Chapter Text
Shinsou wasn’t getting much sleep.
It wasn’t anything new, but that night was particularly restless. Usually, he lay there, comfortable and tired, but just stuck. That night he couldn’t seem to hold still, couldn’t seem to find the correct blanket to air ratio, or the right position to lay his head, or the correct position for his knee.
He didn’t know what position he had to twist his body into to finally knock loose the words haunting his brain.
Or anything else you may want to call me.
It had to mean something else; he just couldn’t figure out what.
It didn’t make sense to offer him that, not after Shinsou had sent him on a wild goose chase just a few days earlier. Even if he wasn’t angry, even if today was a good day, even if it was worth keeping Shinsou-
His stomach lurched, and Shinsou turned, scanning his room for any sign of Selena.
That was the other thing keeping him up.
There was another thing in his room, something living, something curious, something with a small heartbeat, and he was trying not to be so restless because every time he moved his bed shook and last he’d seen Selena had slid under the bed and that was probably really annoying her.
She had spilled a little water, so she had at least discovered that, but she hadn’t eaten, or even noticed the litterbox as far as he could tell.
He took a long, deep breath, carefully shifting to pull his blanket up from where it was stuck under his leg, and rolled forward, almost hanging off the edge of the mattress, and waited.
Eventually, he watched as a little nose poked out from under the bed, sniffing the air for a long minute before venturing out. Shinsou let his eyelids fall when her head twisted to stare up at him. He watched as much as he could through his eyelashes, and eventually she stepped forward, slowly exploring the room. She sniffed at the food, sniffed at his chair, eventually even got brave enough to jump onto his chair and stretch out for the window. He finally drifted in and out of sleep, watching her. He lost track of her a few times, woke up when she finally dared to eat.
It was restless, but it was better than what he was dealing with. His muscles finally relaxed into the bed, and he watched as she cowered under his chair, her eyes wide, watching his every breath.
At some point, he closed his eyes, and when he woke up, the light was slipping through his window, and Selena was no longer cowering.
He fell back asleep before he could find her again.
~ ~ ~
“Shinsou!” Yamada stood when he cracked open the door, “Good morning! How’s the kitty settling?”
Shinsou blinked a few times. “She ate.”
“Good! You hungry?”
Shinsou shrugged, and Yamada turned, pulling out some pans.
“Sho’s out on a patrol, he should be home in a few hours. There might be a slight overlap where we’re both out of the house, but depending on how long it takes him, it may not be too long. I’ll be gone for most of the evening, I’ll try to make it back for dinner but, you might be stuck with takeout again.”
Shinsou stood at the entrance of the hallway, blinking and running a hand through his hair, trying to keep up. “Why is Aizawa out so early?”
“He used to do morning patrols a lot. Then he became a teacher and- well, honestly, a lot of stuff happened before that, but- evenings just made more sense for a while, but now we thought he should maybe try mornings again, see how it all shakes out.”
“Shakes out,” Shinsou mumbled, pressing a palm to his eye.
Aizawa being gone was almost a relief.
“Even if we do manage to time it, he might just pass out as soon as he gets home so, you may get the house to yourself for the most part.” He flashed a smile over his shoulder, “No big parties while we’re gone.” He laughed.
Shinsou’s hand dropped, class A’s plans for the day hitting him like a truck.
“I had a- question.” Shinsou said suddenly, and Yamada spun around, spatula in hand, his eyes wide. “About- that. Not the party but- um-”
“Yes?”
Shinsou tilted his head, massaging the back of his neck, “There’s a- um, I guess a shopping trip?”
Yamada’s eyebrows shot up. “What?”
Shinsou’s shoulders rose, “With- uh, the class.”
“Oh!” Yamada smiled, “And you want to go?”
Shinsou’s face warmed, “I- I think it would be- um, well, Selena.” Shinsou sighed, “I think it would be good for her to have more time to get comfortable in the room, and-” Shinsou waved a hand, “you know, I probably need some stuff for the- uh- summer camp.”
“Of course,” Yamada nodded, “Do you need money.”
Shinsou’s hand stilled, his stomach twisting, “Ah-”
Yamada’s head tilted, “Didn’t think that far?”
“Um- no. I just- I mean I wasn’t even sure I could go.”
“Of course you can go! You can take my card too, I trust you to get what you need.” He leaned forward, “You can even get a little something for yourself if you wanted.” He paused before adding, “or a big something.”
Shinsou’s stomach tightened, “Ah- I won’t.”
“You could.” Yamada tried to joke, offering a small lopsided smile. “When is it?” He asked when Shinsou didn’t respond.
“Um- just after lunch.”
“Alright. How long would you be there?”
Shinsou shrugged, dropping his hand, “I have no idea.”
“Alright. Of course you can go. Thank you for asking.” Yamada said, turning back to the food, “Can I discuss something with you quickly?”
Shinsou’s breath caught, and he straightened a fraction, nodding stupidly until he realized Yamada’s back was turned, “Yeah.”
“I had planned to go speak with your uncle today.”
Shinsou’s eyes widened, “What?” He breathed, “Why?”
Yamada turned, reaching to dry his hands, “I think we should meet him.” He paused, “I think I should meet him. He’s important to you, you called him your uncle and if you’re going to be meeting up with him, I’d like to know what you’re walking into. Plus, I think we owe him a window.”
Shinsou took a long breath.
“I- um. He doesn’t like heroes.”
“Well, I planned to go as Hizashi.”
“He knows you’re a hero.”
“Yeah, that’s fine.”
“I just mean-” Shinsou struggled, “He’s- he might not be- very friendly.”
Yamada’s eyebrows rose, “Should I be worried?”
“He’s just- I don’t want you to think the way he reacts to you is how he actually is. He was- I’ve never seen him act the way he did with Aizawa, and- I mean I haven’t exactly given him reason to trust my foster parents, or me when I say they’re-” He caught the word between his teeth, swallowing it back as he scrambled for some other way to finish that sentence. “That I’m-”
Shinsou’s heart pounded, the words bubbling up, poisoning his tongue, but none of them escaped.
He slammed his mouth shut, his teeth clinking.
“That’s alright.” Yamada assured, “It wouldn’t be my first time talking with someone who doesn’t like Present Mic. Does that mean you’re okay with me talking to him?”
Shinsou’s eyebrows furrowed, “I can say no?”
Yamada tilted his head, giving a half shrug, “Well, not exactly, but you can say other things close to no and we can see what we can work out.”
Shinsou swallowed, his ears ringing, a wave of arguments flooding his mouth. It took him some time, but eventually he grabbed a stray thought, “Why does it have to be today?”
“Well, I’d like to smooth things over sooner rather than later. If I don’t do it today, I’d likely have to wait another week, perhaps even two, and that feels unfair to him.”
Shinsou’s stomach tightened. “What if he doesn’t want you to smooth things over?”
“Well, he’s an adult, he can tell me that himself.”
Shinsou took a deep breath, giving in and rubbing a hand down his face, “I- Can’t you just pay for the window? I don’t- I don’t get why you have to do it this way. I promise he doesn’t care.”
“I care, Shinsou. I want to meet him, I want to at least see if we can be friendly. If not, that’s fine. Really. He doesn’t have to like me, he just has to be willing to work with us sometimes.”
“When I run off again.”
“If.”
Shinsou pressed his lips tight.
“Does he know you’re coming?”
“I didn’t exactly have a way to warn him.”
“I could ask if he is alright with this?”
Yamada seemed to think about it for a moment, “You can tell him I’m coming but- I’m not really asking. We’re going to talk, and we’re going to do it in person because, well, honestly, I come off better that way. I don’t exactly want to blindside him, at least not yet, but this conversation needs to be had and the sooner it happens, the sooner I’ll be at peace with this all.”
Shinsou frowned, his eyes falling to the floor, “Are you not at peace?”
Yamada sighed, turning back to grab a plate, “I don’t like being up in the air with people. I don’t mind if they don’t like me, I know now that sometimes people just are fundamentally different and nothing can change that, but- I like to know where we stand. Your uncle probably has a pretty negative view of us right now, but I don’t know where that line is, what he’s willing to do, what he isn’t willing to do. Even just talking to him will give me an idea of the kind of man he is so-” Yamada turned to face Shinsou again, holding up a plate, “I’m not exactly comfortable.”
Shinsou stepped forward, taking the plate from Yamada’s hand and staring down at the food.
“There’s- um, I don’t know that I have a list, but- there’s things he doesn’t know, um- I’d rather you didn’t-”
“I know you’re our shared person, but I don’t think we’ll actually talk about you all that much.” Yamada said, and it was a bit ridiculous how light those words made him feel, “At least not like that. I don’t want to know what he knows, at least not like this and- of course I would never tell him something you shared with me in confidence. I’m going because I want to meet him, and I want him to meet me.” Yamada shook his head, “I wasn’t supposed to be the level-headed rational one between the two of us, but I suppose I’ll have to do.”
Shinsou met Yamada’s eyes.
“Does that all sound good?”
Shinsou swallowed, then nodded, and Yamada smiled, “Do you want a ride to the mall later?”
Shinsou shook his head, “Um- if- I think it’s probably better if not? A lot of the class is going and-”
“Yeah. Of course that’s okay.” Yamada leaned in, pretending to whisper, “Just don’t tell Sho’ alright?”
Shinsou nodded, finally moving to the dining table.
“Alright, I’m gonna go shower quickly, need anything else before that?”
Shinsou shook his head and then straightened when a thought popped into his mind. “Actually!” He called before Yamada could disappear into his room, “Could I- just go for a short walk? After I eat?”
Yamada huffed softly, “Yeah, just- stay nearby, alright?”
Shinsou nodded, and Yamada smiled, holding their gaze for a second longer than Shinsou expected before turning and shutting the door.
He finished his food quickly, rinsing it off in the sink before grabbing his phone and disappearing out the front door without even bothering to change his outfit.
He’d forgotten until Yamada mentioned him, but it was Sunday.
And he’d promised to call Senjo.
~ ~ ~
Shinsou didn’t think this through.
A mall.
On a Sunday?
Shinsou kept his head down, his hands shoved in his pockets. They were supposed to meet up at the escalators by ‘the superior frozen yogurt shop’, and annoyingly, the mall map didn’t have a frozen yogurt category, so he had to guess.
Either every single class A student was standing him up, this was a prank, or he went to the wrong escalator.
“Shinsou!”
He instinctively ducked his head further, but Kaminari ran up to him, a wide smile on his face, “You’re here!”
Shinsou grimaced, “It would seem so.”
Kaminari tugged on his arm, urging him to move faster, but walking backward to keep facing Shinsou, “You’re full of surprises aren’t you! I would’ve bet actual adult money on the fact that you weren’t coming. You never hang out with us! And you didn’t say anything in the group chat.”
“Well,” Shinsou started, unable to find the explanation, “I needed to buy stuff.”
“Good! Shoes?”
Shinsou’s face scrunched, “No?”
Kaminari leaned in, “Maybe you should consider some new ones.”
Shinsou’s chin dropped to his chest. “What’s wrong with my shoes?”
“Shinsou!” Uraraka and Ashido cheered as they got near, “You’re not grounded!” Uraraka added.
“What? Why would you be grounded.”
“I’m not a great kid,” Shinsou said simply. “And, um- apparently mall trips are allowed.”
Uraraka smiled, and Hagakure waved, “I don’t know why, but I expected you to look really different outside of school.”
Shinsou just sort of froze at that, not quite knowing what to say.
She looked exactly the same.
“Are those are the UA kids!” Someone in the crowd noticed.
The blood rushed from Shinsou’s face, and he ducked his head, turning his back to them, “Fuck.”
Kaminari laughed, “What? Don’t tell me you haven't finalized your autograph yet.”
“Where’s Bakugou? Throw him at them.”
“Nice sports fest!” Someone shouted, and Shinsou’s jaw tightened.
Kaminari turned, stepping between Shinsou and the crowd, “Bakugou’s not here.”
“Todoroki?”
“Also not coming.”
Shinsou scoffed, “Is Iida famous?”
Kaminari shrugged, “Dunno. I think they keep their family life private.”
Kirishima slapped Kaminari’s shoulder, “So then why don’t we all split up and take a look around? We can meet here again when we’re done?”
“Great idea!” Ashido encouraged.
“Perfect, we’ll say we’re all back around three?”
That was all the dismissal Shinsou needed before he turned, ducking his head and splitting off from the other students, escaping onto the escalator.
“Why did you go to UA if you couldn’t handle the fame?” Kaminari asked, laughing as he chased after him.
Shinsou groaned, tilting his head to find Kaminari grinning up at him, “You’re enjoying my suffering?”
“I’m enjoying you.” He said as if that was a completely normal thing to say. “Calm down, we’re only first years. No one actually cares about us.”
Shinsou’s eyes shifted to the crowd, watching Ojirou record Ashido and Hagakure as they did a synchronized dance in front of their fans.
“Kaminari! Shinsou!” Uraraka called, and Shinsou tensed, “Hey! Mind if I follow you guys?”
“Keep your voice down.” He mumbled as she got close, and Kaminari laughed.
“What?” Uraraka asked, sounding genuinely concerned, “Why?”
“He’s afraid of the crowd.”
“I’m not afraid of the crowd.” He hissed, “I’ve seen what they say about me online.”
“Yeah,” Kaminari agreed between giggles, following after Shinsou, “Let’s get you away from the scary simps.”
Shinsou frowned, “I don’t even want to know what a simp is.”
Kaminari laughed harder.
“Where are you guys wanting to go first?” Uraraka asked.
“I’m thinking we go get some ice cream.”
“No.” Shinsou said simply.
“What?” Kaminari whined, “Why not?”
“We’re here for practical shopping.”
Kaminari scrunched his nose, “You’re here for practical shopping. I came for ice cream and fake model walking.”
“What?”
“You know what I’m talking about right Uraraka? You go to a fancy clothes store, try on something you could never hope to afford and strut down the aisle.”
Uraraka blushed, “Um, no- trying clothes on is a good way to accidentally buy it.”
“That’s part of the fun.” Kaminari laughed, suddenly grabbing Shinsou’s shoulder and shaking. “Shinsou please! Oh my god please model walk with me. I could totally make you look so hot. I know a bit about fashion.”
Shinsou grimaced, tilting his shoulder, pain shooting down his spine, “No.” He breathed, Kaminari’s hand sliding off, “We’re here for a reason.”
“Again you’re here for-”
“Okay,” Shinsou interrupted, “I’m here for a reason and it’s not model walking. Go ask Ashido, I’m sure she’d join you.”
“I don’t want to model walk with Ashido.”
“Then do it yourself.”
“What do you guys need?” Uraraka asked.
“Sleeping bag, water bottle-” Shinsou reached for his phone, “I don’t know, camping stuff mostly.”
“I need soap!”
“You don’t already have soap?” Uraraka said, sounding genuinely baffled.
“I have soap.” Kaminari laughed, “But I need camping soap. All my shampoo is in big bottles, I need small travel sized soap.”
“Did you really just come for soap?”
“No! I also was hoping I could convince someone to model walk with me, and toothpaste. And before you think I don’t brush my teeth, I do, I’m just almost out.” He tilted his head, smiling at Uraraka, “And, I’m thinking I need some new swim trunks, you wanna help me out with that?”
“Um- If you think you need help?”
Kaminari smiled, “I’d love a woman's eye.” Shinsou scrunched his nose, “Speaking of, I need you guys to be honest with me, is yoyoing an attractive skill?”
“What the fuck?” Shinsou huffed.
“Like- if you saw a hot girl a solid 7/10 and then she pulled out a yoyo and was really good at it, would that make her hotter?”
Shinsou rolled his eyes as Uraraka tilted her head, “I think it depends. Why?”
“I’ve been considering buying one. I think I could be really good at it! It doesn’t look too hard, but I really can’t tell if that hurts my odds with the ladies.”
Shinsou snorted, “You’ve been considering getting really good at yoyoing?”
“Yeah! I feel like by default it's totally cringe, kinda like those people that are really good at rubix cubes, but I think this might be a sorta situation where I’ll be a loser for a while, but then once I’m like actually good then it's hot.”
“Midoriya’s good with rubix cubes.” Uraraka said randomly.
“Yeah, Midoriya’s kinda a loser.” Shinsou huffed.
Uraraka frowned, and Kaminari nudged her, “Loser slash pos.”
“What?”
“He’s not like- a cringe loser. I mean he is cringe, but he’s I mean that’s not a bad thing. In the loser status of things I do think he’s like- a popular loser. Like, I mean there’s a certain type of loser loser, like incel types, and Midoriya really isn’t that. He’s just- I mean he is a loser, but not in a bad way- ”
“Stop saying loser.” Shinsou interrupted.
“You said it first!” Kaminari argued.
“I meant it in a bad way.”
“Midoriya’s her friend.”
“Then she knows.”
“Shinsou! Those are inside thoughts.” Kaminari hissed, tilting his head, holding his gaze, adding in a whisper, “Or behind the back thoughts.”
“It’s okay!” Uraraka insisted, leaning forward to peer around him, “We know we’re not cool. I think there’s more important things than being popular.” Her cheeks turned pink, and she and Kaminari both straightened, “Not that there’s anything wrong with it. I wasn’t trying to say- you guys are better than the popular kids were at my middle school.” Uraraka tilted her head, “I should probably go talk to him, actually, I kinda-” She winced, “Ditched him. I didn’t mean to, I just-”
Kaminari beamed, “You think we’re the cool kids?”
“Well,” Uraraka twisted some hair around her finger, “Yeah.”
Kaminari’s head snapped towards Shinsou, “We’re the cool kids!”
“You’re the cool kids.” Shinsou corrected.
Kaminari’s posture loosened, his face breaking into a goofy smile, “You think I’m cool?”
Shinsou rolled his eyes.
“Did you not know that?” Uraraka wondered, sounding genuinely curious, “You and Kirishima, Sero, Bakugou, Ashido, Hagakure, you’re- you know, the popular kids.”
“Jirou?” Kaminari wondered, and Shinsou’s stomach tightened.
“Um-” Uraraka tilted her head, thinking about it for a moment, “Well, kinda? In an unusual way. She hangs out with you guys, so I’d say yeah but she also hangs out with Yaoyorozu and Ojiro. She’s kinda like the opposite of Hagakure, I think.”
“Wow,” Kaminari reached an arm over Uraraka’s shoulders, “You have made my day.”
“Did you really not know?”
Kaminari shrugged, “Well, this class is weird. You know Bakugou was popular in middle school but he’s kinda not here. I mean, he walks like a jock, he’s clearly a leader personality, and Sero too- I think he was a sorta friend to all sort of guy, you know? Kirishima was- I mean he’s a jock’s jock, but I don’t think he really had friends. Ashido too actually, with the had a lot of friends. Her I get, she’s so- I mean I knew from the moment I met her that she had that vibe. But Todoroki kinda has that too- in a sort of, ‘do you know who my father is’ sort of way.”
Uraraka giggled softly, “He’s not like that at all.”
“He could be, if he wanted. The whole class is kinda popular, I think the sports festival really did it. We proved we were more interesting than class B.” Kaminari tilted his head towards Shinsou, “And you can tell Monoma I said that. And I think- you know, if we did like- a likeability quiz, I think Bakugou would be pretty low, and- Midoriya would probably be pretty high.”
“I wouldn’t put Midoriya very high.”
For some reason, Kaminari laughed, “Would you put him higher than Bakugou?”
Shinsou’s eyebrows furrowed.
Fuck.
Would he?
Kaminari smiled like he knew the answer, “So- like that’s weird, right?” Kaminari went on, waving a hand, “Anyway, as much as I do enjoy this convo, we were talking about me, and I would like to get back to that.”
Shinsou snorted, turning into a sports store, not bothering to wait for the other two to follow.
“So- now that we have established I’m cool, would getting really good with the yoyo expand my aura or- is that a bad idea?” He spun around, walking backward, pretending to yo-yo.
“Air yo-yoing is definitely not cool,” Shinsou assured.
Kaminari laughed, pretending to throw his yo-yo out towards him, jerking himself suddenly towards Shinsou. Shinsou's heart skipped as Kaminari crashed into him, “You don’t see the vision?”
Shinsou jerked his head, pushing Kaminari into some shelves, “Personal space.”
Kaminari smiled, “Never heard of it.” His attention jerked to Uraraka then, “You’re a girl.”
“And they say you’re an idiot,” Shinsou mumbled under his breath, grabbing a random bottle of sunscreen as he walked by.
“Scale of one to ten, ten being the hottest hobby a man can have, where would you put yo-yoing?”
Uraraka’s cheeks turned pink, “Um? I don’t- I honestly don’t think I care?”
Kaminari nodded seriously, “I can work with that.” He pretended again to bounce it a few times before throwing it out. “Bro! I could totally have a yo-yo as a weapon. That’d be so sick! That’d really turn some heads. I could make it metal and like- zap people. And it could light up! That’s gotta be a winning strategy. I’d probably have to change up my hero style a bit, but that’s fine, I was thinking about changing it up a bit anyway. I like the color scheme though so- it’d probably just light up yellow. But electric yellow.”
“You don’t even own a yo-yo yet, and you’re already thinking about your hero outfit?” Shinsou asked
“Yes, as a matter of fact, I am. Thank you for noticing.”
“It’s probably hard to use a yo-yo for fighting.” Uraraka said, “That’s probably why no one has done it yet.”
“Well,” Kaminari slapped Shinsou’s arm, grabbing the water bottle he’d just picked up, “It can’t be much different from the scarf.”
“It’d be totally different.”
“What?” Kaminari scoffed, “You don’t know that.”
Shinsou turned his head, narrowing his eyes, “How do you think the scarf works?”
Kaminari shrugged, “Magic.”
Shinsou snorted.
“I’m not even kidding.” Kaminari poked Shinsou in the shoulder, “That thing makes no sense.”
“You think it’s magic, and you think a yo-yo would work the same way?”
Kaminari paused for a moment before saying, “Yeah.”
Shinsou rolled his eyes, snatching the water bottle back.
“Come on, guys, that sounds cool, right?” He flung out two hands, “Yo-yo’s.”
“Um-” Uraraka offered a tight smile, “Yeah.”
“She’s lying.” Shinsou rounded a corner.
“What!” Kaminari shouted as he chased after him, his voice sharp, “No, she’s not! You’re not a woman, you don’t know what they’re into.”
Shinsou rolled his eyes, “You’ll hit yourself in the head and go dumb the old-fashioned way.”
“I think girls’ like ‘em a little dumb, my girl will have to,” Kaminari argued. “And I’ll make sure to go dumb after I knock the villains out,”
“If you even get that far.”
“Hey. I’m gonna go grab some bug spray.”
“When!” Kaminari shouted. “A broken clock is right twice a day.”
Shinsou smirked, “That’s the argument you wanna go with? Comparing yourself to a broken clock?”
Kaminari moved in front of Shinsou, narrowing his eyes and crossing his arms, but his smile was wide, looking almost maniacal, “I will master the yo-yo.”
Something about that- the way he said it, how somehow he sounded both serious and ridiculous. Shinsou huffed a laugh, and Kaminari leaned forward, grabbing Shinsou’s arms, “Are you smiling!”
Shinsou rolled his eyes, pushing past Kaminari and reaching to grab a sleeping bag. “I finally get you to smile and it’s because you think my yo-yo idea is that ridiculous?” Kaminari leaned back, balancing on his heels, “I- have mixed feelings about this. I was being serious.”
Shinsou tilted his head back, giving a dead stare when he finally got his face under control, “You cannot have been serious.”
Kaminari smiled softly, lifting a shoulder in a half shrug, “I mean, I was genuinely thinking I could be good at the yo-yo.”
Shinsou stared at Kaminari for a moment, something light bubbling in his chest at the ridiculousness. He shook his head softly, and Kaminari’s eyes widened, his jaw falling open.
“Really?” He breathed. “Is it that bad of an idea?”
“Do it if you want.” Shinsou said, “But it won’t be attractive.”
Kaminari was quiet for a moment before his head dropped, his shoulders rolling forward, “Aw man. I thought maybe- you know, shows I’m good with my fingers.”
Shinsou scrunched his nose, “That’s the worst fucking thing you could’ve said.”
“What!”
Shinsou pushed Kaminari aside, “Where the fuck did Uraraka go? I can’t even-”
“What!” Kaminari asked again, more insistent, “It might even make me better! That’s solid logic.”
“It’s not.”
“What would you know? The only girl I’ve ever seen you talk to is Uraraka and you swear you have no interest.”
“I don’t.”
“So what would you know! You have no experience impressing girls. I, on the other hand, have plenty.”
Shinsou rolled his eyes, pushing forward when he spotted Uraraka across the store, standing next to a bunch of tennis balls.
“Uraraka?” Kaminari said when they reached her, crashing his shoulder into the shelf, “Shinsou and I seem to be having a disagreement. Do you think yo-yoing would-”
“Kaminari.” Shinsou cut him off sharply, “Don’t ask her that.”
“Why,” He asked, his head wobbling side to side, “‘cause, she’d agree with me?”
Wide brown eyes snapped between the two of them.
“Because that’s an insane thing to ask!”
“What! No it’s not.”
“Change the subject.” Shinsou insisted.
“I have to ask an actual girl!”
“Change. The. Subject.” Shinsou repeated, his eyes hard.
Kaminari rocked back onto his heels, his eyes wide. He just stared at Shinsou for a long few moments, a smile slowly growing before he tilted his head. “Bakugou apologized.”
Shinsou groaned, dropping his head.
“Did you forgive him?” Kaminari asked, and Shinsou’s eyes drifted to watch Kaminari out of the corner of his eye.
Shinsou thought about his response before saying, “He didn’t actually mean it.”
“Did he really say that?” Uraraka asked.
“He didn’t say that, but we both knew that’s not why he did it.”
“Why’d he do it then?”
“They were gonna expel him.” Kaminari answered for Shinsou, “And-” he tilted his head, holding up a hand to dramatically add in a whisper, “Kiri thinks they sent him to anger management.”
“Really!” Uraraka spun around to face them, and Kaminari held a finger in front of his lips.
“You did not hear that from me.”
“Is he gonna be okay with you telling people that?”
“Psh-” Kaminari waved a hand, “It’s not like Bakugou told me that in confidence. This is just speculation, and if it is true it is not working.”
“Well he did apologize.” Uraraka argued, “And Midoriya said he was able to convince Bakugou to work with him for the finals.” She winced slightly, “Ah- kinda.”
“I still have hope that one day I’ll ragebait him enough that he explodes the lunch table.” Kaminari said wistfully. “And if he is in anger management then the fruit will only taste sweeter.”
“Why do you want him to blow up the table?” Uraraka asked.
“Because.” Kaminari shrugged, “It would be funny.” He twisted around, walking backwards, hands dramatically in the air, “Imagine: I’ve been slowly chipping away at him all day, calling him Kacchan, comparing him to a pomeranian, all the stuff that really pisses him off. And then- of all the things I hit him with a deez nuts joke and the cafeteria literally explodes, food flying everywhere.” Kaminari was grinning from ear to ear at the thought, “It would be glorious.”
Uraraka’s eyes shifted to Shinsou, “Um- sure!”
Kaminari waved a hand, placing an elbow on her shoulder, “Trust me. That’s the kind of story people tell for years to come. People will ask what it was like to go to the top hero school and I want to have some good stories to tell.”
“Could lie.” Shinsou offered.
“With this class?” Kaminari shook his head, “I really doubt I’ll need to. Even Iida got a funny story to tell. Some of the second years still only know him as the emergency exit guy.”
Uraraka laughed, moving suddenly to head towards the check-out counter. “Yeah, I guess. That was scary though, at the time.”
“What?” Kaminari scoffed, “The school is full of heroes. They wouldn’t have let anything happen. Those paparazzi were stupid for thinking they’d get very far.”
“We had heroes at the USJ.”
Shinsou’s jaw tightened as Uraraka set a single object onto the counter.
He took a long, slow breath, turning his attention to the side, away from them. He wasn’t even at the USJ; he barely saw any of the damage.
And yet-
He really hated whatever sick feeling filled his chest.
“Shinsou?”
He jerked forward, dropping all the things onto the counter, trying to fight whatever static had filled his head. By the time he bought it all, he’d managed to move on from it a little, but clearly not enough, because he turned to leave and made it halfway to the exit before swerving when he realized they were still inside, next to a rack of clothes.
“I don’t know,” Uraraka worried when he approached, “I don’t really need a new one, and this one is more expensive than this one.” She reached for the one next to it. Honestly, other than color, Shinsou couldn’t really tell the difference, but Kaminari slapped it out of her hand anyway.
“That one's atrocious." Kaminari insisted, reaching for the one Uraraka had been eyeing and pressing it into her chest. “At least try it on.”
“What?” Uraraka shook her head, “That’s the worst idea!”
“Why!”
“Because-” she started weakly, pressing a hand to her cheek, “Because I don’t need it!”
“Sure you do! There’s a ton of workout stuff on the list, and what if you bring exactly the right amount and it rips or something! Or maybe we won’t even be able to do laundry. You never know. Just try it on. Maybe it’ll look horrible and you’ll have your answer,” Kaminari argued. “If you do like it I’ll buy it for you.”
Uraraka’s cheeks pinkened, “No, really. That’s okay.”
“No, no.” Kaminari insisted, “Don’t worry, I have the money. It can be a gift!” The back of his hand hit Shinsou’s chest. “My family is fine on money, Shinsou can attest.”
His face scrunched, not having been prepared to be dragged into the conversation, “Can I?”
“You’ve literally been to my house!”
“It wasn’t a rich person house.”
“Well it was fine. Plus, you know,” Kaminari leaned in, “The other thing?”
Shinsou stared blankly at Kaminari.
“Is that something you forgot to?” He asked, his voice soft. Shinsou swallowed, and in that small time, Kaminari had fully straightened, smile back in place, “Anyway, go try it on, even if you decide not to get it, you can at least get some pictures.
Uraraka seemed to consider this, glancing between the two of them before nodding firmly and taking it from Kaminari’s hand.
“What other thing?” Shinsou asked when Uraraka had locked herself in a changing room.
“The hero thing?
“About your dad?”
Kaminari’s smile wiggled, “You do remember.”
“What does that have to do with money?”
Kaminari turned, flicking through the different leggings, “They have good retirement packages.”
Shinsou’s eyebrows rose, “Retirement packages?”
“Yeah,” Kaminari said with a shrug, “And you know- they take care of the family when they, like, die.”
Shinsou stepped forward, trying to get a better view of Kaminari’s face.
He supposed that made sense, but he’d never really thought about it. Dangeresque’s family must’ve been compensated as well.
“With money.” Kaminari added when Shinsou didn’t say anything.
“I didn’t know that actually.” Shinsou admitted, and Kaminari’s hand froze, his eyes shifting towards Shinsou. “I thought they just- I don’t know, buried them.”
Kaminari stared at Shinsou for a moment before smiling loosely, “Yeah, they do that too.”
Kaminari lingered for a moment before turning to the rack next to them, flicking through random jerseys.
Shinsou’s jaw tightened, following a second behind.
“What do I have to do to get you to sit at lunch with me?”
Shinsou sighed, “It’s nothing personal.”
Kaminari tilted his head with an easy smile, “You didn’t answer the question.”
“I’m not a popular kid, alright? I’m the kind of person that sits in the stairwell ”
“You were that kid.” Kaminari corrected, “This is high school. This is UA!” Kaminari nudged his shoulder, “Everyone knows if you get invited to an upper echelon table you take the opportunity.”
“You think highly of yourself.”
“And,” Kaminari pushed on, “I offered to join you in the classroom. You shut me down. So- what do I have to do?”
“Weren’t you mad at me?”
Kaminari shrugged, “Ehh. Water under the bridge. You know, you bumped me from twenty-first to eighteenth!” Kaminari leaned in, his eyes wide and smile wider, “I’m not the dumbest in the class anymore! I mean, I probably technically am, but now it’s not so obvious! Nobody expected me to do better, I think most of them were expecting that I’d do worse! Do you know how good that felt!” Kaminari leaned in a little more, adding in a whisper, “I mean, I totally cheated, and I could not have done that on my own, but I always cheat, you just helped me to do it better and-” Kaminari tilted his head, his smile softening, “You didn’t have to help me, nobody made you do that. And- you know, I’m really grateful for that. It- ugh I’m bad with words,” he leaned away, looking unusually bashful. It wasn’t until Kaminari pulled out of his space that Shinsou realized he had been holding his breath. “It just- that felt really really good, and it wasn’t something I’d really felt before and you did that so- yeah, so thank you, for that.”
Shinsou opened his mouth to say something, but his throat tightened, and he just nodded stupidly instead.
Kaminari huffed a soft laugh, and then broke into a real laugh, doubling over and grabbing Shinsou’s arm to hold himself up as he giggled.
Shinsou’s eyes widened, his stomach dropping, tracing the conversation back for the joke.
“So-” Kaminari continued before he could find it, still giggling a bit, “Lunch?”
“Kaminari-” Shinsou sighed.
“Do you take bribes? I feel like- I just think, yeah, that like- ignoring whether we’re friends or not, we have fun, don’t we? Like- you said I don’t annoy you, or that I annoy you in a good way, or- well, actually you denied that it was a good way but,” Kaminari tilted his head, “I mean we both know what you meant.” He smiled and winked, “So like- I can get the lunch table thing, even if Bakugou apologized, but I don’t get why I can’t just- join you on the stairs.”
“Why would you do that?” Shinsou pushed, “You have a perfectly fine lunch table, at the popular table, which you clearly love.”
Kaminari rolled his eyes, “The real popular kids don’t need to sit at the popular table every day to be popular. The popularity follows them.”
“Assuming that even applied to you, the last thing I want is the popularity to rub off on me so-”
“Brother.” Kaminari started, and Shinsou scrunched his nose, “You placed second at the sports fest-”
“You have to stop bringing that up.”
“-in the most insane fight I’ve ever seen. You’re far more popular than me, if anything, you should hang around me because I will gladly take the spotlight off your hands.”
Shinsou rolled his eyes.
“Come on.” Kaminari pushed, nudging Shinsou with his foot, “Give me one reason I can’t crash your vibe. I promise, I provide great entertainment, and I do it for free. I’m a great jester.”
Shinsou dropped his chin, biting at his cheek.
“Come on! Please!” He threw his hands up, “You’re so stubborn! Why can we hang out right now, at the mall, but not during lunch? You came to my birthday party and we had a great time and now you’re-” Kaminari waved his hand, and Shinsou looked up.
“I’m?”
“Just- the second I think I understand you, even a little, you do something that- screws everything up.”
Shinsou’s heart sank.
He didn’t know what the difference was between the mall and the lunch table. Bakugou was an obvious one, but as Kaminari said, Bakugou didn’t have to be there. Something just felt so fundamentally wrong about Kaminari hanging out with Shinsou when he could be with them. He didn’t want to make him choose between his friends and Shinsou; he hadn’t expected him to, because obviously, Shinsou was the wrong choice.
Kaminari could be with his friends right now and he wasn’t.
Something rotten reared its head, pulsing almost viciously against his ribs. It liked this. Liked that Kaminari chased him around, liked that Kaminari didn’t even seem to think about it before deciding to fall next to Shinsou.
But it wasn’t fair, and it wasn’t kind.
“What do you guys think?” Uraraka asked before Shinsou had to come up with a response to that. Shinsou turned, finding her standing behind him, her shoulders and smile tight. Her arms were wrapped around her torso, where the shirt exposed some skin, but eventually she forced her hands to drop to her sides.
“It looks amazing!” Kaminari shouted, grabbing the bar of the rack next to him and leaning forward, “I like the collar! I don’t usually see them with collars but it looks good! It fits your face.”
Uraraka’s eyes slid to Shinsou, and he shrugged, scrambling for something to say, “I- it looks like a shirt. Do you like it?”
Uraraka’s hand reached for the bottom, tugging on it, “I don’t know, it’s kinda tight.”
“I think they’re supposed to fit tight.” Kaminari assured, “Trust me, you look fantastic, if I saw you at the gym I’d for sure ask for your number.”
Shinsou rolled his eyes.
Uraraka blushed, reaching to pull the shirt down, “I don’t know-”
“You could try the other one?” Kaminari offered, “If you like the cheaper one better than that makes the decision easy!”
Uraraka frowned, shaking her head, “I- I really don’t need a new one. Thank you.” She added quickly, “Really, for the offer, but- I’m okay.”
Kaminari smiled brightly, “It’s really not an issue, I don’t want you to pay me back or anything. It’d be a gift!”
“It’s okay!” Uraraka insisted, “I don’t like this as much as I thought I would.”
Kaminari raised his eyebrows, staring at her like he didn’t believe her before raising his hands, “Alright, alright.”
Uraraka smiled, turning and slipping back into the changing room.
Kaminari didn’t wait a single second before he grabbed one of the shirts, heading straight for the counter. Shinsou didn’t even have a chance to think before his hand snapped out and grabbed Kaminari’s arm, “What are you doing?”
“Buying it for her.”
“She doesn’t want you to.”
“Sure she does,” Kaminari waved a hand, “She’s just being polite.”
“What if she’s not?”
“Shinsou, it’s fine.” Kaminari tried with a smile. “Trust me, girls love being spoiled.”
“Are you just buying her that because you think it’ll charm her into dating you?”
“Well if it does I won’t complain!”
“Can you stop hitting on her for five seconds?”
“What do you care? You said you weren’t into her!”
Shinsou’s mouth slammed shut, his heart plummeting.
Kaminari’s hand turned, holding the shirt out for Shinsou to take, “You can buy it for her if you want.”
Shinsou pulled his hand off Kaminari, turning for the exit, “You’re a fucking idiot.”
“Woah! Dude!” Kaminari called after him, but Shinsou didn’t stop.
He was being ridiculous.
He was acting like a fucking mess.
This.
This was why he shouldn’t be hanging around Kaminari. This was why he couldn’t stomach it. He would flirt and flirt and touch, and Shinsou was going to fucking combust.
It was a lose-lose for him.
And Shinsou couldn’t take it.
Fuck.
This was pitiful.
A new, unique low truly.
There wasn’t really anywhere for him to go, not unless he wanted to leave. He considered it, he really considered it. He wouldn’t go back to the apartment, Shinsou was sure Yamada told Aizawa and- he’d just know that Shinsou failed at- whatever this was. He wouldn’t say anything; he’d just give Shinsou this look like they both knew he had fucked it up again.
And he couldn’t go to Senjo; Yamada was bothering him.
And he could wander, he could wander, and fuck, he wanted to wander, but there was a sick twisting feeling in his chest that made him want to fucking cry because Aizawa asked him not to do that.
Well, actually, he kinda told him not to do that.
And then asked him to call him-
He shouldn’t have said that.
He should not have asked that of him.
There were so many fucking people.
He needed to-
He needed to breathe, and he wasn’t even-
He was going to throw up.
He jerked suddenly to the side, pressing his elbows to the railing and leaning as far forward as he could get, his head pounding.
He closed his eyes, counted his breaths, and when he opened his eyes again, for a blissful second, he wasn’t worried about Aizawa.
He wouldn’t die from this height.
He wasn’t sure if that was a comfort or not, but he was confident about that, only one level up.
It’d certainly cause a scene.
He let himself imagine it for a moment, but then- inevitably, his thoughts drifted back.
Or anything else you may want to call me.
Aizawa should’ve never offered that.
He didn’t deserve it.
If he had his way, he’d be outta here by now. If he had his way, he’d go back in time and tell him not to come.
That’d just disappoint Aizawa.
This was only ever going to end in disappointment.
He pressed his hands to his face, letting out a long sigh before forcing himself to drop them.
He didn’t know how he was supposed to face him ever again. He didn’t know how to do this.
He failed every time he tried.
Shinsou’s spine straightened as a back dropped against the railing next to him, Kaminari’s head tilted up.
“Nice day for a brood.”
Shinsou huffed, his hands sliding together so a nail could dig into the skin under his thumb.
“I didn’t buy it.”
He forced his eyes not to move.
“We should probably go back though. Ditching Uraraka wouldn't be very nice and- you know, she’s like a puppy.”
“You know, I can wingman-” He continued when Shinsou didn’t say anything, “If you wanted me to like- talk you up to Uraraka or something,” Shinsou sighed, hanging his head. “Or, I could- if you wanted it to just be you two, you know, I can make that happen! You just gotta say the word! I can make an excuse, I don’t mind-”
“I’m not into Uraraka.” Shinsou interrupted, a confession on the tip of his tongue.
It’d be easier to just tell him. They’d drop this Uraraka shit at least. It’d probably fuck a lot of other shit up, but it’d fix that at least.
“Well, I’m confused.”
Shinsou huffed a tight airy laugh, pushing the nail in further, “Yeah.”
He could feel Kaminari’s eyes on him. It wasn’t hard; he always made it so obvious, sometimes painfully so. He turned suddenly, mimicking Shinsou’s position, his elbows on the railing, leaning over and staring down at the people.
“You think if I spit I could hit that bald guy?”
Shinsou choked, genuinely coughing, his eyes watering at the sudden change in his airway. Kaminari laughed, slamming his back, “I’m totally serious, if it’ll cheer you up, I’ll lob a hoagie at that guy.” Kaminari paused as Shinsou finally caught his breath, “Hoagie? Ho-” His face scrunched, “What word am I thinking of? I don’t think hoagie is right. That’s something else.”
“Don’t spit on him.” Shinsou wheezed.
“Fine, fine. I just wanted to help him polish it.”
Shinsou huffed a soft laugh, coughing one last time as he shook his head.
“Do you think you’ll go bald?”
Shinsou shrugged, “I don’t know.”
“Do you even think about stuff like that?”
“Not really,” He admitted.
“I’m terrified.” Kaminari confessed, “I love my lightning bolt, I don’t wanna lose it! And even if I just start balding.” Kaminari reached up, pulling at his hair, “I am not prepared to handle a receding hairline.”
“Could tattoo a lightning bolt in the side of your head.”
Kaminari’s eyes widened, his hands dropping back to the rail, “That’s a genius idea! Wait-” Kaminari laughed, “I could do a long one down the center of my head, like Aang, but like as a lightning bolt.” Kaminari slid a bit closer, “Do you know Aang?”
“Not personally.”
“The Avatar?”
Shinsou shook his head, and Kaminari’s whole body fell forward, his grip on the rail keeping him upright, “You haven’t seen Avatar the Last Airbender?”
“I don’t really watch movies.”
Kaminari slammed a hand to his chest, “I’m going to die of heartbreak.”
Shinsou rolled his eyes.
“First of all, it’s a TV show, so write that down.”
“I’m not writing any of this down.”
“Second of all, Shinsou-” He straightened, turning fully to him, “I promise if you watch it, like properly watch it, it will change your life.”
Shinsou rolled his eyes, and Kaminari grabbed his shoulder, “Shinsou. I’m being so serious right now. That show was a foundation of my childhood!”
“It’s a kids show?”
Kaminari pointed a finger, “Don’t do that. Yes, it’s technically a kids show, but watch three episodes, and you’ll learn how dark it’s willing to go. I promise. If you get anything from our-” Kaminari hesitated, “Whatever word you’re using to describe how we interact, then I need it to be this. Watch that show.”
Shinsou raised his eyebrows, and Kaminari’s eyes narrowed.
“Say you’ll watch it.”
Shinsou scoffed, “I can’t promise that.”
“Shinsou!” Kaminari whined.
“I will maybe watch it.”
Kaminari smiled, propping an elbow on the railing, "That's good enough for me.” He tilted his head, staring down at the people, letting the buzz of the crowd creep in.
He should come up with a reason to leave.
He didn’t need one, really, he had some stuff, he could just take it and go, say he didn’t plan on staying long anyway. No one expected him to come in the first place, no one would be surprised to hear he left early.
“You alright?” Kaminari asked randomly.
Shinsou clenched his jaw, “I’m clearly thriving.”
Kaminari’s eyes drifted to him again, and Shinsou’s heart raced.
“Clearly.” Kaminari agreed with a slight tilt to his lip. His hand moved then, his fingers slipping between Shinsou’s thumb and palm. Shinsou’s head snapped up, his eyes widening as Kaminari pressed his finger into the small divots in his skin.
“You know,” He started, his tone suddenly far less jokey, “I can be serious.” He pressed softly into Shinsou’s skin, and the pain throbbed, “If you ever wanted to just- rant about life. I know I talk a lot, but I am capable of listening too. I won’t even be annoying about it. “
Shinsou’s heart pounded, and eventually Kaminari’s finger pulled away. For a few heavy seconds, Shinsou didn’t move, giving his brain a chance to catch up to what had just happened. Kaminari was staring at him, at his hands. It made his fingers twitch, and he was suddenly very grateful that he had not drawn blood.
He leaned back, turning and pressing his palms to the metal. He forced his eyes up, staring at the ceiling, “I really am fine, I’m just- being stupid.”
Kaminari smiled, “My specialty.” He nudged Shinsou softly, “What are we being stupid about today?”
Shinsou’s stomach churned. “It’s really- it’s nothing.”
“Well,” Kaminari nudged Shinsou’s shoe with his toes, “Let me know if the nothing keeps bothering you. I’ve found the best way to deal with the nothing is to do everything.” Kaminari went silent again, turning to face the hallway, his arms draped over the railing.
Kaminari let out a long sigh, reaching to pull out his phone. They sat in silence as Kaminari typed rapidly. Shinsou kept his head firmly turned away, fighting the urge to read what he was saying.
“I can see why your typing is so bad.” Shinsou said when the awkwardness was starting to bite at his skin. “If you slow down your typing would be so much easier to understand.”
Kaminari shook his head, “I got things to do, people to see, no time.”
Shinsou rolled his eyes, but let the silence creep back.
“You should go back.” Shinsou decided eventually, “Don’t leave Uraraka hanging. I- think I’m going to go.”
“You think?” Kaminari almost yelled, “Well don't think. Stop thinking, that’s clearly where you’re going wrong. Stay. We just got here, you haven’t even had their frozen yogurt yet.”
“Yeah, but I-”
Before he could finish his thought, Kaminari grabbed the strap of Shinsou’s bag, pulled it off his arm, and swerved through the crowd, not heading back the way they came.
“Kaminari!” Shinsou groaned, “You’re not even going the right way!”
“Uraraka ditched us,” Kaminari shouted back, doing a little spin as he walked so he could face Shinsou to say it. He crashed into a kid as he did, dropping to the ground without even bothering to try to catch himself.
“You’re a threat to society,” Shinsou said as he loomed over the still prone Kaminari, only leaning over to grab the bag of things he’d tried to steal.
The boy smiled, “Stay one more hour?” Kaminari asked, “Then at least you can say you gave it a solid shot.”
Shinsou leveled a glare at Kaminari, a million reasons, both for and against that idea flooding his brain.
“Come on.” Kaminari encouraged, “You don’t have to leave.”
Annoyingly, Kaminari was right.
He didn’t really feel like he had to leave anymore, and realistically, if he could stomach staying, he should stay. Maybe if he didn’t, he could avoid pissing off Aizawa for one more day.
Still, he narrowed his eyes, stepping back to give Kaminari space to sit up, “If I say no are you going to steal from me again?”
“No!” Kaminari answered, sounding defeated. “But I would be sad.”
Shinsou sighed.
Fuck.
That was a worse answer.
“Whatever.” He gave in before Kaminari could back him into more of a corner.
“Whatever?” Kaminari repeated, straightening.
“Yeah. One more hour.” Shinsou agreed, “I did have more to buy anyway.”
Kaminari beamed, crashing their shoulders together, “Hell yeah!”
“Did Uraraka really ditch us?”
“Kinda. She said we could go ahead, she had to apologize to Midoriya for something.”
Shinsou’s face scrunched, “When did she say that?”
“I have this handy dandy communications device.” Kaminari pulled out his phone and waved it in the air. “Really high tech.”
“Fuck off.” Shinsou rolled his eyes, turning to leave, “Get off the floor.”
Kaminari scrambled after him.
~ ~ ~
“Please?” Kaminari begged.
“No!”
“Pretty, pretty please?”
“Kaminari.”
“We have time.” Kaminari argued.
“Right,” Shinsou turned to leave, “because the reason I’m saying no is because of the time.”
He’d gotten incessant the moment they left Uraraka. Shinsou usually considered himself pretty stubborn in an annoyingly difficult way, but he was starting to think that he could never compare to Kaminari when he got his heart set on something.
Kaminari rushed forward, cutting Shinsou off, “No one has to know.” He whispered, “It’s just me and you.” His eyes went somehow impossibly wider, and Kaminari tilted his head. It didn’t seem like he was intentionally pouting; he wasn’t even pouting really, he just seemed- unbearably hopeful.
“Please?” Kaminari pushed, his voice soft.
This was a horrible idea.
“One outfit.” Shinsou sighed, and Kaminari absolutely beamed, reaching out to shake Shinsou’s shoulders before turning and scanning the clothes.
“Oh my god. Oh my god. Oh my god. One!” Kaminari shouted, “Oh my god, I’m gonna throw up.”
Shinsou scoffed, rolling his eyes and biting his cheek to keep his smile back.
“Okay.” Kaminari jerked back from the rack he was rapidly flipping through, turning to a rack with pants instead, “Okay. Oh my god, okay.”
“Calm down.” Shinsou huffed softly.
“Can I talk you up to two?” Kaminari asked. “I am so torn between dressing you up in my style and trying to help you find your own.”
“How would you find my style?”
“Well, that would require a lot more than one outfit and more input than I think you’d be willing to give. I guess it would be more me putting you in a style I think you’d like or I could dress you up in something I would wear.” Kaminari spun around, closing one eye and holding up two hands with his pointer and thumbs out as if trying to frame Shinsou. “Very important question, do you ever plan to dye your hair again?”
Shinsou’s stomach dropped. “What?”
“The black that you had at the sports festival. Do you ever plan to dye it black again?” Shinsou’s heart pounded, not knowing how to answer that question. Luckily, Kaminari spun back around, pushing through the clothes again. “I’m just wondering how deep you’re into this emo aesthetic. I’d need more things like nail polish and make-up to really get your vibe I think, but like- was that a rebellious thing you were doing or do you actually want black hair?”
Shinsou clenched his jaw, “I’m not emo.”
Kaminari laughed, “You’re kinda emo.” He pulled two random jackets off the rack, “Alt at the very least. You got this whole doomer vibe.” He held up the jackets. One was a reddish brown, loose and sleek with a zipper on the arm, the other one had a collar and was mostly black, but with a thick floral stripe across the chest. “Which one?”
Shinsou raised his eyebrows, “For me?”
Kaminari shrugged, “Which one do you like better?”
“I wouldn’t wear either of them.”
“If you had to pick one though?” He insisted.
Shinsou sighed, “The brown one I guess.”
Kaminari’s eyebrows rose, “Okay!” He turned, putting both of them back, “This is very useful information.”
“How exactly was that useful?”
“You’re willing to wear some color.” Kaminari said, “But not patterns.”
“You got that from one jacket?”
“Two jackets, plus the two outfits of yours I’ve seen now.”
Shinsou rolled his eyes, “Maybe I just don’t like flowers.”
Kaminari reached for a cardigan, a dark grey one that cut off just below the elbows, with a dark blue pattern at the bottom of the sleeves. He hung it over his arm, moving a few racks over.
“Dude!” Kaminari shouted, pulling out a dark, heavy jacket with one yellow arm and a strange white and yellow pattern on the opposite shoulder. Kaminari spun around, holding it up to his own chest, “What do you think?”
“I think it’s out of season.”
“Well, what if it was in season?”
“I really don’t know anything about fashion.”
“You have eyes. Do you like it or not?” Kaminari tilted his head, reaching for the arm of it and holding it up, sizing it up to his body.
“I think it suits you.”
Kaminari smiled, “Thank you.” He pulled it away, sizing it up and tilting his head back and forth. “You know, this kinda reminds me of an art piece a friend of mine was really into. I can’t remember the name of it, or the artist, so- really couldn’t tell you what it was called, but it was a sort of abstract sort of not. It was of like a- ocean but at sunset, and it was all blocky.” He shook his head, turning to hang it back up, “I’m not explaining it very well. I didn’t even really like it. I’m not into abstract stuff. I get that it does have some sort of-” Kaminari waved a hand, “I don’t know, it probably takes some skill, but I also feel like, lowkey, I could do all that. Not to insult your people, but sometimes artists are really pretentious.”
“My people?” Shinsou echoed.
“Artists.” Kaminari repeated, “Have you seen that huge canvas that’s just like- all red? Midnight really likes that painting, and honestly, I lost a bit of respect for her on that one. I could definitely do that. I don’t care that it was a bunch of different reds and that he actually spent a lot of time layering each color, I feel like you could give a monkey some paint and those rich artists would have something deep and profound to say about it.”
“You’re very passionate about this.”
“Do you know what painting I’m talking about?”
“No.”
Kamminari set the shirt he’d pulled out over the rack, pulling out his phone and pressing their shoulders together. It took him a minute to find it, and when he did, he scoffed, “Oh yeah, he couldn’t even bother to name it.”
It had a name, Untitled (Red), but otherwise, Kaminari was right; it was basically one long canvas with two different red squares, separated and outlined by a pinkish orange boundary.
“Midnight’s seen this in person, and she swears that changes it.” Kaminari shook his head, “I don’t see how it can. It’s just- red!”
Shinsou huffed a soft laugh, “You can go on and on about human connection but this is where you draw the line?”
Kaminari’s nose scrunched, “Don’t tell me you’re pro red squares.”
“I’m saying you should like the red squares.” Shinsou rolled his eyes, “Other people clearly think this is saying something.”
“I can appreciate the variety of humanity and also think they’re being stupid sometimes. I’m not saying art itself is stupid! I don’t even think abstract is always all that bad, but this!” Kaminari leaned dramatically back. “This is a bit ridiculous.”
Shinsou shook his head, stepping out of Kaminari’s space.
“What?” Kaminari shouted, “Do you like the red squares?”
“No!”
“Then why are you defending the red squares?”
“I’m not defending the squares.” Shinsou scoffed, “I just think you’re being a bit hypocritical.”
“What!”
“You want to understand and be understood,” Shinsou mocked, “And you’re telling me you can’t crack this?”
“I understand,” Kaminari argued, his eyes narrowing, “Midnight said it's about the experience of seeing. She said it shouted at her, that it was like a siren drawing her in but she couldn’t even begin to explain the emotion she felt. She said it was something beyond words, an emotion that could truly only be explained by those squares.”
“I doubt she called them squares.”
“She did. I think because I was annoying her when I kept calling them squares.” Kaminari stepped closer, “She said that was the reason it was named “Untitled” because there was nothing it could be titled, that giving it a title would-” Kaminari paused, searching for the word, “ruin the experience. Poison the well.”
Shinsou tilted his head, “And you think that’s stupid?”
“I think it’s a bit stupid. Yeah.”
“And I think you’re being a hypocrite.” Shinsou insisted, “You find the dumbest things interesting, you’re thinking about yo-yoing just to impress a girl.”
“First of all, that’s completely different, barely even comparable, and second of all, a yo-yo is like three thousand yen, that painting sold for over a billion.” Kaminari shouted. “Yes! I think it’s ridiculous to put a price on an emotion when they could just- go to talk to someone. Watch the sunset. I think, if the only time you can experience indescribable emotion is staring at something worth that much, then you might be a bit shallow.”
“Have you considered that it's the emotion that determined the price?”
Kaminari smirked, “I feel a lot of emotions for free.”
Shinsou leaned in, “I think you’re missing the point.”
“Of course you would think so. You’re a tortured artist.”
“You don’t have to have a billion yen to see the painting, to experience the emotion. You have to have a billion yen to own it.”
“You think that’s fair?” Kaminari asked? “To monetize a feeling like that?”
Shinsou’s eyebrows shot up. “What?”
Kaminari shrugged, “If its really indescribable, then I think a billion yen is too little an amount.”
Shinsou huffed softly, “Yeah, you’re probably right.”
Kaminari beamed, “‘course I am.”
“You don’t think the art is stupid.”
“I think the art is a little stupid.” Kaminari leaned back, his eyes sparkling, “But I think most of those people wouldn’t give it a second glance if they didn’t know the price.”
Shinsou stared at Kaminari, at his stupid, proud smile, at the way he was always slouching at strange angles, never able to stand completely straight.
“Where’s the painting?”
Kaminari laughed, “I don’t know. Probably up on some rich guys wall.”
“Could be in a museum.”
“Nah, I don’t think so.”
“Midnight had to see it somehow.”
“I think they pull it out sometimes. I think a bunch of rich people get together and show off their art.”
“And you think Midnight’s part of all that?”
“Midnight’s a sheep.”
Shinsou snorted, “Did you tell her that?
“Of course not!” Kaminari laughed, “She gets almost territorial when it comes to art. I’m not that stupid.”
Shinsou hummed and Kaminari turned, pushing through clothes racks again, “How do you feel about necklaces?”
Shinsou scrunched his nose, “Hard pass.”
~ ~ ~
Shinsou had never worn an outfit quite like the one Kaminari put together for him. For one, it was more than just clothes. Kaminari had found some bracelets that he said matched the cardigan, and a shirt that was tighter than he was used to out of hero training. The ripped edges of the black shorts tickled the back of his knees, and when Shinsou finally got it all on, Kaminari immediately stepped into his space with a smile tugging at one end of the cardigan.
“Dude. You need to wear tighter shirts. They do you wonders.”
Shinsou’s face burned, his spine snapping straight as Kaminari’s fingers dipped into his waistband.
His eyes dropped to the contact, watching as Kaminari tucked in the fabric before pulling it out slightly. He ran his fingers along the edge, and Shinsou held his breath.
“What do you think?” Kaminari asked, yellow eyes snapping up to meet purple.
Kaminari’s knuckles brushed Shinsou’s stomach, and he flinched softly, his jaw tightening.
“What do you think?” Shinsou echoed.
Kaminari wiggled his eyebrows, his hand finally pulling away, “I think you’re easily the best-looking man in this whole establishment.”
Shinsou dropped his eyes, no longer able to hold Kaminari’s gaze.
“Now, strut!” Kaminari commanded, stepping back to give Shinsou room.
“I made a promise to the gods to never strut again so-” Shinsou shrugged, "Unfortunately that’s the one thing I can’t do.”
“You can never strut again!” Kaminari cried, “No! That is the most devastating news I’ve gotten all day. You sure you can’t sneak a small one in? Just this once?”
“Wouldn’t want to piss of the gods.” Shinsou said simply, and Kaminari groaned.
“Yeah, I suppose. The second that pact is broken though, you better come strutting my way. Do you like it?” Kaminari pushed, and Shinsou half-shrugged.
“I haven’t really seen it-”
Kaminari grabbed Shinsou’s shoulders before he could even finish the sentence, dragging him in front of a mirror. Kaminari let go, moving from behind him to stand next to the mirror, beaming at Shinsou.
Shinsou stared at his reflection, trying to ignore the bubbly Kaminari. He looked- fine, objectively. Kaminari probably put together a fine outfit, but it just didn’t really look like him. He rarely wore white, for one, and while the rest of the outfit was fairly dark, the shirt was almost entirely white, and it was tighter than Shinsou was used to, and the collar was hung low, showing off his scars. The cardigan was nice, and tucking one side in really did add a bit of shape to it that certainly looked interesting, but personally, Shinsou didn’t think it went great with his hair. The best part was probably the shorts, but they were simple black shorts with frayed edges. That felt like something Shinsou would wear with his other clothes.
He reached up to fiddle with one of the bracelets, trying to find the words. “It’s- different.”
Kaminari frowned, “You hate it.”
“I don’t hate it.”
Kaminari reached forward again, tugging at the cardigan, “Come on, this is so cool.
“Yeah!” Shinsou tried to say, “I mean, I think it looks fine, it’s just-” He swallowed.
“Not for you?” Kaminari asked?
“Yeah.” Shinsou breathed.
“Well.” Kaminari sighed, tilting his head, “Probably for the best. I still want a chance with the ladies.”
Shinsou rolled his eyes, turning to head back to the changing room, pressing his face into his hands when he finally got a second to himself.
~ ~ ~
“You’re so fucking funny.” Shinsou said dryly, and Kaminari beamed, “Unmatched wit and humor.”
“Thank you! It’s about time someone around here appreciated the whole package.”
Shinsou rolled his eyes. “And your ability to read the room is unmatched.”
Kaminari slapped his arm, “I am funny! Say it for real!”
“You’re real funny.”
Kaminari stopped in front of him, crossing his arms and making this pouty face, “I am!” He huffed.
“I said you were.”
He narrowed his eyes, “But I don’t like your tone.”
Shinsou couldn’t help it; he turned his head, letting the soft smirk bleed out. Kaminari leaned with him, following the motion, “See! I’m a natural jester.”
Shinsou huffed a chuckle, reaching up to press his palm to his face and push Kaminari aside, “Yes, yes. You’re very entertaining.”
“Your hands are huge!” Kaminari mumbled, rushing after him as Shinsou moved forward. “Seriously, what the heck. Do you play basketball?”
“You know I don’t.”
“You totally could, you’re tall, you’re fast, your hands are huge!”
“My hands are normal-sized.”
Kaminari grabbed his wrist, pushing their fingers flat against each other. Shinsou was long used to the softness of Kaminari’s hands; he had to be, with the way he seemed to just grab onto whatever was nearest to him, even if that thing was a person. He rarely reached out to touch back, though, and there was something strange about feeling Kaminari’s hands against his.
“No, see-” He lifted their hands, holding them up for Shinsou. The way Kaminari was making it sound, Shinsou’s hands should’ve been big enough to fold over the tips of his fingers. They weren’t, though. Shinsou’s were bigger, sure, but barely. “Your hands are big.”
“Yours are small.”
“Don’t you dare! My hands are completely average.”
“Sorry,” Shinsou huffed, “I didn’t know you had so much pride in how perfectly sized your hands were.”
Kaminari shrugged, twisting his hand so their fingers were threaded together, dropping his hold, swinging their hands between them. Shinsou’s head dropped, following the motion, his chest buzzing.
“Well, I do. Mina’s been trying to convince me to paint my nails, she said the black would suit the whole thing I’ve been trying out, but I told her, ‘Nope! My hands are perfect the way they are.’ You know, though, I’m a bit offended that she picked black. If I were to let her paint my nails, I’d go for a fun color, maybe even get a design. Oh! Black with yellow lightning bolts? I realize that that is still black, but lightning. Like my hair, but you know, opposite.”
“Kaminari.” Shinsou breathed, not following his ramblings at all, “What are you doing?”
Kaminari tilted his head, dropping his eyes to follow Shinsou’s gaze. “My hand is cold.”
It was not cold.
It was warm.
Warmer than Shinsou’s.
It was making his palm sweaty.
Shinsou twisted his hand, pulling it from Kaminari and shoving it in his pocket, forcing his gaze to shift away, watching people pass by. “Then get gloves.”
“Gloves.” Kaminari scoffed, “Sero would let me hold his hands if my hands were cold.”
“Then go bother Sero.”
“Sero didn’t come.” Kaminari whined, “Can I at least borrow your pocket?”
Shinsou scrunched his nose. “What?”
Kaminari wrapped fingers around Shinsou’s wrist, pulling his hand out and shoving his own in, twisting it around a few times before getting it fully in.
“Thanks!”
“Kaminari!”
Kaminari laughed, turning so he was in front of Shinsou again, reaching for his other pocket. Shinsou snatched his wrist before he could get there. “You can’t have both.”
Kaminari twisted his arm, trying to pull free of Shinsou’s grip, “I can and I will. You’re being selfish.” Shinsou followed the motion easily, even as Kaminari reached back, trying to bend out of his reach, “Damn you, skyscraper.”
Shinsou rolled his eyes, his foot shifting forward as Kaminari pulled him at an odd angle, “Logistically, this makes no sense.”
Someone shoulder-checked Shinsou, and he stumbled forward. Kaminari, who had apparently been using Shinsou as his only support and not his own legs, slipped, twisting his hand just in time to grab onto Shinsou and pull him down with him.
Shinsou briefly heard a group of boys shout something as they fell, but it was quickly drowned out by Kaminari’s giggles. He could feel the vibration of it in his chest, and for a second, Shinsou’s brain wasn’t at all concerned about what just happened, how he got there; it just wanted more.
It felt light, and joyous, and good.
And then a hand touched his hip and the moment caught up to him. He pushed as hard as he could, and Kaminari let out a soft “oof” as Shinsou scrambled off, his back slamming into the railing.
“Ha!” Kaminari said with a toothy smile, “Got ya that time.”
Shinsou felt breathless, and he swore he could still feel the laughter reverberating through his chest.
“Are you okay?”
Kaminari waved a hand, not even bothering to try and get up, laying his head back and letting people just walk around him, “I’m fantastic.”
“This floor is probably disgusting.”
“I didn’t realize you were such a clean freak,” Kaminari mumbled, suddenly sounding very distracted, his eyes stuck on a shop window.
Shinsou grabbed the railing when he felt like he could breathe again, using it to pull himself up. He was still debating what to do next when Kaminari suddenly shot up, reaching for Shinsou’s arm before he was braced and using him to get to his feet.
“Fuck. Kaminari-” Shinsou barely got out before Kaminari was running off. “What the-”
“Stay there!” Kaminari shouted, not even looking back. “Do not move.”
Shinsou threw his arms up, but he was long gone before Shinsou had a chance to argue. He sort of just stood there for a moment, eventually deciding to dust himself off so he at least didn’t look like an idiot just standing there, and grabbed his bag of things, checking that they were all still intact. When Kaminari still wasn’t back after that, Shinsou turned to scan the mall, looking for something to do, for some reason not to listen to the stupid boy who just ran off for no reason.
He certainly couldn’t just chase after him.
He barely started to leave when Kaminari stepped out, his eyes narrowed like he knew what Shinsou was thinking.
“You weren’t trying to wander were you?”
“Wander.” Shinsou scoffed, “What the fuck was that?”
Any anger disappeared from Kaminari’s face, a bright smile taking its place, “I saw something and I had to get it!”
He pulled his arm out from behind his back, holding out a small brown bag for Shinsou.
His stomach dropped. “What the fuck is that.”
“Well, you’ll just have to open it and see!” Kaminari insisted, “Won’t you?”
“No.”
Kaminari’s shoulders slouched, “Shinsou, come on.”
“I don’t want anything.”
“Well, suck it up.” Kaminari huffed, “I had extra money and someone didn’t want me to spend it on Uraraka, so-” He stepped forward, pushing the bag into Shinsou’s chest, “Take it.”
That didn’t at all make him feel better.
“I don’t need anything.”
“You don’t need this either.” Kaminari said, his eyebrows high. Shinsou stepped back, stubbornly crossing his arms over his chest, his jaw wiring shut. Kaminari dramatically rolled his neck before just reaching in and pulling a mug out, holding it out for Shinsou to see.
It was really nothing fancy, just a plain white mug with the words, World's Best Teacher, in black print on the side.
“It was supposed to be a thank you,” Kaminari said, “for helping me study. It’s just cheap nothing really, but I thought it was funny.” He shrugged, “But- you know, also kinda true, for me at least.”
Shinsou sighed, his eyes dropping to the ground.
Kaminari carefully set the mug back into the bag and reached forward, grabbing Shinsou’s arm and sliding it over to him.
“There.” Kaminari said firmly, stepping away. Shinsou let the bag slide down his arm a bit, catching it between his fingers before it slipped off, “That wasn’t so hard? Was it?”
“Why can Uraraka say no to a gift, but I can’t?”
“I already bought the gift. Refusing a gift is just rude!”
Shinsou didn’t care.
Shinsou would be rude if he had to.
This was-
Shinsou couldn’t accept this.
But just as he opened his mouth to say something along those lines, someone shouted at them.
“Kaminari! Shinsou!” Their heads whipped to the side to find Kirishima booking it towards them, placing a hand on each of their shoulders when he was in range, “You’re not answering your phones!”
“Shinsou’s never heard of a phone and mine’s dead. But it’s not three yet, is it?” Kirishima shook his head, his chest rising and falling rapidly. Kaminari reached to grab Kirishima’s shoulder, their arms slotting together, “Are you alright?”
“I’m fine,” Kirishima took a deep breath, “But Midoriya ran into a villain.”
Shinsou’s body went cold.