Kaminari lay across the common room couch, looking much like a dead banana slug. 

 

It was a cloudy, Saturday evening, and Ashido Mina, who had unfortunately drawn the short-end of the stick, was on the grueling task of setting up for movie night. The Alien Queen stood in front of Kaminari’s unmoving body, scratching her head with a look of troubled-pity.

 

“Kaminari,” she called softly, “I know you’re sore, Baby, but can you scooch over a little? We need the couch.”  

 

Kaminari made no indication that any of her words had registered. 

 

Mina hesitantly poked the blondie on his back, checking for signs of life. Nothing. She nudged his sides. Still no reaction. It wasn’t until she slapped him on the arm—an arm that she had half expected to come away with slime from disuse—that Kaminari immediately curled in on himself, turning his back to her as if that would somehow wall off any further attacks. He moaned pitifully into the seat cushions, the only attempt at a warning he could muster.

 

Mina placed her hands on her hips and pursed her lips in deep-thought. This was becoming quite the predicament. It was a well-known fact that Kaminari was the baby of the bunch. And much like a baby, he was known to get fussy. Especially when he wasn’t feeling well. Which was exactly how they ended up in this mess in the first place. 

 

Mina heaved another sigh. 

 

It was at that moment that Kirishima and Bakugou walked into the common space.   

 

“Yo, Mina! You got the movie set up yet?” Kirishima called brightly. 

 

“Not yet. Baby won’t move. We have nowhere to sit,” Mina pouted. 

 

Kirishima took one look at the shriveled up Kaminari and involuntarily felt his heartstrings tug. His gaze softened instantly. Bakugou was always telling him he was way too sympathetic for his own good.  

 

“It’s okay, let him sleep. We can just sit on the ground.” Kirishima nodded towards the decent floor space in front of the couch.  

 

Bakugou who had been silently assessing the situation, immediately growled out his dissent.

 

“Are you fucking kidding me?! Absolutely not! I’ll move that dumbass by force if I have to.” 

 

Before Kirishima could even think of stopping his partner, Bakugou stalked towards the couch. 

 

“Oi, dunce face, get the fuck up.”

 

Kaminari heard Bakugou’s command and half-seriously considered ignoring it. Rationally, he knew it would be a bad idea. He would likely be in a world of hurt for displaying such disrespect. In all honesty, Bakugou was like the alpha of the pack. Didn’t often say much, but when he did, it was like his word was God’s. Kaminari didn’t want to find out what would happen if he ignored scripture, so he shifted his face to catch the light.

 

The look on Kaminari’s face caused even Bakugou’s heart to stop. 

 

Kaminari wasn’t dubbed the “Baby” of the group just because of his wimpy behavior. He was also the “Baby” because he pulled the most heart melting expressions. Bakugou was the last person anyone would expect to condone Kaminari’s whining. But then again, no one had expected that Bakugou would become such an integral and enmeshed part of a group either.   

 

“It hurts,” Kaminari mumbled pathetically, all teary-eyed and helpless.

 

Mina who had caught a glimpse of Kaminari’s face sidled over to Kirishima. 

 

“Maybe it wasn’t such a good idea to force Baby to get it,” she whispered. 

 

Kirishima shook his head. “If he’s like this now, imagine what he’d be like if he actually got sick. Trust me, this was the right call. He had to get it.”  

 

Mina chewed for a minute on Kirishima’s words. She knew he was right, but that didn’t mean it wasn’t heart-breaking to see Kaminari act like this. Usually, he would be cracking lame jokes and throwing popcorn at everyone. Mina missed her dumb, electric partner-in-crime. 

 

Bakugou, who had gone ridged upon seeing Kaminari’s pathetic expression, caught Kirishima’s gaze. No words were exchanged, but Kirishima gave a small shrug. 

 

“What do we do?” Mina uselessly gave voice to the question they were all thinking. 

 

In truth, it probably wasn’t a good idea to continue coddling Kaminari. But when he acted like this, no one had the heart to tell him off for it. 

 

No one except Jirou. 

 

“We need Ears,” Bakugou grunted.

 

“Is she coming down for the movie?” Kirishima asked. “I can go and get her, if she’s not.”

 

“She’s coming,” Mina confirmed. “Sero’s just helping her tape up the new band posters she bought last week.”

 

“What?! Where did she go last week?” Kirishima was shocked he had missed out on a poster sale. He had been wanting to get another piece for his room. Specifically, one of the new samurai movie that was coming out. He was sure he had told Jirou about it too…

 

“She invited you to go, idiot. It was at that shopping mall in Kiyashi, Wookiees, I think. But you and Bakugou had lame plans to go fishing or something.”

 

“We weren’t fishing. We were mountain hiking,” Bakugou corrected.

 

“Whatever, the fish you brought back still looked gross.”

 

“Didn’t see you complaining when you shoved it in that big ass mouth of yours.”  

 

“Miso salmon is different, especially when you make it,” Mina defended. “I don’t know how you do it, Bakugou. It literally just melted on my tongue!” 

 

Bakugou smirked. Mina vaguely wondered if she should maybe stop bolstering his already-inflated ego. 

 

“It’s cuz we used fresh fish. Not that frozen shit you find in the supermarket.” 

 

Mina gasped, instantly jabbing a finger at him in accusation. 

 

“Hah! See? So, you admit it. You were fishing!”

 

Kirishima, who had been desperately trying to figure out why he had turned down Jirou’s offer, finally remembered the events of last weekend. He smashed the base of his fist into his palm in a moment of epiphany.

 

“Oh right! It was the final week of the salmon run, supposedly at least. I wanted to see it, but Bakugou didn’t want to go to the river. He said it’d be too crowded. So, he took me to this really cool creek in the mountains instead. We had to hike for hours, but it was totally worth it, because there was literally no one else there. Plus, the view was beyond stellar. He said it was his secret—“ Kirishima immediately smacked his mouth shut, halting dead in his tracks. 

 

Oh, shit.

 

Chancing a glance at Bakugou, Kirishima nearly doubled over from all the daggers shooting from his vermillion stare. Kirishima wondered how it was possible for him to have missed such an intense aura of blood lust. 

 

Before Bakugou could beat Kirishima’s ass for broadcasting the mere existence of his secret sanctuary, the ding of the elevator alerted them to oncoming witnesses. Saved by the bell suddenly had a whole new connotation to Kirishima. 

 

“Bakugou, you can’t just keep such a scrumptious creek like that to yourself. Promise you’ll take us there sometime!” Mina gushed excitedly. Either the pink alien was blind to the mounting tension between the two boys, or she just deliberately liked stirring the pot. Knowing Mina’s personality, it was annoying to know it could be either. Or more likely both.  

 

Bakugou grumbled. “Yeah, maybe when you’re dead, I’ll bury you there.” 

 

Mina laughed and punched him on the arm. Bakugou’s jokes were funny because no one could tell whether he was being serious or not. 

 

“What’s this about burying the dead?” Sero asked, while walking over with Jirou. 

 

Jirou, who was arguably the most perceptive of the bunch—perhaps, even more so than Bakugou—pointed to the shriveled-up figure on the couch.  

 

“I think they mean Kaminari.”  

 

“Oh my God, Kyouka!” Mina rushed over to Jirou, all thoughts of finding the secret, secluded creek abandoned. “Thank goodness you’re here. Would you please do something about your boyfriend?” 

 

“Not my boyfriend, Mina,” Jirou retorted but made her way over to the golden-haired toddler anyway. 

 

Jirou looked down at Kaminari. She could tell from the way he was breathing that he wasn’t asleep. He was just being what he was best at: a big, sulky baby. 

 

“Denki, it was just a flu shot. You’re not dying. Get up.” 

 

Jirou was the only one who could call Kaminari out for his acts without being affected by his pathetic expressions. It wasn’t to say that Jirou was heartless. As a matter of fact, it was quite the opposite. She knew him too well. 

 

Jirou knew Kaminari’s cowardice stemmed from having been coddled his entire life. In large part, that was made easy due to his cute and playful nature. But Jirou knew underneath all his tacky charm and dumb antics, Kaminari possessed an inimitable strength. His quirk was part proof of that. Granted, he didn’t quite know how to use it, but wasn’t that why they were all in the hero program in the first place? UA wouldn’t have let Kaminari in if they didn’t think he had what it took to be a hero. He just needed someone to believe in him. 

 

Jirou threaded her fingers through Kaminari’s blond locks. He immediately responded to her touch, nuzzling into her palm. 

 

“Jirou…” Kaminari moaned feebly.

 

It would have been so easy to spoil him, to let him just lie there, indulging in her comfort. But Jirou knew that wouldn’t solve anything. She wanted to bring out that hero side of him she knew he possessed. And, after months of observing Denki, she knew exactly what to say to draw that person out.  

 

“Come on, Chargebolt. You can do it. Get up.” 

 

Kaminari breathed out a shaky sigh. Jirou was the only one who could elicit this kind of reaction from him. Because Kaminari knew, when she spoke to him like this, all soft and earnest, she was speaking nothing but the truth. Bakugou’s word may have been God’s, but Kaminari never said he was a theist. Jirou’s words were his faith. There was nothing he believed in more. 

 

The rest of the gang held their breaths as Kaminari slowly crawled into a sitting position. Kirishima, Mina, and Sero all but applauded when Jirou managed to help Kaminari get to his feet. The blond was clearly favoring his injected arm, acting as if it were broken. 

 

“Need me to fashion a sling for you, bro?” Sero offered, only half-jokingly.

 

“What’s a sling going to do? At least tape it to a splint,” Mina interjected.

 

“I thought the cast was supposed to come first.” Kirishima’s comment was the only, purely, well-intentioned one.

 

“Fuck that shit. If he doesn’t need his arm, I’ll gladly blow it up for him.” As always, Bakugou knew exactly how to escalate a joke. 

 

“You guys sure know how to make a bro feel cared about,” Kaminari muttered, indignantly.

 

Jirou rolled her eyes. 

 

“If you have time to sulk, I’d rather you move your feet,” Jirou remarked, pointedly. She hoisted his good arm around her shoulder and shuffled until both their feet hit hardwood. The friction from the carpet caused their clothes to sound with static.

 

“Wait, where are you guys going? I thought we were watching the movie.” Mina queried as she popped the disc in the reader. 

 

“I am.” Jirou gestured at herself, before jabbing a thumb towards Kaminari. “He’s not.”

 

“I’m not?” Kaminari asked confused. “Why not?”

 

Without warning, Jirou pressed a hand to Kaminari’s forehead. He moaned on contact. Her touch felt too-cool and too-comfortable against his heated skin. Jirou grimaced. She usually liked it when her hunches were correct, but not this time. As she thought, his breathing was too labored.

 

“He’s running a little hot. I think I’m going to take him to bed.”

 

“He just got the flu shot, how does he already have a fever?” Kirishima griped in disbelief. “Isn’t the whole point of the vaccine to keep the flu away?”

 

“It’s cuz dunce face here’s got a shitty immune system,” Bakugou growled. “Couldn’t even beat a dormant virus. If he caught the real thing, he’d be fucked.” 

 

“Jirou, you should give him some vitamins,” Sero supplied. “It might help. I've got some in my room.”

 

“Thanks,” Jirou said. Then after a moment’s thought, “Actually, Iida’s room is closer. But I’ll raid yours on the off chance he’s out.”

 

Whether Iida had vitamins or not wasn’t even a question that crossed their minds. Everyone knew the class president tended to be over-prepared. In all honesty, he probably had bottles to spare. 

 

“Good call.” Sero nodded, before tossing Jirou his dorm keys. 

 

“Alright, Denki, come on, let’s get you to bed,” Jirou chided.

 

“But I want to stay with you guys,” Kaminari whined. “I don’t like being alone. Jirou, don’t leave me alone.”

 

Jirou flicked him on the forehead, before wrapping a firm arm around his waist. Kaminari, the doofus, never made much sense, but he made even less sense now in his feverish state. Truth be told, Jirou had no idea what the hell she saw in him. But it had to have been something, because the sudden thought of watching a movie without Kaminari made Jirou want to skip out on the event altogether.

 

“As if I could ever,” Jirou muttered. Then turning to address the rest of the squad she called out, “Don’t bother waiting for me. Baby’s going to be a handful tonight.”   

 

With that, Jirou half-dragged, half-carried the semi-coherent Kaminari towards the elevators. As soon as they rounded the corner, Mina poked Kirishima. 

 

“Think they’re going to be okay?” She asked, voice pitching in slight concern.

 

“This is Jirou we’re talking about, as long as she’s there, he’ll be fine.”

 

“Twenty bucks says they’re going to have sex.”

 

“Ew, Sero! Gross. Jirou wouldn’t do that, at least not when he’s sick.” 

 

“So, you’re saying there’s a chance for him if he wasn’t?”

 

“Would you get your mind out of the gutter,” Kirishima reprimanded, taking Mina’s side. 

 

Although he couldn’t deny there was chemistry between Kaminari and Jirou, Kirishima didn’t think sex was something either of them would take lightly, let alone be brave enough to explore anytime soon.    

 

“If you assholes aren’t going to start the movie, I’m going to bed,” Bakugou grumbled. He had no desire or intention of hearing more of this inane conversation. His Saturday nights were precious, and he sure as hell wasn’t going to spend it discussing the non-existent sex life of his two loser classmates-he’d-never-admit-were-friends. 

 

The alpha had spoken. As Mina pressed the play button, a jarring violin refrain replaced all further conversation. 

 

Bakugou settled into Kirishima’s side while Mina leaned against Kirishima’s other, splaying her legs across Sero’s.

 

It never occurred to any of them that Jirou and Kaminari were already mapping out these intimate territories so much more quickly than their friends had expected. 

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