Author's note: Hey everyone!

Here is this week chapter. It got a bit hectic to write at the pace I used to with work. I'm grateful for Utaha-senpai's advices about writing some plot flash in advance!
This chapter is more focused on their other friendships: they've got a lot of things to untangled, and they obviously can't rely on each other to do so.

Hope you'll enjoy it ! I'm closing in on the anime events, I don't read the manga even if I had been kina spoiled on a few things. I guess I'll see if I follow the canon or not as I pursue this fiction.

Take care !

Disclaimer: I do not own My Hero Academia.


They stood in front of the dorm doors, bracing themselves for whatever kind of chaos that awaited them once they would cross the threshold.
They both nodded, Kaminari's warm smile putting her at ease. He seemed to be fine, and she won't let him be drown again, not on her watch.

"Well, ladies first", he said playfully while opening the door, gesturing her to enter first with a mock curtsy.
"Yeah, yeah, it is rather convenient, don't you think?" she replied with a roll of her eyes.
"We're in the same boat anyway… And it's not like we did something wrong, right?"

She let out a small sigh, nodding her approval.

"Sure, but with what happened with Mina at the cultural festival…"
"Got that covered. And…. Thanks again, it means a lot", he added with a serious tone.
"What friends are for?" she replied with a singsong voice, while entering the building.

Luckily for them, everyone seemed to have deserted the common room, the clock striking 6.30.
Kyoka waved at him as she headed for the elevator, as Denki walked to the kitchen, thirst gripping his throat. A long shower was needed too, his muscles still tense from all the stress he had put on his mind.

He opened the fridge to grab something sweet to drink, his energy running low. As he went out to go in his room, he caught a glimpse of blond hair, an angry voice muttering something.

"Hey Bakugo, you okay?"
The young man passed by him, groveling still, as a sturdy silhouette followed suit.
"Yo Kami, he's just sulking 'cause Mina asked him what kind of haircut he'll have after his next internship", Kirishima said with a shrug.

Denki chuckled, the memory of their explosive friend's grilling still vivid after his work study. Their work studies were in a few weeks, he recalled, and he had yet to decide where to apply.
"Well, he seemed to have taken the joke rather well", Denki noted, watching him beginning to work in the kitchen.
"Yup, cooking help him vent, a win/win situation for us!" the red-head said, a wide grin on his face, "but I'll still give a hand, in case something else come up.

Eijirou eyed Kaminari: their call earlier made him worry, and he could tell that his friend had cried. A lot of questions were running around his head since they hanged up, but patience was the key. So he brushed past him, his closed fist extended to the blonde teen and a whispered "See you later!"

Denki smiled and bumped his own closed fist against his friend's, nodding. Yup, he will be alright.

...

Kyoka was pacing back and forth in her room, her mind processing all that went through her this afternoon.

She had let him hug her, which was a miracle in itself, regarding how she disliked being touchy feely even with her closest friends.
She had above all hugged him back: well; he needed comfort obviously, and that was to save him from himself, right? Right...

It just felt right.
The warmth radiating from his body, the goosebumps born on her skin where his hands held her, the softness of his hair under her fingertips, the crack in his voice that stirred something strange in her gut...

Everything seemed to be in the right place, the right time... It just made... sense.
And it scared her on every level.
She had been scared while searching for him, immediately assuming the worse (well, who could blame her with all the shit Class 1-A attract, right?)

She had been scared for him when she heard him beat himself up like that, her fear morphing in a blazing anger she latched on, even though her rage was directed to whichever caused him to think so lowly of him.

She was scared of how she felt now.
Truth is that she had been scared for a while, ever since he put her on the spot about music. She was glad now, but going so abruptly out of her comfort zone shitted the out of her. Receiving compliments or appreciation for anyone out of her family too.
She wasn't anything special, really. She didn't have a great physique or intelligence like Momo, a spectacular quirk like Ochako, something that made her stand out like Mina.

Plain old Kyoka, with her wits and sarcasm as shields to protect herself from hurt, keeping her in the statu-quo.

She jumped up, her ringtone blaring and startling her in the process. She fetched her phone resting on her bed, answering without looking who it was.

"Kyoka? It's Momo. I've been wondering if you were in your room, since I've been knocking for 5 minutes."
"Oh shit! Sorry!", she exclaimed before hanging up, running to her door.
She flushed, embarrassment running through her whole body, as Momo's gentle face smiled back at her. Really, What was going on with her mind?

She silently motioned her friend to come in, trying to regain some hold on herself. Momo briefly bowed and entered the room, sitting on the bed.
"The study session went well? " asked Kyoka, trying to divert her mind from the sudden nervousness.
"Yes, I think we'll all manage well for the incoming test. Though we thought you would join us as well", replied Momo, her tone light and eyes holding a mischievous glint.
Kyoka groaned: the teasing Momo was a rare occurrence, but it seemed that she was her favorite target...
"Like I texted you, it was not like that, not at all..."
"Well, let me judge about that by myself. You seem to be quite troubled after all, leaving me waiting like that," Momo playfully said, patting the place next to her on the bed, "but rest assured, I did as you asked for the others. Present Mic kept you behind, talking about the performance."

Jirou plopped on the bed, letting herself fall down her arms sprawled. One less thing to worry about, but that still left what felt like a ton of them. The long haired girl next to her stayed silent, waiting patiently for her to voice her thoughts.

"I… I think I need some girl advice here…"

Momo took a more comfortable position on the bed, leaning against the headboard, Kyoka still laying perpendicular to her.

"Well, I'll do everything I can to help you.", she replied with a calm and soft voice.

Jirou's dark eyes turned to look at Momo, her expression troubled and concerned.

"I'll try to explain the best I can, but I don't know if I can tell everything, regarding what happened to him."

"I understand, I do not wish to invade anyone's privacy. You know me enough to trust me on this, I hope".

Kyoka nodded, her body relaxing a bit.

"So… I went to get my phone back, but it was obvious that Kaminari had not came here in the first place. So I tried to call him, but since he didn't answer, I searched for him."

"Why did you do that? There was no reason to be as worried, he was on the campus anyway", asked Momo matter-of-factually.

"I heard his heartbeat while he was running past us. It was… unusual. So loud and erratic I couldn't ignore it. It helped me find him, since I couldn't get the sound out of my head. I pinpointed his location while focusing on this sound especially."

"That is impressive, Kyoka! Imagine how you could enhance this technique for the rescue missions!"

"To be honest, I was so worried that I didn't event thought about it", the purple haired girl replied, embarrassed, "I mean, we had faced some shitty situations, so I was really scared that he'd be captured or anything."

She paused, retracing the stream of memories and feelings from there. The hardest part was coming, the one that left her so perplexed.

"He was having some panic attack when I found him, and….", she caught her breath, feeling her throat tightening as she remembered his words, "he…. he… was saying such awful things about himself…."

Momo reached for her arm, touching lightly her hand as a reassuring gesture. She was clearly upset and reliving the moment, and a pang of compassion shot through her, for her friend and for Kaminari. They were in a period of their life where they had to create their adult self, and this was somehow harder with the pressure of being future heroes. She herself struggled sometimes with self-esteem, doubt being a mean to improve as well as a door to harmful devaluation.

"What did you do then?"

"I took him by the collar and yelled at him", Kyoka whispered, while an amused giggle suddenly escaped Momo's lips, "why are you laughing? I feel like the worst person in the world for acting like this!"

"It just sounded so like you… but why are you feeling guilty? I'm sure he isn't holding it against you."

Jirou closed her eyes and let out a shaky sigh, the blond-haired boy face still vivid in her mind. They were so close at that time, she knew she would never forget the void in his gaze.

"You just… You haven't seen his eyes, you haven't heard how broken he sounded… I… just couldn't stand seeing him like this, after all he did for me", she said lowly, getting up. Her gaze was fixed on the wall, staring vaguely at something, her hands gripping her sheets tightly. "He talked about being useless… about… disappearing… I don't know why but it hurt me so much that I wanted to shake him off, to reach for him."

Momo got up too, and kneeled down in front of Kyoka, seizing both of her hands in hers. She spoke in the softest voice he could muster, aware of her friend's distress.

"It is perfectly understandable, and you did the right thing. You care for him, for all of us, so don't doubt what came from your heart. In the end, you saved him, right? Did he seem upset? Was he angry at you?"

Kyoka muttered series of unintelligible words in a fast and low voice, her cheeks reddening.

"Pardon me, but I wasn't able to understand you here…"

Jirou inhaled deeply, looking Momo in the eyes, and whispered "He apologized and thanked me while hugging me…"

Momo's squealed inwardly, afraid of vexing her friend.

"Someone who is angry wouldn't do something like that, I presume. So no need to worry about it."

"I know, I know. I'm more worried about me I guess…"

"How so?"

"I let him do it, I responded to it, and it just felt like… I belonged here. I don't know. I sound like the girls in these cheesy Christmas Rom-com and I don't even know what I feel for him anymore." Kyoka exclaimed in frustrated tone, her mind reeling.

Momo sighed, her hunch correct in the end. Now, she had to listen to her and help her the best she could, and let her decide what to do about her feelings.

"It doesn't seem that cheesy, I guess it is pretty normal to wonder about it. You've grown closer to him for a while, don't you? "

"Yeah, I guess. I've been feeling weird since we decided to go for a concert for the festival. And we spent a lot of time together, and I have fun when I'm with him, and he is a great listener, a bit blunt but honest, and sensitive, and…"

She stopped in her tracks, feeling Momo's knowing gaze on her. Her friend silently nodded as the sudden realization blossoming on Kyoka's face.

"I can't."

"Why not?"

"He doesn't see me like this. He can't. It is not a good thing with our line of work."

"You're scared", Momo whispered softly.

Kyoka got suddenly up, pacing in her room, agitation coursing through her.

"Hell yes! I'm fucking terrified! I could lose him for good, one of my best friend, and…"

Momo hugged her, hoping to calm her down.

"Kyoka, listen to me, please. You have every right to like someone, hero or not, okay? You have every right to be scared of being rejected, of losing a friendship. It is normal to feel this way. But this situation is not only up to you: what would you do if he end up confessing to you?"

Kyoka froze in Momo's arms. She couldn't imagine this to happen, but if it was the case? If he wanted what she wanted too?

Would she deny happiness for both of them out of fear?

Momo's soft and firm voice pulled her out of her thoughts.

"If you really decide to not act on your feelings because of our future line of work, it's fine. It is a strenuous path, I can tell, but it seems like a good reason to bury your feelings for now. But please, don't do it out of fear. It will only bring you pain."

Kyoka's eyes widen, a second realization hitting her. Her best friend was hurting over the same thing, and she wasn't even aware of it.

She broke the hug, facing her friend with a concerned look on her face. Momo's eyes were glazed with unshed tears, her forelorn expression mirroring her own.

She hugged the girl again, saying softly "I'm calling an emergency girl night, just the two of us".

…...

Denki and Eijirou were sitting on the blond haired-boy's bed, engrossed in the latest episode of their favorite anime series, bags of chips opened within reach.

The telltale music of the ending started, and both of them began to talk about what they were expecting for the next episode, sharing their theories and impressions.

Seeing Kaminari more relaxed, Eijirou tentatively breached the infamous question.

"So, what happened earlier, dude?"

Denki finished his mouthful of chips: he knew it was coming, and he knew what to say first.

"I first have to apologize: I lied to you when I said I had something to grab back at school."

"Well, I figured as much, you are a pretty bad liar."

The blond shrugged and exhaled. Why was he surrounded by people he couldn't fool, like always?

"I was having an anxiety attack. I don't really know how it is called, but I was suffocating and having… dark thoughts in mind."

Kirishima instantly punched him in the shoulder as he ended his sentence.

"Ouch! What the hell?" shouted Denki while rubbing the sore area.

"Idiot! Why didn't call me after? I can understand you didn't want to make a fuss in front of everyone, but I could have come alone later to talk to you out of it !"

He was pissed but mostly worried. Facing dark thoughts alone was the worse thing possible, especially for heroes who are confronted with awful situations on a regular basis. He had his fair share of it, and he wouldn't have pull through without counseling and help from his friends and some pro-heroes.

"Fair enough. I know I've messed up and I already had been scolded by Jirou."

Denki would never forget her face at this moment, enraged by fear and worry. Her eyes had such a sad expression that he swore to himself to do everything to never see it again.

At the mention of the Earphone Jack's bearer, Eijirou's mind ticked.

"Jirou?"

"Yeah, she found me using her Quirk. She said she had a bad feeling since she heard my heartbeat doing strange things when I passed by the girls," he replied, his amber gaze getting lost in the memories, "she yelled at me like crazy and that snapped me out of… whatever shit I was thinking."

Kirishima nodded in understanding. It made sense, and these two were attached by the hip for a few weeks.

"Was it the first time you experienced it?"

"Since I enrolled here, yeah… It was more frequent in middle school though."

The red-haired boy winced, the worry picking up. So Kami was enduring that kind of stress for a long time.

"I take back what I said, you are a skilled liar," he retorted playfully at first, "but how come you're not having them as much?"

"I… kinda decided to take a fresh start in high school. I used to be the class clown, always making people laugh by mocking myself, making them feel superior as me. It ended to be unbearable, and I did some dumb shit too."

"That's bullying, ya know?"

"Is it really? If you're the one making yourself miserable in the first place?", Denki sighed loudly, collecting his thoughts, "I was making fun of myself before the other could do it. It escalated in insults toward myself, the side-effect of my Quirk not really helping. I just felt… useless, unworthy but I had to keep up, because those people were my lifeline."

Kiri gulped down, his friend's story weighing heavily on him. He recalled all the times the class laugh at his Whey mode and a cold guilt seized his heart. He reached for Kaminari's tee-shirt and gripped the sleeve lightly.

Kaminari turned his eyes on his classmate, and froze at his expression. It dawned on him how his words could have been received, so he quickly grabbed Kiri's hand and gave it a light squeeze.

"Hey, chill bro. Y'all have nothing to do with that, okay? I know you don't mean any harm, in fact, you always take care of me when I'm vulnerable like that, so don't worry about it, okay?"

"You sure?"

"Yeah. I changed since I'm a student here, I have a goal I chose for myself and I'm working to let what happened in middle school where it must be: in the past".

Kirishima exhaled, taking a gulp of his soda.

"I've been granted forgiveness for the worst thing I did, so I have to move on."

"I don't really see what is worse than hurting yourself like that. You were quite hard on yourself, in my opinion."

"Letting another person hurt when you can do something to prevent it… You were talking about bullying earlier right? I stayed silent when it happened to one of my classmate for a moment. I was afraid of losing my crappy lifeline."

Fidgeting with the hem of his shirt, he let his feelings come to the surface, making his voice crack.

"I.. finally talked to the teacher, and they were expelled for a while. I felt relieved and sick at the same time, sick of allowing myself to be a coward by not speaking up my opinion. And… this guy came and thanked me, asking me to be his friend, when I was sobbing about how sorry I was for not speaking up…"

"That is one of the manliest thing to do, bro, proud of you…," Kirishima said in a low voice, "I feel honored that you trust me enough to share that with me."

"I swear that I won't keep you out anymore if I feel bad again. You are one of my precious friend here, heck you're almost my brother, so after what happened, I promised myself to not try to manage this alone."

Denki's head slapped against Kirishima's chest as he was engulfed in a bone-crushing hug.

He chuckled, the darkness lifting for good, for now.

"What so funny?"

"It's my second hug of the day, I should be depressed more often", he joked.

Kiri's mind stopped for a second, processing the information as the two boys separated.

"You hugged Jirou? Wait, are you…"

"Nope, I… just… held her out of the blue? I was in a middle of a breakdown, she was yelling, and it helped me to snap out of it. I did that without thinking, promise."

"And you are still alive?"

"I guess that she took pity on me…".

He pondered about revealing his true feelings to Ei: he was the only one he trusted with it after all. He would keep it to himself, and mostly, he surely would understand how he came to his decision.

"Sero was the right, by the way. I like Jirou, a lot, since… I don't know exactly when but I fall harder each day."

His cheeks red with embarrassment, his heart lighter, he looked at his friend, who was simply beaming.

"I knew it! Time to confess like the manly man you are, bro!"

"Hey hey hey, wait a minute. I don't plan to act on these feelings, ya know."

Eijirou froze in his enthusiasm, confusion now written all over his face.

"I still don't feel worthy enough I guess. I'm scared to lose her friendship, but I'm above all scared to make our relationship fail if I keep having self-esteem issues as brutal as this. It would be quite unhealthy, right? And I want her to be cherished, forever."

This guy is something else…

Letting his friend's words sinking in, Kirishima couldn't help but think about how Kaminari Denki was the most caring person he knew. He just feared that it would led him to a bitter end.