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If two, almost three years ago someone had told Hitoshi that not only would he be in class 1-A but he would also be friends with almost the whole class and most importantly he would end up in a relationship with the loudest guy in the class? To say he would laugh in their face would be an understatement. His plan was simple:
Get into class 1-A
Ignore everyone (friends are a distraction)
Graduate
Prove everyone who had ever doubted him wrong and become a hero
Really, a simple plan.
He can not for the life of his pinpoint the moment it all went to shit.
Cause somehow he ended up here - lying in Denki’s bed, with his head on the blondes lap, discussing the graduation party for their class and listening to “Pretty Boy” by the Neighbourhood, which they had dubbed as “their song”. Suddenly his plans for the future changed:
Get a good paid internship
With the saved money rent out his and Denkis dream apartment
Adopt cats (and a dog, Denki loves dogs)
Open up an agency with Denki
Ask Denki to marry him
And again, if someone had told that to Hitoshi two or three years ago, he would have laughed in their face or even punched them.
But now? Now he wouldn’t change any of this. Sure, his friends annoyed him sometimes, especially Bakugou, but it was fun to bicker with him, but he loved them.
And Denki? Hitoshi would kill for that man. When he saw him at first, Hitoshi thought Denki was annoying. Too loud, too friendly and too clingy. Until that one night.
Hitoshi was already in the class 1-A dorms for a month, and this one specific night his insomnia was acting up despite his meds. That’s how he found himself in the dorm's kitchen at 2 a.m., making himself an instant ramen. It was routine—when sleep wouldn’t come, he’d read, study, or doom-scroll until 2 a.m., then sneak into the kitchen for a late-night meal, hoping it might finally knock him out. That’s why he jumped when he heard someone enter the kitchen with a flashlight in hand.
Except they weren’t holding a flashlight.
Denki stood in the doorway, as shocked as Hitoshi was, with a few sparks of electricity coming out of his pointer finger.
„Hi…?”
„What are you doing here?” He knew he sounded rude, that was his whole plan; scare everyone off so they wouldn’t even think about being friends with him. Honestly, he hoped that Denki would get scared and would run back to his room. He did not expect him to cock his head to the side with a slight smile on his face.
„I could ask you the same question dude. Honestly, why are you getting food at this time?” There was a slight pause after which Denki had this look on his face. It looked comical, almost out of a comic book, as if any moment now a light bulb would appear above Kaminaris head and he would scream out ‚Eureka!’. Instead he just gasped and pointed an accusatory finger towards Hitoshi „Did you get high?”
Hitoshi didn’t know why laughed, honestly, maybe it was the way Denki seemed as if he solved a mystery, or maybe because he was sleep deprived, but Hitoshi laughed. Laughed so hard in fact, he had to grip onto the counter to not fall to his knees.
„No, I did not get high.” He straightened his back, looking back at Denki who looked… amused? That would be the correct word to describe him. „If I tell you why I’m here, will you leave me alone?”
„Well, okay mister „I did not get high”, enlighten me, what the hell are you doing here at the crack of dawn?” Denki leaned on the other side of the kitchen counter and that was when Hitoshi noticed a few things. First, Denki was still producing the sparks on his fingers, making them jump from one hand to another and making them bigger and smaller. He was also stepping from one leg to the other, almost jumping in place.
„I have insomnia.” Back then he had no idea what possessed him that night. He didn’t have to tell Denki anything. He could’ve just told him to piss off and leave him alone. But he didn’t. After he did tell him why he was up so late he could’ve told him to leave him alone, just like they agreed to. But he didn’t. Now, thinking back, he knows why the question „And why are you here so late?” left his mouth.
Hitoshi did have friends in his previous class, believe him or not. He wouldn’t call them best friends or anything, but they were the first few people in his life he could genuinely call friends back then. The thing was, when they, or anyone for that matter, found out about his insomnia, they would drown him with questions and “Did you try white noise?” or “You should talk to someone about that” or his favourite “Oh, I’m so sorry for you”. And, okay, he understood that they were worried about him and just wanted to help, but he didn’t want pity. So the lack of questions and pity from Denki caught him off guard.
Denki looked startled. Suddenly his back was straight, the sparks weren’t jumping or changing size and he wasn’t limping in place.
„I’m going for a run.” And it was Hitoshis turn to be startled.
„For a run? Right now? Why?”
Denki nodded his head slightly „Sometimes my quirk produces too much electricity then I’m able to get rid off. When it’s any day of the week? No problem, I can get rid of it during training sessions, but when it’s the weekend and all I do is mostly charge someone’s phone? Yeah, that’s a problem. Electricity is energy, so I’m left with an absurd amount of energy which sometimes makes me unable to sleep, like right now. That’s why I’m going for a run.”
And Hitoshi stood there. Surely there must’ve been a better way to get rid of the energy than going on a run in the middle of the night?
„Well, anyway, don’t want to waste too much of your time” Denki clapped, now moving in place again as if he stopped he would explode. „I’m going to go now, bye Shinsou!” And just like that, he was gone.
And that’s how Hitoshi found himself researching what amount of electricity does everything in their dorms require. The fridge, microwave, kettle, tv. Everything.
When they met again, on an ungodly hour in the night, Hitoshi asked Denki to power up the kettle, then asked if he wanted to watch something, making sure that it was Denki who powered up the TV.
It became a new routine. When Denki would have too much electricity running within him and he knew Hitoshi was up (which was more often than not) he would knock at his door, and they would make food, play music quiet enough so no one would hear (that’s where “their song” came from “Oh, you have to listen to this one, Shinsou! It’s my favourite!”) and watch some stupid tv show.
Slowly their nightly routine started to creep into day. They started to hang out more after classes. Hitoshi would help Denki with things like chemistry, while Denki would help him with English or Physics (he was surprisingly good at physics, saying it was because it helped him understand his quirk a bit better).
With time he discovered a few things. First off, he realised that he could easily fall asleep when Denki was near him. If it was anyone else who was talking his ear off about their day, Hitoshi would get annoyed, but Denki? He could listen to him all night, until he fell asleep. It was surprisingly easy talking and being with him. The second thing? He was falling for the loud, too energetic for his own good blonde guy.
It was a normal night, they were sitting in the common room with some of their friends, playing truth or dare. They were just done laughing at Bakugou for completing yet another stupid dare (he apparently was allergic to the “truth” part of the game) when it was Hitoshi’s turn.
“Truth” for him seemed like the safest option, he didn’t particularly like the idea of prank-calling someone, thank you very much.
“Did you ever think of becoming a villain?” Suddenly the room was quiet. Too quiet for Hitoshi’s liking, every single pair of eyes on him. There were voices in the back of his head, laughing, whispering and ultimately screaming.
“Look, it's that freak!”
“Careful, don’t speak to him”
“You’ll never be a hero with a quirk like that, just give up already!”
He didn’t know how long he was silent for exactly, but he felt like he couldn’t move or speak even if he wanted to. All memories from middle school coming right back all because of a stupid question. The ringing in his ears was becoming louder and louder with every second. Only one sound able to get through it.
“Oh come on! How could he possibly be a villain with a killer smile like that? Please, one smile and the villains would surrender just so he could be near them to arrest them! I mean, it would work on me!”
Denki.
And there were laughs but not directed at him. The ringing in his ears stopped and so did the voices in the back of his head.
It was that sentence. That moment where Denki noticed Hitoshi was uncomfortable and took the attention away from him. A simple act of kindness that helped Hitoshi realize one really simple thing; he was undeniably in love with Denki Kaminari.
After his realization he noticed how weird Denki started acting. He seemed more jumpy and nervous for no apparent reason.
Until there was a reason.
It was during one of their nightly meetups. Hitoshi was at his desk finishing some essay for English while Denki sat at his bed, humming “Pretty Boy” for the fifth time in a row. Even with his back turned to him, Hitoshi knew Denki was nervous, and could almost feel the electricity running in the room. With a sigh, he turned to Denki.
“What’s wrong?” Denki jumped and looked at Hitoshi. He looked like a deer in headlights.
“Nothing’s wrong, why are you asking?” he sighed again and got up from the chair to sit next to Denki.
“Kaminari, I can feel that’s something wrong. So, don’t lie to me” there was a slight pause, where Denki took a deep breath with his eyes closed and head down and started mumbling something, for all Hitoshi knew that might have been an ancient spell. “Okay, cool, now use words please.”
And oh did he use words.
“I wanted to ask you for a long time, but I was scared because we’re like friends and I didn't want to scare you off ‘cause I genuinely like you Shinsou. It’s dumb and stupid, I know, but you don’t have to agree if you don’t want to, but if we could still stay friends after that it would mean the world to me.. Would you like to go on a date..with me?”
Hitoshi stared at him for a good minute, trying to process all the words that had just left Denki’s lips, before he smiled softly.
“I would love to go on a date with you?” it looked like Denki light up, like he suddenly got even brighter than before if that was even possible. The small desk lamp on Hitoshi’s desk flickered as their eyes interlocked.
“Really?” and all Hitoshi could do was nod before Denki hugged him so tightly it bordered on strangling.
Their first date was as much of a disaster as it was magical. They walked to a nearby cafe, talking non-stop about anything that they could think of. In the cafe Denki had accidentally spilled coffee on Hitoshi, and ultimately they were kicked out by the staff, because they were closing. That sent Denki into a spiral, apparently he wanted to take them to an arcade that closed at the same time as the cafe, so they couldn’t really go there now. Their biggest obstacle however presented itself on their walk back to the dorms when it started to rain. Easy to say, they were exhausted and drenched by the time they reached the building.
But none of that really mattered. They were laughing and holding each other up while walking up the stairs to Denki’s dorm.
„Sorry it went kinda shitty…” Denki was rubbing the back of his neck, laughing nervously the water from his hair dripping on the floor.
„Oh it was so terrible, honestly how could you not control the weather?” Their eyes locked for a minute before they started laughing again „It was amazing Denki, really” Hitoshi took a step closer and placed his hand on Denki’s face, wiping off a drop of water from his cheek. There was this look on Denki’s face, full of amusement and nervousness but also a mix of excitement.
“Really? I wouldn’t call running in the rain amazing”
“Normally I wouldn’t either but the company was good enough.”
“Yeah, well the company is absolutely freezing their ass off and about to catch a cold” there was a slight blush on Denki’s cheeks as he took a small step closer.
Hitoshi laughed softly “Then I think the company should go in to their room already, seeing as we’re standing right in front of it.” Denki cocked his head to the side, leaning into Hitoshis hand and started tapping his chin with finger.
“I think the company deserves a little thank you for the date you just called amazing” Hitoshi fixed his grip on Denki’s face, forcing him to look him the eyes.
“Yeah, I think so too” he said, before finally closing the distance between them.
Even if Hitoshi read the whole dictionary back to back, ten times he wouldn’t be able to find words good enough to describe the feeling of kissing Denki for the first time. He didn’t care about their soaked clothes clinging onto them, and potentially making a big puddle underneath them. Nothing really mattered except for the fact that he was here, kissing Denki and god how much he loved it. Denki seemed to not only be source of light but also of warmth, cause suddenly Hitoshi stopped shuddering from the cold of the rain. He felt like a character from a fairy tale under a spell, especially when Denki unintentionally let his electricity lose, slightly shocking them both.
When they separated, Denki was smiling from ear to ear, his smile bright enough to light up the whole world.
“That’s what you call amazing.” He fixed Hitoshis hair, which was probably even a bigger mess due to the electricity than it is normally, before laughing and saying “But I really have to go and change, I’m not planning on getting sick any time soon.” With that he opened the door to his room and stepped in, sending Hitoshi a quick wink before closing the door.
Denki Kaminari was a drug and Hitoshi was getting more and more addicted by the minute.
“…oshi? ‘Tooooshi” Denki’s voice woke him up from his slumber, pulling him into to the reality. Mhm? was all he responded with, in exchange being met with the warmest laugh on the planet. “Look who finally woke up. Could you grab me my charger? There should be one on the desk.” Hitoshi simply nodded and got up, walking to the desk, avoiding the obstacles on the ground. It was their last few days before graduation, so everyone was either already packed, like Hitoshi and Bakugo for example, or in the middle of it, like Denki, boxes and clothes scattered absolutely everywhere.
The desk was a mess, which was not a first time, but this time it was justified. Papers scattered around, mixed with photos, pens and cables. Once he finally got a hold on the specific charger he set to get back to bed as soon as possible before something caught him dead in the tracks. A letter, to be more specific.
It was a fairly normal letter, nothing crazy. No fancy cursive or anything. But the logo and the company name in the upper left corner was what caught his attention.
Agency of Liberty
„Denki? What’s that?” it seemed like the whole thing happened in slow motion. Denki looked up at him, his eyes analyzing what he was holding in his hands before jumping from the bed and snatching the paper from him.
“That’s nothing, just old trash. Man, I really need to finish packing…”
“Don’t change the subject and just tell what is that” he was hiding something, Hitoshi was sure of it. They talked about the agency before; it was the one where his parents met and Denki would kill to work there. So for him to start acting weird while holding a letter from said agency? Something must’ve happened.
“But you have to promise me not to get mad” he simply nodded, too concerned to try and say anything “They offered me a paid internship and maybe even a proper contract later on.”
Hitoshi was stunned, honest to god he didn’t suspect something like that. That was good new, the news that you share with your family and friends all screaming and happy. It’s not something you hide from everyone.
“Denki that’s amazing! Why were you hiding it and why on gods green earth would I be mad?” He took Denki’s face in his hands before kissing him softly. “When are you leaving? I’ll help with the rest of the packing and -“
“I’m not going”
If Hitoshi thought he was stunned before then he honestly had no idea what he was now.
“What do you mean you’re not going?”
Denki took a deep breath before speaking again as if trying to keep his cool. “I already sent them an email explaining that even though I’m really grateful for the opportunity I will not be going.” He looked Hitoshi in the eyes and sighed “That’s why I asked you not to get mad, I knew you wouldn’t like that…”
“I think I may be a little too slow to understand why you would reject the offer. That’s your dream and you’re throwing it away just like that?”
“I don’t want to leave you behind, ’Toshi. I want to stay here with you and we’ve got plans already!”
„Those plans come in second I’m comparison to something you’ve dreamt about since you were a kid!”
Denki was getting mad and nervous by the second, it was clear as day. They rarely fought, and Denki always took it badly. He would either get quiet and keep to himself or he would go all out, screaming and yelling at him until his lungs gave out. By now Hitoshi could call himself an expert when it came to Denki Kaminari and he knew this fight would end in a screaming match.
“‘Toshi I already made up my mind. It was a stupid dream anyway.” Denki scoffed, as if his childhood dreams meant close to nothing. “I know you don’t want to leave Japan and I get it, I love it here too, that’s why I’m not leaving you behind because of something I thought off when I was a kid.”
And that’s when it finally clicked. He was staying because of Hitoshi, he was throwing his dreams away because of him. Hitoshi felt sick, weight of being the reason why someone you love abandons their dreams crushing him like a stone.
He knew he would regret what he was about to do. He knew it would end in screams and tears, but in this moment it was the only logical thing to do and say.
“Denki I think we should break up.”
It was a chain of reactions that Hitoshi was able to predict so easily. Like when the air feels weird and it’s weirdly quiet and you know that a huge storm is coming.
At first there was silence. Denki just there quietly looking at him like at a wild animal. Then he started laughing, saying how they need to work on Hitoshi’s sense of humor cause this wasn’t funny and-
Silence again. Realisation slowly creeping in. Processing of what was just said and a simple question.
“You’re not joking?”
A nod, simple answer for a simple question.
Then thunders came.
“Are you fucking serious?! Honestly, what the fuck is wrong with you?!” Denki was dripping in rage, waving his hands about to further push his point “You’re insane! That’s it! Someone hit you one too many times and you’ve gone insane! Because tell me, what other reason is there for ending a relationship over a fucking email!”
It lasted seven minutes. Seven minutes of screams and insults and all Hitoshi did was stand there and take it all.
“Get out, I can’t even look at you right now.”
Their friends stood in front of the room when he walked out. They all stared him down before running in to the room he just left.
Denki ignored him for the remaining days at U.A. He didn’t look at him once. During graduation he stood as far away as he could, and making a point of leaving the room whenever Hitoshi entered during the party later in the night.
A week later Denki was in the states.
Their friends still talked to him, which was probably Denki’s doing. They all started their adult lives, moving out of their parents homes and into their new apartments with friends or partners.
His life was what anyone would call boring. He moved into a new apartment and adopted a cat. Every morning for two years after graduating he would go to work at a hero agency that specialises in underground work, before Sero reached out and offer that he could work at his and Todoroki’s agency.
He wouldn’t call his life shitty. No, it was good. He had a loving family, great friends and a good job with people he actually liked. His life was stable. And stable was good.
It just missed one thing to be great.