Chapter Text
Denki Kaminari had been a klutz his whole life. There wasn’t a time he remembered ever having an ounce of true poise to his name. This was only made worse by the fact that on top of his clumsiness, he wasn’t the sharpest tool in the shed. The combination of his gracelessness, density, and general disregard for-really anything after the thought of it had occupied more than a five second stay in his typically jumbled and scatter-brained mind-made Kaminari who he was. The little group of friends he had culminated over his years of high school had grown fond of Kaminari’s air-headed nature, and he was loved for it and in spite of it; However, Kaminari Denki was not an idiot. Maybe he had to retake Algebra 1 his sophomore year because he was awful at math, and maybe he had accidentally dyed the strips of his hair purple once because he thought the dye was black, and just maybe he had ruined Ashido’s Airpods last week because he assumed “water resistant” meant he could wear them in the shower, but Kaminari was not stupid.
And something was going on.
The six of them sat three to a bench at the diner, their diner, Dahliah’s. Despite the sweet sounding name, the place was a wreck (a trait largely attributed to its proximity to the nearest high school and the group’s own shenanigans in the diner over the years). Every other table was wobbly, the metal of 70% of the seats was rusted and chipped, and the name on the front of the restaurant was sun bleached from red to pink, but it was home to them and had been for years. As jokes flew across the table, Kaminari glanced over a couple benches ahead to a small portion of booth that had been carved with his initials, probably from middle school. He frowned.
Suddenly, he felt an elbow nudge his side, and he was snapped out of his zoned out state. “What about you, dude?”
Looking up at Kirishima’s expecting expression felt like waking up from a short nap and in his confusion, all Denki could do was tilt his head.
“No use, Ei,” Sero remarked in the seat across from him. “Lights are out in there” He said with a smug grin, gesturing to Kaminari’s head.
“Huh?” Kaminari asked dumbly.
“I said,” Kirishima started again. “If you were a Smash Bro’s character, what would your special attack be? ‘Cause personally, I think I’d have some super manly defensive type thing, where I can’t take any damage for like, 30 whole seconds,” he said proudly.
“That’s too OP, dude,” Jirou interjected from beside Ashido. “I’d have some really weird, freaky attack that takes the competition off guard, like turning my ears into limbs or something,” she explained, eyebrows furrowed with seriousness.
Kaminari smiled. “Oh, I’d one hundred percent be Pikachu on crack,” he said, matter of factly. “Like, I can electrocute my opponent, but if you do the combo wrong you just knock the lights out of the stage and no one can see who they’re punching.” he finished.
“Denks, I know absolutely zero about that game and even I can tell that made no sense,” Ashido retorted with a grin, Sero and Jirou nodding with approval beside her.
“Yeah, dude! Think about it, you can’t get hit if they can’t see you!” Kaminari shot back.
The table erupted with giggles at Kaminari’s warped logic and Kirishima chuckled next to him.
“Mine would be an atomic bomb to explode you for saying that dumb shit.” Bakugo remarked on the other side of Kirishima, scrolling through his phone and only half paying attention to the chatter around him. The laughter only grew louder at his quip, and when Kaminari turned to his red haired friend again, he was chuckling like Bakugo had made the most clever joke in the world. Though Kirishima’s tone was defensive as he chided Bakugo on his brashness, an ear-to-ear smile was spread across his tan skin and a shine twinkled in his eyes.
Kaminari’s smile fell. He slouched once again in his seat next to Kirishima as he drummed his fingers under the table, careful not to touch any stray pieces of old gum. As much as he was a natural fidgeter, the extra energy Kaminari was expelling was not the fun kind. He was nervous.
When Kirishima introduced Bakugo to the group their junior year, they were very shockingly a little wary. The bright, red headed boy had deemed him his new passion project, a “new best friend, trust me guys!” he had said, to soften the blow of the blond’s short temper and blunt personality. Having known Kirishima for seven years-the longest lasting friendship in the group, Kaminari knew Kirishima well and trusted his judgement. After all, he had introduced him to Sero and Mina. If Kaminari hadn’t impressed Jirou with the lash marks he would get from snapping his strings in the guitar class they met in, he’d basically just be freeloading off of all of Kirishima’s friendships. As Bakugo grew to convey less “abrasive asshole” and more “feigning annoyance” to Kirishima and the others, their perfect little group fell into line. And perfect things were for that year and the one after it. But it seemed, after graduation, things had changed.
When Ashido talked, Kiri listened. When Sero joked, Kiri laughed, When Jirou looked sad, Kiri asked why, and when Kaminari looked at him, he looked back. Kirishima knew Kaminari better than almost anyone, and could read the look on his face in two seconds flat. If Kaminari ever glanced at kirishima with any specific kind of look in his eyes, Kirishima was already asking him what was up. That’s how it had been in all of the years Kaminari had known him. But this summer, Kirishima had stopped looking back on occasion. The notion of a grudge against himself occurred to Kaminari before it was quickly debunked when he noticed that, sometimes, Kirishima would forget to listen to Ashido. Sometimes, he would only laugh half-heartedly at Sero’s jokes, distracted. Sometimes, he almost missed Jirou’s sad looks. The next best conclusion Kaminari reached was that something was going on with his friend; Something was wrong. Something was on the other end of Kirishima’s far-out looks and twinkling eyes.
No, Kaminari was far from an idiot. despite the flunking easy quizzes, knocking over glasses, and forgetting basic dates, his ditziness had nothing to do with his ability to read his friends; Something was distracting Kirishima, and when kaminari followed his eyes time after time, he realized…
that something was Bakugo.
Kaminari wasn’t jealous, like, seriously, he wasn’t. But curious, intrigued, worried? The same couldn’t be said. His childhood best friend was replacing him, and would probably replace them all soon, ditching the group to hang out with the edgelord twenty-four hours a day. Then, everyone else would come to the realization that they only hung around Kaminari because of Kirishima, and Kaminari would be alone, just like he was before him.
Logically, Kaminari knew his friend wouldn’t do something like that. Kirishima Eijirou was a good friend, was kind and caring and thoughtful and would be the last person on earth to ditch his best friends just because he had suddenly developed a favorite. Logic, however, did nothing to shrink the pit in his stomach.
Kaminari watched Kirishima as Mina explained what her special Smash Bro’s attack would be, with the same look in his eyes that he had when Kaminari himself spoke. The same look that he had when Sero spoke, or Jirou, but not Bakugo. Never Bakugo.
He had to do something.
-
The group split into pairs as they departed the diner, Ashido claiming she needed to touch up Jirou’s hair dye, and Kirishima quick to separate Bakugo and himself for their own hijinks. Kaminari watched as the two sets of friends walked off in different directions, then turned to Sero with a smirk. Sero sighed, faux disappointment heavy on his face. “Why do I always end up with you,” he teased, rolling his eyes.
Kaminari laughed and jabbed a finger to Sero’s chest, other hand resting proudly on his hip. “I think you mean to ask why you always get to end up with me! It’s not everyday someone gets the chance to be personally escorted home by the Denki Kaminari! Try not to start drooling over me,” Kaminari said with a maniacal grin. Sero hooked his arm around his friend’s shoulder, then threw his weight all the way to the right to shove Kaminari.
“Woah!” Kaminari yelped as he and Sero both fell to the ground, having grabbed onto him on his way down. Upon landing on the concrete, the boys burst into laughter.
“Yea, ending up with you sure is a privilege,” Sero said between chuckles with a hand on his friend’s shoulder.
“Hey, does anyone else make you laugh like this?” Kaminari said in defense.
Sero simply rose to his feet and offered a hand out to Kaminari still on the ground. “Let’s go, dumbass.”
As they began the walk back to Sero’s, a comfortable silence fell over the pair, and Kaminari’s mind began to wander again. He tried to come up with ways to make sense of Kirishima’s recent behavior. What was so cool about Bakugo that had Kirishima so obsessed. Was it the double ear piercings? The way he never lost in Mario Kart? How he could parallel park as easily as breathing? Kaminari couldn’t parallel park at all. Kaminari had been too scared to get both ears pierced. Kaminari had never won at Mario Kart. He sighed.
Sero took a second from sending snap after snap on his phone to look up at the boy next to him as he stared at the ground. “Dude, what’s up with you?” he asked bluntly. Kaminari perked up, quickly pulled out of his spiraling thoughts.
“Nothinggg,” Kaminari said, forcing a cool tone. “I’m good, man.”
Sero quirked an eyebrow at him, then went back to whatever conversation he was having over snaps of the sidewalk they shared.
What would Kirishima do when he realized he liked Bakugo better than everyone else? Would he stop talking to them? Kirishima and Bakugo were going to the local college together soon, would he try and use school as an excuse to get out of hanging with the rest of them? As Kaminari began to grow lost in his own thought again, he realized that it may not just be Kirishima he had to worry about. Ashido was set to start cosmetology school in a couple months, Jirou had just gotten signed to a small label, and Sero was beginning the process of taking over his parent’s shop. It wasn’t just Kirishima; Everyone would soon be preoccupied with something else. ‘Too preoccupied for me?’ Kaminari wondered.
“Dude, that girl is so fine,” Sero commented casually as they walked, eyeing down a girl walking towards them in the opposite direction they were going, but several hundred feet away. Kaminari, however, was too lost in thought to register the remark, to register much of anything that wasn’t his own anxiety at the moment, and definitely too lost to realize his right shoe was not tied. As they walked closer to the girl, bright blonde hair swaying in the wind, Sero smiled dreamily at her. Blonds were his weakness. The girl’s eyes tore from straight ahead of her and to Sero and her hand formed a friendly wave. As they grew close enough to pass one another, Sero began to wave back, almost close enough to touch her. The moment would have almost been romantic, had it not been for the movement of Sero’s arm catching Kaminari’s attention, Kaminari finally averting his eyes off of the ground, and stepping right onto his own shoelace, sending himself flying into his friend, who in turn, smacked into the girl with the arm he was waving with.
The girl almost fell, but instead shoved Sero off of her with a grunt. “Weirdo,” she muttered as she gathered herself, then walked off at a faster pace. The boys sat on the sidewalk, dumbfounded.
“Sorry!” Kaminari called after her as the sight of her disappeared into the crowd of other people walking by. He rubbed the shoulder where he had banged (admittedly, pretty hard) against Sero. Kaminari turned to him to apologize. “My bad, man, I-“
“Look, clearly, whatever it is that’s had you so spaced out is clearly not nothing. Either spill or be forced to listen to me whine about the one that got away because someone couldn’t look down for two seconds to notice his untied shoe.” Sero said, frustration apparent in his sigh as he braced his palms on his knees to stand.
Kaminari blushed and looked down at his shoe, pulling it toward him and quickly lacing it. Sero shook his head, and offered a hand down to his friend, helping him up silently. “Seriously, man,” Sero started again in a quieter, softer tone. “What’s wrong?” he asked, concern genuine in his voice.
Kaminari avoided his eyes, fixating on the lamp post at his side instead. His face grew hot at the silence and sudden lack of motion as Sero looked on at him expectantly. The concrete on the curb to beside them was cracked and pale in the summer sun and the metal of the lamp post had been scuffed near the bottom to the point that it was starting to become shiny in places. Kaminari shifted his weight uncomfortably. It was hard to lie to his friend, but harder to tell the truth-hard to ask for reassurance, when Kaminari wasn’t completely sure that was what would lie on the other end of the conversation. Finally, he shook his head and smiled as genuinely as he could.
“It really isn’t anything,” Kaminari said, grinning wide. “It’s my bad, dude. Guess I’ve just been a little dumber than usual lately,” he joked, adding a small laugh for effect. He looked up at Sero hopefully. Sero simply stared, studying Kaminari. After a moment, a smile broke out on his face, and Kaminari silently let out the breath he had been holding. Sero punched him lightly in the arm, and nodded towards to sidewalk to insinuate they should continue on, smile big and comforting.
“Then quit shoving me to the ground!” Sero said with an easygoing laugh.“ That’s my thing.”
As they began to walk again, Kaminari noticed the tense air was gone as soon as it had come.