Double Bluff

"I bet I'll get a higher score than you." Smirked Kirishima as they made their way out of the bar and towards UA for the first time.

"We're supposed to fit in and not get ourselves noticed too much you idiot. If we come first and second place they're gonna be watching us even more so just hang back and only get as many points as I tell you to, okay?" A smile played at the edges of Kaminari's lips as he continued his lecture on strategy and behaviour. The prospect of going to school for the first time with his best friend, even if it was strictly to spy on the pro heroes, was exciting and he would make sure they got in with minimal attention so he could live this fantasy.

"Dyou think I should change my hair or something? Does having it over my eyes look a little too villainous to you?"

"What else would you do with it? It's way too long to spike up or anything-"

"Challenge accepted."

"Kirishima no."

"Kirishima yes! Okay how about if I get a higher score than you I'll spike it up and if not you win and I'll keep it."

Kaminari just snorted. Sometimes he wondered how this carefree idiot ended up as a villain. He was way too cheerful and happy-go-lucky but they needed his strength and loyalty. Secretly he was glad for a friend like Kirishima, Shigaraki was just a massive tantrum waiting to happen and Kurogiri spent too much time babysitting him to be a decent father figure. He didn't particularly like All for One either so that left him to grow up with the books he could find and his imagination until Kirishima came along.

They were more like brothers than anything else. Kirishima was the only person Kaminari could fully depend on but a little nagging feeling at the back of his mind warned him that Kirishima's nice tendencies might be brought out slightly too much for a villain when they infiltrated UA. He ignored it of course. Kirishima fought alongside him and was the most trustworthy person he knew. He was the morally ambiguous character that made your head spin but you couldn't help but love. Right?

Kirishima ended up coming second in the exam and much to Kaminari's horror continued to spike his hair up every day since they joined.

After the police let them go and they were out of sight of their classmates it took a total of five seconds before Kaminari let rip. Sadistic chuckles bubbled up from his chest before his cackling filled the air, turning silent after a few minutes as he clutched his stomach and attempted to breathe.

"They thought…they oh my god… they thought a guy with an electricity quirk could kill me. Me! Kaminari fucking Denki who just discharged over a million volts right in front of them and they think a tiny little spark is gonna hurt me." His shoulders shook as spasms of laughter still rocked his body. The irony of it all was too much. These people were way weaker than he thought they'd be which made things way easier for them as a whole but he had been looking forward to a challenge. Looking up at Kirishima his face immediately dropped as he saw the sullen expression. "What's wrong with you?"

"We lost. Shigaraki's gonna be pissed with us since All Might wasn't there when he was supposed to be and then when he turned up he fucking destroyed Noumu! We're gonna get our asses kicked."

Kaminari sighed and placed a hand on Kirishima's shoulder. Neither Shigaraki nor Kirishima were the smartest of people, more impulsive than anything else. When they did make a plan they stuck to it and got rid of anyone in the way rather than adapting their own strategy. Shigaraki wouldn't be happy but this story line was common in a lot of action books he'd read, the villains come in with a seemingly flawless plan only to be stopped by the hero. This was their introduction not their climax.

"They knew it wasn't going to plan as soon as All Might didn't show up. That's why Kurogiri didn't warp us nearer to Eraser Head and Noumu instead giving us a chance to get rid of some classmates and make it seem like an accident while fighting with those idiots. That's why he warped me to a place with another electricity villain so we had someone to blame. He's the brains remember, Shigaraki's just the leader because he has a stronger motive and quirk. And you didn't seem to be thinking too much about the plan when you rushed in with that exploding bastard by the way."

"I was getting in the way of Thirteen to protect Kurogiri is that so bad? Anyway, about Bakugou… I really think he could be one of us you know."

"Yeah I hacked the radios in the battle class and he was screaming Shigaraki level threats at that One for All kid. We should probably gather more info before we tell anyone though. After all if he was like us wouldn't he be hiding his villainous characteristics not showcasing them like a psycho?"

Brow furrowed, Kirishima leant on his hand for support and actually looks deep in thought for once.

"…So you think he's not actually like that then?"

"He's dangerous alright but he seems pretty dead-set on being a hero. Kinda like the opposite of you actually, terrible personality but heroic aspirations." Kaminari mused.

"Opposites attract right? I'll see what I can find out." Kirishima wiggled his eyebrows but Kaminari looked away, trying to hide the doubt that Bakugou would even tolerate the UA version of Kirishima, let alone what he was really like.

"Katsukiiii. Wanna hang out today?" Kirishima's sing-song voice filled the air and attracted Kaminari's attention, before Bakugou could even curse he decided to fan the flames.

"Eh? Katsuki? That's your first name? It's so cute! Little kitty Katsuki." Bakugou's snarling face turned sharply to the right as he bared his teeth.

"Fuck off Drooly! What kind of fucking idiot calls a kid electricity lighting? Sort out your own dumb fucking name, bastard." He sneered.

Underneath the playful grin, Kaminari's jaw noticeably tightened as he took in a sharp breath through his nose.

"Hey hey hey they're both wonderful names, very fitting of future heroes! Just calm down, okay?" Kirishima interrupted placing a hardened hand on Kaminari's shoulder and hurriedly pushing him towards the door. "I just remembered we have to do something! Er... bye Bakugou haha."

"What the fuck did he just say?" Kaminari's voice was shaky and almost hysterical through his hushed whisper, barely managing to hold his character while Kirishima drags him out of the room and down the corridor.

As soon as they're out of sight of both the classroom and any nearby security cameras, Kaminari zaps Kirishima with electricity sending him flying into the wall as he continues to storm off.

"Wait! You can't just leave!" He called, hurriedly getting off the floor and chasing after the raging villain. "This isn't like you, remember?"

"Everyone has bad days, shitface." Kaminari had to stop at this point to attempt to regulate his erratic breathing before this really got out of hand. "He insulted my name. Didn't you fucking hear that?"

"…Well yeah but he doesn't know the reason behind it and you kinda started it. What dyou expect from him Kami! It's a ridiculously obvious name that you made up when you were a kid – I'm surprised you haven't changed it by now to be honest–"

"It is the only thing I have from back then of course I'm gonna keep it YOU FUCKING IGNORANT BASTARD!" He turned round to face Kirishima emotion filled rage swirling through his golden eyes. "It was gonna be my hero name you know? Before they found me. Before they took me in, gave me food, shelter… Pretty heroic right? You fucking try knowing nothing about who you are! Nothing. Not even your own fucking name. Then you can tell me I'm overreacting."

"You ARE overreacting! No one knows that about you here! No one knows you're a fucking orphan. Quirk like names can run in families just like the quirks they represent it's not that hard to believe your last name is Kaminari. Just fucking calm down would you? He's fucking villainous I told you! What did you expect?"

After a final fierce glare at Kirishima, Kaminari began to walk off again, not having the control to carry on the conversation without losing it.

"Yeah you fucking go for it mate. Take his side. Fucking latch onto the guy with the worst aspects of a villain but who also wants to be a hero and see where that gets you. Go back to your exploding boyfriend and don't come running back to me when it turns out he actually wants to carry out those threats on people like us. You absolute piece of shit."

Was he jealous of Bakugou? Sure, they had been spending a lot of time together recently but that was mainly in attempts to get more information and hopefully gain them another ally and Kaminari knew that… right? They had to be more separate at UA unless someone caught them doing something suspicious together. Still, he spent time with Kaminari as much as he could since no one would think them becoming friends here would be strange, so what was the problem?

The familiar crackling of static filling the air and tugging at the ends of his spiked mane pulled Kirishima out of his thoughts as he stared at the boy standing at the end of the corridor with his back to him.

"If I see you again today I'm gonna fucking kill you."

That was it. No anger, no venom just a plain statement and he knew it wasn't a lie either. Sighing he headed back to the classroom to try and hold a conversation with Bakugou once more. If he found out some more useful information about Katsuki, Kaminari would have to calm down right? Maybe he'd be more confident in that if he actually knew what the problem was…

As Dabi's fake stormed into the room to cause havoc, the boys glanced at each other knowing the villains' mission must almost be complete. He continued to taunt Blood King in a lazy drawl as the students looked on in frozen horror.

"…Does that mean Bakugou was…"

Kirishima's anger was hardly contained behind sharp bared teeth and involuntarily hardened fists. While the others were distracted he noticed Kaminari pretending to scratch his ear to cover up his communication through the ear piece hidden in there.

A slight twitch of his head showed that the villains had successfully captured Bakugou. They had won this round. So why did he feel so lost?

It's been a few slow days with them not being allowed to go home in case Bakugou escaped and revealed their true identities and the hospital is boring. Why did they have to come here anyway? Kaminari just wanted to sit down somewhere and read in peace, it took a lot of energy and focus to coordinate an attack while locked in a room doing make up lessons. Kirishima had been agitated and restless since the training camp too, maybe they both needed a break.

"Then this time around, let's save him…"

Kirishima's determined statement brought him back into the room. What was he doing? They weren't allowed to do anything as heroes in training and he'd be ruining his own plan as a villain. He'd been going on and on about how great and manly Bakugou was for months and described him in great detail to Shigaraki so they would kidnap him and let him join the alliance. This was what he'd wanted. Right?

"…If I don't do something about it here, I won't be able to call myself a hero or a man!" Kirishima yelled, frustration shaking his body and screwing up his face.

He'd never shown this much passion, this much emotion, this much caring in front of the others and he wasn't that good of an actor. He was actually upset. Why was he actually upset? Sure, Bakugou might get roughed up a bit in 'persuasion' but they had both gone through worse at the hands of the villains and been fine afterwards. Kaminari couldn't keep the genuine panic off his features as he frantically shushed Kirishima, begging him to stop with his eyes.

"Please, calm down, Kirishima. Your determination is good and all, but this time…" You'll betray us! Shigaraki isn't going to count ruining a plan you begged him to do as good acting to blend in with the other students. In fact, no one else is suggesting this except Todoroki and he isn't into it as much as you. You're going against the others for the wrong reasons! Just shut up and forget about this. Why dyou care about him so much? What the fuck is going through your head.

"Iida's right! Everybody's right! But even still…"

He couldn't listen to anymore. It wasn't going in, he couldn't process it. He had pretty much known the Bakugou plan would fail anyway but not like this. Was Kirishima switching sides?

How bad did you have to be for the most loyal person you know to abandon you?

They stood back to back. Not being able to even look each other in the eye anymore.

"You can't rat me out because they'll find out about you too."

"I know. Believe me, I know."

"So what will you do now?"

"Maybe if we just explained everything they'd understand. We were just found by the wrong people when we were kids, they can't blame us, right?"

"They can and will. We'll get expelled at least and your precious Bakugou will hate you."

"…I'm gonna be a hero Denki."

"It's Kaminari to you." Everything about Kirishima and who he was turning into sat wrong in his stomach. If only he could find something to convince him to stay. "What about Shigaraki? He's not gonna magically forget about you, you know. In fact he might mention you to the heroes when the big day comes and he doesn't need us here anymore."

"I've cut off all contact. Destroyed everything I have from them that they could use to communicate. Plus they can't get in here so I'll be safe for now."

"And when they do come? Or if he asks me to get rid of you?"

"Then I'll fight with everyone else. Heroes always win in the long run. You could still be one, you know?" The trace of hope in his voice pulled at Kaminari's heartstrings in all the wrong ways, a twinge of regret spiking through his chest.

"No. I can't. We've both done horrible things and that'll never change. I'm staying loyal like you were fucking supposed to and we're gonna win and reform society."

"Right… But when we fight… I'm gonna avoid you, okay? I don't want to hurt you more than I already have…"

Kaminari took a deep breath then sighed.

"I won't hurt you. You're still like a brother to me."

With those empty words hanging in the air, much tamer than anyone who knew Kaminari as a villain would expect, he walked away. Leaving his best friend, the traitor, behind for good. Only Kirishima could pull off being a traitor to both sides while still radiating happiness and kindness. He was the twist in the story, the double bluff who changed for the better. The hero with a tragic backstory. While Kaminari was left in the tragedy, no way out and he wasn't looking for one. After all he was the traitor, the lovable idiot turned bad, and how could he deserve anything more?