Chapter Text
God, he’s distracting me…
Minoru thought with a tinge of frustration, but mostly he was just enamored with the boy whose head he was staring at. Every time Shoji glanced backward in his general direction, Minoru had to avert his eyes—but he was back to staring like an idiot shortly after. Ever since the day he’d first spoken to Shoji, Minoru had been fascinated with him—from that mask he wore, to his tall and bulky build, to his strange Quirk. He tended to moon over how kind he was, fantasized about how warm Shoji’s hands would be in his own… No! Minoru shook away the thought, feeling his cheeks growing warm, as he forced his gaze away from the back of Shoji’s head.
But really, Minoru liked Shoji for more than just any dumb reason. He was a gentle giant who somehow always found the time to be patient and helpful, not to mention how protective he was. Minoru had seen this during the sports festival—had felt so safe and like he was on top of the world, up there on Shoji’s back and cocooned in his arms.
And Minoru was beginning to wonder if he wanted Shoji as more than just a fleeting crush.
Maybe I should finally tell him… see if he feels the same way, or if I’m just an idiot for letting myself hope…
Minoru was startled out of his stupor by the bell ringing for lunch period, hopping out of his seat a little too quickly as he grabbed his backpack and trotted towards the door. Did he really just waste an entire class daydreaming? Distracted as he saw the flock of students in the hallway, Minoru didn’t notice as he walked directly into someone’s side—stumbling backwards and ultimately falling flat on his ass, in the process dropping his backpack and spilling its contents across the tiled floor. A flush of embarrassment warmed Minoru’s face as a few people stopped for a brief moment to look at him with blank stares.
Blinking as he tried to regain his composure and dignity, Minoru looked up to see—Shoji. Crouched down in front of him and scooping his stuff back into his backpack, zipping it up once he was finished.
Reaching forward and gently placing Minoru’s backpack on his lap, Shoji asked quietly:
“Are you all right, Mineta? I’m sorry for bumping into you. That looked like a bad fall.” Shoji offered his hand to Minoru, and he hesitated for just a second before taking it, tingles running up and down his spine as he felt the comforting warmth and strength in that hand. Standing up and slinging his backpack over his shoulder, Minoru felt an overwhelming urge to squeeze Shoji’s hand and never let go.
Feeling his heart racing in his chest like he was running a marathon, Minoru decided to be bold before his nerves got the better of him.
He lightly squeezed Shoji’s hand before slowly releasing it, letting his fingertips run over Shoji’s palm softly. Feeling another hot flush of embarrassment as he realized he was gawking, Minoru immediately looked away and tried to give an air of nonchalance, letting his hand fall back to his side limply.
Glancing at Shoji again with a mumbled “Thanks, um, I’m okay,” he saw that Shoji’s gaze was fully trained on him, and a molten-hot sensation gathered in his chest at that intense look. And combined with how close he was, just a foot or two away—Minoru couldn’t help but shiver.
Giving Minoru a nod, Shoji straightened to his full height and walked down the hallway, soon becoming lost in the gaggle of students crowding the way to the cafeteria.
Why did he look at me like that? …
In the cafeteria, Minoru went to sit with his best friend, Kaminari—as Minoru set his tray down on the table, he had to double take as he glanced over. There Shoji was again, at the end of the table, sitting with Koda and Jirou.
Wrenching his gaze away, Minoru stabbed his fork into his salad and took a big bite.
“Hey, Mineta, what’s your problem lately?” Kaminari asked, curiosity plain in his face as he gestured vaguely with one hand. “You’ve been really… zoned out in class,” he elaborated between sips of soda. Minoru tried to prevent his chagrin from showing, not trusting that Kaminari would be able to keep the secret if Minoru told him about his… problem. He was the biggest airhead besides Hagakure that Minoru knew. Besides, what good would it do him if everyone found out? Just the thought made Minoru nauseous with fear.
“Just… tired, I guess,” Minoru lied, avoiding Kaminari’s gaze. “Class is boring these days. It makes me miss the USJ, to be honest…” Minoru smirked as he cracked the joke, and Kaminari nodded. “Y’know, I kicked villain ass in the USJ. I bet Jirou was so impressed…” His voice hushed as he trailed off, sneaking a glance towards the end of the table, where Jirou, Kaminari’s longtime crush, was sitting and talking animatedly with Shoji and Koda.
What a weird coincidence. Both Minoru and Kaminari’s crushes were at the end of the table they were sitting at.
Minoru, with a pang of jealousy, wished he had Kaminari’s blind confidence to just say it out loud and flirt with Jirou like a pro. Instead, Minoru just sat in the back of class like a stupid loser and stared at the back of Shoji’s head all day, wishing and hoping for something more than just being regular classmates.
As Minoru glanced towards the end of the table yet again, a startling thought leapt into his mind: Maybe I should take a risk.
Go ask Shoji out on a date, or maybe ask Shoji to just hang out with him for a while… His chest ached with apprehension and fear at the thought. Minoru was sure Shoji didn’t think of him as anything else but a classmate, maybe a friend at most.
Shoji briefly glanced in Minoru’s direction, and he was forced to look away, quickly shifting his gaze to his own lap. He should just do it, get it over with, before he gets too scared and chickens out...
He was, yet again, shaken out of his own thoughts when Kaminari spoke to him in a low, conspiratorial whisper. “What’re you looking at over there?”
Minoru blanched, a tidal wave of panic and embarrassment rising inside him. Did Kaminari somehow guess what Minoru was thinking? He crossed his arms and looked at a random spot above Kaminari’s head, trying to appear nonchalant. “I don’t know what you mean.” Even to him, the words sounded unconvincing and weak-willed, and he had to mentally force himself from wiping the sweat off his neck.
Sparing a glance back at Kaminari, Minoru could almost see the dusty cogs turning in his head as a shit-eating, bracefaced grin spread across his face. Poking his finger dangerously close to Minoru’s nose and causing him to flinch backwards, Kaminari said incredulously: “You’ve got a crush, don’t you? All the zoning out, that weird look you’ve got right now…”
“Hey, hey, I know how it is,” Kaminari added hastily at the look of bleakness on Minoru’s face. “I got you, man. Come on.”
Kaminari suddenly stood up from his seat, tugging Minoru by the arm to a quiet corner of the lunchroom. Placing a firm hand on Minoru’s shoulder, Kaminari was clearly trying to force a serious expression—failing miserably as another grin broke out.
“So… who’s the lucky person?” Kaminari teased in a high-pitched singsong, looking like Christmas had come early.
Great. This was a weird situation.
Minoru thought of any excuse he could give, anything he could use to worm his way out of the question, but he didn’t see any way out other than lying to Kaminari’s face. But Kaminari was his best friend—feeding him lies just felt like a terrible thing to do.
Just tell the truth! What’s the worst thing that could happen? A small part of Minoru whispered, but the rest of him shied away from the idea… even though he knew, deep down, that part of him was right. He couldn’t hide his feelings forever.
“I… umm… it’s not really that serious,” Minoru muttered evasively, stuffing his hands in his pockets and taking a surreptitious step back. Kaminari shook his head, rolling his eyes so hard that it looked painful. “Oh, come on, just tell meeee…” he whined, clasping his hands together as if to beg.
“It’s… He’s… Fine! It’s Shoji, okay? Are you happy now?” Minoru blurted, looking anywhere but at his best friend’s face.
Kaminari was silent momentarily, slackjawed as he processed Minoru’s sudden confession.
Then, his cockiness returned, and he stuffed his hands in his pockets to mirror Minoru’s guarded posture. “Huh. Didn’t expect you to spill so fast.”
Kaminari grinned, a cheeky smile that made Minoru want to hit him. “Tell you what, I’ll be your wingman. I know all the tricks in the book, trust me,” he boasted, puffing out his chest. “I’ll have you and Shoji hookin’ up in no time.”
On one hand, Minoru highly distrusted that Kaminari knew ‘all the tricks in the book’. He’d seen the way his best friend flirted with girls, and Kaminari was more like an annoying untrained dog humping someone’s leg than a smooth-talker who could have the ladies falling all over themselves with just a couple pick-up lines.
But on the other hand, Minoru’s stomach twisted with nervousness at the thought of Kaminari trying to help him get all warm and fuzzy with Shoji. Overeager, bright-eyed, tactless Kaminari, who couldn’t read a room to save his life and certainly wouldn’t be able to help anyone—much less Minoru— pull off a successful first date.
“Kaminari, no, I-I don’t—“ Minoru began to protest frantically, but Kaminari shushed him by placing a finger on his lips. Minoru—not in the mood for being joked with, shockingly—slapped Kaminari’s hand away, perhaps a little more harshly than he meant to, and resumed speaking with gritted teeth.
“I don’t want a wingman, okay?! I…” He hesitated for a moment, trying his best not to let his self-doubt color his tone. “I can ask him out on my own! I’m not completely hopeless, you know.”
“I know that, Mineta,” Kaminari threw up his hands in a placating gesture, taking a step backward. “But you know that I like to help cute couples get together, so just lemme do this for you, all right? I swear it’ll be worth it.”
To Minoru, Kaminari sounded like he was trying to convince himself more than anything. But then, the tight franticness in Minoru’s chest unwound, and a reluctant resignation took its place as he reasoned with himself. Kaminari clearly wasn’t going to take no for an answer right now—he was too overconfident that he could be the little Cupid who caught Shoji in the heart with his arrow of love. So Minoru would just convince him to throw away this stupid idea later. Easy fix, probably.
But just as Minoru opened his mouth to speak, the bell for afternoon classes rang loudly—drowning out his words. Kaminari, already rushing off to go walk to class with Kirishima, waved behind himself with a “See you!” as he flashed a fleeting smirk.
Minoru merely kept his head down as he went to grab his bag from the table, a simmering frustration bubbling like tar inside him as he internally scoffed at Kaminari’s impulsiveness. Who did he think he was, butting into Minoru’s love life like he belonged there at all? And how exactly did he plan to decimate any chance that Minoru would have had with Shoji…?
The thought was depressing as Minoru let himself be swept away with the cloud of other students heading towards their respective classrooms.
In class, Minoru was absentmindedly picking at his cuticles, his brain too full of other things to pay attention to the lecture from All Might the class was currently enduring.
Just what did Kaminari have in mind for Minoru and Shoji “hooking up”?
Minoru’s stomach did a slow roll at just the thought, and he couldn’t help but imagine how it would happen. Would Kaminari set them up on a date? Have them hang out? Knowing Kaminari, Minoru didn’t doubt that he would probably lock the two of them in a closet or something just for kicks.
Why am I such an idiot?! Minoru thought furiously, shutting his eyes tight and letting his head slump forward onto his desk. He internally berated himself for not trying hard enough to get Kaminari off his scent, and for being such a moron around Shoji.
If Minoru had it his way, none of this would be happening at all—everything would be normal and he wouldn’t have to deal with any stupid best friends who thought they had the right to fuck with his love life. He felt like screaming with frustration as he pictured Kaminari’s halfhearted apology after all of this went wrong: Sorry, man, he’d say with a completely carefree smirk. Guess you’ll have to find another tall, masked guy with six arms to crush on.
All of a sudden, Minoru’s phone buzzed in his pocket, and he heard several other notification sounds from all over the classroom too. Who in their right mind thought it was a good idea to text the group chat in the middle of class—?
That was when, lifting his head from the desk and glancing around, he saw Kaminari, holding his phone discreetly under his desk with a smirk on his face. Of course it’s him. It’s always him. Several times before, Kaminari had texted the class’ group chat in the middle of the school day, causing everyone to get in trouble for it. This time clearly wasn’t any different…
Minoru slipped his phone out of his pocket, checking what stupid text Kaminari had sent now. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw several others do the same.
Chargebolt:
heyyyy every1 :) who wanna play some games in dorms l8r??? it'll be a party so bring some snacks;) maybe we can play truth or dare if you guys r down
Minoru’s stomach dropped to his knees, and he slumped down in his chair. Of course Kaminari just had to rope the whole class into Minoru’s personal business too. The audacity of this boy…
Several of his classmates texted back quick responses, like “sure” “ok” and “i’m down”.
But the one that caught Minoru's attention and caused his heart to pound, was Shoji’s response:
Tentacole:
I’m bored anyway, sounds like fun
Minoru let out a breath he didn’t know he was holding, heart racing. Shoji wanted to play, too.
Minoru’s chest felt tight and hot with the annoyance and helplessness he felt at Kaminari for taking things into his own hands and not even giving Minoru a chance to take this on himself—his anxiousness levels were through the roof. They shouldn’t be… it was just a game of truth-or-dare. Junior high stuff, the kind of thing where stupid thirteen-year-olds dared each other to kiss their crush.
And that was exactly what Minoru was afraid of.
Quickly, he tapped on Kaminari’s profile, hurriedly texting him a panicked message:
Mineta Minoru:
WHAT R U DOING??????? I DIDNT ASK YOU TO GET INVOLVED IN MY LOVE LIFE KAMINARI
Kaminari Denki:
ok ok chill im just tryna help you!! dont worry ok cuz ive got it all figured out
Mineta Minoru:
this is a terrible idea please dont get everyone else into my personal business
Kaminari Denki:
i said i have it all figured out ok?? i want you to be happy with ur boyfriend so dont get mad at me pls :( you guys would be rlly cute together and i SUPER want this to happen !!!
Mineta Minoru:
fine whatever but this is gonna blow up in your face
Interrupting Minoru’s heated text exchange, Aizawa suddenly barked irritably. “Put your phones away! This isn’t break time, you’re in the middle of class! If I have to tell you a fourth time this week, you’re all getting expelled!” A single glare from Aizawa, and the whole class silently stashed their phones away.
Quickly slipping his phone back into his pocket a little later than everyone else, Minoru straightened his back and tried to look attentive as his mind wandered back again to what Kaminari had planned. Minoru knew that his best friend liked to play matchmaker, since Kaminari had told stories of trying to set up his classmates with each other in junior high without much success. It had been funny at the time when Minoru had heard those anecdotes, and it was still kind of hilarious, but now that Minoru was experiencing it firsthand? It suddenly didn’t seem like a joke anymore.
He glanced at Shoji, imagining being locked in a closet with him. Alone, in the dark, where no one could see what they were doing together…
Even though his face felt like it was on fire, Minoru couldn’t concentrate on anything but the fantasy of Shoji’s lips on his, feeling his warm skin, being pressed against his chest…
Damn it, Kaminari!
Class came and went, and eventually the school day ended too. Heading out of the school grounds to the 1-A dorm building with his gaze trained on his loafers, Minoru couldn’t help but feel some small amount of okayness alongside his apprehension and frustration with Kaminari. Drama was always happening in a building full of twenty teenagers, so maybe no one would suspect anything about Kaminari suddenly roping the class into a game where anything could happen…
Suddenly, Minoru felt a hand clamp firmly onto his shoulder—causing him to startle badly and nearly trip on his own feet. Kaminari laughed, moving to walk alongside Minoru. “Jeez, you get scared so easily. How do you even survive day to day, Mineta?”
“Shut up,” Minoru muttered angrily, his cheeks flushing pink in embarrassment.
“Don’t be so nervous, man. I got you.” Realizing that Kaminari was talking about his current… predicament, Minoru straightened slightly.
“Y’know, it’s your fault I’m so nervous,” Minoru said, a trickle of accusation creeping into his voice—though it was more like a waterfall. Kaminari squeezed Minoru’s shoulder reassuringly, saying, “Sorry not sorry. You wanna get with Shoji, right? And I can tell you’re waaay too scared of getting rejected to do it on your own, so…” Kaminari trailed off, and Minoru’s face burned bright with shame as he quickly averted his gaze.
Kaminari probably didn’t mean to, but he had hit it right on the mark—Minoru was terrified of being rejected by Shoji. He didn’t know why; he couldn’t recall being this afraid of rejection by any other crush he had. Even when he had told classmates that he liked them in the past, their disgusted rejections had only been a mild disappointment. He knew he wasn’t the least bit attractive by other people’s standards, so it was expected.
But with Shoji… Minoru couldn’t stand the thought of the chance to be with him slipping away through his fingers like water.
Kaminari elbowed Minoru in the shoulder lightly with a grin, seemingly trying to get him to cheer up. “Come on, man, lighten up at least a little? Everyone’s gonna be there!”
Minoru shrugged one shoulder, still averting his gaze as he and Kaminari walked side by side. He wasn’t exactly thrilled about this, but he couldn’t deny that he was warming up to the idea at least a little bit—although that warming up was still a bit more lukewarm.
Maybe it wouldn’t be so bad... But the “everyone’s gonna be there” part was bothering him. “That just makes it worse,” Minoru said, a little bit petulantly. His patience with Kaminari’s antics was disappearing fast. “I’ll make an ass of myself in front of the whole class. Awesome.”
Kaminari rolled his eyes, slipping his hands in his pockets. “Well… if you’re gonna play chicken, maybe I should just—“
Quickly cutting him off, Minoru replied defensively: “I wouldn’t— I’m not a chicken! Of course I want… at least something to happen between me and Shoji! I just want to know what the hell you’re planning to happen between us!” A few students passed by, and Minoru hushed his voice, leaning close so Kaminari could hear him clearly.
“Well, if you really wanna know…” Kaminari began seriously, but couldn’t hold back a snort of laughter. “…I won’t tell you. I want you to be surprised.”
“Whatever, dipshit,” Minoru said, rolling his eyes, but the words just came out squeaky and immature instead of scathing.
Kaminari just laughed to himself and patted Minoru’s shoulder as they came to the door of the 1-A dorm building.
Swinging open the door to his dorm room and shutting it behind himself a little more aggressively than he meant to, Minoru tossed his backpack onto his bed and sat down on the edge— knee bouncing erratically— trying to collect himself for a minute. All day, he’d been anxious and zoning out, but now he was just starting to get frustrated with himself.
Nothing serious is gonna happen, Minoru tried to convince his racing thoughts. This is just another one of Kaminari’s jokes, I know it is. He won’t really do anything. He just wants an excuse to have a little fun with everyone else… right?
But somehow he knew that Kaminari was completely serious about wanting to be the wingman that Minoru never needed.
Hearing a sudden knock on his door, Minoru looked up, straightening quickly. The door opened halfway, and Kaminari poked his head in from the outside. “Come on, Mineta, don’t be so down!” he remarked, rolling his eyes with an amused albeit exasperated grin. “Get out here and have some fun. There’s snacks, too,” he added like snacks were some sort of grand prize. But Minoru was starving since he barely ate lunch, so—ultimately he gave in, crossing his arms with a muttered “fine, I will” and standing up from the edge of his bed. Unbuttoning his school blazer and tossing it aside, Minoru walked out with Kaminari into the common area.
To Minoru’s nonexistent surprise, almost everyone was out in the common room, chatting and snacking on some sweets that, presumably, Sato—Class 1-A’s resident baker—had brought. It had been an unexpectedly slow and boring few weeks at U.A, so naturally everyone was itching to have some sort of excitement happening; this was smarter of Kaminari than Minoru had expected of him. Of course, everyone else would think that Kaminari was trying to boost the class’ morale instead of the sneaky scheme he was really up to.
Out of everyone, Minoru instinctively zoned in on Shoji, sitting by himself on the couch and quietly eating a small cake with a mouth formed on the end of one of his arms. He looked good in his sleeveless school shirt, and Minoru couldn’t help but admire him a little. Shoji always looked good, though, with his neatly styled hair and the way he always managed to look effortlessly cool and collected. Minoru recalled an occasion when he had seen Shoji with his hair all mussed up early in the morning before class, and just the memory of it made him feel hot all over…
Minoru was startled slightly when Kaminari suddenly spoke. Not to him, but to everyone else.
“You guys up for a totally wholesome class game of truth-or-dare? Yay or nay?” On one hand, Kaminari had a thumbs-up, and on the other a thumbs-down.
Turning toward Kaminari, Ashido piped up excitedly, waving a thumbs up in the air. “Yay!” Jirou, who Ashido had been chatting to, replied to Kaminari as well with a somewhat less enthusiastic “Whatever,” after seeing the look that he was giving him.
Everyone else mostly agreed as well, and so it began.
After moving some of the furniture in the common area to the side, Kaminari gathered everyone in a circle and had them sit on the floor, including himself. Minoru was sitting directly across from Shoji. No surprises there, Minoru thought with exasperation at Kaminari.
“You guys all know the rules of truth-or-dare, right? Good. So—“ Kaminari was interrupted by a rather loud “Excuse me!” from the left side of the circle. Sitting cross-legged with his back straight as a board was Iida, hand raised high in the air.
“…Yeah, Iida?” Kaminari answered after a short pause, sounding the tiniest bit chagrined. Iida shot back with a sharp question.
“What is truth-or-dare, if I may ask?”
Kaminari raised his eyebrows, nearly in sync with Ashido and several others doing the same. After Kaminari explained the game and rules to Iida with a barely restrained smirk, Iida asked several more questions at rapid speeds. “Will there be inappropriate ‘truths’ or ‘dares’? Is this game safe for school? Is a player allowed to back out of a ‘dare’? Is—“
Kaminari quickly cut Iida off, holding up his hands in a placating gesture. “Uh, I dunno about those first two questions, but yeah, a player can back out of a dare… if they wanna clean the dorm toilets for a week straight.”
Everyone else exclaimed quietly and started to mutter among themselves, and Minoru caught a few seriously’s and not fair’s. Minoru himself kept quiet, although his heartbeat had begun to race yet again—no one was going to back out of a dare now, and Minoru sure as hell didn’t want to clean toilets for a week. But… he was sure now of what Kaminari’s plan was. He was going to dare either Shoji or Minoru to do… something, he wasn’t sure what yet.
“Okay, people, no more questions,” Kaminari said just as Iida was opening his mouth to speak. “Let’s just get this thing started!” Kaminari flashed a thumbs up, and as Minoru watched, Kaminari glanced in his direction and winked. Minoru made a nasty face right back.
As the game went on, everyone seemed to be having a good time—Ashido had dared Midoriya to give Uraraka a biiiig hug (which left both of them beet-red), Sero had dared Koda to sing in front of the class (which he did, after much cajoling. So many birds came to the window, it was ridiculous, but he did have an angelic singing voice), and in a rather hilarious turn of events, Jirou had dared Tokoyami to wear a hot pink sequined tank top and brightly colored accessories in his feathers for the night.
And despite his somewhat foul mood earlier, Minoru was also having a good time. Laughing with his classmates whenever somebody dared someone else to do something embarrassing, gasping whenever a shocking truth was told, and stuffing his face with snacks.
But something in the back of his mind bothered him. Kaminari still hadn’t dared anyone yet, and Minoru was starting to feel a little anxious again.
Getting up to walk to the table and grab another grape soda, Minoru swallowed nervously as he heard Kaminari’s laughter. As he sat down again, cracking his soda open and taking a sip, it was finally Kaminari’s turn to truth-or-dare someone.
Having been dared by Kirishima to put on makeup, Kaminari still had a ridiculous amount of lipstick, blush, and black eyeshadow on his face when he turned to Shoji with a grin.
“Hey Shoji, truth-or-dare?” he asked, pointing in Shoji’s direction. Minoru quickly shifted his gaze between Shoji and Kaminari, unable to stifle his quickened breathing. This was it. He couldn’t even lift his trembling hand to take a drink of soda.
Shoji hesitated for a moment, absentmindedly rubbing the base of his mask with his thumb and forefinger. “Dare, I guess.” he replied in a neutral voice, shrugging his shoulders.
“I dare you to play seven minutes in heaven with Mineta.”
And there it was.
Several people gasped and Minoru even heard a few giggles round the circle, while Shoji’s eyes widened and he raised all six hands in surprise. “Wh-wha—?” Shoji’s voice was quiet, but he seemed nonplussed and more than a little… flustered? It was difficult to tell under his mask, which covered everything but his eyes.
Minoru barely had time to process what Kaminari had dared Shoji to do before Hagakure and Sero, who were on either side of him, pushed him to his feet and quietly said “C’mon, do it, Mineta!”
As everything hit him at once, Minoru couldn’t stop his hands from shaking with nerves. He was hyper-aware of everything around him, everyone’s stares, the whispering, the smirks…
And then, looking up—his gaze landed on Shoji, who had already stood up, looking sheepish and uncharacteristically unsure as he and Minoru locked eyes. Minoru quickly broke eye contact; if he looked at Shoji any longer, he was afraid he might just melt into a Minoru-flavored puddle.
The awkward silence remained in the air until Kaminari suddenly broke it by taking both Shoji and Minoru’s shoulders and half-guiding, half-pushing them towards the nearest closet. Minoru’s heart felt like it was about to jump out of his throat, and his entire body felt hot from embarrassment at being dared to do something like this in front of the whole class, but also apprehension and more than a little bit of… excitement.
Glancing up at Shoji, Minoru saw that he was rubbing the back of his neck, a little bit nervous. And Minoru swore to himself he could see a little bit of blush peeking out from under that mask—at least he thought he could. Maybe he was just becoming delusional from all the blood rushing to his head…
Kaminari opened the closet door, welcoming them in like a butler. “Step right in, lovebirds,” he said with a crooked grin, and ushered the both of them in. Minoru swallowed back the nervous lump in his throat, his mouth dry as a desert as he heard the click of Kaminari locking the closet door.
And there Minoru was, in the near pitch-darkness, listening to the sound of Shoji’s soft breathing and the rushing of blood in his own ears.
This was almost exactly the fantasy he’d had in his head for months now—being in a place somewhere dark with Shoji, kissing him like his life depended on it. But now that it was really happening… Minoru didn’t even know what to do with himself. He knew he would never be able to work up the nerve to make the first move, and he didn’t think Shoji would do it either… They’d just be sitting here in the dark for seven awkward minutes. Not a thing happening between them. At all.
But that was when Shoji spoke quietly, almost in a whisper.
“So… do you want me to… you know…” He trailed off, sounding unusually timid, and Minoru heard the sound of fabric rustling in the darkness. The tense silence was thick enough to cut with a knife.
But something about being all alone with Shoji, in the dark… it gave Minoru a sudden burst of courage he didn’t know he was capable of. Every other time he’d been this close to Shoji, it had been around other people, in the light of day, where anyone could plainly see if Minoru decided to take a chance and see if he was lucky enough to have his affections reciprocated—but this was different.
He knew he’d never have an opportunity like this again, so Minoru decided to take it.
Bracing himself for rejection, Minoru—standing on the tips of his feet—grabbed Shoji by the shoulders and pulled him down into a clumsy but eager kiss.
Minoru’s entire body grew hot like he’d just been tossed into a bonfire, and he couldn’t focus on anything but the warm feeling of Shoji’s lips on his own as a fierce rush of joy surged through him. At this point, Minoru didn’t even spare a thought as to why Shoji wasn’t wearing his mask—and that inkling wandered even further away as Minoru felt large, warm hands hesitantly place themselves on his lower back. He savored the taste of Shoji’s breath: sweet and reminiscent of strawberries.
Minoru, becoming more bold by the second, shifted his hands from Shoji’s shoulders to the back of his head, pulling him impossibly closer, drinking in every single sensation—but before he knew it, the heated moment was over.
Shoji was pulling away, but it was clear he'd enjoyed the brief kiss; his breathing sounded labored, and his hands were still resting on Minoru’s lower back like he didn’t want to let go just yet. A million different things were racing through Minoru’s mind at lightning speed, and he barely had time to process all his emotions before Shoji spoke in a whisper. “That felt… nice.” Those simple words were enough to make Minoru’s chest ache with longing, and he didn’t trust himself to speak—merely nodding before he realized Shoji couldn’t see it.
And before he could talk himself out of it, Minoru was impulsively going in for another kiss, this time with all the passion he had built up over the past few months; Shoji met him halfway, his hands tightening tentatively on Minoru’s waist. Unable to hold back, Minoru let out a tiny, barely-audible moan as their lips met for the second time, his hands coming up to fist in the hair at the back of Shoji’s head, wanting and needing so much more than just one kiss—
But before either of them could react, the closet door was flung open, exposing the two of them to everyone on the outside. As he heard the gasps and exclamations of several classmates, Minoru yanked himself away from Shoji with panic and shame burning in his chest.
Kaminari quickly stepped away from the open closet, eyeing Minoru with a knowing look. “Looks like you guys had the time of your lives in there, huh?” he said smugly, an annoying grin plastered on his face.
Feeling a sudden and unexpected rush of hot anger, Minoru stormed up to Kaminari and tried to get in his face as best he could with the height difference. He was sick of Kaminari’s smugness and his stupid need to get involved in his personal business even if he was Minoru’s best friend.
“You—you creep, you set me up! Why can’t you just let me do these things on my own?! I can’t stand it when you try to pull this kind of crap!” Minoru’s face burned with a mix of shame and embarrassment as he saw Shoji out of the corner of his eye—mask back on his face, quietly attempting to head back to his room.
Kaminari looked shocked, hurt even, as Minoru met his eyes with a glare of his own. A thought flickered through his mind—maybe he was being irrational, maybe he was revealing too much in front of everyone, but he was too angry to care. Just as Kaminari was opening his mouth to speak, Minoru interrupted, raising his voice into a half-shout.
“Apparently, Kaminari, you don’t fucking care about my boundaries! I told you no, I told you this was a bad idea, but you just had to play matchmaker! I’m sick of you and your stupid— selfish— plans!”
His world narrowed to Kaminari standing in front of him, looking more and more baffled with every word he spoke. The sight just made Minoru’s jaw tighten with fury. How did Kaminari not know how annoying he really was? The realization was a bucket of ice water to the face, and Minoru wondered how he tolerated Kaminari for so long.
“I’m—I don’t make plans, Mineta! I was trying to help you—“
“Yeah? Well, I didn’t need your stupid help. And I’m not gonna need it from now on!”
Minoru spun on his heel and stormed towards his room, slamming the door and letting himself fall face-first onto his bed, laying there and fuming for a few minutes.
But maybe, just maybe, his anger wasn’t justified…
The thought sent a bolt of panic into him. Kaminari, by his own words, was only trying to help. Did he just lose his best friend? His only friend?
But his worry was drowned out by the fact that he had just shared two—two whole kisses with Shoji. The bright, crackling anger in Minoru’s chest suddenly clashed with an overwhelming joy that felt like bubbles erupting inside of him. He couldn’t help but replay the scene over and over and over again in his mind’s eye—it was just so perfect. It was everything he’d ever wanted.
But he found himself desperately wishing that it had happened differently.
And he had no idea how tomorrow was going to go.