Kaminari felt his heart trying to leap out of his throat. The room was dark, but the light from the television highlighted Kyoka's face. Momo was sitting on her other side and they were whispering together about the movie that played on screen.
Most of the class had gathered together to watch a movie, but Kaminari couldn't help feeling like it was just him and Kyoka. Well, him, Kyoka, and Momo. The three of them were on the same couch with Kyoka sitting in the middle. He was hyper aware of the space between them, and of the space between Kyoka and Momo, which was considerably smaller.
All he wanted was to hold her hand. It was on the couch right beside him, but working up the courage to actually place his hand over hers was... not as easy as he'd anticipated when he came up with the idea. And he'd thought asking her out had been the hardest thing he'd ever done, but he was pretty sure it was this.
Momo caught his staring and gave him a questioning look, which in turn made Kyoka look at him. "Is something wrong, Denki?"
His breath caught in his throat. They both called him by his first name since they'd started dating, but he still wasn't used to it. He turned hastily back toward the television and squeaked out a "Nothing!" He was too loud and a few people shushed him, making him more nervous and embarrassed than he already was. He stayed stiffly facing forward in his seat until the two girls looked away again. It was only then that he found himself letting out a relieved breath.
It was never this hard with Momo. She'd taken his hand on her own the few times they went out together, smiling brightly as she lead him somewhere or just because Kyoka had taken her hand and she wanted to make sure he was included. Momo had this easy going air about her. Even if Kaminari did the wrong thing, she would talk to him gently and correct his behavior.
Kyoka wasn't like that. She got upset easily, whether that was because he did something stupid or she was just embarrassed. She liked to tease him and could be a little harsh sometimes, but he didn't mind it. He liked it, in fact. Having a girl willing to tease him, that wasn't willing to put up with him being an idiot. He didn't want to stumble over himself all the time and it was nice that Kyoka would call him out, but still liked him.
They'd never held hands though. Kyoka held Momo's hands all the time. Sometimes Momo was the one to take Kyoka's hand and smile at her like it was all she ever wanted in the world, but sometimes it would be Kyoka, red faced and shy, slipping her hand into Momo's grasp. His girlfriends were literally the cutest two people in class and he couldn't be happier than when he saw them holding hands. He wanted that, too. He wanted to hold Kyoka's hand and by now he was pretty sure that he would have to be the one to do it. It just so happened that that was easier said than done.
Kaminari closed his eyes and took a deep breath to calm himself down. He imagined Momo cheering him on, looking excited at the idea of her partners holding hands, and the image helped immensely. He opened his eyes and looked next to him to see if anything had changed.
It hadn't. Kyoka's hand was still there, perfectly still and relaxed as she watched the screen. Kaminari inched his hand closer slowly. He tried to ignore the thumping of his heartbeat. This was his girlfriend, the worst thing that would happen was that she would draw her hand back. No big deal.
Except it was a big deal. It was a huge deal! The last thing he wanted was for her to draw away from him. Would that mean that she didn't want to hold his hand? Maybe she didn't like holding hands at all? No, that couldn't be right. She held Momo's hand all the time. So it would just be him. He didn't want to find out that his girlfriend didn't want to hold his hand. Would that mean she didn't like him as much as...
No, he couldn't think that. This was stupid. He should just do it. He should do it. Momo had cheered him on earlier, right? He could do this! He reached for her hand...
...only to have it swiftly draw away from him.
Kaminari tried not to panic as he saw her holding both her hands in front of her face as she gasped. In fact, there were similar sound all around him. Something surprising must have happened in the movie. He hadn't paid any attention to the movie since the opening credits. He didn't even know if they were watching a thriller or an action movie or what.
He let out a deep sigh and slumped against the back of the couch. Why the hell was he letting this take so much energy out of him? If he was really cool, he'd just do it. Maybe with a cool catchphrase or something to go with it. But if he did that, she'd just laugh at him. Kyoka usually laughed at his attempts to be cool, proving that he was nowhere near as cool as he thought he was.
Well, Momo thought he was cool, he was pretty sure, but that wasn't really the same thing. Momo was surprisingly easy to impress. Or maybe she was just altogether too nice to be unimpressed when someone put in so much effort? That... that was a little bit of a depressing thought.
Then he felt a very soft, very light touch to the back of his hand. He looked down and the hand jumped away from his for just a moment before hesitantly settling back down on top of his. His eye moved up to Kyoka's face, staring at the screen with a determined look, lightly blushing, and using all of her willpower to pretend she wasn't watching him. Warmth bloomed inside him, spreading from his fingertips, through his cheeks, and all throughout the rest of his body. He was sure that he was blushing just as much, maybe more, than she was. He moved his hand slightly so that he could thread their fingers together, which solved the problem of him blushing more than her. as he saw the red spread even further on her face.
Kaminari grinned at her, then leaned over a bit to rest his head on her shoulder. He wondered if he should say something. "Thank you" or maybe "I like you too" but in the end he opted to remain silent. He was no good at impressing Kyoka with words anyway and he didn't want to ruin the moment.
Momo wrapped an arm around Kyoka's shoulder and her fingertips brushed his hair. He looked up to see her smiling widely at him, that bright encouraging smile he imagined she would use to cheer him on. He returned the grin.
Then an idea struck him. He took his hand from Kyoka's grasp, causing her too look at him with surprise, but he quickly replaced it his other hand. He let one hand drape over the back of the couch and reached for Momo's hand before she retreated. She looked entirely touched by the action as they held hands behind the back of the couch, Kyoka resting between them, their other hands held tightly in her grip. Maybe it looked silly, maybe it was silly, but it was the best thing Kaminari could possibly imagine doing.