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When Denki was seven, he had a best friend.
That sounds like an obvious statement, right? Everyone has a best friend.
Denki’s best friend was Rito. Rito was really cool. He had a bubble blowing quirk and a really nice dog, and he loved American food, just like Denki did.
The teacher gave them a writing assignment about a day with their best friend. Denki wrote about Rito.
Rito wrote about Saku.
Oh.
But that was okay!
When Denki was twelve, he was really close with Kokoro. She was so awesome! Her parents were both artists, and she had a really big house with tons of video games!
When it was Denki’s birthday, Kokoro was the first person he invited to his party.
When Kokoro’s birthday came around, she could only invite four people to go to the zoo with her.
Denki didn’t make the list.
It wasn’t a “no boys” thing, because Hiroki was there. Maybe if the limit was five it would’ve been Denki too.
Now Denki is sixteen and he has a whole class full of friends! There’s Kirishima, and Jirou, and Sero, and Ashido, and Bakugou! They’re so great!
Recently, there’s Midoriya too.
Holy shit, Midoriya is cool! He’s insanely smart– Denki can barely keep up– and he’s super strong, and he’s really, really nice!
Denki wants to be more than a friend.
He wants to be a best friend.
Denki and Midoriya get to be paired up for Lit class, and it’s the best thing ever!
Midoriya is super perceptive when it comes to all the themes and motifs. He isn’t super stuffy like Iida, or literal like Todoroki, or condescending like Bakugou. They can actually have a productive conversation.
In fact, they talk so much that someone registers a noise complaint with Cementoss. It’s totally uncalled for, and poor Midoriya clams up after that, which stinks. Still, they have more than enough evidence to support their thesis statement!
Later that afternoon, Midoriya texts him an article that really makes their claims seem plausible. It’s so cool!
Denki may or may not get a little caught up on the fact that Midoriya texted him first. People hardly ever text Denki first!
They’re lucky enough to be on the same team for the heroics exercise too. Them and Sero and Shouji against Ashido, Ojirou, Yaoyorozu, and Tokoyami. The teams were decided randomly, but Denki’s really glad it works out this way.
Everything goes great until it happens. He really has gotten better at controlling his quirk, but on occasion he’ll still short out.
He wakes up a few minutes later expecting to be with Recovery Girl or captured by the other team, but he’s still in the game. He’s resting up against a brick wall while Midoriya is out front defending him from both Ashido and Tokoyami like a total badass!
“C’mon, dude,” Ashido whines, “he's a total deadweight for you right now! Just let us capture him a little bit-!”
“No way,” Midoriya says. “I’m not leaving him behind. That’s not what heroes do!”
Holy shit.
Denki staggers up behind Midoriya and helps him finish the fight. Midoriya grins at him, and Denki can’t help but smile back.
They win the exercise, of course. With Midoriya on the team, the others never stood a chance!
Ashido was right, even if it kinda stings. Leaving Denki behind would’ve been way easier. But Midoriya’s such a cool guy, he fought for Denki instead! Everyone should be more like Midoriya.
He and Midoriya are getting pretty close! They still text a lot about Lit class, and they have some great conversations. Midoriya even offered to tutor him in some of his lesser subjects… which may or may not be most of them. It’s really awesome of him!
Oops, he’s almost late. He better get down to the common room. Can’t keep his buddy waiting!
When he gets down there, though, Midoriya’s not alone.
“Hey man!” Kirishima says, waving him down. Sero nods at him.
“Oh good,” Midoriya says. “Everyone’s here now!”
Everyone.
“Hey guys!” Denki says, a forced smile on his face. He takes a seat between Kirishima and Sero. “Let’s get started, yeah?”
Did Midoriya say it was gonna be a group thing?
He can’t ask. “Hey, you didn’t tell me you invited other people!” That would sound insane and possessive as hell. It’s not like Midoriya’s only allowed to have one friend.
He tries to study along, but the numbers keep swimming on the pages.
Is it weird that he’s upset about this? It’s totally weird, right? He’s not, like, in love with Midoriya or anything– not that there’s not plenty to love– but he kinda thought this was a private thing. Personal.
Okay, he’s absolutely overreacting. He needs to stop.
Later that night, he needs a snack.
He goes down to the kitchen. There’s people in the common room.
“It’s silly,” Midoriya says.
“It’s not silly at all, Deku!” Uraraka says.
“Indeed! Your emotions do not run on logic, but they’re still very important to listen to!” Iida says.
Midoriya sniffles. “Thanks, guys. I’m not used to- to having friends I can count on. You both really mean a lot to me.”
Denki’s chest is tight, all of a sudden. Why does this make him upset?
He rushes back up to his room, snack forgotten. No one follows him. No one texts to ask what’s wrong.
He’s so stupid.
Why did he think he was so close to Midoriya? Midoriya has friends, best friends. Denki might be a friend, but he’s nowhere near Uraraka and Iida on the list. He probably doesn’t even make the top five.
It’s stupid to be upset about this. It’s so stupid, isn’t it?
Why does it matter that he’s not Midoriya’s bestie? It’s not like the guy hates him, they’re just… classmates.
Classmates, and not much else.
So why does it hurt so bad?
Someone texts him. It’s not Midoriya.
Jirou
>Hey dipshit, what’s wrong?
He texts back.
>nothing
>BS I can totally hear you. Talk to me.
You really can’t hide anything from the girl with super hearing. She’s not the type to let things go either.
>its stupid and weird
>I’ve come to expect that from you :p
>Spill,
He takes a deep breath, in and out. Sure, she might judge him, but she’s always judging him. Nothing new there.
>have you ever wanted to be someones friend so bad. and then you find out they dont think about you the same way that you think about them
>Do I need to kick someone’s ass?
>NO
>no. he didnt do anything to be mean. i doubt he even knows. my stupid heart just doesnt work right
>I don’t think that’s stupid. Friend love is still love, right? Makes sense that something like that would fuck you up.
>yeah
>You gonna tell him?
>nah. i cant force someone to like me and i dont wanna make the class feel awkward if it gets out
>Fair enough.
>You know I think you’re pretty cool, right?
>wdym??
>Like, I’m glad you’re my friend and I like talking to you. Just because this one guy doesn’t see it doesn’t mean none of us do 💜
>oh
>thanks jirou!!! i appreciate that :)
>i think ur cool too 💛
>You fuckin know it.
>Now get some sleep, dumbass, we have a math test today
>oh fuck i forgot
>goodnight 💛
>goodnight 💜
Even if he wasn’t as close to Midoriya as he thought, even though it sucks, he still has good friends to back him up.
He goes to sleep with a peaceful feeling.
And he totally fails his math test.