Chapter Text
In the last class of the week, Monoma reached the final page of his book. As he closed the spine shut, he ran his fingers along the hardcover. It had little indents imbedded around the title.
Just outside of the class, clouds started graying significantly. If that wasn't enough of a tell that rain would be coming soon, the earthy smell of damp dirt and soggy leaves was.
There was this new release from one of his favorite authors sitting in a bookshop roughly 5 minutes away from the UA campus. It was a large chain—The Noble Barn—so it was almost guaranteed to have it stocked.
The only obstacle standing in Monoma's way from acquiring the book was getting Vlad Sensei to approve his request to go off campus. He had confidence that he would get his teacher's blessing though.
The bell rang and instead of rushing to pack up, Monoma purposefully slowed down his movements of putting his notebook and pencils away. When the classroom only had his Sensei and himself left, he walked up to the blood hero.
"Vlad Sensei," the blonde started, waiting until there was eye contact before continuing, "may I go to the bookstore really quick to pick something up?"
Monoma knew that his sensei would need a moment to think over the request, but the small lapse of silence made him anxious. Should he have phrased that differently? He could have been more specific and said he just really wanted to pick up a book, but since he said bookstore, he didn't think it was necessary to clari—
"How far away is it?" Vlad cut off his spiraling train of thought.
"It's about a 5 minute walk, it's the one on 8th street. I'll go there, buy my book, then head straight back. It shouldn't be longer than a 15 minute trip."
Vlad paused again, but it was so short that Monoma's mind didn't have time to process that it could be a negative pause. "I know the area you're talking about; the location can be sketchy and I'm not sure if the cameras have been reinstalled since the fight there last week." He let out a small sigh, "go back to your dorm first so you can change out of your uniform. If you aren't back in 45 minutes, I'm going to go look for you and you'll be getting a detention. Message me when you get back."
"Thank you sensei!" Monoma exclaimed with a bow. Quickly turning on his heels to get back to his room.
His internal clock was precise. It needed to be for when he was out on the field. It also came in handy for instances like this. As he reached for the handle to his living quarters, he knew that four and a half minutes had passed.
The first thing he did upon entering was depositing his bag on the floor neatly by his desk, setting his phone on top of it. He then moved towards his closet to choose from his array of clothes.
He ended up picking a nice mustard colored sweater with a white shirt underneath. The collar of the undershirt was framed with two necklaces: a simple silver chain and an almost identical second necklace, minus the fact that a small lightning bolt pendant hung from it.
The necklace was a gift from one of his few friends, Kaminari Denki, and it quickly became one of his favorites.
Lastly he had chosen a pair of dark brown pants with a small pocket watch hanging from his belt loop. It had cuffs at the bottom leading to his plain white sneakers that slowly faded into more of an ivory color.
After double checking his wallet was on him, he left the dorms in a hurry. Eight and a quarter minutes had passed.
The walk wasn't too far. By the time he left the gates, he reached the ten minute mark. It was practically a straight line to the bookstore—only needing to make one right turn when he got closer.
The sun should have still been high in the sky, yet it was completely darkened by the clouds. It was almost guaranteed to start sprinkling at any minute and the regret of not bringing an umbrella was starting to sink in.
It was a nice walk besides the near-promise of getting wet on the return. The air smelled earthy and cold, he could hear the wind pass him, and if he took a deep breath, it was almost like he could taste an old memory of jumping in puddles back when he was half his current height.
At the sixteen minute mark, he arrived at the shop. The door chimed as he pushed his way inside and a slender, tall woman greeted him on the left.
"Welcome in! Let me know if you need help finding anything." She nodded towards the shelves that decorated the whole right side of the shop.
He had been here before so he knew exactly which direction to head—towards the middle back. The towering shelves looked trippy in his peripheral as he briskly made his way to the aisle he needed.
He started scanning the spines for the English poetry book that just came out. It was written by an American author that Kaminari introduced him to. Poetry wasn't his favorite—he preferred the classics. However, after reading a few poems by this author, he was hooked.
While scanning the shelves, he heard the door chime again. He didn't pay it much mind and didn't want to move around the shelves to see who entered. At least, that was until there was a commotion.
"Start putting all of the money in this bag before I use my quirk!" A short, cat-eyed man shouted while shoving a brown drawstring bag in front of her.
Monoma stayed hidden behind the shelves. If the situation escalated, he would step in. He knew that almost every store had a hidden button for employees to press in the event they got robbed. That way the worker could comply with orders safely and get help as soon as possible.
He reached for his phone to update Vlad sensei and tell him he is okay but is caught up in something, when he realized he forgot it in his hurry to get out of the door. He only had his wallet in his pockets.
It had been relatively quiet for a few moments; it officially reached the 20 minute mark since he left his class. He suddenly heard sirens and the sound only got louder as they approached.
All he heard was a quiet, "damn it," before the bell above the entrance rang, signaling he had fled. Monoma decided to check on the worker, but as he rounded towards her, he found that the entire area near the entrance was covered in a fog, and said fog was moving towards him. He tried to move to the back again when he realized the woman was no longer behind the desk—she was just gone.
Nerves overloaded him as the fog drifted floated in his direction—there was no escape. He should have just held his breath and ran to the door, but he couldn't make out where the exit was anymore and he didn't know how long he could go without breathing. In his panic, he didn't acknowledge that he wasn't inhaling clean air anymore. His vision went black.
When Monoma woke up, he felt the kind of soreness you feel when you do a full body workout and try to get a new PR on every machine. He opened his eyes, and to his relief, the fog was gone. To his dismay, he could barely see the second shelf. He glanced down at his hands, only to see two dark brown paws in the same color of the pants he wore.
At first, he panicked. He didn't immediately remember what events brought him there, but the steady rain echoing on the roof and the slow recollection of the day coming back calmed him down.
Thankfully, there was a clock on the wall that showed only ten minutes passing. He had spent roughly thirty out of the forty-five minutes he was given.
He tried standing, and was able to do so with little difficulty. His first few steps were uncoordinated but he quickly got the hang of it. Monoma turned around and caught sight of his tail. It seemed like his whole body was the same shade of yellow as his sweater and the very tip of his tail was a dark brown. He also noticed the fact that none of his clothes were on the floor. They must have transformed with him due to this—quirk?
It had to be that man's quirk, that was the only explanation. He wanted to check on the employee on shift, but he needed to get out of the shop.
He moved to the propped open door and dashed outside in between all the police officer's legs. The direction to UA was simple, he just had to make a turn at the upcoming corner then go straight. Easy, right?
Wrong. As soon as Monoma turned the corner, he ran head first into something soft but sturdy.
"Ah! I'm sorry kitty, are you okay?" A familiar voice said. It was a bit more high pitched, but he had that voice ingrained in the back of his brain. It's been one of his favorite sounds since he started crushing on the electric blonde back in their second year.
Monoma didn't want to seem foolish for running into him like that though, so he covered his simmering panic with the coolness all cats seemed to portray. He went to sit up and gracefully lick the back of his paw when the arm holding him up slipped on the wet concrete.
Monoma heard laughter from above him before gently being lifted up. He was gently brushed off of all the water he was contaminated with before being held to Kaminari's chest.
Monoma was trying not to internally panic by being held so close, but the warmth from his body heat felt so nice.
Kaminari wasn't as dressed up or put together as Monoma was. He just had a pair of black sweatpants, a thick white cotton long-sleeved shirt, and a dark blue zip up hoodie.
"You must be freezing right now," he whispered as he moved to unzip his hoodie halfway. "Here, you can hide in here while I go to this shop really quick. You look too clean to be a stray, so please don't bite me," he told the cat as he set him in his oversized hoodie.
It wasn't necessary subtle that there was something under there, but Kaminari let out a satisfied hum as if no one would ever be able to tell he was smuggling a cat. If Monoma really needed to be hidden, it would be best for him to hide within the hood.
Monoma, however, was frozen right where he was. His thoughts started to spiral. He should be walking back through the gates any minute and instead he was held captive. To make matters worse is that his captor is someone he had been trying to avoid.
Monoma really liked Kaminari, and it wasn't the type of feeling that could go away without space. For the last year, they spent their free time studying together, going to the gym, relaxing with movies, and just existing in each other's company.
He wanted nothing more than to continue that trend forever, but it had been getting hard recently. Every time they studied, Monoma found himself wanting to thread his fingers through electric hair. Anytime they went to the gym, he found himself staring at Kaminari's muscles and the sweat that made them shine. With every movie they watched—and they have watched too many—he found himself wanting to cuddle up and pepper him with kisses.
He couldn't exist around him like one does with the moon—emotions coming then leaving akin to the tide. He loved Kaminari like the sun; he was so bright, and regardless of the people telling him not to look his way, Monoma was willing to have his light burn him into blindness.
However, a week ago Monoma closed his eyes and saw the afterimage of what he could never have. The temporary damage of vision brought him back down to earth. He started distancing himself slowly but surely. He hasn't responded to the texts from Kaminari in a couple of days and it has been eating him alive.
That's why the incredible warmth seeping into his fur had him conflicted. For the first time in two days, he felt completely and utterly content. There was a large hand propping him up and pushing him closer to body heat through the fabric, and for a few moments, he didn't completely mind being a cat.
Then he felt as much as he heard Kaminari make a surprised grunt. Monoma shifted to try and see what caused him to stop walking right after he started, and he regretted the quick switch from nice darkness to the harsh flashing lights of red and blue.
"Ah man, I really wanted to get that book today," he mourned in a quiet tone. Monoma couldn't tell if Kaminari was talking to him or just to himself, but he didn't reply regardless.
Monoma briefly wondered if Kaminari came here to get the same book he wanted, when he suddenly realized that it had definitely passed 45 minutes by now.
He struggled a bit more, trying to get out so he could dash back to UA, but was stopped by a soft, "hey, hey, it's okay kitty. We will be back home soon."
That made Monoma stop trying to escape. Surely two longer legs would be much faster than four minuscule ones. He shifted slightly up and down with each step and it was soothing. He was on his way back to the safety of the dorms when something humiliating happened.
One of Kaminari's warm hands made contact with the top of his head, and delicate nails started scratching behind his ears. It was at that moment he realized he couldn't control if he purred or not as the soft rumbles poured out of him—loudly.
He might as well stop keeping track of time, because his was basically up. He couldn't recover from this. His one-sided love being shown so openly when he wasn't truly himself and he couldn't stop acting ridiculous every other minute would be the death of him. Was there any books on how to act like a normal cat? If there was, Monoma would like to go back in time to check it out because he is absolutely failing at being one at the moment.
The hand stopped petting him and Monoma realized that they were no longer walking.
"Hey kitty, I'm going to bring you to my room but you need to stay quiet." Kaminari lifted him from where he was curled and put him in his hood behind him.
He scanned his student ID and let the gate swing open. If Monoma was in a better state of mind, he would have taken the opportunity he had right then to jump down and make his way to Vlad sensei in his cat form. However, with so much happening so fast, sleep quickly consumed him.
"Psst, wake up kitty," Monoma heard the faint sound of words mixed with a door closing shut and a text message being sent. "This is my room!"
Monoma knew what it looked like, it was still the same as the first time he saw it in their second year. It had a bit of everything and felt like an extension of Kaminari himself. Although Monoma would never admit it out loud, this room was one of his favorite places to be.
They would study and watch movies on Kaminari's laptop. Monoma would always squeeze into the little space between the small white table on the floor and the bed, while Kaminari rested on the bed behind him.
Being back here reminded Monoma of how much he could never really leave. His heart was attached to everything in here because it had Kaminari written all over it. Two days of not responding and a week of distance was too much, as much as he hated to think about it.
He was gently set on the floor and moved to his typical spot next to the bed while he heard Kaminari ramble about cat proofing his room.
"Oh my gosh, I can't believe I went out to get a book and came back with a cat!" He turned to the feline in question, "I need to give you a name, unless you like kitty?"
Monoma meowed in the negative. If he wasn't going to be called his real name, then he deserved one that was elegant at the very least. He moved to hop up on the short table in front of him, but his front paws gripped into a notebook instead of the plain white surface. The force of his body made the notebook slide forward as his legs made contact with the table, causing him to fall flat like a pancake. Again.
He looked up to Kaminari from his pitiful position and saw the blonde try and stiffle laughter from behind his hand.
"I should name you Butterfingers, you're probably the clumsiest and yellowest cat I've ever seen."
Monoma hissed and Kaminari giggled, picking him up, "okay, so Butterfingers is a no-go."
He didn't know why being picked up felt this embarrassing, but he felt the need to get down. He tried shifting away and as soon as he did, he was quickly deposited on the bed, followed by Kaminari himself.
He felt hands grab his sides, and he appreciated his stomach not being touched. "You have a really weird fur pattern. I didn't even know yellow cats existed." Kaminari shifted him onto his lap, "you even have a little lightning bolt on your chest!"
He excitedly tilted his head downwards to show off his hair, "I have one too! The only difference is that yours is white."
There was something in the way Kaminari's hair shifted that compelled him to reach out and paw at it. When it moved so easily, he couldn't help but swipe at it more.
When the source of the hair started laughing and tying the strands back, Monoma glared at him and walked off of his lap.
"Wait! I'm sorry, I'll get you a bunch of non living toys to play with soon! I'm sure I can get Yaomomo to make me a few things in exchange for charging up some of her electronics!"
Kaminari fell backwards onto his pillow and moved around so he could look at Monoma. "Oh my gosh, I have the perfect name for you!"
Monoma was bracing for the impact of the next words. If he was willing to call him butterfingers, then there was a small chance that the name would capture his true essence.
"I'm naming you Pikachu!"
Absolutely. Not.
Monoma needed to get a strike back from that..that.. incredulous insult! If anyone was a Pikachu, it was Kaminari! He quickly made a plan to protest so he wouldn't be referred to as an electric mouse.
He didn't know how to bring out his claws, but he knew that if you pressed down on a cats paw pad, they would come out. He walked over towards Kaminari, plopped down, and started messing around with his paws while the other tried explaining himself.
"Pikachu is this really cute pokemon and they actually have really similar colors to you! I think that if Pokemon were real, I would definitely be an electric type trainer. Plus—" Monoma tuned him out, he was so close to getting his nails out on one of his paws. Why was it so difficult?
They didn't come all the way out, but it was enough to scratch. Kaminari was still a bit distracted with his rambling so he took this moment to strike. He pounced forward and left a long scratch on the back of Kaminari's hand. He went for a second strike but his paw got caught on the hoodie sleeve and he didn't know how to retract his nails.
He started batting his arm, trying to free it, but it was to no avail. "Hey! Just stop for a second, I can help you get it out." Monoma was quickly detached and refused to make eye contact.
"Oh my gosh, you are totally a Pikachu! Ash's Pikachu hated him the first episode," Kaminari scratched behind the cats ears, "then they became best friends."
"Okay, my friend is coming to meet you. She is really nice and will make you toys, so don't scratch her," it was later in the day, probably right around dinner time.
Monoma didn't need any toys, he just needed to get out of here and let Vlad Sensei know he is okay. There was no way his teacher hadn't realized he was missing.
A quiet knock sounded at the door and Kaminari jumped up to get it. He swung it open and his smile dropped a fraction. It wouldn't have been noticeable if Monoma was able to take his eyes off of his friend, however, he couldn't, which led to him noticing every reaction.
The confusion left Monoma as he watched Momo enter the room because he would have had the same reaction to her state. However, the fact that she looked like she was in the rain for the past hour made his confusion come back tenfold.
"Momo! What happened?" Kaminari exclaimed, "you look like you're freezing!"
"Aizawa and Vlad sensei requested my help in finding—ah—something. They found a good direction to start in though, so they said it was okay for me to come back."
"Do you think they've found it by now?"
"I'm afraid I'm not sure, they didn't tell me much and I didn't ask because they were in a hurry," a shiver racked through her mid sentence and Kaminari took notice.
She had a wet towel wrapped around her and it was clear that it wasn't going to dry her any further.
"Here, come in and sit down at my desk, I'll be right back. We can talk more once you are dry." Kaminari rushed to the bathroom and was back right as Yaomomo took a seat.
Monoma watched from his perch on the bed as Kaminari wrapped a dry towel around Yaomomo's shoulders and carefully took her hair out of her ponytail. "You know, you really didn't have to come straight here, you look like you are freezing," he stated as he reached for the hairbrush.
"I know, but I didn't want to leave you and your cat alone when he needs things. Also, how did you manage to get a cat in your dorms? You know I wont tell so long as he isn't causing problems, but do you really think you can keep him a secret for forever?"
Kaminari started gently working the small knots out of Yaomomo's hair, "I know I can't keep him here for too long," he said with a sigh, "I've actually already spoke with my older brothers about it. I sent them pictures of Pikachu and they said they would adopt him if he didn't have a microchip. He was really clean so I don't think he was a stray."
"You named him Pikachu? That sounds like a bad strand of the flu," Yaomomo glanced at Monoma sympathetically.
Monoma could not be more thankful to her and her opinion, in fact, he decided to walk over to her and jump on her lap.
"Aww, I thought you said he was mean at first Kaminari! He is so polite and friendly!" Yaomomo exclaimed, letting Monoma sniff the back of her hand. He didn't need to do that so he headbutted her palm instead. "How about I start making the stuff for him?"
"Sounds good! I won't be able to talk for a few minutes," he informed while reaching for the blowdryer. Monoma watched him put the end of the cord in his mouth right before it got loud.
His ears unconciously pinned back and Yaomomo gave him soft forhead pets. The she moved her arms a bit so she could create stuff out of her forearms without hitting Monoma.
While they were both busy doing their seperate things, Monoma had a few moments to think. Kaminari already made plans with his brothers? What would happen to that idea when he turned back to normal? How long would he be a cat? He has met Kaminari's brothers before, and although he wouldn't ever tell the triplets it to their face, he enjoyed their company. He would just rather stay here where it is more familiar and safe until he was a human again.
The sound of the dryer abruptly turning off startled Monoma out of his thoughts. "Hey Yaomomo? Do you think I could try braiding your hair?" Kaminari asked while playing with the silky black strands nervously. "I've seen so many videos of it and I have really wanted to practice. My hair isn't as long so its hard to try it on myself."
"I wouldn't mind! Even though I usually have my hair in a ponytail, I like wearing braids every once in a while," she paused, making a little cat toy shaped like a fish before continuing, "I wouldn't mind if you wanted to practice on my hair every once in a while either, all you have to do is ask," she finished quietly.
Monoma could see Kaminari giving her a soft smile from behind her, "thanks Momo," he said as he grabbed three small strands at the front and started weaving.
When he finally figured out how to get past the first few bits of the french braid, he no longer needed to restart anything. There was the occasional praise Kaminari whispered to himself when he got past a point he needed to redo a few times.
Meanwhile, Yaomomo finished creating all the stuff any cat would want or need. A cat bed, a few things to hide in, a water bowl, a food bowl, a litter box—which he would not use if it was in plain view—that already had litter in it, a scooper, and a lot of toys.
When she was done, she set it all to the side and focused on typing something on her phone. The right hand held the small device, and the left resumed petting the cat. Kaminari was just finishing up weaving the ends when Yaomomo spoke again.
"I hope you don't mind, but I told Kyoka we were up here. She told me she could drop us off some food and I agreed. Is that okay with you?" She sounded hesitant and both boys in the room couldn't place exactly why.
"Not at all! Wouldn't you rather go down though?" Kaminari questioned.
Yaomomo turned off her phone and sighed, "I was actually wondering if we could have a chat instead? It's just that—" a soft knock at the door inturrupted her. "Ah! That must be Kyoka."
Kaminari quickly secured Yaomomo's braid with a hair holder and moved to open the door.
Kaminari's best friend since first year greeted him. "Hey doof, I just came by to drop these off," she said in the doorway as she pushed the two plates into his hands. "Bakugo instisted on making hamburgers tonight because they are your favorite. I swear, he pretends to hate us but is actually super thoughtful. Him in I are in on your little secret by the way; the extra hamburger patty on your plate is for Pikachu. It doesn't have any seasonings. He will be getting human food for now, but I'm going to try and convince Aizawa sensei to let me go shopping soon. They are really hesitant to let us go out right now because—" Jirou cut herself off quickly, "let me know if I need to bring up some chicken or fish instead. Take care of yourself, okay?"
She didn't let him respond more than the quick nod he sent her way before she turned and left.
Kaminari shut the door and turned to Yaomomo, who wasn't looking up at him. The chair was turned to face him, however, and her body language screamed that she was nervous.
"Is everything okay? That whole conversation seemed a little off. Did I miss something?" Kaminari was starting to feel anxious. He heard the crackle of thunder in the distance, smelled the cool rain, and felt a slight static in his hair.
"I actually wanted to talk to you about the past few days," she expressed, "you've seemed sad and off this past week and the other day it only appeared to get worse, the class has been worried about you."
"I just h—I just haven't been feeling my best, but um—but I'm fine," Kaminari stuttered out from the sudden concern his friend was expressing.
"Is it something to do with Monoma?" She finally lifted her head to make eye contact with the blonde.
"Can we um— can we eat first?" Kaminari pleaded, he moved towards Yaomomo and handed her her plate of food. Then he placed the unseasoned but cooked beef patty into the food bowl with a 'Pikachu' indented in the lip of it. It was a thoughtful detail from his friend.
Monoma wasn't particularly hungry at the moment. Being tranformed into a creature a fraction of your size, not being able to talk, and going through every shade of emotion caused quite a lack of appitite. However, the silence that stretched on between the two current-humans in the room compelled him to hop of Yaomomo's lap and take a few bites.
It wasn't the most pleasant feeling having food get stuck to your chin, but Monoma was thankful that the bowl it was in was well crafted and clean. The food was also quite nice since it was something he could easily stomach as a human. It wasn't flavorful, but it also wasn't mushy canned cat food. Small victories.
"I'm going to sit on the bed so I'm more comfortable while we talk, you're free to join me if you'd like," Kaminari didn't seem nervous as much as he just seemed sad.
"Okay," she moved to sit on the opposite side of the bed once they were done eating, discarding their plates on the desk. She leaned against the wall; It was nice having the braid since ponytails tend to make it awkward resting her head back, "do you want to start or would me asking questions be easier? You also don't have to tell me anything if you don't want to. Just know that I'm here for you and that what's said in this room stays in here."
"Thanks Momo," he broke the eye contact he held with her and glanced at the cat still eating his food, "you're right, it is about Monoma."
The cat in question looked up quickly. It was about him? He abandoned his food, he already ate a majority of it anyways. He tried to tell them that he was right there with a meow, but Kaminari, who was already looking at him, just tilted his head with a soft smile.
"Last week," he started, shifting to look at his hands folded in his lap, "the day after our Thursday movie night, he just started acting differently around me. He turned down any hangout I offered, he cancelled our Monday reading session, and he—he hasn't even looked me in the eyes recently."
"Do you think something is going on in his personal life?" Yaomomo was trying to play devils advocate and find some positive reason for everything happening.
"He stopped responding to my messages two days ago. The last time it took him longer than 3 hours to respond was back at the start of second year when we were just starting to get close."
Monoma wished he could take his actions back. He thought that with all the boisterous friends Kaminari had, his abscence wouldn't be that noticable.
"I think he knows."
Monoma was confused. What does Kaminari think he knows?
The blonde in question hesitantly continued, "for the past year or so, whenever we would have movie nights, I'd rest my arm behind his head. It was like my way of getting close, but not too close he'd pull away."
He vaguely knew about that, but Monoma assumed he did that with everyone.
"Well, recently I've decided to be a bit more bold, and in the middle of the movie I cuddled up to his side. He went a bit stiff at first but he put one of his hands on top of mine so I thought it was okay," Kaminari's speech starting picking up and got a little pitchier.
"That seems like it went well, no?" Yaomomo stated.
"You'd think," he responded lightheartedly, "but when the movie ended, he left and that's when the distance started."
Monoma didn't know what to say even if he could speak. That night was too much for his heart. Knowing that Kaminari would never reciprocate his feelings while having the electric blonde warm his side, made him feel like everything and nothing all at once.
He figured if they spent some time apart, he wouldn't yearn at every glance, word, or graze sent his way.
It didn't work though.
It would never work.
Thoughts of Kaminari consumed his day nonstop.
And now, looking at the damage of what he caused from leaving, he wished he could go back and have it never happen. If every laugh, every touch, every moment spent with Kaminari made his heart beat at unhealthy levels; then he would be the fool signing up for an early grave, because it would always beat for the other regardless.
"I think he found out I'm not straight," he paused when his breath hitched, "and I think that being around me makes him uncomfortable now."
Monoma's brain froze.
Kaminari was…
And Kaminari thought that Monoma was…
Monoma's thoughts started spiraling, in the almost two years of them being friends, he never questioned that Kaminari could like anyone other than women. Also, why would Monoma ever be uncomfortable because of that? Sure, Kaminari probably doesn't reciprocate his feelings, but that's all the reason that he should be uncomfortable with him, not the other way around.
"I just—I don't know what to do Momo. I—he was always there for me after everything our classes went through. He was the only person I could talk about my books to without getting backhanded compliments, and he always let me steal a shred of his notebook for a bookmark since he knew how much I hate dog-earing the page," his talking progressively got more shaky as he went on.
Monoma was starting to feel overwhelmed. He wanted to tell Kaminari that he was still here—homemade bookmarks and all.
"Meow."
"When we watched movies in his room, he'd make sure to have a couple sheets laid out since I got hot easily and he noticed that I always kicked the blankets off by the time the credits rolled. He never got upset at my commentary and even joined in sometimes," his voice sounded pained and airy now.
Monoma wanted to tell him that the comments Kaminari made during the most elaborate scenes were always exponentially more captivating.
"Meow," he jumped up onto the small white table, moving closer to the pair on the bed.
"And on the bad days," he took a sharp intake of breath after the sobs constricted his lungs, "he would tell me that he would always be there for me. He—he would copy my quirk and absorb some of my electricity when it got to much for me to sit still. Nothing ever—nothing ever felt too much for me to carry when he was around," his whole face was red and sodden with tears.
Monoma wanted to tell him that he was right there and would willingly absorb his frequencies every day if it made him feel even a fraction calmer.
"Meow," his front paws made contact with the end of the bed.
"But it's like I don't even exist to him anymore, Momo. I don't know what to do with myself without him," he choked on a sob, "I just want him to come back, I don't know how to get him to come back," electricity started sparking around his body.
"Kaminari," Yaomomo said softly, moving to pull him into a hug, "you didn't do anything wrong."
"I don't know what I did then! If he was uncomfortable I would have sworn to never touch him again. Whatever would make him feel safe around me. If he just told me how I messed up I would have fixed it!" Kaminari was sobbing, clutching Momo in her offered hug.
"I can't speak for him" she started, "I never talked with him much." Her hands ran up and down Kaminari's shoulder blades in a soothing motion. "But I do know that he puts a lot of consideration into the people he becomes close with. I've seen how you two are around each other, and I genuinely think he has a reason and will tell you when he is ready. Feeling upset about it is valid though, I'm sorry he has been acting like that. It's not fair to you at all."
Monoma couldn't do anything but watch Kaminari break and put the pieces back together as he sat at the foot of the bed. This was a moment he wasn't welcome in. They were in a bubble he had no right to enter.
However, even the most sturdy bubbles pop eventually.
There was a knock at the door followed by a muffled, "Aizawa Sensei will be doing dorm checks in 15 minutes, please be ready by then!"
His footsteps from outside slowly decrescendoed as Kaminari slowly pulled out of Yaomomo's embrace. "It's probably a good idea for you to get back to your room soon," his brows creased as he saw the concern written on his friends face. "Don't worry, I have Pikachu to keep me company!"
"You're right, send me another message if you need anything at all, okay?" She brushed the pads of her thumbs under his eyes to dry them as she stood.
Monoma could see that Kaminari was holding it together the best he could as Yaomomo took the dishes and hesitantly left the room. The door closed with a resounding click and the space became too silent.
"Sorry about that Pikachu," Kaminari dry-washed his face to wipe up any traces of old tears. "I hope you liked Momo, you seemed to warm up to her pretty quickly."
He stood and moved to his dresser to pull out a pair of pajamas. It was one of those nice satin sets. It had a pair of butter-yellow shorts with a button up shirt.
Monoma watched as he set the clothes down on his desk. It wasn't until Kaminari was halfway done dragging his uniform off his body that he realized he was staring.
Partly in embarrassment, and partly to give the other privacy, Monoma dashed from the foot of the bed under one of Kaminari's blankets.
He heard the shifting of dirty clothes being dumped into hamper and a quiet, "Pikachu?"
There was a rustling of footsteps around the room until they settled right by him. All of the sudden, it went from complete darkness to the soft glow of the room as the blanket was lifted up.
"Hey," he whispered as he climbed into the bed, careful not to disrupt the part of the matress Monoma was laying on. "It must have been a long day for you, huh?"
One thing Monoma appreciated was the fact that Kaminari wasn't constantly talking in a baby voice. It was a tone that was gentler and softer than usual, but the cat had no complaints with it. It wasn't demeaning, it was comforting.
Monoma felt movement from Kaminari curling around him. He wasn't picked up or moved; the other just laid down on his side, caving the small cat in.
Kaminari slowly lowered one of his hands down for Monoma to sniff before he started talking. "You know Pikachu, there was this old quote that stuck with me for the longest time. I didn't fully understand it, but I think I do now," when his hand wasn't swatted away by a quick paw, he gently started petting the felines back.
"It said to 'fear the day a good heart gives up on you.' My… friend. The one I was talking about with Yaomomo earlier, he was always so patient with me. It wasn't like he had an endless amount of it, but he almost seemed to have an extra reserve of it somewhere for me," he moved back to petting Monoma's head when the cat's tail flicked twice.
Kaminari let out a sigh, "and the saying isn't wrong, I'm afraid he's finally given up on me." He rolled out of the position he was in onto his back and stared up at his ceiling.
Monoma didn't know what to do. He never wanted the other to feel anything like this. He let out a quiet "meow" and rested a paw on Kaminari's midriff.
Kaminari let out a small chuckle and started scratching behind the cats ears. Monoma was half horrified at the purr that rumbled out of him, but he couldn't help but lean more into the touch.
"You know, at first I thought being his friend would be a challenge. I told Bakugou that Monoma would be my best friend one day almost as a joke. He hated our class and back then I didn't understand why. Then I got to know him, and my view of him just shifted. I honestly didn't find him attractive at all when we first started hanging out, but for the past few months, I couldn't help but think of him as anything other than the most charming person I've ever met."
Monoma never realized. He didn't know how, but he never realized the feelings were mutual until now.
Kaminari's next words came out barely audible—like if they were any louder, the whole world would hear it. "If I thought there was any chance Monoma would have said yes, I would have asked him to be my boyfriend."
In that moment, Kaminari may as well have shouted those sentences out of his window with his entire chest for everyone to hear, because Monoma was his world, and Monoma listened and memorized every syllable that had just tumbled out of his lips.