Everybody from 1-A was walking home from a seemingly typical day at UA; well, as typical as a day at UA could be. Most of them were walking within their usual friend groups: Iida was third wheeling with Midoriya and Uraraka, Kirishima was the only one who would walk with Bakugou, and the remainder of the guys and girls walked in their own separate groups; that didn't stop Kaminari and Kyouka from making fleeting glances at each other from a distance. The majority of the class took notice and both Kaminari and Kyouka could feel the smugness permeate the air.

"Something catching your eye?" Momo asked Kyouka, tilting down her designer sunglasses.

"N-no, why would you say that?"

"Well, there wouldn't be much reason to look over your shoulder would there? Unless you're paranoid about something!" Tooru exclaimed with...whatever expression she had on her face, Kyouka couldn't tell.

"I heard that you, ahem, bought a new chair Kyouka" Mina stated loudly and offset. Kyouka's razor-edged glare fixated on Mina with the sharpness of serrated knives while her face simultaneously burned with the ferocity of a thousand suns.

Her crimson glow signaled the attention of all their other classmates. Little did she know, Mina hadn't told anybody after Kirishima due to his insistence on keeping things quiet. Mina didn't deliberately throw Kyouka to the wolves, she more or less meant it as a teasing gesture that was meant to be an inside joke but that wasn't how things worked out.

The class stopped and gathered around the rocker chick, intrigued to find out whatever dirty little secret that Kyouka was keeping locked away from them. As the crowd amassed Kyouka felt her stomach grow tight. Her heart was beating at a ludicrous rate. She couldn't believe that Mina had put her on the spot like this, it was the first time ever that she was truly outraged with a classmate.

She opened her mouth and she just couldn't seem to force out the words to diffuse the situation. If only she could make some snide joke then all of this would blow over. Her mouth was dry and she was self-conscious that her breathing was shallow. She was having a panic attack in front of her classmates. She couldn't allow them to see her have a breakdown like this; it would be far too embarrassing. She tried vehemently to fight it but the tantalizing paralysis of anxiety had disavowed most of her brain function, leaving her with nothing but a looking glass to witness everything unfold around her. A familiar grip on her shoulder dragged her back within the confines of reality.

"You okay?" Kaminari asked her quietly as the class watched them both intently. Kyouka just nodded but it wasn't exactly convincing.

Before Kaminari could open his mouth to speak he felt a shoulder bump him. Bakugou grew indifferent to the events taking place and Kaminari happened to be in his way. It was undoubtedly an intentional move to assert himself as the dominant male as he had done in the showers a week prior. It appealed to his sadistic sense of pride that fueled his desire to become the top hero.

It wasn't the bump nor was it his bruised ego that caused Kaminari to snap. It was the fact that Kyouka was clearly in distress and Bakugou had the nerve to not only ignore that but show blatant insincerity for himself and for her situation. His body responded to his primal rage and moved instinctively towards Bakugou.

Bakugou felt a hard tug on his shoulder and as he turned his head he simultaneously felt the impact of electrically charged knuckles rattle his jaw. His body went into convulsions due to the thousands of volts passing through his body with each successive punch. His vision blurred but he could make out the class forcibly hauling Kaminari off of him.

Kyouka eyed her secret lover in awe. She had never seen this side of him; in fact, she had never seen him lose his composure since coming to UA. Even when under the threat of villains, he remained relatively collected compared to the rest of them. He always seemed so laid-back and she wasn't exactly sure if she liked this side of him. It wasn't the Kaminari that she had come to care for.

Belligerent screaming took place amongst all of the males: Kaminari was unleashing countless expletives at a speed that a sailor would envy; Iida was incessantly lecturing Kaminari on his behaviour but fell on deaf ears; Midoriya, Kirishima, and Sero tried to diffuse the situation while the remainder of the guys stoically kept bodies between Kaminari and Bakugou, mostly because they feared Bakugou's reaction once he was back on his feet.

"You damn spark plug!" Bakugou screamed irately as he wiped the saliva from his mouth. "What a fucking coward! Relying on a cheap shot! You wanna fucking go you god damn worm?!" Even amongst the yelling, everyone fell silent when Bakugou went on his routine rampage.

"Go fuck yourself Bakugou! I'm sick of your shit! Everyone walks around on fucking egg shells to cater to your fragile ass ego when the fact of the matter is that nobody likes you. Hell, nobody even understands why a prick like you would ever become a hero…" Kaminari felt a tug on his shoulder.

Kyouka eyes were full of apprehension as she timidly shook her head, knowing where Kaminari was going. He looked around to witness the appalled faces of his classmates. Maybe he had taken it too far.

Everyone's attention was drawn to a full scale explosion leaving black smoke dissipating in the atmosphere followed by frenzied screaming. Bakugou stormed off screaming profanities and the rest of the class hesitantly followed behind him; they had to go back to their rooms after all. What nobody happened to notice was Mineta slinking off somewhere on his own.

Kaminari: Kyo?

Kyouka: Yeah?

Kaminari: I'm sorry I acted like that. I didn't mean to scare you.

Kyouka: You didn't scare me, it was fine.

Kaminari: Is it cool if I stop by?

Kyouka: I'm kinda busy. Maybe later.

Kaminari: Alright, text me whenever.

Kyouka: Kk.

Kaminari flailed back onto his bed. "I probably seem like the biggest douchebag right now. I shouldn't have said all that shit."

Kaminari's disposition for being laid-back and friendly worked against him in times like these. People were often estranged whenever he lost his cool because it happened so seldom. His biggest fear is that people would see this Kaminari as the real one and the one they had gotten to know as a fraud. He knew he wasn't like this at all and that he had just been pushed to his breaking point by the biggest bully on campus. Kyouka being too busy to talk to him did absolutely nothing to help his ailing self-esteem.

Kyouka's thumbs fiddled around with her phone as she stared at the blank screen. She wanted to see Kaminari but he was right, she was scared of that side of him. She's never seen him be the aggressor and that totally shifted her view of him as much as she tried not to let it affect her.

There was another feeling that she wouldn't bring herself to admit to. That aggression caused her to tighten her legs. She scolded herself for the very notion that she enjoyed his assertion over Bakugou, whom nobody ever went against. That wasn't an assertiveness that she was accustomed to with the easygoing personality he had.

Her phone buzzed and lit up before her eyes.

Uraraka: How's everything? You okay? Is Kaminari okay?

Kyouka: Can't see any reason not to be fine. How should I know how Kaminari is feeling?

Uraraka: Oh c'mon! Stop lying to yourself. There's totally something going on between you two.

Kyouka: As if. He was a real jackass today; even if it WAS Bakugou. I don't see how anyone would want someone capable of being that much of a dick.

Uraraka: You know yourself that Bakugou has been pushing his buttons ever since we started classes here.

Kyouka: Still, it isn't like him and I don't like it.

Uraraka: Tell him that then! Also, for the record, I know about what happened in your room so don't play dumb.

Kyouka: Fucking Mina!

Uraraka: Don't worry about it. She told Deku-Kun and me but we were in no position to judge, trust me. Lol.

Kyouka felt the corners of her lips upturn as she chuckled.

Kyouka: I figured you guys were perving all over each other!

Uraraka: W-what?! No! We aren't that bad!

Kyouka: Uh huh.

Uraraka: We are kinda bad…

Kyouka: Figured. So...what's it like?

Uraraka: Um, it hurts a bit the first time.

Kyouka: That's what I was afraid of.

Uraraka: It does get WAAAAAY better though!

Kyouka spent the next hour learning as much as she could from her classmate. She strangely felt much closer to Uraraka than she had in the past. Perhaps it was because they had new common ground with one another. Either way, Kyouka was grateful for the friendships she had made at UA and thought Kaminari was deserving of another chance.

Sup gang? Kaminari finally gets some much needed retribution, even if it was in the form of a cheap shot. Please read and review! I always enjoy reading all of your comments!

TheMortalCoil