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The common room at Heights Alliance was louder than usual.
Not rowdy, just busy. Warm. Alive in that way it only ever seemed to be during winter break, when classes slowed and the pressure eased just enough for everyone to remember they were teenagers instead of heros-in-training.
Music hummed from someone’s speaker. Sero and Mina were arguing over decorations. Kirishima was hanging lights slightly crooked on purpose just to annoy Bakugo, who pretended not to care while very obviously fixing them the moment Kirishima stepped away.
Izuku Midoriya sat at the edge of the couch, notebook abandoned beside him, watching it all with a soft, distant smile.
He liked nights like this.
Liked the normalcy of it. The way everyone’s laughter layered over itself, the way no one was asking him to analyze tactics or save the day or think ten steps ahead.
For once, he was just… here.
“Dude, you’re gonna burn a hole through the room if you keep staring like that.”
Izuku jumped.
Denki Kaminari had appeared beside him without warning, flopping down onto the couch with his usual lack of spatial awareness. He leaned back, arms stretched along the cushions, grin bright and easy.
“I-I wasn’t staring!” Izuku protested immediately, heat rushing to his face.
Denki squinted at him. “Uh-huh. Sure. Totally believe you.”
Izuku ducked his head, mortified. “I was just… thinking.”
“That’s dangerous,” Denki said solemnly. “Last time you did that, half of us ended up doing extra training drills.”
“That was different,” Izuku muttered.
Denki laughed, the sound light and crackling like static. Izuku felt it settle somewhere in his chest before he could stop it.
He’d noticed it before. That feeling. The way Denki’s presence seemed to charge the air around him, bright, unpredictable, warm in a way that made Izuku’s thoughts scatter.
He didn’t know when it had started.
Maybe during late-night study sessions when Denki complained but stayed anyway.
Maybe during missions when Denki’s voice cut through the chaos, grounding and familiar.
Maybe during those rare quiet moments when Denki dropped the act and let himself be… genuine.
Whatever it was, Izuku had done what he always did with feelings he didn’t understand.
He ignored them.
“So,” Denki said, nudging him lightly with an elbow, “you helping decorate or just supervising like a tiny, anxious manager?”
“I can help!” Izuku said quickly, already standing. “What do you need?”
Denki blinked, then smirked. “Wow.
Eager. Love that.”
Izuku flushed again.
Denki hopped up too, grabbing a small bundle of greenery from the table.
“Alright, hero. Your mission, hang this over the hallway arch.”
Izuku looked down at the bundle. Mistletoe.
His brain short-circuited.
“O-Oh. That’s… um…”
Denki raised an eyebrow. “What? You scared of plants now?”
“N-No!” Izuku squeaked. “I just- I mean- I thought maybe we weren’t doing that?”
Denki shrugged. “Mina insisted. Something about ‘tradition’ and ‘romantic tension.’ I stopped listening halfway through.”
Izuku swallowed.
Romantic tension.
Denki noticed the hesitation, his
expression shifting just a fraction, less teasing, more curious. “Hey. You okay?”
Izuku nodded too fast. “Yeah! Totally. I’ll hang it.”
He took the mistletoe and climbed onto a chair, hands shaking just slightly as he tied it into place. When he stepped down, he avoided looking at Denki, suddenly very aware of how close they were standing.
Denki didn’t move away.
“Looks good,” Denki said quietly.
Izuku risked a glance up.
Denki’s smile had softened. Less flashy. More… fond.
The air between them felt different. Charged. Expectant.
Izuku’s heart hammered.
Before he could say anything, before he could overthink it into oblivion, Mina’s voice rang out from across the room.
“OHHHH. Is that mistletoe I see?”
Denki groaned. “Abort mission.”
Too late.
Mina, Tooru, and Sero immediately zeroed in on them, grinning like sharks who’d scented blood.
“Well?” Mina sing-songed. “You gonna do it?”
Izuku froze.
Denki glanced at him, really looked at him this time. Saw the tension in his shoulders, the way his fingers curled into his sleeves.
Something in Denki’s expression shifted.
He turned back to the group. “Nah. Not forcing anything.”
Mina blinked. “What?”
Denki shrugged, hands in his pockets.
“It’s only fun if both people want it, right?”
Izuku stared at him.
Denki met his gaze again, gentler now.
“You don’t have to, Midoriya.”
Those words shouldn’t have meant so much.
But they did.
Izuku took a breath. Let it out slowly.
“I… I want to,” he said, barely above a whisper.
Denki’s eyes widened.
“You do?”
Izuku nodded, cheeks burning. “I just, I’m bad at this. At… knowing what to do.”
Denki smiled, soft and real. “That’s okay. I’m bad at a lot of things.”
Izuku huffed a quiet laugh.
Denki stepped closer, careful, giving
Izuku space even as he closed the distance. “We can just… have a moment. No pressure.”
Izuku’s chest felt tight. Full.
He nodded.
Denki leaned in, but aware, always aware, moving slowly enough that Izuku had time to pull away if he wanted.
He didn’t.
The kiss was gentle. Almost hesitant.
Denki’s lips were warm, soft, tasting faintly of cider. Izuku’s breath caught as Denki’s hand came up, not to pull him closer, but to rest lightly against his arm, grounding.
For a moment, the world narrowed to that point of contact.
Then they pulled back.
Izuku’s head was spinning.
Denki blinked, then let out a quiet,
breathless laugh. “Wow.”
Izuku’s voice came out shaky. “Y-Yeah.”
From behind them, Mina made an inhuman noise of delight.
“HAHA YES!”
Tooru clapped a hand over her mouth, eyes shining. Sero whooped.
Denki laughed again, rubbing the back of his neck.
Izuku smiled, small, genuine, glowing.
Later, when the room had settled and people drifted off to their dorms, Denki walked beside Izuku down the quiet hallway.
Snow tapped softly against the windows.
Denki glanced over. “Hey. You okay?”
Izuku nodded. “Yeah. I just… feel lighter.”
Denki smiled. “Good. You deserve that.”
They stopped outside Izuku’s door.
Neither rushed to say goodnight.
Denki shifted his weight. “So… this wasn’t just a holiday thing. At least, not for me.”
Izuku met his eyes, heart steady this time. “Me neither.”
Denki’s grin was softer now. Real.
“Cool.”
Izuku hesitated, then leaned
in, pressing a quick kiss to Denki’s cheek.
Denki froze.
Then he laughed, bright and stunned.
“Oh my god. I’m never recovering from that.”
Izuku smiled as he slipped inside his
room.
For once, he didn’t overthink what came next.
He just let himself feel it.
Denki Kaminari had kissed a lot of people in his life.
Some on dares.
Some for laughs.
Some because he liked the reaction more than the person.
None of them had followed him back to his room and refused to let him sleep.
He lay on his bed staring at the ceiling, hands folded behind his head, replaying it over and over like a stuck video loop.
The way Deku had looked at him before the kiss, nervous, hopeful, trying so hard to be brave.
The way he’d said I want to like it was a decision, not an impulse.
The way his lips had been warm and careful, like he was trusting Denki with something fragile.
Denki groaned quietly and rolled onto his side, burying his face in his pillow.
“Okay,” he muttered to himself. “So I’m screwed.”
Not in a bad way.
In a wow, I actually care way.
That was new.
Usually, Denki didn’t think this far ahead. He lived in the moment, laugh now, flirt now, deal with consequences later. It was easier that way. Safer.
But Deku made it hard to stay shallow.
Deku looked at him like he mattered.
Like he wasn’t just the funny guy or the loud one or the lightning bolt everyone expected him to be. Like there was something steady underneath all the noise.
Denki hadn’t even realized how much he wanted that until tonight.
He rolled onto his back again, staring at the faint glow of the city lights outside his window.
He thought about how he’d almost kissed Deku faster, how every instinct had screamed go for it.
How he’d stopped himself instead.
That part surprised him the most.
He smiled to himself.
“Guess I can be patient,” he murmured.
“For you.”
His phone buzzed.
A text.
Deku:
Goodnight, Kaminari. Thank you… for today.
Denki stared at the screen for a long moment before typing back.
Denki:
Anytime, hero.
Sleep well :)
He set the phone down, chest warm in a way that had nothing to do with electricity.
Tomorrow, things might be awkward. Or exciting. Or confusing.
But for once, Denki wasn’t worried about what came next.
He’d kissed Izuku Midoriya under mistletoe.
And somehow, that felt like the start of something real.