It was the final day of exams before summer break and Jirou Kyouka couldn't be more excited. Jirou was a first year student at UA, the best college prep school in the area, and the first term of the year had been stressful. Unlike most schools that based their acceptance by on entrances exams alone, UA based its school system on a student's potential for success through abstract reasoning tests, physical exams, and personal interviews. The coursework and midterms were even worse than she could have expected so summer break was more than well deserved.

There were plenty of things to look forward to but Jirou stopped in her tracks when a certain blond popped into her head. It didn't really matter to her what she was doing as long as he was by her side. Unfortunately, that wouldn't be the case this summer.

"Hey Kyouka, wait up!" Jirou barely heard over the lyrics of the song playing and managed to turn around just in time to see the same blond she was thinking of, Kaminari Denki, catch up with her. "Gosh, how loud is the music on your headphones? I've being calling out to you for the last block!" Kaminari exclaimed, "I thought you were ignoring me there for a second."

"Well, you could have caught up to me sooner if you could run faster," Jirou said as she took off her headphones. "Besides, you were late," She couldn't stop the smirk from forming on her face when she saw how red in the face Kaminari was from the short-lived run. It didn't help that he was pouting from being left behind. She would never say it out loud but Kaminari definitely had his cute moments.

After matching his pace with hers, he finally replied, "It was five minutes. It's not my fault I couldn't find any socks!"

"Right, considering that you do your own laundry then whose fault is it exactly?"

Kaminari opened and closed his mouth like a fish gasping for water before giving up with a sigh. "Ah whatever, I caught up to you now and that's all that matters. Anyways, I'd rather spend more time by your side than chasing after you every morning."

Jirou felt her heart skip a beat. They said stuff like this to each other all the time since they practically came out the womb as friends. Their parents had been best friends for years before they found out that they were looking for homes in the same area to start their families. The couples ended up as neighbors and that was that. Jirou can't remember a single significant moment without her partner in crime.

"I guess I've been out of it this morning. There's something I need to tell you, Denki."

"Is it about summer break? We haven't made any plans yet, but we can talk with everyone about that after class. Some of the guys thought it would be a good idea to take a trip to the beach."

"I can't go," Jirou quickly said, trying to face the problem head on for once.

"Oh yeah, you don't like the beach," Kaminari was quick to respond.

"That's not why. It's something-"

"Well, we could always do something else and then join them in the evening for the bonfire?" Kaminari said before Jirou could finish.

"Huh, wait a minute. Are you saying that you're willing to give up your chance of peeping on chicks in swimsuits to spend some time with me?"

"I'm not a pervert! Besides, it's been a while since we've had a chance to just do something together outside of the regular school stuff." Jirou couldn't help but notice Kaminari staring off in the other direction while he quickened his pace. She must have been imagining things.

"I think we might be running late. Last one in the classroom has to buy snacks after school!" yelled Kaminari as he sprinted off.

"We have 20 minutes!" Jirou said as she glanced at the time. Not being one to lose out to her childhood friend, Jirou chased after the boy. "Jeez, wait up!"

It didn't take long for the duo to get to school since they were lucky enough to live within walking distance, "I told you.. we had… time.." Jirou gasped for air as she pointed at the clock. She barely managed to catch up to Kaminari when he had accidentally bumped into some senior students.

"Yeah… but I still won!" Kaminari tried to boast.

As they settled down in their seats, it was time for class before she knew it. The rest of the morning seemed to drag on forever as each new exam question was more difficult than the last. By the time for lunch rolled around, everyone was more than ready to relax for a bit.

The halls were fairly quiet until everyone bought their lunch and sat in their typically groups, Jirou with the rest of what Kirishima had proclaimed the Bakusquad.

Jirou watched as Kaminari eagerly dug into his food, only to complain shortly after. "Why do I always get the bad lunches?"

"The food here is never bad," Jirou took a spoonful of whatever Kaminari had gotten. It tasted normal enough, but the sauce was probably too sweet to Kaminari's liking. "You just always pick based off the pictures and forget that you're such a picky eater." She said while switching plates with him.

"Hey Kaminari, what are you going to do the day that Jirou isn't with you?" Mina asked, failing to hide her smirk. "It seems like you'd starve to death if she wasn't around to baby you."

Jirou knew what Mina was doing, but didn't want to make a scene in front of the boys. Mina always liked to bring up that Kaminari and Jirou acted too close to just be friends. Mina wasn't entirely wrong, but Jirou was't going to confess her feelings for Kaminari in front of everyone that easily.

"What are you talking about? I'll always be with Kyouka," Kaminari wrapped an arm around Jirou's shoulders like he had done so many times before and rubbed his cheeks against her own.

Mina giggled as the rest of the group only sighed at the overly affectionate duo. "So then you're not worried about Jirou dating someone else?" A chill ran up Jirou's back as Kaminari's grip tightened around her.

Before Kaminari could respond, Jirou shoved his hands off of her. "Get off of me already. You still stink from this morning's run," she complained.

"Oh, I forgot about that!" Kaminari chuckled. The conversation quickly sidetracked, as Jirou had hoped, towards the last set of exams that after noon. Jirou tried not to give a second thought to what Mina said and focused on her exams. Unfortunately, her thoughts kept going back to questioning "what if."

What if he does like me?

What if we end up dating?

What if we break up but we're still in the same class?

What if… we don't break up and things stay the same, but only better?

Once exams were over, Jirou decided on something spontaneous. It could have been Mina's pushiness that got to her, or the way Kaminari had been acting that day, but this was it. She needed to tell Kaminari how she felt.

"Can we just stay as friends?" Jirou didn't need super powers to know that the pounding in her ear was coming from the sound of her heart breaking. What else did she expect? There they stood behind the school's gym where they would eat mock other people's confessions. She thought that it was going to be different for her but she was completely, utterly wrong.

"Yeah, we'll always be friends," she forcefully said, as she noticed how Kaminari instantly looked relieved. Kaminari Denki was a bigger idiot than she could have ever imagined.

"Great! I was scared there for a second. I thought I was going to lose my best friend," Kaminari said, as he started to scratch the back of head. "Besides, it would be kind of weird if we started dating, right?"

"Totally weird," Jirou replied as she stared back at the ground. She wasn't sure how much longer she was going to be able to keep up this facade as tears started to form in her eyes.

"See! It's not like we'd make a good couple anyways. You're probably better off with some artsy musician? Like the quiet type with crazy hair and-"

"And someone with more brains than you, right? Ha!" He had gone too far. "I was probably over thinking all of this," Jirou grimaced as she turned her back to him. It was one thing to reject her, but telling her what type of person best suited her was the last straw. "I'm going to run an errand so I'll be leaving first."

"Didn't you want to go to that café? I'll go with-"

"Just forget it!" Jirou took a deep breath to try and steady her voice. "Please Denki… Forget today ever happened."

"Wait, Kyouka!" Kaminari yelled out as Jirou turned around the corner of the gym and sprinted towards the front gates. She wouldn't let him see her tears even if it meant running all the way home. The worst part of it all was that she knew he wouldn't follow her. This would be the one time that he wouldn't chase after her.

With that, Jirou finally felt the tears run down her face. All she could do now was bite down on her tongue to try and feel something other than the pain in her chest swallowing her whole.