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Quirks came around not too long ago, and scientists still try to find out more about it.
There’s this one theory in particular: the interlinked theory. The interlinked theory states that the quirk you are gifted with affects your behaviour and personality.
Take Toga for example. She has a blood quirk and is therefore obsessed with blood. The man who has the quirk All For One had wanted everything for himself, Bakugou has an explosive temper, Endeavour has a fiery temper, Tsuyu likes to ribbit. Sorry, what was I saying? Right, the interlinked theory.
Well, this theory is heavily backed up by science, experiments and research. Quirks are made from your DNA and so is your personality, of course they would be ‘interlinked’.
Denki Kaminari has an electricity quirk. Here’s some facts about electricity: it’s fast, it has many uses and it has 2 sides. A positive and a negative.
~~
Despite being known as one of the dumbest people in class 1-A, he is one of the first students to get there. Let it be known that Kaminari and Iida are total opposites, they sit on two ends of the academic rankings, Kaminari’s more of a fun guy whereas Iida is more of the serious type, even their hair colours are opposite each other on the colour wheel.
Yet they still manage to have a close friendship with one another, which started from the day that Kaminari got fed up with the awkward silence. Sometimes, Iida is kind enough to tutor Kaminari on material he doesn’t understand. They only talk for around 20 minutes before they split off into their own groups when their other friends arrive.
But that 20 minutes never fails to make Iida smile. Sure, maybe he is missing out on valuable time studying, but when he wants to study Kaminari has the social intelligence to be quiet, even studying alongside him. Now he has something to look forward to every morning.
Kaminari had single-handley made Iida’s mornings shine.
~~
Super-hearing isn’t as cool as it looks.
Luckily, it wasn’t that bad for Jirou. Sure, she can hear a lot more than the average person but not to the extent where she can hear what happens in every room of the building she’s in.
Still, it does give her quite the migraine sometimes. You’d think that hanging around a chatterbox like Kaminari would make it worse, or even be the cause of it, but instead it helps. His smooth talking (not his pick-up lines though, they’re as ragged as an eroded cliff) would make her quirk focus on that and solely that, similar to white noise.
Not that she’d ever admit to it, but his voice is really nice to listen to and she could listen to him talk all day. Which she does. Because the guy does not shut up.
“Do you not get tired from talking all day Kaminari?”
Because he’s been talking all day and she knows she said his voice is nice but she is trying to study right now.
“Do you even know who I am? I could talk all day, I don’t think I’ll everrrrr stop talking.”
Well, that’s fine too then. He does get excess energy he needs to ‘burn’ off.
“Right, well I’m going to treat you as white noise. Is that okay?”
“Yeah totally! So like, what happened in the recent chapters…”
And with that she has her head down and focused on her work. Sometimes (all the time but she doesn’t want to admit that) Kaminari’s like the sun and his talking is like sun rays. Of course it’s nice, but often it can be too much. That’s why you put on sunscreen.
…Doesn't that make the sun sound lonely then? It has all the other planets revolving around it but it’s all alone in the end, too dangerous to get close to anyone.
You can’t even look at it properly because it hides itself using its sunrays.
~~
“Denki. You’re home.”
Did he have to run into her right now? He was already feeling tired from the hero lesson before, he doesn’t have the energy to deal with her bullshit.
He just nods his head and heads to his room.
When he gets to his bed, he just collapses onto his bed. If his sister is here then…
He checks his phone and yep! It’s Wednesday. The worst day of the week.
Because on Wednesdays, he has to have a family dinner. And sure, if he had a normal family then he would have them everyday. But if he had a normal family, he wouldn’t hate them as much.
Maybe he does live in a normal family that’s just a bit more wealthier than others. He’s sure he’s not the only one who gets told the stuff he does. So why does he feel like this? Is it him?
Because thinking hurts and overthinking kills, he just doesn’t think and rots in bed. Instead of filling his brain with his own thoughts, he consumes all of the content of the new anime. It was another romance, where the main character is troubled and the love interest helps them and they fall happily in love. Maybe it’s the other way round but the story is always the same.
He wants love like that. He wants to be fixed.
There’s a scene where they sit together in the park and the protagonist finally realises his feelings for her. That was when he got a text alerting him that dinner was ready.
Getting up is hard. Especially when the bed is so nice and comfy and the place he has to go is a place he absolutely does not want to go.
He goes anyway. What does it matter what he thinks.
When he reaches the dining room, he sees that they’ve already started. It wasn’t anything shocking, or even bad, but his heart slightly pains at the memory of when he couldn’t eat for a day because he ate before everyone else.
No one else would be mad that their family had started to eat without him. Maybe he is the problem.
He goes down to eat and tries to ignore how his family sings her sister’s praises. Anytime they require his input (they actually couldn’t care less about how he feels, they just want to shove it in his face how well she’s doing), he just hums along.
It was easier to just agree than to say anything at all. They didn’t care about what he had to say after all. This dinner was similar to a business dinner; they only grouped up so they were close with the only pro hero in this family.
“Denki, you should be more like her. That gloomy attitude of yours is why you’re failing to become a hero. You’ll never save people like that.”
Maybe if he was expecting something different, he would’ve been offended by this. But he’s used to it by now and stuffs his mouth with food. This time, he nodded his head AND hummed along. Improvement. His parents didn’t think so but they let it go. They can’t blame him for eating at dinner after all.
“We’re talking Denki; you don’t have to constantly be eating. You can be a part of this family too.”
Oh, they can.
If he kept just humming then they’d probably be more pissed right? But he doesn’t want to talk. He hates talking. But if he didn’t then they’d start whining about how distant he is. Maybe. Or they might not care. Should he test which reaction they’ll give.
“Ok,” he said, deciding to not. Perhaps he can another time but right now, he doesn’t think he can handle it if he had started something.
His mother still seemed unsatisfied, but decided to drop it. His sister goes on to talk about her latest mission and she has them hooked like fish on a line. At least the attention is off him.
But all he wants is his family’s attention in a positive light.
He can’t be the first one to eat but he can’t be the first one to leave either. And it takes a while for them to move away from the dinner table so he’s stuck just eating. He reaches for some more food, again. He puts the food in his mouth, again. He feels bile rising up his mouth, again. He does it again and again because he can’t stop.
If he doesn’t eat then he has to do nothing or speak. If he has nothing to do or if he has to speak, he has to think.
So he eats and eats and eats. It doesn’t matter if his stomach is begging him to stop, it doesn’t matter if he feels nauseous because he prefers that. He does it again and again.
Until now, he’s blocked out anything that’s been said. It was only until he heard the scraping of chairs, that he looked up to see that everyone’s leaving.
Thank god they’ve stopped.
He thought. He returns to their room, not looking back once. It didn’t matter if they went to have some ‘adult’ time together or if they went their separate ways. It’s clear he wasn’t included so why would he care? Caring about something that clearly has nothing to do with you will only lead to getting hurt.
His steps are sluggish, feeling like he had eaten a weight rather than food. He reaches out to the wall for support, which gently guides him to the bathroom. Kaminari may usually have times where his awful luck ruined everything, but the time his parents had built the house was not one of them.
His room is quite close to the bathroom, closer than the other rooms excluding his parents’ own bathroom (because that bathroom was exclusive to their master bedroom).
He locked the door behind him, not even looking, as he put up the toilet seat. He bent down, putting his fingers in his mouth and letting his body do the rest.
His feet lost strength, bringing him down to his knees. His oesophagus burns as he keeps purging but he does it again. Again. Again. Only until he felt clean or he physically couldn’t anymore that he would stop.
He couldn’t even get up without the support of his arms, his knees feeling like they had been knelt on needles rather than normal floor.
This is why his parents are always pushing him to be better. He’s so weak, how can he help others if he himself couldn’t even get up. Denki bets that his sister doesn’t throw up every meal. Bet she wouldn’t be in such a pathetic situation. Bet she could get up before the thought of using her arms to support her even appeared.
He was pathetic. What child will look up to him? Will trust him enough to let him save them?
He feels sick again.
~~
He’s so happy!
He and his friends are all going to an amusement park today. And Jirou will be there! So he can’t slack on any preparations. He has to carefully curate the type of look he wants to create, Jirou likes rock bands doesn’t she? Does he have any shirts that scream rock?
He’s also made sure to pack everything, maybe he even overpacked. There’s sunscreen, multiple power banks, some money, sunglasses, spare set of clothes, a hat, insect repellant, more money, a scarf, an umbrella and was there anything else?
There absolutely can not be any distractions because he is planning on confessing to Jirou today! He’s so excited, she’s probably going to jump with joy and hug him and then whilst they’re dating they’ll hold hands and have secret little kissies and-
What if she says no?
She wouldn't, right? There has to be someone out there who loves him. He’s deserving and capable of love too isn’t he?
But he is a real mess, isn’t he? What problem do you know is deserving of love? What dumb weirdo is capable of love?
No, he has to believe he’s in an anime or something. One where everything goes right and the protagonist gets a happy ever after. This is a happy day: if he does everything right, then it’ll be a very important day as well.
“Ok! Now we’re here, where does everyone want to go first?”
And it looks like Bakugou woke up on the wrong side of the bed (when doesn’t he?) as he snatched the map of Kirishima before loudly declaring our plans for the day.
“Alright, listen up dumbasses,” he exclaims, completely ignoring Kirishima’s previous question and the look he has on his face right now, “We’re here. So we are going to go around the park on every single fucking ride; I don’t want any of you weaklings complaining about how big or scary the ride is.”
A mix of reactions took place: Mina was jumping with joy, Kirishima was slightly annoyed at his abrasiveness but at this point he’s used to it, Sero just wants to go onto the rides already. But what Kaminari was most focused on was Jirou’s reaction.
“Uhm.. I’m not that fond of big rides. I think I’ll just carry your bags.”
Just as Mina was about to reject that - she couldn’t just let Jirou stand all by herself for the whole day - Kaminari butted in saying, “Me too actually! I like smaller rides as well.”
Right behind him, Bakugou pulled the most disgusted face, filled with disbelief. “Are you as dumb as you look? Why the fuck would you come to a place that’s filled with big rides if you couldn’t handle them.”
Kaminari was quite taken aback by that. Well, he was planning on going on those rollercoasters and showing Jirou what Kirsihima says, his ‘manliness’. But things are really working out for him huh? Maybe he can confess today!
“Haha… sorry Bakugou. Well, me and Jirou will just get out of your hair then.”
Well Bakugou certainly didn’t like having his plans be foiled. At least both Kaminari and Jirou didn’t like rides, “Fine. But make sure you have your notifications on! We’ll be meeting up for lunch dipshit.”
And with that they’re gone. This day’s getting even better: Kaminari gets Jirou all to herself, he doesn’t have to hear Bakugou’s bickering and he doesn’t have to go on those huge scary rides. It’s a win-win situation for everyone! He turned to Jirou, but instead of the face he had expected, she seemed… doubtful?
“Thank you? But do you really not like those roller coasters or did you just say that because you pitied me?
What? Wait hold on, “No no! I actually didn’t want to go on them. Why would you think that anyways?” He knows she hates being belittled and pitied so this situation is not looking good for him.
“Well,” She said, “you were going around ranting about how excited you were to go on all the big rides.” Right, he was wasn’t he? For the past week he would constantly brag about how he could handle huge roller coasters, especially in front of her.
No wonder she was so quiet whenever he would mention it. And he kept pushing it because he thought that it would make him look more ‘manly’; in reality he probably made her feel self-conscious and annoyed.
“Wait, that wasn’t! That was uhm…” Well he can’t just say he said all of that to impress her. That would be so embarrassing he can’t ruin their perfect day. He’s going to taint his perfect confession if he admits that and he’s already ruined it enough. But then what would he say? If he says that he was just lying before then it would make him seem arrogant and overconfident. But if he says that he’s scared of rollercoasters and was going along with the flow, then doesn’t that make him seem like a pushover? Someone please help.
“Well, it’s not that. I just… uh I did want to go to the rollercoasters but they’re not that fun? I think I grew out of them, I like calmer rides now.”
That was such a stupid fucking answer omg Kaminari get your head straight. Why did he sound like he was some mature old guy going through a midlife crisis?? That’s probably worse than any other answer, he might’ve just sucked it up and said that he gets motion sickness or something, Jirou totally saw through that bullshit. What if she finds him weird and doesn’t like him anymore? What if she wants to stop being friends and then everyone will stop being friends with him because who’s choosing a dumbass over a goddess?? And then he’ll spend all his days alon-
It was only by Jirou’s laughter that he managed to return back to planet earth. And wow did she sound beautiful oh my god maybe it wasn’t earth he returned to but heaven? Because only heaven can make noises this beautiful. This is even better than the music that they listen to while sharing an airpod in class.
“Sure Kaminari, I’ll believe you,” She smiles, her face looking as amused as ever when she’s with him, “Which ride do you want to go on first then? We can just take the baby rides since I have a baby with me.”
Sure, his electricity is fast but his emotions are faster. And Jirou is the only one who makes them change as fast as they do. “Yeah sure, let’s- Wait did you just call me a baby?” But by now Jirou is ahead of him, grabbing another copy of the map of the park, “Jirouuuu!”
And yes, although they’re separated from the rest of the group, they have more than a fun time. Although, he does spend a fortune on those dart games trying to be cool and win Jirou a plushie. He does, eventually. The thought of his parents checking his account and lecturing him once more flashes through his mind, but right now he can only focus on what’s in front of him: Jirou.
They meet up briefly for lunch, where Kaminari quietly recounts his experience and then his plan. He’s going to the huge ferris wheel right before sunset and when they’re at the top, he’ll confess!
“But what if she rejects you? Can you endure the awkward silence on the way down?” Sero asked, but was quickly shut down by Kirishima by nudging him with his elbow. It was too late though, Kaminari was thinking of all the possibilities of that and dreading it, already setting it to stone.
“Sero!” Kirishima hissed, “Don’t jinx my man like that. Come on, cheer up. I thought it was unmanly for you back down from the roller coasters, but you ended up getting some alone time with your girl! Now, you just need to confess. I’m sure she’ll say yes, no one can resist your charms after all.”
Right, right, he just had to believe that she likes him back and it’ll all be okay! Even if she doesn’t, she’ll reject him nicely right? They can still be friends after that, right??
“Oi,” Bakugou said, walking back into the mens toilets, “What are you all huddling here for? Are you doing some collective pissing session? Me and the girls are waiting for you dipshits.”
Like students caught skipping in the toilets, they all formed a line and left the toilets uniformly. Kirishima gave Kaminari one last cheer before leaving him with Jirou once more, but it did little to alleviate his worries. It’s alright though, because Kaminari is positive! Surely, the worries will be gone by sunset.
Okay, it wasn’t exactly gone but it had diminished slightly. Currently, they were at the front of the line for the ferris wheel. Jirou was cuddling onto her plushie earned by Kaminari’s hard work! (and plenty of money) whilst he was carrying both their bags. Well, she still had her bag she brought to the trip, but he had the bag that she used when she was buying many gifts as well as the bag he overpacked in.
Now the time was nearing, he was actually sweating slightly. It felt a lot more real than some fantasy he’d have and oh god he’s scared. But he shouldn’t think like that! Because Jirou is a kind person, and if he knows anything then it’s that. Even if she doesn’t quite reciprocate, then they’ll still be friends!
Doesn’t mean it won’t hurt.
The next train comes and the instructor calls for the next group. Whatever possessed Kaminari’s mind must be the devil or the angel, with no inbetween, because he had held onto her hand and got onto the platform.
Right before getting into the cart, he stops to look at Jirou. Black eyes meet with yellow eyes.
“Well,” He says with a soft smile and eyes full of love, “After you, my lady.” And it’s a scene straight from some historical manga. The gesture is met with amusement but some shyness.
What typically happens in a historical manga, is that the lady will let go of the escort’s hand because it’s nothing but an escort. But this is a love story, not of two noble people from ancient times, but two teenagers in the same class. And in this love story, Jirou steps onto the cart and pulls Kaminari in.
The door closes between the two as they’re a mess on the floor of the cart. The bags are on top of Kaminari, who’s on top of the plushie, that’s on top of Jirou. What does that mean? It means that there’s only a plushie in between the two lovesick teenagers and the plushie isn’t particularly big.
There’s at least a few seconds where they look at each other, which simultaneously feels too short and an eternity.
“I- I’m so sorry!” Kaminari says, immediately getting up off the floor and putting the bags to one seat. “Here, I’ll- let me help you up.” His face feels like it was on fire -surely he was blushing - but it’s rude to leave a girl sitting on the floor.
She mutters a quick thank you as she takes his hand once more to get up. Both flustered teens avoid eye contact, completely contrasting with what occurred before. In conclusion, yes they are embarrassed. But they’re Jirou and Kaminari so they find a way to break the ice. He looks outside, then all around him and realises: their cart is at the top! He has to confess now, like right now,
“Jirou, I-”
“Kaminari ther-"
They both freeze at the interruption of the other person.
“You can-”
“Oh do you-”
They both freeze once more, waiting for the other person to speak. Kaminari can’t believe this, does she like him back? Is that what she’s trying to tell him? Did Kirishima already know? That’s why he must have been so confident in our plan. Jirou must’ve told Mina who told Kirishima and they orchestrated all of this! In the silence, Jirous speaks up.
“I’ll go first then?” And with a nod and a dorky smile, she continues, “Uhm, this is a hard thing to say. But, are you okay? Like not that you seem bad or anything but sometimes you seem really down when you think no one’s looking. You’re always positive, which may just be something you are, but I don’t think it’s that healthy to be positive all the time? I think you’ve gained some weight as well? At least it looks like that compared to the start of-”
But by now, Kaminari stopped listening. What did she mean he gained weight? Does that mean he’s fat? Girls don’t like fat guys. That’s a fact. Although beauty standards are more prominent with women, that didn’t mean men didn’t have them either.
Fiction is a reflection of reality. Have you seen any male leads or female leads that are fat? He can’t confess, she’s going to hate him, think he’s a creep if he does. She probably hates him now anyways. Or pities him.
It’s true that he’s been eating a lot on Wednesdays, but he’s been throwing up as well. Is it not enough?
He feels sick again.
“Hey Kaminari?” She asks, waving her hand across her face, “You know I’m worried about you. Are you alright?” He doesn’t think he can find the strength to speak so he just hums along instead. Just like at home.
The cart grows silent, because between the two of them, it’s Kaminari who’s always talking. She looks up at him right now and it’s like she’s looking at a completely different person. A different side of him.
The cart ride ends and they meet with their friends who’re waiting right at the end. If this was some anime or cartoon, then there would be something purple coming out of the cart to showcase the tension, but this isn’t an anime and if it was then Kaminari wouldn’t be the male lead.
Even without the purple, their friends can tell the cart ride was less than pleasant. Kirishima and Sero hound him for answers, immediately assuming he got rejected. He shoves them off and goes home.
It’s fine. It’s better like this. Jirou can see his flaws and won’t like him back and she’ll find someone greater, someone better and they’ll be together because she deserves great things like diamonds and gold, and Kaminari is just a rotting apple at the bottom of a pile.
He’s fine.
He’s not crying.
~~
After the whole All Might and AFO fiasco, UA had implemented a dorm system. Kaminari’s parents had seen it in the mail already and were ranting about how a good idea it is because they wouldn’t have to have some gloomy burden on their back. Even after the battle had ended, they were lecturing Kaminari that he needs to work harder to be at that level and protect others.
He ignored the snide comment about how we’ll probably end up being a villain because of how much he’s failing heroics. He’ll prove them wrong.
But can he? Even at the training camp before Bakugou got kidnapped, he was in the remedial classes. As much as he can blame the setup (because pitting anyone against Nezu was unfair), he still failed in the end. What’s he going to do when he finds a villain that’s like Nezu or an AFO copy? Maybe die. That’s what his family probably wants.
He’s already informed of the home visits, so he’s not surprised when he hears the doorbell go off. Standing outside is.. Aizawa? Where’s All Might? They were supposed to be together? Although, it would make sense if they split up to save time.
“Are you just going to make me wait out here?” His teacher asked, raising an eyebrow. Ahh wait how should he act? Should he be the way he is in school? But he’s not at school, he's at home. But here there’s someone from school.
He opens the door more, allowing Aizawa to come in without saying a word. If he’s shocked by the silence, then he doesn’t show it. Kaminari leads Aizawa to the guest room, but quickly gives his parents a quick text on the family group chat. Throughout all this, Aizawa walks soundlessly behind him, observing this different side of Kaminari.
They reach the guest room, which is a simple room with two sofas facing each other and a plate in the middle from the cabinet at the side of the room. If the Kaminari’s had a room like this that was specifically made for guests, then they must have a lot of guests. Or a job which requires this kind of setup, like a tutor or a lawyer.
Denki puts up some biscuits as he faces Aizawa to ask which. He replies with a simple “I don’t mind.” so Denki opens up the custard cream and puts a few on the plate. Then he asks whether his teacher wants tea or coffee or water.
And Aizawa’s eyes narrow to Denki. Was this really the student he knew? Not that the student he had wasn’t polite, but he was never this hospitable and… distant. It almost feels like he’s following a script, or he’s a robot repeating his tasks. He asks for coffee because god knows he needs it and by now his parents come into the guest room.
“Mr. Aizawa? Hello, for what reason are you here?”
He clears his throat to greet them properly, “Hello Mr, Ms Kaminari. As you may already know, I am Denki’s teacher. The school has decided to change to a boarding system - meaning there will be dorms your son will have to attend.”
And like every single other family, he has been expecting some backlash, but instead constantly met with a pleasant surprise. This time, he got a positive response, but in a bad way.
"So you want to take our boy from us?"
Oh no. "Sir I can ensure you that-"
"Go ahead." He said, changing the previous frown on his face to a smirk. Rather than looking at Aizawa, the man he was talking to, he was looking at his son instead. Denki set down Aizawa's coffee, making eye contact with no one despite the topic being about him.
What? Well, that was easier than expected. It's always been like this though, he thinks they'll reject but end up accepting it. Take Kyoka's parents for example, they had acted as if they were unaccepting before she came into the room and exposed her old man.
"Even if he were the one kidnapped I don't think I would even care."
Ok what? He sucked in the sigh of relief from before because what? Did he hear that right?
He thinks he did because Denki besides him flinches. Just slightly but enough for a pro hero to notice. Right now, he would glare at Mr. Kaminari if his eyes weren't so focused and worried about Denki. Denki's head shoots up to look at his father as he exclaims, "Dad! You can't say that in front if my teacher"
Everytime Aizawa tries to predict what one of the Kaminaris will say, he's always wrong. What do you mean you wouldn't care if your son was kidnapped? What do you mean you care more about who your dad said it in front of rather than what he actually said? Is he used to this treatment and Aizawa just never noticed? Ms. Kaminari nudges her husband and opens her mouth to say something. He just pleads that it's something more predictable - that there's one sane person in this room other than himself.
"I'm sorry about my husband," she starts off with and so far, so good. But then she continued, "He meant that he trusts UA so much that he wouldn't have to worry about our son."
And the disbelief must have been obvious on his face because she asked Denki, "Isn't that right, Denki?"
Aizawa thinks he gives her this look because there's a slight pause before he nods, but Aizawa can only see the back of his head so he's not sure. His mother pats the space near her and Denki looks back to Aizawa once before he sits down next to her. If his father had any qualms about it then he doesn't say anything.
"Aizawa was it? Please take care of our boy in the dorms. We know how quiet he is so he may fade into the background, but please keep an eye on him."
That literally contrasts with everything Aizawa had believed about Denki. He's about to defend him, but he takes one look at Denki himself before he shuts up.
Denki looks... well to put it simply different. Even when he was quiet in class, he would never look so down like the way he is now. Aizawa inspects him, watches as he reaches and bites into a biscuit before immediately cringing. Does he have a toothache? He'll have to question Nezu about the student's dentist and doctor's situation.
It's clear that his parents don't know him quite as well as they said they did, and that previous comment had been concerning. But since Denki would soon be in the dorms and it didn't seem like he was in any urgent trouble, he'd wait until he had a one-on-one talk with him for more information. For now, he'd just nod and let them believe what they want to.
"Just to clarify, you are alright with Denki going to the dorms?" Because that was the reason he was here after all.
"Yes, we're all fine with it," she says, but to make her look like a good parent because her husband had said something stupid before, "We may have some questions about it later down the line, but I assume you can answer them then?"
"Yes, you may contact me or the school for any questions," he says, already getting up and ready to leave. He didn't really want to stay any longer than he had to as to not waste time. He had a whole list of students to get through today after all, there's a reason he split with All Might at Midoriya's house.
They get Denki to guide him out of the house again as they continue with whatever business they were doing previously. The walk back is quiet, Denki not wanting to say anything and Aizawa not knowing what to say. But they reached the door and if Aizawa was going to say something then he would have to say it now.
"Kaminari," he calls out, but is interrupted by Kamianri apologising.
"I'm so sorry," he starts and he must be embarrassed for them, "They're not usually like this, it's just they-"
Kaminari coughs slightly, his hand reaching up to his throat. His throat has been hurting recently, often causing his voice to crack or to stop talking entirely. He should drink some more herbal tea to soothe it. He'll ask Yaomomo for some recommendations.
Kaminari’s throat thanks Aizawa as he takes over the talking, “It’s fine kid, you don’t have to force yourself to talk. I’ll take your word that your parents aren’t always like that. But if you ever need it, I’m here as both someone who you can talk to and someone who can help.”
Kaminari has always seen Aizawa as some scary, strict teacher that he’s had to walk on eggshells around, but right now Aizawa may be the most reliable person there is in his life. And his heroics teacher is All Might himself.
“But,” He says, “I’d like to bring up something that your parents said. They were talking about how quiet you are, so much so that you fade into the background. That doesn’t sound like the Denki I know.”
"Who is the real you?" He asks. Because he may have only seen this side for a few minutes, but he can tell that there are two vastly different sides to him. One of which he shows in school and the other he shows at home. One where he's the chatterbox who lightens the mood without lifting a finger or he's this quiet gloomy kid, too weak to even bite into a biscuit.
Kaminari understood that question perfectly but honestly? He's never once thought of himself at school and himself at home being two different things. They were just... him. And he had no one to witness the two sides of him to tell him that people don't usually act like they are two different people daily.
He didn't have an answer, and thankfully he didn't need one. Aizawa was experienced enough to get his answer through Kamianri's face rather than through words alone. "It's fine," he said "I wasn't really expecting an answer. But if you find out who or what the problem is let me know alright?"
And with that, he left for the next house, leaving Kaminari completely bewildered with this new way to view himself.
~~
This new dorm system is amazing! It's a lot more convenient, the building they live in is huge and they live really close to the school itself so Jirou is never late (not that she was before). Sure, maybe it's more noisy because she went from living at her house to a dorm full of loud teenagers, but thankfully Bakugou -the loudest one of them all - goes to bed at 8.30pm and most people are asleep at the same time she is. If she ever wants more peace she just puts on some music to block out any noises.
The worst thing is being away from her parents, but they videocall daily and don't tell them this, but it's refreshing living with her friends for a change. All the instruments in her room remind her of them and they send each other music which she'll listen to when she misses them but can't call them.
And the meal system! Who knew that Gordon Ramsey's secret love children were among her class? There were a few completely banned from the kitchen from being known for their bad kitchen skills, but otherwise most of the class rotate who cooks and brings groceries. Bakugou is the only one who cooks alone because he won't cook with anyone else, but someone has to supervise him to make sure he doesn't try to kill anyone again (has his parents been training him to be in some spicy eating contest or what?)
Momo is also so generous with her tea bags, they must cost a fortune each but there's a whole cabinet dedicated to them which she's made clear plenty of times anyone is allowed to use them at any time. Sometimes she'll let Momo rant about her tea bags and what each of them is good for because Momo listens to her rant about her music and the things she says are often interesting. Who knew that chamomile tea was good for nausea! Super helpful for students like Uraraka and Aoyama.
She’s also learnt a lot more about her classmates, both through living with them and through accidentally hearing them. Did you know that Koda is actually super talkative? Well, to his rabbit but she thinks it still counts. And Hagakure spends a lot of time looking at herself in the mirror, which makes more sense when you remember she can actually see herself.
And Kaminari actually has more of an erratic heart rate than she thought he did. She doesn’t think that he had that at the start of the year, but maybe the use of his quirk made his heart rate more irregular? She brought it up to him in the ferris wheel but she didn't think he was listening properly. If it gets worse she might bring it up again.
It’s been a week since they moved and Aizawa had told them that he would’ve expelled everyone except from Jirou, Hagakure and Bakugou and never in her life was she so glad she was unconscious because he wasn’t even talking to her but she still felt fear.
Iida had gone around and informed what dinner was and tonight it was omurice! She loved omurice, especially her fathers’. This is making her miss them again. Perhaps tonight she’ll go to her dorms to eat and video call them at the same time. Most people do eat in the common room but some prefer their own dorms.
She waves bye to her friends as she goes upstairs and sets down her bowl to call her parents when she hears it.
Who was-? Was that Kaminari?
She scrolls past her parents' contact to call him instead, putting her phone on silent so she can hear the ringing in his room and yeah, she’s pretty sure that it’s his room where the noise is coming from. But he’s not answering his phone and it’s not like she can just go to the boys’ dorm because that’s the fastest way to get rumours to spread.
Well, fuck it. Who cares about what rumours will spread when her best friend is sick. She goes over to the boys dorms and it’s exactly like the girls’ except it’s mirrored. She walks until she’s at Kaminari’s door, she’s been in here before at the contest but it feels different now. Talk about erratic heartbeats, her heart is going through a seizure right now but she has to calm down.
“Kaminari?” She says as she knocks on the door. There’s some noise but no response so she tries again and eventually there’s a reply.
She opens the door and sees Kaminari in bed, to the side there’s what’s mainly untouched omurice. He looks unbothered, but the bathroom door was still swinging from previous movement to open it, and his face is slightly flushed. Not to mention his heart rate is going wild right now and Jirou doesn’t think it’s because a girl had stepped into his room.
He’s really trying to pretend that everything is alright and Jirou hates it. Why does he have to suffer and why is she not reliable enough to help him.
“Kaminari I heard some vomiting before,” She said, getting straight to the point, “Are you ok? Yaomomo has-”
But Kaminari immediately interrupted him, “What? Vomiting? Jirou I- that was not me, I don’t know where you heard it but I promise I did not vomit. I don’t vomit”
He’s going through such lengths to keep her from worrying or finding out and it physically pains her. She’s close to just dropping the topic because the pained look on his face is twisting her heart but she doesn’t want to be a standby to his suffering because he doesn’t want to accept help.
“Kaminari. I know what I heard,” She said, refraining from being as blunt as to ask him if he has bulimia because that might be too soon. She waits for his response but there’s a long time where silence befalls them.
~~
Fuckkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkk.
He was not predicting this situation but maybe he should’ve, he does live on the same floor as his super hearing secret crush best friend. Actually, he wasn’t expecting to have thrown up at all! The whole reason he threw up was because of both how much food he ate on Wednesdays and how his family made him feel.
But… then it extended to more days than just Wednesdays. But they were only on days where his mental health was touching hell or when he accidently ate too much. He didn’t mean for it to spiral out of control the way it did but surely it didn’t hurt right? Maybe his throat would burn during it, but throwing up never hurt anyone, people who get car sick or motion sick or women who are pregnant get sick all the time.
He expected for it to stop when he heard about the dorms, because what does he have to be upset about? He’s surrounded by his friends and great food, there’s no one who forces him to talk or puts him in a situation where he feels like eating is his only escape. But it didn’t. He stopped eating so he wouldn’t feel sick but it just made him more hungry and he just ate more snacks, less meals but then his friends noticed and got worried so he took a meal up to his dorm but couldn’t even get halfway without throwing up, which lead to his crush - the one person he wanted to hide it from - standing at his doorway catching him red-handed.
He doesn’t know what to say. He doesn’t know if he can say anything. But he puts his phone down to sit up, keeping his eyes on the floor. He’s too ashamed to look Jirou in the eyes, how long has she known? Does that even matter though, because either way she’ll think of him as a coward, a weirdo , someone ‘unmanly’ and certainly will stop tolerating him.
“Kaminari? K-Kaminari!” Jirou says as she rushes towards him, the door closing behind them. She kneels down to see his face and he finally has the courage to look up at her, but when did she become blurry? A few tears drop onto his hands and while yes his electricity is fast, he himself is slow. Slow enough that he didn’t realise he was crying until then.
She’s right there and he must not be in his right mind because he pushes himself forward and leans on her shoulder. She reciprocates by embracing him in her arms, hugging him and she’s so kind, she doesn’t deserve someone like him. He doesn’t know why she even tolerates him because there’s no way she could genuinely enjoy his company. But here she is hugging him and it makes him greedy for more.
They stay like that for who knows how long but by the time they stop, Kaminari has stopped crying and their arms are numb. He’s finally in his right mind because he immediately pulls away and blurts out about a million apologies, “Oh My god Jirou I’m so sorry I don’t even know what happened I didn’t mean to and I got your shoulder all wet. That shirt looked so good on you-”
But he’s interrupted once more by her angelic voice, “You never change, do you dummy?” She laughs, messing up his hair as a sign of affection. “You alright now? I’ll go down and get some tea- Oh! I should probably reheat my dinner. Do you want me to do the same for yours or?”
Just when Kaminari thinks he couldn’t fall even harder for her he does. “I’ll be fine thanks, If I want more I’ll just eat it cold.” He watches as she gets up to leave, looking around his room once more when he suddenly calls out again, “Can you- Uhm, can you come back? Please?”
She looks back over her shoulder, “Uhm yeah, that’s why I’m getting you some chamomile tea? You get some rest, Kaminari. I’ll be back soon.” And with that she’s gone.
He stares at his door, the door she had passed through for a few seconds before falling back into his bed. Staring at the ceiling, he waits. He’s so in love it feels like he can wait 500 years for her and not be tired. How long has it been again? Ughhh even these few seconds feel like years, he just wants to see her again already. He’s not sure what good deed he’s done in his past life to end up even meeting with Jirou but whatever it is he’s overjoyed. It feels as though he can use rainbows as skipping ropes.
After 10 years (it was 12 minutes…) she comes back with a hot bowl of her omurice and hot tea. She sets them both down at the table as Kaminari gets down from his bed. She gives him the tea, “Here. It’s supposed to be good for nausea so there’s quite a lot of them.”
“Jeez, someone might think you like me Jirou,” He says, scrolling on his phone to try to find the perfect show to watch whilst they eat. She responds predictably, smacking him across the head. They set up his phone and watch ‘Spirited Away’ on the other side of the table. At some point in the movie, Kaminari finished his tea, Jirou finished her dinner and a blanket appeared. But it’s only one and it’s slightly chilly as it gets darker so they cuddle closer to each other and somehow have their heads on each other?
The movie ends and Jirou who had almost fallen asleep starts yawning and stretching. Kaminari moves so as to not get hit by her arms. Everything about her is so cute. She’s so pretty and beautiful doing even simple things like yawning. Kaminari doesn’t think there’s a single thing about her he doesn’t like. He loves Jirou.
Jirou flinches and Kaminari’s head shoots to the door, but he can’t hear or see anyone coming in? So he looks back and her face is all red. It only took him a second (give him some time guys, he’s slow) for him to realise.
“D-did I just say that out loud?”