Chapter Text
Thursday morning, Denki made sure he was in homeroom early, in case of another note. He still felt guilty over his conversation with Mr. Aizawa the night before. The man had enough to worry about with Todoroki’s condition, he didn’t need to waste his time with something like this.
It would be okay. It wasn’t like he was in any danger, right? Not like Todoroki. Not like his parents were just gonna roll up to UA and pull him out, right?
He pushed the door to the classroom open and offered a half-hearted wave to Midoriya, Uraraka, and Tsu, who were gathered around Midoriya’s desk looking at a magazine. He was so tired his head felt heavy, and it wasn’t until he dropped his bag next to his desk that he noticed the envelope on top of it.
“Oh, man,” he groaned. There’d been one in his shoe locker again, and he’d stuffed it in his bag without opening it. He reached for this one, but a smaller hand slipped under his and snatched up the note.
“Gotcha!” Mineta danced back, holding the envelope behind him.
“Dude, give that back!” Denki lunged for him, but the smaller boy darted around another desk and out of his reach.
“Who keeps sending you love notes anyway?” Mineta teased. “Save some for the rest of us, Kaminari.”
He was opening the seal. Denki grit his teeth and lunged at him again, but his feet tangled up in one of the chairs and he hit the floor. “Don’t…don’t open it,” he gasped.
“Let’s see what we’ve got here!” Mineta shouted. He’d climbed on top of the desk in front of Midoriya’s, oblivious to the figure now looming behind him. “Ooh, who’s Kei—”
Mineta never finished that sentence as a hand wrapped around the note he was holding, and smoke began to curl up from the paper. “Drop it, you damn pervert,” Bakugou growled.
He knew. Denki’s heart was hammering as his chest tightened. Mineta had seen something. He’d almost said that name. He knew. Of all of his classmates…of all of his friends…this was the one he was the most worried about. Mineta already went too far with the girls. What would he do if…if….
“Get him out of here, Deku!”
Bakugou’s snarl startled him out of his spiral, and he found himself face-to-face with Midoriya as the smaller boy tried to help him out of the chair he’d gotten tangled up in.
“Okay, this is…um…can I touch you?”
Denki wanted to cry. He nodded, and with Midoriya’s help finally pulled himself free. Midoriya pulled him to his feet and helped him make his way out of the wrecked classroom to the relative silence of the hall.
His knees gave out, and he let himself lean against the wall and slide down, burying his face in his knees when he hit the ground. His breathing was too loud in his ears, his heart was still hammering away. Inside the classroom, Bakugou was still yelling, and he was sure he heard Uraraka chiming in.
Mineta knew. Or he’d figure it out. What had been in that note? Was it another old picture? Just his name?
There was a slight pressure against his shoulder as Midoriya sat next to him, but he didn’t look up. “You don’t have to answer me,” his classmate said quietly. “I think I’ve put a few things together, so just tell me if I’m wrong, okay?”
He didn’t want this. But the last few days were coiling up so sourly inside him that he might burst. He was so tired of hiding, of needing to hide. If it was going to come out anyway, maybe it would be best to just say it now. So he nodded, even though he wanted to cover his ears and run away.
“All those notes…someone’s threatening you? And they’re the reason you got hurt yesterday?”
Denki nodded.
“And they’re threatening you because…it has to do with what happened a few weeks ago, right? In the bathroom?”
He hugged his knees closer and managed to nod.
“I haven’t said anything, because I know you’ll tell us when you’re ready, but…. I think I know why you don’t change in the locker room with everyone else. And I think I know what Mineta was about to say.”
He couldn’t even say the name. It was all tied to the slithery wrongness inside him, to the alien feeling of living in someone else’s body.
Midoriya sighed. “Can I do anything to help?”
Denki slumped over to rest his head against Midoriya’s shoulder. “I don’t think anyone can help.”
“Mr. Aizawa—”
“Don’t,” he pleaded. “Not now, okay?”
“Yeah, sure.”
Midoriya was never really quiet. If he wasn’t talking or muttering to himself or making notes, he usually hummed little bits of songs or tapped his fingers together. It was oddly comforting to Denki. He closed his eyes, listening to his friend hum the theme song to an old kid’s show about a samurai hero.
The bell rang, signaling the beginning of classes. Denki pushed himself up to his feet, then reached down to pull Midoriya up. “Thanks.”
Midoriya beamed at him, then wrapped his arms around him in a bear hug. “I’m here for you, okay? Just let me know whenever you need something.”
Maybe he had some good friends.
And when they reentered the classroom to find the desks straightened up and Mineta pouting in the back with his uniform singed, Kaminari had to smother a grin as he sat down.
Okay. Maybe he had some great friends.
…
The hero students ended up only having a half day of classes that day. It reminded Denki of Monday, when Aizawa and the others had gone looking for Todoroki.
He wondered if that’s what this was again. Maybe not that Todoroki had gone missing again…maybe they were meeting with his dad? A lot of their class was worried that Todoroki was being mistreated at home, and that this was just the tip of the iceberg, so maybe Aizawa was filing a report or whatever to take him away?
Denki was one of the last students back to the dorms, and he was a little surprised to find almost everyone gathered in the common area. He spotted Sero playing something on his handheld console, with Kirishima looking over his shoulder, and ducked around three of the girls (it sounded like Uraraka and Jirou were making study plans with Yaoyorozu) to join them.
“But it’s not fair!” Mineta’s nasal whine stopped him in his tracks. “I don’t see what the big deal is. Kaminari won’t tell us what’s in the notes, so I wanted to see for myself.”
He cursed inwardly and ducked his head, his appetite for socialization evaporating. He really didn’t want to deal with all of this again. This morning had been bad enough.
“Hey, Kaminari?” Mineta called.
So much for sneaking out. Denki pasted a bright smile on his face and turned around. “Huh? Yeah, what’s up?”
“Did you see what Bakugou did to me?” the short boy complained. He waved his hand around to show off the bandages wrapped around his fingers. “Just over a silly note.”
His heart was pounding in his ears, and the world suddenly seemed washed out and distant.
“I mean, it was just some old picture with a name written under it. So, who’s Keiko, anyway? Is she the one who’s sending you the notes?”
He was vaguely aware of Ashido lunging for Mineta. Iida got between them, and Bakugou grabbed Mineta by the collar to drag him away.
“Just tell us! If that was her picture, she’s pretty hot, right? Well, except that she looks a lot like—”
“Shut up!” Denki screamed. He grabbed his hair with both hands, yanking hard enough that his eyes prickled with tears. He couldn’t do this anymore. Couldn’t take the questions and the stares and the secrets. Everything was always wrong, all the time. No matter what he did, he was doing or being something wrong. Disgusting. False. Perverted.
“Just breathe, man.” Kirishima was at his side now. “It’ll be okay.”
“I mean, it’s not a big deal.” Mineta was still talking. “It’s just some girl, right?”
“It’s me!” He finally snapped, all the secrets and pain bubbling up to the surface. “I’m trans, okay? Is that what you wanted to hear? That’s why all this is happening. That’s why someone is sending me notes and messing with my uniforms and I can’t even go to the bathroom by myself because I’m just scared all the time now!”
The room was silent. There were so many sets of eyes on him, everyone finally seeing him for who he truly was. He didn’t bother looking at anyone else. He glared across the room, meeting Mineta’s shocked expression. “Now you know. So will you, please, shut up!”
The other boy had gone pale, and his lips were trembling. “K-Kaminari?” Mineta asked shakily.
“Kami?” Kirishima, still at his side. “Hey, come on, let’s sit down.”
He couldn’t take it anymore.
He turned for the door and ran.