Chapter Text
Denki sits between Katsuki and Eijirou as the Bakusquad gathers to drink and watch movies, much to Katsuki’s chagrin. His leg is bouncing against Denki’s for two reasons, and only one of them has to do with the people sitting on a beanbag all curled together, kissing each other as they ignore the movie they put on. Katsuki told them they weren’t having a squad night at his place tonight. He said it loudly even as they barged past him and encroached on his space on the night when Izuku and his boyfriend, Tetsu, were patrolling together. Needless to say, Katsuki is both worried about his partner and boyfriend, and pissed off because of the people he calls friends. Denki nudges Katsuki and tilts his head in concern, but Katsuki shrugs him off. And he knows it’s because of the situation he and Eijirou have talked to him about without the other three knowing, which means Katsuki is getting close to saying fuck it to his plan.
“Seriously, Denki, stop bouncing your fucking leg. It’s making you more annoying than usual.” groans Hanta as Mina and Kyoka cuddle on either side of him on the beanbag they placed in front of the coffee table.
“I’m not though. I’m just on my phone to know whether Izuku and Tetsu are doing okay with this villain.” mumbles Denki as he refreshes the page he’s on to try to keep up with the action, and he finds the livestream that he lost when his fat thumb flicked against the phone in surprise of being addressed and called annoying.
“He’s not even bouncing his knee, stop being a dick.” huffs Katsuki quietly as he forces himself not to snap out, hoping for a reason to explode on them. He wants to hurt them the way they’ve been hurting Denki for the last six months.
“Do you really dislike us so much that you have to be on your phone? Why are you even still here if you don’t want to watch the movies with us?” huffs Mina coldly as Hanta glares at him, but then her voice drops enough that he almost misses what she adds. “No one even likes you, idiot.”
“Hey, don’t say that about Denks!” exclaims Eijirou seriously, almost surprised by her words, but Denki just nudges him and shakes his head.
“I don’t know where this is even coming from, but whatever. I always check on Izu and Tetsu when they patrol together and we’re together because Ei and Kats get nervous, not that Kats likes to admit it, but I’ve done that for the last three years. You all know that. And by the way, they’re doing fine. Villain takedown went easily enough, and it didn’t look like either of them had any marks on them after they got the villain into the cruiser.” replies Denki softly, putting his phone back into his sweatpants pocket, furrowing his brow at her in confusion for a moment when she joins Hanta in glaring at him, but then he looks between Katsuki and Eijirou instead as he delivers the good news.
“Thanks, Denks, you’re the best! And stop glaring at him, he didn’t do anything wrong!” huffs Eijirou with an eye roll as he looks at them.
“Thanks Sparky, appreciate it.” mumbles Katsuki as his leg stops bouncing so harshly, but his words are covered by Kyoka’s as she turns around to glower at Denki and sneers, “Oh come on, Kiri! He was being a jerk and trying to make Hanta out to be a liar, and he was rude to Mina for no reason! We shouldn’t be getting lectured because he’s got a problem with us for some reason.”
Denki shrinks back as all three of them glare at him, but Eijirou and Katsuki stand up immediately to block him from view.
“What is your problem with Denki? Seriously? It’s been like this for the last six months, you blame everything on him, and then try to act like victims! What is your problem?” asks Eijirou accusingly as he points at the three of them.
“And he wasn’t fucking bouncing his leg, I was. If Tapeface had working fucking eyes, he’d have known that, but instead he put the blame on Denki who wasn’t even fucking fiddling like normal because you three have been on him about it constantly.” sneers Katsuki as his hands pop with small, controlled explosions that show that he’s still got control of his anger, looking at Hanta first before turning his glare on Mina and Kyoka too. “And I know your pink ass didn’t come at him about no one liking him because Denki was my friend before you three came the fuck along. I wouldn’t be friends with him if I didn’t fucking like him! Earphones, as far as your stupid ass words go, I don’t know where the fuck you get off on being a bitch to him, but you need to get your shit checked. All three of you do because Denki is my friend, this is my fucking apartment, and if you three have a goddamn problem with it, then get the fuck out and stay out!”
“Come on, Bakubabes! We shouldn’t have to leave just because we’re tired of pretending that Denki isn’t annoying. He’s such a baby, whining and needy in the worst way. You can’t seriously like him when he acts like that! And you know he only became friends with you to use you for his own gain and popularity unlike us. We care about you! So, why don’t you just kick him out of the squad already? You don’t actually like him, and he’s just a user.” snaps Mina as she stands up, putting a hand on her hip as she points an accusing finger at Denki, pure hatred in her voice.
“You can’t honestly fucking believe that bullshit-” growls Katsuki as his hands pop harder, the explosions less controlled and more angry.
“Stop, just stop. I- I’m going to go. I don’t need to be here for this bullshit while she rants for the sake of trying to- I’ll be downstairs, just fucking yell at me when I can come up and go the fuck to sleep. And for the record, Katsuki and Eijirou are my best friends, and I would do anything for them, literally anything.” Denki’s voice is harsh and broken as tears fall down his cheeks, but he stands his ground as he climbs his way off the couch to stand by the coffee table, between the five as they argue. “I thought I would do the same for you three because I thought you would too, but clearly, I made the wrong judgment becoming friends with three people who think I’m some annoying person to keep around for a goddamn laugh. I don’t know what I did to garner this hate, but at this point, it doesn’t even matter anymore. You want me gone? I’m gone.”
“Denki, you know we don’t agree with them-” starts Eijirou as Denki turns to head for the door.
“I know, Ei, I know. But I can’t listen to this shit anymore.” replies Denki before he makes his way out of the room and heads to the elevator, trying to wipe the tears off his cheeks but they keep coming.
He makes his way into the elevator, riding it down as his shoulders shake while he bites his lip to keep from sobbing, and then he makes his way into the lobby. He freezes as he reaches the comfy set-up near the entrance because on the couch lies the adorable man he’s seen several times in the last six months of leaving these squad nights early to avoid the fighting.
He hesitates for a few minutes, worried about disturbing him as he sleeps, but ultimately, he decides he needs to sit in his chair because he needs the comfort it’ll provide rather than the harsh chair by the elevator. So, he settles into the chair, completely unsurprised when a purple eye locks on him for a moment before disappearing behind a pale eyelid again.
The silence of the lobby and the comfortability of the chair eases the anger, huff, and betrayed feeling swirling in his chest making him feel sick to his stomach.
Mina, Hanta, and Kyoka come down ten minutes later looking pissed and glaring at him as they mutter about how “he’s turned their own friends against them because he’s a pathetic user that nobody else can see but them.” The security guard at the door lets them know they’ve been banned from the building per request of Dynamight, and they glare venomously at him from the door.
“This isn’t over you bastard!” yells Hanta harshly.
“You don’t get to turn everyone against us, asshole!” spits Mina lowly.
“You won’t win this, Denki, not when you’ve hurt me like you did.” says Kyoka quietly enough to almost miss, but it came out so loud in the quiet room.
Denki watches as the security guard gets them out of the building, and he waits as he tries to wipe his face clean of all the tears. When his phone buzzes in his pocket, he’s standing and walking towards the elevator before he’s even pulled it all the way out of his pocket yet, but he stops halfway there to look back at the sleeping man dressed in slacks and a button-down shirt with a capture weapon under his head.
Blasty 💥: Coast is fucking clear, get your ass back up here. We’ve got shit to do.
Denki: 👍🏻
Denki doesn’t think about it, he just turns on his feet and walks back over to the sleeping man. He crouches down in front of him, hand hesitating to reach out to touch the soft purple hair even though it’s pulled back into a bun, those light Eyebags that make him want to let the guy sleep, he stops himself.
“Hey, they’re gone, and Kats says it’s time to go back upstairs. You should probably head to your apartment now.” croaks Denki trying to hide the crack on his voice that’s full of hurt and pain.
“You should get better friends.” huffs Hitoshi as his eyelids flutter open to show purple eyes and white pupils that look at him, widening just slightly at the close proximity.
Denki’s own eyes widened at the sight of those eyes locking on him, but then he brings his hand back to himself and sighs.
“They’re not all bad, and Kats keeps trying to figure out what the base of the problem is. It’s the whole reason the problems still come, and I end up down here.” replies Denki as he stands from his crouching, running a hand down his face as he tries to ease the heat starting on his cheeks.
“This Kats is a good friend then? Cause if he’s your significant other, I'm going to have to beat his ass on principle.” says Hitoshi as he sits up and wraps his capture weapon around his neck again.
“He’s a good friend, and he’s dating TetsuTetsu. They, along with Eiji, are trying to figure out why Mina, Hanta, and Kyoka don’t want to be around me and are being absolute assholes.” rambles Denki before he’s ducking his head and hiding his red face with his hands as he cringes at himself. “And I’m talking to a stranger about my problems, I'm so sorry.”
“Hitoshi Yamada-Aizawa, and I bet I could figure that shit out faster.” replies Hitoshi with a tired sigh as he stands and holds a hand out towards the blonde. “Though just from looking at you, I'm guessing their money hungry bitches lost to the power of their jobs, and because you’re a genuinely good person, they have a problem with it. You deserve better and tell this Kats he needs to cuss them out or come and get me and I’ll do it for him.”
“Denki Kaminari, and that last name makes me think you are related to Hizashi and Shota, they taught me. I went to UA. And I appreciate your observations, and you’re probably right, but I don’t really want you to be since we’ve been friends since our first year at UA. But it’s life, and I’ll live or whatever.” replies Denki as he shakes Hitoshi’s hand, a half-smile curving his lips, but then he’s dropping Hitoshi’s hand and heading for the elevator. Calling over his shoulder even as he looks down at the hand that’s still tingling from the warmth of Hitoshi’s touch. “Oh, and Kats is Katsuki Bakugou. Dynamight? He’s got no problem cussing people out, he just has a problem not knowing why he’s cussing people he trusted out, but I’ll let him know you want a shot at ‘em. He’s probably gonna be down for it, probably more so after what went down tonight.”
“They’re my dads, actually. And of course, it’s fucking Dynamight. Tell him Mockingbird said it, he knows where to find me, and wait… do you live with him and steel man?” asks Hitoshi loud enough to be heard as he jogs over to the elevators while Denki presses the button to go up.
“That’s wild! Oh, yup, but only for a little while. My apartment got smashed in the villain attack he and Izu, or Deku, were part of two weeks ago, and it’s still not finished yet. I’m staying with them until my lease is up and then searching for a new place.” explains Denki brightly, a soft chuckle leaves him, and he barely hides the awe that he feels when he catches sight of a smile being hidden in that capture weapon around Hitoshi’s neck.
“Nice of him to let you room with him, dickish of him to keep doing these damn meet ups on the nights I do interrogations instead of patrols.” grumbles Hitoshi with a hidden pout as he steps onto the empty elevator as soon as the doors open. His long finger is hitting the button for his level, and Denki’s, once Denki hops in.
Denki is still fighting off the flutters in his stomach at the sight of Hitoshi’s smile as he settles on the other side of the elevator, while Hitoshi leans his head back against his side and closes his eyes.
“Yeah, he can be an asshole, but he’s the best. As for the meet ups, he doesn’t exactly get a choice, they all just show up.” explains Denki as he scrunches his nose to erase the soft scowl on his face as those purple eyes lock on him again, narrowing as though they caught the scowl he’d tried to hide. “He always hollers at me and Eiji to join when they do because the security won’t kick them out since they’re heroes too. Although it seems Kats figured out how to make that happen, so maybe it’ll be alright now.”
“Okay, all three of you seriously need better friends. And they’re chasing rankings and popularity if they’re being dicks to you. You’re Chargebolt, right? One of the most popular spotlight hero’s around right now, only second to Red Riot and Deku.” says Hitoshi so matter-of-factly that it’s like it’s a normal thing for him to just call people out. But then his eyes narrow again, and he’s got this angry vibe pouring off him. But Denki doesn’t feel afraid of it like he normally would. “They’re probably trying to hurt your self-esteem or something so they can take over. They’re probably close to you in popularity ranks, right? Those ranks are the promotions and interviews and meet and greets ranks that matter.”
“Yep, they’re all pretty close, actually they’re only behind me by two people. Huh, maybe it is all back to us being heroes… thanks, Hitoshi, I’ll tell the guys when I get up there.” says Denki softly, gut-punched sounding as the doors open, and Hitoshi straightens up, hand coming to hold the capture weapon as he steps out of the elevator.
“No problem, Denki. And I’m room 36, if you ever wanna escape. The key is tucked under the nameplate. You can always hang out there, whether I'm home or not.” offers Hitoshi softly as he sticks a hand on the edge of the elevator to keep it open as he talks. His voice is soft and low, and Denki feels dazed at the unexpected offer and the pure kindness in his voice. “Check if I’m in the lobby first though because I usually go there on nights like these, and while it seems like they’re done happening, I’m probably going to go there on reflex anyways. We can go do something else whenever you need an escape or if this manages to happen again despite the security saying they aren’t allowed back in here.”
“I just might take you up on that, Hitoshi… maybe even if they don’t try again. It was really nice meeting you.” whispers Denki with an awed tone as he smiles thankfully at him, almost hating the fact that he’s probably not going to see this man again.
“Anytime, the offer is there. It was real nice to meet you too, Denki.” replies Hitoshi with a smile of his own that he starts to hide in his capture weapon as he pulls his hand away from the elevator.
“You have a pretty smile, don’t hide it!” says Denki in a daze as his golden eyes lock on that smile while the doors close, immediately facepalming when he can’t see Hitoshi anymore, even if he’s almost positive his cheeks were turning a light pink.
He’s still facepalming as he walks to the apartment he’s been calling home recently. When he makes his way inside, he sees Katsuki and Eijirou waiting, Eijirou is wringing his hands as he sits on the couch while Katsuki lets off mini explosions behind the couch.
“Guys?” asks Denki nervously, rubbing a hand against the back of his neck as he steps up to the coffee table before freezing and glancing between them.
“We need to talk about what’s happening between them and you. We think we have an idea for Hanta, he’s gone into this unknowingly it seems. For him, all he keeps doing is agreeing with the girls or voicing things they’re whispering to him.” says Eijirou with a scowl on his typically happy face that has Denki wincing.
“Guys, I-” starts Denki sadly, he didn’t mean to make life harder on them or bring them into whatever mess he’s created with their friends.
“Mina has a problem with rankings, that’s all she kept saying was using to get higher in our careers which doesn’t fucking work as well as she thinks it would because if it did, then Neito’s ranking would be higher just from being around you.” growls Katsuki, his face in a permanent glare as he looks at his still lightly exploding hands.
“Guys, I don’t-” Denki tries again, but Eijirou talks over him again, turning to look at Katsuki.
“And Kyoka, she was just all, he’s hurt me, he’s done this and said this or that. Like she honestly has made herself out to be a victim like Denki would ever hurt her.” rants Eijirou frustratedly, hands coming up to grip at his hair and the back of the couch like he genuinely can’t understand what’s happening.
“Guys!” yells Denki loudly, tears falling down his face as he clenched his eyes shut because he gets it, he’s ruined their friendship. “Please, just, please just stop! Okay? Just stop.”
The silence that follows has him opening his eyes and looking between his two friends and their shocked, and worried looks, with blurred vision.
“Denks, you know you didn’t do anything wrong, right?” asks Eijirou softly as he stands and walks over to him.
“Don’t, just don’t Ei. Please, it’s obvious that I did something because six years have passed since we’ve all been friends in UA. We’re in our third year as official Pro Heroes, and suddenly Mina, Hanta, and Kyoka want nothing to fucking do with me! They want me out of the squad, and I can’t even deny them that because it probably would be better without me.” rants Denki harshly as he steps back, pressing against the door as his hands come up to run through his blonde hair and his free hand curls into a cool fist that’s quickly pressing against his forehead.
“No, sparky, you didn’t do shit wrong! You fucking didn’t! You’ve been nothing but the best friend a person could ask for through fucking everything, so don’t you blame yourself because they’re all assholes. And this squad isn’t a goddamn squad without the trio that started this shit. You, me, and Ei. So don’t even think about listening to their bullshit.” growls Katsuki and suddenly Denki’s being yanked into a tight hug that he ends up in the middle of, smushed between his two gigantic friends.
They grew taller, and while Denki gained some height, even that didn’t make standing between them any better when they’re half a foot taller than him and their fucking builds are larger than before.
Granted, Katsuki still keeps himself about the size he was in UA, only broader shoulders and taller stature, but Eijirou and Tetsu both beefed up hardcore, so Eijirou is like this gigantic man with his tall height and beefy body.
Denki will forever be the twink of the class, and he’s been downright shameless about it ever since Ochako mentioned it teasingly one night while they were drunk. She changed his name in their group chat to blonde twink, and she tagged the change with a picture of Denki stuck between Tetsu, Katsuki, Izuku, and Eijirou as they’re the four bulkiest guys even if Katsuki and Izuku were still fairly lithe in an equal , and he refused to let anyone change it back as he blew everyone’s phones up, while hungover as hell, laughing his ass off about it.
Randomly the thought of purple hair, purple eyes, and a tired smile that towers over him by only a few feet and is lithe falls into his mind. Dripping wonder as it waters his brain and thinks of whether they’d both be twinks or if Hitoshi would have him beat too when they were together.
“You’re thinking about how you got the twink nickname again, aren’t you Denks?” chuckles Eijirou as Denki can finally pull in a breath without touching someone else again.
“I actually am because you two are the ones to blame. If you two didn’t go and get fuckin’ huge and have huge ass partners, then I wouldn’t look like a twink when I’m standing between y’all and doing what we always do.” groans Denki indignantly as he pouts at them, smothering a grin when Katsuki laughs and Eijirou snorts.
“Yeah, alright, not our fault you only got a little bit of height though sparks.” replies Katsuki with a shake of his head as he makes his way back over to the couch, sitting on it this time instead of losing control behind it. “So, did I get my point across, or do I need to beat it into your fuckin’ head like I did the reviews for maths?”
“I don’t need it beaten into my head, I still don’t fully believe it because these last few months have been awful, but I hear you. But I uh, I did run into someone who has some thoughts on why the squad is umm… imploding? I think that’s the right word for this situation.” mutters Denki sheepishly as he runs a hand through his hair, scrunching his nose the moment he feels the heat rising to his cheeks.
“You got a crush on someone new I’m assuming because we haven’t heard anything about crushes since you came out to us and said you liked Monoma but not enough to be the third in his relationship with Kendo. I think they found someone, isn’t that what you said you heard bro? Not important, who’s the crush Denks?” Eijirou rambles excitedly as he tugs Denki over to squish him on the couch between himself and Katsuki, looking enraptured by the tease of information.
“I know for a fact that you’re going to run it to Izu, who will run it to Ocha and Sho, and then the entire class will know outside of those three and their friends who are giving us grief for everything. I don’t think I wanna tell you who it is, but he had some good thoughts…” whines Denki with narrowed eyes as he looks at Eijirou who just nods, not even bothering to pretend like he won’t do exactly that as he waits impatiently. When he turns to Katsuki, attempting to get some help, he sees an arched blonde brow, a challenge in ruby eyes, and a smirk that has him huffing a defeated sigh and rambling on. “Whatever, you know your downstairs companion? He’s room 36 but he said to tell you it’s Mockingbird and he’s none too impressed with these things being held on nights he could actually get some sleep… that last bit was my take cause he’s got Eyebags. I just wanna cuddle him to sleep.”
“You’re getting sidetracked again.” says Katsuki with a soft amused tone as he lightly knocks his knuckles against Denki’s temple as Eijirou chuckles.
“Right, so anyways, he said it probably has some to do with the rankings, and he also said if you won’t cuss them out to call him and he will. There’s some supporting evidence to this too because Tsu overheard Mina telling Hanta that she was pissed about her popularity rankings being so low, and she needed to start doing some more publicity stuff to get higher in the ranks.” explains Denki nervously as he plays with the strings on his pants and avoids looking at them. “I don’t know what Hanta’s deal is because he’s done more meet and greet things than me and the feelers have him jumping two ranks ahead of me in those in the upcoming announcement in two weeks. But Kyo… I think I know what Kyoka’s deal is, but I really hope I’m wrong.”
“We’ll come back to the eyebag troll doll and the rankings and that. What the fuck do you think Kyoka’s deal is?” asks Katsuki with a growl as he spots the wince Denki gave at his own words.
“Denki, you have to tell us so we can get them to back the fuck off. We can’t help if we don’t know what it could be. We know you wouldn’t do anything to hurt anyone.” adds Eijirou softly, kindhearted and genuine as he inches forward.
The door creaks open before Denki can say anything, and Izuku and Tetsu walk in with smiles on their faces before they take in the scene in front of them.
“Alright, what the fuck did those jerks do this time?” asks Izuku as he pulls out his phone and starts voice recording without hesitation, setting it on the coffee table as he slips to the floor to press his back against Denki and Eijirou’s knees.
“I keep telling y’all to let me call in some people who could help deal with this, you know our class has beef with them since the first year we started out here.” says Tetsu seriously as he pays Denki on the shoulder before slipping his way onto the couch and onto Katsuki’s lap.
“Mina is probably mad about the rankings, Hanta has no actual reason as far as we’re aware, and Denki thinks he knows why Kyoka is mad. Also, Denks has a crush, but we can come back to that after we find out what’s going on.” explains Eijirou quickly before there are four pairs of eyes locked on Denki who sighs deeply.
“Alright, it happened a week after the party where I ended up labeled as a twink.” starts Denki as he settles his elbows into his legs harshly and stares at his clasped hands.
****** Flashback Started ******
“Denki, I- I was wondering if you wanted to go on a date with me on Sunday?” asked Kyoka softly, her earjacks being twirled around her fingertips.
“I- Kyo, I don’t- I can’t… I’m so, so sorry because you know I liked you for ages, but I- after my relationship with Ania, I- I realized that I’m not… I’m not bi, I-I’m gay.” stuttered Denki nervously as he tried to let his friend down gently, trying to explain because in the past two months, with the help of Ania and Neito, he’d explored his sexuality more and realized who he is.
“How can you be gay when you’ve been bi for years? You dated Ania for three months, come on, Denki. You can’t decide you’re gay all of a sudden, and you still flirt with me all the time. There’s no way you’re gay.” huffed Kyoka harshly, sounding upset as she looked away from him.
“I don’t know how to explain it, Kyo. I really don’t, but I know that the problems that I had with Ania was that I couldn’t be intimate with her. It didn’t work, and that was a problem with my other partners before her. I just thought it was because of hero work.” explained Denki softly, upset with himself for upsetting her as he tried to explain how he figured it all out and attempting to apologize for unknowingly leading her on. “A night out with Neito and Ania two months ago while being stone cold sober, I realized that it was not because of hero work. I’m sorry that you thought my personality was me flirting with you, but it’s just who I am. That’s not going to change just because I’m gay, I’m sorry, Kyo.”
“I can’t believe you, honestly. You’ve lead me on this entire time and rejected me under the guise of being gay. You’re not even gay, you’re just an asshole. Stay away from me, Kaminari.” said Kyoka before she walked away and left Denki’s heart breaking for their friendship.
****** Flashback Ended******
“So, you told her you were gay and let her down gently, and she took that and decided you were lying about it? I- What the fuck?! I’m gay, and she was supportive as fuck. So, instead of being okay with you after you explained how you figured it out, she decided to be a bitch instead? What- What the fuck is wrong with her?” explodes Katsuki as he holds his hands above his head to set off some explosions.
“When Ocha hears this, she’s going to be so pissed off. She told Kyo she was gay after dating Iida and breaking up, it was only a month later, and Kyo was super supportive too. She really just got butthurt and decided to be a bitch instead of understanding like she has been with everyone else.” growls Izuku as blackwhip slips around the floor, wrapping around the coffee table and lifting it into the air and shakes it in his anger.
“You two are too much, come on. While I don’t like what happened, and I really don’t want to believe that’s what’s happening right now, you two need to calm down the quirk usage my dudes.” sighs Denki with a shake of his head as he stands and tries to pull the table back to the ground while Eijirou and Tetsu try to get them to stop using their quirks, wrapping around them comfortingly.
“To be fair, I feel like Katsuki should go and explode the bitch into the sun.” says Tetsu with a shrug as Katsuki grumbles into his neck.
“And Izu should be there to send her back when she comes back down.” adds Eijirou as Izuku pouts in his lap.
“Violence isn’t the answer to this, and you four know that.” replies Denki pointedly as he turns back to them, hands on his hips and glaring at them.
“Of course, it’s not the answer.” replies Izuku with a put-out sigh.
“Because it’s the question!” exclaims Eijirou with a wide, sharp teeth filled grin.
“The answer will be yes though because we are done playing.” says Katsuki with a determined tone, and he’s looking ready to explode everybody who has caused a problem.
“So, can we do violence?” asks Tetsu with a wide grin as he looks up at Denki.
“Seriously? Seriously? You just had to do it that way? Acting like you weren’t going to by making Izu say it, and then you do anyway. No, no violence. At least not until we know if it’s true or not, please. You guys could lose your licenses if you attack them, even if you could find a way to goad them into attacking first.” replies Denki seriously, amused and pouty at the same time as he plops himself on the coffee table and shakes his head at his friends.
“Fine, we can have them come over tomorrow. We can give it some edge and act like we’re beginning to understand where they’re coming from when it comes to how they think about you, even though it’s a complete fucking lie because who could dislike you? Literally, who? But whatever, we can play into their unhappiness to see if we can understand what’s caused all of this.” Eijirou sounds like he really hates the idea he’s putting out there, but it’s a genuinely good idea even if it will hurt knowing they’ll talk shit about Denki to the three people who have a problem with him now.
It’s a good idea, and it’s going to hurt like hell to watch the recording of this happen.
“Do it.” says Denki seriously, genuine and honest.
“I refuse to fucking do that, no chance I could pretend to dislike you, Denki. It’s not possible. Back then when I was still an emotionally constipated shithead, sure pretending was what I did best, but now, no fucking chance.” growls Katsuki, his disagreement is so loud that Tetsu actually moves to let him come over to kneel in front of Denki and smack him around the head.
“It will give you the information you want, and it will add to the explosion you want to set off on them. Look, I don’t like it either, and it’ll suck like hell to watch it back later. But if it explains what the fuck is happening, then I will deal with the emotions that follow. Do it.” replies Denki harshly as he glares at Katsuki who glares back because he doesn’t like it either, but it’s going to work.
“I don’t fucking like this.” huffs Katsuki as the glares stop.
“Neither do I, but too fucking bad. We need to do it.” sighs Denki with a shake of his head.
“Fine. Eijirou can message Mina about it in the morning, but where are you going to go if we meet up with them here?” asks Katsuki softly, still irritated that this is what’s happening.
“I don’t know. I’ll try to get home in time to shower and change into some comfy clothes, but then I don’t know. I’ll make myself scarce though, maybe I’ll bug Mockingbird since he gave an offer, but either way, I’ll figure it out.” replies Denki with a noncommittal shrug as he looks at the ceiling.
“Oh, you met Hitoshi? That’s awesome! He’s pretty chill, right?” Izuku sounds so excited that Denki has to look at him, and he finds him floating in Eijirou’s grip.
“Why are you so excited about that, Izu?” asks Denki amusedly as he gestures to the floating.
“Because you two would be so cute together, and I told Eijirou that when I got back from the undercover mission that had me working with him!” exclaims Izuku brazenly as he settles float down and rests in Eijirou’s hold again, knowing and hopefully wistful.
“He’s a sarcastic asshole who doesn’t know what sleeping means, but I can’t argue that. Deku’s right, you two would be cute together, though I don’t know that he’d be interested because I didn’t ask his sexuality when I told him to fuck off when he came at me about being so damn noisy the other day when I got home from a bad shift.” Katsuki looks annoyed that he’s agreeing, but then he actually has a scowl on his face as he talks about a conversation he’d had with Hitoshi apparently.
“He’s gay, and I only know that because of Izuku’s mission. They had to pose as a couple at a club, and he called me to ask if I was okay with it because if not, he’d figure out another way for them to go under without getting themselves into trouble. Hitoshi was like dead set that if I said no, he would find another way to protect them while also going to the club as separate partygoers.” explains Eijirou easily, smiling softly as Izuku grins and presses his grins to his cheek while he talks. He gestures a little bit, his hands always moving when he talks, but for the most part, he’s holding Izuku and smiling in a way that gives off genuine appreciation. “I asked what it’d require and why he was so serious about this, and he said it would require touching, but he’d keep the kissing to a minimum and nowhere near the mouth without a subtle way to cover it. And Izuku told me that Hitoshi was worried about breaking up our relationship because he’s gay, and he’s had to deal with other experiences with past partners where it caused a problem in their relationship, and he’s ended up getting the wrong end of the stick. Apparently, he’s also a huge fan of our relationship and thinks we’re adorable.”
“Well you two are adorable bro.” says Tetsu with a chuckle as Eijirou and Izuku blush bright at the compliment as always. “Besides, he’s had a few boyfriends, so I knew that too. He and Monoma ended up in a situation almost three years ago. They were both talking to the same guy, only Hitoshi was dating him, and Monoma was being told it was an open relationship. They became good friends, but Hitoshi hasn’t dated or anything similar since then. That’s another reason he’s pretty vicious about protecting relationships, outside of other past relationships and situations he’s been in.”
“Wait a damn second… is Hitoshi the Sassy Kitten that Monoma wanted to set me up with?” asks Denki as he comes to a conclusion that he can hardly believe, his eyes going wide as he looks at Tetsu who immediately starts grinning widely.
“Yep.” popping the p in the word, Tetsu is all smirk right now. “Hitoshi is called sassy kitten by Monoma because he is a cat lover, and the dude is sassier than Izuku on a bad day. He hates being called kitten, so naturally, Monoma calls him that all the time.”
“He’s more of a doll, is what he is.” mutters Denki to himself as his mind whirs with the new information.
“You got a crush on eyebags, and the copycat bastard wanted to set you up with him. Sounds to me like you know who you should see tomorrow. I’ll send the text on my break and tell ‘em to come around at the end of my shift.” replies Katsuki with a smirk as he crosses his arms over his chest and dares Denki to argue with an arched blonde brow while the other three chuckle teasingly. “You got the early morning patrol, so you should be done by two, and shitty hair and I should be done by five. It should give you enough time to hang out here and gather stuff to do, and then you can slip downstairs to check out eyebags whole deal. And yes, I do expect to hear about some flirting and what you two talked about so that I can tell Eijirou, Tetsu, and Izuku all about it after we decide how to handle the idiots.”
“You’re all jerks, but I will tell you everything because I’m probably going to lose my mind if I end up going to his apartment. But otherwise, I am going to disappear to the coffee shop a few blocks out. Speaking of work though, I should probably get some sleep because I gotta be in at seven.” Denki goes from whining to groaning within a sentence because he has to go in early for an hour of interrogation before his patrol since their lie detector officer won’t be in and Tsukauchi needs help with this guy who keeps giving them the runaround.
“Good, and goodnight Denki!” They all say together as Denki stands and makes his way to the hall for the guest room at the end of the hall.
“Goodnight!” calls Denki over his shoulder before he’s slipping his way into his room and heads for his bed.
He lays on top of his comforter and pulls his Pikachu plush to his chest, staring at the wall where his dresser sits, and he thinks about how the squad is probably going to implode tomorrow. But when he starts thinking about it, his mind wanders to Hitoshi and the smiles he saw earlier. And he falls asleep with purple eyes and a soft smile hidden in a capture weapon on his mind.