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Jirou awakens at the small shake of a hand on her shoulder and immediately smushes her face into the pillow. There’s no way it’s morning already. She could’ve sworn she closed her eyes a few minutes ago.
The hand shakes her again, a little more insistent. “Kyo?” she hears.
Jirou lets out a sigh, which turns into a yawn, as she turns to peek at him over her shoulder.
Kaminari is practically leaning over her. It’s pretty dark, but she can see the anxious line of his brow as he stares down at her.
“What’s wrong?”
“I... I had a nightmare.” His eyes dart away like he’s embarrassed, but being this close to Kaminari, Jirou can hear the race of his heartbeat.
She remembers him saying that he gets vivid stress dreams a while back, but she’s never been with him when he woke up from one before. Is that what’s happening now?
After shifting herself to sit up beside Kaminari, Jirou cups his cheek—which is damp—with her hand, making him look at her. When he meets her eyes, he looks so frightened she feels an ache spark in her own heart. Jirou has seen this expression before, in a forest far away from this bed. He was being pulled away to uncertain danger back then. Was he dreaming of that day? Kaminari is braver than he used to be though, if only by a little, having survived that. Except now he looks so small. She wants to know what’s bothering him, wants to soothe him, but first she needs to know what could have upset him so much. “Tell me about it,” she urges softly.
It’s getting easier to see in the dark now. His golden eyes gaze into hers for a long moment, as if he’s deciding whether he wants to tell her. Then, he closes them. “Okay.”
Jirou smiles, taking her hand from his cheek to place it on his hand.
“Well, it was kind of all over the place,” Kaminari begins, looking off elsewhere in the room. “I was on this beach. It was all dark and gloomy... a bit freaky, really. Then I noticed this cave. There were people surrounding the entrance. No one was going in, but I felt like I had to, so I ran over and pushed my way through the crowd. It was super dark inside, so I shot a few sparks around to see where I was going.” His words are tumbling out faster. “Then the water started getting higher, and I had to go further in, toward the back of the cave. I was wandering around in the dark, tripping over rocks I couldn’t see. The water was pouring in around my feet. Then I saw light, and the cave opened up into this hallway, and you were there...” he trails off.
Jirou squeezes his hand. “I was there?”
Kaminari looks at her then. “Yeah. Like you were the light guiding me out of literal darkness.” Jirou can’t even bring herself to laugh because the way he says it is so sincere. She just gapes at him. He takes in her face for a moment. “You yelled at me to follow you. We were on a mission. I think there were others with us, but I don’t remember who. I just saw you and started running.
“It was like a labyrinth. There were so many hallways and we kept having to duck behind corners to hide from villains. I don’t know why we were there,” he shakes his head. “It didn’t feel right at all.”
“Probably because it was a dream,” she interjects. “Dreams don’t really have any reason.”
His brow wrinkles at that, like he wants to disagree, but he just continues.
“I had to shock a few guys. You almost collapsed the building trying to stop them from following us.” His voice quiets a little. “Somehow we found a door and went outside. There was a big forest around us, but there were more of those guys out there too. We managed to take out a couple but they kept coming. We were running and I wasn’t paying enough attention and suddenly I didn’t know where you were. I called your name and I heard you yell back but it sounded like you were far away. Then I heard someone behind me and I thought I could just take them down and go find you. I thought you were far away.”
Jirou’s throat is dry.
“Everything was happening so fast and I just wanted to find you but...” His voice hitches. She imagines him releasing a huge amount of electricity to subdue an opponent during one of their training courses, but she knows what he’s thinking is much worse before he even says it. “You were there, on the ground, and it was so bad. It was so bad, Kyo.” Kaminari shakes his head, eyes filling with tears. “And it felt so real.”
Jirou can’t stand it anymore. She lets go of his hand and pushes the blankets away. Maneuvering herself onto his lap, she envelops him in an embrace. Kaminari wraps his arms around her in turn. She feels him suppress a couple of sobs from where he’s burying his face into her shoulder. Running her fingers through his hair, Jirou wills her heartbeat to calm his.
Now it made sense to her. This kind-hearted boy, who always worried about hurting his allies with his quirk, had dreamt he’d hurt her. Badly, too.
After some time, Jirou pulls back to look at him, and the sight nearly breaks her heart. She pulls the sleeves of her shirt around her hands and gently wipes his face. “It wasn’t real,” she coos. “I’m okay.”
“But it could be,” he says flatly.
“What?”
“It could happen.” He removes his hands from her waist, gesturing about. “We could go on a mission, or we could be doing a dumb training course, totally low stakes, and I could make a mistake—a really terrible one—and end up hurting someone! Killing them even!”
She looks at him sternly. “Denki, that won’t happen.”
“It could.”
“No.”
“How do you know?”
He isn’t angry. Honestly, Kaminari hardly ever is. She can tell in the harshness of his voice that he’s just scared. She knows he desperately wants to hear a different outcome of the future than what his nightmare showed him.
She takes his face in her hands. “Because you’re not stupid? Because you’ve come so far from where you used to be? The control you have over your quirk is the strongest it’s ever been and you’re getting better with every day of training.”
She presses her forehead to his, closing her eyes. He leans into her touch.
“You’re kind. You’re careful. You always take your team into account because you care about everyone’s safety. And you’re more capable than you give yourself credit for.” She hears him breathe in, and feels his sigh on her lips. “Plus, I’m not that easy to kill.”
He pulls back to find her smirking. “Kyouka-”
“What? Seriously, you worry too much. It would take more than a little shock to take me out.”
“I wasn’t worried about a lit-“
“Doesn’t matter. I’m not going anywhere. Nothing you do will change that.” Because I know you’d never hurt me. You don’t scare me. I trust you.
He considers this. “Nothing?”
“Within reason. If you take me to a concert for some band I can't stand or trick me into going through a haunted house, I may have to reconsider what we’ve got going on here.”
Kaminari laughs. It’s an airy sound that blooms relief in her.
“Alright. I’ll remember that.” He rubs the back of his head. “Thank you. I’m sorry for waking you up. I was just really freaked out.”
“Don’t be sorry. Do you have nightmares often?”
“Not un-often, I guess. Less lately, though. I guess that’s why this one got to me. It’s been a while.”
“Well, I’m glad I was here this time,” she yawns.
“Really?” His eyes widen. “So you’re not mad I woke you up so early?”
Jirou’s a little baffled at that. I mean sure, she‘d like to be asleep right now, but if the ulterior option is him suffering in silence... “Don’t be ridiculous. I want to make you feel better when you’re upset,” she says, yawning again on the last word. Dammit.
“Oh.” His mouth curves into a warm smile. “Well, I’m glad you’re here too. I probably would have overthought myself into oblivion if you didn’t talk me down.”
“Yeah, that much is clear. But I wish you wouldn’t doubt yourself so much. I know we like to joke about what a goof you can be, but I believe in you.”
Kaminari is quiet for a moment. Then he wraps his arms around her and holds her tightly. She brings her arms around him. “I’m so lucky to have you,” he says.
Jirou pulls back, pressing a kiss to his forehead. “I’m just telling you the truth, Jamming-Whey.”
“So am I.” His expression is so soft she would puke if she weren’t so endeared by it.
Jirou rolls her eyes mockingly at his expression, cringing outwardly while her heart bursts with affection. She notices him glance down at her lips. Taking his face in her hands, she presses her lips to his. It’s a slow, gentle kiss at first, but it grows hungrier as they let their devotion take over. His hands press firmly against the small of her back. Before she gets too lost in the moment, she pulls back, feeling a little delusional. It’s very late—or very early—and she does need to get at least a few more hours of rest in.
“Do you think you can sleep now?” she asks.
“After that?” he laughs.
“I meant,” she flicks his arm, “are you still worried about your nightmare?”
Kaminari hums. “No, I think I’ll be okay.”
Jirou kisses him one more time. “Good.”
She climbs off him. They pull the blankets back over themselves as they lay down. It’s not especially chilly in the room but they both like the extra warmth. Jirou nuzzles her head against his chest, tuning into his steady heartbeat. She shifts her leg over his. Kaminari brings his arms around her, pulling her close. She melts a little into his embrace, feeling sleep near already, but there’s one more thing she needs to ask him. “Hey.”
“Hey.”
“What do you usually do after a nightmare? When I’m not here?”
“Uh, it depends. Sometimes I stare at the ceiling wallowing in insecurity. Sometimes I listen to music, but I usually end up listening to songs that match my mood, which doesn’t help,” he says.
“Hm. Well, next time it happens and I’m not with you, call me.”
“Yeah?” He lifts his head to look at her, though he can’t see her face from this angle. “Even if it’s the middle of the night? What if you have to be up early or something?”
“I’ll talk you down until we can both fall asleep again. Or you come to my room and we cuddle until you do. Either way, you feel better and I sleep better knowing you aren’t staying up all night feeling sad.”
She feels him rub his thumb back and forth on her arm. “Yeah, okay.”
Sleep pulls at her consciousness. She’s close to drifting off now.
“Kyouka?” his voice is low, barely a whisper.
She hums in response.
“I love you,” he says, pressing a kiss to her head.
Her own heartbeat loud in her ears, she smiles. “I love you too.”