to you is lead you on… I’m a lesbian though. I hope that we can still be friends, though? I can give you space if you need it though.” 

To which, Denki did take two weeks (mostly filled with tutoring with Bakugou) and then he was ready to go back into a full swing friendship with Jirou. The two had actually been closer since that talk, and Jirou never held it against him. 

And then second year happened. 

At the beginning of second year, Shinso was added to Class A (who replaced Mineta, much to Denki’s confused emotions on the topic) and Denki was instantly enamoured with the mystery man. He didn’t talk much and mostly kept to himself, but because of Midoriya’s need to be friends with everyone and natural charm, he started to open up. 

They became best friends quickly after that, doing almost everything together for weeks at a time. Where there was Denki, Shinso was close to follow, and vice versa. 

So when Denki went to Bakugou and Jirou one night talking about how he was crushing on their classmate with eyebags and a standoff-ish personality, it wasn’t that much of a surprise. 

What was a surprise however, was when Shinso gradually stopped hanging out with him, instead spending more time with Class B, which wasn’t too bad at first, it made class-to-class interactions better. 

But after weeks of preparing a way to confess, all went to waste when Denki saw Shinso and Monoma making out in a hallway between the classrooms and the cafeteria. 

Denki had given up crushes and love after that, deciding to focus more on school. He probably wouldn’t have time to sustain a relationship after graduation anyway. 

A deep sigh left his lips as he stared down at the worksheet, biting the end of his pencil before a “Psst!” from the left of him caught his attention. He tilted his head to the side and looked impassively at Jirou and Bakugou before Jirou slid a small plastic bag on his desk. 

He looked at the bag before looking back up at his two best friends, in the bag was a silicone necklace, one that he could chew on without worrying about accidently zapping himself with the metal on the eraser, or without getting splinters in his mouth (which yes, has happened before). 

Bakugou looked between Aizawa and Denki before aggressively (but slowly) signing, “Tell me if you need anything else,” to which Jirou smiled and added “We’re here for you,” In a very elegant sort of way. 

Present Mic taking the time to teach them sign language during second year was one of the things that Denki was most grateful for because it allowed him to talk like this during class. 

He smiled a little to himself before he took the necklace out of the bag and started chewing on it, looking back down at whatever the assignment was (Denki, for the life of him, couldn’t remember what they were actually supposed to do). 

Since third year had started, they were expected to do a lot less academic work and more practical things. However, some academic work was still needed and even if he wasn’t very good with it, Bakugou and Midoriya were always there to help. 

The end of class came a lot quicker than Denki would have liked, but at least it meant that they were allowed to return to the dorms. 

You see, after Denki accidentally found out about Shinso and Monoma, he immediately cut his lavender haired friend off and despite the former’s advances to rekindle their friendship, Denki was never ready to do that. 

“Midobro!” Denki called quickly, yanking the green haired student away from his friend group before walking with him, “I wanted to ask you about a thing, if that’s alright?” 

Midoriya waved goodbye at his group before nodding, “I’m guessing it’s about your new gear? Mei said it should be ready soon, but you know how busy she gets at the beginning of the year, whether it’s with her own inventions or with other people’s gear. We can go over there right now though, if you’d like? I’m due to stop by anyway!” He assured the other before changing their course to go towards the workshop area for support course students. 

“You can always read my mind, I swear,” He smiled widely at his classmate, his smile growing wider as the other male held his hand and laced their fingers quietly. 

Sometime after the falling out with Shinso, Midoriya and him had gotten close. Mostly because Denki went to the tiny genius for help with curving his severe repercussions for overusing his quirk, which the other had many ideas for. After that, Midoriya started helping Denki with his homework when Bakugou was busy sparring (or dates, as Kirishima liked to call them) or needed time to himself. 

Then, Denki learned that Midoriya dealt with chronic pain, and with consent from the other and clearing it with both Aizawa and Recovery Girl, they were able to come up with a way for Denki to learn how to use his quirk at lower voltages and help Midoriya out. So, under the watchful eye of Recovery Girl, every Wednesday at 6pm, they sat in the clinic and performed transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation, which seemed to help a lot. It probably also helped that they were both touch deprived and felt happy with the contact. 

Their friendship had grown since then, and now they also had times once a week when they’d go down to the support course area and Midoriya would help Mei with fine tuning designs that were giving her trouble, and Denki would charge some of the equipment that needed bigger voltages that the school couldn’t always provide. In return, their costume upgrades and support needs were pushed to the front of the line. 

They turned the corner together before the scent of something burning caught their noses and the two classmates made eye contact with each other, “You go make sure everyone is alright and I’ll get the extinguisher just in case?” Denki asked curiously, already going in the direction of the backup extinguisher that was in the hallway outside of the work area. 

“That sounds perfect!” Midoriya calls before releasing Denki’s hand and going into the smoky area. 

A small voice in Denki’s head tells him that he misses the contact, that he misses the way that Midoriya’s hand feels in his and how Midoriya isn’t scared to touch him even when his electricity output is a little haywire. But like every other thought that is in the same vein, he pushes it down into the deepest parts of his head. 

“Did the forecast say it was supposed to snow today?” He asks loudly before pulling the pin on the fire extinguisher and pointing it in the direction of the fire that wasn’t being dealt with very well on Mei’s workbench. 

“Thanks guys!” Mei chirped from gods knows where in the room, “That baby was supposed to be my new phone… guess I didn’t quite get the laser to work right in it, otherwise it wouldn’t do that. Hey, ‘Zuku! Since you’re here, can you look at the blueprints and tell me what to fix! I’m up in the rafters helping another hero student!” 

Well, that answered the question of where she was, and after the initial shock of Mei wanting to put lasers in her phone (nothing should surprise Denki by now), the uncomfort in his stomach started as he registered that Mei called Midoriya by a cute nickname. 

Not that people couldn’t! Just, that the small part of his brain that also missed Midoriya’s hand in his was the same part of his brain that wished he could be the one calling Midoriya by his given name. Of course, he wouldn’t do so without permission, so he just had to wait and (hopefully) one day, Midoriya would tell him it was okay. 

A small bump to the shoulder grabbed his attention as he shook himself out of his minorly dissociative period and looked down slightly to see Midoriya there with a frown on his face, “Are you okay?” He asks softly, leaning closer and wiping something off his cheek, “You know, you can call me Izuku if you want to as well, right?” 

It was a tease, Midoriya was teasing him, he knew it was just Midoriya teasing him. But the way his chest seized with the most wonderful feeling and he could feel the heat rise to his cheeks before he nodded quickly had him believing that possibly, his heart betrayed him and did the one thing that he told it not to do. It caught feelings. 

Denki quickly looked away, unable to look at the others seemingly always shining viridian green eyes, “You can call me Denki if you want,” He rushed off, laughing a little at the end before adding a quick “Or whatever,” In order to sound like he wasn’t too excited. It was something he learned from Bakugou, a way to sound impassive while still showing interest, or that's what the blonde said. 

When he glanced over at Midoriya - Izuku - next, the green haired man was blushing as he lightly traced some part of the blueprints in front of him. “Okay, Denki,” He said softly, glancing up at him and flashing his biggest and brightest smile. 

And oh no, Denki was truly a goner now. 

In the past, everything about love and flirting was always on limits, he had memorized literally thousands of pickup lines to fit every occasion, and more often than not, he would flirt jokingly with his friends (unless they asked him to stop). But after almost a year cut off from anything like that, he was a bit rusty and a bit sensitive it seemed. 

Yes, that’s what he’d blame becoming flustered on. He was just sensitive to joke flirting now. 

“Incoming!” Mei’s voice rang out from above them before the distinct sound of Sero’s tape was heard. Denki only knew what it sounded like because he had been around it enough, if it was literally anyone else, they probably wouldn’t have guessed it was sero. 

Then the black haired man descended upon them, and upside down, almost in a spiderman pose, he stopped right before the work table and didn’t even jostle. “Hey, my two favorite boys,” He grinned at Denki first before shifting his gaze to Izuku. After a moment, he twisted slightly to look up towards the rafters, “I don’t move anymore when I stop suddenly! I’d say it’s a success!” 

Mei’s recognizable “Woohoo!” comes down from the rafters before her jet pack can be heard firing up. 

Denki is too busy staring at Sero and his hair that was touching the workbench to care. During the break between second and third year, someone had the bright idea to tell Sero that he should get an undercut (the someone was Denki, it was a joke) and after the man went out and did it, Denki realized his mistake. 

Because Sero was already aesthetically attractive beforehand, but the undercut somehow made him more attractive. It didn’t help that at some point after that, Izuku had the same exact thought process, and now both of them had nearly matching undercuts. 

He could feel the heat in his cheeks again, especially as Sero twisted with Olympic gymnastic levels of expertise to land his feet on the table before cutting off the used tape. Then, the black haired boy sat on the worktable and smiled widely, “I didn’t know you guys were going to come here after class! Is this where you two sneak off to every week?” He teased them, reaching forward to mess with both of their hair. 

“Yeah! We come to help Mei once a week! I’m guessing this is where you had to go this afternoon? It kinda sucks that the department is making us schedule when we do our costume improvements, but I guess it is getting us ready for when we're at agencies next year!" Izuku shrugs as he looks up and smiles widely at Sero. 

The pang in his chest and uncomforting feeling in his stomach is present again, but he can't tell for which one he's feeling it for. 

It's then that Denki decides he's had too much for this afternoon and instead of finishing up his hour of helping (that he didn't even start) he's going to go back to the dorms.

He swallows thickly before backing away from the bench "I'm actually suddenly not feeling well. I think it's 'cause I didn't eat a lot at lunch, I'm going to go back to the dorms!" He laughs softly and gives them both a thumbs up as he grabs his bag. 

"Are you sure? I can walk you back?" Izuku frowns out before he shoots an unreadable look to Sero. 

Sero frowns and shoots Izuku a look back before turning his attention back to the yellowed hair man, "I'm actually pretty much finished here, I can finish the paperwork tomorrow and walk you back." 

He quickly waves his hands in front of him, something he picked up from Izuku, before shaking his head, "No, no! It's okay! I'll be able to get there!" He reassures them as he moves towards the door, "I'll text you both when I get there!" 

Without waiting for either of their reactions, he books it out of the work area and goes on autopilot as he heads to the dorms.

Why was he having this realization today out of all days? He had hung out with Izuku for literally weeks upon weeks, hell, he had spent most of the summer split between his own house, Bakugou's (along with the rest of the Bakusquad), and Izuku's (only when Shinso wasn't around). The two have literally shared a singular twin sized bed more than once. 

It wasn't fair, honestly. Denki always fell for people out of his league or the ones that he for sure didn't deserve. Izuku was both of those. 

Izuku was smart beyond belief, and could light up a whole room, and always fought tooth and nail for everything he believed in, and - gods, Denki was gone. 

A frustrated sigh left his lips as he clenched his fists. 

And his complicated feelings for Sero? Where the hell did they come from? 

Calling your bro attractive and actively checking him out were two very different things, but earlier, Denki couldn't look away at the display of sheer strength and control that the other exerted while showing off his new whatever he got. 

He didn't even notice that he had gotten inside the dorms until he bumped against Bakugou and shocked him. 

"What the hell, Sparky?" The blonde bit out as he shot a glare at him before something in his expression softened. 

Bakugou grunted softly as he placed a hand on Denki's shoulder, sending a look to Jirou before signing something to who he guessed was Shinso. 

He only caught the last two words Bakugou signed, but they were words that Denki had never seen. It quickly got pushed to the back of his mind as Bakugou pushed him to the stairwell and up to the fourth floor. 

The explosive blonde shoved him into his room before leaving the door unlocked, Jirou coming in a second later before locking the door. 

“What’s wrong?” Bakugou demanded as he sat down on his bed, leaving enough room for Denki and Jirou to sit beside him. “You’re acting all weird and you shocked me to hell when you bumped into me,” His voice was rough, and if Denki didn’t know better, he’d think Bakugou was angry, but that’s just how the blonde sounded. 

A minute or so passed before Jirou added, “You don’t have to tell us right now, but just know we’re here for you,” She said in a neutral tone before sitting on the explosion quirk users spinny office chair, pulling her legs up to sit criss-cross on it. 

Denki sat on the floor, pulling at the carpet anxiously before Bakugou grunted unhappily and something soft hit him on the side of the head. He looked at the object, a stress ball, before picking it up and squeezing it. 

“Hey, what did you sign to Shinso earlier?” He asked quietly, trying to collect his thoughts on how to tell his friends about the feelings that his mind made him very aware of. 

“Go die.” 

“Bakubro, I was just asking a ques-”

“No, Sparky,” He sighed loudly, before Denki looked up at him, “Go,” He did the first word of the phrase from earlier, before doing the second one and at the same time saying, “Die. I told him ‘go die.’ I wasn’t serious of course, he knows me well enough,” He scoffed out, leaning against the back wall. 

Bakugou had mellowed out significantly during the past year and a half, part of it was because of his new relationship with Kirishima, but most of it was due to the mandatory therapy that Aizawa put in place for all of the Hero Course students. 

Denki sighed loudly as he picked at the stress ball, being careful to not break it and get the goop inside on the floor (which he has also done before). After a few moments of silence, he speaks, “I think I like someone,” He feels almost ashamed to admit it. 

He’s not necessarily ashamed though, he just really didn’t want this whole heartbreak thing to be a three-for-three. He wanted just one year where he didn’t fall for someone any amount, more for his own mental strength than anything else. 

“Who?” Jirou’s voice comes behind him, he doesn’t even have to see her face to know that she’s smiling one of those kind of stupid smiles, the same smile she gets when Yaomomo gets an answer right in class. That smile is reserved for people close to her, but he’s also seen the bright smile where her gums show, and that smile is reserved exclusively for Yaomomo related things. 

Bakugou eyes him critically before an almost feral grin breaks onto his face, “It’s Sero. I bet he saw him with that stupid fucking undercut and his heart finally gave in after almost three years of dumbass halfassed pining,” His voice is definitive and it’s so bad because he’s not exactly wrong. 

Before Jirou and before Shinso there was Sero. But Denki pushed off those feelings because he blamed them on the fact that Sero was one of the first people that didn’t tease him for when he had his ‘outages’, his affections for the other were purely based on convenience. 

Except, now that attention had been called to it, Denki could recognize that even when he pushed those feelings away, they still lived in his head, in the same box that his feelings for Izuku lived. 

He was a goner for two out of his league, too good for him boys. 

“No! You’re not winning the bet! I still think it’s Deku!” Jirou called out, taking a pen from Bakugou’s desk and throwing it at the blonde. 

Denki groaned loudly and laid on the floor. They both were right and Denki hated it. “Hey!” He called out, suddenly realizing something and sitting up quickly, “You guys put bets on who I like?” He accused, a soft pout forming on his lips. 

The purple haired girl blushed and let out a cough before looking to Bakugou and giving him a ‘go on,’ look. 

The blonde groaned loudly before sitting up properly, “It was only between us. We knew that eventually you’d catch feelings for someone, so we each got three guesses. Two in class A and one from class B,” Bakugou explained, raising his hand from his lap to rub the bridge of his nose, “My list is tape arms, glasses, and ghost girl.” 

“He means Sero, Iida, and Yanagi,” Jirou clarified, making sure he knew which of their classmates Bakugou was referring to, “My list is Deku, Ashido, and Tetsutetsu. But then Ashido started dating Uraraka, so I got limited to only two options,” She laughed weakly, an even weaker smile on her face. 

Denki let out a laugh, not even finding it in himself to be mad, because who would’ve guessed that Jirou and Bakugou would be making bets on who he would end up liking? It was almost surreal. 

“So, who wins, Sparky?” Bakugou grins as he leans closer. 

Without another thought on the matter, Denki blurts out a quick “Both,” Before covering his face with his hands and groaning loudly. 

Instead of getting some sort of reaction from either of them, the room went silent. And in a brave move, Denki uncovered his eyes to see Jirou and Bakugou in what seemed like a staring match as they shared nearly feral smiles. 

“This is even better,” Jirou whispers before Bakugou agrees. 

“What is happening here?” The electricity user asks, his voice shaking a little in anticipation. 

There was something that he didn’t know. 

Which, he didn’t know a lot of things, but there was something else going on here. 

“Did you know,” Bakugou started, leaning back on his bed again, “That Sero and Deku have gotten closer this past summer?” He hummed out, pulling one of his legs up and holding it close to his chest. 

It made sense though, didn’t it? Whenever Izuku wasn’t hanging out with his group of friends, he was over at Bakugou’s house with him, Kirishima, Sero, and of course Bakugou. Now that Denki was realizing that though, he also realized that towards the end of summer, Izuku had been coming over more often. 

Denki groaned in despair as his mind put together the pieces. They had gotten close this summer, they were probably dating, which meant that Denki was left in the dust again. Everyone else in their class was somehow getting a partner, everyone except him. 

“I can hear the wrong puzzle pieces clicking from here. Why don’t you give the poor boy some hope, Blasty?” Jirou’s tired voice came from the part of the room with the desk before he could hear Bakugou making an over exaggerated sound that meant he stuck out his tongue. 

A sigh was heard from above him before Bakugou attempted to even his tone, “Did you also know that Deku is polyamorous? And that Sero is…” Denki looks up to see Bakugou asking for help from Jirou. 

“Sero is open to it,” She fills in, “Like being poly. He’s very open to the idea, especially if it’s with the two people he likes,” She wiggles her eyebrows as she makes eye contact with Denki. 

Part of him is frustrated because he knows that she knows that he can’t pick up on subtleties or context clues like she can, but he granted her leniency just this once because if Sero told her who he liked in confidence, then of course she couldn’t tell him outright. 

That still didn’t answer the one question he got in his head, “What does being polyamorous mean?” He tilts his head to the side before looking between his two friends and then back down to the stress ball that was somehow still in his hands. 

“It means consensually being with more than one person at a time. I don’t practice, so I can’t answer all of your questions, but in your case, I believe it would be you, Sero, and Deku dating each other. Which means that Deku would date you, and he would also date Sero. But Sero would date you, and also date Deku. And you would date Deku, and also date Sero. As long as there's communication and you go about it healthily, they’re solid relationships,” Jirou explains to him gently. 

To anyone else, it might’ve seemed like she was dumbing it down, but to him it was okay, because at least it meant that he saw the whole picture. “I could have both?” He asked, his voice coming out much softer than he meant it to. 

Both meant being able to hold both of their hands whenever. It meant being able to hear all of Izuku’s rants on quirks and support tech and all of Sero’s rants about new ways he can use his tape for fights and about what things he’s done most recently in order to stay healthy. It meant being able to feel the warmth of Izuku’s cuddles and also get the light and airy feeling he gets whenever Sero hugs him. 

He could have both of those without having to choose one - as long as he communicated it effectively and didn’t overstep any boundaries. 

Now, Denki just had to convince his two friends to help him come up with the best plan ever to court both of them. 

His promise to himself was thrown to the curb; third times a charm, right? 

***

After a significant amount of groaning and complaining from both Jirou and Bakugou, Denki had one hell of a plan put together. 

Step One: 

What was step one? 

He pulled the extra notebook that Bakugou had given him out of his backpack and looked at the page. 

Step One : Get on a first name basis with both of them. 

It was easy enough, he already had half of it done, and Sero and him had been closer for longer than Izuku and him, so by making the first move it should be-

“Whatcha looking at?” A voice from behind him asked before a chin dug softly into his shoulder, wispy bits of slightly wavy hair brushed against his cheek as he froze, the notebook tumbling out of his hands and onto the ground in a panic. 

Sero was behind him. Shit. 

Man, he had been hanging out with Bakugou too much. 

He shook the thought away before leaning his head onto Sero’s cheek, trying to play it cool. They had done worse than this, they’ve literally spooned - both on accident and on purpose. 

“Nothing,” He squeaked out. So much for playing it cool, “Hey, Sero? How come we never call each other by our given names?” He asks directly, trying to even out his voice which ends up just sounding more like he was going through puberty for a second time. 

The notebook, forgotten on the floor, was being picked up by someone, he’s pretty sure he saw green hair, but his attention was ripped away from the ongoing action and the panic that was rising in his system for the fact that Sero had a wide smile on his face. 

“I didn’t know if you’d be comfortable with it. I was kinda waiting for you to make the first move, I guess,” Sero responded easily, before leaning closer, “So, is it okay if I use your given name, Denki?” The grin got wider and Denki swore he was going to perish right then and there. 

Then, the notebook finally came into view again, and before Izuku, who was picking up the book, could read it, he shot off the slightest bit of electricity from his quirk. He watched as the electricity changed from his yellow to Izuku’s green as it crawled up his body before it exited through his fingertips and charred the notebook. For the second time in that short period of time, the notebook fell to the floor. 

“I think that would be great, Hanta,” He smiles before he reluctantly peels away from the contact and picks up the notebook. His smile dims a little as he sees Izuku’s almost haunted expression. 

Denki puts a gentle hand on the green haired man’s shoulder and frowned slightly, squeezing his shoulder, “Izuku? Sorry, I just panicked,” He huffs out, trying to read the other. It takes a few seconds of blinking before Izuku seems to collect himself. 

“I thought…” He said softly before laughing and running a hand through his curls. The haunted look was gone, but there was something else he’s never seen before in the other’s expression and he hates it, he wants to make it go away. 

Hanta must be on the same page because not even a second later, he’s on the side of Denki with his hand on the other shoulder. Izuku relaxed more with them there. 

“Sorry, I gotta go talk to someone,” He quietly dismisses himself before going to Bakugou’s table and practically dragging him out of the room. 

Denki knew his history with Bakugou, so did Hanta. They knew all about middle school and quirk manifestations. They had heard both sides of the story, he guessed. 

It was hard to hear, but it wasn’t hard to see how they both changed and how their relationship had changed. Bakugou and Izuku had become proper rivals and most of all, proper friends. Things had been mended, but sometimes, the past seemed to still pay it’s price. 

The electricity user frowned more as he haphazardly tossed the book back into his bookbag. 

Before he understood what was happening, Hanta enclosed him in a gentle hug, “It wasn’t your fault, you know that, right?” He asked genuinely. 

Of course he knew that it wasn’t his fault, at least on the surface, but he couldn’t help feeling bad. He didn’t want to trigger Izuku like that, especially with his stupid electricity and the notebook with the plan to get Izuku and Hanta to be his boyfriends. 

He nodded a little and hugged the tape user back with just as much gentle touch. 

It was warm, and nice. Hanta kind of smelled like Applewood and amber, it was a nice combination that made Denki want to stand there for hours just enclosed in the scent and the warmth. 

For a minute, he could even trick himself into thinking it felt a bit like home, just not all the way. 

"Thank you," He whispers out softly, squeezing Hanta once before pulling away. 

Class started without Izuku and Bakugou, and by the second period of the day, the two got integrated back into the classroom. 

When lunch comes around, Izuku corners him and Hanta in the classroom before he pulls them into an empty hallway, a sort of shaky smile on his face, “I’m sorry for freaking out earlier, everything is okay! I just wasn’t expecting that and for some reason it made me upset, but I know that wasn’t your fault! And you shouldn’t blame yourself, Denki. Anyways, it was really cool how the electricity did that, don’t you think? I thought the green lightning around me was just a display of the sheer amount of power that my quirk had, but I can actually somewhat conduct it and strengthen it? That’s pretty cool, I think! Maybe we could go to the training grounds later and work on seeing how far it goes? And then we could go to Mei next week after I create blueprints for some of the support equipment!” The nervousness of the first part of the conversation disappears as Izuku starts going into one of his nearly mumbling rants. 

It’s cute, Denki finds it cute, and maybe if he was just a bit more cocky, he’d lean forward and kiss him. 

He’s not though, which is probably good. 

“You don’t need to apologize, Izuku,” Hanta replies from next to him, before shooting Denki a look that says ‘Please say something’.

Denki nods quickly when catching the look and smiles, “You really don’t need to apologize! You didn’t know that you were going to react like that! Plus you shouldn’t apologize for being triggered by things, so it’s okay!” He rushed out as his mind caught up with everything that Izuku said, his cheeks going a sort of rose color before he ran a hand through his hair, “Yeah, I think that would be nice though! I can file the paperwork with Aizawa first thing tomorrow morning so that we can have the weekend to work on things and get the blueprints at least started?”

A beat passed, and as Izuku was opening his mouth to answer, a thought crossed his mind and before he had any sort of chance to filter his thought, he blurted out, “Do you mind if Hanta joins us?” This would be good, if it went well, It would mean that they would have an established time for the three of them to hang out. Which, in turn, would satisfy step two. 

Step Two : Get closer to the nerds. 

Bakugou was the one who named most of the steps, it was one of his two conditions. The other being that if he fucked up and broke Izuku’s heart, that Bakugou would legally be allowed to break him. 

Izuku nodded quickly, wiping away the tears in his eyes. Now that he was noticing them, he was a little worried, but the rising pro hero smiled brightly, “That would be great, what do you think, Hanta?” Izuku asked. 

Wait. 

Since when were they on a first name basis? Well, Bakugou did say that they had gotten closer during the summer. 

“I think that would be nice, plus it would give me the chance to observe! Would you be okay if we worked on some… team combos or whatever too? I know that we might end up at different agencies and stuff at the end of the year, but we’re bound to work together at some point, right?” Hanta looked hopeful, and Denki didn’t miss the glint in Izuku’s eyes, “Plus you could help me with some of my upside down moves, Izuku? Your use of blackwhip and my tape kind of work similarly. And Denki, could you help me with testing my tape's conduction? Regular tape would just burn, but my tape isn’t the regular kind so,” He smiles widely, bumping shoulders with Denki before offering his hand. 

“That sounds great, Hanta! I’d love to help, and once Denki stops blushing, I’m sure he’ll answer in the same fashion,” Izuku teases him as he grabs Denki’s other hand, letting the other two guide him out of the hallway and to the lunch room. 

The yellow haired man felt no electricity in his fingertips, but he sure as hell felt like he had short circuited somewhere along the way, especially as he dumbly nodded and made a sound of acceptance. 

***

The problem with his step-by-step plan, was that it didn’t include the fact that they were heroes in training and during their last year of hero school. 

That being said, step two had been completed a while ago, almost four months ago to be exact. 

Now, the hero students were in the midst of actually picking their agencies before they graduated in less than a month. They had a little over a week and a half left to get their final picks in. For all Denki knew, he was running out of time, both to confess and to possibly have a bigger future with both of them. 

“Denki, it’s me,” Izuku’s voice came from the other side of the door after a faint knocking. 

The man groaned outwardly as he tore his eyes away from all of the agencies that made requests for him to be there. Some of the requests were asking him to come on full time as a pro and some of them were as a side kick, some agencies even offered both so that he could pick what he wanted to start as. But none of them seemed right to him. There was something (or someone, two someones to be exact) missing. 

It probably didn’t help that none of their class really talked about where they were going. He only knew a couple people for certain. 

Iida was going to run his brother's hero agency full time and put them back on the map, Todoroki was going to take the Endeavor agency over and completely rebrand it, Ashido, Tsu, and Uraraka had all decided to go to Ryukyu’s agency as sidekicks after they all started dating, and Momo and Jirou had decided to go to Gang Orca’s agency together. 

But despite that, that still left 12 people and himself in the unknown. 

“Sparky! We ain’t got all day!” Bakugou barked and that was enough of a motivator for him to stand up and make his way to the door, opening it slightly before moving it to the side. 

Dinner was soon, but with the way these two were entering the room, he guessed that they weren’t here to tell him about dinner being done. “Sorry to barge in so late,” Izuku chuckled out nervously as he glanced towards the stack of papers and the excel sheet that Hanta had actually helped him put together to organize everything. “Oh, did you accept an agency?” He asked, his body language suddenly getting more nervous. 

“It’s not that late,” He smiled tiredly, “No, not yet. None of them seem right,” He huffs out, sitting in his comfy gamer chair and frowning, “What are you two up to?” 

The two friends shared a look before Bakugou rolled his eyes and grabbed some papers out of Izuku’s hand before just about slamming them onto the desk, “Since Deku here won’t say shit because he’s too shy for whatever fucking reason,” He started. 

“I’m not shy, Kacchan!” 

“Shut up, nerd!” He bit back with no venom whatsoever, “We don’t mean to add to your impressive list, but the nerd and I finally got the okay to open our own agency. Hawks and Miruko really pulled through in the end, Endeavor too actually. But we,” He gestured between Izuku and himself, ''are inviting you in person to join us. The stupid name is gonna be like Wonder Duo or some shit because that's already the branding that surrounds us. And Ei is gonna be there too. We got one more person to ask, but we’re hoping that everyone we ask will join us, or whatever,” Bakugou was excited but he was trying to be impassive about it. 

But more importantly, Izuku and Bakugou, two of his closest friends, were asking him to join their agency, side by side. “I think the nerd is worried about being a third wheel,” Bakugou added as an afterthought, earning a scoff from Izuku. 

“I am not worried about being a third wheel! I am very happy for you and Kirishima, believe it or not! You two even each other out very nicely!” He whispers harshly before he turns to Denki with a wide smile, “But think about it? And get to us by the end of the week? Does that sound okay?” 

Denki nodded quickly, a bright and relieved smile on his face, “That sounds great, thanks guys!” In his mind though, he already knew his answer. He was going to be working close to the people that he spent the last three years with, he was going to be working with one of the men that he was hopelessly head over heels for. But he also knew that he needed to keep them on their toes a little, so he’d play the game a bit and let them think that he had to actually think about the answer. 

Bakugou rolled his eyes, probably already knowing that Denki was going to accept it, and Izuku, well Izuku looked simply breathtaking. He had the widest smile on his face that made his eyes shut and crinkle around the edges, the smile was so wide that his nose crinkled a little bit too. It was one of the most beautiful expressions he’s ever seen, and he wants to make Izuku smile like that every single day. 

The two left shortly after, leaving Denki in a somewhat happy bliss and a little less than fully there because he was so damn excited, which meant that his quirk was working up just the slightest bit. 

When another knock interrupted the silence in his room, he didn’t even think before responding with a, “Come in!” 

To his surprise, the person didn’t come in. So he got up from his chair and opened the door, his happy mood completely disappearing as he made direct eye contact with Shinso. 

“What are you doing here?” He asked softly, anxiety gnawing at the edges of his psyche. 

While they still weren’t friends, all of the resentment that followed his heartbreak halfway through second year had dissipated. They even worked well together as a team when classes called for it. 

But for Shinso to show up here and now, to actually go out of his way to talk to him, it was unheard of and Denki didn’t quite know how to compute. 

“I wanted to say I’m sorry,” Shinso started, looking down, “We were best friends, and then we both kind of started getting busy and pulling away. But instead of trying to go after you and talk to you about it, I just let you go. And I don’t know if I did anything wrong, but if I did, I would like it if you told me eventually so I could apologize for that too? I kind of… miss you. I miss talking to you, and whenever I’m around Izuku, you always avoid him and I can see how happy he makes you. I don’t want you to not be happy just cause I’m around.” He sighed, looking back up to Denki. 

The yellow haired boy swallowed audibly as he stood at the threshold of his room. Shinso was apologizing and trying to make it up to him. He was trying to reconnect the friendship that they had broken off more than a year ago. 

“I liked you, and on the day I was going to confess, I saw you kissing Monoma,” The words left his mouth before he could stop them, but he didn’t seem to regret them. 

“Oh.”

“Yeah.”

“So you weren’t pulling away? You were just… shy, I guess?” 

“Yeah, I guess.” 

“I didn’t know, if I did then…” 

“It’s in the past now, Shinso. And you’re right. I am happy around Izuku.” 

“I’m sorry that I was unintentionally a huge asshole. Now all the ‘go die’s from Bakugou make a lot more sense…” Shinso awkwardly laughed, shuffling on his feet. 

Denki bit the inside of his cheek, trying to stifle a laugh before failing, “You kind of were a huge asshole,” It didn’t come out bitter. It came out kind of in a teasing manner, and it made Shinso give an awkward smile. 

“No need to remind me,” He jokingly rolled his eyes before extending a hand forward, “I hope we can be friends again in the future?” He asked hopefully, to which Denki nodded and shook his hand. 

“Yeah, we can be friends again sometime in the future,” He agreed, giving Shinso a small smile. 

Shinso’s lips tugged at the corner before he nodded and pulled his hand away, “Also, FYI, Izuku likes you too, both you and Sero. I’m tired of seeing you three idiots pine after each other without anyone making the first move. You better ask him out soon, or I swear to god-” He laughed when he caught sight of Denki’s very red face. 

Denki hated him. Which was a lie, but for right now, he could pretend that he hated him. 

Without giving Shinso much more of a reaction, he closed the door and shook his head as he heard Shinso’s laugh from the other side of it. 

He actually felt… more relieved about that then he thought he would be. Things had ended rather abruptly between them, and Denki had been hurt for a while, but neither of them had done anything wrong per say. So with time, and probably minimal effort, they could be friends again. 

His phone buzzed on the table and he hummed softly as he walked over to it before reading it. 

[HANTA BBY]

Hey! Meet me on the roof in 5. 

It’s good I promise. 

[ME]

Alright, I’ll be there.

He tilted his head to the side as he brought up his calculator app. And then exited the app and switched to his calendar app. 

Today was only Tuesday, which meant that he hadn’t missed one of the scheduled weekly things that they had planned. He hadn’t missed anything else important, he was sure of it. 

So when the anxiety started in his stomach again, he quickly cleaned up and slipped his slippers on before taking the elevator up to the fifth floor before going to the staircase and going up it. 

Every once in a while, he and Hanta would come up to the roof and look at the stars. They’d lay on one of Hanta’s very comfortable blankets, with their shoulders touching as the tape quirk user would tell him all about the visible constellations. Sometimes, Izuku would be invited too. 

He hung out with Izuku one-on-one sometimes as well, mostly with studying, but Izuku also taught him how to build small contraptions and how to apply Denki’s seemingly endless knowledge of physics to something practical. And sometimes, Hanta would be invited too. 

When he got to the roof, his breath was taken away as he looked at the setup. 

This time, two blankets were put side by side, and a string of fairy lights lit up the roof. On one of the blankets, there were two picnic baskets, and a couple of throw pillows as well. 

It was beautiful. 

“Oh! You’re a couple minutes early!” Hanta laughed as he tore off a small piece of tape from his elbows before sticking it to the fairy lights and whatever he was connecting it to, “Just stay there until Izuku gets here!” He shoots Denki a smile. 

He’s confused, very confused, but he’ll take it. 

This looked an awful lot like a date, but then again, didn’t half of the things they did together look like dates? 

Izuku was only a minute behind Denki in arriving, and they stood there for only a couple seconds before Hanta greeted them officially, “Come sit on the blankets with me?” He asked softly, before grabbing their hands and guiding them to the blankets. Denki sat down criss-cross on the ground and bit the inside of his cheek. 

Butterflies made themselves very well known in his stomach as they fluttered pleasantly, this was nice, doing things like this, especially with them. 

“So, as you know, we graduate soon, and I’d kind of hate it if I didn’t say something before then, or before I committed to a hero agency,” He started, laughing nervously. Hanta grinned at them brightly before shifting to the baskets and taking out three sodas, making Denki laugh a little. “So,” He said nervously, tapping on the can. 

“Take your time, Hanta,” Izuku reassured him, reaching out to put a hand on his shoulder. 

Denki followed suit and put his hand on the other shoulder, “Don’t push yourself too much, Han, it’ll be okay!” He said as reassuringly as possible, shooting the other one of his biggest smiles. 

“I just, I like you a lot, both of you, and well,” He smiled brightly, finally tearing his eyes away from the can in his hands before looking between both of them, “I was wondering if you both wanted to be my boyfriends? Like… all of us? Sorry I don’t really know how to phrase it-” He laughed nervously, taking one of his hands away from his can and using it to run a hand through his hair. 

“Oh my gods,” Izuku whispered out, making Denki’s heart fall.

Oh gods, had him and Hanta both misread the signs, because he might be personally bad at reading cues, but Shinso literally told him not even thirty minutes ago that Izuku liked both of them. 

“You couldn’t have waited like three more days?” Izuku pouted in a teasing way, “I was going to abduct you two to the third year carnival and confess on the top of the ferris wheel! Todoroki helped me plan the whole thing too!” He whined. 

Then the words finally processed in Denki’s head and he let out a loud laugh, looking down, “Bakugou and Jirou helped me put together a three step plan just for this, like, months ago,” He laughed more before the other two joined along, meeting in the middle to give each other a hug. 

“I think we’re all queer disasters,” Izuku said softly before adding, “We’re all dating now, right? I can finally call you both my boyfriends?” 

“I second the fact that we’re queer disasters. And as long as Denki says it’s all good, then I think it’s a go,” Hanta smiled widely before shifting his gaze to Denki, “So what do you say?” 

He let out a soft sigh before grinning widely, not even caring that he could feel his cheeks heating up, “I’m saying yes, of course. I’d be stupid to not to accept it, especially with the way I’ve apparently been pining over you two,” He laughed out. 

The three laughed together then before they peeled away from their hug and Hanta brought out the dinner that had been prepared (by Bakugou) just for them. While they were eating, they talked about their attempted pursuits and courtship and how it seemed to just fly over the others head. 

“Oh yeah, what was that third step, babe?” Hanta asked teasingly, bumping their shoulders. 

Denki grinned before winking and reciting the step perfectly, “Step Three : Confess and fucking become their boyfriend, dumbass.” 

In the end, the three step plan seemed to more than work. Three years later, the Wonder Duo agency with Pros Dynamight, Deku, Red Riot, Cellophane, and Chargebolt was at the top of all the charts and each of the pros were highly sought after for missions. Even with the world rapidly changing around them, the agency was always nearly the same and always worked flawlessly. Everything had worked out better than Denki had ever hoped, and for the first (and he hoped last) time, he was chosen by the people who loved him back just as much as he loved them.