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Denki first noticed something was wrong when he and Midoriya walked into their classroom on a cloudy Monday morning. They’d been animatedly talking about a show they had decided to binge watch over the weekend in English (as to not potentially spoil it for anyone, since they were the only two fluent).
They were in class earlier than usual, so only a handful of people were in. Jirou and Tokoyami were sat whispering about something in the corner, Iida was stood at the doorway, waiting to greet anyone who came in. Neither of them noticed he didn’t greet them.
What Denki did notice was that when he left Midoriya’s side with a playful shoulder punch, half of their classmates flinched back from them, their eyes filled with fear. He would’ve brushed it off if people had gone to see if Midoriya was okay – he knew his punches were a bit too forceful at times – but nobody did. They barely glanced at him.
Frowning, Denki sat down in his seat behind Ojiro, taking out his fidget cube to try and distract himself from the thoughts rushing around his head. He barely started flicking the switch on one of the sides before someone grabbed his arm. He flinched and looked up from his desk at who had grabbed him, relaxing slightly when he realised it was just Mina. “Hey, Mina – what’s wrong?”
The pink-haired girl just glared at him and yanked the cube out of his hand, turning her back to him. Had he accidentally taken one of hers instead of his own? A flash of yellow and black told him that wasn’t the case – Mina’s cubes were all pink or silver. He stood up slowly, raising his hands slowly when the group that had gathered around Mina sent a fierce glare towards him. “Can I have my cube back? I really need it–”
“What is this, Kaminari?” Iida asked, cutting him off with a violent chopping motion.
Denki tilted his head to the side and let a confused smile fall on his face, “What do you mean? It’s my fidget cube…”
After a few more seconds of eye contact, Iida gently took the cube out of Mina’s shaking – wait, shaking? – hands and threw it back to him with a scowl, before turning on his heel and going back to his seat. Denki stared after him, perplexed. What was his problem?
Eventually, the rest of the group dispersed back to their seats when Aizawa walked in. Their teacher waited for them to quiet down before taking registration, and Denki didn’t miss how he hesitated over both his and Midoriya’s names. The rest of homeroom was normal – or as normal as it could be with everyone ignoring him.
Their first lesson of the day was English and to Denki’s relief, Present Mic sent him a huge smile and didn’t hesitate at all when reading out his name. Since Denki was fluent in English, Mic had asked him to go around the class, helping anyone out who needed it, and he accepted the task with newfound energy. The energy only fell when he realised everyone was silent.
Turning back to Mic, he saw that their teacher noticed the change in attitude and frowned before gesturing Denki to the front of the classroom. Mic leaned down to him and muttered in English, “Is everything okay with the class today, listener?”
Denki opened his mouth to respond, but it was cut off with the scrape of a chair and sudden footsteps. Midoriya had gotten out of his seat and flung his arms around Denki. The electric student caught him with a stumble and a confused but concerned look. Mic looked at the duo and then at the rest of the class, who didn’t even look up from the assignment he’d set for them.
Gently, he took Denki’s elbow and slowly led him and Midoriya out of the classroom and into the hallway. “Listeners, what is happening with your class?”
Denki’s eyes glazed over as he tried to explain what had happened that morning, “We just went into class as normal, talking in English about this show on Netflix we binged together over the weekend – you know, since most people went home? It was a great show, by the way, but, um… Anyway, we were in class this morning. The first thing I noticed was off was that when I punched Mido’s shoulder, playfully, half the class flinched. And I know my punches can be a bit rough, but nobody checked on Mido. It was so weird.”
Midoriya lifted his head from where it had been rested on Denki’s shoulder, his eyes puffy and red. “I tried to talk to Todoroki or someone, but they all ignored me. I saw Mina take Kami’s fidget cube and basically analyse the fuck out of it before Kami asked for it back. I don’t think… I don’t think I’ve ever seen Iida scowl at someone with so much malice…”
Denki watched as the cogs turned in Mic’s mind, his expression confused as he glanced between the two of them. “You’re both fluent in English, right?”
They nodded, mimicking Mic’s confusion.
“Alright, I’m going to request a substitute for your class and a day off school today. We’re going to the faculty room – or rather, my office.”
The pair nodded again and followed Mic, listening to him as he talked to someone on the phone about the substitute and a day off for the three of them. It took a lot of convincing, but the person must’ve given in as soon as they reached Mic’s office because the man yelled out in joy before apologising and wishing them a nice afternoon.
They filed into Mic’s office – and it was definitely Mic’s office. Pale yellow walls surrounded them, covered in various posters of bands, TV shows and pro heroes. A small filing cabinet sat in the corner with a few trophies and picture frames on it. On a shelf close to the door were a few bottles of gel, half of them looking empty.
Denki was snapped out of his admiring when Midoriya pulled on the edge of his sleeve and gestured at one of the black beanbags in the corner. It was only then when he realised there wasn’t actually a desk in the room, rather there was a few plush beanbags and a coffee table with a computer set up on it. Taking a seat on one of the beanbags, he turned his attention to Mic.
“Would you listeners prefer to speak in Japanese or English?” Mic asked, pulling off his leather jacket to reveal a loose white t-shirt.
Denki and Midoriya exchanged glances before the latter responded, “Japanese is fine, Mic-sensei.”
“Oh, call me Yamada, please.”
“Okay Yamada-sensei, why the hell has the class been acting like assholes the entire morning?” Denki demanded, sitting up slightly in his beanbag.
Mic – no, Yamada – took a deep breath in, “I honestly don’t know, listeners. All I know is that this morning, everyone except me and Nem went – shit, I mean Midnight – went to this mandatory staff meeting this morning and everyone came back looking like Nedzu shit on their favourite meal. It was so weird.”
Denki stifled a laugh at Yamada’s swearing, along with Midoriya. They fell into a comfortable silence for a few moments before the door behind them swung open, revealing Midnight stood in a blue sweatshirt and black leggings. The sudden change in appearance left Denki speechless. She quickly walked up to Yamada, glancing at them with a sympathetic smile as she muttered something to him.
“What the fuck do you mean they’re accusing them of that?” Yamada exclaimed, practically throwing himself away from her and towards the boys. He crouched in front of them protectively, “You don’t believe that, do you Nem?”
“Of course not! Kaminari is an amazing kid in and out of class, and I’ve seen the stuff in Midoriya’s notebooks! He was the one who asked if he could write it and then ran it by me to make sure it was okay!”
Midoriya hesitantly raised his hand. Yamada and Midnight nodded at him. “Yamada-sensei… Midnight-sensei, what is happening?”
Midnight frowned and took a seat in Yamada’s beanbag, sticking her tongue out when he complained about being left to sit on the floor in his own office. “Well kids, I don’t know how else to phrase this. Hizashi–?”
Yamada sighed, “You two are under suspicion of being traitors to UA. The faculty apparently told everyone in school except the two of you, me and Nem. There might also be a kid in general education who doesn’t know, according to Nemuri.”
The duo froze, Denki snapping out of it first and shifting over to Midoriya, his usually golden eyes cold as he embraced his shaking friend. Soon after, Midoriya snapped out of the silence too, a hurt look in his viridian eyes as he held onto Denki’s hand tightly. “Are you going to send us away?” Denki muttered.
“No, kid. We would never send you away,” Midnight assured, leaning forward in the beanbag, “We’ve asked a detective to come in – one we both trust. Midoriya, you might recognise him.”
Denki nodded and turned back to Midoriya, wincing at the vacant look in his friend’s eyes. “Mido, is everything okay?”
Midoriya turned to look at him and smiled softly, “I just don’t understand why this is happening. Why us?”
“I really don’t know.” He hesitated before continuing, “You can call me Denki, by the way. Since we’re probably going to go through a lot of shit soon.”
“In that case–” Midoriya started, glancing over at Yamada who had a fond smile on his face before continuing, “–you can call me Izuku!”
Their momentary comfort was intruded on by a loud banging at the door and incoherent yells as it fell off its hinges. A group of police officers barged into the office, quirks activated.
“Izuku Midoriya and Denki Kaminari, you’re both under arrest for being traitors to UA!” one of the officers yelled out, grabbing Denki’s arm firmly and pulling him away from Izuku and his teachers. Yamada immediately stood up and yelled at the officers who were taking them away, but both he and Midnight both got grabbed by no other than All Might.
“All Might?! Let us go, the kids are innocent!” Yamada yelled out, thrashing against the former number one’s grip.
“Yamada-san, there is enough evidence against Midoriya and Kaminari for them to go away for a long time.”
“Why weren’t Nem and I invited to the meeting? Is it because you knew we’d advocate for them?”
“No, Hizashi, it’s because of the awful and gruesome things Midoriya wrote about you both,” a new voice said – Aizawa. He walked up to Denki and Izuku, putting quirk-suppressing cuffs on their wrists. “You’re both going to the station to get questioned. Do not resist,” he spat out.
Denki felt tears gather in the corner of his eyes as he sent a desperate look towards Yamada and Midnight, who stared back with frustration and fear. That was the last thing the blond remembered before being knocked out.
-
Denki woke up to a bright light in his face and a scarred hand holding tightly onto his own. He blinked a few times until the dark blobs in front of him transformed into people. A burly officer sat on his right side, a threatening glare on his face. On the left was a female officer with a stern resting face, but her eyes were sympathetic – for the most part. Denki swore there was something close to hatred hidden deep within.
He was snapped out of his thoughts by Izuku squeezing on his hand and tapping it twice – a silent code the duo thought of during one of their first weekend binges together. He directed his full attention – or as much as he could direct: he’d forgotten to take his ADHD medicine that morning – to the officers as the girl smiled and began to talk.
“Hello students, I am Officer Furuya and this is Officer Nishio. We’re going to be interrogating you about the accusations that have been brought to light by your teachers and peers.”
Denki raised his free hand in greeting and glanced over at Izuku, who simply stared at them, viridian eyes bright with hatred.
“We’re almost one hundred percent sure you’re guilty, so we just need you to confess, okay? My quirk allows me to tell when people are anxious. Nishio’s quirk allows him to produce small, thin spikes.”
Denki raised his hand like a child waiting to be called on in a classroom and Officer Furuya looked at him and nodded. “I don’t know how to tell you this, miss police officer, but Izu and I aren’t traitors.”
The woman stared at him for a moment before narrowing her eyes and sighing, “So you’re going to be like this. What a pity, you’re both such pretty boys. Nishio?”
The man grunted and a few spikes materialised in the air and slowly floated closer to Denki and Izuku. They hit their skin and a burning sensation spread across the pressure points – it took everything in Denki to not scream out in pain.
Spikes pushed into his cheeks, his thighs, his arms for what felt like an eternity until he felt blood falling down his cheeks along with his tears.
“Are you ready to confess now? We can do this all day.”
It was Izuku who spoke up, “Denki already told you! We’re not traitors, what evidence do you even have against us?”
“A notebook detailing how to effectively kill two of your teachers and a student at UA. There was also a page on Kaminari here, but it was only strengths. That paired with the fact that these past few weekends, you didn’t make your presence at the dorms known by your peers. They reported your absence to your teachers, making you both prime suspects.”
“That’s bullshit lady,” Denki snarled, holding Izuku’s hand tightly. The woman didn’t even say anything but the spikes were forced into his skin once more.
The blond must’ve passed out during one of the ‘spike interludes’, as he dubbed them, because the next time he opened his eyes, the two officers were gone and him and Izuku were sat in a metal cell. Izuku’s fluffy green hair was covered in blood and what looked to be dust, his uniform basically in rags. Denki went to move over to him, only to gasp out in pain when every one of his limbs felt like they were on fire. The greenette was in front of him in an instant, checking him over and tightening what Denki assumed to be bandages over his wounds.
“I’m so sorry Denki; they got you worse because you were the one talking the most!” Izuku sobbed, gently hugging the electric user.
“Better than you gettin’ hurt, Izu,” Denki slurred, bringing an aching hand to the back of Izuku’s head and pulling him closer. The contact was definitely helping him ground himself.
The duo sat like that for a while (with no clock in the room, it was hard to tell how long it had been) with Izuku quietly crying into Denki’s shoulder while the latter ran a hand through the greenette’s hair in a slow and soothing manner.
Suddenly, shouts filled the area they were in, causing them to flinch and move away from the door as it swung open, revealing three adults. Yamada, Midnight and a man wearing a tan suit stood in the doorway, all three looking both relieved and angered.
“Midoriya, Kaminari- holy shit what did they do to you both?” Yamada murmured as he stepped inside the room and knelt down in front of them, opening his arms. Denki threw himself at the older blond almost immediately, forcing Izuku to join their hug as they all sobbed.
The man in the tan suit came in next while Midnight stood guard by the door, sending what Denki assumed to be glares at passing officers. He knelt down next to Yamada and tapped his shoulder, a tired smile on his face. “Can I?”
Yamada nodded and pulled away from the hug, although he let Denki hold onto his hand tightly. The man started talking, his voice gentle, “Hello, I’m Detective Tsukauchi Naomasa. I’m the person who was supposed to do your interrogation in Yamada’s office, but it seems the… opposing party got there before I did, and I’m so sorry about what happened with Officer Furuya and Nishio. They’ll both be fired soon, I promise. Now, my quirk is called Lie Detector, its pretty self explanatory. I’m going to ask you both basic questions and then three specific questions. You can take however long you need to answer. Is that okay?”
Denki nodded slowly and watched as Izuku copied him.
Tsukauchi turned his attention to Denki, a weary smile on his face.
“What is your name?”
“Denki Kaminari.”
“True. How old are you?”
“Fifteen, turning sixteen next week.”
“True. Where do you go to school?”
“UA, I’m in class 1-A… I think. Unless I’ve been expelled.”
“True.” He turned to Izuku and asked the same questions before directing his attention to both of them.
“Okay, are you two the UA traitors?”
“No.”
“We’re not, Tsukauchi-san.”
The detective smiled at the two of them, “True.”
Yamada breathed out in relief and squeezed Denki’s hand reassuringly.
“Second question, have you had any contact with the League of Villains outside of the USJ attack and the attack on your summer camp?”
It was Izuku who spoke up, “Before the camp, Shigaraki and I had an encounter at the mall. I think I already reported it though. He just went on about Stain and his ideals, or something. Oh! And Kamino, but we didn’t talk or fight, I just saw them. Other than that, it’s only been with classmates when they’ve been trying to kill us.”
Tsukauchi smiled again and looked over at Denki. “Only the USJ and the summer camp. I saw Izu getting cornered by Shigaraki in the mall but I couldn’t move to help, and he looked like he had it under some sort of control.”
He smiled again and wrote something down in the small notebook. “Both true. Last question, what exactly happened over the weekend and this morning?”
“We both stayed in the dorms while most of the class went home to their families,” Denki said, shifting his sitting position to get more comfortable, “The only other people in the dorms were Todoroki and Hagakure, to my knowledge. There might’ve been others, those two are the regulars. I stay in the dorms because my parents basically disowned me because I like dudes, which is stupid but whatever. Izu told me he cancelled his trips out for personal reasons. He seemed really down, so we both hung out in my room for the entire weekend and binged Stranger Things on Netflix.”
Izuku picked up where Denki left off, “It was a great weekend! We saw nobody, and nobody came to check on us. We only went down to eat really early in the morning and we just took a bunch of junk food up to pick at throughout the day. Wasn’t the healthiest, but we both needed to relax a bit.”
“Monday came along – today – and we went into class together since we fell asleep during the finale of season three and woke up late. And then everything kind of went to shit? Nobody talked to us, people took my fidget cube without asking,” Denki muttered, “Then Yamada-sensei took us out of English and to his office, where Midnight-sensei came in and told us we were suspected traitors. Then I got knocked out by some police officers and… and…”
Izuku placed a comforting hand on the electric user’s shoulder and smiled reassuringly, prompting him to continue. Denki inhaled deeply, “Then I woke up, these officers told us they were almost sure we were traitors and we just needed to confess. We basically said that was bullshit and then the spike interludes kept on happening until I passed out.”
“The spike interludes?” Tsukauchi asked, his eyes widening in fear, “What do you mean by that?”
“The officer used his quirk to force spikes into mine and Denki’s skin. Denki was subjected to it more since he was the one who was talking. They only stopped when they realised we weren’t going to ‘confess’ to our non-existent crimes.” Izuku scoffed, directing his gaze to his arm where he picked at one of the pin-prick-like scabs.
Yamada tensed up and pulled Denki closer to him, burying his face in the latter’s hair, muttering quiet apologies to him. Midnight had turned into the room and taken a seat next to Izuku, pulling him into a hug.
“Results from my quirk: All statements are true. Izuku Midoriya and Denki Kaminari are not the UA traitors.”
A voice echoed through the small cell from the hallway, “If that’s true, ask Young Midoriya why he had those awful things written in that book.”
Five heads turned to glare at All Might, who was stood in the doorway of the cell with Aizawa stood next to him, an unreadable expression on his face.
“Well, All Might, I have a hobby! A coping mechanism, if you will, where I analyse the heck out of quirks and heroes.” Izuku snapped, standing up to be face-to-face with his teachers. Yamada held the ragged edge of his trousers to keep him from getting to close to them. “The notebook you found, it had Yamada-sensei, Midnight-sensei and Hitoshi Shinsou in it. Correct?”
The doorway-duo nodded. “It also had Denki, but I didn’t have the chance to finish his analysis before I got distracted by the show we were watching. You can ask all four of them if they consented to being written about. I have other notebooks as well and I’ve done the exact same thing. I always ask before writing about them.”
Midnight spoke up, “Midoriya asked me if he could write about and guess my weaknesses a few weeks ago. Then, a few days after he asked, he came back and showed me what he’d written about. He wrote about how I should change a few things about my hero costume and my fight style. I was aware of what he wrote and I was completely fine with it.”
“Same goes for me,” Yamada muttered, allowing Denki to stand up next to Izuku.
“You guys really took a hobby and twisted it to fit your fucking narrative,” the blond hissed, pulling the greenette backwards, “You let officer’s torture teenagers until they passed out to fit your fucking narrative. Do you realise how messed up that is?”
“Fuck, Denki, you really went there.” Izuku whispered, grinning. The blond shrugged in response and directed a smug look towards the teachers again. Their faces were pale and their mouths parted slightly. Describing them as regretful would be an understatement.
“But… But where were you both this weekend? I had a lot of calls saying nobody could find either of you!” Aizawa exclaimed, taking a step towards them, only to be stopped by Yamada standing in front of the boys.
“We were watching Stranger Things in Denki’s dorm.” Izuku deadpanned, rolling his eyes.
“Hagakure said she called for you both but you didn’t respond.”
“I really don’t want to repeat what I just said, Aizawa.”
“What Midoriya means,” Yamada interrupted, gently tapping Izuku on the head, “is that both he and Denki have ADHD. They were probably heavily focused on their show and didn’t hear their classmate.”
“Since when?” All Might demanded.
Izuku sighed, “Since I was born? I got diagnosed when I was seven. Denki got diagnosed recently by Yamada-sensei.”
“All of the things they’re saying are true, Yagi.” Tsukauchi stated, standing up alongside the two students.
The two teachers looked at each other before turning on their heels and leaving the five of them alone. Almost immediately, Yamada sagged against Tsukauchi, who rested his head on the voice hero’s shoulder with a deep exhale. Izuku made his way over to Midnight, throwing her into a tight hug which she returned quickly. Denki just stood in the middle of them all, taking steadying breaths as he was eventually led out of the cell.
-
Their Tuesday morning started with a stream of sunlight beaming on their faces. Denki and Izuku woke up in Yamada’s office, curled around each other on one of the larger beanbags, blankets and cushions surrounding them. Yamada was sat at his computer, typing away furiously with an exasperated look on his face until he saw the electric blond awake. He almost immediately stood up and made his way over to him, crouching down and smiling. “How are you doing, listener?” he asked, crossing his legs.
Denki noted how Yamada was wearing a black vest and jogging bottoms, and his previously gelled up hair was hanging loosely in a ponytail with a few strands framing his face. “I’m fine, Yamada-sensei. Are we going to class today?”
Yamada’s smile fell a bit. “Since you were both excused yesterday, Nedzu said you have to go back to class and learn. However, he did say that Nemuri and I could teach you both for a few weeks instead of going back 1-A. They haven’t been informed that the… accusations were wrong.”
Denki sighed and leaned back into the beanbag, shifting his position to get comfortable with his friend (his only friend) draped across his lap. His mind flitted back to what had happened after they’d left the station that night.
He, Izuku and Yamada had all left together, leaving Midnight and the detective to make sure nobody from the station followed them and tried to kidnap them. Yamada had asked them if they wanted to go back to the dorms, but they quickly declined. They ended up venturing to Yamada’s office while he tried to figure something out for their sleeping arrangements. After ten minutes however, Denki fell asleep on the beanbag he was sat on. Clearly, neither Yamada nor Izuku had made an effort to move him.
The electric blond looked around the office as Midnight walked in, carrying a few stacks of paper and packets of school supplies. Yamada looked up from his computer and smiled at her, standing up and taking the pile with ease and setting it on a table to the left of Denki and Izuku.
“Yamada-sensei?” Denki called out, his voice barely above a whisper as he pulled a bright pink blanket up to his chin.
“Yes, Kaminari?”
“You can uh… call me Denki if you’d like. Anyway, I was wondering if you and Midnight-sensei had any training to teach other subjects.”
Yamada looked up from his computer again and nodded, his expression confused. “Why do you ask?”
Denki took a deep breath in and out before continuing, wringing his hands together. “You obviously don’t have to – since this is probably a well-paying job and everything – but Izu and I were talking while in the cell. We want to drop out, but we don’t want to start a new school. He suggested we ask you and Midnight if you’d home-school us.”
“We’d also like you to adopt us, if that’s a viable option,” Izuku muttered from his place on Denki’s shoulder as he blinked the sleep out of his eyes and yawned. “Don’t feel pressured to, though.”
Yamada stared at the pair for a few moments, along with Midnight whose eyes glazed over slightly. The heroes glanced at each other almost at the same time, small, tear-filled smiles on their faces as they turned back to the teens laying comfortably on the beanbag.
“You two read our minds.” Midnight admitted, pulling out a few papers from the pile she’d brought in.
“After what happened with you both,” Yamada started in Japanese (to allow the nosy Class 1-A to listen in and realise their mistakes), “the only thing on our minds was getting you two safe. We weren’t going to stay here after we got you both back and we would’ve tried our damndest to persuade you to leave with us. While you were both sleeping, we got the adoption papers approved almost instantly due to your position in both home and school life. All we need is your consent.”
“You have my consent, dad!” Izuku yelled, throwing his arms up with a grin on his face.
“And mine too, uh… mom?” Denki tried, glancing at Midnight hopefully.
“I’ve always wanted sons…” Midnight whispered, kneeling in front of Denki and bringing him into a tight hug, “We love you so much, boys.”
“We love you too, mom.”