Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Looking back, Kaminari can pinpoint the exact moment he knew he was in trouble. The moment Kirishima walked through the doors of Alliance, Tetsutetsu and Shinsou trailing behind him, he should have known he was fucked. It all seemed so normal at the time. Well, hindsight’s twenty-twenty.

Kirishima, Tetsutetsu, and Shinsou made a beeline for the kitchen as soon as they entered the building, all their hair dripping wet, as if they all got out of the shower. Kaminari sat at the dining table, a cup of tea and an A. E. Housman collection in front of him. All his classmates had long since retired to their rooms. Even though it was a Friday, and everyone usually watched a movie, training had been brutal. Everyone needed some rest. Everyone aside from Kirishima, apparently. Kaminari vaguely remembered Kirishima saying he was going to go work out with Tetsu and Shinsou at lunch.

The three didn’t seem to notice him as they came in, which he didn’t particularly mind. The quiet of the dorms was nice. Kaminari tried to fall asleep, but the nightmares from first year were too much again. He was content with his tea and his poetry in the silence.

Kaminari could hear Kirishima rummaging around in the kitchen, no doubt trying to find where Bakugou kept his good protein bars. Eventually, the three came back into the common room, bars and bottles of water in hand, and sat at the table.

“What’re you still doing up, bud?” Kirishima asked quietly. Kaminari shrugged, bookmarking his page and closing the book.

“Couldn’t sleep,” he said simply. Kirishima nodded.

“We were gonna watch some show Shinsou told us about, if you want to join,” the redhead offered. Kaminari looked at Shinsou.

“What show?” A thin smile spread across Shinsou’s face.

“Some documentary series about an old serial killer.”

“Morbid,” Kaminari said, not sure what to make of the boy. Sure, he’d known Shinsou for about two years, but they never really talked. Once Shinsou got placed in Class B, they never really saw each other outside of joint training. Maybe a nod in the cafeteria here and there, but that was about it.

“C’mon, it’ll be fun,” Shinsou said, leaning across the table, a lazy smile on his face.

His lilac hair, now a deeper purple from his shower, was slicked back, a few strands falling into his eyes. They framed his face, perfectly accenting his sharp cheekbones. Amethyst bore into amber as Shinsou stared into Kaminari’s eyes.

Looking back, that was the moment. The moment Kaminari was caught, and he didn’t even know it.

“Promise?” Kaminari responded, now leaning across the table as well.

“I’d never lie to you,” Shinsou said, pulling back with a wink. “We staying down here or going to your’s?” he asked Kirishima.

“Aizawa will be doing rounds soon, so let’s go up to mine. I don’t want you two getting in trouble for being out past curfew again,” Kirishima laughed. Tetsutetsu shoved him lightly.

“How were we supposed to know the trains were under maintenance?” he asked, smiling. Shinsou shook his head, also laughing. They made their way up to Kirishima’s room quietly, making sure not to wake anyone.

“Kirishima told us if we wake Bakugou, he’s not going to protect us,” Shinsou whispered to Kaminari as they walked by the blond’s room.

“Don’t worry, I’ll protect you from him,” Kaminari joked. Shinsou smiled and threw an arm around Kaminari's shoulders.

“Aw,” he quietly cooed. “My hero.” Kaminari snickered and the two followed Kirishima and Tetsutetsu into the redhead’s room.

“Make yourselves at home.” Kirishima threw his arms out, gesturing to his set up. A pile of cushions and blankets sat on the floor at the foot of his bed. In front of the cushions stood a TV stand with an older flat screen on top. Kaminari immediately claimed his favorite cushion, a large orange one with tassels on the corners. He set his book down next to him. Tetsutetsu chose a circular red one and Kirishima plopped down in between him and Kaminari on a matching green one. Shinsou sat next to Kaminari on a blue cushion with cloud designs on it.

“You want some blanket?” he asked Kaminari, leaning closer to the blond. He offered him the other side of a fluffy white blanket.

“Sure.” Kaminari took the end out of Shinsou’s hands, their fingers brushing slightly. His hands were warm.

“Thanks,” Kaminari whispered as Kirishima searched for the show on a streaming platform.

“No problem.” Shinsou winked at him again and made himself comfortable. Kirishima hit play on the show and the four fell into comfortable silence.

About halfway through the third episode, Kaminari noticed movement out of the corner of his eye. He turned his head enough to see Shinsou craning his neck to read the title of his book. Silently, he picked it up and handed it to the purple-haired boy.

“Sorry,” he mumbled, sounding a little embarrassed. “I was just curious.”

“It’s all good,” Kaminari said, smiling.

“You big into poetry?” he whispered, close to Kaminari’s ear. The blond shrugged.

“It helps me think about stuff deeper,” he said, leaning closer to Shinsou but keeping his eyes on the screen. There had been a break in the case and a detective was being interviewed.

“What do you mean?” Shinsou whispered back. Kaminair could feel his breath on his ear. He made no effort to pull away.

“Like, some people train their brains through crosswords or word jumbles. I just analyze poetry.”

“That’s cool as hell,” Shinsou responded. “So you, like, annotate and stuff?” Kaminair nodded, his eyes still locked on the screen. Now the narrator was saying the suspect tried to flee the country.

“Yeah. If you want, you can borrow the book,” he whispered. “I’ve read it like four times.”

“Sure,” Shinsou said. “Thanks.”

“No problem,” Kaminari turned his head to finally look at the other boy. The television cast a blue glow across his features. His hair was starting to frizz into its normal, gravity-defying position.

They stared at each other for a moment. Kaminari finally realized just how close Shinsou was. If he moved his head a few more inches, their noses would touch.
He smiled at the purple-haired boy and turned back towards the screen.

The next morning, Kaminari woke to find his head on something warm.

Something warm that was definitely too hard to be a pillow.

He slowly opened his eyes to find himself staring at Shinsou’s chest. In the night, he managed to place himself so his head laid in the crook of the other boy’s neck. He quietly pulled away and left the room in a sleep haze, missing his own bed. He was out as soon as he hit the pillow. In the final moments between sleep and awake, Kaminari thought about how he missed the warmth of Shinsou’s chest.

A few hours later, he was awoken by knocking on his door. Kaminari groaned and threw an arm over his eyes.

“Come in,” he called. He heard the door open and shut, but didn’t open his eyes until he felt weight settling next to him on the bed.

“It’s like, noon, dude,” Kirishima teased. “Get your ass up.” Kaminari sat up and rubbed his eyes.

“I’m up, I’m up,” he grumbled. He shooed Kirishima off the bed and got up so he could make it.

“So,” Kirishima started. “You seemed to have fun last night.” Kaminari shrugged as he plopped his pillows on to the floor.

“Yeah. You know I love Tetsu,” he said, straightening the blankets. “And Shinsou’s cool. I’m letting him borrow my Housman collection.”

“Cool, cool,” Kirishima nodded. “He-uh, he left you his number.”

“What?” Kaminari asked, placing the pillows back on his newly made bed.

“Shinsou,” Kirishima clarified. “He gave me his number to give to you.” The redhead shifted nervously from one leg to the other, which went unnoticed by his friend, who was folding an extra blanket.

“Oh, sick,” Kaminari said, not looking up from his folding. “He’d probably be a good study buddy. He seems quiet, like, I won’t get distracted.” Kaminari set the blanket down at the foot of his bed.

“Yeah, yeah,” Kirishima agreed. “But, uh.” He cleared his throat. “I don’t think that’s what it was for.” Kaminari sat down on his bed and looked up at his friend.

“Then what was it for?” he asked. Kirishima looked at him, incredulously.

“Kami,” he said in disbelief.

“Kiri,” Kaminair said, jokingly matching tone.

“Dude!” Kirishima exclaimed, throwing his arms up.

“What?” Kaminari asked, genuinely confused.

“You two were flirting all night!” Kirishima said, shoving his friend’s shoulder. Kaminari stood up and shoved back.

“What are you talking about?” he asked, laughing a bit.

“The whispering, the leaning in to each other. Hell, you were sharing a blanket for the whole night! You fell asleep on him!” Kirishima yelled, poking Kaminari’s shoulder.

“That’s how I am with everyone!” Kaminari yelled back, poking Kirishima’s shoulder in retaliation.

“No, it isn’t,” Kirishima said, stopping the poking. “With us, me, Sero, Mina, Bakugou, your bros, you’re so much more intense.”

“So? I’m just touchy. I barely know him. I wasn’t gonna throw myself at him,” Kaminari said, sitting back down on the bed. He patted the spot next to him, inviting Kirishima to join him. The redhead sat.

“Yeah, but I’ve seen you flirt. Like really flirt. It’s calmer. Like, a lot calmer than how you normally are. When was the last time you were like that with someone? Like how you were last night?” Kirishima asked, placing a hand on his friend’s shoulder. Slowly, the pieces began to click into place. The closeness, the eye contact, the not pulling away. He’d done it all before. And he almost hated Kirishima for bringing it up.

“Don’t make this about Kyouka,” Kaminari said, shrugging Kirishima’s hand off.

“I’m not,” Kirishima said, exasperated. “I’m just saying. The similarities are uncanny.” They sat in silence for a bit, Kaminari reflecting on the previous night.

The hair framing the sharp cheekbones.

The glow of the television on his skin.

The closeness of his breath.

The smile he gave Kaminari when he lent him the book.

The warmth of his chest in the morning.

Kaminari realized he didn’t mind it. Not only did he not mind it, but he almost… wanted it back.

“Shit,” he said quietly.

“Yeah,” Kirishima agreed.

“Is this my gay awakening?” he asked.

“Hell if I know,” Kirishima responded.

Kaminari thought about Shinsou, leaning across the table in the common room, eyes boring into his. Those eyes were inviting. They were playful. They were beautiful.
And they might just be the death of him.

Chapter Text

After a few hours of stressful contemplation (i.e., panicking), Kaminari called for the council to converge. The meeting location was set as Kaminari’s room. At seven on the dot that night, all parties were present and accounted for:

Ashido, who draped herself across Kaminari’s bed, playing a game on her phone,

Sero, who sat on the floor, playing with a yo-yo,

Bakugou, who sat with his back to the foot of the bed, reading ahead for next week’s Literature class,

And Kirishima, who stood leaning against the door, arms crossed, waiting for Kaminari to start.

“So,” Sero started, still messing around with his yo-yo. “Why are we here?”

“Yeah,” Ashido agreed, locking her phone. “Your message was pretty vague, Kami.” Kaminari, who sat at his desk, glanced nervously at Kirishima. The redhead nodded at him earnestly. Kaminari took a deep breath.

“I-uh, I need to talk to you guys about something,” he said timidly. As soon as the words left his mouth, the room’s energy shifted, almost palpably. Ashido sat up on the bed. Sero pocketed the yo-yo. Bakugou closed his book and faced the blond.

“What do you want to talk about, Kami?” Sero carefully asked. Kaminari looked to Kirishima for help, once again. Like before, he nodded at Kaminari to continue.
“I had… um, a bit of a… confusing interaction last night,” he started.

“Go on,” Ashido encouraged.

“There was… like, um… There was this guy and… uh…some stuff happened…” Kaminari trailed off, unsure how to even start the story. Why didn’t he write this out? Or at least talk it though in the mirror? Fuckfuckfuckfuckfuck why was this so hard? He looked at Kirishima again, clearly begging for an out.

“Why do you keep looking at Kirishima?” Bakugou asked. He kept looking back and forth between the two, as if he was watching a tennis game.

“Can’t you just say it?” he pleaded to the redhead, not even hearing Bakugou's question. All eyes turned to Kirishima, who, as if on cue, turned as red as his hair. Bakugou’s eyes slowly widened.

“Holy fuck,” he said. Did you two-”

“NO, no no no no! Nothing like that!” Kirishima said, pointing at Bakugou. He left his place on the door and sat on the bed next to a clearly confused Ashido.

“What's going on?” she asked Sero.

“Bakugou thinks Kiri and Kami fucked,” he said casually.

“NO HE DOESN’T!” Kirishima responded a little too loudly. “Because we didn’t,” he said, adjusting his volume.

“The what the fuck happened?” Bakugou demanded.

“I accidentally flirted with Shinsou last night and he gave me his number and I don’t know what to do!” Kaminari blurted out. All eyes bounced back him. “He was so nice and funny and close and he asked about my Housman book so I lent it to him and we shared a blanket and I woke up on his chest and his eyes are just so gorgeous and I think I like him but I don’t even know if I like him or if I even like boys and all this shit is so confusing like I didn’t even know I was being flirty or anything and it all happened so fast and I’m just really confused.”

Kaminari almost missed his word vomit, because the silence that filled the room after was one hundred times worse.

“Okay,” Ashido tentatively said. “That’s… a lot.” Kaminari nodded, staring at the ground.

“Kaminari called us all here because he needs advice,” Kirishima stepped in. “He just needs to talk this through and figure out where he stands.” Kaminari nodded again, still staring down. He felt an arm wrap around his shoulders. And then another. And then two more. He looked up to find himself in the middle of a group hug.

“Thanks, guys,” he muttered.

“We got you,” Sero responded. They disbanded the hug. “So Shinsou gave you his number? That’s chill. He seems like a good guy.”

“I just don’t know how I feel about it,” Kaminari started. “Like, how do I even know that I like guys?” For the second time that evening, all eyes turned to Kirishima.

“Oh, come on, what the fuck, guys?” he said exasperatedly. Nervous laughter escaped from everyone’s mouths.

“You’re the only out gay guy here, Kiri,” Ashido said. Kirishima sent her an incredulous look.

“You’re bi!” he hollered. “If anything you’d have more insight than me!” Ashido dismissed him with a wave of her hand.

“Yeah, but I always knew I liked guys. I have some trouble with the girls bit of it.”

“It’s, like, the same thing!”

“I’m just saying, your experience might be more helpful!”

“Jesus Christ,” Bakugou interrupted. “Kaminari, you said something about his eyes?” Kaminari nodded.

“Yeah.”

“So, what about them?” Bakugou asked.

“They’re-uh, purple.” Bakugou stared at him like he was an idiot.

“No, dipshit. What do you like about them?” Kaminari thought about the question for a moment. What did he like about Shinsou’s eyes? He thought of them boring into his from across the table. He thought of the look they shared in Kirishima’s room.

“They’re… bright. Like amethysts,” he said. Bakugou nodded at him to continue. “And, they’re… um… they’re mischievous, y’know? Like, he’s always got something up his sleeve.”

“What else?” Bakugou prodded.

“He always watched me when I talked. Even if I wasn’t looking at him. Like he directed focus my way. It was nice. I felt… listened to. It was nice.”

“So?” Bakugou asked. “Ashido can make you feel nice. Sero can make you feel nice. Hell, even Kirishima could. Why was this any different?”

“Because it just was,” Kaminari said, a little annoyed he couldn’t find a definitive answer to the question.

“How?” Bakugou demanded.

“I don’t know!” he yelled back, standing.

“How?” Bakugou growled.

“He’s warm!” Kaminari hollered back. “He’s warm and he radiates warmth and it made me feel safe! I woke up on his chest and I felt emptier when I fell asleep in my own bed! He put his arm around me and I didn’t even think of pulling away! He fucking looked at me when I spoke and I wished he kept looking at me!”

Silence settled in the room once more.

“Still not sure if you like guys?” Bakugou asked smugly. “Cause it sure sounds to me that you’re real into that one.”

“Fuck.” Kaminari fell back into his seat.

“It does sound like you’re pretty interested in this guy,” Sero said. “If you said that about a girl, I’d think you were smitten.”

“Really?” Kaminari asked, tired.

“Yeah,” Ashido interjected. “It was like that for me when I figured out I liked girls. I kept overthinking everything. One time, I didn’t even realize I’d been flirting with this girl for like, two months.”

“Oh shit, I remember that,” Sero laughed. “RIP Hiano, she was so nice.”

“It can be confusing,” Kirishima interrupted. “And you’ll figure it out eventually. You don’t have to know everything you want. But right now, it seems like you want Shinsou. Or you want to find out if you want him.” He patted Kaminari’s knee.

“It’s just a lot,” Kaminari said quietly.

“Then give yourself time,” Sero said. “Shinsou seems chill. If you say you’re not interested right now because you want to figure some stuff out, I’m sure he’ll respect that. If he doesn’t, then he’s not worth your time anyway.” Ashido nodded enthusiastically.

“Yeah! Or we could always hang out as a group if you don’t want to do anything one-on-one yet,” she suggested.

“That could be good. Like a game night, or something,” Kaminari said. He seemed to regain some energy at the idea.

“Now that is totally doable,” Kirishima smiled. “I’ll text Tetsu now, if you want. We can do something on Friday?”

“Yeah,” Kaminari said with some resolve. “Let’s do it Friday.”

“Alright!” Kirishima gave him a hearty high five. “Now, rules to make this go smoothly:” the redhead started.

“You, no exploding anyone.” He pointed to Bakugou, who flipped off his friend.

“You, no gossiping.” He pointed to Ashido, who groaned.

“You, no showing up high.” He pointed at Sero, who shrugged sheepishly.

“And you.” He pointed at Kaminari. “No panicking,” he said with a smile.

Kaminari smiled back.

Chapter Text

About twenty minutes before Game Night was about to start, Kaminari had already broken the one rule Kirishima set for him. He was panicking, and panicking hard. He’d changed his shirt a total of four times, finally settling on the first one he tried on. Now, as he sat on the couch, leg bouncing a mile a minute, Kaminari couldn’t help but worry that this was a bad idea.

Realistically, it was just like any game night. The only difference was that Shinsou would be there. And Shinsou would sit next to him. And maybe Shinsou would look at him or put his arm around him or hold his hand or laugh when he said something funny. Other than that, it was totally normal. The biggest issue was that Kaminari didn’t know how to act around the purple-haired boy.

They’d texted a few times since the night in Kirishima’s room. It was mainly both of them sending memes back and forth, nothing inherently flirty about it. But sometimes Shinsou would send an emoticon smiley face or a selfie and Kaminari would panic. He’d always send something back, but he was never sure what exactly he should be doing. Was this flirting? ‘Was this what it’d been like with Kyouka?’ he asked himself one night, staring at a gym selfie Shinsou sent him. He quickly shoved the idea out of his mind. In the end, he’d sent back a picture of him in bed, throwing a peace sign, which warranted a smiley face from the other boy. Seeing the message turned Kaminari’s face bright red. He was in such a tizzy he threw his phone across the room.

So, yeah. Tonight would be interesting.

As he waited, Kaminari sat on one of the couches in the common room, his leg bouncing a mile-a-minute. Kirishima occupied the other end of the couch. Bakugou was in the kitchen, ordering around a frantic Ashido and a stressed Sero as they finished dinner for the night.

“Bro,” Kirishima said, noticing Kaminari’s leg. “You need to relax. It’s just a game night.” Kaminari wiped his hand down his face and flipped the redhead off.

“I’m getting it out now, asshole,” he muttered.

“No, you’re not, goofus.” Kirishima slid towards his friend’s side of the couch and placed an arm around his shoulder.

“I’m just worried this is all a mistake,” Kaminari said, setting his head in his hands.

“If it is, then it’s not the end of the world, bud.” Kaminari couldn’t help but disagree, but he knew Kirishima would look disappointed in him if he said anything. He really couldn’t handle those puppy dog eyes right now.

“They’re here,” Kirishima said, checking his phone. He patted Kaminari’s shoulder as he walked past. “Everything’s going to be fine, man.”

Oh, how Kaminari wished he believed him.

Contrary to Kaminari’s original belief, the night wasn’t going too terribly. He awkwardly sat next to Shinsou, all too aware of everything around him, how his clothes felt on his skin, how his legs sank into the couch, how his bangs fell into his face, but he was having a good time. Kirishima busted out Cards Against Humanity, a good choice for such a big group, and Kaminari actually won a few rounds. Hell, some of his cards even made Shinsou laugh. Slowly but surely, he could feel his guard coming down.

“I’m gonna go grab some water,” Kaminari said after his turn to judge passed. “Anyone else want anything?”

“Ooo! Can you get me a bag of shrimp chips?” Ashido called out.

“Could you also grab me a bottle of water?” Tetsutetsu asked sheepishly.

“Banana,” Bakugou demanded simply.

“Okay, be back in a sec,” Kaminari said, getting up from the couch. He was surprised to find Shinsou getting up as well.

“Looks like you might need an extra set of hands. I’ll come with,” he offered.

“Okay,” Kaminari shrugged. What had he been so worried about? Everything was going great! He was starting to feel comfortable around Shinsou. Maybe he was overreacting before.

When they got to the kitchen, Kaminari started grabbing everyone’s requests. Shinsou leaned against the counter, watching him.

“I read some of that poetry you leant me,” he finally said.

“Yeah?” Kaminari asked from the inside of a cupboard. Ashido’s chips were shoved in the back somewhere. “What’d you think?”

“I liked it,” Shinsou said evenly. “But I liked your annotations more.”

“That so?” Kaminari teased. He removed himself from the inside of the cupboard, having found the chips, to find Shinsou right next to the cupboard door, a sly smile on his face.

“Very much so,” Shinsou smiled. He was close. Very close.

“What was your favorite poem?” Kaminari asked nervously.

“I liked ‘Tell me not here, it needs not saying,’” Shinsou quietly responded. God, he was close.

“Yeah?” was all Kaminari could find in himself to say as he stared into the shining amethysts Shinsou called eyes.

“Yeah,” Shinsou whispered. “‘For nature, heartless, witless nature / Will neither care not know / What stranger’s feet may find the meadow / And trespass there and go / Nor ask amid the dews of morning / if they are mine or no,’” he recited into Kaminari’s ear.

And then, the building went dark.

“Come on, Kami. It wasn’t even that bad!” Kirishima called from the other side of his door. The redhead had been knocking since Shinsou and Tetsutetsu left, trying to convince the blond to leave his room.

“I short-circuited the building!” Kaminari yelled, his face buried in a pillow. “How is that not ‘that bad?’”

“You know I can’t hear you!” Kirishima hollered, still knocking. Kaminari groaned into the pillow. It looked like he wasn’t getting rid of Kirishima that easily, so he dragged himself out of bed and opened the door.

“I cut off power for the entire building, Kiri. That’s pretty fucking bad,” he lamented, flopping back onto his bed.

“Okay, well that part wasn’t great.” Kaminari punched his friend’s leg. “Ow! Stop, you dickhead. As I was saying,” Kirishima continued, sitting on the bed. “That wasn’t great, but Shinsou didn’t seem too put-off. He was really understanding.”

“Then how come he hasn’t texted me yet?” Kaminari mumbled, staring at the ceiling.

“His phone was dead when he left. All of ours were.”

“I took out everyone’s phones too?” He bolted upright, eyes wide.

“Dude!” Kirishima put a hand on his shoulder. “Chill. No one’s mad at you and no one thinks you’re stupid. Give it some time if you need to.” Kaminari nodded.

“Okay. Yeah, that’s probably a good idea.” The two laid down on the bed and stared at the ceiling.

“Did you figure it out?” Kirishima asked after a few seconds of silence.

“I think so. I think short-circuiting an entire building because a cute guy is too close to you is a sign.” Kirishima snorted.

“What’d he do that made you freak out, anyway?” the redhead asked. Kaminari groaned and ran his hands over his face.

“He recited poetry from the book I leant him.” He heard Kirishima chuckle lightly from his side.

“Whipped.”

“Bite me. At least I didn’t grip the table so hard I got stuck after a certain angry blond fell asleep on me.”

“I’m never helping you again.”

“Likewise.”

Kaminari was thankful for the beautiful Saturday afternoon. It was a good excuse to get out of the house. He couldn’t take all the pitying looks from his classmates, the gentle pats on the shoulders, the telling him, “It’s really no big deal.” So, after lunch, instead of hiding in his room, Kaminari slid out the front door with his water bottle and Terayama Shuji’s ‘When I Was a Wolf’ and made his way to his favorite tree.

After an hour or two, Kaminari closed the book and leaned his head back against the tree. He sighed, running his hands down his face. How did he even get here? Thank God Shinsou was in Class B and he didn’t have to see him every day. Kaminari hadn’t turned his phone back on since the incident. He was too scared of what Shinsou might say. He wasn’t even sure he’d be able to look Shinsou in the eye now, much less talk to him about what happened. Maybe he’d never see Shinsou again and he could forget about everything.

“Hey,” a familiar voice called from next to him.

Shit.

Kaminari lifted his hands from his face and plastered on a smile.

“Hey.” Shinsou stood before him, shifting awkwardly from leg to leg, holding Kaminari’s Housman collection. They looked at each other in silence for a few moments, unsure where to start.

“I think I owe you an apology,” Shinsou finally said.

“What?” Kaminari asked, incredibly confused. Why was Shinsou apologizing? He wasn’t the one who made a fool of himself and blacked out an entire building and multiple phones.

“Yeah.” Shinsou sat on the ground next to the blond boy. He was about two feet away. If Kaminari wasn’t worried he’d blow out the power grid, he’d want Shinsou closer. “I didn’t mean to make you uncomfortable. I’m really sorry. It won’t happen again,” he said earnestly.

“Oh,” Kaminari said, not entirely sure how to respond.

“Yeah. I promise it won’t happen again. I’m sorry for misunderstanding the situation,” Shinsou said.

“Shinsou, I…” The purple-haired boy looked at him, amethyst eyes shining in the afternoon sun. “I wasn’t uncomfortable.”

“Oh.”

“Or, like, I was, but not because of you. Well, kind of because of you, but not really.”

“I don’t think I’m following,” Shinsou said, confused.

“Yeah, I don’t think I am, either,” Kaminari laughed. Shinsou chuckled, too.

“I like you. I think,” Kaminari tried to clarify.

“I like you, too,” Shinsou smiled.

“I got… overwhelmed. I’ve never done this before. I didn’t even know I liked guys until last week,” Kaminari explained as best he could. “I’m just not sure about all this stuff yet. I don’t think I’m ready for anything.” Shinsou nodded.

“I get it. I forget not everyone is on the same page as me,” he said. “If you’re comfortable, let me know? When you’ve figured your stuff out?” Kaminari smiled.

“Yeah, yeah. Will do.”

“Thanks,” Shinsou smiled back. “Oh! Here’s your book back. I finished it last night.” He handed the book over.

“How’d you like the rest of it?” Kaminari asked.

“It was definitely something. I don’t think I got all of it, even with your annotations,” Shinsou said sheepishly.

“Poetry's like that,” Kaminari assured him. “It can mean whatever you want it to.”

“Cool,” Shinsou commented.

“Hey, creeper! Stop hitting on Kaminari!” A voice called, coming closer to the two.

“Shut up, Monoma,” Shinsou yelled back. The blond boy stood in front of them, arms crossed, a sly grin on his face.

“We have study tables in ten,” he said to Shinsou.

“Oh shit.” Shinsou started to get up, dusting off his jeans.

“You guys do study tables?” Kaminari asked, watching the other boy.

“Oh, so does the amazing class A not have organized study tables? And I thought you guys were supposed to be the best of us.” At this point, Monoma’s taunts were venomless. Class A regarded him more like an eccentric uncle than an enemy.

“Shut up, doofus,” Shinsou scolded lightly. “I’ll meet you there.”

“Whatever,” Monoma said, lightly. He nodded to Kaminari before booking it back to wherever study tables were held.

“I never really pictured you and Monoma getting along,” Kaminari teased. Shinsou shrugged, smiling.

“When people say shit to me, Monoma… well, he says shit back.”

“Love that,” Kaminari commented.

“Yeah,” Shinsou agreed. “I’ll see you later?” he asked.

“You will,” Kaminari confirmed.

“Cool.” With that, Shinsou ran to wherever he needed to be.

And Kaminari let himself feel okay about missing him.