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"Ah, great, Denki's short-circuited again."
"Whey... wheyy..."
"Whose turn is it to babysit him again? Cuz it's not gonna be me."
Denki sat on the ground of Gym Gamma as his classmates bickered around him, all reluctant to help him in his current Yay Mode. Jirou stood closest to him, arms crossed and hip jutted to the side, the picture of annoyance with Kirishima across from her.
"Jirou, c'mon, we all agreed to take turns and you're next." He pleaded, putting his hands on his hips. The darkette groaned in reply.
"But I already bought tickets to this concert I wanted to go and the dates were moved! Somebody has to cover for me. You like Denki, right? You're friends, go sit him in your room when we get back to the dorms or something."
"Today is gym day, though! Me and Bakugou were going to hit the gym after classes, it can't be me."
"Whey hey...!" Denki stuck his two thumbs out, swaying gently. A collective sigh of annoyance swept the classmates nearest to the blond.
"Guys!" Iida interrupted, hand-chopping the air between Jirou and Kirishima. "It is irresponsible of you to make plans without checking when your scholarly duties will be. I'm afraid one of you will have to cancel your plans and deal with Denki."
"You wanna talk about irresponsible?" Jirou cut the class president off. "Why is Denki not getting any consequences for making himself stupid! We all have to put up with him when he gets like this and it's so inconvenient for the class as a whole."
"Yeah! When it was my time to babysit, I had to cancel my spa appointment with Ochako and Tooru because Denki went ahead and stupefied himself with 2 million volts that one training period with All Might!" Mina piped up from farther back, looking miffed.
More arguing ensued from the class, practically forgetting who was on the floor observing them all with a dopey smile on his face. Nobody knew that he wasn't actually 'stupid' like his classmates liked to dub his state.
Denki remembered every single insult thrown his way by his classmates. His friends.
It hurt so much at first... but he never said anything. Confronting people was not something he liked to do, so he let it slide, over and over again. Denki thought that maybe one day they'll get used to his Yay Mode and stop, but his class only seemed to grow more and more tired of him with each short-circuit.
The electric blond didn't know when the last straw would be, but it felt like any day now if he short-circuited again it would be the end of his... friends' patience.
"Okay, that's it. I've had about enough of y'all's shit-talking." Thundered a female voice, getting closer and closer from behind Denki. Everyone still seemed too caught up in their own woes that the voice's owner stopped right behind the blond and shouted.
"I said ENOUGH!"
A hand placed itself on the top of his head at the same time as a whirlpool of air swept all his classmates and launched them shortly towards him. Several of the closest ones were knocked off their feet while the ones farther back merely stumbled.
Denki was still trying to figure out the familiar voice when another indignant one—Bakugou's—spoke (or rather screamed) first.
"Oi, the hell's your problem, Aang?!"
"(Y/n), why'd you do that?" Sputtered Kirishima from the gym's floor, who had been knocked into Jirou with the onslaught of air and knocked the both of them to the ground.
(Y/n). The new transfer student that arrived 2 weeks ago.
She'd been so sweet to him, laughing at his flirty comments instead of groaning or gagging in disgust. (Y/n) often sparred with him in the short time she's been here, always congratulating him after the session even if she lost and discussing ways to best her whenever he'd lose to her. She revealed her weaknesses to him during combat, telling him to look out for the same in others, and inviting him for boba after sparring. She's so nice.
And here she was, standing by him as she unleashed an anger no one has ever seen before from her, in Denki's defense. The blond wasn't sure whether to feel guilty that such a gentle girl had gotten angry for the first time because of him or relieved that said anger was not directed at him.
"I did that hoping that maybe all that air would get inside your heads and pull them out of your asses," she ground out. Without letting anyone reply, she continued. "I've only witnessed a short-circuit once before, and y'all treated him like some class pet. I let that slide because I'd hoped with all my heart that y'all were just being uncommonly mean that one day, but clearly someone needs to knock all of y'all down a peg regarding the treatment of a classmate who isn't all-here right now."
"But Denki-" Jirou began, only to be silenced by (Y/n)'s "Uh! "
"I'm not done yet." She growled, making silence reign over the students again.
"I... I can't believe how shitty y'all are treating Denki. How else do y'all expect him to get used to more voltage? By stickin' to what he knows?! He has to put himself in these situations to gradually increase his tolerance to high voltages. But all y'all think about is yourselves." Her grip on Denki tightened slightly. Even in his short-circuited state, he noticed the way her accent slipped out more as her anger grew.
"But Denki has to consider our lives too! We're not gonna always be available to take care of him when hes short-circuited!" Tooru blurted out, her sleeves waving about as she gesticulated wildly.
(Y/n) instantly rounded on her. "Who takes care of Aoyama when his tummy hurts? Who fetches Momo snacks when her calorie intake's low from a day of trainin'? Who brings a classmate t' the nurse whenever they're incapacitated?"
Tooru was silent.
"All of you. Y'all take care of each other so damn well, but what about Denki? 'Oh, he'll be fine, just sit 'im over there,' Y'all don't ask yourselves if he may be dehydrated or if he needs somebody as a physical anchor ta ground 'imself. I bet none of y'all 'ave even asked him because y'all don't fuckin' care, do ya?"
"..."
"..Whey..."
"...We do care. (Y/n)-" Sero tried.
"(L/n)."
"Huh?"
"Call me (L/n). All of y'all will address me as such now."
The hurt on everyone's faces did not chip even a bit of (Y/n)'s permanent steely expression. It didn't soften either when they looked away to the ground, wincing at the situation.
"You don't care like you should. Don't lie now," (Y/n) repeated. "Y'all may see Denki as a friend, but none of y'all ever bother to ask how he's doin' after a short-circuit." The bell suddenly rang, signalling the end of the last period for the day.
The girl stepped back, releasing Denki and going around him. She crouched in front of him, offering her hands palms-up. "Can ya hold my hands, Denki?" She murmured, looking him square in the eyes. Her voice was smooth, even when close to whispering.
"Wh.. whey..." His thumbs up were still in the air, but he focused a little harder to hover them on top of her hands. Figuring thats the best she was gonna get, (Y/n) clasped his wrists and pulled him up swiftly without jostling him too much.
As soon as Denki was standing--albeit wobbly--(Y/n) looped an arm around his waist and held him steady against her. She did not take her eyes off him once as she led him out of the gym and towards the dorms.
Denki felt heat on his cheeks, but desperately hoped it was because of the sun in his face.
"Whey, hey... wheyy..."
"I hope you like Ghibli films, Denki, cuz that's what we're gonna watch 'till you come back to us- me. Until you come back to me." She thought for a moment, looking at the ground, before looking up at him again with a grin. "You said last week ya liked Heathers, right? Let's watch that once you're coherent, m'kay?"
Denki felt a flutter in his chest and that's when he knew he was a goner.
When Denki was finally completely coordinated and stable, he was sitting sideways on (Y/n)'s bed reclined on a mountain of plushies, watching their second Ghibli film. The room owner herself was perched on the edge of the bed next to him and leaning forward, committing the movie's ending to memory as the screen faded out.
"Ugh," she laughed as she swiped at her eyes roughly. "Princess Kaguya always gets me all emotional."
Denki honestly wasn't paying attention to the movie, like at all. He just couldn't stop observing (Y/n). All her mannerisms, her jokes, and expressions. Denki was seeing everything she did in a completely new light.
The only one to stand up for him. The only one to care. The sweet foreign-exchange girl who, even though she liked and got along with almost everyone, swiftly and mercilessly tore everyone in their class a new asshole and shoved their heads right up into it to show them how full of shit they were, all on the flip of a coin. It apparently did not take much for (Y/n) to switch up-no, to protect those who were incapable of doing so for themselves.
Exiting out of the movie, the girl in question scrolled through her recommended list. "Maybe it's time for Heathers... I definitely want somethin' lighter after that sad-ass movie."
She didn't notice nor feel Denki lean forward slowly, inching closer to her as if bewitched by something. He just felt the need to get closer to her in that moment.
What she finally noticed was when, while looking for the right subtitles to the Heathers movie, she felt two arms slowly encircle her midsection and a fluffy head resting on her shoulder.
"...Denki? Are you back?"
"...Yes."
Denki felt the part of (Y/n)'s neck that his forehead was touching start to heat up. "Oh, um- d'you want me to, uh, rewind the last movie-"
"Thank you."
"...For what?"
Denki's hold tightened. "...For back there," He whispered.
The blond felt (Y/n) stiffen, then relax. She gently extricated herself out of his grip, only to turn around and hug him properly. Denki all but melted into it, letting out a shuddering sigh.
He closed his legs, making room in his lap that (Y/n) automatically filled up by sitting on his thighs and allowing them to hug much more closely. A gesture that, under any other context would have been suggestive, but in this moment it was exactly the comfort Denki needed.The foreign girl caressed the back of his head, toying with his hair and running her fingers through. Denki suppressed a shudder but let another sigh escape, this time much more content than the last.
(Y/n) began to lean to the side, muttering a "c'mon," in his ear. He allowed her to lean them until they fell on the rest of the bed where her pillows were by the headboard. The girl made themselves more comfortable by tugging them both up until their heads rested on the pillows and their limbs were entangled with each other. Reaching up over her head, she snagged a soft blanket that she apparently kept on the corner of her bed, expertly unfolding and draping it over them both in a few, quick motions.
"Sleep over," She whispered. "Please."
And how could he ever say no?
She was the only person who seemed to really care about his wellbeing. His friends did care to some extent, but they were more interested in caring whenever it fit their schedules. Whenever they felt like they had the time to.
Denki listened to (Y/n)'s breathing until it evened out, and then listened some more.
...
Once he betrayed UA and unleashed hell upon it, he'd take her with him. She was too good for these people, anyway.