Chapter Text
Monday,
10:30 am
It was just another ordinary day at U.A. With final exams approaching, the hallways were split between students who seemed calm—confident they had already secured a passing grade—and those on the verge of collapse, studying as if their lives depended on it. Class 1-A was no different. The pressure weighed on each student in a different way, but they all shared the same goal: becoming heroes. And to do that, they had to keep improving, pushing themselves more and more.
Class 1-A had gathered for a practical lesson meant to evaluate how their quirks and decision-making had progressed throughout the year. Aizawa divided the class into several teams and selected which ones would face each other in that specific exercise.
The exercise worked like this:
The teams had to defend an electronic panel storing "classified information" inside a highly protected base. At the same time, they had to invade the enemy base, steal the opposing panel, and bring it back to their own. They had twenty minutes to complete the mission. Outside the arena, Aizawa monitored every movement closely, ready to intervene at the first sign of trouble, while the rest of the class watched, buzzing with excitement for the next match.
The lineup for the first round was:
Group A: Shoto, Momo, Uraraka, Iida, and Midoriya
Group B: Denki, Bakugou, Jirou, Kirishima, and Sero
The students headed to their respective bases and were given five minutes to come up with a plan.
Denki sat at the table with his team, listening as his friends began forming strategies. At some point—he wasn't even sure when—his mind drifted to the final exams. God, he was so screwed. So, so screwed. His thoughts didn't last long, though, because a voice cut right through them.
— Try doing something for once, Denki. At least pay attention to the plan — Bakugou snapped, irritation dripping from his voice as always.
— Right, sorry, I just got distracted — Denki said with an awkward smile. He hadn't expected to get called out mid-spiral.
The others simply shrugged and went back to strategizing. Denki tried to follow at first, but again—at some point—his mind drifted. Grades... family... pressure. He felt cornered. He was terrified of failing. His family had never believed in his ADHD diagnosis; instead, they made fun of him for it, calling him stupid and dramatic. The more he thought, the deeper he sank—memories, humiliation, and—
— Right, Denki? — Jirou asked.
Denki jolted upright, eyes wide for a second as he snapped out of it.
— Huh?
He definitely hadn't been paying attention. The timer showed they had only twenty seconds left before the match began. Oh god—how long had he spaced out?
Jirou narrowed her eyes, silently asking: You didn't hear a thing, did you?
— I was saying you can use your electrification to temporarily shut down their cameras — she repeated, crossing her arms. — Just for ten seconds. Enough for Bakugou to get inside without triggering the alarms. But you have to do it the way we planned, low voltage, no overcharging anything. Just a controlled pulse, got it?
— Yeah, sure, no problem — he said with a small smile, relieved. That was the kind of thing he could do easily. He knew he could shut off the cameras—simple. Thank God, he thought.
— You'll also need to short-circuit their generator — Kirishima added, breaking the silence.
...What? Kirishima had to be kidding.
— That'll overload it and shut down their alarms, lasers, and all their security systems — Kirishima explained, glancing at the blond. — You good with that?
— Uh...
This was dangerous. Really dangerous. The generator had interference protection, meaning Denki would need to use really high voltage to force the short. Worse—once the short ended, he'd have to do it again. And again. Repeatedly, until Bakugou grabbed the panel and got it back to their base.
And if Denki used too much voltage, there would be consequences. Very unpleasant consequences. Using high voltage repeatedly? Even worse.
He snapped out of his thoughts when he realized four pairs of eyes were staring at him, waiting for his answer.
— Sure —he said, with a smile that hid way too much.
Damn it. He should've said something. He should've said that high voltage hurts him. That doing it multiple times messes him up.
But what was he supposed to do? Refuse? Make everyone think he couldn't even handle his own quirk? Let them down?
BEEEEEEEEEP.
The five minutes were over. Time for action.
The teams went to work. Jirou tracked every step of Group A, while Bakugou and Denki waited for confirmation on their next move. Meanwhile, Sero and Kirishima stayed behind to defend their base.
Denki was starting to feel tense. The pressure was building. He couldn't disappoint his team... or Aizawa... or the classmates watching outside...
Just as he began to overthink again, Jirou cut through his thoughts.
— Everything's ready. Go ahead, Denki — she said in a focused tone, watching him closely.
Denki nodded, stepping into position. Shutting off cameras was easy. He sent a small burst of electricity—just enough to cut the feed. Once it was done, he signaled to Bakugou, and the three of them headed inside the enemy base, going straight toward the generator room.
— What are you waiting for? Hurry up, dumb-face — Bakugou barked impatiently.
Sigh. Denki inhaled deeply. Focused. He needed to hit the generator with roughly 900 thousand volts, which was extremely high and each time he repeated the short circuit, he'd have to increase the voltage because of resistance.
He concentrated and—
ZAP.
The generator went dead.
Bakugou immediately dashed off toward the panel. Jirou shot Denki an approving look, her earjacks plugged into the wall to detect when the generator would power back up so Denki could strike again.
That first discharge was enough to push Denki into his "dumb mode." Not fully, but the warning signs were there: if he kept going like this, he would hit his limit.
He gave Jirou a thumbs-up—still conscious, thankfully.
A few moments later, her earjacks twitched.
— Hey, Denki, it's about to turn back on — she said, focusing on the sounds deep in the wall.
Denki exhaled. He could handle this. Right? Just a few more shocks.
He concentrated and—
ZAP.
This time it was one million volts.
And this time...
Yeah. He was definitely in full "dumb mode" now. His expression went blank, and Jirou stared at him in disbelief.
— Hey, we're not done yet. You need to focus more.
She didn't mean it harshly, but for Denki... it hurt.
He wasn't fully conscious outwardly, but internally, he was aware of what was happening. He just couldn't control his body. Thankfully, he recovered after a few seconds—long before Jirou signaled again.
— Go, Denki! — she shouted, laser-focused on the mission.
ZAP.
Denki was gone after that. Completely done.
He'd hit his limit.
He shouldn't have done that. His body was screaming at him. A million volts already pushed him near collapse, and this time, he had fired off 1.1 million. Doing repeated high-voltage discharges left him exhausted, yes, but this time his head was pounding, his vision darkening and
—
He barely had time to recover when—
— Denki, now! Last one, make it stronger! — Jirou ordered, totally unaware of how close he was to passing out.
Denki wasn't okay. Not even close.
He knew he should stop.
His body was throbbing.
He needed to get out.
But what would his friends think? They were counting on him.
ZAP.
...Oh.
Maybe he lost control. Maybe he pushed past 1.2 million volts, the amount needed for the last strike. The entire training area went dark.
And he felt awful. Really awful. He'd never gone past a million before, and if he already felt sick at that level... then now..
At the same time, Bakugou and Deku were fighting, and Izuku lost control of his power, forcing Aizawa to intervene.
Denki's head felt heavy. His body felt wrong. All that electricity had pushed him into complete overload. His thoughts were a mess. No one noticed because everyone was rushing toward Deku and Bakugou. Jirou, Sero, Kirishima... everyone, both teams and the spectators, ran to the commotion, leaving Denki behind.
He tried to walk but only stumbled, his vision fading.
Not again, he thought.
He collapsed. quick, but he did pass out.
He woke up fast since overload blackouts usually didn't last long. It had happened before... and he hated it every time. But this time was worse. Much worse.
With great effort, he managed to leave the training area. He planned to head back to his dorm to rest. But of course his body wasn't going to let him, not after what he'd put it through.
This always happened: hours after using his quirk, Denki would get dizzy, nauseous, exhausted. Hours later.
But it had only been a few minutes.
He shouldn't be feeling this sick. Right?
Before he knew it, he was sprinting to the nearest bathroom and collapsed to his knees in front of the toilet as he threw up.
Denki felt miserable. He was nauseous, yes, but more than that—he felt weak. Physically and mentally. After all, what kind of quirk came with so many side effects? He just wanted to use his power without getting sick, without losing consciousness, jus like everyone else. It was exhausting.
After about ten minutes like that, he finally managed to stand.
He looked terrible. He was pale, drained, and still shaky from throwing up.
He left the bathroom, heading toward the dorms and ran straight into Aizawa. The teacher looked at him and immediately noticed he seemed... off?
— Don't worry about the training area, Denki. Some technicians will fix the electrical system later. Besides, Midoriya and Bakugou caused more damage than you — Aizawa said, assuming Denki felt guilty about blacking out the arena (and part of U.A). Though he had a feeling that wasn't the only thing bothering him.
— Sorry about that, I overdid it a bit with my quirk hehe... — Denki tried to smile. God, he felt awful. — How are Bakugou and Midoriya? — he asked quickly, wanting to avoid more questions. No one needed to know about his problems.
Aizawa noticed the subject change but let it go.
— Bakugou is fine, just a few scratches. Midoriya injured his left arm, but Recovery Girl is already treating him.
Denki nodded and said he needed to head back to his room. He walked off toward the dorms.
Aizawa frowned. Something was wrong with Denki. Very wrong. But he would deal with it later, he needed to deal with the mess his students had made. He sighed, already exhausted at the thought.
On his way to the dorms, Denki saw some classmates eating in the kitchen, others watching TV... Normally he'd join them, laughing and hanging out. But today he was tired. In pain. He just wanted to sleep.
— Hey, Denki! Come eat with us? — Mina called happily. Momo and Tsuyu looked his way and nodded, silently inviting him to join them.
— Did you see him after he used his quirk today?! — Sero laughed. He meant no harm, he joked with everyone.
— That idiot-face can't use his quirk without going brain-dead. He didn't even follow the plan right, he turned off all the base test — Bakugou grumbled as he grabbed an apple and left the dorm building. He was annoyed about everything that had happened. He was always like that.
Denki knew that.
But it still hurt.
You're not good enough. You'll never be.
The words echoed in his mind, something he'd heard years before.
And Bakugou's comment brought them right back.
And it was true, wasn't it?
He couldn't even use his own quirk without frying his brain.
That's all he was.
Stupid.
The thought made Denki tremble.
I'm not good enough. They're right. Why am I even at U.A? I don't deserve to be here. I'll never be a hero. I wasn't born for this. I'm stupid. I have no control. How could someone like me ever become a hero?
— Denki? — Mina's voice pulled him back. —!Are you eating with us or not?
— I'm not hungry. I'll skip tonight — he said with a forced smile, already heading toward his room.
— He's acting weird... is he okay? — Jirou asked, which was strange. She wasn't usually the type to show concern.
— He's probably tired. After he used his quirk he went all fried, that must've messed up his head — Sero laughed. Others laughed with him. He didn't mean anything bad.. they just didn't know what really happened to Denki during overloads.
No one knew.
That's why they laughed.
Laughed while Denki was breaking inside.
Denki finally reached his room and—
No. Not again.
Another wave of nausea hit, and he ran for the bathroom.
He threw up again.
And again.
And again.
All afternoon.
On top of that, he was shivering. The dorm was 94°F, there was no reason to be cold unless he had a fever. It happened sometimes when he used his quirk, but never this bad. Never so soon after using it.
Something was wrong. And he knew it.
But what else could he do?
He couldn't ask for help without admitting his body reacted badly to his own quirk.
If Aizawa found out... what if he got expelled?
At 8:30 PM, Denki felt slightly less awful and dragged himself to his bed. He lay down, trying to sleep. Normally he would've eaten dinner, but the nausea was still too strong.
He closed his eyes, pulled a blanket over himself, still feverish, and tried to sleep.
Tried.
Ten minutes passed... thirty... forty... nothing.
By 2:10 AM, he was still awake, trapped in his own thoughts.