Chapter 20 Lightning Serenade
Neito was having difficulty distinguishing the difference between his feelings for his soulmate and his feelings for his best friend. He felt bad asking Denki to not join him and Hitoshi every once in a while, so he could try to sort his feelings out. He felt worse when he heard Denki telling Hitoshi that he couldn't come with some bullshit made up excuse, but knew it was for the best. If Hitoshi knew that Neito was asking Denki to skip out on their weekends occasionally, he would ask why, and then he would know that Neito was feeling the same type of way for Denki as he was for Hitoshi.
Hitoshi, of course, saw right through the excuses, but didn't know the reason why, figuring that Denki had other friends that he wanted to hang out with or something, and that he was hesitant to tell Neito and Hitoshi like they were hogging him for themselves. Spending time with just Neito, though, left a hole in Hitoshi's heart, and that was a problem because Neito was his soulmate, and Denki was just a friend. He shouldn't have been holding them to the same level. So, sometimes Hitoshi asked Denki to not join them on the weekends, just every once in a while, so that he could get his feelings recalibrated toward his soulmate and his best friend. Denki was always super understanding, and never even questioned Hitoshi's motive, just readily agreeing.
Denki felt like he was intruding on the soulmates and was horrified that he was getting so close to them, so when either one of them asked for some alone time, Denki immediately obliged. It was healthy for soulmates to spend alone time together, and it wasn't like they were cutting him out completely… so then why did it hurt so bad spending the weekend alone in his room, with nothing but his pile of homework for company?
All three boys kept up with their training regimen by Touya, even though it was really hard to continue at first. In a way, it made them feel connected to Touya, so they pushed through the tears and sadness until there was just a dull ache every time they started their workouts.
When it had been a good month since Denki had spent the weekend with Hitoshi and Neito, he finally made it to Friday without either of them reaching out, asking if he would pull out of the weekend so they could bond together as soulmates alone. Denki had been spending time with the friends he had made on Unit Beta, because that made him feel more included. It made him feel closer to Neito and Hitoshi because they were ultimately part of the group, too, even if they weren't there. It made him feel closer to Touya, too.
Denki had an idea, and once he got the okay from Hitoshi, along with the unconditional support from influential families like the Yaoyorozus and the Iidas, the demonstration was scheduled.
Imagine everyone's surprise when they showed up on a Saturday morning at the local mall, ready to shop and spend a carefree weekend on happy, normal activities, only to be met with a gaggle of kids who were muzzled and marching around with signs that depicted the horror and tragedies of children in foster care. Thanks to Momo, they even had extra muzzles to pass around to let the interested kids, teens, and adults try it on to see what it felt like for themselves. Many were horrified and signed the petition offered right away.
Although they got many signatures, nothing ended up being changed in the foster system as far as policies go about muzzles and other quirk-suppressing mechanisms, but at least they were being watched more closely and making sure they weren't adding too much undue stress onto foster kids. Foster parents who previously relied on muzzles quickly found new ways to feel safe around their foster children, and a lot of foster children benefited from the small demonstration that lasted four weekends in a row.
Neito thought that spending time in a huge group was a great way for him to recalibrate his feelings. He figured that if he could see Denki the same way he saw Momo and Izuku, for instance, then he would be back to baseline. Only, it didn't happen that way. Neito couldn't shake the intense affection he felt for Denki every time he saw his face when he got another signature, knowing that he was smiling by the way his eyes crinkled, even when the entirety of his lower face was covered by a muzzle.
Hitoshi was touched that all of his friends would go that far for him, just because of his sad story about being muzzled while in foster care. Hitoshi's heart exploded in warmth every time he looked at the instigator of the demonstration: Denki. Hitoshi had hoped that spending more time with Denki around other friends and in more public places would help him see him as a friend instead of holding him up right next to Neito, but Hitoshi got the same feeling in his chest when he looked at his soulmate and best friend that was absent when he looked at his other good friends, Kyoka, Ochako, and Tenya. He knew he was in trouble, and so he just had to figure out what to do about it.
Denki had hoped that his organization of the movement would put out an olive branch, and hopefully make up for whatever he must have done to make his best friends angry with him, but it seemed to have backfired because he went two months after that without seeing Neito at all, and only seeing Hitoshi at school. Even at school, Hitoshi seemed hesitant around him, only giving short answers, and not engaging with him like he usually did.
When Denki's mother asked him what was wrong when she found him crying once again, like he used to with his old friend group after they excluded and made fun of him, Denki refused to open up, saying that it was stupid and he was just imaging it, refusing to go into further detail when prompted.
Around this time is when Denki started online gaming. He didn't have close friends at school because he must have done something to anger Hitoshi, and he didn't have close friends on the weekend because he must have upset Neito and Hitoshi. He started spending more time with his older friend group, though he kept it casual and didn't take any extended offers to spend time with them outside of school. He was just thankful that they were being kinder to him and not ostracizing him anymore, though sometimes they did seem unsure of how to act around him and it just didn't feel as warm and genuine as when he spent time with the soulmates.
His self-esteem took a hit, and he didn't want to bother Momo every weekend just in case he would somehow upset her, too, and make her want to stop spending time with him like the soulmates had. When his mother and father gifted him a nice PC setup for his harder school work as a reward because of keeping his grades consistently high, he asked for a headset and some games to play, too.
"Don't let this interfere with your grades," his mother had tried joking with him, but he just nodded and thanked her with a smile that didn't reach his eyes.
She was worried about him and hoped that giving him this gaming outlet might be the thing to get him back on track. She had already been in contact with the inpatient hospital, nervous that it might have something to do with his schizophrenia, but they said that as long as he was not an imminent threat to himself or others, there really wasn't anything they could do for him, and to just keep an eye on him.
A month later, and Denki had an online gaming best friend who could play with Denki for hours and hours every single night and never get bored of him.
High5UrDead was almost annoyingly good with coming up with strategies that worked almost too well, but Denki couldn't complain because he was the one who came up with the foolproof back-up plans that got them out of sticky situations on the rare occasion that one of the plans High5UrDead came up with backfired spectacularly. It made Denki feel better that the most common strategies that they used they had come up with together.
As the soulmates steadily pulled away and increased their space from Denki, he couldn't help but feel that it was only a matter of time. Everyone got annoyed with him eventually. The truth was, he was a lot to handle, and he couldn't even be mad at Neito and Hitoshi like he wanted to be. He was just grateful that as one friendship came to an end, he seemed to have a new one budding and taking its place. When his friend group from school had really started treating him badly, he had Neito and Hitoshi to rely on. Now that they were drifting apart, he had High5UrDead.
He also managed to get back into the swing of things with his old friend group. They seemed to have realized that it was more fun with Denki than without him, and with Denki keeping a healthy distance and opting to play online rather than spend time with them outside of school, they haven't been getting as annoyed with him as quickly, which he was grateful for. Distance makes the heart grow fonder, and all that. Right?
"Two o'clock!" High5UrDead warned through the headset Denki was wearing.
Denki reacted automatically, turning his character in the game to the right and shooting without hesitation.
"Fuck yes! You're the best teammate I've ever had!" High5UrDead exclaimed when the victory screen replaced the gamescape.
And to think that they had been placed together by pure coincidence. High5UrDead was not pleased when Denki admitted that it was his very first time playing the game, but quickly warmed up to him when he realized his reaction time was lightning fast and he was a quick learner. He learned the maps quickly and maneuvered around the gamescape like he had been playing since the game had launched five years ago. He followed directions well and offered great ideas when High5UrDead was out of strategy and was about to give in and die, ready to just start the game over again.
Denki, though. Denki showed him that you always fight until you can't anymore, and Denki managed to get them out of more than one tough spot and kept fighting, long after High5UrDead was ready to call it quits and just reset the game. Their teamwork improved even more as they played together, and even through a virtual online game, they developed a solid sort of trust that they would respond to each other's commands first and ask questions never.
So, Denki didn't hesitate to shoot a player that headed in their direction when High5UrDead commanded it. High5UrDead broke out into manic laughter over the headset as the player respawned, only to fill Denki's headset with another voice.
"Is that any way to treat your teammate?" the newcomer's deep voice asked in response to High5UrDead's laughter, but he didn't seem too upset. There was a nice lilt in his voice that gave away his amusement.
The new character had the gamer tag '2Hot2Die' floating above his head as he crouched down to join the meeting that Denki and High5UrDead was having before infiltrating enemy territory. It would be very helpful to have another player to help out. Three against twenty-five was better odds than two against twenty-five, of course; though, Denki knew that with their teamwork, it could still be a success, even if the newcomer decided not to help afterall.
"So, you're the one who took my place, huh?" 2Hot2Die asked Denki. "P05itiv3R3v0lt? I've heard good things about you."
"You guys know each other in real life?" Denki guessed.
Denki's headset crackled to life with an overlapping "yeah" and "unfortunately."
"Don't act like I'm not the best thing to ever happen to you," 2Hot2Die teased High5UrDead.
"Maybe if you wouldn't have ditched me, I wouldn't have to question your loyalty," High5UrDead retorted quickly.
"Okay," 2Hot2Die bit back, "Just because I'm not some freak, no offence to you, P05itiv3Revolt—"
"None taken."
"—who can play every day for hours upon hours, doesn't mean that I'm not the best teammate you've ever had."
"P05itiv3R3v0lt is the best online teammate I've ever had. And, if I ever met him in real life, he might even surpass you."
"Uh, I think probably not. With a tag like that… Say, P05itiv3R3v0lt, what do you want to be when you grow up?" 2Hot2Die asked with a strange tone. It was teasing in a slightly menacing way, but Denki didn't feel like he was being made fun of.
"I'm going to be a hero," Denki answered with conviction, hoping with his whole heart that his online friends wouldn't laugh at him.
"I figured," 2Hot2Die answered. "And with everything I've heard about you, I'm sure you'll make a great one."
That was the opposite of what Denki was expecting and it took his breath away for a minute.
"With your strategizing and your tendency to fight until the very end, the heroes will be lucky to have you," High5UrDead added, and Denki had never heard his voice so soft before. "But, until then, you're going to help me kill these assholes. 2Hot2Die, are you in or out?"
"Aw," 2Hot2Die cooed. "You think I'm hot, boss?"
Denki could only assume the resulting yelling and scuffling sounds coming through his headset were the result of High5UrDead physically tracking down 2Hot2Die and maybe murdering him in cold blood. Was Denki a witness to homicide?
"Change your tag, dumbass," High5Ur Dead muttered when he came back onto the game.
2Hot2Die blew a kiss through the headset, and High5UrDead's character turned around, lifted his weapon, and killed 2Hot2Die. 2Hot2Die respawned, and High5UrDead shot him once again.
"Okay! Okay! Just no more friendly fire!" 2Hot2Die pleaded, making his character run to find cover from High5UrDead's wrath.
"Friendly? There's nothing friendly about my fire," High5UrDead sneered with a maniacal laugh as he rounded the corner to fire once again at 2Hot2Die.
2Hot2Die became Fri3ndlyFir3 as an extra jab at High5UrDead, but ultimately, he accepted the replacement, and only then did the game continue. They took down all twenty-five enemies with no casualties, if you don't count High5UrDead killing his own teammate multiple times in a row, that is.
A/N: Is this story kind of angsty? I feel like it's getting kind of angsty. It wasn't my intention, I swear! It's just kind of what happened, and I feel like the soulmate discovery will be that much sweeter if they have to work hard for it, you know? Strap in, readers! It'll get worse before it gets better!