A/N: Hi, everyone! Sorry this took so long. I hope everyone had an amazing Thanksgiving (if you celebrated it where you live) and a great week overall. This chapter isn't too eventful, but it does end on a cliffhanger, so next chapter will be plenty exciting. Not too proud of this one, but anyway, enjoy! And, also, thanks again to my beta reader(s). You all know who you are.
Kyouka awoke to the blaring sound of her alarm.
She refused to open her eyes, searching around for the snooze button on top of the little device with the palm of her hand. She had to reach over another body to get it.
Oh, yeah—that was right. Denki was here, too, clinging on to her leg with his foot with all his might.
Kyouka snuggled up into his back. Her cheeks felt warm, and he was warm, and she liked how warm he was, and she didn't want to get up. She wanted to lie there with her arms wrapped around him all day.
But alas, the realization hit her that it was Friday, and she had to get ready for school. She glanced at her alarm clock on the nightstand above her bed. 8:15 a.m.
Kyouka widened her eyes.
"Kaminari!" She jumped out of bed and over to the bathroom and fumbled through in the drawer for her toothpaste. "Kaminari," she hissed, "we're gonna be late!"
Denki made an incoherent sound in his sleep. But, upon opening his eyes and checking the clock, dawning on the weight of Kyouka's words, he threw the blankets off of him and hopped out of bed.
"Shit, shit, shit!" Denki grabbed his backpack. "I can't be here. I gotta get back to my room."
"Go!" Kyouka implored with her toothbrush in her mouth. "Go, go!"
She pushed Denki out the door, and she assumed, or at least hoped, he would be safe enough to go downstairs from the girls wing, as everyone had probably left for homeroom already. She threw her uniform on in record time.
Kyouka rushed into the classroom a minute before the bell rang, and Denki floored it through that door just a few seconds later.
Sero glanced at the two of them, frazzled with knotted hair. Kyouka pulled out her brush and began taming her locks in class. "Did you both happen to wake up late?" he asked, scratching his head.
Denki was chipper, letting out a little laugh. "Yup. Jirou and I managed to meet up in the common room with some super sweet timing."
Kyouka rolled her eyes, placing her chin in the palm of her hand. "Does it even really matter? We're both here now, aren't we?"
Sero tilted his head. "I guess."
Class was a fair bit awkward. Denki and Kyouka kept looking at each other, and then looking away. Both had a clear memory of last night—the cuddling and the closeness and the sleeping together—but neither spoke a word about it. During last period, Kirishima asked Kyouka if she knew who'd given her those chocolates yet, and she awkwardly had to say she had no idea, Denki sitting in the seat right across from her. Nobody uttered a sentence for at least a minute after that.
Kyouka hated this awkward tension. She missed the irreplaceable memories she'd made with Denki—the ones that left her heart feeling like a butterfly taking off into the sky. She wanted more of those.
As soon as class got out, Kyouka spent the afternoon training and finishing up some homework. She swore this history essay was sucking the life out of her. And then, that night, after everyone else had gone to bed, Denki took the elevator up to her room, busting the door open as usual.
"Hi," she said, kicking her legs off the end of her bed.
"Hi," he replied back.
"I'm beat. I think I'm gonna go to bed early tonight, if that's okay with you." She walked into the bathroom without a second thought and began brushing her teeth.
"That's chill. I'll probably be awake pretty late, since, you know, I slept so well last night." He rubbed the back of his neck.
"O-Oh. Uh, yeah."
Denki reached for his backpack. "I'm gonna work on some homework for now, so I'll be busy."
Kyouka spit out her toothpaste. She walked back out into the open room and nodded, looking him in the eye for the first time all night. "Alright. I'm here for you, you know, if you need help."
Denki's cheeks flushed. "Uh, yeah. Thanks a lot."
Denki worked for an hour while Kyouka played on her phone. She'd help him out with a problem or two, and for the last ten minutes, she shut her phone off and spun around toward her Deep Dope poster and hesitantly closed her eyes.
"Ha! I'm done!" Denki shot his hands up in the air. "Alright, I can go to bed now." He turned toward Kyouka, his lips parting and his eyebrows furrowing. "Jirou?"
"I'm awake."
It was all of a sudden that electricity flowed through him—Denki had come up with an idea.
He stood up.
There was a moment of uncertainty, a moment he held his breath, but in his pajamas, he lay on top of the covers, wrapping his hands around Kyouka's waist.
"Is this okay?" he asked, voice muffled by her hair.
He felt the slight shake of her head as she nodded.
"Jirou, I don't want things to be awkward between us. Can we make this c-cuddling thing something normal?"
Kyouka flipped around, smiled. "Sure," she said. "I'd love that."
Both Denki and Kyouka let out the most relieved sigh.
The two of them were looking into each other's eyes. Denki's lips were strangely enticing.
She shook her head and brought him close. Resting her head right in the crook of his collarbone, she couldn't help but smell the ocean.
She hadn't felt as comfortable all day as she did here with him, not even on the couch in the common area wrapped in a hot, fuzzy blanket.
She rubbed her nails against his back. He placed his arm around her shoulder and the other around her neck, winding it up toward the back of her head. Denki's mind felt less like a warzone and more like an enchanted, tangled jungle.
Kyouka had this overwhelming urge to give his neck a little peck, but she ignored it. She just continued rubbing his back instead.
Her heart had that airy feeling again. A small smile played at her lips.
The two of them were able to doze off cozily, bodies warm to the touch.
"Hey, guys! You know what we should do for Valentine's Day weekend?" Ashido's eyes glimmered, her hair standing up at the ends. "We should go to the beach!"
Kirishima's face fell. He sighed, his dinner falling off of his fork. "Dude. I know it's a Saturday, but it's freaking seven degrees out."
Kyouka nodded. "And, plus, it's already dusk. By the time we get to Dagobah the temperature could dip below six."
Denki walked over and stood next to Ashido. "I think it'd be kind of fun." He and Ashido gave each other a fist bump, and Kyouka narrowed her eyes. "What's life without a little risk?"
"Well, alright, if you two think it's such a good idea," Kyouka began, "go ahead and round everyone up and see what they say."
"Okay." Ashido turned toward the common room couches. "Hey, everyone? Anyone wanna go to the beach tonight?"
"Huh?" Bakugou spat. "Are you out of your mind?"
"I've got to agree," Iida said, fogging up his glasses. He took them off and wiped them with his shirt. "Someone is bound to get frostbite if we don't wear the right gear."
"Well, wear the right gear then!" Ashido was on the counterattack. "A puffy jacket and a hat and some gloves and you'll be alright."
Sero nodded. "I think it would be kind of cool. It'd probably be one of those forever memories, you know?"
"I'd love to make forever memories," Satou intervened.
"Me too!" Uraraka's cheeks glowed red.
Iida sighed. "Fine. Since everyone seems to want to go, I'll tag along, just to make sure you all are safe. But don't forget to bring your jackets and hats, and no swimming, please. Oh, and gloves, too."
Iida asked Aizawa if the class was allowed to go to the beach, and he said that as long as they stuck together, it was a yes.
"Damn. I'm glad today isn't too cold. You guys are insane."
Denki popped up next to Kyouka, throwing her trench coat on with ease. "Nah," he said, sliding his arms into his own sleeves, "we've totally got the right idea going."
Kyouka punched his arm. "Shut it, Sparky. We all know you're wild."
A few students went up to their rooms to grab their essential belongings, as did Kyouka and Denki moments after throwing on their jackets.
The group was out the door in a flash.
"Mina. I told you it would be cold."
Kyouka was looking at Ashido with fallen eyelids as she shivered in her bulky fleece, dumb enough not to wear an actual jacket. She shook her head in utter disappointment. "I'm sorry!" Ashido whined. "But it's okay, because this view out into the ocean is worth it."
Kyouka turned toward the tide. There was the moon, little light patches hanging right over the water, casting its glow across the sea.
If she could, she'd hug the moon right here and now.
Kyouka nodded. "It's pretty, but I'm sure you'd enjoy it more if you weren't freezing your ass off."
Ashido sighed. "You got me there."
The crackle of flames caught their attention. Ashido smiled wide. "Hey, Todoroki lit a fire!"
Ashido skipped like a bunny over to the side of the beach the rest of the class was already hanging out on. Kyouka walked slowly up behind her, hands stuffed in her pockets.
"Oh, guys, you know what we should play?" Ashido shoved her hands in the air, throwing her butt down on a little log Yaoyorozu had created. "Would You Rather!"
The class agreed in unison, most of them lacking much else to do. Kyouka sat down next to Denki.
She looked up at him, her lips just inches from his. "It's warm now, huh?"
Denki smiled, nodded. "Yeah."
Bakugou was still a hindrance, though, sitting on Denki's left. When the Would You Rather question got around to him, his words made Denki jump in his seat.
"Hm… Sero. If your life depended on winning, would you rather fight Chargebolt, who for his own goddamn sake can't stop frying his brain, or me? I mean, I think I know what the answer would be, if you'd wanna survive, I mean, but just wondering."
Bakugou sat there smug, ticking his fingers against his arm.
The rest of the class just stared at him.
Sero took a moment to respond. "Well, if you really want to know, Denki, but that's a strange question to ask, man."
"Really freaking strange," Denki added, rolling his eyes. He'd mumbled so quietly only those near him could even remotely make out what he said.
"Eh?" Bakugou scoffed. "What was that, Chargebolt? Don't test me."
Silence.
"And, Duck Tape, my question is not strange."
Kyouka poked her head out in front of Denki so that Bakugou could see her clearly. "It's a little rude and insulting."
Sero nodded.
"Fine. Whatever." Bakugou stood up and left the circle. "Wouldn't have changed a thing if I'd replaced Chargebolt with anyone else, anyway," he huffed under his breath.
"Okay." Yaoyorozu clapped her hands. "Well, that wraps that up. Everyone pay no mind. Busy yourselves with something else."
Denki and a few other students stood up from the logs, most of them finding a sandy spot to chill out, but Denki booked it a bit further down the beach.
Kyouka followed after him. "Kaminari!" she called. "Kaminari, wait up!"
Denki slowed down.
"Kaminari." Kyouka placed her hands on her knees. "Kaminari, stop."
He turned. His eyes were watery. "Why does he always pull that shit? I don't get it."
"Hey." Kyouka sat down on the sand, patting the spot next to her. Denki popped a squat, nearly crushing her fingers in the process.
She looked him in the eyes. "Bakugou's a fool. He's clearly got this… grudge against you, for some reason." Her hands gravitated toward the fine sand grains, searching for a shell. "Kaminari, you are not weak, okay? I wouldn't willingly take you on if my life depended on it, if that makes you feel any better. You wouldn't be the one I'd pick."
"But I'd totally be an option, and don't even try to deny that."
Kyouka went silent for a moment, and then picked up right where she left off. "Kaminari, you know what that means? You've just got work to do. Do you have any idea how strong your Quirk is?" Her fingers grazed something hard, and out of the ground, she pulled a white, speckled spiral shell. It was empty. "Awesome! I found one! Anyway, uh, yeah, your Quirk packs a hell of a lot of power, and I mean a lot. You just gotta learn to control it."
She shoved the shell in front of his face. "Here. For you."
He put his hands out, and she dropped her prized possession into his palms.
"Oh, woah!" Denki's eyes lit up, their glassy coat dissipating with the wind. "It's so pretty and shiny!"
"Right? That's what I thought."
He smiled at her. "Thanks, Jirou." She felt all bubbly and warm when he smiled.
She reached out and rubbed his back. "In a minute, we'll go back to the beach, and you won't worry about Bakugou, because I'll be by your side. But for now, let's just admire the view."
The pair turned toward the ocean.
Waves rolled over one another, foaming up at the shore. Deep in the distance, a small island rested near the coastline, trees springing up from its ground. Kyouka wondered what kind of life forms she'd find over there, and if their stories were less complicated than hers, or Denki's. They probably had it a lot easier. Simpler.
The moon sunk low over the water. The sky was a fathomless blue, the black not yet colliding with the abyss, little specks of light humans called stars twinkling above like gleaming gemstones in an abandoned mineshaft. Clouds were not out to play today, the night clear.
Kyouka wondered if Denki believed in extraterrestrials.
This was one of those moments her mind was racing, and she wished she was a simpler being whose life was less complex. She wanted to pull out her phone and take a selfie, but that would be the complete opposite of simplistic, so she decided she'd keep it hidden away in her coat pocket.
"Kaminari," she said.
"What's up?"
"Wanna lay down on the sand?"
Denki nodded, reclining his head back. Kyouka did the same.
Their fingers touched. Her heart skipped a beat, and this time, she didn't shy away—she held his hand with full force.
She squeezed him tightly. Denki squeezed back.
The sky above them grew darker. Kyouka rested her other hand on her stomach. "I'm in love with this view."
"Me too," Denki started. "Jirou, the universe is so large. And we're so small."
Kyouka closed her eyes, the breeze brushing by her body. "Actually, yeah, I feel the same way. We're tiny, yet so elaborate at the same time. It's wild."
Denki nodded, sitting up a little and peering over her at the students by the bonfire. Kyouka followed his eyes, and then looked down at their hands. She slowly pulled their interlaced fingers apart.
The two stood up and dusted off, walking back to the beach. The light of the fire burned brightly.
The scene in front of them was a chaotic one. Bakugou was clenching his fists, raising his voice at Midoriya, and Midoriya was stumbling back, putting his hands up in defense, although nobody really paid any attention, as this wasn't the first and certainly not the last time Midoriya would get picked on by the ash blond. "I wonder what they're talking about," Kyouka began, Denki joining her and warming his hands over the heat of the flames. "Looks troublesome."
Denki nodded, but winced once Bakugou turned toward him.
"Yo, Sparky."
Denki took a sharp breath, closing his eyes.
He assumed Midoriya was already on board with whatever plans Bakugou had made, as he was standing behind him biting his nails.
"Wanna race?"