A/N: Hello, all! I hope everyone had a Happy New Year and a happy holiday season! I apologize for this chapter being so late and short—I had a lot to catch up on in school and in life, but it's here. Enjoy!

Kyouka was blinded by sunlight peeking through the curtains of the balcony window.

A ray of gold crept across her body, and when her eyes followed the line thinning out, she found it crept across Denki's as well. In the luminescence of the day, Kyouka was able to remember the more dreary details of their kiss last night—swapping spit, salty tears, and most of all, overwhelming sadness. Denki was really sad.

She hoped today he'd feel better.

Kyouka pulled the sheets up over her head. Denki was still sound asleep, his snores sending her into a riled rage that left her just a mere step away from stabbing him awake with her jacks. She could hear his feet shuffling around at the end of the bed.

Still, she curled into him.

She wanted to disappear into the dream world again, where reality was distorted enough for Denki to truly smile. She missed that ear-to-ear grin, the kind that compelled her to twist her lips up and do the same.

In the very midst of his slumber, Denki's body mangled into an uncomfortable shape. "Jirou," he drooled, "you're so cute." His smile was dopey, and his laugh was lazy, and Kyouka's cheeks were red, and she got her jacks ready. Denki's hand slithered out from underneath the covers, and like a hitchhiker, he threw up his thumb. "I'm really digging that outfit. Like, really digging it."

"Oh, nuh-uh."

She stuck a jack into his ear, the sensation shocking him awake.

Denki fell face first onto the floor.

"Ow…." he said, rubbing his head. "Whew, that hurt. Huh? Jirou? Is that you? Good morning! How are you?"

Kyouka crossed her arms, a huff leaving her lips. "Try asking that again when your dreams are pure."

Denki tilted his head, letting out a little laugh. "I don't understand you sometimes." He smiled at her, and it was that fake stuff, the kind of smile you see from someone sad, but it gave her butterflies anyway, and her stomach was in knots.

"Anyway, I'm starving." Denki looked up at her. He was still all cut up from head to toe. "What time is it? 7:00 a.m.? Wanna go down and get breakfast? I bet there's waffles!"

Kyouka's eyelids fell toward the ground. She nodded.

"What's wrong?"

Kyouka sighed. "Well, it's just"—she held her breath—"what do we do about your… marks? I mean, you're all burnt up."

"Don't you girls wear makeup? Got any concealer?"

"I'm surprised you know what that is."

Denki's eyes narrowed, brows kneading. "I have a sister, you know."

"True. Well, anyway, yeah, I have concealer, and good on you for coming up with a half-decent idea for once. Hopefully this'll work with your skin tone."

She grabbed the liquid from her nightstand, dabbing some onto a beauty blender and beckoning Denki to sit down on the edge of the bed. She got up close to his face, spotting the sponge on his cheeks and his chin and his forehead. Quickly and precisely, she covered each area of his skin, extra careful around the burnt patches. Luckily, the color looked natural.

"There. All set."

She looked into his eyes. Her heart shot up into her throat, and then she remembered last night, the snow and the bitter cold, calling, "Kaminari, Kaminari, Kaminari!" over and over again, and it sunk back down into her stomach.

She wrapped her arms around him. Their breathing synced.

"Let's go," she said. "You go down first. I'll be there in five minutes. Say the reason you're coming from the girls wing is because you were busy practicing with me."

Denki nodded. They usually set Kyouka's alarm for super early in the morning so Denki could get back to his side of the dorms inconspicuously, but in the mayhem of last night's events, that'd completely flown from their minds. Now they needed an excuse to fix this mess.

Denki headed downstairs masked in makeup and long sleeves. Kyouka soon followed after, hoping, praying for the best.

Suspicion never arose, and Denki and Kyouka were able to peacefully enjoy their waffles without the meddling of their classmates. Kyouka was grateful for that.

She turned toward Denki. He was scarfing down his white rice, sipping silently from a steaming hot cup of coffee. Heavy purple bags sat under his eyes. She desperately wanted to sigh.

She decided not to, though, as then the ever-intuitive Yaoyorozu would ask what was wrong, and that was the last thing she needed right now. Right now, the only thing she could ever ask for was to be in this room alone with Denki, holding him tight under the sparkling sunlight shining in from outside. That was all she wanted.

But instead she had to sit there in agony, watching helplessly as the boy before her wore a frown, a look that didn't suit him. There wasn't a single thing she could do besides stare down at her plate and eat her fried eggs.

After breakfast, the dorms were bustling, as they always were on Sunday morning.

Kyouka had plopped down on the couch cushions watching a movie. Ashido was beside her, raving about the couple that'd just gotten together in the General Studies Department. She was friends with them, apparently, and had been pushing for them to date all year.

"Kyouka, what do you think? Isn't it just crazy that there's finally some romance happening at our school? Holy crap!" Ashido pumped up her fists. "I've been waiting for this for, like, ever!"

Kyouka threw her arms over the back of the couch, far too focused on the action happening on the big screen in front of her to pay any attention to Ashido's gushing. "You're really excited about this, aren't you, Mina?"

"Well, duh! Ooh, and look!" She pointed at the television. "The main characters are finally confessing their feelings! Kyouka, I think they're about to kiss!"

Ashido squealed when their lips touched.

Kyouka smiled. Admittedly, she'd also been hoping they'd date since their very first meeting at the beginning of the movie.

"I hope my first kiss is like that," Ashido whined. She pouted. "Don't you think so too, Kyouka?"

Kyouka thought back to last night. Inevitably, her body flushed from head to toe. But Ashido was waiting for a response, and she couldn't just sit there looking like a tomato. "Uh, yeah. Definitely."

Ashido narrowed her eyes. "What's with that reaction? Did something happen?"

"Huh? No, of course not!"

"Are you sure?"

Ashido got up close and personal to Kyouka's face. Kyouka tilted her head back. "Yes, I'm sure."

"Are you sure you're sure?"

Kyouka stuck her hands out to gently push Ashido away. "I'm sure I'm sure! What's gotten into you, Mina?"

She spun her head around to avoid her friend's prying eyes. And that was when she saw it.

Denki and Sero on the other side of the dorms, talking, almost frantically so, Denki biting his lip.

"I'm just curious! I mean, can you blame me?"

Kyouka stood up. "Sorry, Mina. I gotta go talk to someone real quick."

"Huh? Kyouka? Where are you—"

She didn't finish her sentence, as Kyouka was already much too far away.

Kyouka walked quickly, heading for the two boys in the corner of the room. Not a smidge of her slowed up. She tapped Denki's shoulder. "Yo. What are you guys talking about?"

Denki grabbed Kyouka by the arm and spun her around. Unbeknownst to them, Sero raised his eyebrows.

"Kaminari, what's happening?" Kyouka asked.

"He saw them yesterday, Jirou. He felt them. The scars."

Sero folded his arms over one another. "Kaminari, does Jirou know something I don't?"

The two turned back toward Sero. Kyouka held her heart, taking a deep, sharp breath. "Okay, so here's the gist of it: you saw, didn't you? Do you know what they are?"

Sero tapped his finger against his bicep. "I have my suspicions."

"Alright, why don't we finish this conversation upstairs in my room," Kyouka offered. She turned back toward the couch, where Ashido was watching eagerly. "Where we'll actually get some privacy."

The three took the elevator up to the third story of the dorms, and they all sat down on Kyouka's checkered floor.

"Kaminari, do you want to tell Sero what they are?"

Denki nodded. He rubbed his hands along his feet, drumming slightly, sitting criss-cross applesauce. "Sure. They're, um, self-harm scars."

Sero sighed. "Thought so."

And then, completely out of the blue, Sero grabbed Denki by the shirt collar and pulled him in for a hug—a real one, not the manly kind boys do because they don't want to get too close—holding him there for a moment, squeezing him tight. "I've got you, you know that, man? I'm here."

Denki smiled. His eyes filled with tears. "I hear you, man. Sorry for keeping it a secret."

Sero pulled away. "Hey, it's chill. So, on another note, how'd Jirou find out?"

"Well, she actually found out accidentally. Right, Jirou?"

Kyouka nodded. "Walked in on that loser changing."

Denki turned back toward Sero, smiling, who was watching Denki's reactions with careful precision. "She's been there for me ever since."

"And you two aren't dating?"

The both of them blushed.

Sero laughed. "Alright, alright, I'll stop with the teasing. Actually, is it okay if I share something with both of you? But you can't tell anybody."

Kyouka nodded, and Denki followed soon after.

Sero pulled at the waistband of his pants.

There they were—rigid, stubby, and white, sitting soundly on Sero's hips. A set of scars similar to Denki's, but shorter and deeper. They must have been made with something keener than just the blade of a pencil sharpener, like a knife. Kyouka's eyes widened.

Sero pulled his pants up. "I'm bipolar. Formally diagnosed in middle school."

Denki bit his lip. "So you're like me, then. I'm on medication for depression."

Sero nodded. "We're in the same boat, Denki."

When Denki first enrolled at U.A., he felt there was a barrier between him and the other students. Nobody else here would be struggling. These were the most ambitious people on the planet. Everyone here was strong—strong on the battlefield and in the head. He was an outlier. There wouldn't be another like him.

But here he was, sitting across from his two best friends, one navigating his way through the same obstacles as him, and he just couldn't help it anymore, and the tears came flowing out.

Kyouka's eyes widened. "Kaminari, what's wrong?"

"I just"—he sniffled—"I don't… I don't feel so alone anymore."

Denki's middle school years flashed like a movie through his mind, from nights he could barely remember due to being too drunk to memories of his friends teasing him over the stupidity of his Electrification Quirk. Ota, Fujiwara, Miyamoto—they'd give him easy access to weed, pipes and bongs and—his favorite—blunts. They'd always have smiles on their faces when they were high, and he would, too. He wondered if maybe in the background they were as sad as he was, although he never asked.

Probably not.

Denki began to cry harder. Sobs escaped his lips, and Kyouka sighed, scooching to where he sat on the floor and wrapping her arms around his torso. He squeezed her back, his whines muffled slightly by the fabric of her shirt. Kyouka made room for Sero, who gravely wanted to comfort his friend, and the three joined in for the most reassuring group hug Denki had ever experienced in his lifetime.

"I'm happy," Denki cried. "I'm not… crying because I'm sad."

Kyouka left their hug first, and the two boys continued to rock back and forth in each other's arms.

"Hey, Kaminari," Kyouka started, "at least we have that Deep Dope concert to look forward to. I'm sure that'll cheer you up!"

Denki and Sero ripped away from one another. Sero's face lit up, while Denki raised an eyebrow. "Huh?"

Sero facepalmed. "You didn't forget, man, did you?"

Denki's eyes suddenly shot wide open. "Oh! Now I remember! Next weekend, right? Oh my God, I totally forgot for a second!"

"Yeah!" Kyouka smiled. "Kirishima and Mina will be going with us."

"You must remember now." Sero placed his hands on his knees, facing Denki. "We invited Bakugou, but he refused."

"And he was a total asshole about it, too." Kyouka's eyes glistened. "Hey, Kaminari."

Denki turned toward Kyouka.

"Wipe away your tears, will you?"

Denki grabbed his phone and checked out his cheeks with the camera lens. He'd stopped crying moments ago, but his concealer was still a mess.

He pulled the makeshift mirror down to find Kyouka just inches from his face, wiping the makeup away with a tissue. He blushed.

Sero snickered.

Kyouka's lips turned up. "There you go."

Sero stuck out his fist. "Here's to our concert next weekend."

Kyouka and Denki bumped his knuckles. "To our concert," they said in unison, and the three of them threw their hands in the air.

A/N: I'll try to get the next chapter out faster.