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Chapter Text

When All Might and Detective Tsukauchi pulled him and Yaomomo aside for debriefing, Kaminari had been relieved to know that he was supporting from the backlines rather than fighting on the front, as he had during the Gunga raid. It was a shameful thought he would not have dared share to anyone, but not unreasonable, he had thought, as Yaomomo asked All Might question after question like the dutiful hero student she was.

After all, whenever he'd been involved in a fight with villains, it had never ended well.

The USJ? He ended up becoming a liability and would've gotten Jirou and Yaomomo killed, or worse, if not for Snipe-sensei's timely intervention.

The attack on I-Island? He had uselessly wheyed out against some fodder bots after doing virtually no damage to them, and as nice as it was to be held in Jirou's arms, he'd have much preferred it to be under better circumstances.

Against Mummy on Nabu Island, he and Kirishima were practically bailed out by Bakugou. And he was pretty useless to the fight against Nine too, hiding out in a corner just to absorb a lightning attack since he’d used up all his juice on providing electricity to the citizens earlier, although Jirou -- and surprisingly Bakugo, in his own brash way, had reassured him that he'd done more than enough afterwards.

And Gunga? The less he thought about it, the better. He'd felt like a hero, felt the thrum of electricity under his skin, felt the thrill of facing a villain head on -- only for all that to come crashing down shortly afterwards in a rain of rubble.

And now he's here. Outside Troy, watching as his friends bid farewell to their families. Todoroki is stoic as ever, speaking in hushed tones to his mother and siblings, and Kaminari unwittingly feels a bout of shame. The two of them were the only pure elemental quirk users in 1A, quirks that were often touted as instant hero material, and yet the difference in their ability and accomplishments was so incredibly staggering.

Kaminari swallows. Todoroki would have certainly been able to stop Gigantomachia at Gunga. Even if all he did was knock out the League according to Yaomomo's plan, allowing everyone else to focus on Gigantomachia, then…

Maybe they would've had enough time to go back towards the villa, and Midnight-sensei would live to see another day. The pros and their teachers have reassured all of them that they went above and beyond everything possible, but Kaminari just couldn't shake the feeling that Midnight's death was on him.

Kaminari took a deep breath, stopping his thoughts from spiralling further. This was not the time for self-pity; his task ahead was clear. He’s going to be supporting Midoriya and Bakugo at the Coffin in the Sky -- his eyes travel to the two of them, Midoriya saying his thirteenth goodbye to his mother as they both cried a river of tears, while Bakugo and his mother were doing the exact opposite. He’s glad he didn’t shy away from Bakugou after their initial impressions at the start of the year – his explosive temperament belied surprisingly keen intelligence, and his help (albeit usually accompanied with a fair share of verbal abuse) had done wonders for Kaminari’s battle capabilities and even studies.

He supposes working as part of the Coffin In The Sky would return the favor and let Kaminari support his friends for once. Plus, as another angry exclamation of "old hag!" reaches his ears, he thinks blocking Bakugo's foghorn voice from rupturing his eardrums was an added bonus.

He snickers at his inner thoughts, inadvertently catching the attention of a nearby Jirou, who shoots a questioning eyebrow raise at him. Kaminari returns a sheepish grin, ignoring his suddenly warmer face, and receives a fond eye-roll in response before Jirou turns back to her parents.

She's fighting at Gunga tomorrow, he thinks, and the thought launches him into another trip down the memory lane, this one of a pounding heart and thousands of footsteps stomping against the grassy ground in a synchronized charge towards the Gunga Villa. A memory of panicked breaths and his teacher calling out to him:

"If it's too hard to imagine 'protecting someone, somewhere', then put what's most important to you right now in your heart."

And he'd turned back, and saw in his mind's eye a bob of purple hair framing a beautiful face, resolute yet stunning eyes accentuated by red paint boring into his soul, and four simple words had popped into his mind.

"Do your best, Chargebolt!"

A hand on his shoulder stuns him out of his reprieve. With an undignified yelp, Kaminari turns around to see that Yaomomo had materialised next to him at some point, a stoic expression on her face. She'd definitely picked up on him unsubtly staring at her best friend. He opens his mouth to defend himself, some lousy excuse at the tip of his tongue, but Yaomomo speaks first before he could dig himself a deeper grave.

"Go talk to her, Kaminari."

He hadn't quite expected that. A bewildered "what?" leaves his mouth before he can think about it, and Yaomomo simply tilts her head.

"We both know Jirou's not great with expressing her feelings, and she wants to talk with you, even if she's way too stubborn to admit it." Kaminari watches as Yaomomo's eyes grow hazy as if recalling a distant memory, before she refocuses back on him, a small smile on her face. Despite that, her gaze was serious. "While I'd like for all of us to get out of what is to come uninjured, statistically, the odds are not in our favour. It might sound grim, but I'd rather both of you utilise this moment when there's still time, hmm?"

Kaminari stills for a second, recalling how Yaomomo lost her own mentor in the war, not to mention their shared grief over Midnight's death, and a tightness makes its way up his throat. He still remembers the crestfallen expression on her face when they’d found Midnight, the sobs that wracked his normally composed friend. Not trusting his voice, Kaminari simply nods, smiles, and briefly clasps a hand over Yaomomo's before walking off to where the Jirou family was animatedly discussing......something? The capochony of sounds -- especially those coming from the direction of the Midoriya and Bakugo households -- made it difficult to hear whatever was going on until he was close by.

Jirou is quietly chuckling in response to something her mom said, so her father ends up catching sight of him first. Instead of saying anything, however, Jirou's dad beckons him closer with an imperceptible nod, and the mischievous look on his face -- a look he'd seen many a time on Jirou before she let loose a verbal volley of jabs at him -- tells Kaminari everything he needs to know.

He's tried before to spook Jirou, but with her enhanced hearing, his mission had been impossible, especially once she'd caught on to his, Mina, and Sero's tendencies to play pranks. But here, within the bustle of students speaking with their families and Jirou so focused on what her mom was saying? It was the perfect opportunity to finally go plus ultra! Kaminari opts to go for a classic, simply placing his hand on Jirou's shoulder and leaning forward so his face is merely inches from hers, and yells, "BOO!"

The effect is instantaneous. Jirou startles, lets out a cute squeak, and springs back. Her mouth gaps open in incredulity before she splutters, failing to find words as what had just transpired slowly sinks into place.

Kaminari, for his part, simply grins lazily at her. He guesses it'd be five seconds before Jirou.exe starts working again and he gets mercilessly assaulted in retaliatio --

"STUPID! IDIOT! DUMBASS!" Jirou eloquently regains her ability to speak, twin earphone jacks rushing at him. Kaminari barely has time to raise his arm to shield his face. The earphone jacks stab harmlessly against his arm as Jirou continues her tirade which really just consisted of repeated synonyms of the word "dumb".

"So, Jirou," Kaminari, perhaps foolishly, decides to antagonize further. "Are variations of stupid all you have in your vocabulary? You'll have to use your big girl words if you want me to understand what you’re trying to tell me."

The earphone jack assault abruptly stops, and Kaminari carefully lowers his arm to see what was going on. He gets a glance of Jirou's face reaching the same shade of red as Kirishima's hair, colour spreading to her ears before her jacks hurtle at his now unprotected eyes, an irritated "understand this!" slipping past her lips.

This isn't a terrible way to die, Kaminari's brain unhelpfully supplies, but Jirou's mom prevents his approaching doom with a single sentence.

"Oh dear, Kyoka, I sure hope that's not how you treat your friends usually."

Jirou, who'd just remembered her parents were watching, snaps 90 degrees to meet her mother's calm gaze, utterly mollified. There's a few seconds of silence before Jirou decides that staring at the ground was a preferable alternative. Her parents share an amused glance with one another.

"This is your fault, you know," Jirou's mom ribs her husband good-naturedly, who simply chuckles. Kaminari moves to introduce himself but finds himself beaten to the punch.

"Kaminari, right?" Jirou's father mimed tipping a hat at him "I'm Kyotoku Jirou, and this is my beautiful wife, Mika. Do just call us by our first names, Mr Jiro makes me sound old. And of course, you know our beautiful daughter, Kyoka, hmm?"

Beside him, Jirou makes a garbled noise that sounded like a dying weasel trying to play the flute with its final breath. Kaminari takes no heed though, wondering how Kyotoku knew immediately who he was.

Huh. He'd said that out loud, judging by the hearty laugh Kyotoku gave.

"Kyoka likes talking about antics happening at school, and you happen to be involved in most of them. Or at least, that's what she says, but her songs say otherwise, unless there's another golden haired non-French --"

"DAD!" Jirou cuts in, and at the same time, Mika rests her hand on her husband's bicep.

"Enough tormenting Kyoka for today, Kyotoku," she speaks softly but sternly, then turns her attention to him. Suddenly, Kaminari found that Kyoka Jirou was, contrary to his belief, nowhere near the scariest Jirou in the world. That title goes to the woman who was now scrutinizing him like a particularly difficult piece of sheet music as she asked him what he was doing here.

"Um," Kaminari stammers a little, mentally chastising himself. Calm yourself! It's just Jirou's incredibly scary mama! "I'm sorry to have intruded on your family time, Mrs Ji -- I mean Mika, but after we say goodbye we're going to go straight to preparations and I'm going to be assigned to another battlefield than your daughter here and she's a close friend and I might not see Jirou -- like Jirou as in my classmate Jirou not you -- after now until the battle is over and I wanted to wish good luck and I've got something I wanna give her too and I really didn't mean to intrude and --"

"Breathe, Jammingyay," Jirou, who'd finally recovered from her earlier speechlessness nudges his side fondly, and Kaminari stops running his mouth to take out a much needed breath. There's a lapse before Mika speaks, a serene smile on her face.

"There's no need to be nervous, Kaminari, I can hear your heart trying its best to escape your body. Momo stopped by earlier to speak with Kyoka, too. We don't think you're intruding on our time since we're wrapping up shop anyway, and it's heartwarming to know Kyoka's got such good friends having her back - and good heroes too. We'll speak to her a bit then take our leave, yeah?"

Kaminari responds in the affirmative, turning away to give the Jirou family their privacy as Kyotoku and Mika move in to hug Jirou. Kaminari pretends not to hear the hushed "stay safe" and "good luck"s and especially not the quiet sounds of sobbing.

Kyotoku and Mika soon walk past him hand in hand, stopping briefly next to him wishing him good luck for the battle to come before walking away. Kaminari stays rooted to the spot, though, keeping his back to Jirou.

Kamimari bites his lip in the ensuing silence. He knows Jirou is sensitive about being seen crying. Even after the first war, she'd resolutely held in her emotions as both he and Yaomomo let the dam holding back their emotions crumbled, doing her best to comfort her fellow heroes and friends. A later conversation with Yaomomo revealed she's only found Jirou crying once, and that was when he'd fallen back into unconsciousness when he was being treated at the Central Hospital for his head injury.

So Kaminari waits for her, letting Jirou compose herself until he feels a tug at the hem of his shirt, and turns to meet Jirou, whose eyes are rimmed red.

"Hey," Kaminari finds his voice unusually soft.

"Hey yourself, idiot," Jirou replies, voice not as soft. "Don't worry about my folks, they're nice, but my dad can be an idiot. Maybe that's why I can deal with you so well."

It was easy to fall quickly back to their usual banter -- Kaminari immediately retaliates by launches into an overblown retelling of how he'd managed to finally scare Jirou as they walk towards a curb to plop on, though he'd expertly dodged whatever it was Kyotoku had mentioned about her songs. Kaminari lets himself mindlessly chitter for a bit, waiting for Jirou to feel prepared enough to cut the small talk.

Sure enough, Jirou eventually takes the initiative. "Hey, in your word vomit to my mum earlier --"

"Don't remind me!"

"Focus, Jammingyay! You're the one who came over trying to say something serious, right? Come on, we need to leave soon and I," Jirou's earphone jacks gestures at him hesitantly. "I, uh, want to. Shit. Just come back alive, alright? I'm not good at sappy shit, but I care about you, and, I've got something to give you too."

Kaminari can't help but let out a "aww, that's the nicest thing you said about me!", earning him a playful shove from a flushed Jirou. Before she can complain, however, he seizes the opportunity to continue.

"Jirou. I say this a lot but I have to say this again, you are an amazing hero, an amazing person, and an amazing friend, right? I'm not flattering you, that's the truth. You make me improve myself time and time again, whether it's hero work or music, and I," Kaminari pauses briefly to collect his thoughts. It'd be unfair to spill his feelings to Jirou now, on the eve of battle, especially if it's possible one of them might not make it through. But he wanted Jirou to still know he really does care about her. "I was, and still can be, a coward sometimes, you know? But you've given me the strength to move forwards -- on that one occasion at the USJ a literal kick in the ass," Jirou snorts at the memory, an apologetic look on her face. "But fact is, you're inspiring and amazing and whatever you do tomorrow and after, I want you to know that I don't doubt you for a second, and that if I end up having to fight anyways, that I'll move forward despite my fear --"

"Like at the Gunga Raid?" Jirou inquires.

Kaminari nods then does a double take. How does she know?

Jirou stares at him, deadpan, waving an earphone jack in his face. Kaminari's a bit embarrassed at the realization that Jirou must have heard him freaking out going into battle, but Jirou stops him from stewing in his thoughts by wrapping an earphone jack around his arm.

"I was listening specifically for you that day," She admits, "I was worried for you that day, because I couldn't bear the possibility of you getting hurt out there. And I heard you running in, and Midnight encouraging you, and you then turned back to look at us, didn't you?" Kaminari could only nod, dumbstruck. He knows damn well from training that it’s difficult for Jirou to focus on one person among a group as large as the heroes raiding Gunga, so for her to hear him specifically? She must have been laser focused on him.

"It's kinda silly when I look back at it," Jirou continues, eyes darting away but returning to rest on his face, "But I whispered for you to do your best, as if you could have even heard my encouragement then. I felt you move forwards and be an amazing hero out there. So, I don't doubt you for a second, either. You're an amazing hero yourself, and not just that, you’re an amazing person too."

If Kaminari smiled harder, he'd probably crack his mouth wide open and end up looking like that pre-quirk comic book clown villain who feuds with some bat guy. Instead, he opts for hesitantly putting an arm around Jirou, and though she tenses initially, she eventually melts into the touch.

They sit there in comfortable silence, two teenagers caught up in a war they had no say in, when all they should have had to worry about was whether their feelings were reciprocated. Jirou begins humming softly, and Kaminari closes his eyes to fully drink in the moment, as if it were just the two of them in the moment, sitting on a curb on a cloudy day, with no war to decide the fate of the world tomorrow.

Chapter Text

Kyoka Jirou generally likes to think herself a stoic person -- she's more muted in her reactions, she's got good control over her emotions and quirk, nor is she as prone to physical touch as most of her peers.

Unless it comes to Kaminari, she grudgingly admits, because there was no other way to explain why she was leaning this heavily into Kaminari, humming a tune only she knew. Unbidden, she feels her eyelids droop and body relax...

Cementoss' voice calling for the remaining parents to leave the premises breaks through her drowsiness. Jirou bolts upright, inadvertently smacking Kaminari in the face with one of her earphone jacks. The resulting whine from Kaminari makes her heart clench horribly, so she lends a hand for Kaminari to stand up.

As she pulls him up, Jirou takes a second to memorize Kaminari's face, a sentimental part of her rationalising that it isn’t entirely impossible this could be her last time seeing him. Kaminari stares back at her, before hastily breaking eye contact and patting down his jacket pockets.

Right. He'd wanted to give something, as did she. Wow , she admonished herself lightly as she reached for her bag. Rather uncharacteristic of her to forget something so important, but she supposed that was what Kaminari did to her.

"I almost forgot, I have something to give you --" They speak simultaneously, and gape at each other before descending, for the third time today, into a giggling fit. "Maybe we're made for each other," Kaminari chuckles, a hopeful lilt to his voice, and doesn't her heart beat faster at that throwaway statement. 

"C'mon then, ladies first." Jirou hastily snarks, hoping to distract Kaminari from the heat rushing to her face.

"Mean, Jirou!" Kaminari protests, but pulls out his gift anyway. Jirou's eyes widen when she lays sight on the pair of headphones in Kaminari's hands -- almost a dead ringer for her current pair in her hero outfit. It's blue and red, exactly like how she likes it, with an added streak of purple swirling across the hinges just the same shade of colour as her hair. 

"How the hell?" she simply breathes out in wonder. Her old pair of headphones for hero work had gotten damaged after a high-speed kick (courtesy of Iida) during a training bout, and though the class president had apologized profusely and gotten her replacements, she'd still preferred her old design. Unfortunately, she wasn't able to contact her costume designer, who'd apparently left for a collaborative project at I-Island and hasn't been able to Japan since, ostensibly because of the whole war thing they've got going on.

Kaminari explains that he'd gotten Hatsume's assistance through a deal with the devil (agreeing to help test all of Hatsume's electric-based experiments, which definitely took a long time), and that he'd wanted to give her this gift a good while ago, though the war had put a damper on things. Jirou can't help but poke fun at him for doing something so foolish as to sign up to be Hatsume's guinea pig, ignoring how her heart fluttered in her chest.

Even if she would very much prefer Kaminari to remain non-exploded by whatever devious machinations Hatsume could come up with.

Jirou continues inspecting the headphones as Kaminari points out the functions on her new headphones in detail, like a cooling system for her ears, breathable padding around the ears, a communication device, and backup detachable amps -- all things Jirou had rambled about in passing or mentioned she was looking into. She never realised just how much attention Kaminari had paid to what she was saying, assuming it’d go in one ear and out the other just like most other things.

She'd thought it impossible, but her body grew even warmer when her hands traced over a small sticker of a lightning bolt, stuck carefully within the right hinge of the headphones.

Maybe it's silly for her to be this emotional over just a single piece of hero gear, but Jirou doesn't care at this point, her usual "rough and tough" sarcastic facade melting away in the wake of Kaminari's bashful grin.

Emboldened by this feeling, Jirou finds herself unable to stop herself from steering their conversation towards dangerous territory. "For you to willingly go to Hatsume for help? I must be worth something fierce to you," she remarks, thankful that none of her friends were nearby or she’d never hear the end of it. Instead, she subtly angles her earjacks, willing herself to listen closely to Kaminari's reaction.

On a girls' night that felt like centuries ago, she had scoffed when the topic of her and Kaminari making a good couple came up, courtesy of Mina on a caffeine high. She'd told the girls he was too much of an idiot to date, even if he was one of her closest friends, but her heart knew it was a lie, and so did Momo. Momo had approached her the night afterwards, forcing Jirou to haltingly confront her truth: that she was the idiot instead, for she fell head over heels for Kaminari despite being well aware he'd never reciprocate her feelings, her personality too biting and her... assets... too underdeveloped for what she'd assume would be Kaminari's usual taste. Momo had agreed that she was indeed an idiot, but for a totally different reason.

"Kyoka, have you considered that you're hiding behind reasons that may not even be true?" Jirou's head whipped to Momo, a scathing retort on the tip of her tongue, but Momo simply placed a gentle hand on her mouth. "I've seen how he looks at you -- during the Culture Festival, during Christmas, during joint training. At the end of the day, Kyoka, I'm just worried you're ruining something nice for yourself because you're too scared to consider any other possible outcomes."

Jirou had stammered out unconvincing excuses about how Momo had read one too many romance novels, and the topic was dropped there, but after that talk she found herself keenly looking for anything Kaminari might do that implied he had feelings for her too. Yet no matter how much evidence she gathered, her mind just rationalised it as Kaminari just being friendly, and that he was always like that with his friends, that there was no romantic intention behind his admittedly sweet gestures.

Right at this moment, however, the way Kaminari's heartbeat begins hammering at her statement is basically irrefutable proof laid out in front of her.

A tide of feelings she can't name washes through her, as if the secrets of the universe had been revealed to her at once. Jirou wants to scream -- in joy, or frustration, she isn't sure. How could she have been so blind to Kaminari's unmistakable affections all this time and only realise it on the dawn of battle?

She settles for shooting Kaminari a coy smile, pressing the headphones back into his hands with a simple request. "Put it on for me?"

For all the crap Jirou likes to give Kaminari, some fair and some entirely unwarranted, she knew he was far smarter than most knew. He struggles academically, is prone to panicking, but his tactical mind often goes overlooked, not to mention how much he needs to know about his quirk to stop it from outright killing anyone. Most of all, though, Jirou admires his social intelligence the most -- he might flap his mouth a lot, but he's well able to read people, breaking through even the toughest walls Jirou and her more emotionally closed off classmates, like Bakugou and Todoroki, had put up around themselves.

And right now, the unbridled joy lighting up Kaminari's features tell her that he understands what she's not quite ready to say out loud just yet.

Kaminari fits the headphones over Jirou's head as if it were a crown. As Jirou adjusted the headphones slightly, Kaminari bowed in front of her. 

"All hail Princess Jirou of the kingdom of UA!" He exclaims, getting a light smack to the top of his head as a reward. 

"Rise, my lowly subject!" Jirou manages amidst a snort. Kaminari does so, sticking out two thumbs up with a "wheyyy", donning an expression that rarely fails to make Jirou laugh. As expected, his actions elicit a wheeze from Jirou as she bows over, grabbing Kaminari's arm to keep her balance. When she finally looks up at him, he's staring her directly in the eyes, a soft look gracing his features.

Her heart does jumping jacks in her chest as she drinks in his gaze, golden irises like pools of molten flame. Jirou hasn't admitted this to anyone but Momo, but this was something she'd desperately missed ever since the first war. Kaminari's features recently were often either extremely tired or far too forcibly cheerful, two looks Jirou most certainly found herself not a fan of.

Knowing that she’s the reason for his look makes something bloom in her chest. Jirou lets a deep breath out, not yet trusting her words as she grabs a notebook from her bag. Kaminari hums curiously as she flips through the notebook, flashes of the times she'd spent writing on it running through her mind before she meets Kaminari's eyes.

Silently, Jirou passes the notebook to Kaminari, miming for him to look through it.

If Kaminari minded having her notebook shoved in his face, he didn't show it, flapping through the notebook and sticking out his tongue in concentration. Jirou twirled an earphone jack around her finger, wanting to break the silence but not quite sure how to. She fully knows why Kaminari's so engrossed -- she's never shown anyone this notebook before, hidden above her dorm closet so high that only Shoji could reach it without a ladder. Not that it mattered, since Shoji’s respectful and would never snoop around her room. And the contents of the notebook? Even more damning. Uncharacteristic of the vibe she usually gave off, the notebook is chock-full of original love songs, things she’d professed to dislike to maintain her status. Some included sheet music, others only lyrics, some were only concepts or ideas scrawled out, yet all of them had one thing in common: mentions of blonde hair and golden eyes as bright as sunshine and a smile that lit up a room and someone who could always be relied on to make her laugh. She's certain her face has achieved a shade of red not even Kirishima's hair could dream of accomplishing as Kaminari leafs through the pages. 

The moment is interrupted by the sound of tape flying through the air. Sero perches himself on a nearby lamppost. "Hey Kamibro, your team's gonna move out soon -- oh," A sly grin makes its way on Sero's face when he notices Jirou, and as he opens his mouth, Jirou meets his eyes and raises an earjack threateningly.

The teasing that she expected to come never does. Sero's eyes flit between her and Kaminari rapidly, before exchanging an almost imperceptible nod with Kaminari. "You guys get 3 minutes," Sero snaps his helmet over his head, "I'm cashing in my favour with Kamui Woods for you guys -- Make it quick, you two." With that, Sero's off again, leaving the two of them to their privacy. 

Kaminari sighs, eyes on Sero's rapidly retreating visage. "Sero's winning the best bro award this year," he remarks, and Jirou doesn't disagree with that sentiment. 

"I notice the lyrics mention a blonde-haired beauty a lot," When she looks back, Kaminari is all up in her face. Jirou honestly thinks she might just implode right here and now. Screw fighting and possibly dying to All For One, she's going to die, right here, right now, from Kaminari's proximity to her. 

"I'm flattered and all, Jirou," Kaminari casually continues as her face continues to heat at a degree that would probably be dangerous to even Endeavour, "but why give me a gift containing lyrics about Aoyama's luxurious blonde hair?"

The words take a moment to process, and as soon as they click Jirou is scream-laughing, punching Kaminari’s arm rapidly with no force behind it. She just barely manages to breathe out a sentence as if her heart wasn't trying to escape its mortal coils just seconds ago, “You are so fucking unserious Kaminari, I hate you so goddamn much.”

"Oh really? This little piece of evidence right here," Kaminari tauntingly waves the notebook in her face, "says otherwise. Something about wanting to drown in pools of honey?"

Jirou shoves him, not unkindly, secretly thankful for the way her mouth no longer felt clammed up after the round of laughter. "Oh now you decide you can fucking read, dumbass!" Kaminari chuckles in return, taking her by surprise when he laces her outstretched hand with his own.

"Jirou..." His tone is serious, a sudden far cry from the idiot making her scream-laugh only a few seconds ago. "What does this mean for us?", and Jirou doesn't fail to catch the underlying meaning in his question. This was the eve of battle. Getting together at a time like this was not exactly the best idea, especially with the fate of the entire world at stake. This was no time to be getting distracted by emotions. Jirou mulls over his words before she responds, pointing an earjack at the notebook in Kaminari's hands

"You see how some of these songs aren't finished? I'd like to finish writing then sometime, with your help, maybe." She takes the notebook from his hand, flipping through familiar pages until she reaches her target. "And these here? These are meant to be duets. And well, I'll give you one guess as to who I want to play these with. Just a small hint: blonde hair, dashing looks, learnt how to rock out from me?" 

Kaminari mimes being deep in thought, shooting her a grin when their eyes meet. Jirou isn't quite done speaking, though. "So, to answer your question. We are a promise. The notebook in your hands? Proof of our promise. You hold on to it. If we both survive, I'll teach you how to play these, and we'll finish my songs -- our songs, together. And if I don't return, I want you to at least have this, to remember me by." She accentuates her words by shoving the notebook into his hands, perhaps a bit too forcefully.

She wills herself to look into Kaminari's eyes as they flash -- in worry, annoyance, anger, or perhaps a mix of some, she couldn't quite tell. "Hey," Kaminari's lips are pursed in a thin line, a serious expression adorning his usually carefree face. "Don't say things like that, Jirou.”

Her response is curt. "I'm going to be on the same battlefield as All For One himself. I can't guarantee I'll live, and you already know I hate making empty promises. I'm being realistic, okay?"

Silence descends upon them again. Jirou doesn't dare meet Kaminari's eyes, finding the floor more appealing to look at than the hurt that was sure to be plastered over his face. She's surprised -- something she seems to be doing a lot more today -- when she feels Kaminari brush his hand against her face.  And she hopes her face isn't hot to the touch when Kaminari gently tilts her chin towards him.

"Fine. Look at me, Jirou -- no, Kyoka." His eyes bore into her as he speaks, and Jirou fails to suppress the shiver running from the tip of her earphone jacks to her legs. "I'll keep your notebook safe. And when this is all over, WHEN we come back from the war alive, you're teaching me how to play those songs, and I'm gonna cook something nice and we'll share it on the dorm rooftops or maybe the UA gardens if you don't want our classmates to be nosy -- or maybe I'll ask Lunch Rush for a favour instead, no one's as good as him. Point being, I want to ask you out on our first date once everything settles down, and I already know it'll be the best date I'll ever have."

Part of Jirou wants to tease Kaminari, wants to say it'll be the best date because it's the only date he'll have ever scored, but the other part of her is so done with this thing between them she'd constantly refused to acknowledge. "Denki," Jirou utters breathlessly, his name coming out of her mouth as naturally as breathing, "I would very much love that."

Golden eyes meet onyx eyes in an intense stareoff, their proximity so close Jirou could feel his breath on her skin, hyper-aware still of his hand caressing her face. Denki's eyes flicker down once, twice, and Jirou knows what he's going to ask before he even does so.

"Can I kiss you?" Denki blurts out.

"As if you even had to ask." Jirou wraps her arms around Denki's neck and stands on her tiptoes, pressing her lips to his without a moment of hesitation. 

Of course he tastes like honey, Jirou grins into the kiss. That's about the only coherent thought crossing her mind as they separate for air, a dopey grin and half-lidded eyes on Denki's face. 

He opens his mouth, presumably to speak, but Jirou pulls him towards her again, this time with her earphone jacks, one arm wrapped around his frame and the other pressed tightly against his chest. Past Jirou would be appalled at her lack of control but present Jirou finds she doesn't care one bit. She deepens their kiss messily, one earjack disentangling to brush against his hair, eliciting a surprised whimper in response that makes warmth pool in her gut. Denki's arms pull her in a tighter embrace, his hands wandering to explore her lower back, and Jirou finds herself so lost in the moment yet wanting so much more --

"Ahem."

Even Iida would not have matched the speed in which Denki and Jirou disentangled from each other upon hearing the voice. Jirou claps her hands to her burning face. Surely her sensitive ears have deceived her this one time and that voice did not belong to Aizawa? Mustering up her courage to peek through her fingers, Jirou glimpses Aizawa glaring at the two of them. Even crippled and with only one eye, he still managed to strike fear easily with a single look and a single word. Beside him, an amused Present Mic looks on with a poorly hidden grin, whilst Sero and Momo trudged behind Aizawa, their hands bound in his capture scarf.

"Aizawa-sensei!" Denki's panicked voice cuts through her observations, and though Jirou wants to tell him to shut up and stop digging themselves a deeper hole, she's too mortified to do anything other than look on like she was spectating a slow-motion train wreck. "It isn't what it looks like, we -- err...okay, it's exactly what it looks like..." Kaminari trails off at Aizawa's unimpressed look, something he was not a stranger to receiving. He hangs his head, and Jirou finds herself wishing All For One would just appear out of thin air this instant and delete both of them from existence.

"Kaminari. Jirou. I trust this intriguing development will not impact the quality of your hero work, whether tomorrow or further in the future. You should rejoin your individual teams post-haste. Who knows how long those two," Aizawa casts an exasperated look towards Sero and Momo’s unrepentant faces, "would have kept trying to delay our schedule, if I hadn't seen through their illogical ruse immediately." 

With that, Aizawa releases the two and briskly walks away, beckoning Momo and Denki to follow him to the Coffin. Momo's eyes are sparkling when they land on her, hands covering her mouth, somehow seeming more excited than Denki and Jirou about their kiss.

She turns her gaze to Sero, who has been struggling not to laugh the entire time but has finally lost his battle, ugly snorts piercing the awkward silence Aizawa had left them in. Just one look at Sero's chortling visage and Jirou knew this story was going to make rounds once they returned to school.

Fucker. She's going to jam her earjacks up his stupid looking elbow-slits. She hopes he's sensitive there.

Jirou finally finds the strength to look at Denki, who gazes right back at her with an intensity that melts off his face when she makes eye contact. "Raincheck, Kyo?" He asks, lazily aiming two finger guns at her.

"Raincheck." Jirou confirms with a chuckle, watching as Denki turns to leave with Momo. Her enhanced hearing picks up Momo's hushed "I told you so," to Denki and Aizawa muttering about how every single one of them except Ojiro were problem children.

“You’ve got it baaadddd,” a voice drawls out next to her. Jirou shoots out a hand, presses her palm against Sero's face. 

"Not. Another. Word." She hisses, and Sero, to his credit, takes heed of her warning, raising his arms in mock surrender. Present Mic nudges them to follow him, and they do exactly that.

As they walk, Present Mic makes his way next to her. "Despite what ol' grumpy Aizawa says, he's happy for you two." He shoots her a smile, fraught somewhat with pain. "I'm sure Nemuri -- your Midnight-sensei -- is happy too, wherever she's watching. Looks like she won our little bet after all. I thought you guys would beat around the bush a bit longer, wait till third year, though I suppose this whole war thingy really speeds things up now, does it?"

Jirou nods along to his words before what Mic said catches up to her brain. "Wait, you guys fucking bet on us?" She shouts, her earphone jacks coiling around her defensively, but all it did was make the two men chortle harder.

As Mic and Sero's laughter fill the air at her expense, and despite the pinkish hue she knows is sure to be on her cheeks, Jirou can't help but think that maybe, just maybe, that everything was going to turn out alright.

Chapter Text

Everything is, most decidedly, not going alright. 

Kaminari's heart pounds loudly as he makes his way outside of UA alongside Mandalay, Manga, and Yuyu. In all the rush, he didn't even have time to put on his full hero costume, but at least he'd had the foresight to keep some equipment on him beforehand. That, and a notebook securely tucked away within his shirt pocket. 

The halls within UA felt tighter and tighter with each turn he took until they reached a door where Mandalay began punching in codes rapidly. With a hiss, the door opens, and Kaminari steps out into the grey outdoors, rain -- when did it even start raining? -- splattering onto his hair. Goosebumps on his skin lead him to inwardly berate himself for taking off his hero outfit because the electricity generating dome was too hot.

He turns to look at where the impact to UA had come from, expecting to see some villains having made their way up, but instead he met a sea of black and grey bodysuits.

"TWICE???"

In his measly year and a half-ish as a UA student, Kaminari's found himself in plenty of chaotic situations. But seeing a dead villain who’d been killed by the number two hero himself come back to life, one that was said to be able to turn the tide of war on his very own, and spreadingl rapidly across the rooftop of UA where his friends would be and where Monoma and Manual and Aizawa-sensei were stationed -- that takes the cake.

Wait -- Aizawa-sensei!

"Sensei!" Kaminari screams coarsely for his teacher, images of billowng purple hair and a dirtied red mask and an unmoving body in a white bodysuit on a cold forest floor flashing through his mind in rapid succession, and he barely registers Manga's panicked gasp of "Monoma!" next to him. Kaminari tries to rush ahead to climb, but Yuyu puts an arm out in front of him.

"We're falling from the sky right now, we need to focus on powering what we can with our electricity right now, or else everyone's dead!" And as much as he hated it, his senpai was right. He nods, not trusting his mouth to respond, but that's when they suddenly bounce on nothing, and Kaminari, unable to catch his balance, plops harshly against the floor.

"A trampoline?" Mandalay's voice echoes in Kaminari's head as he rights himself. "We've stopped falling!"

He breathes a sigh of relief. Whatever had happened, UA was at least stabilised for now and he could focus on dealing with the Twice clones --

Kaminari froze.

The whole time, he'd been focused on looking at the multiplying Twice clones that he hadn't looked at the battle raging within the Coffin. His blood turned as cold as Todoroki’s ice as he took in the sight ahead of him.

Past the familiar yellow hue of the electromagnetic barrier, big, brash, loud Bakugou laid on the ground, silent, ashen, unmoving. A gaping hole adorned his chest, blood spilling out on the ground beneath him and red, red, red staining everything it touched from Best Jeanist's wires to Edgeshot's suit and this is wrong, it's all so wrong, Bakugou should never be this quiet; he wasn’t even that quiet when that purple-haired senpai from Shiketsu turned him into a meatball, Bakugou was always fighting and cursing and winning and --

Not like this at all. Nothing but an empty husk, vacant eyes staring blankly at the grey sky, no declaration of “I’m surpassing you, Deku!” or “Die, trash villain!” flying from ashen lips, no iridescent explosions setting off his palms. Only dead silence – something foreign to the very concept of Katsuki Bakugou itself – as Midoriya stood off alone against Tomura Shigaraki.

Kaminari wants to scream. He hears screaming, and it might be him or Midoriya or anyone else on that rainy platform, but he doesn't really know, and the sickening realisation hits him then that he might never again get to laugh at Bakugou’s explosive anger when he inevitably gets ragebaited by him or Sero or Todoroki – his breakfast coils dangerously in his stomach. Then his mind’s attention is redirected abruptly, pierced by Mandalay’s Telepathy that All For One has been sighted leaving the Gunga battlefield. 

The Gunga battlefield, where Jirou and Tokoyami were stationed.

His pocket, the one carrying Jirou's sheet music, feels like lead. He'll never get to laugh as Bakugou flips him off with some vulgar comment under his breath, he's not going to get to listen to Jirou's melodious voice while learning the guitar from her ever again, he won't get to enjoy Tokoyami’s silent yet steadfast companionship, and he's not going to get to gather shiny little trinkets for Dark Shadow anymore, all his friends were dying and dead and he can't help them and Midoriya is facing off the worst villain in history alone and Kaminari wants to run in there and help but he's powerless against the might of Shigaraki and he knows it, the entire world is crumbling down around him yet he can't take his eyes off Bakugou's corpse and there's prickling under his skin and there's sparks of electricity flying off him, hissing loudly as they made contact with the rain droplets.

They're all dying out there. And the only thing he'd done was sit in UA as a living battery, unable to help or do anything or save anyone.

There's someone calling his name, he thinks. He's not sure, eyes glued to the mangled body that used to be his friend, and he gasps and chokes for air when he realizes how cruel that a hero as great as Bakugou would be taken so soon because Bakugou always wins, he's made the joke so many times that Bakugou wouldn't lose his virginity because he never loses and every time Bakugou only huffs at him, and why does he have to keep losing people when he's only an arm's reach from them?  

"Chargebolt!"

The exclamation cuts through his sluggish mind like a hot knife through butter, and that's when Kaminari realises there's two gloved paws shaking his shoulders. He forces his gaze away from Bakugou, turns to meet Mandalay's concerned gaze, takes a deep breath to prevent stray sparks of electricity from hitting her.

"Hope is not yet lost! Best Jeanist and Edgeshot are working to resusicate Bakugou, and we are no longer falling!" Instead of using Telepathy, Mandalay speaks directly to him, voice clear over the chaos of battle and the drumming of rain. “What we do now, is stop the Twice clones and save who we can! We will pull through together, Chargebolt!"

Memories of a red mask, purple hair, and a white bodysuit resurface, unbidden. 

Raising unsteady hands, Kaminari manages to flash Manadaly a thumbs up. He's dimly aware Manga and Yuyu had already launched into battle while he was in shock, electric arrows and massive words cutting swaths through the Twice clones, though the attacks did no more than dent their ever-multiplying ranks. 

Kaminari doesn't have vertical mobility like the others do, so at Mandalay's behest, he clings to her back as she bounds up the side of UA. If this were any other time, he might've found the opportunity to be impressed by her well-defined muscles, but this was not the place nor time for that.

Kaminari leaps into the fray as soon as Mandalay clears the edge, firing his electro-disks and electrocuting clones left right and centre, but it's clear that it's not enough to stop the unbridled mass of Twices that begin to pile towards him. From what Kaminari has managed to observe, the Twices act like a stereotypical zombie horde, piling onto and overwhelming the heroes with sheer numbers. None of the clones held Twice's signature sharp-edged tape measures, and most forgo even punching or kicking, opting to directly pounce at him. Kaminari amps up the ever-running stream of electricity in his body, turning every single clone that touches him into sludge. 

With a small circle cleared around him, Kaminari uses the opening to survey his surroundings. At one corner, Manga has managed to erect a wall of words that the Twices are desperately trying to break through, an unconscious Monoma slung across his shoulder. Electric arrows and jets of water fly from behind the makeshift bunker, raining down onto the horde and yet barely slowing down their advance. Mandalay balances precariously atop the wall, kicking and clawing at any clone that makes it up the wall.

Aizawa-sensei's not behind that wall.

Where is Aizawa-sensei?

The lapse in attention almost costs Kaminari dearly as three clones lunge at him, all bearing knives intending to skewer him until an ear-splitting shriek slams into his adversaries, and Kaminari thinks he's never been more happy to see Mic-sensei's signature blonde hairdo sticking up amidst the tsunami of black-and-grey bodysuits. 

The sounds of battle conglomerating in his ears, Kaminari slowly but painstakingly makes his way over to Mic-sensei, now acutely aware of the suddenly deadlier threat every single clone posed. 

When he's close enough, he yells to Mic-sensei for his homeroom teacher's whereabouts. It's a known joke within Class 1A that it was often way easier to ask Present Mic where to find Aizawa-sensei then to look for him themselves, yet even in the heat of battle, this statement rang true. 

"Little listener!" Mic-sensei greets, a shaky grin plastered on his face. There's no time for further conversation as Mic-sensei has to scream another wave of pure noise to hold back Twice clones, but Kaminari's able to follow his gaze to find Aizawa-sensei: within a swarming mountain of Twice clones, positioned opposite to Manga's makeshift bunker on the other corner of the UA rooftop. 

The last time Kaminari saw Aizawa-sensei fight villains, it was from a distance at the USJ, and he'd barely registered the fight in the haze to evacuate. Now, the glimpses and flashes he catches of Aizawa-sensei reminds him why he's well-deservedly among the best underground heroes Japan has ever known.

Even without an eye and a leg, Aizawa-sensei fought like a demon, spinning and weaving around with a combat knife in one hand and combat scarf in the other, red eye blazing and flitting from one target to other. Sludge and discarded knives litter the floor around him, but as Midoriya said once, his sensei is not going to hold up much longer against such a vast number of opponents. 

"THIS IS THE PLANNNNNNNN!" Mic-sensei belts out, the yellow wave of energy rippling a straight line through the clones. As he does that, his hands rapidly sign in a series of movements -- non-verbal hero communication, and Kaminari's glad he paid attention when Ectoplasm-sensei taught the class about hero signs.

Deciphering the signs quickly, Kaminari's thoughts race at thriry miles a second. Only him, Aizawa-sensei, and Mic-sensei are not behind Manga's bunker. The clones have separated Aizawa-sensei since his quirk  copied by Monoma, poses the second biggest, if not the biggest, threat to Shigaraki. They need to get to him, get him back to the makeshift bunker, then hold their positions until the wave runs out – but there's no guarantee of when or if the Twices will ever stop multiplying.

As teacher and student begin carving their way through the ocean of Twices with sound and electricity, one of the Twices manages to land a wild punch on him before being shocked into sludge. As he reorients himself, Kaminari becomes keenly aware of how UA was beginning to keel to the side from the pure weight of the Twices. Beyond the chaotic sounds of the Twice army assaulting his eardrums, booming noises come from within the Coffin itself where Midoriya was fighting Shigaraki, a telltale sign the Coffin itself was failing.

They wouldn't be able to win a war of attrition.

He could practically hear Bakugou screaming in his head, that something needed to happen fuckin' fast.

If they fell here, all of Japan would be finished. Midoriya, fighting for the entire world's hopes and dreams. Yaomomo, desperately producing materials to keep UA afloat. Aizawa and Mic-sensei, fighting to protect them, the next generation. Edgeshot, his mentor, doing everything he can to save his friend's life. Bakugou, laying on the rain-soaked ground, as still as a corpse.

Jirou, fighting desperately, wherever she was. 

If they took too long eliminating the wave of Twices, everything and everyone Kaminari loves will decay to dust. His mind whirled desperately, finding a solution amidst the carnage.

Kaminari shouts to get Mic-sensei's attention. "Sensei, I can take out the whole Twice army on the roof with one Indiscriminate Shock after we get Aizawa-sensei! Mandalay can tell Manga to create an electro-proof wall, so you won't get caught up!"

For once in his life, no one questions Kaminari's plan. Mic-sensei relays the new plan to Mandalay and renewed onomatopoeia starts up from behind the wall. As this happens, Kaminari and Mic-sensei get closer to the edge of UA, and as Mic-sensei turns back to cover him, Kaminari deactivates the electricity in his body, reaching a hand out to Aizawa-sensei, now within reach.

"Chargebolt, good work." Aizawa-sensei hoarsely mutters and reaches for him. For a brief moment, Aizawa's scarlet eye meets his gaze in approval.

Then one of the Twices, turning halfway to a puddle on the floor, grabs Aizawa-sensei's prothestic leg and snaps it before dissipating into mush. His homeroom teacher tumbles down into the mass of Twice clones. 

Mic-sensei's screech of horror mixes with Aizawa's surprised grunt as Kaminari moves before his body could think, throwing himself into the pile and desperately clawing at the clones, a close lid over his quirk in fear of striking his senseis with lightning. 

Mic-sensei unleashes a series of incomprehensible noises that leaves Kaminari's ears ringing and reduces more Twices to sludge, yet it's not enough. Four clones, their knives knocked out of their hands by soundwaves, hoist up a now disarmed Aizawa-sensei by his remaining limbs.

Kaminari flings an electro disk towards the four clones, a bolt of lightling springing from his fingertips, but the Twices know his tricks now. Multiple clones throw themselves over his disk and melt into sludge, effectively serving as insulation for the other clones.

Their target acquired, the mountain of clones begin to move towards the edge of the UA rooftop, some of them losing their footing and plunging into the uncaring void below. 

"Sensei!" Kaminari cries desperately as Aizawa-sensei's outstretched hand becomes smaller and smaller. His breath is coming in short bursts now, adrenaline and electricity alike firing off in every part of his body. He raises his hands, not quite sure when he'd balled them into fists, and slams an electric fist into the nearest opponent. 

Dammit, he was so close! What's the point of being Chargebolt if he can't even save his sensei? How can he save what matters most to his heart if he can't repay the favour to the man who'd sacrificed an eye and a leg to save them all, when all that separated them was a few metres? 

An unwelcome memory of Midnight-sensei's funeral flashed across his mind. Of silent sniffles and open sobbing and how they couldn't even do an open casket burial. Of staying back until he was alone in the room with Aizawa-sensei and Mic-sensei, pretending not to see their eyes on him as he shakily offered Midnight's portrait a singular sunflower and a quietly muttered thanks. Of the audible tock-tock-tock of Aizawa-sensei's crutches against the wooden floor as he draped a comforting arm over Kaminari's shoulders, an understanding look strewn on his face while his student's tears finally flowed freely, unable to maintain a positive facade he'd kept on for his classmates. 

Not again! Kaminari thinks frantically. Midoriya would think of a plan that sounded suicidal but was sure to work. Bakugou would blast his way to victory. Todoroki would soldier on with a cool head and stern determination. All of them would, without a doubt, save Aizawa-sensei. There must be something he could contribute here, or else he'd still be the useless Kaminari who fries his brain every time he uses his quirk instead of the hero Chargebolt....

The glint of a knife in his peripheral is the only warning he gets before he barely dodges the blade hurtling for his jugular. Kaminari slams his elbow into the Twice clone who attempted to stab him, grabbing the dropped knife mid-air, cutting and stabbing and slashing his way through the clones in a desperate bid to reach his homeroom teacher. 

Unwelcome hands grab both his arms from behind, forcing him to drop the knife. Arms wrap around his body, restraining him from going further, but he hasn't come this far just to fail now. Defiantly, Kaminari kicks wildly and slams his head into the Twice in front of him. 

Pain explodes in his forehead as the clone dissolves into sludge. Electricity flares in his body, threatens to spring up, but Kaminari forces it back down with grit teeth – at this range, an indiscriminate blast could cause untold damage to his teachers. He thrashes his head backwards, hearing more sickening crunches and feeling sludge melt down his back. The pressure on his right arm disappears, so Kaminari uses it to grab the clone behind him and toss it over his head, in a manner akin to how Midoriya threw Bakugo at the beginning of their year.

A spot of pride wells within him at the well-executed throw. But then he turns around, and what he sees is something that will haunt him forever. 

Aizawa-sensei's red eye lingers on him as the Twices bring the man off the edge. 1A's homeroom teacher -- their hero and mentor alike -- falls without making a sound, his combat knife still tightly gripped in his hand. Kaminari lunges, a last ditch effort to reach his teacher, but the sea of Twices between the two of them is insurmountable.

A blast of sound from his left, and Kaminari turns to see Mic-sensei leap without hesitation past the Twice clones and off UA, arm outstretched for his falling friend. Together, the two fall out of Kaminari's sight, hurtling towards the merciless ground far, far below.

"NOOO!!!" The scream tears itself from the depths of his soul. He's too late, too weak, too useless. 

Faintly, Kaminari hears Mandalay's voice in his head, shouting for him to move, but all he can do is stare listlessly at the edge where his teachers plummeted off of. There's a roaring in his ears as the Twices overwhelm him, pinning him to the ground, hands clawing and fingers digging into his body as they slowly crushing him under their weight.

It's not enough. We failed. I failed. Kaminari closes his eyes, hoping that when he opens them next, he'll see Midnight-sensei and Bakugo and Aizawa-sensei and Mic-sensei again at some place the war hasn't yet stained. 

Underneath the stampede of Twices, struggling to breath, an image forms behind Kaminari's eyelids. A head of purple hair forms in front of him, onyx eyes staring into his soul, an indecipherable expression on the face he'd grown to love. Kyoka's lips move. "Giving up so soon, Chargebolt?" 

Kaminari's eyes snap open, acutely aware now of the notebook pressed tightly against his chest. Hearing returns to him in a flash, Mandalay's cries, his own heartbeat, and the Twices' frenzied chanting forming a cacophonous symphony that make it difficult to form a coherent thought. But difficult didn't mean impossible. 

Kaminari struggles against his captors, managing to peer over the swarm of Twices before going under again. He'd only gotten a brief glance at Manga's temporary fortifications set up on the other side of the rooftop, but every detail had been seared into his mind. 

Splashes of water rained down upon the Twices attacking the fortifications. Manga, Monoma in his arms, yelling out "bang, bang" repeatedly to smush the Twices into mud. Mandalay, desperately reaching out for him, while Yuyu grabs the Pussycat member tightly to prevent her from throwing herself into the fray. 

With Aizawa and Mic-sensei both off the rooftop, and everyone else behind Manga’s wall, none of his allies would be hit by his attack if he went all out.

With a defiant scream, anger, regret, despair, and pain coalesce into steely determination. The hum of electricity under his skin surges to an overwhelming point, stray sparks flying off his body and colliding with the Twices around him, chaining into even more clones and reducing them to brown sludge. Kaminari doesn't let himself stop, gritting his teeth as he unleashes a devastating indiscriminate wave of electricity through his body to the floor.

The electricity spreads outwards rapidly, expanding and consuming the Twices, lightning flickering out in uncontrollable strands, catching even the American fighter pilots' attention. From their view, it seems as if a thunderous tornado had enveloped UA completely, the light more overpowering than the electric dome of Shigaraki's arena. 

"Star..." one of the pilots mutters, the glow reminiscent of his deceased comrade's Keraunos attack. 

As suddenly as it appeared, the electricity dissipates. The UA rooftop is silent. Kaminari gasps in air hungrily as he kneels in the pool of mud that used to be the Twice flood. He barely makes out the hurried steps towards him amidst the ringing in his ears. 

Mandalay appears before him, a motherly hand reaching out to rest on his shoulder as she crouches down to eye level with him. 

"Are you hurt?" she asks, and Kaminari wants to respond, but when he opens his mouth nothing comes out. Tears trailing down his cheeks, he settles for shaking his head instead. 

Mandalay breathes a sigh of relief, pulling Kaminari into a quick hug before helping him stand. "Thank goodness, kid, I thought I lost you," she says. Kaminari smartly decides not to bring up the fact that unshed tears glisten behind her eyes. It would be quite hypocritical of him, after all. 

As Mandalay listens for updates through her headset, Kaminari shakily makes his way to the rooftop's edge, peering over for signs of his senseis. 

Nothing. He isn't sure what he thought he'd find in the first place, anyways. Kaminari turns his attention back to Mandalay, who has begun to give out orders to the heroes on the rooftop. Manual is to move Monoma to safety, Yuyu to assist Mirio in evacuating the defeated combatants within the Coffin, and Manga and Kaminari are to continue fighting within UA where clones have infiltrated to attack the support course students. 

Kaminari takes a deep breath, clearing the fog from his head. Already, with the rooftop all silent, he can hear sounds of gunfire and cannons, a clear indication that Yaomomo was already engaged in combat. Exchanging a nod with Manga and Mandalay, he prepares to head back into the fray when an explosion shakes him to his core.

For a brief, miraculous second, he thinks Bakugo had come back, too stubborn for death to hold him, but it's Midoriya who caused that sound, locked in devasting combat with Shigaraki outside of the Coffin In the Sky. Or at least, that's what Kaminari assumes is happening, since all he can see is the massive whirlwind coming from the crater where the two had struck the ground.

"Midoriya..." He mutters in concern, his heart still pounding rapidly in his chest, but he knows interfering with that fight would do more harm than good. He needs to focus on what he can do at the moment instead of thinking of more what ifs.

The doors to UA swing open, unlocked by Mandalay. Kaminari spares one more glance at the nothingness below UA, mentally apologizing to Aizawa and Mic-sensei for failing them. 

Would Midnight-sensei be proud of him, if she could see him now? Would Aizawa and Mic-sensei forgive him? He doesn't know. There's only one thing he knows for sure. 

No more sacrifices today. There's already been enough. And there won't be any more, not if Chargebolt has anything to say about it. 

After all, he still has a notebook to return and a promise to keep.