Archive of Our Own ^beta

It was their second year at UA. They won the war and now Shinso was officially a part of the hero course, a part of class A.

He had been expecting that he'd have to continue proving himself and his worth, until he'd be seen as an equal and be accepted by his classmates. But apparently that couldn't have been further from the reality.

Maybe it was the part he played in the war that was enough proof of his worthiness to them, or maybe they just didn't think much of it. Whatever it was, his new classmates clearly already saw him as an equal and had been more than accepting of him.

After all, when he was introduced as the new class A member who would take Aoyama’s spot, the whole class erupted in cheers. Startling him in the process. It was a positive but confusing surprise. Because seriously? When did he make such a good impression that it caused everyone to get so excited over him joining?

They were loud and he couldn't truly make out who said what. But one thing he did notice amid excited chattering was that one boy's amber eyes were sparkling especially bright. His voice cheered especially loud, at the news he'd be joining their class.

In the following weeks, he was treated like he had been a part of their class from the beginning. Everyone made an effort to not make him feel like he was ‘the new guy’ by clueing him into insider jokes,asking him to join games or movie nights and other group activities.

Their constant need to include him in everything kind of overwhelmed him sometimes. But that was better than being the odd one out he supposed.

Out of all of his classmates Kaminari was the one who he, involuntarily of course, fixated on the most. Which wasn't surprising really. He had developed a sort of unspoken appreciation for the blonde for a while, even before joining the hero course. Shinso wouldn't admit it to himself but ever since their joint training in first year, when the electric quirk user had called him a ‘proper hero hopeful”, his eyes had always found the blonde no matter where they were. If they were in the same vicinity his eyes would find him even without searching, because he wasn't searching! It just happened.

And it seemed to also happen to the blonde too, as Denki's' amber eyes met his amethyst ones each time. Be it in the halls, cafeteria, on the training grounds - Amber always met Amethyst.

Unlike Shinso who was prone to avert his eyes and keep it moving when it happened, Denki would take that brief moment as a sign to jog over to him and start conversations.

Despite this, they didn't become friends back then. Shinso was too deep in his need to prove himself and he was way too bitter about people with flashy quirks to give them a chance at friendship. He didn't allow himself to actually befriend him. Or be befriended by anyone for that matter.

Now he had no excuse though. Friendship was practically forced on him as he lived in the dorms. And it was surprisingly not bothersome. Contrary to that. It was nice.

He enjoyed spending time with his new friends and getting closer to them. Especially Kaminari. He Enjoyed being the one Kaminari went to for help with studying. Enjoyed texting him and getting stupid memes and videos that actually made him laugh in response and he enjoyed letting Kaminari take selfies he'd never allow to be posted.He was becoming a very close friend, very fast.
Similar to Midoriya, Kaminari aggressively adopted him as a friend.

If he was alone either Kaminari or Midoriya would swoop in to force him to hang out.But whilst Midoriya did that vocally, convincing Shinso to come with him with his words, Denki had a more physical approach.

And with ‘physical’ Shinso meant full body tackles that the blonde called hugs which turned to him grabbing Shinso by the hand and dragging him to wherever he wanted him to be.

And that's another thing he needed to get used to. He knew Denki was a touchy-feely kind of guy even when they still were in different courses. But now that they spent more time together, living in the same dorm he saw - no, he Felt just how touchy-feely he really was firsthand.

Kaminari would be draping himself over him on movie nights. Petting his hair because it's “soft”. Playing with his hand absentmindedly when he was talking to people.He'd never had this much physical contact before. He's sure not even his birth mother held him as much as Denki did. And it completely short-circuited his mind every time.

Because socializing? Being accepted by a bunch of people? Being befriended by a whole class? He could manage that somehow.

But having not just anyone but Kaminari constantly cling to him? Warm his body up with his body, make him flush all over, and tingle in the places that connect? Nope he couldn't. He couldn't deal with that. His heart always started racing, his hands started sweating- matter of fact scratch that- his whole body began sweating and he never knew what the fuck to do with his own hands when it happened.

It was beginning to distract him from schoolwork too. Instead of concentrating on Aizawa’s lecture, he found himself drifting - thinking about how when break started Denki would be all over him again. When he was doing his homework at the common room he'd glance around waiting - hoping Kaminari would show up because he knew that meant he'd have his daily fix of hugs by him.

He was longing for the electric boy's touch when he wasn't there and he'd completely go rigid, not knowing what to do, flustered- SOS ‘error 404’ mode when he did get it.

He couldn't handle the physical contact. But he wanted it and it was confusing and he needed to put a stop to this now.

So when Denki cuddled up to Shinso once more when they were in his room studying, he pushed him away.The confused /hurt/ puppy look Kaminari gave him made his heart drop, fuck he needed to get this out before he lost his nerves.
“I don't do physical contact, Kaminari, I don't do… hugs. so please stop clinging to me and you know touching me all the time. It's uncomfortable”

Kaminari's eyebrows furrowed, and a pout decorated his face. And Shinso needed to avert his eyes again to not take everything back.

“you don't? "Kaminari asked. disappointment clear in his tone.

“yeah.. I - uh I'm sorry." Shinso rubbed his neck looking anywhere but at the blonde.

“Oh. Okay I promise I'll stop being so clingy.” Kaminari sounded dejected. Which he probably was if the sad look accompanying his sad tone was anything to go by.

A storm was making it's rounds in his gut when he felt Kaminari shift away from him, taking the warmth he radiated with him as he sat on the other end of the bed instead of next to him as before.

It felt wrong.
Shinso had a suspicion that he had just made a mistake.

The days went on and one thing he could for sure attest to was that out of all the things Kaminari was, like being funny, witty, pretty - being a liar was not one of them.

Because after he promised to stop clinging to Shinso, he had not touched him once.

Which was fine. It was what he wanted. Now Shinso wouldn't be flustered and distracted all the time so everything is fine.

They still hung out. He just sat 5 feet apart instead of laying his head on Shinso's lap.
Which was good and fine.

And in class, he could concentrate again now that he didn't have Denki's hugs to look forward to. Which was great.

This wasn't fine. Nothing was fine. His grand plan to stop getting distracted by Denki's physical affection backfired. He may not be the target of his constant need for touch anymore, but that clearly didn't mean the blonde stopped doing it to other people. instead of getting overwhelmed, flustered and distracted from being hugged, now he got distracted, frustrated and annoyed from watching Denki be physical with his other friends.
Currently he sat in Midnight's class but didn't pay her lecture any mind as his eyes were glaring at the boy sitting next to him. Or more precisely he was glaring at the tail of the boy beside him. Shinso had gotten Aoyama’s old seat. Which meant he was in the front row next to Ojiro. And Ojiro sat in front of Kaminari. And Kaminari just couldn't fucking stop touching Ojiro ’s tail.

Before Kaminari’s promise he had never been so hyper-aware of just how much the boy sought skin-to-skin contact from other people too.

It was always just a natural part of Denki he didn't pay any attention to.

But now? Now that he has been on withdrawal for the past couple of days he couldn't help but notice it. It was maddening.

When class ended his brain was just as empty as before it had started, since he hadn't retained anything of what Aizawa had taught.

His mood got slightly lifted when Kaminari jogged up to his desk. Still with a considerable distance between them though, to Shinso's dismay.

“Shinso! Hey, we wanna go to the arcade! You coming with us? “ Denki asked

“Sure”

They walked to the dorms to get ready and on the way there Denki rambled on and on about one thing or another. The space between them felt foreign still. When usually Denki would constantly bump into him and link their arms, now he made a conscious effort to stay a few steps ahead or behind Shinso. The few times they're actually side by side, Denki sometimes raised his arm and abruptly lets it fall. Probably wanting to reach out reflexively.
So now he kept walking away from him to stop himself from reaching out. And Shinso was this fucking close to just grabbing his arm and forcing him to link their arms together. The urge didn't make sense.

Honestly, he didn't know what his issue was. He wanted Denki to distance himself for a reason. It wasn't a complete lie when he said that it was uncomfortable as he couldn't fucking handle it. But why was he spiraling about this now? He got what he wanted.
It was confusing to say the least.

They got to their respective rooms, got ready and met up with Kiri Bakugou Midoriya and.. Ojiro? outside the school grounds.

Immediately Denki hugged each and every one of them. “let's go!” he shouted while keeping an arm around Kirishima's waist as he was the last person he had hugged.

He felt a poke to his ribs then Deku started talking “What's wrong Shinso ?” he asked. Shinso didn't avert his eyes from the two boys in front of him. Denki had released Kirishima's waist and linked their arms together on their walk.

“Nothing.“ Shinso mumbled.

“yeah right “ Bakugou’s gruff voice rang from next to him. “That why you look at shitty hair like you want his shitty hair to catch fire? " Bakugou scoffed.

rolling his eyes, Shinso gave him an unimpressed look
“not everyone wants people to - how do you put it? ‘ die ‘ without reason”

Bakugou snorted.
“yeah but you have a reason”

Shinso raised an eyebrow. But Bakugou didn't elaborate. Midoriya seemed unsure of what he meant. He exchanged looks with Bakugou, which Shinso couldn't decipher and then understanding dawned on the freckled face.
His mouth formed a silent ‘oh’’.

It gave him chills how they seemingly communicated with their eyes alone. They didn't say anything else on the matter.

“We're here!! “ Denki called and ran into the arcade giddly skipping the last steps like a child. Kiri looked back and just as enthusiastically called out “let's go! “ while bumping his fists together.

_____

So it turns out that Denki was incredibly skilled at arcade games. Who would've thought? He won so many tickets Shinso had to carry half of them for him.

Every arcade has a little prize corner where you can exchange the tickets you win from the games you play, for little prizes.

Apparently, Denki had seen something on the display that he wanted, so he was giving it his all to gain as many tickets as possible.

He even managed to score a high score on one of their zombie shooting games. The smile on his face every time he won a round of whatever game he played really lit up the place. It was so bright it demanded attention and Shinso was more than willing to give it. They played a two-player competitive racing game together. Two futuristic-looking motorcycles stood right next to each other. They were screwed on the floor and faced a big screen. The buttons for the controls of the game were on the handles of the fake motorcycles.

When they sat down at their respective ones their shoulders touched for the first time in a long time.
It tingled, it felt warm. The screen started playing the intro - the countdown to start was running but the screen illuminated Denki's face so much making him seem like the sun with his blonde hair. Shinso got distracted and missed his cue to start driving.

Denki laughed watching the split screen, his avatar was in the lead but Shinso's avatar didn't move.
“start playing Toshi! I don't want to win unfairly!” he laughed.

Shinso stiffened. Did he just call him-
At the same moment Denki had realized what he had said too, he stiffened up and stopped playing the game to slowly look at Shinso. “Ah, I'm sorry.. It slipped out“. His avatar on the screen now just standing still just as he was.

Shinso shook himself from the shock, staring at Denki. His game avatar still stood on the starting line waiting to finally be used.

“slipped? “

“Yeah.. “ Kaminari fiddled with the buttons.

“Okay.. “ Shinso said.

“Okay? “

“Yeah .” Shinso then smirked. “yeah you can call me Hitoshi” he looked at the screen and added “- Denki “

now it was Denki's turn to be shocked.
Taking that opportunity, Shinso finally got to his avatar and started driving. His avatar quickly caught up with Denki's and passed it. Denki realized what Shinso had done then “oh my god /you're such an ass Hitoshi!! “He yelled and started to play. In the end Denki still won.

They were on a first-name basis now and the way Kaminaris whole face lit up at having won made his fingers twitch.
The urge to reach over to the other boy and just pull him into a tight hug was overwhelming. But he couldn't. It would be weird. After all, he was the one who requested not to be touched anymore so he let the moment pass and got their tickets that came out of the machine.

When they were ready to leave they got to the counter with all the displayed possible prizes. Seeing Kirishima Bakugou and Ojiro there he realized he had hogged Denki all to himself. He wasn't sorry though.

Shinso pushed his own tickets into Denki's hand when he was pouting about not having enough for the big Gengar Pokémon plush he had his eyes on. “I don’t want anything take it” he’d said.
Denki smiled so wide. “Thank you so much Hitoshi!!! “ he shouted excitedly. “you're the best!” he beamed. Thankfully the lights in the arcane were dimmed, Shinso's' flushed face wouldn't be visible.

Then everyone took their turn to get something from the prizes.
Kirishima exchanged his tickets for a cheap crimson riot Keychain. Midoriya and Bakugou both got all might themed merch. Denki stepped up and exchanged his tickets for the grengar now that he had enough tickets to get it.

“I didn't know you liked Grengar so much” Shinso commented as Denki excitedly squeezed the plush.

“He's cool.. “ Denki said biting his lip as
If he was trying to keep more information from coming out.

“Ojiro stepped up to the counter and - oh right Ojiro was there too. He took a long moment to look over everything and then just sighed. Turning around he stepped up to Denki's space and just thrusted his hands out, presenting Denki with his tickets. “you can have them “ he showed the tickets.

Denki's eyes widened. “what?? “

“there's nothing I want. And you like this type of stuff just get yourself another thing “ Ojiro said.

Denki smiled widely and jumped up, pulling Ojiro down into a tight embrace.
“Ojiro you're a real MVP! Thank you so much” he said.

Something poked at Shinso's ribs. He didn't have to look away from Denki to know who it was.

“Shinso kun you're glaring again”
Midoriya said.

A chuckle sounded from next to him.
“you wish that was you huh“ Bakugou said making Shinso scowl even deeper. No, he just didn't understand why Denki overreacted like this for fucks sake. He had given him his tickets too?! But with Ojiro he goes full on koala nuzzling into his cheek.

“no. Why is he even here “ he spat glaring at Ojiro again. He knew why. Sero bailed so they just wanted to have an even number so everyone was paired up. Bot that Ojiro wasn't their friend. They just didn't hang out with him outside school as much. But couldn't they have asked someone to else. Someone who didn't pay attention to Denki ? Someone who Denki didn't always have his hands on.

“fucking hell eyebags just tell dunce face you're taking back what you said”

“huh?“

“don't act dumb. You told him to distance himself and now your mad at the consequences of your own words. it's pathetic just take it back. “

“how do you know about that “ Shinso fixed Bakugou with a stare. That asshole just smirked.

“uhm Shinso kun, Kaminari kun is our friend… we talk” he smiled apologetically.

“you guys talked about this? Why? “
He was confused. Why would Denki feel the need to talk about him putting up the ‘no hugs’ boundary?

Midoriya and Bakugou exchanged a look.
Another look he couldn't decipher.
“look just talk to dunce. Tell him you take it back so we can all go back to normal “

Huh?
‘we all’? What did this have to do with them?

In that moment Denki jogged up to them “here!! “ he shouted excitedly. This for u!

He gave Shinso a Pikachu plush. A small one. “for me? “

“yeah!! Now we sort of match“ Denki said, holding his grengar next to Pikachu.

Shinso looked at it for a long moment and took it. “thank you.”he said and at the excited look in Denki's face he just felt the urge to pull him into a hug. He didn't though. Instead he reached and ruffled Denki's Hair making him squeak.
–
On their way home Shinso made sure Denki would walk next to him by constantly asking questions that would keep kaminari talking to him.

“why are you staring at me so much today“ Denki laughed then and shit did that laugh sound nice. Also he was staring wasn't he? But how could he not. Denki was objectively pretty. Anyone would stare if given the opportunity. it's not a big deal. It doesn't mean anything.

Shinso shrugged. “Don't worry about it. “
He indulged and ruffled his hair again. Making him squeak again.
And fuck that was cute.
Cute..?

Shit.
–

Now Shinso hated to admit when the angry explosion boy was right but.. He was right alright?

He did really hate the consequences of his own actions. Because today at class aizawa made them do grappling techniques to train their hand to hand combat. Everyone was paired up with everyone to learn to fight against different bodies.

When it was time to pair up with Denki Shinso's heart began to race. Their match started and Shinso made a quick move to try and catch Denki . Denki was quicker, grabbing him by the waist and slamming him to the ground. Shinso didn't expect that. As he lay there on the ground trying to catch his breath, Denki sat on top of him
Hands pressing his arms to the side of Shinso’s head. His breath hitched when he came back to his senses and felt how close they were. This was the first time in a month that they had full body physical contact and he fucking missed this. Not the ‘almost losing the match’ part. But the Denki being all over him part.

Distantly he heard aizawa shout at him to fight back and he shook himself out of his stupor. Managing to buck his hips up to make Denki lose balance and then rolling over. He tried very hard to ignore the sensations in his lower body as he now was the one pressing Denki down. Denki looked up at him panting, sweat rolling down his neck and Shinso just wanted to -

Oh blood was rushing in a direction it shouldn't be rushing to. He just let his whole body fall on top of Denki then. Trapping him to the ground. He was bigger than him. So he was essentially acting like a huge weighted blanket that held the smaller boy's body in place and prevented him from standing up, and prevented him from seeing the bulge in his pants.
This wasn't normal this reaction was weird. He needed to get a grip. Hearing Aizawas's monotone voice counting down calmed him. And hearing the man who was your mentor who also was in the process of becoming your adoptive father truly was a great boner killer.

Though he could still feel Denki underneath him. His privates were thankfully not touching the boy as they were in the space between their slightly parted legs. but the rest of his body was.

Denki's body was warm, so fucking warm. He missed it. He almost said “hug me” right then and there but that would've been weird.

So yeah it was safe to say Bakugou was right. He hated the consequences of his own actions because as soon as he was declared winner and they separated again he mourned the loss of Denki's small frame against his.

Wanting badly to take back his words but not being able to sucked. What would he even say? It'd be awkward. So he continued this bullshit.

—

“not that i mind - i'm obviously better company than anyone in class A but.. Why do you suddenly spend so much time here again? “ Monoma asked. Eyebrows raised inquisitively.

“We're friends aren't we? “ Shinso grumbled, unwilling to answer the question.

“Yes, “ Monoma looked at him like he was an idiot. “but you don't spend every day with me usually. So what gives? “

“nothing. Just felt like it. “Shinso grumbled

“Someone giving you a hard time? “ the blonde looked worried.

Sighing, Shinso sat up and put his face in his hands.
‘yeah’ he thought ‘my own stupid ass is giving me problems ‘

“no. I just want to have a break from them’. Not a complete lie as he really did need a break.

Though the reason he needed a break was that he was increasingly getting more and more irritated by his classmates. And that manifested in him being an ass.

Seeing Denki cuddle up to people that weren't him just fucking stung.
His breaking point was when they had a physical exam and he scored lower than his past grades. Denki tried to console him. He told him that it is fine, that he'll be able to improve and that he believes in him. But at that moment he just wanted a hug. Denki's hands didn't even reflexively raise up in preparation anymore. Usually he would visibly have to fight his own body to follow his promise to not hug Shinso . But now he didn't even do that. It was like Denki didn't want to hug him anymore.
It hurt. It hurt so bad.

Honestly he had no idea why he had told him to stop hugging him in the first place. it wasn't like he hated it. putting a stop to it just because he got flustered and his brain went to mush was such a stupid reason. really what an idiot he was..

Then Sero came running up to them with a dejected look, he had also scored lower than before. Denki pulled Sero down into a hug. As he nuzzled his face into the crook of serous neck Shinso lost it. He stormed off and bumped harshly into Sero in the process. He distantly heard a “what the hell dude? “

“Oops!” Shinso grumbled and kept it moving.

After that instance the familiar feel of bitterness made itself home in Shinso's core. He stopped taking part in group activities, not wanting to see Denki lay on tokoyami or Sero or Kiri or Ojiro or anyone else that wasn't him really.

After a while he started declining Denki's one-on-one invites too. Because the space between them was increasingly getting more suffocating.

Avoiding Denki wasn't hard in their breaks or in the dorms. Just like now he just went to Monoma instead.

“Something must've happened “ Monoma poked him on the forehead.
“Tell me. I'm not continuing to be your escape if you don't. “

Shinso groaned.
“Then don't. “

“for fucks sake just tell me. Maybe i can help”

“you can't “

“try me”

He really didn't want to. Monoma would never let him live this down. But he was his friend. And maybe spilling would help…so he did.
He told him everything. And after his retelling he glanced a look at the blonde in front of him.

Monoma just looked at him with a blank face before he opened and closed his mouth in an effort to find words.

He finally decided on “Wow does joining Class A automatically turn you into an idiot or were you one all along? “

Shinso furrowed his brows.
“fuck you “ he grumbled.

“No seriously Shinso ,that's what's been bothering you? You told Kaminari to stop touching you, which by the way sounds weird as fuck, and he respects your wishes and now you're mad?”

Shinso shrugged. Basically. Yeah.

Monoma groaned. “You know what this is dumb.Just tell him you take it back. What's stopping you?”

“I think he doesn't want to anymore. And even if. It's awkward as shit. I'd be admitting I miss it. Isn't that weird. I don't even understand why i want him to touch me again“

Monoma groaned and dragged a hand over his face.
“you..don't understand why you want him to-? You know what you really are dense. Go “Monoma stood up and pushed at Hitoshis chest

“Huh? “

“go! Don't come back until you handle this. Until you tell Kaminari you take back what you said. “

“what why?!”

“because you're being an idiot and I'm not hanging out with idiots. Just tell him you take back what you said. Or start hugging him yourself. He'll get the message, now go!”

it's been days since he had been kicked out of Monomas room and he just started spending the time hiding away in his room. Midoriya tried forcing him to socialize again but he refused. The thought of talking to Denki and getting a possible rejection was terrifying.

—

So hiding away in his free time helped him avoid Denki to an extent. There was just so much you could do to avoid your classmate who you also lived in the same dorm with.

Especially in classes he obviously couldn't escape. The rage he felt each lesson against Ojiro was getting to a ridiculous degree. His tail was always always always in Denki's hand. Always always always being stroked. He never said no. Why didn't he say no? wasn't he getting distracted? Or did he just enjoy Denki's touch so much? Or perhaps did he like Denki ? Fuck did he give Denki all of his arcade tickets back then because he liked Denki ?

The sound of paper crinkling caught his attention and he looked down.

Shit. He had just ruined his notebook. Having clenched his hand into a fist while holding a page of his notebook made him crinkle it all up. Noone noticed except Aizawa. He shot him a stern look. His eyebrow raised a little and Shinso felt like being swallowed by the ground.

He was being weird. So what if Ojiro liked Denki ? It's not like Denki likes him back.
Right? And if he did so what. He clenched his jaw at the thought.

Why was he so angry? Was he that touch starved? That clingy himself that he didn't want to share a friend? Fuck get yourself together Shinso . It doesnt matter. You're avoiding Denki anyways. He can do what he wants with who he wants..

Though weirdly.. He didn't have to do so much work to avoid Denki anymore. The bell rang, Aizawa asked him to stay back and even though he was forced to stay back, Denki didn't spare him even a glance as he passed him. It was like..

Oh
Shinso's heart sank. Denki was avoiding him too, wasn't he?

Now that he thought about it..
When they were in the same vicinity Shinso's eyes still instinctively found blonde hair with black highlights. Though he hadn't needed to avert his eyes in a while. Amethyst hadn't met Amber in a while.

Oh.

Dread filled Shinso . Oh no. No no no.
This was stupid this was so dumb. He tried making eye contact over the course of a couple days and never managed to catch Denki's eye. It was like he was a ghost to him. The few times Amethyst did meet amber it was so quick he wouldn't count it as Denki was the one to avert his beautiful eyes fast. And in the split second it happened Shinso felt like he could see a twinge of sadness behind his eyes. He hoped it wasn't because of him.
He had a suspicion it was.

—

Physical team up mission training was like a blessing sent by the UA Teachers because that's when he was paired up with Denki again. It was the first time in a long time that he talked to the blonde. He was beautiful, it felt good to hear his voice directed at him again. It felt right talking to him again. But it was missing the electric boy's usual energy. And their eyes never connected long enough. Denki kept trying to avert his eyes even as they talked strategy.

And this was dumb this was so stupid. At night he stared at his Pikachu plush and couldn't help but think of Denki as he squeezed its cheeks. Denki had given him this. Was he aware of how much it looked like himself? He groaned. He probably did, Denki was sappy like that. Was this his way of reminding him of him.? Or was he just reading into it?

This was stupid. So so stupid. He had just ruined his friendship over his inability to handle affection. He wanted his friend back. He pouted.

—-

The next day his schoolbag had a new addition. Mina immediately clocked it when he entered the classrooms “aww!! What a cute plush! I didn't know you were a Pokémon fan Shinso ! “ she cooed.

“I'm not.“ Shinso said coolly. “it was a gift. My friend gave it to me.“ he chanced a glance at Denki and ironically felt electricity run down his spine when their eyes met. Denki's wide eyes looked back and forth between him and his bag. Shinso smiled then. His smile must've been shocking because Denki's eyes blew even wider, mouth agape . He looked much less shocked than confused and that made Shinso chuckle.

It was now or never.
He strided up to Denki's seat and looked down at the sitting boy.
“Hey, “ he said.

“uh.. Hey?” Denki asked breathlessly and confused.

He had called Monoma prior to this. Had explained that he just ruined Denki's and his friendship further by totally avoiding him and Monoma had yelled at him for being stupid. He also said something he hadn't considered before. Monoma implied that distancing himself probably hurt Denki's feelings and when Shinso combined that thought with his memory of Denki's strained look every time they did interact it made sense.
He fucked up and Monoma helped him write down what he should say.

“i- uhm.. Look I've been an ass im not going to lie and find excuses. You know I avoided you. I just want to say I'm sorry and - “he trailed off and took a deep breath in preparation of what he was about to say.
“it had nothing to do with you. Trust me I was just being dumb. But can we please go back to being how we were? I want to be close to you again. I won't avoid you anymore “ he could feel several eyes on him. Could hear the not so silent whispers but he didn't care. He just wanted his friend back. Denki stared at him, expression unreadable for a while until he began smiling widely. “Of course Hitoshi.. I missed you. “

Heart beating fast at the ‘i missed you Shinso didn't have time to respond as present mic came into the room and started his lesson. And this time not even Ojiro 's tail could upset him.. Well not as much as before at least.

—--
Okay so he may not have been as specific with his apology. Him and Denki were hanging out again, we're texting again but Denki didn't start hugging him. Or getting closer in the physical sense.

But Shinso felt like he used up all his social energy by apologizing sincerely a few days ago. He could do the first step and start hugging Denki like how Monoma suggested but he was terrified of Denki pushing him away.

Wait.
Oh. That's how Denki felt wasn't it. Fuck.

—
He was starting to think this was his punishment for the sports festival. He had brainwashed Ojiro , making him withdraw from the sports festival and now Ojiro was being an eyesore, torturing him. If he was next to Denki his tail would be in Denki's hands.
Denki continued hugging his other friends too but since Shinso had to endure every class seeing Denki hold onto Ojiro that boy in particular became his one sided enemy.

At some point he asked Denki why he keeps touching Ojiro 's tail.
"I dunno it's soft?" was Denki's very unsatisfactory reply.

As he grumbled about it to Midoriya one time on the phone Bakugou chimed in. Apparently he was on speaker. Which - rude? - Midoriya shouldn't just put him on speaker without warning him.

"It's his ADHD.” Bakugou commented”Helps him stop fidgeting" and that made sense Shinso supposed?

Shinso nodded. Still bothered, eyebrows furrowed. When he sees Denki play with Ojiro's tail even when they're doing their school work Shinso could scream at him to stop. But that would be psychotic. So instead he excused himself to the bathroom more often than not. Deliberately walking behind Ojiro to knock his tail out of Denki's hands in passing. It happened so often Denki instinctively let go of Ojiro 's tail as soon as Hitoshi even just shifted in his chair. But it wasn't enough to keep his hands permanently away from the boy.

When he accompanied Midoriya to the toy store one day to get eri a gift for her upcoming birthday, Shinso saw something that caught his attention. There on a shelf was a huge sign reading "FIDGET TOYS" Shinso stared at it.
A plan was beginning to form in his head and he knew fighting against it was useless.

The next day in class Shinso wordlessly gave Denki a spinning fidget toy. Denki's eyes went wide

"wha–”

“it's for your adhd. Should help you focus” he said nonchalantly and Denki looked baffled before he smiled genuinely.

“Thank you so much Shinso !" Shinso feels his insides swoop.

"t's nothing.. Use it in class instead of bothering Ojiro " he said.

Denki's smile dropped. “oh.. Did Ojiro say I was bothering him too? “ he asked, pouting.

Shinso noticed the ‘ too’ but before he could question it he got interrupted.

"What's bothering me?" Ojiro, who just got to his seat at that moment, asked.

"Me touching your tail.." Denki says sheepishly.

Ojiro looked confused. "huh? No?"

Now Denki parallels the confusion, he turns to look at Shinso "huh - but?"

"Just use the toy!" Shinso bit out and rushed to his seat, not looking back. Fuck this didn't go as smoothly as he hoped.

Denki and Ojiro stared at him. He could feel it.
They settled down then when class started.

It felt good to see Denki use the fidget toy, the teachers knew about his adhd so none of them told him to put it away. Shinso may have reminded Aizawa of it too.
but over the course of the day Denki abandoned it to go back to fidgeting with Ojiro 's tail. It made Shinso scowl. Fuck why cant he just keep his hands to himself or on the toy.

Aizawa could tell something was off, could see Shinso's scowl and raised an eyebrow as he tried tracking Shinso's eye direction.

The next day Shinso wordlessly put two more fidget toys on Denki's desk. When Denki questions it Shinso just waves him off “just use them he said”

This time the toys keep Denki occupied for longer but nearing the end of the day he changes the toys for Ojiro 's tail again. Shinso slams his book on the table a little more harshly and catches the attention of mic who was their teacher for that class. He too tracks his eye direction to find Shinso staring at Denki's hands...

The week continues. It's become a routine of sorts Shinso buying and giving Denki multiple fidget toys and getting more and more irritated every time the blonde stopped using them in exchange for the tail.

Aizawa and present mic had noticed their soon to be son buying a lot of fidget toys that later ended up on Denki's desk. It wasn't hard to put one and one together and figure out what was his goal. So after a while of him increasingly getting more irritated they decided they'd help him out a bit. They knew playing favorites wasn't fair, but it was their soon to be son so who could blame them. Besides, changing up seating arrangements can be beneficial for everyone. That's how they justified it as they announced that everyone would get a new seating arrangement.

They obviously sat Ojiro away from kaminari. Now their son sat in front of the blonde who's hand he'd been glaring at for the past - god knows how long.

Of course they didn't tell Shinso that they did this for him. Shinso was none the wiser. But visibly content.

-

Shinso felt relieved Ojiro wasn't in front of Denki anymore but Denki whined about not being able to touch his tail anymore.

It irritated Shinso . "What's so good about his tail?!" he snapped, patience finally running thin. "Just use the toys I gave you if you need to fidget!" Denki looked confused... "uh dude thanks for the toys i really appreciate the gesture. but like. I dunno, Ojiro's tail is so soft and it belongs to someone who lives it's different? it's like petting a cat.. Or a naked mole rat." he giggled.

Shinso scowled, so basically his gifts weren't enough and Ojiro was better. "My hair is soft too?!” he blurted out frustration seeping through “And it belongs to me! I don't know if you can tell but I live too!" he raised his voice.

"you…yeah? But you don't want me to touch you?” the confusion was written all over Denki's face and Shinso groaned.

“it's.. it's okay now” he said. Unable to say the words ‘ i take it back’ unable to say ‘i want you to ‘ but he hoped but still got the message across.
“are you- uh wait let me just see if we're on the same page here. Are you offering me to play with your hair in class right now?" a light blush dusted his nose then and Shinso clenched his jaw not to scream "cute" out loud.

Shinso's' own cheeks flushed when the question sunk in though.
He couldn't bring himself to say yes. So he just said “duh” because he was an idiot.

Denki started in what probably was even more confusion before he smiled. "alright. Thanks Shinso”

–

The first time Denki touched his hair in class his whole body began shivering. At first Denki's touch was hesitant but when he didn't receive any negative reaction he continued petting his head. Shinso reveled in it. And Aizawa didn't say anything when Shinso scooted their desks closer to each other for easier access.

Denki's fingers gliding through his locks made him shiver every now and then but he enjoyed it.

After that it was natural for Denki to touch Shinso's hair. Whenever they were near each other Denki's hand found Shinso's hair and whenever he was close to Ojiro Shinso would step between them to make sure if Denki wanted to fidget he'd fidget with Shinso's hair.

Denki didn't touch Ojiro anymore. Because Shinso made sure he wouldn't.

Why did it bother Shinso so much in the first place? Shinso gradually had a suspicion.. But he didn't feel like unpacking that. He'd like to build the friendship a little longer.

The blonde never went further than petting his hair. No hugs, no linked arms, no playing with his hands. It seemed like Denki was scared of breaching Shinso's boundaries.

On movie night they sat on the couch with Kirishima, Denki sat sandwiched between them.the later it got Denki got more drowsy his eyes heavy at least if the long seconds he took when blinking was anything to go by. Shinso watched him carefully. He was cute like this. All sleepy. Denki's eyes shut and his body slowly began to relax into the cushions of the couch. When he began shifting in his sleep and began leaning over into Kirishima's side, Kirishima automatically opened his arms. Readying himself to catch Denki like all the other times the blonde fell asleep next to him. But Denki's head never fell on his chest. Because Shinso had reached out and pulled Denki against himself.

Denki's head rested on his shoulder, Shinso's arm was thrown around him holding him by the waist. He fixed his eyes on the tv not actually taking in any of the movie. He just didn't want to meet Kirishima’s gaze.

That was the start of Shinso's acceptance of his feelings. He hated seeing Denki hug other people, hated not being able to hug him himself. And wasn't going to keep waiting for Denki to do the first step. Because it was his fault Denki didn't feel like he could be cuddled up to to begin with. Words were still difficult. Awkward still, but as Monoma suggested he'd just show him with his actions.

Denki woke up comfortable and uncomfortable at the same time. His pillow was weird. It was firm and soft and warm he blinked his eyes open slowly and startled at the sight in front of him. The common room was dark and empty, no one was there but right under him lay Shinso . His eyes were closed and Denki's heart began racing. Holy shit no fuck Shinso didn't want this fuck.

A hand stopped him from his effort to jump up.
“go to sleep.” Shinso grumbled his voice rough from sleep.. The vibrations in his chest send a shiver down his spine. Shinso's hand kept holding his waist. Kept pressing Denki back down, squeezing Denki's waist a little tighter. Embracing him longer.
And if he didn't know it any better he'd say Shinso had the electricity quirk.

His mind was racing just as hard as his heart was. He still lay there propped up on his hands looking down at Shinso. The hallway lights illuminated his face and Denki wondered what was going on. Was he dreaming? Shinso shifted. Shinso's other hand came up and found its way into Denki's hair. He petted it before pulling Denki down and onto his chest. He could feel his heartbeat, it was in tune with his own. He must be nervous too. Whatever was happening Denki welcomed it. He missed cuddling Shinso missed his warmth and even if this was just sleepy Shinso's behavior and tomorrow everything would go back to normal he would take it. And slowly their heartbeats slowed down and they fell asleep.

Tomorrow came and it was nothing like before. In the morning Shinso invaded Denki's personal space without much flare around it. He simply rested his head on Denki's shoulder pulling him into an embrace from behind as Denki was making himself a hot cocoa.

“you want some? “ Denki squeaked and Shinso shook his head. Rubbing his chin against his shoulder when doing so. Goosebumps sparked across his arms. What was going on?

Now his odd behavior didn't stop, it's been a week and Shinso constantly found a way to - to touch him. Not in a weird sex offender type of way but in a cuddly teddy bear kind of way. On their way from and to classes he linked their arms. When they were in training and needed to wait for other matches to be done he slung an arm around Denki , when they sat on.. Literally any couch or bed he'd pull Denki into his chest cuddling into him.

Denki was confused to say the least.

When Shinso had told him to stop hugging him a few months back it hurt. He knew he could be a lot sometimes. That he was touchy feely but he couldn't help it. Skin to skin contact, hugging his friends was his love language… And well.. If he was already touchy feely with platonic love. His clinginess just shot through the roof when it was romantic in nature.

He may or may not have been crushing on Shinso since their joint training in first year. To the point he'd always look for him in the halls, on training grounds or the cafeteria. Anywhere where he could be, he searched and was always thrilled when his amber eyes found its amethyst target.

When he joined their class he was excited. Everyone was excited, but he'd like to think he was the most excited. He tried befriending him again and this time the indigo haired insomniac let him. They got so close and Denki really felt like there was a connection there. One that could mean more.

He loved hugging and cuddling with his other friends too but not as much as Hitoshi. And it was different. He didn't hug them as tightly as intimately and as long as he did Hitoshi. And usually when his other friends had enough skinship they'd just push him away lightly. That was his cue that it was enough for the day.

But to be told by your crush that all of your hugs are too much? That all of it he doesn't want? It stung. It hurt, it felt like a rejection without him even confessing yet and he felt embarrassed too. Ashamed even.
Were all of his friends uncomfortable with him? Were they just too nice to say anything were they acting?

He felt Shinso pull back and it hurt so he talked to Midoriya and Bakugou about it. Midoriya was nice and Bakugou was real. He could get an honest opinion there. What he didn't expect was that he'd start bawling his eyes out as soon as he started talking about it.

Soon his other best friends also knew about what happened. They all promised that they didn't hate Denki's hugs. That they'd just push him off if it was too much. So Denki started seeking comfort with them more.

They said some people just didn’t like physical affection like Bakugou and it wasn't anything personal and Denki believed it. He believed it until Shinso started completely avoiding him.

He started seeing Monoma more, stopped hanging out with class A, always averted his eyes and it felt like a breakup. Which was stupid because they didn't date.

He thought he was sick of him and their friendship was over.

Shinso had acted weird then. Constantly knocking into him and his friends. Sero, Ojiro Kirishima. He wanted to ask what his deal was but felt like it wasn't his place. And then suddenly he mellowed out.

Suddenly Denki found fidget toys on his desk. Shinso told him to use them instead of touching Ojiro 's tail. Then he apologized out of nowhere and offered that he could just touch Shinso's hair after they had new seating arrangements. And they were back to being friends.

Denki had no idea what was going through that head of his… maybe he just felt bad about Denki being sad to not be sitting behind Ojiro anymore… But then again Shinso also let him pet his hair when Ojiro was around.’

And now he was here. In Shinso's room, Shinso holding his waist and head rested on Shinso's shoulder as they watched ‘bee movie.
Shinso stroked his sides. Kept him close and Denki honestly had had enough of playing this weird ‘what will Shinso do next without any logical explanation’ game. So he paused the movie and turned to face Shinso . Shinso was unwilling to let go of his waist so they just sat next to each other pressed close.

“im confused “Denki finally said

“yeah it doesn't make sense the girl is in love with the bee… weird shit “

“No not that “ Denki said and pushed at Shinso to make him stop holding his waist. Shinso pouted and put his hand on Denki's thigh instead.
A flush spread on Denki's cheeks.

“What then? “

“This? “Denki pointed between the two “All of the past months? You tell me you don't do physical contact, telling me to stop touching you, then you ignore me for a while, get mad at me, have mood swings, then you apologize without explaining anything and let me touch your hair and now you're all over me! Look where your hand is!“ he pointed at it, his voice breaking from the high pitch.

Shinso looked like a kicked puppy. He pulled his hand away “you don't like it?

Denki groaned and grabbed his hand forcing it back on his thigh.

“That's not what I said “ he flushed. Don't ignore the rest of what I said, just explain please.“

Shinso sighed and sat up a little. He laid his forehead on Denki's shoulder to avert his eyes. “I..am not good with words. “

Denki petted his leg.
“try. “

“I regretted it- telling you to stay away I mean. I only said it because I got flustered. I couldn't admit I wanted to take my words back so I just avoided you. But then our friendship was also suffering. I didn't want that.. So I tried uh” he shook his head and raised his head lookin at Denki

“I tried winning your friendship back. I didn't know how to say that I wanted you to be cuddly with me again so I just started being cuddly myself.“

Denki was speechless. That… was the reason for all this. Shinso told him to stop and then just didn't know how to take his words back? Against his better judgment Denki burst out in laughter.

Shinso pouted again. “see this is why i don't communicate “

Denki couldn't stop shaking from his laughter. “Hitoshi “he wheezed “if you'd communicate we wouldn't have spent months miserable “

“yeah well you live and you learn”
Shinso grumbled. But the side of his lip twitched up into a smirk unable to stay unaffected by Denki's infectious laughter.

“But wait- what was the deal with you shoving people all the time.. And all the glaring? “

Shinso blinked. “oh that? “ he mulled the words over in his head. “you know what fuck it. No more miscommunication. I couldn't stand seeing you all over them. It annoyed me. “

“ooh were you jealous? “ Denki cooed playfully. Shinso let out a laugh.

“Actually, yeah. “ he admitted and sheepishly rubbed his neck.

“I wanted it to be me and.. Who would like seeing their crush all over someone else “ the last part was muttered.

Amethyst met Amber once more. A long moment passed only their heartbeats racing in unison filled the space.

Shinso then lifted his hand from Denki's thigh and shifted. “ I know you hug people platonically. it's okay but yeah it hurts seeing it and i get if you need a break from me now that you know of my feelings i'm sorry i put you through so much confusing behavior. it's okay I'll just wait until you feel comfortable to talk to me again, Shinso rambled.

Shinso never rambled. It pulled Denki out of his stupor. In one swift move he grabbed Shinso by the hand before he could leave he abruptly pulled him back on the back making him stumble on to him.

“Ouch! What are you-? “ Shinso's question got cut short with a quick kiss on his lips. If it even could be counted as a kiss. Their lips barely touched but Denki was red as a tomato regardless.

“i- uh. I kinda have been crushing on you since first year so.. “ he trailed off.

Shinso's eyes were blown wide open.
The cute red flush on Denki's face and the way he had trouble keeping up the eye contact was enough to make Shinso's patience snap. He surged forwards catching Denki's lips with his. He kissed him with a desperate urgency only a boy that has pined for something they thought they couldn't get could have. They came up for breath and panted into each other's mouths. Their breaths were swallowed by the other.

Denki tilted his head giving Shinso another chaste kiss which Shinso reciprocated by deepening it again. Their positions let Shinso's mind drift but before his body could have that kind of reaction they broke the kiss to come back up for breath again.

Denki giggled then and it was the prettiest, most beautiful sound to Shinso's ears.

“just so we are on the same page… Are we boyfriends now? “
Shinso smirked and dipped down to kiss Denki again.

Denki pushed him off. “ as much as I like this I need vocal confirmation”

“Yes” Shinso breathed. “you're mine “

Denki hid his face ”You're mine too” he whispered.

_____

When they broke the news to their friends and parents all of them let out a breath of relief.

Aizawa was just glad to not have to see his constant frown anymore even if that meant another loud blonde would inevitably join the family one day.

“finally about time” Bakugou said

“ I already had a page of strategy in my notebook that I wanted to show you guys if you hadn't figured it out on your own but I'm glad you did” Midoriya said.

Monoma sent him a thumbs up emoji and told Shinso to bring Denki around in their next hang out.

He was content that everyone now knew that he was off limit he wouldn't forbid him from hugging others, denki iked physical touch even platonically but now everyone knew to keep their hands to themselves and to keep it to a very platonic way. if they didn't shinso  had no problem to bump into them again.

But it was barely a problem. Both of them stuck to each other like glue anyways. There was no room to take Denki away from him.

One thing Shinso learned about himself was also that he really truly didn't like physical contact the few times Kirishima, Mina, or Midoriya hugged him he really just endured it. But with Denki he couldn't get enough of his touches of his hugs of his handhold and kisses and he was happy he would never have to be without it.

-
One day in their third year of high school they woke up in each other's arms. It was a regular Sunday morning. No special occasion, but when sleepy Amber eyes met Amethyst ones both feel instinctively that it's time to say it. They kiss each other and simultaneously whisper “I love you “ cuddling into each other they fall back asleep.