That's right! Back to back chapters today! I hope you guys enjoy it and let me off the hook for being gone for so long LOL

I always look forward to your reviews guys, so keep em' coming!

TheMortalCoil

Kyouka sat in her room, rewriting notes as a way to force herself to remember the course material. It was getting painfully boring and there was still a couple hours to kill before curfew. Kyouka leaned back in her desk chair to the point she nearly toppled over but managed to catch herself. Maybe she'd head out to the common area to socialize.

"If I'm lucky, I can make fun of Kaminari," she said aloud as she picked up her bass.

Idly plucking away at the strings she began to think.

"Some crazy shit has happened since I've been here at UA. I wonder if I'm really cut out for all of this nonsense. I wish heroics felt as right as music did."

Kyouka snapped herself out of her trance and hauled on a UA sweater before heading out. She needed to break up her evening before her thoughts took over her.

Kyouka was always painfully insecure about everything and this was no different. She had a bad habit of doubting her own abilities and it often leads her down the train of thought that questioned her potential as a hero.

She arrived in the common area to find Kirishima, Mina, and Tooru hanging out. Mina and Tooru jumped in glee when they saw her walking towards them.

"Kyouka! I'm surprised you came out this evening, you've been a real stranger lately," Mina looked at her with a disappointed look.

"Yeah, I've been trying to study more I guess," she laughed sheepishly.

"Well, it's good to see you come out Kyouka, us girls have missed you!" Tooru exclaimed, grabbing her by the arm and pulling her towards the sofas.

"Hey hey, us guys miss hanging out with you too! Especially Kaminari," Kirishima whispered that last part just low enough that they could hear.

The two girls ou'd at the remark as Kirishima looked proud at what he had said. Kyouka gave him an indifferent look and shrugged.

"Kaminari is a total perv, he always gets sad when there are fewer girls to ogle."

"He's not that bad once you get to know him, he's just a fun-loving joker," Mina said to defend her friend. Mina and Kaminari were pretty close friends given that they were the two biggest underachievers in the class.

"Speaking of Kaminari, where is he?" Tooru asked.

"He hit the gym about two hours ago, I'd say he'll be back soon," Kirishima replied, knowing that he was the one who teased him into going.

"Kaminari? The Gym?" Kyouka let out a guttural laugh. The idea of Kaminari actually working out was too funny to her. The other two girls giggled along with her.

Kirishima shrugged, "can't knock a guy for trying."

"What's so funny guys?" Kaminari snuck up on the lot of them and was wiping the sweat off of his face with his towel.

"Oh, nothing," peeped Tooru.

"I have a question Kaminari," Kyouka looked at the exhausted boy.

"Shoot."

"Does your brain fry when you lift weights too? If it does, that means I want to go next time to watch," Kyouka began to chuckle as Kaminari's brow twitched.

"Nah man, I can handle my own in the weight room!" Kaminari puffed out his chest in an attempt to show off. The girls snorted at the remark causing him to deflate like a balloon.

"Hey man, at least you're trying! I believe you killed it!" Kirishima tried to salvage his mood before he got ticked off.

"Thanks, bro, I appreciate it. I'm gonna get a shower and go to bed."

Kaminari walked away without making another sound causing all of them to look at him quizzically. After he got out of sight they all looked at each other and resumed the conversation.

"What's eating him? He seemed kinda sulky," Kyouka asked.

"No clue, maybe he's just exhausted from his workout," Mina replied confused.

Streams of hot water trickled down his body, the steam curving around his figure. It had a serene feel to it, like all of his stress was being released and washed away down the drain. He was exhausted. He wasn't used to working out other than doing cardio, weights had never been his thing at all.

When he got to the gym he found Ojiro, Sato, Bakugou, Shoji, and Sero. He thought it would be nice to work out with the guys but boy was he wrong. He was outperformed in every single area by all of them. It was a physical mismatch that caused budding insecurity take over his body.

What most people didn't know about Kaminari was that under all of that bravado and "coolness" was a guy who didn't think that highly of himself. His quirk reduced him to a giggling idiot, he wasn't physically impressive, nor was he an academic by any stretch. He felt run of the mill average in every way and even underwhelming in some aspects.

He persevered through his workout regardless because he was determined to be better. Watching the guys around him work so diligently inspired him to work harder. Initially, he had wanted to impress the girls of the class, especially Kyouka with a sexy body befitting a cool guy such as himself. Maybe then he'd get the attention he always wanted, it seemed to work for Midoriya so he didn't see why it wouldn't work for him. He soon realized just how hard it was to get to that point and he developed a whole new respect for Midoriya after that.

"He must have busted his ass for a long time to get there," Kaminari thought as he rinsed the shampoo out of his hair. "I'll get there too! I'll prove that I'm not useless."

The comments in the common area only further fueled the insecurity he felt inside of the fitness center. Feelings of inadequacy crept over him, prickling all over his skin until he felt overwhelmed by it. His shroud of negative thought was broken by somebody entering the showers.

It was actually two people, Bakugou and Kirishima.

"This is exactly what I needed after a long day!" Kirishima exclaimed as the faucet squeaked releasing hot water.

"Ah shut up rocks-for-brains. I didn't see you at the gym this evening."

"I went this morning so I didn't feel like going."

"Yeah, I know that dumbass, I was there. You usually go twice a day like me."

"I was hanging out with Kaminari for a bit and then a couple of the girls."

"Such a fucking slacker. No wonder it's so easy to kick your ass. Speaking of Thunderhead, it made for a good fucking laugh. That dumbass tried so hard but he couldn't even keep up with fucking Sero. Pretty pathetic if you ask me." Kirishima chuckled nervously.

Bakugou heard a loud slam against the shower wall.

"Kaminari?!" Kirishima called out. He knew someone else was in the shower but he didn't really think about checking who it was; not that it would've made any difference to Bakugou saying what he said.

"Yeah."

"Got a problem, short circuit?"

"Yeah, I fucking do."

"We-e-ell then, you wanna do something about it 'ChargeBolt'" Bakugou said mockingly.

After dealing with the constant attitude from everyone in his class, today was the day that Kaminari decided he had enough.

Both of them stepped out of the shower and squared off with one another while Kirishima tried frantically to prevent what was about to happen next.

"C'mon guys! This totally isn't necessary!"

"Fuck off Stonehenge, this is between me and Electabuzz over here."

"Tch, go fuck yourself Bakugou."

The fight only lasted about three seconds. Kaminari thought he had the advantage since all of them had just stepped out of the shower but before he could even react, the blitzing speed and reflexes Bakugou had were far too great. He took two point-blank explosions that rendered him unconscious.

"Ahhh man! Bakugou why did you have to go do that? We could get in so much shit for fighting!"

"I don't give a fuck, the energizer bunny over here was asking for it. He couldn't deal with it and tried to act like a man so I showed him his place!"

Bakugou dried himself off and left the shower to find a small crowd outside, consisting of, Mina, Kyouka, Sero, Tooru and Ojiro.

Mina was the first to ask "what the hell happened in there?!"

"Lightning rod tried to stand toe to toe with me, he asked for it."

"What the hell Bakugou?!" Kyouka exclaimed. "What the fuck is wrong with you?!"

"What's wrong with me?! Go ask your boyfriend what his fucking problem is you stupid bitch!"

"That's a bit much Bakugou," Ojiro and Tooru responded. Bakugou only flipped them off in retort.

Kyouka backed up and didn't know what to say to the boyfriend comment. Bakugou slung his towel over his shoulder and walked down the hallway as the class just stared. Iida rushed by him with the first aid kit, shooting him a nasty glance which Bakugou reciprocated.

Kaminari and Kirishima came out before Iida went in, Kaminari's arm wrapped around his buddy's shoulder. Kirishima managed to get him to come to. Kaminari got dressed without a word and Kirishima caught him as he lost his balance. He heard the commotion going on outside and that only meant that he was going to have to hang his head in shame in front of the class.

"So not cool."

Kaminari didn't look or speak with anybody in the class as he exited the showers. Even though Kyouka and Mina pleaded that he talks to them he ignored them and refused to look them in the eye.

"Just let me bring him to his room guys," Kirishima replied, his words laced with concern and empathy.

The students just watched as he turned the corner, defeated.

After bringing him back to his room, Kirishima came back to the common area where the group had been waiting; waiting patiently for answers.

"I don't know what was up with Kaminari. We were in the showers and Bakugou said something rude as he always does towards him and he went off."

"What did Bakugou say?" Sero asked.

"He mocked him for being weak at the gym. I didn't know Kaminari was in there with us until he slammed his fist into the shower stall."

"That's not like him at all," Tooru said in bewilderment. "He's usually so laid back, why would he get aggressive all of a sudden?"

"The only explanation I can think of was that his manhood was being questioned. He probably had a rough day that was hard on his self-esteem and he finally blew his lid."

Kyouka didn't know why but Kirishima's words made her feel responsible. She wasn't sure if it was that or the fact that Kaminari refused to look at her as he passed by. She knew she was always making jokes at his expense and being snarky with him but she never meant it other than playful banter. This black mass of guilt began to writhe and squirm inside of her stomach and she excused herself from the group.

"What's with her?" Sero asked.

"Oh my Kyouka," Tooru drifted worriedly. She turned to go after her but Ojiro stopped her.

"Let her be for now."

Kaminari stared at his ceiling for an indeterminate amount of time. His eyes gazed upon the surface with such intensity that he could've burned holes through the plaster. He was hurting, not only from the bruises on his skin but his ego had been dealt a huge blow.

"Maybe Bakugou is right about me. Maybe I really am pathetic."

He saw his phone light up and buzz from across the room. He didn't really want to answer it but he forced himself to sit up despite his body's best efforts to keep him down. He looked at his phone screen.

Kyouka: Hey

Kaminari stared at the text for a moment, weighing out his options before deciding to respond.

Kaminari: Hey, what's up girl?

Kyouka: You don't have to act all cool. You alright?

Kaminari: I'm not acting!

Kyouka: Kaminari.

Kaminari: What?

Kyouka: Are you okay? I'm being serious. I won't make fun of you.

Kaminari: Well, that's a change of pace.

Kyouka: What's that supposed to mean?

Kaminari: It's just that...nevermind.

Kyouka: Alright then. Text me when you actually wanna talk.

Kaminari: Kk

"I'm such an idiot," Kaminari thought. He didn't have the words and his natural instinct was to try to act cool in front of her instead of just being honest. He knew he was a dumbass and he probably only made things ten times worse.

On the other end, Kyouka was sat at the head of her bed, back against the wall, with her knees against her chin. She felt tremendously guilty for what had happened to Kaminari today. She began to think that maybe he didn't like all of her snide jokes.

"I didn't mean to hurt him. I think he's a great friend and all. I mean I really like him and I hope he knows that...AS A FRIEND! I like him as a friend...yeah. I hope he's okay and that he forgives me. I'm really sorry Kaminari."

The two of them drifted off to sleep at a late hour, dreading the day to come.

Big bad Bakugou, kicking ass and taking names as always! Hopefully, Kaminari doesn't take it too hard but who knows, maybe Kyouka will think of a way to cheer him up!

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TheMortalCoil