Smile | Suicidal Todoroki x Kaminari

15 | Relationship

Denki Kaminari
•⊱—≬—⊰•

Upon pulling apart his eyelids to allow the white ink of reality to seep into his vision, Kaminari could see Todoroki nestled in his hospital bed with a myriad of clunky machinery, bandages, and brace-like items enveloping the pitiable student. Yet, even from where he was standing, Kaminari noticed as Todoroki's expression shifted from a neutral frown to a slim smile.

"Ka...minari?" he asked with a rusted, creaky, ancient voice.

The golden-eyed student nodded to himself as he approached his friend from the side. "Yeah, that's me!" he quietly exclaimed.

Todoroki opened his eyes and squinted at Kaminari. "I'm...not completely blind... I still have light perception..." It sounded as though simply speaking was preying upon his limited, critical reserve of energy. "Put...your hand on mine." Kaminari placed his hand atop Todoroki's, and like small tendrils of vines unfurling towards the sunlight, his fingers slowly wrapped around the former's hand. "Your hand...is cold. My pinky finger is...essentially useless—there's...no feeling in it." His quivering hand gently reached up towards Kaminari's chin, so Kaminari lowered himself down. "Oh. Thanks..." His digits brushed across Kaminari's chin, traced around the peripheries of his face, and then lightly touched his nose. "Your nose...is also cold," he chuckled with a smile. "I'm sad. I wanted to see...your smile again... Can I?" He pointed within the general propinquity of Kaminari's lips.

"Go ahead!"

I thought he'd be miserable, Kaminari thought while Todoroki's hand slid down to trace his forefinger across the former's smile. He looks...happy? Then again, I fell for that not too long ago, and turns out he was carrying a suicide note... I want to ask about it, but now's just not the time. I'm just so glad he's alive at all. Even though...he doesn't want to be.

"Cute," Todoroki commented as his hand retracted and rested back at his side. "I'm...sorry you have to see me...like this."

Kaminari shook his head, but Todoroki was blind, so it wasn't as though it mattered. "Don't apologize, Todoroki," he reassured his languid friend. "I heard you saved a lady and her son. But...did you know that knowing you're alive puts a smile on my face? Heck yeah. Besides, I get to see your smile again. It's adorable, but not as adorable as you." His grin widened as peach mantled Todoroki's cheeks.

"I love...your personality. You... Who you are. I want...to be with you...but I don't want to hurt you..."

The expression that was worn by the shorter of the two wilted. "And I love who you are as well. But, Todoroki...how would you hurt me?" I can only think of one thing, he internally sighed.

"I..." Todoroki paused for a moment. "I have...bad habits. I don't want...to go into more detail..."

Habitually, Kaminari nodded. "That's fair, and I get it, but I can't know if I'll be hurt by it or not if I don't know what those habits are. You know? But if you don't wanna say anything, that's okay. But unless your 'bad habits' are along the lines of murder or something, I can handle it. You're worth it, Todoroki. I want to help you, man." He rested his hand atop his friend's hand again.

"You're...certain?" the heterochromatic student asked in a whisper. "Yup!" Kaminari affirmed in a jubilant hum. "Then...can I ask for one thing?" Todoroki replied.

It's probably important if he's actually requesting something, Kaminari thought. Like, of course I didn't just forget about how much he didn't want me to do anything for him.

"Ask away," the electric Quirk-user chuckled while interlacing their digits. "Heh. My hands aren't as cold anymore."

"Away?" Todoroki whispered, and to this, Kaminari began to internally laugh with awe. "But...ah, please...try not to yell around me...or at me."

That sounds really sad, Kaminari realized. I thought he'd ask not to talk about what happened, or, like, himself or food. I wonder if his parents fight a lot... I wonder what they thought when they heard about what happened.

"I can do that, but I'm so sorry if I screw up because my puny brain forgets. But, so...what does this make us?"

A soft, fragile smile reluctantly emerged from Todoroki's lips. "You're...definitely smarter than I am. But, I guess...boyfriends?" His voice sounded like a mist of dust being whipped up by a fan. "Can we...keep this a secret?"

"Course we can keep this a secret. But, wow, I feel warm and fuzzy inside to think of you as my boyfriend... I've never been in a relationship before, so, y'know." He rubbed the back of his neck a bit. "There is no way that I'm smarter than you, though. You always get in the top four for our exams! Am I just not interpreting what you're saying right?"

The taller of the two firmly clutched Kaminari's hand to the best of his ability. "I feel...something nice...when I think about it... Denki... Den...ki... Den...for short?"

Kaminari tenderly massaged his boyfriend's cadaverous hand as his smile pushed through his cheeks. "I love it. Call me Denim, because I'm Den, and I'm nimble when it comes to loving you. Kidding, don't call me that—unless ya want to."

Todoroki evinced a splash of being humored as he chuckled, "You're...not funny...but that's why...it's funny."

"Aww, rats. I thought it was funny, but I guess I'm too idiotic for that. Anyway, you should rest your voice and keep your strength to heal up. Oh, and...can I call you Shu? I dunno. Obviously, Sho makes the most sense, but like..."

"You're...not idiotic... Shoe..." He pointed towards his foot.

Kaminari cackled, "No, no, not that kind of shoe. But, hey, thanks. You're the first person to deny it—not that anyone ever confirmed it, but I just kinda believe it, you know?"

"Shoo?" Todoroki weakly arched the ring, middle, and index finger of his left hand in a shooing motion.

The older of the two nearly toppled over as his earnest, gentle laughs of mirth buzzed through the air. "S-H-U. Shu. You just wanted me to laugh my ass off, denshu? Den and Shu? Didn't you? Get it? Huh? Huh? Okay, I get it, I'm not funny." Despite his final claim, he still giggled afterwards.

Todoroki's smile was an immaculate crescent of peach grandeur. "I think...you're funny...sometimes... But, sleepy..." His hand naturally curled in on itself as it returned to his side, and his murky eyes fluttered closed.

"Heh. I thankshu for that. But alrighty. Sleep well, Shu. I love you..." Kaminari planted a kiss on Todoroki's cheek before departing with a jovial, genuine smile.

Now, he thought to himself, I wonder: is the happiness he's showing me the truth, or is it just a designing fabrication? I can't tell. He looked happy. But considering everything he's been through, would he really be this happy? I know what he wanted, so he should be in more pain than ever. But he's also so strong. Man, I don't know. I don't know, and that's what scares me the most.

⊹⊱—≬—⊰⊹
"𝖨'𝗆 𝗇𝗈𝗍 𝖺𝗇 𝗂𝗇𝖽𝖾𝗌𝗍𝗋𝗎𝖼𝗍𝗂𝖻𝗅𝖾 𝗆𝖺𝖼𝗁𝗂𝗇𝖾."
𝘠𝘰𝘶 𝘣𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘬 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘤𝘳𝘺, 𝘴𝘰 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥𝘯'𝘵 𝘪𝘵 𝘣𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘰 𝘥𝘪𝘦?
"𝙏𝙖𝙠𝙚 𝙖 𝙙𝙞𝙫𝙚 𝙞𝙣𝙩𝙤 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙚𝙣𝙙𝙡𝙚𝙨𝙨 𝙢𝙖𝙧𝙞𝙣𝙚..."