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Kaminari was having a horrible day.
He loved being at UA - the classes may have been hard, but they were stimulating, and he loved all of his classmates! However, the thing that he didn’t enjoy as much was his quirk. Training was brutal and his quirk certainly didn’t help.
But most of all, he hated the side effects. He didn’t care about the pain whenever he used it, as he was well accustomed to it. The thing he couldn’t stand was the tics. One after another with little time in between, muscle spasms that made him move involuntarily - stopping it only made it hurt more, made them more intense. Kaminari loved attention but he hated it when it was from him making an odd noise in public which caused people to stare. He didn’t want to make that noise! He didn’t want to punch himself in the head when it was already pounding from quirk overuse!
(He’d grown ashamed to leave his own room at times.)
It didn’t used to be as bad as it was now. Kaminari assumed it was probably growing to be worse as they progressed through the hero course and he was forced to use his quirk more, more, more.
At times, it made him want to drop out of the hero course. He worked so hard, and for what? To struggle in his own body? To lose control over his movements? What good was a hero when he would only end up bringing everyone down.
But when Bakugou lightly clapped him on the back as they made their way back to the changeroom, he remembered.
He wanted to help people.
It was hard, but he wouldn’t give up that goal.
“You did good out there.” Bakugou said quietly as they walked behind the rest of their friends.
“You too.” Kaminari hummed.
Twitch. His head jerked to the side.
“I’m always good.” Bakugou laughed.
“You are - you are!” Kaminari said, finding himself repeating his words unwillingly, but Bakugou said nothing about it.
“I’ll make us dinner tonight?” Bakugou said softly, and Kaminari knew that that was Bakugou’s way of saying he knew that Kaminari was having a shit time.
“Sounds good!” Kaminari said with a smile, one of his hands coming up to smack his other wrist and leaving him to feel the burn even through the fabric of his jacket. His eyes rolled to the side and back a few times, looking at nothing in particular when all he wanted to look at was Bakugou.
“Take a shower or something when we get back to the dorms and I’ll start getting something ready.” Bakugou said, and Kaminari nodded in response, a hum coming up unwillingly but only serving to add to his response.
Kaminari did as told when they were finally done for the day and able to go back to the dorms, but he didn’t shower for long. He knew that the warm water was supposed to act as a comfort, but it was hard to keep the fear at bay that he might accidentally spark up in this state. When he was done, he made his way to Bakugou’s room in hopes that he’d be able to find him there. His head twitched a few times as he closed Bakugou’s dorm door behind him and made his way to the kitchen.
“There you are!” Kaminari said happily, wrapping his arms around Bakugou’s waist as the explosive blond continued to stir a pot on the stove.
“That was quick.” Bakugou said, suspicious of if Kaminari actually went to shower or not.
“I was quick! My hair’s still wet, too!” Kaminari huffed, “Not all of us take 3-hour long showers like you do!”
Kaminari placed a kiss on Bakugou’s cheek as he took in the amused expression.
The food didn’t take much longer to cook, and Kaminari was glad that Bakugou didn’t make something messy in case his tics got the best of him. They went up to Bakugou’s room, just as Kaminari had suspected them to end up being in.
“What do you want to watch?” Bakugou asked as he pulled out his laptop.
“You.” Kaminari mumbled.
“That’s not an answer, dummy.” Bakugou laughed, lightly knocking on Kaminari’s forehead. “We’re watching Disney, then.”
Kaminari shrugged in response, knowing that he wouldn’t pay attention to the movie regardless.
He was glad to be here with Bakugou - even better that they were in Bakugou’s room and Kaminari was surrounded in his scent, even more so with how he’d borrowed one of his boyfriend’s hoodies. The scent may have been bitter with the hints of sweat, but the burnt sugar scent that overpowered from the nitroglycerin felt addictive to Kaminari. He never wanted to let go of it.
Bakugou was kind to him, so kind and Kaminari didn’t know what to do with it.
He put his head on Bakugou’s shoulder as the movie started up, even if he had yet to start paying attention and was only doing it to be closer to Bakugou.
“You’re needy.” Bakugou laughed as he swallowed a bite of his food, reaching a hand up to ruffle Kaminari’s still-drying hair.
“Ne - Needy,” Kaminari repeated, then laughed quietly. “Yeah…”
“Even your stupid brain can’t get enough of me,” Bakugou said with a smirk.
“My stupid brain is me and you are absolutely correct.” Kaminari said, pretending to be serious. “I’m smitten and it’s all your fault!”
Bakugou laughed, and Kaminari found himself falling even more in love. How could he not when Bakugou was so perfect in every single way? He didn’t mind when Kaminari twitched and accidentally hit their heads together, and he didn’t tell Kaminari to get off when a violent jerk wracked through his body as they sat side by side.
He never said anything bad about the tics. He always wanted to help.
Bakugou was going to be a hero for everyone - but he was specifically Kaminari’s hero most of all in that moment. He inspired Kaminari to not give up and he fully supported Kaminari along the way.
“I love you.” Kaminari whispered, barely loud enough to be heard over the movie that played through the laptop’s speakers.
“I love you more.” Bakugou said, turning his head so he could place a soft kiss on top of Kaminari’s.
Kaminari may have felt like an outsider when the side effects of his quirk kicked in, but with Bakugou, he’d never felt more at home.