|| Things Will Change ||

Chapter Seven

Denki tapped his pencil on the desk nervously, he knew there was hero training again today and people might see.... them. The bruises, the marks, the bandages- everything he wanted to forget. It was currently homeroom, and Aizawa was napping- as usual, but he really did need it. The man had almost as many bags under his eyes as Shinsou. Denki's train of thoughts wandered over to Shinsou; were they related? Shinsou had eyebags, he seemed to like cats, he had messed up hair and the same weird smile. Come to think of it, Shinsou was probably just the mini purple version of Aizawa. He even used the same kind of capture weapon.

Which brought his mind back to hero training. The locker room was open, how was he supposed to change with everyone else in there? He had to come up with some convincing lies to explain away everything, and he had to come up with those lies fast. The easiest explanation could be that he was mugged, that's what he'd told his parents, but how would he explain the bandages around his wrists and- and the.. hickeys on his neck and collarbone?

He absently lifted his hand to touch his shirt, brushing just over where the hickeys would be hidden underneath the fabric. They were dark red and purple, and very, very angry-looking. Like if Bakugou was a mark.

The thought made him chuckle under his breath before he realized the Bakusquad was starting to gather around and talk about what had happened that weekend. The class was pretty much a blur, though, seeing as he was still tired and worried about how he'd deal with hero training, his thoughts wandering away as he spaced out, staring at his desk for probably a good twenty minutes, his mind finally blank and peaceful. No more insults. No more worries. Just-

"I AM HERE!!" A voice boomed, and Denki's head snapped up. All Might was in the classroom now, and Midoriya was fanboying as usual. He sighed as they were ushered out of the classroom to their locker rooms, where Denki stood awkwardly, slowly getting out his hero costume, silently cursing at life. What made it worse was when Kirishima noticed he wasn't changing.

"What's wrong, bro? Self-conscious?" Kirishima teased, and Denki forced a laugh.

"No, bro, but the better question is why were you looking? Hungry for all of this?" Denki grinned, flipping his hair and gesturing to himself, earning a laugh from Kirishima who looked away and continued changing into his hero suit. Denki stared for a second- Kirishima was an attractive man- but quickly shifted his gaze and started changing as quickly as he could, reminding himself that he was not out of the closet and that he had to come up with a lie in case someone saw the bruises.

Which, of course, they did.

"Kaminari," Todoroki's smooth, cold voice started. "Are you okay?"

Denki turned around to see at least half the boys staring at him as he put his shirt on, and more were turning by the second. He smiled nervously.

"Oh, haha- yeah, I just kinda, well, got mugged yesterday. It's not too big of a deal, though, I fought them off!" He gave them his biggest grin, quickly tugging on his shirt. Most people turned back to finish changing, although Todoroki and Midoriya didn't look convinced. That would be a problem. Midoriya's eyes widened as he looked at Denki's neck and Denki panicked, turning around, and heard a small gasp before he yanked on his jacket and grabbed his glasses. He was so stupid, he didn't even convince everyone and now they probably thought he was weak and lazy and a stupid- such a fucking stupid- liar. He hurried outside along with Sero, Ojiro, and Mineta, walking quickly to go gather with the girls. It was fairly cold outside and he was glad he had his jacket, wrapping it tighter around himself and feeling bad for Momo. Her hero suit must make her really cold.

Finally everyone gathered around All Might and they were assembled into sparring teams, where Denki got paired up with Bakugou. Just his luck, the angry Pomeranian was looking particularly murderous and completely willing to throttle someone to death.

The class got into their positions. Bakugou with his fingers splayed out in a kind of claw, while Denki just kind of stood there, his mind going blank.

Then, All Might called out for the sparring to begin, and Bakugou charged.