Kaminari woke up sandwiched between Mina's right foot and Kirishima's chest. He shoved aside the pink sock in his face, earning a groan from Ashido, and did his best to wiggle out of the doggy pile. After an incredible feat of gymnastics, Denki untangled himself and wobbled to his bag on still-asleep legs. He'd left his phone on top of it and he wanted to check on Shinsou. He still felt bad that Bakugou refused to let his boyfriend join in. Did he really think Shinsou would hurt Kirishima like that? He really hoped Katsuki will change his mind before class. Kaminari had a feeling that his lover would need extra affection today and started to supply it.

You: r u ok?

You: miss u

He waited a minute but didn't hear back. Denki hoped he just wasn't near his phone. He shoved it into his pocket and went back to the bed. Leaning over the side to get a better look at Kirishima, he carefully pulled the boy's hair back to examine the bandages. Nothing had bled through. His dressings still looked fresh and neat. The hit hadn't been half as bad as it looked. Thank fuck.

He felt a buzz in his pocket.

Shinbae: I'm fine. I went home with Papa Mic and Dadzawa. How is Kirishima?

You: hes ok

Thinking a picture was worth a bajillion words, or whatever it was, Kaminari snapped a quick photo of the doggy pile to send to his boyfriend.

You: hella

You: but its not the ful squad without u (｡•́︿•̀｡)

You: when r u back?

Shinbae: I don't know. I might just come to class with dad. We're going to eat breakfast now. Mic cut the pancakes into cat shapes.

Shinbae:

Damn, that whole family is adorable. Wait till I tell the gang Aizawa gets cat pancakes every day. Kaminari let out a sigh he didn't know he was holding. Everything was okay. He'd see him soon and everything would be fine. Kirishima was safe, his friends were warm and cuddly, and Hitoshi was alright. Better than alright.

I know he didn't do it. He'd never do something like that.

Despite that, a little voice in the back of his head kept telling him, ' but what if he did? No one knew where he was- he's got no alibi. Nobody else has his quirk either. What if he's hurting my friends?'

What if he was the one who left that note? I gave him my extra key two weeks ago in case I lost mine. It'd be easy for him to get in and out with no evidence left.

Denki tried to shake the thought out of his head. He knew better than that. He has to trust Shinsou. He does trust him. His chest felt cold and empty just thinking about his trepidation.

"Come back to bed, doofus," Sero whisper-whined from beneath Bakugou's arm and Mina's left leg. "It's not a pile unless there are five people. That's a mathematical fact."

"Bro, that's totally not even a thing," Kaminari huffed but started towards the bed anyway.

"How would you know, Mr. 20th place in class?"

Denki shoved Sero aside to climb back into the pile, deliberately throwing most of his weight on the lanky boy who got the wind knocked out of him.

The rest of the squad grumbled, woken up by Kaminari's weight and Sero's taunting. The noises sounded displeased but Denki caught the smile on Kirishima's face after he had returned to their cuddling.

Kaminari settled into place, tangling himself with the others, before sending out a quick text.

You: u owe me like 10000000 hugs

You: miss u

You: is that clingy? frget i said anything

Shinbae: I miss you too. My dads say hi. See you in class.

You: 3.

See? Everything is going to be okay.

Shinsou was late to class, which made sense because his father was late to class every day. He was carrying the famous bright yellow sleeping bag while Aizawa juggled some textbooks that he never ended up using in class anyway.

"Go on in, kid, I'll be there in a moment. Tell everyone to sit down."

Hitoshi nodded and carried the sleeping bag over to Aizawa's chair for him to use later.

Suddenly, he felt someone catch him in a chokehold. As fast as he could, Shinsou used the other person's weight as leverage to lean back and then toss over his shoulder.

He was surprised to see blonde hair whizz by him and a high squeal ring in his ears.

Goddamnit, Denki.

"Why would you sneak up on me?"

The smaller boy lay sprawled on the floor, luckily having caught himself enough to only have bruised his arm from the throw.

"It was supposed to be a glomp! Don't you have boyfriend senses that tell you I'm nearby?"

Shinsou rolled his eyes and helped the other up off the floor. "Try saying 'hello' next time. You'll find the results include a lot less shoulder throws."

Kaminari batted his eyes coquettishly, "Hello!"

Sero laughed from behind them, "Bit late, dude."

The rest of the squad sidled up to him, with Kirishima excitedly offering Shinsou a high five. "Sick throw! You didn't even waste a second. Super manly."

Their palms connected in a loud slap. "Thanks?"

Mina reached over to fix Denki's hair- disheveled by the forceful swing- with all the affection of a mother bird. "You trying to rock the Mina look or the Shinsou one?" She turned to the tallest boy, "Come to think of it, we have similar hairstyles, yeah? What product do you use to get yours so up and fluffy?"

Shinsou seemed perplexed, "I...don't?"

Mina sighed and looked skyward groaning, "I hate the men at this school."

The group dissolved into chatting amicably, none of them mentioning yesterday's attack but showing Shinsou their trust in the easy-going way they accepted him again.

Ojirou walked up to the group, arms crossed, and looked Hitoshi in the eye with a grin on his face. "So, did you pick Kirishima to hurt because you pretend to be his friend?"

The room went silent.

"What did you say?"

"Watch your fucking mouth, shithead." Bakugou spat at the tailed boy.

Said boy shrugged. "I said, did you think it would make you look less suspicious to hurt Kirishima then to choose someone outside your little squad?"

Shinsou was well aware Ojirou still had some resentment from what he did at the sports festival. Normally he wouldn't blame him but this was going too far. Hitoshi stepped forward and grabbed the boy by his shirt.

"Listen, you rejected Muppet, I would never hurt Kirishima or anyone else in 1-A."

"Next time why not just stab Kaminari? No way they'd think you're the culprit after that."

Shinsou's capture cloth wound its way around Ojirou's neck in a flash. The binds tightened till the other boy could barely breathe. Nonetheless, he still had a smile on his red face.

"Yeah, now you really look innocent. 'Would never hurt anyone in 1-A,' huh?"

Hitoshi pulled back and took his binding cloth with him, leaving Ojirou to fall to his knees gasping. He noticed the class was silent and had been watching the whole scene.

Fuck.

Aizawa came into the room and quickly deduced what had happened. Shinsou was ashamed to have hurt another student but he still thought the tailed boy deserved it. He just hoped his dad wasn't too disappointed in him.

"Hagakure, can you escort Ojirou to Recovery Girl? The rest of you, take your seats. I will talk with all involved parties after class."

When Shinsou finally looked into his father's eyes he saw both concern and disapproval. Which was hurting him more than most things could.

He started it. You have to believe me, Dad…

After homeroom Aizawa pulled Shinsou aside to talk. Hitoshi felt his chest clench at the prospect of hearing his dad was disappointed. He looked up at his father and began to explain himself.

"He tried to say I'd hurt Denki so people wouldn't think I'm the attacker. I couldn't take that. I know it's unbecoming of a hero, but I'd do it again."

Aizawa sighed, "I understand you were protecting yourself and your loved ones, but you should have waited for me or one of the other teachers. We could have officially put him in his place without you getting in trouble. It's not great to have an attack on your record like this while under suspicion-"

Shinsou winced but walked closer to his father, seeking comfort. Aizawa grabbed his shoulders and held him at a small distance.

"-even if the other party instigated it. Principal Nezu will likely be willing to overlook this incident, but I'm hesitant to do the same."

"Wouldn't you have reacted the same way if someone said that about Hizashi?"

Aizawa paused in thought, "Probably, but I'd have waited until I was alone with them before doing anything."

Hitoshi snorted and leaned his head against his father's chest. Just being close like this was healing enough. He knew he should have been more careful but he's only a teenager. His brain hasn't even fully developed yet! Aren't you supposed to get willpower and self-control later?

"I'll be careful. I'll do better next time dad. I promise."

His dad hugged him close and ruffled his poof of hair. "I'm holding you to that."

Ojirou had made a point of not even looking in Shinsou's direction while the class started training for practicals. Everyone was out in the field, Ground Beta, which Kaminari had been vocal about appreciating since this is where he and Mic had been having all of their practice. Bakugou was still a little bitter that he didn't have private lessons with a teacher, but he had given the rare compliment that Denki had gotten better with his quirk so it couldn't be all that bad. Kaminari had been sparkling with joy for the whole day after that one.

As the class took to the field they were split into two groups based on where they were standing. Which meant, luckily, that Shinsou and Ojirou didn't have to be on the same team. No one had broached the subject with either of the boys since the argument that morning, though Midoriya had tried to offer some awkwardly kind words to Hitoshi while waiting for lunch. The squad had tried to keep the purple-haired boy close, and shot the necessary dirty looks if anyone looked at him funny.

Aizawa and Mic stood beside each other to delegate the afternoon's practice. One group was to play the attacking villains, and the other was to play the defending heroes. Throughout the fake city, they had placed mannequins that stood in for innocent bystanders- points were awarded to the villain team if these were wounded, captured, or abandoned. Villains also got points for hurting or capturing heroes, and forcing a standoff for beyond thirty minutes. Points went to the hero team if 80% of the fake civilians were rescued and brought to safety, and at least 5 villains captured. This had to be completed within the thirty minutes given before a 'bomb' went off.

"Doesn't this give an extremely unfair advantage to the villains, Aizawa-sensei?" Iida shouted.

"Do you think that real villains won't often have the advantage? If you can't work with uneven odds then you shouldn't be in my class." Aizawa's penchant for vaguely threatening expulsion hadn't died down a bit since first year. Shinsou wouldn't lie- he freaking loved it when his dad did that.

This shut Iida up appropriately and he then turned to his team of ten to strategize for the oncoming battle.

Shinsou had been standing with the Bakusquad so all of them were on the same team: Team Villain. Which he wasn't too happy about because the last thing he wanted to be associated with right now was a villain. Kaminari must have noticed his because he slipped his hand into Shinsou's and gave it a tight squeeze.

"You okay, babe?"

"Yeah, I'll be ok. Just a bit pissed off still," he squeezed the blonde's hand back. Thankful for the comfort. Denki always seemed to know when he needed it the most. It was all these little things that made Kaminari so precious to him.

"Well now we can totally kick his ass and it's sanctioned by Dadzawa too! You think he did it on purpose? I totally think he did."

Hitoshi could easily see his dad giving him a chance to beat up Ojirou for this morning. He also knew he probably shouldn't or he really would look like the bad guy. That doesn't mean the sentiment wasn't appreciated all the same. He loved his dads so much.

"If you don't fuck that shitstain up, I will."

Even Bakugou was in full protective mode. Thank goodness he had the squad during all this mess.

"Okay, that's all the time you kids are getting to come up with a plan. Both groups have five minutes to go to opposite sides of the field. I'm not telling you brats where any of the 'civilians' are, because we never know until we get to the scene, so keep an eye out. Ready?"

Aizawa looked to Present Mic and an unspoken request was made.

The blonde man threw his head back dramatically and shouted, "GO! PLUS ULTRA!"

Fuck, my dad is loud.

The two groups quickly flew from each other and the battle began.

Shinsou had been directed by Momo, the unofficially elected leader of Team Villain, to group up with Todoroki, Tsuyu, and Sero. They were a strange quartet but they'd make it work.

They'd been given the indoor sectors to hunt in, and were instructed to decimate any 'civilians' or to capture any heroes that they came across. Sero was an obvious choice for a capture team given his quirk, Tsuyu would be tongue flinging people towards him, if not tying them up first herself, and Todoroki was in charge of trapping them with the elements he used. Shinsou felt a little left out. Those three alone would be a great team, but he felt worried he's slow their progress. Sero had immediately shot that worry down by saying, "Dude. We both have tape. You can bind the shit out of anybody. Now get your gay ass over here and be evil with us."

Sero truly had a way with words.

They'd brought down around five civilians, netting them an equal amount of points, and succeeded in capturing Shoji who'd been separated from his group and was easily tied up- all six of his arms- in a quick tangle.

Todoroki lit the nearby 'civilian' on fire before checking the time. "We have ten minutes left. I can't imagine our team will lose, but I'm unsure how the rest of our group is doing."

The four watched the fire burn itself out before bringing Shoji outside to get picked up by a team member later.

Shinsou heard a crack echo through the space between buildings and a light flash. He turned to Tsuyu to suggest they join up but found Sero was already swinging himself to the nearest window ledge. He flexed his binding cloth up to wrap around the fire escape and pulled himself up. Upon entering the dark room, Shinsou flew to assist.

Kaminari and Mina were backed up into a corner. Aoyama was tied up to their right, and Hagakure, who was originally assigned to their team, was nowhere to be seen- and not in the usual way, either.

"The cavalry has arrived!" Sero shouted as he threw tape around the attacking trio of Tokoyami, Sato, and Ojirou.

Of course, it just had to be him.

Dark Shadow spiraled from Tokoyami and tore the tape to shreds, a smug grin on its face. Shinsou actually found the creature kind of cute, especially when it begged for head rubs, but fuck if it wasn't terrifying in action.

Shinsou ducked around Dark Shadow and went for Sato instead. He knew the boy was powered up so a strength-based approach wasn't going to work in his favor. There was only one thing he could count on.

"Heads up, Sato! What the hell are you doing?" Ojirou shouted.

Only it wasn't actually Ojirou who said it.

"I'm trying m-" and Shinsou watched with satisfaction as Sato fell still and came under his control.

"Run outside and tell Aizawa you give up." Hitoshi spoke loud enough for the others to hear and he spotted a proud series of looks from his team members. Well, mostly Kaminari and Mina but their opinions were worth more than most others.

Sato bolted out of the room before his teammates could pull him out of his spell.

One down.

Todoroki had managed to freeze Dark Shadow, and Tokoyami had fallen backwards from the weight of it. Sero wasted no time in wrapping him up securely with enough tape to make the bird boy look prepared for Halloween. Tsuyu literally sat down on him to hold him in place.

The only enemy remaining now was Ojirou. Shinsou was afraid if he went after the tailed boy that he'd bring upon the suspicion Aizawa had warned him about earlier, but he also wasn't about to abandon his friends to deal with him. Luckily, he didn't have to.

Mina threw her acid forward so Denki could use the distraction to get behind Ojirou. Putting his palms together and gathering as much energy as he could, lighting up the dark room, Kaminari rushed forward, "This is for messing with my boyfriend, you fuck!" and blasted Ojirou hard enough to hit the wall.

Shinsou smiled. Mina and Kaminari high-fived, which they both broke quickly as his hands were still sparking and Mina got zapped hard enough to merit a noise. Hitoshi walked up to the blonde, careful to grab his shoulders and not his hands, to turn him around and kiss him squarely on the lips. He could feel Denki's smile against his own. They parted to take care of the clean up but the silent promise to continue later that day had definitely been made.

Afterwards, Shinsou went to untie a winded Aoyama who slurred a, "merci" while getting to his feet. He was kind of embarrassed about kissing Denki in front of everyone, even though he certainly didn't regret it after seeing his boyfriend be such a badass, so he kept himself to the side and watched everyone put themselves back together.

Ojirou groaned from against the wall, and Tokoyami lay on the ground awake, newly unfrozen, but tied up. The victorious team heard the alarm sound for the end of their thirty minute exercise. Even if they hadn't won the whole thing they sure felt like winners.

Everyone in the room started to chat with each other loudly, the exception being Ojirou, and fist-bumps were had- though Todoroki didn't participate. He merely watched this happen with the analyzing stare of someone reading National Geographic.

Then Dark Shadow shrieked from the floor and Tokoyami tore out of his bindings, knocking Tsuyu to the ground. No one thought anything of it until Mina spotted the blank look in his eyes. She tried to call attention to the others but the room was just too loud.

With a cry Tokoyami charged towards the wall and grabbed Ojirou with Dark Shadow's claws, spinning the boy and releasing him through the glass window with full force. The shattered pieces flew everywhere and the group heard a scream before a loud thump. Shinsou rushed to the broken window and found Ojirou on the ground, four floors beneath them, with a viciously broken leg and covered in cuts from the glass.

Many of the other students had gathered at the first scream and looked up to the window the tailed boy had been thrown out of. Shinsou saw all eyes fall on him, just as they had this morning when he and Ojirou had argued.

Oh, fuck. Not again. Please, not again.

Aizawa and Present Mic ran to check on the fallen boy. He could see their concern from four floors up, and watched his dads turn to look at him standing there, framed by broken glass.

Present Mic used his quirk to announce that everyone should return to the entrance and wait for the teachers. Aizawa picked a groaning Ojirou up and quickly carried him off, most likely to see Recovery Girl.

Shinsou turned around to go downstairs with everyone else and met a series of frightened eyes. Tokoyami was holding his head, Dark Shadow preening his feathers in a comforting manner, and mumbling that he hadn't meant to do that. That he had had no control over himself. The same familiar story that Uraraka had told yesterday. It couldn't be a coincidence.

"Are you alright?" Shinsou walked towards the bird boy and extended a hand to help him up. Tokoyami pulled himself back with a look of fear.

Hitoshi felt his heart stop.

When he peered up at the others nobody seemed any less perturbed than they had before. Even Denki looked upset.

Shinsou couldn't handle it. This feeling. This familiar feeling of being watched by frightened stares and avoided. This feeling that came with noticing Tokoyami had been afraid to answer his question, much less allow him near. The feeling he thought he'd never have in the future.

The purple haired boy clenched his teeth and left by the same fire escape they'd climbed up to get in.

Nobody went to stop him, and nobody chased after him either. Once again, he was alone.

Kaminari was afraid. He knew Shinsou didn't do it. Yeah, he didn't have any evidence, and things looked really bad, but it just didn't make sense.

He wouldn't. He couldn't.

The blonde looked around the gathered group of students as Present Mic did a headcount. Shinsou stood by himself, separated from the rest by at least five feet. Nobody approached him. All Denki wanted to do was go to his side, hold his hand, give him a hug...anything. But his feet were frozen. He couldn't silence the part of his mind that told him there was danger. His heart wouldn't stop thundering against his chest.

Not to mention, what would others think if he skipped over to his boyfriend after all that happened, especially since he'd beaten the crap out of Ojirou only moments before he was thrown from the window?

Present Mic finished checking the students over and making sure everyone was accounted for. He told them to hit the locker room and to go to their dorms immediately afterwards. The blonde man spared Shinsou a worried look but clearly wouldn't say anything in front of the group.

Kirishima, Mina, Sero, and an even more than usually agitated Bakugou stood at Denki's side. He wished they'd go and comfort Shinsou instead but he knew they could see the way he was shaking and the distress in his eyes. Squad came first, and right now Shinsou wasn't being treated like squad. The tall boy had already started quickly walking back towards the school. Alone.

Denki felt sick to his stomach.

The group was officially dismissed and Kaminari left his friends to get to the locker room. Maybe he could catch Shinsou alone.

It hadn't taken him long, and soon Denki was nervously shifting from side to side as he waited by Shinsou's locker for him to return.

The aforementioned boy entered the room with an icy scowl on his face.

"What?" Denki liked to think that Hitoshi probably didn't mean to be short with him but he couldn't contain his anger after such a day. Right?

Shinsou opened his locker and took out the bag he'd stashed there before class.

"I just wanted to see you. What happened was really fucked up." The blonde's voice was unusually quiet and he couldn't get his eyes to meet Shinsou's.

Silence.

"You think I did it too."

No! Of course not. You would never use your powers that way. Kaminari could think of a million things to say but found himself unable to speak. He felt that he was shaking again.

When he finally looked up the hurt was clear in those purple eyes, "why doesn't anyone ever believe in me? I thought at least you of all people would." Shinsou slammed his locker shut and quickly left the room. His gym bag sat forgotten on the bench beside the blonde. Kaminari picked it up and cradled the bundle against his chest.

His first instinct was to run after the other, but as much as he hated it he felt like Shinsou needed some time to cool down. Still clutching the bag, Kaminari left the locker rooms to go back to Heights Alliance. Denki felt like he existed outside of his body during the entire walk home. He was an exposed wound. If he felt like this he couldn't imagine how Hitoshi must be feeling right now. He did his best to keep from tearing up.

When he got to his room he set the bag down and opened it. There was a used pair of gym clothes, the pencil case decorated with cartoon cats, and a plain black t-shirt that Kaminari had seen the tall boy wear before. He took the last item out and hugged it. He'd much rather be hugging the boy himself but he'd take what comfort he could. Shinsou wouldn't know he'd done this anyway. He pressed it against his face for a kiss.

Warm . Safe. Kaminari didn't know how to describe the smell of the t-shirt but he knew how it made him feel. When he thought about how distraught Shinsou had looked when he took off it made his heart hurt.

He squeezed the shirt against him and whispered, "I believe in you, Hitoshi," into the fabric before he closed his eyes and cried.

"Do you think I did it, too?"

Aizawa and Mic turned to Recovery Girl's doorway to see Shinsou standing there with red eyes and a broken-hearted expression.

His homeroom teacher didn't take a second before answering, "It's obvious you didn't do it," and then leveled a concerned and stern gaze, "is someone saying you did?"

"No one is talking to me. They give me these looks . It's like I'm back in middle school all over again." Shinsou felt bitter but he also felt betrayed. Hadn't he worked so hard to make friends here? Was this always going to be what happened to him? "Even Denki looked at me like I would hurt him."

I thought I finally made it. They aren't going to laugh with me anymore. No more squad. No nothing.

Aizawa opened his arms and Shinsou ran into them for a hug. The blonde man joined them shortly and the three stood in a familial embrace.

Love. I still have their love. That's what matters.

Mic looked strange without a smile on his face. He turned to him, face surprisingly mature, and said, "we'll figure this out, Hitoshi. We won't let you take the fall for this."

Shinsou stepped back out of the hug and felt his heartbeat settle down. He had to admit it felt amazing to know people still believed in him. He wasn't a villain with them, and he didn't have to defend himself from the two people who loved him more than his biological family ever could.

Aizawa looked at Hizashi fondly, clearly approving of his words for Shinsou, before ruffling the already messy purple hair in front of him. "Besides, we both know that the tesla coil you call a boyfriend believes in you. Maybe he was just scared, you know how he panics. He loves you too much to stay away." Shinsou laughed and wiped at his face with his sleeve. Aizawa opened his arms again, "Now get over here for another hug or I'm sending you back to Gen Ed."