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The first time Kaminari made a connection with Shinsou was long before the other joined their class, in a joint training exercise. Something that also served as Shinsou’s final test, to see whether or not the other was fit to join the hero course. So understandably Shinsou had been on edge during the exercise. It didn’t deter Kaminari from trying to make friends with Shinsou.
He resumed his efforts to make Shinsou his friend shortly after the other finally joined their class at the start of the second year. Still, Shinsou had missed a lot of practice and a lot of the real-life opportunities to face villains that class 1-A got (even though they weren’t supposed to have these opportunities), so Shinsou lacked behind. It wasn’t a surprise, it wasn’t even unexpected and no one blamed Shinsou for it, except for Shinsou himself.
Shinsou’s determination to catch up as quickly as humanly possible as well as his inhuman requirements of himself made becoming his friend harder. Still, Kaminari, with all the patience he could muster and some encouragement from his classmates, faced the task. And he succeeded.
Or at least, he did something close to succeeding.
Giving Shinsou a handjob in one of the supply closets, while receiving a handjob himself, hadn't exactly been Kaminari’s plan. He wasn’t even sure what happened. One minute, Shinsou was aggravated and yelling out his frustrations and the next, Shinsou’s lips were on his and his hand was on Kaminari’s pants. And then it was in Kaminari’s pants.
His hands were a lot softer than Kaminari would have guessed and Shinsou seemed to be knowing what he did. Shinsou asked - a couple of times actually - if Kaminari wanted to stop, but Kaminari couldn't do anything but moan. So instead, he’d pushed his hand into Shinsou’s pants, hoping it would be answer enough. Also, it was only polite, to make Shinsou feel the same way he made Kaminari feel right?
After they were done, Shinsou’s head had collapsed onto Kaminari’s shoulder and he’d breathlessly confessed how wound up he’d been from trying to catch up and proving his worth. Kaminari had tried to console him, with as many words as his post-coital brain provided him and Shinsou had chuckled at his inability to form proper sentences and then teased him for his shaky legs. They did agree on a movie night to help Shinsou relax though.
So, even if the handjobs weren’t really part of the plan, Kaminari was proud to say their friendship made some progress.
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He continued to make progress with Shinsou, in the way he least expected. Which meant, he and Shinsou were in one of the bathroom stalls of the camping site, Kaminari on his knees with his lips around Shinsou’s dick and Shinsou’s hand in his hair. Not exactly what he expected from their arrival at the training camp, but he wasn’t complaining. He was mostly enjoying Shinsou’s dirty mouth.
“Fuck, shit. Kaminari you’re so good”, Shinsou hissed, trying to bite his lips to be quieter. Kaminari didn’t think it made much of a difference at this time of the night, most of their classmates would be fast asleep. And the ones that weren’t hopefully were smart enough to avoid the showers.
“Fuck, you suck like a pro”, Shinsou hissed again, and Kaminari would have loved to smirk. He moaned instead, which elicited the most delightful moan he’d heard from Shinsou yet. He could see Shinsou throwing his head back against the tiles, followed by a gasp that echoed loudly in the tiny stall. Kaminari took it as a sign and increased his speed.
Shinsou gasped and moaned uncontrollably, uttering words and broken sentences that were music to Kaminari’s ears. Shinsou’s hips twitched, his dick hit the back of Kaminari’s throat which made him gag and Shinsou immediately pulled at Kaminari’s hair to get him off. Kaminari got off, his mouth coming off Shinsou’s dick with a satisfying ‘pop’ sound, and replaced his mouth with his hand. He pumped fast, figuring Shinsou must be close.
Shinsou tightened one of his hands in Kaminari’s hair pulling slightly, something Kaminari strangely enjoyed and used the other one to brace himself against the shower wall. His hips bucked to meet Kaminari’s thrusts. Shinsou’s eyes closed, while the words from his mouth jumbled together, making it impossible to figure out what he was saying. Then he started chanting ‘oh god, oh god, oh god’ breathlessly, while his hips went faster still.
Shinsou came silently, mouth open like he wanted to scream and Kaminari pumped him through his high. Only once the tension had left Shinsou’s body and after Shinsou had opened his eyes again, did Kaminari stand up. Most of Shinsou’s cum was splattered on the wall behind him, but a little was stuck to the hand Kaminari had used to jerk Shinsou off. While Shinsou eyed him warily, still coming down from his high, Kaminari decided it was safe to indulge his curiosity.
So, he took two of the fingers into his mouth and tasted some of Shinsou’s cum. It had a weird taste, something Kaminari couldn’t quite place, slightly bitter and strangely addicting. He licked his hand clean, taking what he could get. When he raised his head to meet Shinsou’s eyes, he almost shrinked back. He couldn’t remember if Shinsou ever had that hungry look in his eyes before, but it did things to Kaminari. Most notably, it made his blood rushing south.
“Fuck, that was hot”, Shinsou exclaimed, going to his knees, hands on Kaminari’s zipper. A sudden sound outside the bathroom, along with a voice that could only belong to Aizawa, made him stop. He stared up at Kaminari, wide-eyed and Kaminari couldn’t do anything but stare back and try to control his breathing. It took a minute that felt like a year until Aizawa was gone. Which was more than enough time to kill any arousal Kaminari felt. Shinsou also didn’t seem to be in the mood anymore. They just decided to sneak back to their respective tents.
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Their friendship continued to develop ( and even in his own head that sounded mocking) into something he didn’t quite have with any of his other friends. Still, Kaminari thought, watching Shinsou who was on knees before him, he couldn’t complain. In fact, if someone asked him (and he prayed no one would, because he wouldn’t know how to explain that to anyone) Shinsou’s mouth proved to be even better than Shinsou’s hand.
Shinsou shared that sentiment, if his surprisingly dirty mouth was to be believed. Not that Kaminari had been paying too much attention to that. He definitely wasn’t hearing Shinsou’s moans in his dreams. He also never had to hide a boner from his tent-mates in the morning, because of some wet dream with Shinsou in the starring role. That was just ridiculous.
“Fuck, sorry”, he gasped, when his orgasm approached too fast, for him to warn Shinsou. Shinsou coughed shortly, spitting some of Kaminari’s cum on the floor and then wiped his mouth with his hand. When he finally looked up at Kaminari he grinned. He was way more handsome than he had any right to be, when he grinned like that. At least in Kaminari’s humble opinion.
“Well, at least you enjoyed yourself”, Shinsou drawled, making a show of eying the mess on the floor, while licking over his lips. Kaminari felt his legs getting shakier just by that action alone.
Shinsou stood then, towering a whole head over Kaminari - because somehow, that guy just continued to grow - and leaned heavily into Kaminari’s personal space. Not that Kaminari minded, he’d even be open for cuddles, but that would stretch farther than their … thing was currently allowing.
“I did”, he confirmed, instead of letting his mind wander, doing his best to smile as brightly as possible. Shinsou’s grin turned into something more like a real smile, his eyes became softer and Kaminari wished he could just lean in and kiss him. But that would be too much. He didn’t want to be too much.
He busied himself by tucking his pants up again, making sure there wasn’t any evidence to their previous activity and trying not to linger on the thought of what their thing actually was. A Friends-With-Benefits arrangement? Were they friends enough for that? Wouldn’t an arrangement include a talk, or rules, or at least some guidelines like do’s and don’ts? Were they just fuckbuddies then? How much buddy did you have to be to be considered fuckbuddies? Maybe stress relief, then? They were certainly relieving stress, if nothing else.
“Earth to Kaminari”, Shinsou said, waving his hand in front of Kaminari’s face, which snapped him out of his thoughts very effectively, “you okay? I think you left me for a second there.”
“Yeah, sorry”, Kaminari mumbled, not sure what to give for an excuse. Or maybe that was his time to finally clear up his confusion. What better to find than to just be direct?
“Well, we gotta hurry. The bus takes off in an hour and I haven’t packed yet”, Shinsou declared, ending whatever Kaminari could have said about their thing before Kaminari even had the chance to properly think about it. There went his chance at a talk. Still, Shinsou wasn’t wrong, even though Kaminari deeply wished he was.
____________________
“Hey, what’s going on with you and Shinsou”, Kirishima asked one afternoon, completely unprompted, catching Kaminari off-guard. Or maybe not so unprompted. Kirishima had the room above him after all. Kaminari had never been the silent type, especially not when Shinsou had his mouth around his dick and his fingers in Kaminari’s ass. Or when he finally replaced those fingers with his dick. He was screwed. In both senses, even though only one was pleasing.
“Nothing”, he tried nonetheless, even though with how squeaky and high his voice was, he knew it was a lost cause already. But it wouldn’t hurt to try.
“Nothing”, Kirishima repeated, one eyebrow raised and a look in his eyes telling Kaminari he wouldn’t get out of this unless he told the truth. Or a better lie. Which was unlikely, so he had to tell the truth.
At least he had some time to think about it, by virtue of Bakugou arriving from the training grounds. Kirishima instantly gravitated towards his boyfriend, stealing himself a hug and a kiss, something Bakugou gave surprisingly easily. Kaminari would be jealous, but he remembered what a hassle the two of them had been through. Nothing he wanted to repeat.
“So?”, Kirishima asked, eyeing Kaminari again.
“So”, Kaminari replied, still not knowing what to say.
“So”, Bakugou said, sounding exasperated, “what’s going on here?”
“I’m trying to find out what’s going on between Kaminari and Shinsou and he -”, Kirishima pointed an accusing finger at Kaminari, while Bakugou’s grin just widened, “won’t tell me.” Bakugou, who still had an arm around Kirishima, drew his boyfriend closer.
“They’re fucking”, he mock-whispered loud enough to be clearly heard. Kaminari sputtered, trying to find words, while Kirishima just giggled and leaned his head on Bakugou’s shoulder. Bakugou looked at his boyfriend like he was the most precious thing in the world and then at Kaminari like he dared him to prove him wrong.
“Since when do you know?”, Kaminari lamented, figuring there was no need to deny it anymore. If there ever was any need to deny it in the first place.
“Training camp. I caught you sucking him off in the showers”, Bakugou shrugged, like he hadn’t said the most scandalous thing in recent history. Kaminari could feel the heat flaring to his cheeks, mortification climbing up his spine and he wished he could be anywhere else.
“Shit”, Kirishima chuckled, giving Kaminari a look like he was an excited toddler who just found his christmas presents.
“Yeah, Shinsou said so too”, Bakugou replied, smiling easily at his boyfriend. The smile turned into a winning grin when he faced Kaminari.
“So what?”, Kirishima questioned, after a short time where they just chuckled and giggled at Kaminari’s expense, “you’re like boyfriends? Or something?”
“I don’t know, that’s why I haven’t told you yet. Most likely not boyfriends”, Kaminari answered truthfully, because for all the jokes at his expense (and he knows they will be coming in the future), he truly believed Kirishima wanted to be helpful. He knew what pining was like, after all.
“Most likely? You never talk before or after you fuck?”, Bakugou questioned, looking a lot more disbelieving than he had any right to, “I thought you never shut up.” That earned him a slap to the arm from Kirishima, something that Bakugou answered with raised eyebrows and some tickles to Kirishima’s side.
“But seriously”, Kirishima inquired after a minute, still somewhat breathless from Bakugou’s attack, “you never talk about it? Don’t you want to?”
“It’s a bromance”, Kaminari said, sounding defensive even to his own ears and both Bakugou and Kirishima had the same skeptic look in their eyes, “not much to talk about.”
“Okay”, Kirishima gave in, surprisingly easy and Kaminari had the sneaking suspicion it had something to do with Bakuogu’s hand, that had magically vanished from Kirishima’s hip and was still nowhere in sight. Kaminari wasn’t exactly trying to figure out where it went, either. “Just know, that my door is open, if you wanna talk”, Kirishima offered, before he and Bakugou said their good-byes.
Kaminari didn’t need a talk.
He and Shinsou were friends - or not quite friends - that had a little mutually beneficial thing going on the side. Meaning they touched each other's dicks, and sucked each other’s dicks, when they needed it. Or sometimes for fun. They only had ‘proper’ sex one time. Because Kaminari had mentioned that he bought lube and condoms. He actually just bought the lube to make handjobs easier. And the condoms because. There was no real reason. He just liked to be safe.
So, he and Shinsou were not quite friends, that had a little - or a little more - sex. There was nothing to talk about. It wasn’t like it would happen too often.
____________________
Kaminari and Shinsou had had ‘proper’ sex two more times, before Kaminari admitted that it might have turned into a tiny, little, barely there problem. Not the sex itself, that was great, Kaminari was even allowed to top one time. It felt exhilarating.
The problem arose when after the third time, Shinsou didn’t leave afterwards. Instead he stayed and they cuddled and then they fell asleep together. And when he awoke the next morning, Shinsou was still there. His hair was so deliciously messed, his mouth opened slightly with a barely there snore and he just looked so peaceful. And right. Like he belonged right there next to Kaminari in his bed.
When Kaminari had reached out, to draw some mindless patterns on Shinsou’s bare chest, his heart did a somersault and then a backflip and then it pumped twice as fast as usual. Kaminari knew he had a major problem right then, because feelings were unaccounted for. Not necessarily forbidden - they never talked about it, after all - but certainly not required. And what if Shinsou didn’t have them?
Kaminari knew he needed to talk to someone then.
____________________
Kaminari burst into Kirishima’s room without knocking or any other polite form of announcing his arrival. He probably should learn doing so, he has regretted not doing so in the past - barging in on Kirishima having his hand down Bakugou’s sweatpants and Bakugou having a blissed out expression he wouldn't have believed, hadn't he seen it himself - but his mind was currently elsewhere. And thankfully, all Kirishima and Bakugou were doing was cuddling and looking at their respective phones. So, no reason to bleach his eyes again.
“I need some advice on my bromance with Shinsou”, he said, instead of a greeting, because he figured there was no reason to talk around it. He’d never been the discreet guy and both Kirishima and Bakugou already knew what was going on.
“How often did you and Shinsou have sex again?”, Kirishima questioned, the smile on his lips going from happy to wicked and Bakugou grinned proudly at his boyfriend. Kaminari already regretted coming to them to ask for help.
He thought back to it. The first time was sometime shortly after Shinsou joined their class. It wasn’t even proper sex, they’d done it in a hallway closet with minimal space and no lube, so it was just a mutual handjob. The second time was him giving Shinsou a blowjob the night of their arrival at the summer training camp and the third time was Shinsou giving him a blowjob shortly before they left. The first proper time they had sex was weeks after, when watching a movie turned into a discussion about how Kaminari had bought lube and condoms, just to be safe. And it happened two more times since.
“Six times”, he answered, because even if the first three times weren’t proper sex, they still counted. At least to Kaminari they did.
“Yeah, I don’t think that counts as a bromance”, Kirishima concluded, snuggling deeper into Bakugou’s embrace and Kaminari could see the way Bakugou’s muscles flexed, as he tightened his arm around his boyfriend. Kirishima made some kind of low humming sound that Kaminari never heard before and a self-satisfied grin made its way onto Bakugou’s lips. They really were sappy. Kaminari tried not to be envious.
“Just man up and confess”, Bakugou told him, while burying his nose in Kirishima’s hair, looking content enough to aggravate Kaminari. More than the statement already did. He gasped to give expression to just how ridiculous he thought Bakugou was and he could see Bakugou badly trying to hide a smirk in Kirishima’s hair. Or maybe he wasn’t trying to hide it at all. He could never quite tell with Bakugou.
“You”, he said instead, pointing at both of them and making sure they saw him do it, “don’t have any right to say that!” Not with the mess that was trying to get these two together. Kaminari didn’t like remembering it, even if everything turned out fine.
Kirishima just laughed at that and Bakugou looked like he won the lottery when he heard it. He wasn’t sure Bakugou knew what kind of expressions he was making, but he wasn’t about to tell him either. Bakugou seemed happier, since Kirishima became his boyfriend. It also meant less screaming and safer earbuds and no one in their class was willing to end that. Not yet, anyways. They would start teasing soon enough.
Bakugou pressed a kiss into Kirishima’s hair and Kaminari would forever be wondering how he did it, without getting poked in the eye. But Bakugou had that rare ability. Kirishima raised his head then, looking at Bakugou like he was the only one in the universe that mattered and stole himself a quick kiss on the lips. Or a not so quick kiss. Kaminari felt like they'd forgotten all about him, so he scoffed in hopes to get their attention back. Pointlessly.
“You know what? Forget it. I’ll go ask Jirou.” He went away quickly then, sensing the two had some plans he wasn’t keen on witnessing. He wondered how long he could talk to Jirou about boys before she would throw him out.
____________________
Talking to Jirou proved fruitless, too. Honestly, it was probably Kaminari’s fault, for expecting otherwise. Jirou was a lesbian, after all, she wouldn’t know about relationships with men. Especially not, when they involved sex.
Just talk to him, she had said, in a voice sounding like he was the bane of her existence. She accompanied it with an exaggerated eye roll and a scoff, before she had focused again on whatever she’d been doing with her phone. Before Kaminari left the room, he heard her muttering about men being unable to deal with feelings. She sounded like she had that argument with someone before and he was too scared of her blowing up in his face to start a discussion.
Still, he was very much in touch with his feelings. He’d tell Jirou eventually. For now there were bigger problems. Actually, to be perfectly accurate, there was just one bigger problem. That was his still unnamed relationship status with Shinsou. Something that needed to be tackled sooner rather than later.
Thankfully, Kaminari was nothing, if not a man of action.
So, like the man of action that he was, he took out his phone and sent a message to Shinsou. Because there was no good reason to not solve this problem right then. (He would know, he brainstormed for good reasons for almost two hours.)
____________________
When Shinsou finally came - to his room to talk, not the other, much prefered version - he almost looked nervous. Which was ridiculous. After all, Shinsou wasn’t the one, who was about to lay all of his cards on the table. And with cards, he meant his feelings. And by table, he meant confessing them. Maybe that hadn’t been his best metaphor. Still, his point had been made. Shinsou wasn’t the one who should be looking pale and he shouldn’t fidget with his hands. If anything, that was Kaminari’s right.
But Kaminari was determined not to look nervous. He was more going for a suave self-assured kinda vibe. ( And since Bakugou wasn’t there, to tell him he looked like an idiot, he would say it worked well for him.)
“Hey”, he said, as a kind of greeting, because he didn’t know how to start the conversation.
“I know-”, Shinsou said that exact same second, suddenly turning silent, when Kaminari started talking. Kaminari shrugged his shoulders and gestured for Shinsou to continue.
“I know you wanna break up”, Shinsou said, standing too tall and having too much tension in his shoulder. Also, he made approximately zero sense and that was usually Kaminari’s job.
“What?”, he said, instead of voicing anything he just thought, because he lacked the capability to do that properly, “How did you get that idea?”
“You wrote ‘ We need to talk ’ everybody knows that means break-up!”, Shinsou argued, sounding defensive, but nonetheless raised a finger to point at Kaminari. Accusingly . Kaminari would be insulted, if he were any less confused.
“Break-up? Break-up what? There is nothing to ‘break-up’!”
“Well there is our -”, Shinsou began, abruptly interrupting himself, finger still raised in the air. His eyes widened and his facial expression turned into something mortified. He lowered his hand slowly, balling it into a fist by his side and remained perfectly still.
“Yeah?”, Kaminari questioned, when it became obvious that Shinsou wouldn’t continue.
“Shit”, Shinsou cursed, instead of answering. lowering his eyes to the floor. He raised one of his hands to wipe over his face, then through his hair and he finally settled it on his nape. His weight shifted from one foot to the other and back a few times, while Shinsou silently shook his head.
“I’m so fucking stupid!”, he muttered, still not looking at Kaminari, “You didn’t even - oh shit, oh fuck! I mean, who am I kidding? Of course you didn’t!”
“Um, Shinsou?”, Kaminari tried, carefully, because he wasn’t sure what Shinsou was trying to say, but he seemed very unsure of himself. Very uncharacteristic. Shinsou slowly raised his head to meet Kaminari’s eyes for only a second, before he avoided eye contact again. He took a deep breath and if Kaminari didn’t know any better he’d think Shinsou was steeling himself for something.
“Look”, Shinsou said, still looking somewhere behind Kaminari, “I was - stupidly - under the impression that we were … like, you know? Dating ? Which, impossible, I know! But still, so, uhm, I guess it’s less ‘breaking up’ and more ending an arrangement, since we weren’t - aren’t dating. God, I’m so freaking dumb.”
And that was just a lot, wasn’t it? Kaminari had spent weeks - months even - wondering what exactly they were and if they could potentially have something between them. And Shinsou had been under the impression they were dating this whole time. He just went with the flow, when Kaminari was wondering whether they were even friends. Let alone dating. But that was the kicker: Shinsou thought they were dating and he was okay with that! Which meant, Kaminari still had a chance.
“Does that mean you have like - you know - the feelings?”, Kaminari questioned awkwardly, because apparently his brain wasn’t really up to providing him with proper words. Must be the information overload.
“I have them”
“The feelings?”
“Yeah”
“For me?”
“Yeah”, Shinsou said reluctantly, still not looking Kaminari in the eyes. Something which simultaneously frustrated him and he was incredibly grateful about. Frustrated, because he wanted Shinsou to really look at him. Grateful, because he didn’t know if he could function properly, if he was looking into Shinsou’s incredible eyes.
“I have them too”, Kaminari said and he was sure his grin must be unsightly, the way he felt it splitting his face. But he couldn’t help it and he refused to be ashamed about it. Because Shinsou had the feelings for him and that was the best news he’d gotten all year.
“You do?”, Shinsou asked, jerking his head slightly to the side to, finally , properly look at Kaminari with his eyes wide in disbelief. Kaminari couldn’t help the little laugh bubbling up inside him at the sight. Instead, he did what he had wanted to do for months and let himself crash into Shinsou’s chest for some long overdue cuddles. Shinsou stiffened for a second, probably not expecting Kaminari to do that, before he slowly wrapped his arms around Kaminari - one around his waist and the other cupping his head.
Shinsou relaxed very slowly - something Kaminari would forever find weird, given how fast he was to touch the others dick - but eventually he let himself and by extension Kaminari fall on the bed. He even managed to do that, without letting go of Kaminari. The hand that had cupped his head gingerly started tracing some patterns on his back and just when Kaminari thought about making a game out of this, Shinsou spoke up again.
“Do you wanna be my boyfriend?”
YES, Kaminari’s mind shouted, a thousand times YES! Kaminari’s mouth, however, took the independent decision to say something else. Something far more embarrassing than a simple yes.
“I thought about how to ask you that same question for weeks now.”
Shinsou stopped tracing patterns, removed the one hand from Kaminari’s back entirely and that was enough reason for concern for Kaminari to look up from his (way too comfortable) position. Shinsou’s face was almost completely covered by the hand that wasn’t caressing Kaminari anymore.
“What?”, he asked, when it became apparent that Shinsou wasn’t about to say anything unprompted.
“You”, Shinsou said, removing the hand from his face in favor of looking at Kaminari like he was at fault for everything, “are an idiot. We could have had it so much easier.”
“Okay, firstly” , Kaminari, who took great issue with that statement, said, “we aren’t the worst, not by a long shot. Has anyone ever told you about Kirishima and Bakugou? That was the worst. And second, I put half of that blame on you!”
“On me?”, Shinsou said, raising his head from the bed and quirking one eyebrow, like he was asking for a challenge.
“Yep”, Kaminari answered, popping the ‘p’, “If you told me you had feelings, instead of just having sex with me without talking, we could’ve been here months ago.”
“Alright”, Shinsou said, surprisingly giving, while wrapping his arm around Kaminari again, forcing his head back onto Shinsou’s torso, “I could’ve said something, you could’ve said something. Let’s just agree that we’re both at fault.”
“Okay”, Kaminari agreed, more focused on the rumbling feeling in Shinsou’s chest that he made when he talked than on the actual words, Shinsou had just said. His tone sounded amicable, he was sure it was fine. At least Kaminari’s own position, head on Shinsou’s chest, solely focused on his heartbeat, was. That was enough for him.
And when Shinsou took his hand on their way to class the next morning and didn’t let go until Aizawa started the lecture, not even when Sero wolf-whistled at them, Kaminari could have sworn he had died and gone to even. The only thing assuring him he was alive was the surprise test Aizawa threw at them, the very next second.