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Why, oh why, did he do this to himself.
Kaminari absolutely hated horror movies. Yet, like the dumbass he was, he agreed to go with a group of his classmates to the nearby drive-in movie theater. The first movie wasn’t too awful; some old 80s movie about a plant that came to life and tried to eat people. It really was a rather cheesy and cute ending, but the problem was it reminded Kaminari too much of his fight with Shiozaki from class 1-B. Hell, after that embarrassment, he had considered going vegetarian just to try and feel dominant over plants again.
But even worse than the cheesy 80s flick was the second movie: A proper horror movie. One with possession and demons and way too much blood and gore. And as much as he loved his dear friend Bakugo, him laughing maniacally every time one of the dumb movie teenagers was about to be killed by a chainsaw-wielding maniac in a hockey mask, was no benefit to Kaminari’s upset nerves. Thankfully, Midoriya and Ochako were not too big of fans of the blood and gore either, and he joined them inside the cafeteria for a burger and fries. He enjoyed their company and they all had a great time together, but the worst part of the night was no longer being next to his best friend Jirou.
She always seemed to like horror movies, even if they made her jump. In fact, that little jump was half the reason he even bothered to watch them. She’d often sit next to him, and any time a jump scare occurred or a violin string blared, she’d cover his eyes or squeeze his hand. Those cute moments of affection drove him wild, even if they were by no means romantic. Or, at least, that’s what he told himself while trying to deny his feelings for her.
By the time the movie had ended, Kaminari and the other couple had finished nearly twelve orders of fries. To be fair, half of the sides ended up on the floor from Ochako making them float while Midoriya and he would try to catch them in their mouths. Though, now, lying in bed at just past 2 a.m, the upset stomach he had from overeating was yet another factor keeping the poor guy awake.
Kaminari sighed to himself, grabbing his pillow and flipping it over yet again; trying to find that perfect cool side that always helped him fall asleep. He had been lying awake for nearly three hours, with the few pockets of sleep he had being filled with nightmares of evil plants with chainsaws. At this point he was willing to slam his head against the wall to try and get some proper sleep. But, as it had so far, sleep continued to elude the blonde.
“Fuck it,” he said to no one in particular and sat up from his bed. He rubbed his eyes to get the dust out of them and rolled to the edge of his bed, grabbing an old t-shirt from his bed table. He redressed himself as he headed out of his room.
After nearly two years of living in the dorms, Kaminari knew them like the back of his hand. But after a night of restlessness and creepy movies, every shadow cast felt like the potential hiding place for a masked lunatic. The boy chuckled to himself, realizing that he had chosen a life that would consistently have him dealing with masked lunatics. He rounded the staircase, finally feeling a bit less scared for the first time that night.
“Wow, I’m an idiot,” he laughed to himself over his realization.
“Yeah, I know, but I still like ya,” a voice answered back.
The sudden pep in his step was instantly destroyed and he felt as if a pit had opened up beneath him, strangling him. He froze from the sudden fright, a terrible mistake to do on a staircase.
“Oh shit!” He cried out as he felt his balance disintegrate, suddenly flailing his arms to the side as he attempted to find a railing to grab. Unfortunately, no such luck would grace him and the boy fell down the last few steps.
Great, I’m about to get killed by an insane maniac after I fall flat on my face. Perfect! Kaminari lamented.
“Oh my god, Kaminari are you okay?” A now giggling voice asked him. It took him a moment to recognize it, but the boy looked up from the floor to the figure standing behind the kitchen counter.
“Jirou?”
“What’s up, Sparky. You still a bit jumpy from the movie?”
“Pfff, what? What gives you that impression?” He asked back, trying his best to sound smooth as if he was asking out a famous movie star.
“Probably the total wipe-out you had, that if I was recording, I could use for years as blackmail.” Jirou responded, walking over to help him up from the floor. She outstretched a hand to him, which he gladly took and stood back up.
He sighed and said a quick “thank you” before he walked over with her to the nearby couch in the living room.
“I may be just a bit jumpy,” he confessed. “But can you blame me? I already got beat in a duel by a bunch of crazy plants, and that second one was even worse. It was like everything that sucks about fighting bad guys, you know? People can get hurt, like really bad, and sometimes they don’t get to get better. It’s scary right? I don’t wanna watch stuff like that, we’ve already got enough spooky stuff to deal with in real life. I don’t want to see people getting hurt, even if it’s all fake.”
Jirou had a surprised look on her face when he looked back over at her. The cool light from the moon that was cast across her face made her incredibly beautiful. Kaminari felt some blood rush to his cheeks, suddenly nervous from the serious confession he told her. She suddenly hugged him, holding her cheek close against his shoulder.
“Hey, Kami, I know I like, tease you a lot, but it’s okay to be scared. There’s nothing wrong with that, even All Might’s admitted to being scared before. If anything, it makes you a better hero, because you know what you’re doing is dangerous, and it’ll mean you’re more careful. You’ll make sure the people around you will come out all right. Don’t be afraid to be scared. Hell, I was down here because I was kinda scared too.”
She squeezed him tight as she talked, her voice quivering near the end.
Kaminari suddenly felt himself unsure of what to do. He felt his cheeks burn at the unexpected hug, touched by the serious moment between them.
He hugged Jirou back, his hands dropping to the small of her back.
After a beat, he realized what she said and looked down. “Wait, you’re scared too? Don’t you like horror movies?”
The girl took a step back, looking up at him. She gulped.
“Yeah, after you left with Ochako and Midoriya, that really bitchy cheerleader, right? The one who for some reason went camping in a tank top and mini skirt? She got caught by the slasher, and he cut her neck. She actually lived at the end of the movie, but she was unable to call for help or warn anyone of the bad guy. And it ended up she wouldn’t ever be able to talk, or like, laugh or cheer or sing or anything like that.” Jirou took another step back, sitting down on the coffee table behind her as she continued. “And that was honestly the scariest part of the movie to me. Like, singing means so much to me right? So not being able to sing ever again sounds awful, the worst thing I can imagine. I wouldn’t even know if I’d ever be able to be happy again.”
Kaminari took a seat across from her on the couch. He held out his hand and squeezed her knee. “Oh man, Jirou I don’t blame you at all, that’d be awful. For what it’s worth, I’d be devastated too. I love your laugh. And your singing, and your voice, especially when it’s a stressful situation. Remember that attack at the USJ two years ago? You telling me to stay calm and teasing me was like, ninety percent of the reason I didn’t completely panic. You help me, well, not be scared.”
“I do?”
“Yeah,” he laughed lightly. “I like being around you, and, well, that’s better than being scared.”
Soon Jirou’s blush rivaled his. She ever so slightly leaned towards him.
“Well, I like being around you, too.”
In a sudden burst of bravery from their semi confessions, Jirou leaned close and kissed his cheek.
“Now move over, Sparky.”
Kaminari, head about to explode from both the kiss and confession that his crush was seemingly into him as well, did as she said. She wrapped her arms around him and laid with him on the couch.
“I hope this helps you not be so scared to sleep,” she said, a yawn following her sentence. Kaminari chuckled and closed his eyes, quickly drifting off, finally, to sleep.
When Tokoyami came to the first floor, he found the couple still wrapped around one another. Kaminari looked up, awakened by the footsteps. Tokoyami raised an eyebrow at him.
“Uh, sleep well?”
And despite the earlier nightmares and lost hours, Kaminari glanced down and smiled.
“Better than I have in years.”