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Denki couldn't sleep. He scrolled on his phone for a while but he just cycled through the same four apps with nothing to do. Eventually, he got up to get a glass of water. Maybe that would clear his mind.
He trudged into the dorm kitchen and saw no one. Even Shinso had gone to bed already. It must be really late, he thought pouring himself a chill glass of water. A quick glance at the clock on the oven told him it was 4:20AM.
Denki snickered to himself. Dear god he was tired. He really should try to sleep again.
As he walked up the stairs he was suddenly met with a yelp of "Kaminari!?"
He immediately recoiled, and almost dropped his glass. "AAH! Stop! I could've dropped my croissant."
He didn't even register what he had said until Midoriya started giggling in front of him.
Wait, Midoriya?
"What are you doing up at this hour?" Denki asked.
"I could ask the same about you," Midoriya said.
"Touché."
There was a brief moment of silence before Midoriya spoke up again. "I don't know... I just couldn't sleep."
He walked into the kitchen and Denki followed. He wasn't sure why. Maybe talking to Midoriya could somehow help him sleep.
While Midoriya was fixing himself a glass of water, Denki absentmindedly grabbed a piece of paper from the coffee table next to him. He decided to make a paper airplane, since that didn't require too much thought.
"Hey Midoriya?"
"Hmm?"
Denki held up the paper airplane in his hand. "How far do you think this will fly?"
"Hmm...maybe 30 meters?"
Denki grinned as he got a genius idea. "Wanna go up to the roof and test it?"
"You sure? I don't think Mr. Aizawa will like us being on the roof at this time of night."
"What he doesn't know can't hurt him. Besides, it's technically not against the rules." In truth, Denki felt a little guilty for corrupting the innocent Midoriya, but the worst that could happen was Mr. Aizawa complaining that they could get a cold.
"Alright then, but just to test the airplane, ok?"
The first thing Izuku noticed as they opened the door that lead to the rooftop was the wind. It was nice and chill, not going too fast but adding just a little bit of atmosphere.
The second thing Izuku noticed was the sky. It wasn't pitch-black like he had expected, but rather a dark blue. It was beautiful.
"Woah... That's so pretty!" Said Kaminari.
"Yeah! The way it subtly gets darker the further down you look is just... wow."
Kaminari softly threw the paper airplane into the gentle breeze. It slowly glided across the entire courtyard until it landed near the general studies building. Izuku smiled at its graceful flight where it looked like a descending bird.
Kaminari pumped a fist into the air. "Whoo! Mission success!" He turned to Izuku. "Your estimations were smashed! That airplane rocks!"
Izuku laughed. "Yup, it sure does!"
He once again looked at the sky. It was just so beautiful. He wondered what a sunrise or sunset would look like from this viewpoint. He almost wanted to stay here and wait for it to happen.
He leaned on the railing to get a better view, which Kaminari mirrored.
"Say, Midoriya?"
"Hmm?" He inquired, not turning toward Kaminari. Instead, he just kept staring at the sky.
"How do you get such good grades? I feel like I try my hardest, but I still have the lowest grades in class."
"I... don't know. I wish I could say I have some secret trick but I don't know. What are you struggling with?"
Kaminari let out deep sigh into the night. "Nearly everything."
"Want me to help you study? I don't know if it's gonna help, but I can try."
Kaminari chuckled. "Don't say things you'll regret. Bakugou tried to help me and he gave up in 15 minutes."
"Is that the record to beat?"
"Yup!"
"I'm gonna beat him then."
The two of them were laying down on the roof, looking up at the stars. They were littered across the sky, some bright, some dim. Some clustered together, some isolated. Denki thought it was a beautiful sort of disorder.
"We should probably go inside," Denki said half-heartedly.
"Do you want to?"
"Not really. I'd rather stay out here and watch the stars."
Midoriya nodded. "Me too."
"Were hopeless, aren't we?" Denki said with a smile.
Midoriya laughed. "We're going to feel so dead tomorrow. Or technically today, I suppose."
"Yeah," there was a brief silence. "Worth it, though."
A longer silence followed, both of them staring at the purplish-blue starscape.
"Hey, Midoriya? Does looking at the stars make you feel small?"
"What do you mean?"
"Like, every twinkling little star is a solar system as vast as this one, just really far away. The light we see from those stars is thousands, if not millions or even billions, of years old. Next to all that time and space, we look a bit... insignificant."
"Yeah," Midoriya said, "I suppose in the cosmic scale we're not that important. But that doesn't that you're not important at all. You're important to me, you're important to Bakugo, Kirishima, Mina, Sero, you're important to Mr. Aizawa. You're probably important to a lot of other people as well. And once you become a hero, you'll be important to the people you help, too."
Once. Not if, but once, Denki became a hero. Even his own family always said if. Midoriya was the only person who believed he could actually achieve his dream. Or maybe...
Denki remembered the time Kirishima had trained with him in the gym. He remembered the time he and Mina had actually used the plan he'd come up with in a training exercise. He remembered that even after giving up on teaching him, Bakugo had cheered him on, albeit in his own special way. He remembered Sero giving him notes in class.
Maybe Midoriya wasn't the only one who believed in him.
Denki couldn't help but smile. "Thanks, Midoriya."
Izuku stared at the stars in awe. They shone so brilliantly even from so far away.
He heard a squawk and looked over to where it came. He followed the flock of birds as they disappeared into the sunrise.
He stood up to go see it better and was blown away. The vibrant colors blended together perfectly. It was like something out of a painting.
"Come look at this!" Izuku urged.
Kaminari stood up and leaned over the railing in the same way Izuku did.
He didn't say anything. He didn't need to. Izuku could understand Kaminari's thoughts and emotions just from his expression alone. It was that mix of bewilderment, wonder, and awe that people get when they see something extraordinarily beautiful.
In truth, Izuku couldn't form words either. What was there to say? That it was wildly beautiful? Or describing it in vivid detail? But neither of those would be able to encompass the awe and sheer emotion that it inspired, much less the actual beauty of the sunrise.
The silence between them was calm, just like the breeze around them. There was no need for words. Instead, they simply looked at sun as it slowly rose and lightened up the dark sky.
"We should probably get inside and get the couple hours of sleep we still can," Denki said.
"Yeah," Izuku agreed. No matter how pretty the sunrise or how relaxing it was being with Denki, he was still tired. "Iida's going to wake up soon and if he sees us he'll tell us off for being irresponsible and lecture us about why we need good sleeping habits."
"He's not wrong though." Denki said, opening up the door.
Izuku laughed. "I suppose he isn't."
Before stepping inside, Izuku took one last look at the paper airplane. It sat there, next to the general studies building, right where it had landed. Izuku considered picking it up if it was still there in the morning, just as something to remember this moment with.
Also because he wanted to beat Denki's paper airplane record, but that was neither here nor there.
"You coming?" Denki asked, holding the door open for him.
Izuku smiled and stepped inside.
They stood in the hallway of the boy's dorms, having both returned their water glasses to the kitchen.
"Thanks, Denki," Izuku said, "it was nice to just... take a break and watch the stars."
"Woah, dude. Where'd all these emotions come from? It's 6AM, I don't know how to react with sincerity." Denki paused. "Uhh... I suppose I enjoyed it too? I don't know what to say."
Izuku knew he shouldn't have but he tackled Denki into a hug. It was an awkward, weird hug, neither side completely sure what was happening, but it was nice nonetheless.
"Sleep well!" Izuku said, pulling away and heading toward his room.
"We both know neither of us will sleep well," Denki said, then smiled, "See you in a couple hours!"