It's all in the Name

"Hey do you guys uh… do you wanna come to mine today?"

Kirishima and Sero exchanged a quick concerned glance before turning back towards Kaminari. It was strange to see their friend's goofy grin waver let alone him actually being nervous around them. They had never been to Kaminari's since he had insisted he lived too far away and didn't want to inconvenience anybody with travel fees so why the sudden change of heart?

"Yeah sure dude, sounds great!" Kirishima reassured and flashed him an encouraging smile, Sero quickly joining in to put him at ease.

Denki fidgeted and worried at his lip all the way home, which was significantly closer to UA than he'd made it seem, walking a few steps ahead of the others and brushing off any attempts at contact when he'd usually hang back and cling to Sero. The journey was bumpy and tense for all of them but still managed to end too soon. While Kaminari was fumbling with his keys, Kirishima and Sero silently tried to figure out what was making him so nervous but to no avail.

Inside, the house was a little cramped but felt homely and warm all the same. Random junk that almost certainly belonged to Denki cluttered tables and piled up in corners around the rooms. As he went to get snacks, the others decided to have a look around.

Hoping to see some embarrassing baby photos they ventured towards some framed pictures on the wall. In the centre frame there was a couple smiling, eyes crinkling at the sides from whatever they were laughing at. The ocean filled the background, stormy colours offsetting the deep blue of their hair. The woman had flowing, wavy hair cut into layers with darkened ends that created waves of black amongst the blue while the man's hair was slightly lighter and going white at the top which made a similar pattern. Otherwise they didn't resemble Kaminari at all except in the personality that showed through their body language.

"Are these your parents? You don't really look alike." Asked Sero as Kaminari came back into the room laden with food.

At the mention of his parents his face dropped and turned pale and a few of the packets fell out of his arms and onto the floor.

"Yeah those are my parents. I guess I'm the odd on out in my family haha…" He trailed off still looking uncomfortable.

"Dude, are you okay? If you're feeling stressed about us being here we can go, we don't mind."

"No! I just… I er wanted to tell you guys something but it's a little difficult." Sero and Kirishima looked at him with soft eyes, patiently waiting for him to go on. "Okay so those aren't my biological parents, I'm adopted. I've always been worried about not fitting into this family since I look different and my quirk's different, they have water quirks, so er that's why I dye my hair black." He paused, looking at them with baited breath.

After Kaminari showed no signs of continuing, Sero spoke up.

"Why were you so nervous to tell us that? There's nothing wrong or strange about it, it's just how your family is." Again Kaminari flinched, looking almost in pain, as his obvious anxiousness was mentioned. He looked down at his feet with his arms wrapped around his body.

"…Because my real parents were villains." Poorly hidden shock washed over the boys faces as they watched Kaminari struggling to continue. "I don't know what they did, b-but it was bad. They both had powerful electrical quirks so it could have been anything really but it was definitely terrible because they had to get away so fast that they left me behind. Apparently when someone found me I was so distressed I'd shocked myself stupid and when they asked my name I didn't know so I said the first thing that came into my head – my quirk. Eventually that kind of evolved into what I thought was a cool hero name based on my power. I know it sounds pretty stupid…but it's all I have from back then. I was so young I don't remember anything about my parents, hell I never remembered my own fucking name. I-I don't know who I am except that I've got villainous blood running through my veins. I understand if you guys don't wanna hang around me anymore, especially after Bakugou… but I had to tell you."

A shaky breath escaped his lips, his eyes squeezed tightly shut as he clasped one trembling hand in the other. Silence seeped through the darkness as adrenaline continued to pulse through Kaminari's body, taking the time to process the chaos of emotions made it seem like he was waiting for days for an answer. In reality, it took all of two seconds for Kirishima to barrel into him and wrap him in a crushing hug. Sero was close behind, pressing a comforting kiss onto his cheek before joining Kirishima in a tangle of limbs around him.

"You are not your parents. You're your own person Denki. We know that, you know that. We'd never think less of you for having terrible birth parents." Denki made a non-comital noise from the back of his throat as he continued to tremble violently in their arms.

"We're so happy you trust us enough to tell us that, it must have weighed down on you for a long time. I still love you. Kiri still loves you, although in a different way I hope." He got the slightest snort out of his boyfriend with that one. "If anything I feel closer to you knowing you were willing to risk everything to be honest – although we'd never judge you for anything."

Denki sniffed heavily, scrunching up his nose and finally looked up to meet their eyes as thick, glassy tears rolled down his cheeks.

"You really don't think I'm evil or gonna betray you one day? That's the normal reaction you know!"

"Reacting like that is completely stupid and unmanly." Replied Eijirou, squeezing his friends even tighter as his own tears started to spill.

"If and when you want to tell everyone else we'll be there to support you and I'm sure they'll react in the same way as us. And if they don't then they'll have me to deal with."

"And me." Agreed Kirishima. "And Blasty and Mina and All Might! I'd actually kinda like to see that fight it sounds manly."

"It sounds like the other side would get wiped out straight away." Laughed Sero as Kaminari leant into his shoulder. "It can also be payback for all the times I had to hear 'don't mind' after the sports festival."

"Sounds like you guys really want people to disown me now just so you can fight them. You're spending too much time with Bakugou." Kaminari's voice was muffled by their chests but the usual teasing tone was back which was a relief.

They spent the rest of the afternoon discussing possible plans of attack for anyone who dared to hurt anyone in 1-a, still wrapped up in each other's arms and filled with warmth. No one could have noticed there was anything wrong in the first place forgive faint tear stains across their cheeks and hidden tension that had dissipated from Denki's small frame.