Archive of Our Own ^beta

Hitoshi had been thinking about the issue for a while now. He’d been so caught up in generating ideas he almost forgot to look outside his own head. The solution, however, came to him from the slumped form of Kaminari Denki himself.

“I’m totally failing English,” the boy groaned, head in hands. “How stupid is that? ‘Oh, yeah, I was going to be a hero, but then I failed the class on the language I’m fluent in and got kicked out of school.’ Real motivating stuff.”

Hitoshi made a sympathetic noise, even as his mind began to whir with possibilities. 

“Firstly, even if you failed the class you wouldn’t get kicked out, stop being dramatic.” He says that, but really he’d always been one to love a bit of drama. “And secondly, you’re not going to fail.”

Kaminari lifted his head and clutched onto Hitoshi’s arm, looking at him with wide eyes as if he didn’t know what that did to him. 

“Really?” he asked, only somewhat sarcastically. “So you can tell me what the hell the criteria for ‘analysis’ is? Because to me it seems to change with every assignment.”

And the gears in Hitoshi’s mind came to a stop. Fighting back a grin that would put Aizawa to shame, Hitoshi laid his trap.

“No. But I know someone who can.”

-----

Denki was starting to regret his decision. When Shinsou had proposed that Monoma could tutor him, he’d been stressed out enough to give anything a try. And when he’d calmed down he’d hardly expected the other boy to agree.

But he had. And now Denki was walking away from the nice, warm, friendly, comfortable dorms to go sit with Monoma of all people. And talk about schoolwork. 

Denki groaned and tightened his grip on his things, spotting Monoma sitting at a table in a shady spot under a tree. Steeling himself, he approached. 

“So you decided to show up,” the other blond remarked, not bothering to actually look up at Denki.

Denki bit back a retort, trying to be civil for the sake of Shinsou and his grades. “Thank you for agreeing to help me.” Is what he decided to say instead, smiling his best and most cheerful smile.

“A chance to see someone from the illustrious class 2-A seek help from 2-B? That’s something I couldn’t miss. Seems like you’ve finally accepted our superiority if you’ve come to me for help instead of your 2-A friends.”

This time, Denki couldn’t help himself. If Monoma was just going to go on about his little one sided rivalry then he wasn’t going to be any help anyways, and this time his nonsense hit a nerve.

“Listen, I don’t know why you still have it out for our class when we’ve never done anything to you. We don’t think we’re better than you, just like we didn’t ask for any of that crap last year to happen to us. I’m genuinely here for help, man, because I trusted Shinsou to be a good enough judge of character to give you a chance. Because he’s my friend, despite the fact that he’s in 2-B, because I don’t judge people by what class they’re in.”

Denki’s voice grew louder as he talked, as he finally was able to say what everyone had wanted to since Monoma had started his fight back in first year. Sparks were dancing along the surface of Denki’s skin, but he forced them back down. No matter how annoying Monoma was, he wasn’t just going to attack him. 

Denki turned to leave, but a call from the table stopped him. 

“Wait!”

He turned around.

“Sit down. I said I’d tutor you and I’m a man of my word.” Monoma’s words seemed sincere, but his face was pinched. “But I don’t get why you don't just get help from your own classmates.”

Denki sat, really wishing they could get on with things and actually do the work he came here for, his grades and future as a hero were depending on it, totally, but he knew he had to set things straight with Monoma first for things to work out. 

Despite what was said about him, and how he normally acted, Denki wasn’t stupid. He often prioritized having a good time because fun was what made everything else worth it. But he knew that work, such as school, was an important and necessary aspect of life that would influence his ability to have fun later on. He could see the big picture. And he could see the little moments. Most of the time his problems lay in finding the right scope of things.

Denki began taking out his things from his bag and wondered why he had to have such a big stupid crush on Shinsou that he’d agree with and do whatever the boy said no quirk necessary. 

“If you must know, it’s because I find most of my classmates hard to study with. Sure, they’d help me if I asked, but their methods don’t really work along with my dyslexia and ADHD. Shinsou knows that, so if he recommended you it must mean that you’re different enough to actually help.”

Monoma blinked slowly at Denki, seemingly taken aback by the sudden onset of information and the honesty with which it was given. As the silence stretched on, Denki found himself thinking back to his last conversation with Shinsou, and how his hair had looked really good, and how he still hadn’t worked up the courage to ask if it floated above him naturally or not.

“So, Shinsou said you needed help with analysis right?” Monoma finally spoke, bringing things back into focus. 

Denki smiled, a real one this time. “Yeah. The language isn’t a problem, but I’ve never been able to understand the structuring and criteria of what we’re supposed to write. It's like that for Japanese too but it's all even more confusing for English. I either think I did a good job and end up failing or think I did bad but it turns out good.” 

Monoma nodded, and the lack of any aggravation in multiple minutes made Denki comfortable enough to joke, “Should add ‘get’s things backwards’ to my list of learning disabilities, huh?.” Then he froze, remembering that he was not talking to his friends, who would laugh and joke back with enough good humour to make it obvious that they didn’t really think Denki was an idiot, or who would just agree with a ‘same,’ or ‘mood.’

Monoma was not one of those people, so Denki added finger guns, an attempt to lessen the awkwardness that only made it worse. 

But without missing a beat, Monoma replied, “It would explain why you think class 2-A is better than class 2-B.”

Denki stared at him. Out of all the things he had expected the other to say, that was not one of them. He was so surprised he couldn’t even be annoyed, and instead found it actually kind of funny.

When it became clear that Denki was not going to say anything, Monoma again set things back on track. “Right. Let’s go over the general structure of the different writing assignments. Stop me if you have any questions.”

With that, he launched into a detailed explanation of the formatting, different writing methods and content that should be included. And it appeared that Shinsou had been right to volunteer Monoma, because Denki actually understood what he was saying. 

He knew a lot and wasn’t too boring like Yaoyorozu or too distracting like Bakugo. Over the course of the tutoring session Denki learned that Monoma applied the same intensity he did to the class rivalry to everything else as well. He was an expressive speaker who spoke passionately, even throwing in jokes here and there or going off on rants about specific issues. 

Denki was enthralled. He took some notes, but those were hardly ever helpful so he mainly asked questions and recorded the conversation in case he needed to listen to it again. Denki wasn’t even bored by the time they stopped, but it was getting late.

“Well then.” Monoma looked Denki over, a strange look on his face. “We only really touched the basics today. Next time we’ll go deeper into the analysis aspect and put it into practice.”

Denki had also learned that Monoma wasn’t really the type to ask questions or permission. He said things and dared others to disagree. “Next time?” Denki asked with a smile, pleasantly surprised.

“I don’t do things by halves, Kaminari.” 

And oh, that was the first time the other boy had actually said Denki’s name. Feeling suddenly flustered, likely from being caught off guard, Denki stumbled through a response. “R-right.” feeling a bit self conscious, he added, “I know I really should have learned this stuff last year, but with everything that was going on, hero work seemed like the priority, you know?” Immediately he regretted bringing the topic up, and braced himself for more unflattering statements about class 2-A. 

He didn’t know why he felt the need to explain himself to Monoma. Well, there were a few reasons floating around in his head. Monoma was Shinsou’s closest friend in 2-B, probably his closest friend overall aside from Denki. He didn’t need Shinsou hearing about how dumb he was from someone else. But mainly he just wanted things to work out between him and the other blond, because they were Shinsou’s friends and because the past few hours had shown him that Monoma was actually a pretty cool guy. Denki didn’t want him to think less of him.

But no derogatory comment came. Instead, Denki was caught in the intense gaze of Monoma’s blue-grey eyes as he said firmly, “Well you’re learning it now. And it’s going to pay off, or else it’ll reflect badly on me.”

“Yeah, okay.” 

It was Tuesday, and the next best time to meet up was Friday. Monoma agreed when Denki proposed the time. Denki was looking forward to it. 

-----

When the second session came around, Denki sat without hesitation. 

“Hey Monoma!” he chirped happily. “Ready for another round of teaching this dumbass?!” He ended pointing his thumbs at himself.

Monoma rolled his eyes. “As I'll ever be, I suppose.”

“Oh! That reminds me.” Denki cocked his head to the side. “I never said thank you, did I? For doing this. Is there anything I can do to repay you?” Denki liked making friends. He didn’t want things to go sour with Monoma because he seemed ungrateful. 

But Monoma just looked offended. “I don’t need anything from you!”

Denki wasn’t having that, so he resorted to his default act of friendship. “What’s your battery at?”

“Huh?”

“Your phone, dude.”

“Uh,” Monoma fumbled to pull it out, but responded, “51%, why?”

“Give it here,” Denki said as he pulled out the charger he kept in his bag for situations like this.

Monoma raised an eyebrow, but complied. His second eyebrow joined the first once Denki plugged one end of the charger into the phone and put the other end into his mouth.

“What the hell are you doing?” He asked incredulously.

“Charging your phone!” Denki answered as best he could around the cord, beaming. 

“You can do that? That’s kind of cool.”

This time Denki took the cord out to joke. “And coming from someone in class 2-B, that’s high praise indeed.”

Monoma spluttered for a moment before resuming his normal cocky expression. “You know what, yeah. Anything done by class 2-B is done to the most superior level.”

Denki smirked, and didn’t protest when Monoma moved on to the actual tutoring. After the same time as the first round had passed, Monoma moved to pack up.

“You’re really good at this, you know,” Denki said before he could get far. 

Monoma flushed, his usual arrogance nowhere to be seen. 

“I mean it!” Denki pushed. “You could totally be a teacher later on.”

This was apparently the wrong thing to say, as Monoma quickly turned angry. “Oh, because you don’t think I can be a hero?” He scowled. “Well that’s too damn bad.”

“What?” No, of course not!” Denki panicked, unsure how things turned aggressive so quickly. “You’re gonna be a freaking awesome hero, dude. I meant like, in addition to hero work, or if you wanted a change, that’s all. Like, all our teachers are pros, I’m saying you could totally handle doing both.”

That seemed to fix things.

“Oh,” Monoma muttered, uncharacteristically quiet. 

“Jeez, man, learn to take a compliment.” Lightening the mood with jokes was something Denki was well practiced at. 

“Yeah, whatever.”

He looked like he was going to try and leave again, so Denki reached out a hand to stop him. “Hey. So, um, if we’re cool now, I was actually wondering something. It’s been really good working with you, even just doing our own things at the end there. So I was hoping that maybe we could keep meeting up? Not that I need you to like, actually teach me stuff all the time, but I’ve gotten more work done here than I normally do when I study by myself so it would be cool if we could just work together more? But I totally don’t mind if you say no.”

Realizing he was rambling, Denki forced himself to fidget with his hands instead of continuing to speak. Monoma was looking at him again, in that intense way of his that made it seem like he could see right through Denki. 

“Alright. I guess it’s nice to study outside instead of in my room,” he finally agreed. “Same times as we’ve done.”

Denki let out a sigh of relief. “Tuesdays and Fridays?”

“Yeah. And I expect you not to be late.” With that, he turned and walked away. 

“See you then!” Denki called after him, giddy with success. He was so passing his classes this year. That’s why he was so happy. 

Shinsou was even happier than Denki at the news that he and Monoma were going to keep meeting each other. Unreasonably happy, Denki thought, but he guessed it was just exciting to Shinsou that his two friends were getting along.  

He was excited about it too. 

-----

Studying with Monoma became the new normal, but Denki never stopped looking forward to it. After the first few times together Monoma had relaxed, and they got along great. 

Monoma was pretty hilarious, in a sarcastic way that was like a combination of Denki and Shinsou’s humour. Denki still asked the occasional question, but mainly they just did their own things with Monoma keeping Denki on topic. Their study sessions covered a range of classes now, not just English, and it turned out the Monoma was really smart in everything. For all Monoma liked to talk himself and his class up, (Denki had just learned to play along with the comments about the classes, which at this point was just one big joke), he never bragged about his intelligence or compared himself to Denki, which Denki really appreciated. 

Things started to change again when Present Mic assigned a major essay, with two weeks to write it. The study sessions became English focused again, and while Denki had learned a lot from Monoma he still found it more reassuring to ask clarifying questions whenever he thought of them. 

It was a surprise then, when Monoma asked him instead. 

“You’re fluent in English,” Monoma said, breaking the period of concentration.

“Yeah,” Denki responded, even though it wasn’t really a question. “I’m part American, and spent a lot of time there, so I kind of always knew it.”

Monoma nodded. “What’s the saying for something that will never happen?”

Denki thought for a moment then grinned. “When pigs fly?”

Monoma snapped his fingers and smiled. “That’s it. Thanks.”

“And so the student becomes the teacher.” 

“Shut up.”

Denki was a little curious as to how Monoma was using the expression in his essay, but decided to let him focus. From then on though, helping each other went both ways. 

Monoma would ask for the translation of a word or the correct phrasing of an expression, and every time he did Denki thought sparks would burst out of him with delight. He was able to help. He wasn’t just leeching off of his friend, they were exchanging advice. Monoma had never made him feel stupid, but now he was making him feel smart. 

The two weeks passed quickly, and on the last day they’d meet before submission the essays were pretty much done, except for revision. Near the time they usually went their separate ways, Monoma again called upon Denki’s knowledge of the language. “So, I think I’m finished with the essay,” he started. 

“That’s great! I still want to redo my introduction but other than that I’m done too! You’ve really helped me, man.”

Monoma scoffed, but didn’t argue. “Would you read mine? To make sure the English is all right?”

Denki paused, before grinning widely. No-one had ever asked him for that kind of help before. “Sure! I won't be much help with the grammar and spelling stuff though. Dyslexia and all that.”

“Right, of course. Um, I could read it out to you if you want.” Monoma seemed strangely shy about the idea, but Denki agreed easily. 

"Yeah that sounds great! That'd get you some practice with speaking too."

It was starting to get dark, and they’d been sitting at the table for a while, so Monoma proposed they go to his dorm. Denki had been in the 2-B dorms a few times, but it was more common for Shinsou to come to the 2-A ones considering he was good friends with a lot of the class. 

Denki half hoped he’d see Shinsou, but he wasn’t in the common room when they passed through. He politely said hello to the students who were there, but they didn’t stop until they reached Monoma’s room.

His room was nice. Unlike most people, Monoma didn’t have posters of heroes on his walls. Instead, practically every inch was covered in a variety of different media. There were posters for movies and music, sketches, crafts, pictures, and strings of lights. But somehow it didn’t look cluttered.

“Wow. Your room’s awesome,” Denki said when he’d taken it all in.

“Yeah it is.” Monoma sat on his desk chair and gestured for Denki to sit on the bed.

“Alright. I’m ready to be amazed by your English masterpiece.”

It was pretty good. Denki interrupted a few times to point out mistakes in the ordering of words and pronunciation, but overall there was very little wrong. The content itself was also seemingly perfect. Denki clapped and an idea started to form. “That was amazing,” he gushed. “With an essay like that, the rumours that class 2-B is better than 2-A must be true!”

Monoma’s face started to do the thing it did when he was mad but also holding back a laugh.

“Although…” Denki continued. “As someone from class 2-A myself, someone who’s never even come close to the idea of perfection before, what would I know about quality? I could be getting the whole thing wro-” 

The rest of his sentence was cut off as Monoma launched himself out of his chair and tackled Denki. Denki laughed, surprised that Monoma would do such a thing but happy he did. They rolled around trying to push each other off the bed, and Denki heard Monoma’s laugh for the first time. His real laugh, not the quiet chuckles and scoffs he usually let out, or the obnoxious cackle when he made fun of the class. His real laugh was like the tinkling of a bell. At least it seemed that way to Denki. 

His wandering thoughts were Denki’s downfall, as Monoma succeeded in pushing him over the edge. Before he could fully hit the floor Denki was able to grab Monoma’s arm, and pulled him down as well. 

They landed in a tangled heap. The struggle to free their limbs was done without speaking, but was by no means silent as the two continued to laugh breathlessly. Until they started to push themselves up at the same time and ended up just as close, only this time face to face.

Denki’s back was against the side of the bed. Monoma was to the front and a bit to the side of him, one arm braced against the floor and the other gripping the bed close to Denki’s head. Time seemed to stand still as the two boys made eye contact, laughter petering out.

Monoma’s face was flushed, his normally styled hair a tousled mess. He was breathing heavily, eyes wide and looking at Denki with a different sort of intensity than he was used to. Denki knew he must be looking much the same, he could feel the heat in his cheeks, but he didn’t want to spare a second of attention on himself while he could be looking at the boy in front of him. 

He liked Monoma like this; unguarded and messy. He was beautiful. 

Oh. 

Denki was now glad to have an excuse for the redness in his cheeks, because oh. He liked Monoma. 

At this revelation his thoughts were racing too fast to process so he just sat there and stared, taking in every inch of the other boy, their proximity exhilarating. And then soft sparks made their way through his skin and Monoma jerked back, hastily scrambling to his feet. He cleared his throat and looked anywhere but Denki, who slowly got up as well. 

“Well.” He said softly. 

“Thanks for helping with the essay," Monoma responded stiffly. 

“Yeah. Back at ya.”

“I’ll… see you next time then.”

Denki nodded and grabbed his things from where they’d fallen off the bed in the commotion. The thought brought the blush back to his face in a flash, so he turned around and ran out with a shouted goodbye. He had a lot to think about. 

-----

Neito sat back down in a daze. Nothing about Kaminari had gone as expected. 

All those weeks ago Neito had only agreed to tutor him because Shinsou had asked, and Neito’s crush made it impossible to say no. He’d been curious, but not at all prepared for Kaminari to be funny and nice, dedicated and surprisingly assertive. 

After their first session Neito’s curiosity had only grown, so he’d proposed another meeting without thinking. After that there was no turning back.

Neito had never intended to get close with Kaminari. But it was impossible to spend time with him and not like him. Quicker than Neito thought possible for him, he and Kaminari became friends and their tutoring turned study session became an excuse to hang out. 

Shinsou had been delighted to hear that they got along, though Neito didn’t talk much about it, and Neito could easily see how the two had become friends. It took a little while to accept they really were friends, but Neito quickly came to look forward to the meetings. He adjusted to the new part of his life, and that was that.

Or so he’d thought. 

Now, sitting in his desk chair slowly spinning himself around, Neito didn’t know what to make of his own feelings. Things had been going better than ever. Neito and Kaminari were playing like actual friends, not just study partners, and he’d felt so light and giddy. 

And then they were so close together Neito could see the sparks dancing in Kaminari’s eyes. Could see that there were dozens of freckles scattered across his face that were too light to see from afar. His breath had caught in his throat as he looked at his friend, so electric in every sense of the word.

Neito stopped spinning and slammed his head in his hands with a groan. He had just gotten his head around things, why did it have to be so confusing? And why did he have to make the situation so awkward that Kaminari had to flee the room? 

Neito groaned again. He didn’t know how things had changed so quickly, but he couldn’t deny that they had. He couldn’t deny that his feelings for Kaminari hadn’t stopped growing after reaching friendship. 

-----

Denki lay on his bed and stared at the ceiling. During the walk back to the dorms his mind had been racing, but now he had settled enough to actually think about what had happened. 

He liked Monoma. Romantically. 

The thought sent shivers of electricity through his body, and he turned over to bury his head in his pillow. Denki honestly hadn’t seen it coming. He’d known he was polyamorous from the time he knew he was bi, but had never actually experienced two serious crushes at the same time. Now that he was experiencing it for real, the whole thing seemed a lot more complicated than he’d expected. 

He had no idea what to do now.  

Flirting with Shinsou had been a fun way to establish a friendship and hint that he was interested, and now it was just one of the fundamentals of their relationship. How did Monoma factor in? 

Denki had always hoped something would happen between him and Shinsou, had been steadily working up the courage to make it happen, but this changed things. He didn’t know what he’d do if Shinsou and Monoma weren’t alright with polyamory, which was highly likely, because now that he’d realized his feelings Denki knew he would never be able to choose between them. And that was just assuming they liked him back.

With growing horror Denki’s mind flicked through all the possibilities of ways things could crash and burn, landing on one that had him clenching his eyes and sending small zaps through his fingers.

Monoma and Shinsou were friends. They were the perfect combination to give polyamory a chance. They were already so close that it wasn’t hard to think their feelings for each other went deeper than plain friendship. But what if that was right, and they did have feelings for each other, but not for Denki?

The sparks grew stronger, tingling throughout his hands. If they liked each other and they started to date and Denki was left on the sidelines? He couldn’t handle that. Not with them. 

A knock on his door startled Denki upright. Without waiting for an answer, the door opened and Mina walked in. 

“Hey, Denks,” she said softly. “Are you alright? You didn’t come to dinner.”

He hadn’t? Denki looked over at his clock, and after a few seconds realized that it was way later than he’d thought. He must have lost track of time getting stuck in his head. 

Mina was looking him over carefully, and didn’t seem to like what she found. “Really, are you alright? Did something happen?”

Denki loved Mina, he really did. She was probably his best friend, someone who was fun and understood him and could read the vibe of a room in an instant. He nodded in response to her questioning. Immediately she came over and set something down on the dresser, he vaguely recognized it to be a plate from dinner, and sat beside him.

“Something bad?” she asked, but Denki could only shrug. “Okay. Do you want to talk about it?”

“Yeah,” Denki finally spoke, starting to feel guilty about how worried she was getting. “But later. I need to think first.”

“Okay,” Mina repeated. “Can I stay? I missed you tonight.”

“Yeah.” Denki smiled. “That’d be nice.”

As soon as he agreed Mina wiggled her arms around his torso and tucked her head against his chest. Denki put his arms around her easily, securing her in place, and rested his head on top of hers. Becoming friends with such physically affectionate people was the best thing Denki had done at UA. Even if a horn would occasionally try to poke out his eye.

With Mina holding on tight, chattering on about her day and what he had missed after school, Denki’s worries didn’t seem nearly as scary anymore.

-----

It still took Denki a while to talk to his friends, as he wasn’t sure what he wanted to do or how to approach the topic. Before he could bring himself to say anything it was already time for his next study session with Monoma. He hadn’t seen the boy since the incident, so walking up to the table was the most nerve racking thing he’d ever done. And he’d faced villains multiple times. Denki was a nervous wreck the entire time and hardly got any work done at all. They ended up ending early for the first time, and Denki was a bit disappointed but mainly relieved. 

He had spent the whole time panicking about his own behaviour and trying not to make things weird that he didn’t notice Monoma doing the exact same thing. 

When Denki got back to the dorms Mina and Sero were sitting in the common room watching Jirou and Ojiro playing video games. When Sero saw it was Denki who entered, he was obviously confused.

“Hey man! You’re back early.”

Mina, who had been keeping a close eye on Denki since the night in his room, straightened up and gave him a look, perceptive as always. 

“You good, bro?” Sero asked, and Denki realized he hadn’t responded.

“Yeah, of course dude. What’re you up to?”

Sero’s face turned judgemental very quickly, as did Mina’s. “Is this about the thing?” she asked. 

Denki shuffled his feet. “Yeah. I- I think I’d like to talk about it now.”

“Right, tell us your woes,” Sero said jokingly, but sincerely. 

Denki looked around the common room, where Jirou and Ojiro were playing, Yaoyorozu was sitting in an armchair pretending to read but was actually watching her girlfriend, Aoyama and Uraraka were sitting on the couch together, and Sato and Tokoyami could be seen moving around in the kitchen. 

“In private.” He requested.

The trio made their way to Bakugou’s room, where he and Kirishima supposedly were. Mina banged on the door and yelled at them to open up, with support from Sero here and there, for what seemed like an eternity before Bakugou slammed the door open with a yell.

“What the fuck do you want Racoon Eyes?” he growled. 

“Hey guys!” Kirishima waved from inside.

“Something’s been going on with Kami the past few days, so we’re gonna listen to him and offer support.” Mina stated firmly. 

“Thanks for volunteering your room!” Denki quipped, brushing past Bakugou and sitting down next to Kirishima. The rest of the squad followed with minimal screeching from Bakugou, and then all eyes were on Denki.

“Get the fuck on with it already,” Bakugou sneered, but there wasn’t much force behind it.

Denki didn’t really know where to start, so he just began to talk. “You know how I have a crush on Shinsou, right?”

Affirmations came from everyone.

“Well… the thing is… now I have a crush on someone else as well.”

Silence. Then chaos. 

Everyone started talking at once, but Mina’s shrieks rose above the rest. “Kaminari Denki! That's what this has been about?! And you’ve been keeping it from me?” She reached over and shook Denki by the shoulders. 

He batted at her hands and tried to explain. “I was trying to figure things out! I wasn’t expecting to get another crush, not one that was as serious as how I feel about Shinsou. It made me panic, I guess.”

“Fine," she huffed. “I’ll let it slide as long as you tell us everything.”

“We’ll help you through this man, don’t worry!” Kirishima added.

“Yeah! But who is it?” Sero continued. 

Denki looked away, expecting some interesting reactions. “Monoma.”

The screeching started up again.

“Monoma?” Three of them chorused.

“The hell do you see in that asshole?” Came from the other.

Denki rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly. “He’s really great once you get to know him. He’s funny, and never acted like I was bothering him, and we just get along really well.”

“Aww!” Kirishima cooed. 

Mina returned her hands to their place on Denki's shoulders and tightened her grip. “So how’d you figure out you liked him more than a friend? Was that what happened that night? Details, Kaminari, details!”

Denki’s cheeks started to burn as he recalled the incident. “Okay. So last Friday Monoma wanted me to go over his English paper and we ended up going to his room-”

A chorus of “Oooh!”s interrupted him, but he ignored them.

“And then I was teasing him because that's just what we do, right? We’ve always done that. And then we started play fighting and ended up like really close together and when I was looking at him it just hit me.”

“O. M. G.” 

“Sounds romantic.”

“Why the fuck would fighting be romantic? All of us fight all the time.” 

“Connotations Bakubro! Skin to skin contact, close proximity, you know. And people look hot after a fight.”

“Yeah,” Denki couldn’t help but agree.

Mina squealed again. “Denks! More details!”

Bakugou looked like he wanted nothing less than to hear Denki talk about Monoma, but he had been bottling it up and really did want to say what he’d been thinking.

“So we fell on the floor together, okay, and when he was getting up he grabbed the bed right next to my head, kinda like in the movies when one person backs the other against the walls, you know?”

“Yeah man, that shit’s attractive as fuck.” Sero agreed.

“Right. And then we kinda just stared at each other and his hair was all messy and I realized he was really really pretty and then it all clicked.”

“Then what?” Mina prompted when Denki fell silent, the next part being a bit harder to talk about. Even Bakugou looked invented at this point, though, which spurred him on.

“Then I accidentally shocked him and he literally lept away, so I left.”

“What!”

“Kaminari!”

Denki’s friends groaned. 

“What? I was panicking, okay? What was I supposed to do?”

“Kiss him, man!”

“Yeah! Or at least stay a little longer so things don’t become awkward.”

The second point actually made sense. Maybe if Denki hadn’t run off things wouldn’t have become so different. Surprisingly, it was Bakugou who leapt to his defense. “Hey! Dunce Face was clearly shaken, staying could have just made things worse. If he’s serious about wanting to move forward with this he needs a proper plan, not to just kiss the loser.”

Denki grinned. “Aw! Kacchan! You do care, that’s so sweet.” He made to hug the explosive boy but was roughly shoved away.

“Get the fuck off me you idiot, I’m just saying what should be common sense. And don't call me that!”

“Okay, okay,” Kirishima interrupted, waving his arms for attention. “So what is the plan then? You now want to date Monoma and Shinsou, right?”

Denki nodded.

“So you need to see how things are all together! Just because you like the two of them separately doesn’t mean it's a given things will be the same in a trio.” Mina explained.

And that was a good point. Denki hadn’t ever hung out with both boys before, hadn’t even hung out with Monoma at all outside of studying. “So I need to do something with the two of them together. Like a practice date!”

“Yeah, man!” Sero encouraged. “That’ll put the idea into their heads too!”

Bakugou rolled his eyes, but nodded. “That’s a decent first step, I suppose." 

Denki felt better than he had in days. He should’ve known his friends would make everything alright. There was no point in worrying when he could be taking action. If his feelings weren’t returned yet, there was time to change that. 

Denki didn’t stop smiling for the rest of the night, as he and his friends made plans. Things were going to be alright. Better than alright. 

-----

The next day after class Denki lingered in the hallway until he saw Monoma and Shinsou leave their own class. He ran over to them and threw his arms around their shoulders.

“Hey guys!”

Shinsou, used to his antics, responded with a quiet “Hey.”

Monoma just made a little squeaking noise, but Denki didn’t notice in his rush to put the plan into action. 

“You know, I realized we’ve never hung out all together before, isn’t that crazy?” He paused to let the idea sink in, but then continued before they could respond. “So I was wondering if you guys would come to the arcade with me sometime after school this week! It’ll be really fun!”

Almost as soon as he finished speaking, Shinsou agreed. “We don’t have anything going on, that sounds good. Right Monoma?”

The blond nodded.

“Great!” Denki beamed. “We can discuss details later, I’ll let you get to class. See you!” He ran back to where his friends were waiting before anything could go wrong. Phase 1 of Operation Trio was underway.

Since there were no upcoming assignments to work on, Denki and Monoma agreed to forfeit their Friday study session to go to the arcade. And it was fun. Denki had been awkward before because he was conflicted on what to do, not sure how to approach his feelings for Monoma. But now that he knew he wanted something to come of it? He could work with that. 

In all honesty Denki didn’t even really need to change much of his behaviour. His teasing could already be read as kind of flirty, so he simply added a few extra compliments here and there and upped his touchiness. Monoma was not the kind of person to stay quiet when he didn’t like something, so Denki took his lack of response as a good thing. 

Denki loved most of the video games on the arcade machines while Shinso favoured the more practical games like the claw machine. Monoma was surprisingly good at the video games as well, and easily kept pace with Denki in their matches. But his real passion came in the form of Dance Dance Revolution, a game Denki had only played a few times for fun with the squad, though that usually ended up with them all watching and cheering Mina on as she set impossibly high records. 

Denki made sure to let Monoma know how amazing he was after every round. If only he could tell if the redness on the boy’s cheeks was from the compliment or the activity. But when the day was done Denki marked Phase 1: ‘Practice Date’ a success, as they went home happy and each armed with a plushie Shinsou had won. 

Phase 2 of Operation Trio took place at lunch on Monday. Denki was walking towards the normal table when Bakugou elbowed him in the stomach, hard.

“Ow!” Denki complained, only just managing to not drop his food. “What the hell man? That hurt!”

Bakugou jerked his head to the other side of the cafeteria. “Did you forget the plan, dumbass? Now’s your chance.”

Denki’s eyes followed Bakugou’s movement to where Shinsou and Monoma were sitting, and widened in understanding.

“Go get ‘em bro!” Kirishima added on encouragement, quickly followed by the others.

Denki nodded and made his way over to the table, setting his tray down next to Shinsou. “Hey!”

His two friends looked up in confusion.

“Hey Kaminari.”

“Hello.”

“I hope you don’t mind if I sit here.”

They both shook their heads, so Denki slid into place at Shinsou’s side. “It was really fun being with you guys on Friday, hanging out all three of us. I was kind of sad we didn’t do that much, considering our different classes, but then I realized we can totally sit together at lunch!” 

“Well you’re certainly welcome.” Monoma spoke, surprising as he hadn’t been very talkative since the incident. “This table could use the brightening up.”

Denki immediately felt a flutter in his stomach. Had Monoma meant for that to sound like that? But Shinsou seemed to agree, and soon the three were chatting and carrying on as if nothing was unusual. 

Phase 2: ‘Integration’ was going smoothly. 

Hanging out one time wasn’t enough, they had all agreed that evening in Bakugou’s room. Denki had to make himself an essential part of the other boys’ days. Had to make his presence something they expected, and wanted, when they woke up. 

Phase 2 went as smooth as could be. Sharing a lunch table was so simple, but as it was basically the only time during the school day Denki could be with the 2-B boys it was perfect. His study sessions with Monoma had also returned to normal, the awkwardness that had followed the incident nowhere to be found. Denki continued to flirt, and to his delight Monoma began reciprocating. At least, the squad seemed to think so when he relayed their interactions. All Denki knew for sure was that things were going good between him and Monoma, and that was enough. 

Phase 3: ‘Repeat’ began at the end of the week. A week of integration into Shinsou and Monoma’s daily lives.

Denki proposed another hangout, but it was Shinsou who put it into action. “I know! Why don’t you come over tomorrow for class 2-B’s movie night?”

That was perfect! Denki didn’t even need to try and think of something himself! He agreed eagerly, and Monoma also expressed that he was looking forward to it.

Oh yeah. Things were working out. 

-----

Hitoshi’s plan was going better than expected. Frequent updates from both Monoma and Kaminari informed him that the two were getting along, so much so that Hitoshi had started thinking about moving things forwards. 

And then Kaminari had done it for him, suggesting the arcade, and Hitoshi had had one of the best evenings of his life. He’d won them both plushies because that was the romantic thing to do, and when they were dating he would absolutely be doing it again. He’d also kept a careful eye on their behaviour, and while he couldn’t be sure if their feelings had evolved as much as he needed them to, they were definitely close. Kaminari seemed to be more obviously interested, but he was also just like that so it was hard to know for certain. 

That night Hitoshi had begun planning his own way for the three to be together again, this time in a situation he could influence and nudge them in the right direction. And Hitoshi hadn’t even needed to bring it up himself, as yet again Kaminari introduced the idea. God he was so gone for that boy. 

By the time Kaminari arrived at the 2-B dorms most of the class, at least those participating, were already settled. Kendo got the door and led Kaminari to the couches. He greeted everyone before turning his attention to Shinsou and Monoma, his smile as bright and blinding as his personality, and really just everything about him. 

“Hey guys! Thanks again for inviting me!”

Monoma smiled, and Hitoshi waved Kaminari over. “Come on and sit down, we’re about to start.” 

When Kaminari got close enough Hitoshi grabbed his arm and maneuvered him into place. Hitoshi was sitting against the arm of the couch with Monoma on his left, and he pulled Kaminari down to sit in between them. It was a bit squishy, but not uncomfortably so. It was just enough that their bodies were pressed together.

Kaminari seemed happy with the placement, which Hitoshi thought he would be based on how touchy he usually was, while Monoma made a sort of surprised squeaking sound. How he’d ever gotten people to think he was intimidating was beyond Hitoshi. 

“So what are we watching?” Kaminari asked, wiggling into a comfortable position.

Hitoshi smirked as Monoma answered. The movie was always chosen by vote, but this night Hitoshi had ensured he’d get his way. It took hardly any convincing the night before to get the majority of the class to agree to a horror movie. 

Hitoshi could sleep through a horror movie if he wanted, he’d yet to see one that actually made him scared. The same could not be said for Kaminari, who was always either on the edge of his seat and filled with panicked energy, or curled up in someone’s (usually Hitoshi’s) side to hide the view of the TV. But he was always fine afterwards, and Hitoshi suspected he played it up as part of the experience. It was Monoma that was the real target of this scheme. 

He would never admit it, always sitting straight and laughing when other classmates expressed fear, but Hitoshi knew better. He saw how Monoma flinched and heard the noises he made before he could cover them up. Could see how his behaviour changed over the course of the movie and lasted as long as days depending on how scary the movie was. So yes, Hitoshi knew Monoma’s secret. He was absolutely terrified of horror movies. 

Kaminari’s chatter faded and Hitoshi saw that the movie was starting. He relaxed, leaning slightly into Kaminari’s side and smiled both at the contact and the thought of what was to come.

The movie played but Hitoshi hardly spared it a glance, focusing instead on the two blonds beside him. In an inconspicuous way of course. He noted the way Monoma was tensing up and flinching, small enough that it wouldn’t be obvious to anyone not actively looking, but with Kaminari pressed against him surely he would feel it. Kaminari himself was leaning forward, eyes wide and hands clenched. He made no secret of how he felt, shrieking at every jumpscare.

They were only a third of the way into the movie, so Hitoshi decided to give them a bit more time to act themselves before giving them a push. Somehow he didn’t think he’d need to.

-----

Denki couldn’t stop smiling, even as the movie made him scream. He couldn’t have made this better if he’d tried. Horror movies were perfect for couples, it was a known fact. And he was sitting in between Monoma and Shinsou, which just made it so much better. 

For the first part of the movie he was happy to just enjoy himself, watching the movie like normal with the added bonus of being squished between his two crushes. As time went by though, he started to formulate a plan.

Monoma was scared. He wasn’t making it obvious, but Denki was close enough that he could feel him flinching, and could hear even the softest of gasps. Denki himself wasn’t really that scared. It may seem like he was, but he just thought screaming was what made watching a horror movie fun. If you weren’t going to react then why not choose another genre instead? At this point in their friendship Shinsou had probably caught on, not that Denki was trying to hide the fact, but Monoma wouldn’t know. 

Scary movies were good for romance because it pushed people together, made them want to hold onto each other. The girl jumps into the man’s arms and things like that. Monoma clearly didn’t want to admit he was scared, so Denki would have to do it himself. 

A particularly tense scene started to play, and Denki acted. “Monoma!” He whispered, loud enough to be heard. “I’m scared.”

“It’s just a movie.” The response came through gritted teeth.

Denki leaned closer to the boy. “I’m still scared though.” He pretended to pause and think. “Could you hold my hand?”

“What? No.” Monoma turned his head and his eyes met Denki’s. They hadn’t been this close since the incident, and that was almost enough to make Denki forget what he was doing. 

After a few seconds he shook himself back to reality. “Please?” He begged, waving his hand before resting it in Monoma’s lap. “It’ll make me feel better.”

Monoma shook his head but didn’t make Denki move his hand, so there was still a chance. He moved his hand closer to Monoma’s, poking him playfully. He was trying to think of his next course of action when a loud and visually frightening jumpscare played, causing both Monoma and Denki to flinch. 

When he looked back down, Monoma's hand was gripping onto his. Denki was positively elated. He didn’t want Monoma to realize what he’d done and try to move away, so he quickly leaned back in and whispered in his ear, “Thanks.”

Monoma sent him a quick smile that caused Denki’s heart to flutter. Content with the way things had gone, Denki settled back into the couch, nestling a bit more into Monoma’s side. He’d end up with his head on his shoulder before the movie was over, but that required a slower approach. 

Denki had watched enough scary movies with Shinsou that there wasn’t much he could do now, but he didn’t want to turn away from him completely so Denki felt around with his leg until he could hook their feet together. 

This was the best horror movie experience ever. 

-----

Hitoshi hid his grin under a blanket. They were holding hands. 

They were holding hands! 

His plan had totally worked. He gave them a while to grow comfortable with the contact before implementing the next step. He had gone through the plan with Midoriya and his friends earlier on, and they had decided on a move that would allow Hitoshi to take part in the physical affection part of the experience. The plan had started out with the intention of driving Monoma and Kaminari together, but he wasn’t just going to let them get close without him. 

Hitoshi stretched and untucked the blanket from around him. He then shifted and laid down the way he had practiced with Midoriya’s group.

Before they knew what he was doing, Hitoshi was resting with his head in Monoma’s lap and his legs dangling over the arm of the couch, the majority of his body laying across Kaminari. “I was getting stiff and felt like lying down.” Was the explanation he gave. They didn’t argue. 

There was a brief period of movement as they all got comfortable, and Hitoshi was glad to see that not only were Monoma and Kaminari still holding hands, Kaminari had his head pillowed on Monoma’s shoulder.

The movie played on, and by the time it ended Kaminari’s free hand was a calming weight on Hitoshi’s waist and Monoma’s was lightly playing with his hair. Hitoshi closed his eyes and tried to soak up every aspect of the night. It had definitely been a success. 

-----

Neito was going to combust. Was he capable of not making a fool of himself? Of course he had to be such a scaredy cat, too close to Kaminari to properly hide it. After the embarrassment they’d faced in his room Neito needed to fix his image, not drag it further down. He supposed nothing too cringe worthy had happened at the arcade or at lunch, (which Kaminari was now a part of, which didn’t freak Neito out at all) but still. 

Throughout the entire movie he was stuck between feeling gleeful at the contact with Kaminari and Shinsou and feeling mortified by his own behaviour. Neither of them said anything, Kaminari even appeared to be as scared as Neito, but Neito still felt like he wasn’t making a good impression. 

But it was alright. He had a plan for that. And once the movie ended, the girls put it into action. 

Neito owed the class 2-B girls a debt. They had rescheduled their normal monthly girls night to help him process the incident in his room without hesitation, and helped him without judgement. At the next girls' night he was bringing them all chocolate, the good expensive kind. 

They had also met with him again after Shinsou invited Kaminari to the movie night, and helped him with his idea to improve his image. His class really was the best. 

The movie was over, and Tetsutetsu switched the lights back on. The common room filled with noise as everyone started talking, and a few people started to leave. Cue Komori.

“Oh, I can’t go back to my room yet! Why don’t we all stay down here a bit longer?”

“Yeah!” Pony agreed. “We’re safer if we’re all together!”

“I know!” Now for Kendo to bring it home. “If it’ll make us feel better, why don’t we do makeovers?”

The rest of the girls immediately shouted their agreement.

“Okay then, let's all go get our stuff. Everyone else who wants to participate, wait here okay?”

Around half of the boys left, but Neito made no move to get up and neither did Shinsou. Kaminari was excited about the idea, and would probably be bouncing around if not for Shinsou laying on top of him. Unfortunately once the lights had come on he had uncurled from Neito’s side and taken his head off his shoulder, but their hands still remained interlinked. Neito still couldn’t believe he had actually done that, but was oh so glad he had. It was a shame he’d have to let go for his plan to work. 

The girls got back in record time, and Tokage called for Neito as soon as they laid everything out. “Come on Monoma, I have a new idea to try for you.”

Neito slid off the couch to sit on the floor, leaving Shinsou to readjust himself over Kaminari.

Tokage did quick work like Neito knew she would. They often paired up when makeup was involved as she had an intensity and vision that matched his own. This time she only did a little to his lips, focusing mostly on his eyes. She did his eyeliner in the extravagant fashion he liked, with long sharp wings. She then moved on to the eyeshadow, which was where her new ideas would come into play. Tokage wouldn’t do anything too colorful or childish, which tended to happen in these impromptu makeover sessions, but would be bold enough to be impactful. To finish it off his mascara was done in white, contrasting the darker look on the rest of his face. Neito liked white mascara. His eyelashes were already very light and he didn’t enjoy the way they made his eyes look when done in black, but the white was just right. Not that he ever wore it much, or at all outside of the dorms, but the feeling was still there. 

When Tokage was finished he thanked her and turned back to face his friends on the couch. 

“So what do you think?” He asked while striking a pose that was dramatic enough to be passed off as a joke if they didn’t like it but not silly enough to ruin the intended effect. Neito knew this, as he’d gone through plenty of poses with girls for various situations. 

Kaminari gaped at him, mouth opening and closing without speaking and eyes twinkling. 

Shinsou also took a moment to respond, then muttered. “You look really good Monoma, it suits you.”

Neito hoped the focus on his eyes would draw attention away from the growing redness of his cheeks. “Okay, so which one of you is next?” He asked quickly. 

Shinsou rolled into a sitting position and pushed Kaminari off the couch. He squawked, but hardly protested before beaming at Neito. 

“Guess it’s me!”

“Alright.” Monoma had expected that. He grabbed a few things he needed and assessed Kaminari’s face. “You sit back and relax and let the master work.”

“You’re going to do it?” Kaminari asked with delight.

“Uh huh. Count yourself lucky. I don’t do this for just anyone.”

Unscrewing the eyeliner cap, Neito got to work. Though he hadn’t accounted for how difficult it was to concentrate when he was face to face with Kaminari and unable to look away. His skin was warm beneath Neito’s hands, and he found himself being drawn to those freckles again. He’d definitely have to do something to accent those. 

Kaminari’s hands fidgeted but he stayed still enough that Neito’s work wasn’t disrupted. His eyes were wide and followed every movement Neito made, which made them harder to carry out.  But he wouldn’t get distracted. This was to make Neito look and feel cool and confident, to give him a chance to act towards Kaminari in a way that could be considered flirtatious without embarrassing himself. And if it ended up with Kaminari looking really hot then that was just a happy accident. 

When Neito was finished he thought his cheeks were probably as red as Kaminari’s, though neither of them had used blush. 

Kaminari eagerly grabbed for one of the compact mirrors littering the floor and looked himself over. “Wow Monoma! I look really good! Why’re you so talented at everything?”

Neito was too busy trying not to do something stupid like forgetting the whole purpose of the plan and kissing Kaminari right there to think of a good answer, so he replied on instinct, “Well it’s because I’m in class-”

“Class 2-B, of course,” Kaminari finished, laughing. 

A snort came from the direction of the couch, and Kaminari’s grin turned devious as he directed his attention towards Shinsou. “Your turn!” He sang.

Neito hadn’t actually thought Kaminari would be able to do it, but Shinsou had agreed surprisingly easily. Nothing much was done, just a little bit of eyeliner, but on Shinsou that was more than enough to set Neito’s heart racing. 

“I wish I knew how to do more interesting stuff,” Kaminari complained. “I’m good at eyeliner but that’s it. Monoma you’ve got to teach me sometime!”

He didn’t phrase it like a question, and there was no need for it to be one. As if Neito would say no. Now that the three boys were done, the plan was successfully completed and the girls began to pack up their things. Neito returned what they’d been using to Tokage and murmured thanks.

“Don’t worry about it.” She smiled. “But know that for this we expect details.”

She laughed as Neito turned his back and waved her away 

-----

This night kept exceeding Denki’s expectations. It was a testament to his self control that no electricity left his body despite the charge he felt inside. He was not going to shock Monoma again, he was not going to ruin things. 

It was a close call though when the makeup came into play. Denki had been curious when Monoma went to get his done, but was mainly content to cuddle with Shinsou on the couch. (Because they were cuddling now, more than the usual contact they had when watching things together, and Denki thought his heart might burst.) And then Monoma had turned around and everything else disappeared because holy shit he looked good and Denki wasn’t expecting that. 

Denki had been excited to get his makeup done for many reasons, and the actual makeup part was only one of them. And then Shinsou let Denki do his eyeliner, which he knew he would, considering he’d helped Denki practice before. 

And finally the girls started to leave and it seemed the night was ending. 

“So whose room are we staying in?” Denki asked.

Both Monoma and Shinsou looked at him in confusion. Had they not known he was staying? 

“I got permission to stay here for the night. You know the teachers don’t like us out after curfew, even if it’s just to cross over to the other dorms,” he explained. “Come on guys, it’s like a sleepover! All three of us have to stay together, otherwise it won't be as fun.”

Shinsou shrugged. “Alright. My room’s probably not the best choice.”

Monoma rolled his eyes. “I guess mine will do. By all means, invite yourselves in.”

“Thanks Monoma!” Denki chose to ignore the sarcasm.

They made their way up to Monoma’s room, and when they entered Denki pointedly did not look at the area where the incident occurred. He glanced at Monoma to see if he was also thinking about it, and caught his eyes flicking to and from the space. Gotcha. 

Shinsou claimed the chair so Denki and Monoma sat on the bed. He in no way wanted to sleep yet, or even try and figure out how they’d be sleeping. He wanted to stay up all night. He could do it too, his body was thrumming with energy and electricity. 

None of them were speaking, and in that moment Denki decided he’d done enough and it was time to move onto Phase 4: ‘Tell them.’ 

“So-”

“Uh-”

“I-”

They all spoke at once then fell silent. Denki quickly recovered and started laughing, and soon the others were too. 

Shinsou was the first to try and speak again. “I wanted to ask you something. Or, rather, tell you something.”

Monoma nodded for him to continue and Denki flashed him a thumbs up. He could wait. 

Shinsou took a breath and looked them both in the eyes. “I really like the two of you. And I’d really like it if we could all date.” He tilted his head. “Is that something you’d like as well?”

Shinsou spoke in his normal monotone voice without a hint of nerves, so it took Denki a moment to comprehend what he’d said and what it meant. When he did he straightened up and bounced onto his knees. “Are you kidding? Yes, dude! I was literally about to say the same thing!”

Monoma looked a bit shell shocked, but then broke out into a huge smile, wider and more genuine than Denki had seen from him before. “I as well. It seems we’re all on the same page.”

“You mean-” Denki started with wonder, looking between Monoma and Shinsou. He couldn’t even talk, he was smiling too much. “This is so awesome," he whispered. “My plan totally worked!”

“Your plan!?” Shinsou and Monoma yelled.

Denki realized that maybe he should have saved that piece of information for when a little more time had passed. But oh well he’d said it now so all he could do was own it. He started fidgeting with his hands, shooting out small sparks to expel some of the nervous energy. “Well, you know how I started sitting with you at lunch? I wanted to become a bigger part of your lives. Because I liked the both of you and wanted to spend more time with you, and I wanted you to realize the same thing. That’s why I asked to hang out again, to push it forward.” He admitted. 

Denki looked up, not knowing what their reactions would be. They didn’t seem mad, just… strangely affronted. 

“But I’m the one who invited you to the movie night!” Shinsou protested, and continued before Denki could speak. “I made sure it would be a horror movie and everything!”

He’d planned that? Denki would unpack that later, but right now he wasn’t going to let Shinsou take the credit for his plans. “Sure, but I pretended to be scared and got Monoma to hold my hand!”

“You did?”

“I pretended to be uncomfortable so I could lay on you!”

“Well I got the girls to act scared and start up makeovers!” Monoma chimed in. Wait- Monoma had been behind that? Was Denki really not the master planner he thought he’d been?

“I won you both plushies at the arcade!”

“I’m the one that invited you! So that we could finally all hangout together so we could see how we’d be as a trio!”

“Oh yeah? Well I’m the one who set the two of you up in the first place!”

…

Wide eyed and slightly out of breath from yelling and getting so worked up, Denki stared at Shinsou. From the corner of his eye he could see Monoma doing the same.

“... what?”

Shinsou crossed his arms. “‘Oh, I can’t help you with your English work Kaminari, but I know who can. Monoma’s great at English.’ You’ve been complaining to me about schoolwork practically the entire time I’ve known you, why’d you think I suddenly suggested tutoring when I never had before?”

Denki hadn’t thought of that. He went over every interaction he’d had with Shinsou starting from when he made that suggestion and a lot of things started to make sense. Like how he was so interested in how things went and so strangely happy when he heard Denki and Monoma were friendly. Denki suddenly felt the need to reevaluate his whole life.

Monoma was similarly stunned. “You mean you did that because you wanted me and Kaminari to catch feelings for each other?” 

Shinsou nodded. He looked a little sheepish, but his confidence remained. 

“Why set us up?” Denki questioned. “I mean, wouldn’t it have made more sense to do something with the three of us instead of me and Monoma on our own? You didn’t do anything to try and make us fall for you.”

Shinsou started to tug at his hair. “Well, how you felt about me wasn’t the problem. But if I wanted all of us to date then I needed the two of you to like each other.”

Denki’s brain got caught on the word ‘date,’ but Monoma stayed strong. “How we felt about you wasn’t the problem?” He raised an eyebrow. “That’s pretty cocky, isn’t it?”

“Well neither of you were subtle. Like at all.” Shinsou argued. 

Now that caught Denki’s attention. 

“Well maybe your plan worked too well,” he started. He kept his tone playful enough that Shinsou would know he wasn’t being serious, because as annoyed as he was that Shinsou had known about Denki’s massively stupid crush on him and had waited this long to do anything about it, he still had that massively stupid crush on Shinsou and didn’t want to actually upset him. “All those study sessions taught me more than just English. They showed me that there's only one person for me.”

Monoma caught onto Denki’s ploy and played along. “That’s right. Anything I may have felt for you pales in comparison to the deep passion I grew to have for the light of my life here.” He shifted closer to Denki and rested their heads together.

“You’re a thing of the past, Shinsou! Monoma’s my one and only.”

“Hey!” Shinsou protested. “Stop that! I get it!”

Denki pretended to think. “What d’you think, darling? Enough?”

“Hmmm, I don’t know honey,” Monoma replied.

“Maybe…” Denki didn’t give himself time to think it through. They’d clearly done enough planning already. He turned, grabbed Monoma’s face between his hands and crashed their lips together. 

The kiss, as incredible as it was, was cut regrettably short as Shinsou threw himself at them, pulling them apart. 

“Hey! I’m the mastermind! You liked me first! I should get the kiss!” 

“Well if you insist.” Without missing a beat Denki pulled Shinsou in and kissed him too.

This time they separated on their own accord. 

“Well now it’s just uneven. We can’t have that.” Monoma stated before kissing Shinsou himself. 

As the three recovered from the adrenaline and tried to calm their racing hearts, the full extent of what Denki had done came crashing over him. His cheeks felt like they were on fire, and a glance to his side showed him that Monoma was an alarming shade of red. Shinsou’s face was unable to be judged as it was pressed against Monoma’s shirt.

A few moments passed where the three lay together in a daze, tangled up from Shinsou’s short attack. 

“We’re all kind of crazy, huh?” Shinsou realized, his voice muffled as he refused to lift his head from Monoma’s chest. 

“Yeah.” Monoma agreed. “I think we are.”

Then he started to laugh, and Denki and Shinsou joined in. The more Denki thought about it the more ridiculous the situation became. He closed his eyes and basked in the warmth of the two boys around him.

“But I wouldn’t have it any other way.”