Work Text:
Kaminari sat on a couch in the common room, Mina pressed close to his side as she braided Hagakure’s hair. The invisible girl sat on the floor between Mina’s legs, leaning back against the couch while Kaminari had his legs curled under him. It was slightly uncomfortable, his knee twinging every few minutes, but it was worth it to feel the warmth and gentle compression of people surrounding him.
He was shaken from his thoughts as Mina leaned away from him, grabbing one of her papers off the table to shake in Bakugou’s direction.
“I got a 82% actually, so fuck off. Pretty sure I did better than Kiri on this one, even with all your extra tutoring,” Mina said, sounding smug. Kaminari winced at the reminder. Right, the test.
History was hard. So many dates to remember, so many names that blurred together no matter how interesting the person they were attached to. He remembered quirks just fine but matching them to an actual name was nearly impossible. For the second time that week he had gotten below a 60 on his paper.
“Kirishima got a 89%, so you can fuck off. As always.” If Mina had been smug, Bakugou was insufferable. It was true though, Kirishima had improved quite a bit with Bakugou’s help, Kaminari realized through Mina’s whines. He should look into a tutor. Iida would probably help him out, though that sounded like no fun. A study buddy at least, to help him stay on track.
Again his thoughts were cut off as Mina moved, this time to smack him in the shoulder.
“Stop drifting off sparky, lemme see your paper. I wanna feel better.” She pouted at him, lips dragged down and eyebrows scrunched in. Of course his score always made people feel better, even in his friend group of self proclaimed dumbasses.
“It’s definitely worse than yours Mina, no need to worry. I would never dare surpass your genius,” Kaminari mocked, praying it would deter them from his paper. Sure he got bad grades often but it wasn’t something he was proud of, seeing how he actually tried.
“Oh come on, lemme see! It can’t be worse than that time you got a zero.” Sero snickered from across the room but fell silent when Kaminari shot him a glare.
“What happened to solidarity bro?” Kaminari asked, pulling out his paper anyways. Mina wouldn’t stop until he did and eventually Kirishima would get worried which would make Bakugou mad and he did not want to deal with a mad Bakugou. Any more so than usual that is. The one time he had managed to completely fail a test, despite filling out all the extra credit questions, had earned him a week of the silent treatment at home even though his friends thought it was hilarious. Maybe it would be eventually, once he was over it. He hoped so.
He repressed a sigh as he handed Mina the paper, flashing her a bright smile instead. Her face quickly lit up as well, but not for the same reasons, before passing the paper to Jirou beside her.
“Kami! A 58? Oh my god, how have you not been failed yet?”
“I mean he kinda has,” Jirou spoke up, lazily pinching the paper between her fingers. “That is in no way a passing grade.” Kaminari felt a slight pang in his chest, tapping his fingers over the remaining paper’s in his lap. He wouldn’t be failed right? He was working so hard on it.
“They wouldn’t fail him right?” Kirishima voiced his thoughts aloud from across the room, brow pinched in concern. Kaminari gave him a weak smile. Of course his bro Kiri had him, always a little more motherly than the others.
“He’s got a powerful quirk despite his lack of control over it, he’ll be fine,” Bakugou assured him from his side. He turned to glare at Kaminari. “Should probably work on that, it’d help to be super powerful, you’ll be too useful to drop.”
“I’ve been working on it, just like we all have,” Kaminari said, even then tensing to prevent sparks from dancing across his hairline, a nervous habit. He had a hard quirk to control but Bakugou was right. It was powerful and if he managed to get good enough with it, his grades might be something teachers could turn a blind eye to.
“Careful, with how often you jam your brain, it might stick like that.” Jirou gave him a wicked grin, one he tried to return. He seemed so tired suddenly and stood, holding his hand out for his paper which Jirou gave to him after smiling at it for a moment.
“I better be careful, wouldn’t want to be without my wits and looks forever.” He smiled, patting Hagakure’s head. “I’m gonna go to bed, should probably wake up early to study. Or so I’ve been told.” As he walked across the room his eyes caught on Shinsou, frowning on his own little couch in the corner. He dropped a hand into the boy’s purple hair as he passed, a chorus of goodnights following him.
“Love you Kami!” Mina called, giving him a little wave he returned.
“Love you too,” he said, feeling a hint better. His friends could be a bit insensitive but they really did care about him. He turned to Shinsou who was looking up at him as his hair was absently stroked. “Night Shinsou. There’s some new tea in the kitchen you should try, might help you sleep.” He was allowed to call him Hitoshi, had been given permission during one of their many sleepovers, Hitoshi’s head in his lap as he fell harder and harder for his crush, but it seemed a bit too personal to say in public. After all, he didn’t call most of his friends by their first names unless they were alone.
Hitoshi gave him a hesitant half smile, never a full, and reached up to pat his hand. “Thank you.”
“No problem man! See you later.” He took a deep breath, giving his friend a final smile, before slipping out of the room. He could hear Sero and Bakugou loudly arguing about a movie behind him.
He walked up the stairs, careful not to be too loud and disturb the student’s already sleeping. Surprisingly Bakugou wasn’t in bed already, though he liked to stay up for Kirishima recently. They were cute together.
He really liked his friends, even if he sometimes got the impression he was only around for comic relief. They were just teasing and being honest. He did get bad grades, did need to study more and gain control over his quirk. Though who knows how many more hours of studying instead of sleeping he could fit in as his eye sight faded in the dim lighting. Lines from words and numbers alike danced across the page as his eyes blurred and even when he wiped them, the writing still didn’t seem to fit together just right.
Speaking of blurry eyes, Kaminari almost tripped up the next stair, distracted by his thoughts and not noticing the slight burn of tears filling his eyes. He sighed, reaching his floor and pulling his door open as he rubbed at his face, perhaps a little too aggressively. He didn’t usually let it get to him but he was tired. People are more emotional when they’re tired! Or at least he thought he’d heard that somewhere.
He set the paper down on his desk, reaching for his alarm clock as he did. He really did need to wake up early to try and work through what he had gotten wrong. He bypassed the clock for his jar of pens, shaking out the utensils and picking a pink pen and erasable pencil out and dropping them onto the old test. Brighter colored notes helped him focus on them instead of ignoring them, but he was a bit too scared to turn rainbowed notes in to Aizawa. He’d stick to black and white until he got his results back for now.
Shoving the pens back into the jar he set an alarm before he forgot, for 5 am. It was hella early but he needed the time with how slow he read and how many mistakes there were. Stupid stupid stupid.
With everything for the morning set up he stripped off his pants, changing into sleep shorts and a bigger t-shirt with an english phrase across the front. He dimmed his lights with a remote before flicking the switch to the main light off. The soft purple haze of the faint light filled his room and he flopped into bed, tucking his blankets around himself before wiping at any left over tears and sniffing back the urge to blow his nose. He took a deep breath, in through the nose and out through the mouth, just like his mom had taught him. Release the tension, the hyperactivity, the crowded thoughts. As he exhaled he allowed himself to melt back into the bed, a sniff interrupting his steady breath. Sometimes no matter how fine he felt the tears came anyways. It was annoying but fine.
He didn’t feel very fine though. It was easier to push it down, smile and laugh with Mina and prank Sero than ask them to maybe, just maybe, not reference how stupid his quirk made him every day. He just did try so hard, but the sleepless nights made his eyes fuzzy and ADHD act up and he felt nauseous every morning. Being dizzy from lack of proper care made controlling an incredibly dangerous quirk a lot scarier than it should be.
His breathing began to even as he laid still, the occasional tear continuing to fall but his chest rising and falling to an steady beat against his hand. He could practically hear his heartbeat thudding quietly in his ears. Wait no, that was the door. Shit . Kaminari scrambled, pushing his blanket down to his lap and wiping away the last of the tears and blinking quickly, trying to clear the redness he could see rimming his eyes in the mirror. Satisfied with his expression he gave a little smile, before calling to the door.
“Coming!”
__________________
Shinsou gave up at being subtle, openly glaring at Mina though she was looking away from him. How could they not see this was a problem?
“Oh my god, how have you not failed yet?” Mina said, her eyes wide in surprise but lips pulled up into a smile. After just announcing Kaminari’s grade aloud to the room. He could see the blond’s fingers tap across his paper as Jirou spoke.
“They wouldn’t fail him right?” It was nice of Kirishima to be concerned but it wasn’t exactly the help Kaminari needed. Shinsou doubted he could use more anxiety. Bakugou shot a jab at Kaminari’s quirk control and Shinsou winced but focused back on them as Kaminari finally responded. And he was right. He’d been working incredibly hard on controlling his quirk, Shinsou had watched and heard of countless times he did extra training in the gym, frying his poor brain in the process just to try and prove someone, everyone, wrong.
Shinsou’s attention returned to the conversation as Kaminari said a self deprecating line about lacking looks and wits as he stood, smiling, though his eyes looked tense.
“I’m gonna head to bed, should probably wake up early to study. Or so I’ve been told.” Kaminari crossed the room to him, plopping a hand in his hair as he stood beside his couch. Shinsou felt himself relax slightly despite his anger as the usually shorter boy stood over him, smoothing a thumb along his hairline.
“Night Shinsou. There’s some new tea in the kitchen you should try, might help you sleep.” He was so thoughtful, always looking out for Shinsou despite barely sleeping himself. Shinsou reached up and patted his hand with a thanks, missing the way his first name sounded in Kaminari’s voice. But he was clearly upset and Shinsou didn’t want to embarrass him or make him stay to get harassed even more.
“No problem man! See you later.” Kaminari took a deep breath, in through the nose, out through the mouth , and shit, he must be more upset than he was letting on. He rarely used the techniques his mom taught him, somewhat helpful breathing exercises under layers of heavy guilt for existing, taking up space, always too much space, too much energy. Kaminari wasn’t the most open person but home life had come up a few times in their late night conversations, confessions about less than kind parents or craved affection slipping out. Kaminari gave a forced smile before continuing up the stairs, leaving Shinsou alone in his seat.
Already conversation had moved on, Sero and Bakugou discussing, well discussing was a polite word, loudly arguing about a movie. The atmosphere in the room had barely changed. They really didn’t realize how cruel they could be.
“What the hell was that?” Every face in the room turned towards his voice, louder than he expected and clearly angry. He forced his facial features to relax.
“What do you mean man?” Kirishima asked, his eyes steady on Shinsou as Bakugou’s flicked around the room, searching for danger before settling on Shinsou.
“Do you really not realize? You guys are assholes to Kaminari.” His voice still sounded too loud but he refused to shrink away. A look of guilt passed over Kirishima’s face but a glance at the other’s showed mostly annoyed expressions.
“We’re not being assholes, we were just teasing. If it bothered him he’d tell us,” Mina said, her frown deepening. Beside her Jirou gave him a clear chill man expression. He was decidedly not chill.
“Of course he wouldn’t tell you. And even if he did, I’m pretty sure you’d ignore it. You barely react when he puts himself down and somehow manage to turn a blind eye to how hard he works in spite of his own struggles and the pressure you guys put on him.” Shinsou exhaled hard, rolling his eyes as Jirou looked away uncomfortably. Mina however continued to practically glare at him.
“It’s just light teasing. He knows we don’t mean anything by it and it’s not like we’re bullying him.”
“But you are! Constantly making fun of his intelligence when he has a fucking learning disability and a quirk that literally causes him to lose brain cells. He studies for hours and has to act like he doesn’t because if he does he’s a nerd and if he doesn’t he’s a dunce and asking to fail.” Another breath in, harsh exhale. Mina’s expression had dropped now and she looked almost… scared? “If you really didn’t know, now you do. There are fun ways to tease people but this is really not it.” As everyone in the room managed to avoid his gaze at once Shinsou stood, successfully not trembling despite his leg that had fallen asleep. “Now I’m going to go check on him and something better have changed by tomorrow. Just… actually consider how people might take being called stupid every day by their closest friends.”
With that Shinsou turned quickly and stepped out of the room, following the same path Kaminari had taken. It felt good to let it out but he could still feel the hot coil in his chest, skin feeling too tight at the idea that Kaminari’s collective friend group couldn’t manage to think before they spoke. He walked up the stairs and turned to Kaminari’s room from memories of each sleepover they had, the other boy excitedly pulling him along. His chest loosened as he reached up to knock at his friend’s door.
It took a few tries but eventually Shinsou heard a “Coming!” from inside the room. A moment later the door swung open revealing a red eyed Kaminari, a t-shirt hanging dangerously close to falling off his shoulder and covering his shorts. He was still a little wet around the eyes and nose, obviously from crying.
“Hey Hitoshi! Did ya need something?” His bright expression morphed into one of concern and Shinsou hated how quickly his face had fallen into worry.
“No I’m fine I just… wanted to check on you.” Kaminari’s eyebrows went up in surprise but his mouth quirked up into a smile, so Shinsou counted it as a win.
“Check on me? I’m all good man! Tired, but you can sleep over if you want.” Shinsou squinted at him, trying not to blush at his offer. They did have frequent sleepovers, it shouldn’t fluster him any more.
“That would be nice if you’re sure you don’t want to be alone.” Kaminari’s smile was back full force and he was already tugging Shinsou inside, a gentle hand on his own. He pulled the door closed behind him as he entered the dimly lit room, refusing to flinch at the excited spark from Kaminari that tingled along his palm. Kaminari’s freckles looked faded in the purple lighting which was a shame. Stop staring at the pretty boy Shinsou, you’re here for a reason.
“I talked to everyone downstairs; they shouldn’t have been so mean. I don’t think they knew they were, they’re not bad people. Just… you seemed upset.” Kaminari was frowning again and slowly sat on his bed, pulling Shinsou down with him as he talked. “You’re not stupid and I know you work hard it’s frustrating for me to have to hear them put you down. I can’t imagine how you feel.”
Kaminari had been looking at their still together hands but looked up, meeting Shinsou’s eyes. His own were filled with tears, obviously not for the first time, but he gave Shinsou a wobbly smile.
“Thanks man. It’s hard sometimes,” he swallowed hard and Shinsou reached up, gently brushing away a tear that was dripping to his jaw. He was rewarded with a smile again. “But they are really good friends. And there’s some truth to it! I do get bad grades and need to study harder…”
“But you do study hard!” Shinsou tried to relax, gently brushing his thumb over Kaminari’s hand. “You work so hard and even if you don’t get good grades, at least you try! And completely on your own too.”
“Oh yeah, I wanted to ask if we could study together! I think it could help me,” Kaminari asked, looking hopeful.
“Of course I will, but that’s not my point. I just don’t want you to think badly of yourself when you’re so smart and powerful and friendly.” When he looked back at Kaminari, his gaze having drifted, he saw the other boy biting his lip to hold back a smile. “What?”
“You like me,” Kaminari cooed, hand letting go of Shinsou as he squished his cheeks.
“I-”
“Nope! Don’t even deny it. You think I’m smart and powerful and friendly, those are your exact words.”
“That doesn’t mean I like you!”
“So you don’t?”
It was a trap, Shinsou knew it was from the way Kaminari pouted, they’re knees pressed together. Knowing it was a trap didn’t help him escape though.
“I.. I do.” Kaminari just raised his eyebrows and Shinsou sighed internally. “I like you.”
“For actual?” Suddenly they were both blushing and Kaminari lowered one of his hands back down to Shinsou’s but the other stayed, cupping his cheek. “I know I was joking around but,” He took a deep breath, this time in and out of the nose, before smiling. It was different than his signature flirty smile though, his muscles tense and anxious almost.
“I do like you. Actually. Like that,” Shinsou blurted out before Kaminari could speak again. The following silence didn’t last however, Kaminari quickly responding.
“Me too. I like you too. In a gay way.”
“Yep,” Shinsou choked out, not sure if he was holding back a laugh or trying to not gasp for air. Kaminari’s smile was burning into his retina and he couldn’t care less. Kaminari gave a tiny giggle, he’s so fucking cute, before flopping back onto the bed. Their intertwined hands pulled Shinsou forward slightly and he carefully lowered himself down next to the other boy. Kaminari shifted down the bed, tucking his chin against Shinsou’s shoulder.
“We’ll talk about it more in the morning. Because I really want to talk about it. But we also need to sleep.”
“Sounds good,” Shinsou breathed into his hair, fighting a smile at the way Kaminari shivered. “But if I ever hurt your feelings please tell me. Or beat the shit out of me. Either one works.” The giggle was more muffled this time against his shoulder but he could feel it against his skin.
“I’m not gonna beat you up Toshi,” he said, pulling away slightly to speak clearly. He paused, voice quieter when he continued. “I will tell you though, pinky promise. Thanks for standing up for me.”
“Of course. Now sleep sleep time.” He papped Kaminari’s head back down against the pillow with his palm.
“Hitoshi used sleep!” Kaminari locked eyes with him before decidedly shutting them. “It’s super effective.”
“Denki used super cute. Kapow.” The warmth surrounding him suddenly felt very comforting and his eyes drooped.
“Kapow?” Kaminari asked, more like mumbled, into his shoulder.
“Knocked me out. Good night,” Shinsou said, and wow he was mumbling too, giving Kaminari a little squeeze with his arm now wrapped around his waist.
“Good night.” Kaminari pressed his forehead to his chest and Shinsou quietly marveled at the experience of feeling butterflies without trying to shove them away. It was a good night.