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Jirou quietly wandered the dorms. She was nervous because today was the day. The day she finally told Denki how she felt.
Denki was her best friend in the entire world. And somewhere along the way, she ended up with feelings for him. She was hiding it from him for so long, but she finally decided that she would tell him.
The thing that kept holding her back was that there was always the chance that she would lose her best friend because of this. But she knew she couldn’t keep leaving her feelings on the backburner, she had to tell him.
As she made it into the common room of the dorms, she heard someone calling out to her.
“Kyou!” Denki exclaimed, rushing towards her. “You ready for today? We’re gonna have a blast, the two of us!”
“Of course, I’m ready, Sparky! We always have a blast!” Jirou says, giving him the best smile she can.
“Let’s head out now then! That gives us so much time before we have to be back before curfew!” Denki gives her the biggest smile, trying to pull her towards the door.
God, that smile. His smile was always her favorite to see.
“Okay, sure! Let’s go!” Jirou smiles, and the two rush out of the dorms. “What do you have planned for us today, Sparky?”
“I thought you’d never ask! First off, we’re going to your favorite arcade!”
“No way! Are you serious?!” Jirou’s eyes lit up, full of excitement.
“Yes! Come on! The faster we go, the faster we get there!” Denki starts to run. “I’m gonna beat you there, slowpoke!”
“You will not, Dunce Face!” Jirou starts to run, quickly catching up to him. The two have huge smiles on their faces and run the whole way there.
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The two begin walking back to UA as the sun starts to set. They walk together in a comfortable silence until Jirou decides to break it.
“Today has been a lot of fun, Denks. Thank you,” Jirou says, a small smile on her face.
“Of course! You’re my best friend, Kyou!” Denki exclaims.
Jirou takes a deep breath. She has to tell him now before she decides against it.
“Anyways! I’ve been meaning to ask you-” She hesitates. “I’ve been meaning to ask you about your work-study! How is it working with the Lurkers?”
Dang it.
“The Lurkers are amazing mentors! I’ve learned so much from them, and it’s been such a good experience. How has working with Gang Orca been?” Denki asks.
“Gang Orca has taught me so much! I’m so glad I’ve gotten to work with him!” Jirou replies. “Anyways! Denki, I have to tell you something.”
“You can tell me anything, Kyou! What’s up?” Denki stops walking, looking at her with a gentle stare and a soft smile.
“I-” She hesitates once more before she blurts it out. “I have feelings for you!” Jirou has a soft smile on her face until she makes eye contact with Denki and notices the slightly grim look on his face.
“I’m sorry, Kyou. I don’t have feelings for you. Not like that.” Denki gives her a small smile, one full of pity.
She hated this smile of his.
“Oh, don’t worry about it! We can pretend this never happened!” Jirou says, trying to be cool about it. She continued walking and could feel the tension in the air.
Jirou felt like an absolute fool about it. She just wishes he could be cruel about it so that she could hate him for this. But it’s Denki, and she can’t hate him for this.
As they walked up to the UA gates, she smiled and quietly thanked Denki once more before running to her room as fast as she could.
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Jirou hasn’t talked to Denki in months. They only state pleasantries when their paths cross, but they’re not like they used to be.
They were once inseparable, but the two are rarely seen in the same room. The rest of Class 1-A doesn’t know the exact reason why, though they had their guesses.
Jirou walks into the common room, completely spaced out, and bumps into someone.
“I’m so sorry! Are you alright?” Jirou asks before seeing who she bumped into. She makes eye contact, and her eyes widen. “Spa-” She hesitates, almost calling him a nickname that is no longer hers to call him. “Kaminari! I’m so sorry.”
“It’s alright, Ky-” Denki also hesitates, almost calling her a nickname that was once his to call her. “It’s alright, Jirou. Don’t worry about it. How have you been?” Denki asks her, trying to be cordial.
“I’ve been fine. Thanks for asking.” She knew that he could read her mind and knew that he was letting her lie. “How have you been, Kaminari?”
“I’ve been good. Thanks for asking.” Denki gives her a small smile.
“It’s nice to see how good you’re doing.” Jirou returns a small smile towards him. “I’ll see you around, Kaminari.”
“See you around, Jirou.”
Jirou kept walking and didn’t look back, trying to stay cool about the whole interaction. In reality, she was freaking out.
She didn’t know that if she turned around, she would see Denki facing her back, wanting to call out to her.
And little did he know, all she wanted to do was turn around and do the same thing.