Work Text:
Kaminari Denki has a problem.
A staring problem.
Kyouka knows she should probably find it rude and it does bring a certain bother to her but... Stifling a grin by pursing her lips, Kyouka glanced up from her assignment. To her right, Denki was looking directly at her. Almost shamelessly-- no, definitely shameless. He didn't even bother looking away when Kyouka made direct eye contact with him.
After a few seconds, she looked to the left where Bakugou was slouched in his chair fixated on his own work. Then she looked back at Denki, who was still staring at her. Kyouka cocked an eyebrow at him.
"What?" She mouthed, sparing a glance at their teachers to make sure they weren't paying any attention to the two of them since they were supposed to be doing school work.
When she looked back, Denki just shrugged, his mouth downturned in an innocently oblivious frown. Then he got back to his worksheet, which Kyouka was sure was blank despite having had it for the whole class period.
That's how these interactions always went. He never shied away when he got confronted. Though Kyouka wouldn't call whatever he did exactly owning his issue. Instead the moment blew over and they never talked about it again. Like an odd routine.
She shook her head to herself. Denki wasn't technically bothering her so she wouldn't give the whole thing any more attention than it deserved. But it did take up a little bit of her focus. It just didn't make any sense-- why he always seemed to be looking at her.
Kyouka wondered if anybody had noticed his habit. Maybe Denki was doing it to other people and there was no reason to fixate. Just another one of his dumb quirks. A little thing he did that neither he, nor anyone else, could explain. One of the many many uniquely inexplicable components of Kaminari Denki.
But she couldn't ignore the obvious: Denki had a little thing for her.
Was it really special enough to justify constantly finding her with his gaze though?
She didn't know, and so long as it wasn't hurting her it could be ignored. The same way Kyouka now pointedly ignored his eyes boring holes into the side of her head, again. She focused on her work, letting Aizawa deal with Denki as he meandered around the room offering help-- quickly and efficiently redirecting the notoriously distracted student to focus with a silent stare down of his own.
When the lunch bell finally rang, Denki loitered at her desk as their group rallied up-- typically the last to leave so they could all walk together.
"Dude, did you understand the question on the back? Because I didn't, at all," Sero moaned to no one in particular. A slim hand rubbed over his face like it actually exhausted him to do work.
Denki pulled a face. "There was a backside?"
Kyouka couldn't help the snort that she let out. "Way to go, Jammingway, you left half of a worksheet-- which you were given a whole class period to do-- blank."
With a bright and self assured smile, he boasted, "More than half, actually. I didn't complete the front, either, thank you very much."
She laughed louder.
"That's not something to be proud of," Bakugou huffed, eyebrows knitting in his typical scowl as he bypassed everyone and began to stalk out of the classroom. Though he did look back over his shoulder to explain in layman's terms what the reflection question had been referring to-- a rather niche excerpt from a lengthy "short" story the class had read the day before.
By now, the halls were significantly less congested, even if their group had mingled back for all of two minutes. Lunch traffic was no joke, especially in a school as big as UA.
Mina sidled up next to Kyouka, who was still teasing Denki-- truly, a favorite past time of the whole squad.
"I'm sure I know why our lover boy couldn't seem to get his work done today," she purred with squinted eyes a quirky smirk.
Denki only glanced at her, unimpressed, "Please, like you did any more work than me-- you just drew pictures of your suffering in the margins!"
"Pity points," she shrugged lamely, though Kyouka was certain that wasn't how that worked. "And anyway, you're not distracting me-- Not in the way miss thang over her was catching your eye." With that, Mina bumped her hip against the other girl's, looking her up and down almost like a predator evaluating a prey animal she was fixing to eat.
Kyouka ducked her head, certain a blush was rising to her pale cheeks. "Whatever," she mumbled, twirling her jack around a finger. So the others had noticed.
"Distracting me isn't a hard feat," Denki dismissed, though he tossed an arm over Kyouka's shoulder and pulled her close until she inevitably pushed him away with a flustered shove.
"Are you sure that wasn't just him having an absent seizure?" Kyouka glared at both of her friends, who had somehow turned her pleasant teasing of Denki hostilely against her.
Mine turned to Denki, "Well, why don't we ask the bachelor of the hour, hm?"
He thought long and hard, "Mmm, nope! I was pretty conscious," Denki answered with a handsome and relaxed smile.
Of course it was relaxed. Picking on Kyouka and Denki was commonplace among their friend group. Everyone was aware that he had a crush on her and it wasn't much of a secret that she seemed to reciprocate those feelings-- or at least enjoyed having caught his attention if her bashful reactions were anything to go by-- but neither had done anything with that information. Things just seemed to... Go on.
"You're a weirdo," Kyouka retaliated, catching up to the front of the group, where Bakugou was continuing to get riled up over Sero not understanding and Kirishima was failing to calm the situation.
She couldn't help but pick up on the glaringly obvious sounds of Mina wiggling her eyebrows at Denki suggestively.
"How long is a paragraph, dumbass!?" Bakugou barked at Sero, who paused to genuinely consider the question.
Carefully, he answered, "Like... Five to seven sentences?"
Dropping his jaw in awe at the revelation, Bakugou continued, "So if the instructions said to respond in a paragraph how many sentences should you have written?"
Another thoughtful break. "...Five to seven?"
"I wrote nine," Kyouka added unhelpfully behind the boys.
"Should I have written nine?" Glancing back, Sero asked and Bakugou growled.
"Oh my God!"
Kirishima shook his head at her, smirking in disbelief. "Bored of teasing Denks already?" He asked, falling back a step or two and letting the bickering of his friends fall away as they queued into the lengthy lunch line.
She shrugged, "They starting ganging up on me." Then, after a moment, Kyouka asked, "Have you noticed Denki's been staring more recently?"
Biting his cheek, Kirishima responded, "I might have noticed. Why? Does it weird you out?"
Kyouka shook her head. "No, it's just strange is all-- different, I mean."
Kirishima nodded, "He's Denki, he's always a little strange." Then he glanced over his shoulder and clearly squinted at their friend so he knew they were talking about him.
At the lunch table as they sat across from each other, Denki stared again. This time it made her a little more self-conscious. Watching while she ate definitely crossed into weird territory-- if only for the fear of embarrassing herself. What if she got food on her face? Did she chew in a way that could be considered attractive? God, why did she even care? Kyouka was going to make a fool of herself somehow, she was certain.
Setting her chopsticks down firmly, Kyouka looked Denki dead in the eye. "What?" She said, borderline exasperated. This was quickly becoming a catch phrase for her.
And Denki's response to her call?
"Nothing," he said, tilting his head, almost like a puppy. A very adorable puppy. "What's up with you?"
"Nothing," Kyouka responded with a soft scoff. "But I'm not the one staring you down like if I concentrate hard enough I could explode your head using only my mind." She widened her eyes as if trying to help channel her psychic power.
He gasped sharply and dramatically, gaining the attention of their friends. A few had already taken an interest in their conversation, however, since Denki hadn't made many comments before Kyouka addressed him. "I'd never even dare to imagine your pretty head exploding! Then what would I stare at? Bakugou's ugly mug?" He gave a concerned glance to the boy in question.
Face twisting from two seats away, Bakugou scowled back at him, which only furthered Denki's point.
Kyouka flushed, even if Denki was only trying to mess with her by calling her head pretty. It was definitely working.
"Barf," Shinsou commented duly between the two boys-- probably the only thing preventing Kaminari's head from getting blown up for real. He hadn't even bothered to look up. "Can you two not flirt in front of my food?"
Mina, on the other hand, squealed at the end of the table. "It's so cute!"
Kyouka grinned sheepishly. Then she picked up her chopsticks to poke at her food, just to have something to do with her hands. "It's creepy, I don't understand what you want from me."
Denki shrugged, "Have you considered all I want is to look at you? Is that such a crime?"
"Yes," several people at the table replied, which only embarrassed Kyouka further. Subtlety clearly wasn't their strong suit, but she didn't understand what else to do. This... Flirting had been going on for so long. She knew Denki had liked her since first year-- he hardly bothered to pretend he didn't-- and admittedly, she liked him back. She just didn't understand what to do next.
Kissing? Dates? A confession?
How was she supposed to initiate any of that? All Denki seemed to want was to stare at her, apparently. It was quite obnoxious, even if she enjoyed it anyway. Really, it was... Fun.
And when everything in her life had gotten so serious so suddenly, maybe all she wanted was to revel in something light hearted for once.
Was that such a crime?
Rolling her eyes, Kyouka pushed her food around. "Whatever, Jammingway. Just don't enjoy the sight of me eating my lunch too much." She gave him a sideways glance as nonchalantly as she could, taking a bite and convincing herself she wasn't worried about how it looked to him. He was just a stupid boy, it shouldn't matter.
Thankfully, only Denki's goofy grin looked back at her, not a trace of judgement to be found. "Of course not," was his casual response.
"I'm going to be sick," Shinsou announced, followed by the piercing sound of his chair scraping against the floor. It cut through the busy clamour of the cafeteria and ended their conversation. He stood up to dispose of his half eaten lunch, but didn't escape before he was bombarded with requests to take trash from the rest of the table.
"You're a certified weirdo," Sero said to Denki, shaking his head and shoveling more food into his mouth.
"You all certified piss me off," Bakugou grumbled, slouching his chair, the table in front of him cleared.
"Geez, Gramps. What are you, a certified purist?" Mina questioned with a pout, crossing her arms on the table. "God forbid young love prevail in a world so full of hate and conflict! You-- Certified haters!"
"I think you're 'certified' just saying shit to make Bakugou mad," Kirishima said with air quotes and a grin on his face as he leaned closer to where Mina was sitting across the table from him.
Bakugou grunted in agreement, a frown pulling at his own mouth.
"What, like it's hard?" Denki quipped, his face turned toward the other end of the table where Bakugou was sitting. His eyes, however, lingered on Kyouka. She snorted when their eyes met-- she couldn't resist checking when she saw him move-- then she went back to staring down at her bowl.
The whole table rattled when Bakugou slammed a hand to the surface, then he stood up and leaned across the empty chair that stood between him and Denki.
"Do you have a problem?" A sinister sneer cut deep across Bakugou's face, teeth glinting with wolfish delight at being tested.
Out of the corner of her eye, Kyouka watched as Kirishima quickly redirected his attention to the testy blond, urging him to sit back down and not make a scene. Fruitless efforts.
Denki's eyes snapped away from Kyouka and went wide as he shrunk under Bakugou, his hands coming up defenselessly as he slid down in his chair. "No, man!" His still managed to grin, despite his impending doom and the obvious nervousness in his features.
"Nice going, Denki. Now I don't even have to use my secret psychic abilities." Kyouka smiled and leaned back in her seat, watching the familiar display in front of her go down. She wasn't worried. Denki would charm his way out of death yet another day. He always did.
From the seat to her left, Tokoyami suppressed a chuckle-- though it likely wouldn't have been able to be heard anyway. Not above Bakugou's shouting and Denki's pleas not to get demolished right then and there. Similarly, behind the two bickering boys, Shinsou stood awkwardly trying to get back to his seat. He was ignored-- or rather went unheard-- but his exhaustion didn't go unnoticed by the rest of the table. Kyouka offered him a sympathetic smile over Denki's head.
This is what he had fought so hard to transfer into: absolute buffoonery.
Sero reached behind his chair-- carefully avoiding getting dragged into Denki and Bakugou's fight-- and pulled Shinsou's sleeve to guide him around to the other side of the table. Kyouka took the hint and pulled the empty chair out from next to her, shaking her head in disbelief at her friends when Shinsou sat down next to her. For a second, Denki glanced away from his tormentor, glancing at Shinsou and then locking eyes with her before smiling wider.
She knew it meant a lot to him that their little ragtag group had accepted him, so she smiled back-- which was promptly when Bakugou decided to push Denki so hard that his chair almost tipped over. He flailed momentarily, swinging his arms before he got the sense to shift his body weight forward. The legs of his chair thudded against the floor and he was safe and stable upright once again.
Immediately the whole table burst out laughing and that was when the bell rang to signal the end of lunch.
Afternoon classes went by without incident, which Kyouka was thankful for. She wasn't sure how much more of this she could handle. But it would reach its head eventually. In fact, everything came to that very evening.
Denki looked all too natural sprawled out on top of her red sheets. Too comfortable. The same way he was comfortable intruding in all of his friends spaces-- personal or otherwise-- regardless of whether or not he had been given permission. With his blond hair still damp from his shower, fringe sticking where it swept across his forehead. She had half a mind to yell at him for getting her pillow wet. The other half was perfectly content to just let him continue to exist.
She herself was busy at her desk with homework-- which Denki humbly declined to get in on. But he insisted on staying, even if just to watch. At the very least he was now free to use his phone, though Kyouka had her doubts it would make much of a difference. Not even just doubts, but certainties.
Kyouka was certain she could feel his eyes trained on the back of her head.
It was proving to be rather distracting.
"Denki," she sighed without turning around.
"Nothing," he responded even though she hadn't said anything. Hadn't said the thing.
Kyouka turned around in her seat and looked at him. Really looked. Took in the small details that flustered her to steal in front of other people but selfishly wanted nonetheless.
There was something so open about his posture. Carefree and unbothered. Like he belonged right there doing just as he was. Laid out on her bed and watching with an almost undeniable admiration. Perhaps attraction, if Kyouka allowed her thoughts to get away from her. Because of course she knew he was... Attracted to her. At least a little, enough for a dumb crush. But never anything... More. Anything serious.
Denki didn't do "serious."
Not unless it was being a serious nuisance.
She shook her head. "If you don't need or want anything then why are you staring at me?" A light scoff that was almost a laugh followed and Kyouka felt herself smile the way that she always did when Denki was around.
"Who said I didn't want anything?" He turned onto his side, propping his head up and tossing hair out of his face. She hated how handsome he looked. With the afternoon sun casting a glow on his golden features, catching on his jaw which wasn't quite sharp yet because he was still only a teenage boy and not yet a man. One blond eyebrow quirked up at her and a signature smile planted lazily on his lips.
Kyouka mirrored his questioning look. "There's something you want from me?"
He shrugged. "Or maybe I just like looking at you." Denki's grin grew ever so slightly and Kyouka was certain the warm flush on her face and the way her eyes widened-- even just a miniscule amount-- had something to do with it.
"Whatever you say, Jammingway," she grumbled turning back around.
His eyes didn't leave her.
"I like looking at you, Kyouka," he said from behind her. "Especially when you're not paying attention to me. When you're... When you're in your own world doing your own thing."
There was a soft rustle of the sheets as Denki shifted but Kyouka didn't look back at him, instead staring down at her homework.
"Because when you think no one is looking... You rub your eyebrows to help you concentrate and you mouth lyrics to yourself-- since tapping or humming makes noise and people would notice." His slippered feet stepped lazily across the carpet, closing the gap between them. "And you don't want people to notice-- But I do. I noticed that it's easy to make you blush-- especially your ears which, really, is the most adorable thing." At that point, Denki was right behind her, and his warm fingers gently pinched the tip of one of her ears.
Kyouka pulled her head away from him, shielding her ear with a hand. She grit her teeth and growled lightly. "Denki!"
He chuckled lightly next to her, bracing the hand that had pinched her on the desk. "You're adorable, Kyouka. And maybe, shallowly, that's why I like looking at you most of all."
She glared at him. "Shut up, Jammingway. You don't know what you're talking about," she grumbled lowly, hesitant to meet his eyes, which had been haunting her almost increasingly for a while.
"Yeah, right!" He scoffed. "I might not know a lot of things-- you guys rip on me enough for me to know that you know that-- but if there is one thing I do know, it's pretty girls. And you, Kyouka? You're the prettiest of them all." Denki leaned closer to her covered ear a microscopic amount and she could feel his smile against the skin on the back of her hand.
Her gaze slid to the side. "You're just saying that," Kyouka said, her voice hushed in hopes of concealing the insecurity that lay beneath the nonchalance.
"I'm not!" Denki said with an airy laugh. "Hey-- Look at me." Any trace of humor that had been there before was quickly replaced by a gentle sincerity.
Kyouka did not replicate that-- the gentleness or the sincerity. Instead, she rolled her eyes and continued to pretend that the wildfire climbing up her neck didn't mean anything. She let her head loll to the side-- bad idea.
Her breath hitched, their faces now mere centimeters apart. Denki was still smiling but it grew when she did what he asked-- the sick bastard. His amber eyes glimmered, reflecting the sun rays that reached him. But there was another twinkle deeper-- an electric spark of his usual mischief.
"You are one of the most breath takingly gorgeous people I have ever had the pleasure of laying my eyes on. That's why I can't look away-- I can't get enough of you." Denki brought a hand up to sweep his hair back before continuing. "And everything else, too, of course!" His laugh might have been considered nervous, but really, Kyouka had no room to talk. "You're... so funny and completely awesome in so many ways-- I mean, your fashion, your music it's... So cool. Too cool, I don't understand why you bother with me sometimes but... I'm glad you do."
"I'm really glad you put up with me and all my staring."
Kyouka shrugged. "It's whatever," she said, feeling a smirk pull at the corners of her mouth.
But Denki shook his head. "I--" he choked on his words, teeth glinting in the light as continued to smile bright, though an uncharacteristic blush rose to the surface of his skin. "I don't want it to be 'whatever'," he said finally.
A breath passed between them. "What?" Did all she know how to do was be a bumbling idiot? Seriously, it was an impressive feat to make yourself look dumb next to Denki of all people. But, then again, maybe he was right. He might not know math or science, but he knew this-- certainly better than she did.
Romance, love, flirting, girls...
"I don't want this to be a 'whatever' thing. I want..." His eyes glanced at the table where his hand was resting. Right next to hers.
Hesitantly, he picked it up to place it on top of her hand. Kyouka jumped when there was a slight-- but familiar-- shock to her skin.
"Sorry," he laughed.
But she didn't mind. The same way she didn't most-- if not all-- of his quirks. Anyway, it didn't hurt, barely even tickled. Then his palm was there. Resting against her skin. It was warm and almost seemed to buzz with a barely contained energy.
"I want this-- us-- to be... Something," he said finally. "Something serious. But only if you feel the same! I don't-- I hope I'm not overstepping," Denki hurried to get out.
"Please," Kyouka huffed bluntly, "If you watching me like a creep for the past-- who even knows how long-- didn't feel like overstepping, then this is nothing."
Denki hummed. "Nothing as in... Nothing nothing?"
Kyouka's eyes shot open wide. "No! Not-- Not nothing, I just-- I meant that I didn't-- I don't mind. And I do-- I do feel... The same. Denki I--" she cut herself off with a groan. "This is going terribly. You're a lot better than me at... This." She motioned with her other arm.
"Confessing?" He asked with a charming laugh and the slightest squeeze to her hand.
She nodded. "Yeah, that..." Kyouka took a deep breath. "I like it, though-- Your staring and the... Flirting. I like that you flirt with me and-- Well, I like you. All of you." As if to make a point she looked him up and down.
Kyouka took note of the hair tie he was twirling around the fingers of his unoccupied hand. The faded graphic on his shirt which had a hole forming at the collar because he wore it so often that even though it was likely bought recently it was so worn down. Or the way his joggers were riding up his calves. Even the way his socks didn't match because he never sorted them after the wash and just pulled them out of his drawer at random.
She noticed these little things with a twist of pleasure and an aching reminder of what he had spent so long doing to her. Analyzing. Or observing. Maybe obsessing and definitely admiring.
"So," he said in a long exhale. "We're something, then. A thing. You'll.... You'll be my girlfriend?-- Or, sorry!" He laughed at himself and drug the hand twisted with a hair tie over his face. "Will you be my girlfriend, Kyouka?" He asked, formally and officially. Point blank.
Glancing down at their hands, she quickly found reserve in his eyes again. The eyes that had followed her so reverently through days long forgotten and moments that still brought butterflies to her stomach. "Yeah," she said at last. "I'll be your girlfriend, Denki."
"And I can keep looking at you-- for the rest of my life?" His grin was restored with confidence, even a little giddy.
She hummed, "Let's just... Take it one day at a time?" Kyouka breathed a laugh full of nerves. "But hopefully... You'll keep looking at me like that for a while longer."
He nodded, "Okay, I can make a while longer work. I'll take in as much of you as I can."
Kyouka snickered and Denki got serious again, though his twitching fingers gave away his excitement.
"And maybe... I could take a kiss from you, too?"
She tossed the idea over in her head for a moment, then she gave him a bashful nod with a poorly disguised timid smile. "Sure, I wouldn't mind."
"Cool," Denki said, not bothering to hide the relief in his tone. "Cool."
His hand gently cupped the back of her neck-- the press of the knotted hair tie found station over her racing pulse as his fingers wrapped around the side of her neck. Then slowly-- cautiously-- he leaned in. It was uncharacteristic for someone like Denki who usually raced right ahead into the action. However, she appreciated his careful approach and even let her eyes shut apprehensively when his lips found hers.
It was a moment that took all of a few seconds. Their mouths barely had enough time to get used to the shape of each other before they all but flinched away as the kiss came to an end.
Denki immediately broke into a smile, with their noses still close enough to brush. "That was awesome," he said, which wasn't quite as slick as Kyouka figured he might be from his earlier talk. But, after all, he was only a boy.
"Of course it was," she said as though it were obvious, taking a shot at being the cocky one for a change of pace. "Maybe if you do it again, it'll be even cooler."
His grin was childish when he said, "Yeah," with an immature giggle.
Kyouka turned in her seat so they were facing each other. She traded which hand he was holding so her palm could find his shoulder. Maybe she even pulled him down a little closer so they met in the middle when she leaned up into his mouth and confirmed, "Yeah."
Up this close he could clearly see the pink hue that was overtaking her pale face like an invasive moss-- covering the complexion he was so used to seeing everyday in an even more familiar flush. Her nails with their chipping midnight coat grabbed on to his shirt and threatened to send him off kilter and stumbling down into her lap. An ache took root in his neck from the awkward bend he assumed, sure to turn into a crick, but he paid it no mind. Denki was more focused on Kyouka anyway-- the same way he always seemed focused on her nowadays.
He had meant it when he'd said he couldn't look away. No matter what, Denki always found his eyes searching for her. At training or in the classroom or while they ate dinner. Across the room and mere meters away. Even with no room between them Denki struggled not to peel his eyes open just to see her.
But feeling sufficed for the moment and he overcame the urge. The timid but certain press of her lips on his. Blush and hands on skin and fabric-- grabbing and pulling and . All that was familiar and everything that was new. He stored away every detail-- wanting to remember that exact moment forever.
When they parted, his eyes were greeted by the dark pools of her own irises. Her gaze flickered over his face and he felt a little insecurity gnawing on his swirling insides.
"What?" Denki found himself asking before he could even think about it.
Kyouka's smile grew. "Nothing," she said, breath dancing on his lips. Then she practically punched him in the gut when she added, "I just like looking at you."
Denki didn't have time to properly laugh when she began to kiss him again.