Chapter Text
Kirishima POV
Kirishima sat with Kaminari in the back of the classroom. Class hadn’t started yet, and the voices of the other students talking and laughing washed over the boys. “Bro, I’m so sick of being single,” Kirishima complained. “Like, what does it take for a man to get a girlfriend?”
“Don’t ask me.” Kaminari leaned back in his chair and put his legs up on his desk.
“You literally have a boyfriend!” Kirishima said exasperatedly.
“Yeah, a BOYfriend. Shinso is a fellow member of the male species. Girls are a lot more complicated.”
Kirishima sighed, but his friend had a point. “Yeah, yeah. I know. But is there seriously not a single girl who likes me?”
“Dude, it’s more complicated than that. You need, like, an emotional bond.” Kaminari waved his hand in the air. “Y’know.”
Kirshima nodded. “Yeah. Looks aren’t the only part of it. I mean, all the girls in our class are super cute, but I dunno. I just don’t feel sparks with them.”
Kaminari smirked. “Ya want sparks?” He lifted his hands, and electricity zapped from one palm to the other.
Kirishima laughed and leaned back. “Whoa there! By sparks, I meant love, not electrification!”
“Yeah, okay. I mean, I could ask Shinso how he realized I was the one, but he doesn’t really talk that much. Besides, he’d just say something like ‘Denki is the awesomest hottest person ever!’ and that won’t really help you.”
Kirishima chuckled. “You and your ego. But what about you? You’re the one who asked him out first, right? How did you know?”
“I dunno. I saw him and I was like ‘Damn, that dude’s hot.’ And then I tried to talk to him. He didn’t really respond, but that's fine. I bothered him for the next few weeks until I annoyed him into going on a date with me. And the rest is history.” Kaminari smiled satisfactorily. “Still don’t know how I did it.”
Kirishima sighed. “I don’t think I could annoy a girl into liking me. It’s not in my nature, man.”
“Yeah, you’re too nice for that. I mean, nice is a good thing! Girls like nice guys.”
“Yeah, as friends.” Kirishima sighed. “I mean, it’s like I’m the only single guy in our class!”
“I mean, Mineta is single.”
“Yeah, no shit. Who could ever love that creep?”
“Excuse you, that creep is right here!” Mineta piped up from the seat diagonally to Kirishima.
Kirishima ignored him and continued. “I mean, even Bakugo has a boyfriend! And he’s like the meanest guy in the class. And Midoryia still fell for him?”
“Again, different species,” Kaminari said. “Queer relationships work differenly.”
“Great. And like 80% of our class is gay.”
Kaminari laughed. “You have a point. Like, actually, are you the only straight one?”
“I don’t know. I mean Bakugo is dating Midoriya, Momo is dating Jiro, Ochaco’s with Toga, Tokoyami and Aoyama are a thing somehow, and you have Shinso. I mean Sero, Shoji, Todoroki, Mina, Koda, Sato, Ojiro, Tsu, Iida, and Hagakure are all single.”
“Oh. Well, I guess about 50% of our class is gay, and the rest are single. So maybe you’re gay?”
Kirishima rolled her eyes. “No, I’m not. I just… I dunno. I’m not patient!”
Kaminari smiled and sat back up. “It’s okay, buddy. Bros before hoes, amiright?”
“Easy for you to say!” Kirishima countered. “Your bro is your hoe.”
“Touche.” Kaminari sighed. The bell rang, signaling that class was starting. Mr. Aizawa stepped to the front of the room, and Kirishima started zoning out.
Maybe I’m just unlovable? He thought to himself. His gaze drifted out the window. It was early fall, and the trees were just beginning to turn orange and yellow. The colorful leaves swirled in the wind before settling on the ground.
“...new student.” Mr. Aizawa finished. Kirishima looked up. A new student? He wondered. Damnit, I should have been paying attention.
“Isshiki, you may enter now.” Mr. Aizawa signaled. A girl stepped into the classroom, and Kirishima’s heart just stopped. She was so goddamn gorgeous.
She had bright hazel eyes and a milky way of freckles across her nose. But her most stunning feature was her hair. It was a rainbow of colors from red to violet, and so long she could sit on it.
Kirishima must have been staring because Kaminari tapped him on the back. When he turned around, he had a mischievous grin on his face. “Not attracted to any of the girls in our class, I thought?” He smirked.
Kirishma blushed. “Well, I… uhh.”
Kaminari laughed so hard he snorted. “Dude, you should see your face right now! It’s almost as red as your hair.”
“Kirishima! Kaminari! Are you two going to continue to disrespect our new student, or will you quiet down?” Mr. Aizawa commanded, the scarf around his neck shooting out at the pair.
“Yes, sir! Sorry, sir!” They both quickly sat up straight and faced the front of the classroom.
Isshiki still stood next to Mr. Aizawa, her face emotionless. “I’m sorry, Isshiki. If you’d like, you can introduce yourself.” Mr. Aizawa sighed.
Isshiki nodded and stepped forward. “Uh, hi. I’m Aya Isshiki. I transferred to UA from Shiketsu High for this year.” Her rainbow hair swirled behind her as she spoke, as if it had a mind of its own.
Shiketsu High? Kirishima thought. That’s the second-best school in the country. Was she actually accepted to the two top schools? She must be crazy good. I wonder what her quirk is? Maybe her hair has something to do with it?
“Thank you, Isshiki. You may sit down.” Mr. Aizawa gestured to a desk on the opposite side of the room from Kirishima, next to Izuku Midoriya. Isshiki nodded and walked over to the desk, sitting down silently.
Kirishima couldn’t help but stare at Isshiki as class began. Mr. Aizawa droned on about hero tactics, but the only tactic Kirishima could think of was how to get Isshiki’s number.
Stop it, Eijiro! Pay attention! If you fail out of UA, you’ll never become a hero. He chastised himself. He forced his attention away from Isshiki and to the front of the room.
The bell rang again, and the class was dismissed for lunch. As soon as class ended, Kaminari grabbed Kirishima by his arms and shook him violently. “Dude! Now's your chance! There’s a girl that you’re CLEARLY attracted to! And better yet, she doesn’t have any friends. The ‘first friend’ troupe goes a long way.”
Kirishima pushed the electric boy off him and steadied himself against his desk. “Whoa, don’t kill me! Sure, she’s cute, but I’m not going to manipulate her into liking me!”
“Well, you could at least talk to her!”
“Oh, yeah. Right. Just… talk to her. I can do that!”
“You got this, bro! It’s lunchtime now. Go sit with her and give some good ‘ol Kirishima charm!”
Kirishima chuckled at his friend’s silly remark and nodded. “Yep! I can do this!”
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“I can’t do this.” Kirishima groaned as he slumped into his chair at lunch. Just as Kirishima had been ready to go up to Isshiki, Midoriya had walked over to her and brought her to sit with him and his boyfriend.
“Damn dude, this sucks. Getting your girl stolen by a gay man. That’s a new low.” Kaminari sighed. “Well, you can still recover from this! Just go up to her. You and Bakugo are friends, it shouldn’t be too weird that you want to sit with him.”
“Nah. Maybe it’s not the right time. I’ll talk to her later.”
“Damn, that sucks. C’mon, dude, it’s not that hard to talk to girls.”
“You don’t get to tell me whether talking to girls is easy, you’re gay.”
Kaminari laughed. “Fair point. But I’m serious! You can do this.”
“I can.” Kirishima nodded. His gaze drifted from Kaminari to Isshiki, who was talking and laughing with Midoriya and Bakugo. “I’ll talk to her. Eventually.”