Lightning Serenade

Chapter 7: Fields V

Spoilers: Last chance about a certain character's identity and quirk details that haven't been aired in the anime, yet!

Denki had stars in his eyes as he gave Neito rapt attention throughout the retelling of the last few days, glancing at Hitoshi every once in a while, during major points in the story with the same awe in his gaze. He made Hitoshi feel very seen. That was different because others usually avoided looking at him at all when he could notice as to not engage him in unwanted conversation where they would be open to brainwashing.

Hitoshi even felt a little shy with so much attention being thrown his way when his bigger-than-life soulmate was right next to him. He could see Neito exaggerating even more than usual with his movements and dramatic words as he retold the story, but even still, Denki's eyes would switch between the two of them. Hitoshi even believed that Neito might be doing that for his sake, exaggerating and upping the dramatics, that is. Others from the outside looking in might see Neito being an attention hog who is jealous when Hitoshi gets any attention usually reserved for him, but Hitoshi could see the way Neito glanced at him throughout the story when too many of his audience's eyes flickered in his direction. He was making sure that he was okay and trying to read him to know what to do next, whether that be bring him into the conversation if he looked left out, or even kick the dramatics up a few notches if he looked uncomfortable with the eyes flickering to him at certain parts of the retelling of how they met.

That was when Hitoshi thought that they might be a good match, after all. Hitoshi kind of froze then, though, because with all that Neito was doing in his small ways to keep Hitoshi comfortable, what did he have to offer? What if his soulmate gets tired of his selfishness someday?

Neito, on the other hand, saw that Hitoshi was grateful, and he loved feeling like a hero. Hitoshi didn't know it, but he was giving Neito everything he needed through the small grateful glances that lasted half a second but held full conversations. But maybe it was because they were actively looking for examples that bonded them further as soulmates, or else they would have also noticed the same kind of connection with Denki.

Both boys noticed pretty quickly that Denki was excellent at reading them, from the second he asked about them being soulmates when they hadn't decided if they were going to tell anyone, yet. Denki seemed to read people easily, regardless of who it was. It was effortless, too. Neito and Hitoshi didn't even know if Denki realized he was doing it.

When Hitoshi would shift in his seat after too many eyes would be on him, Denki would jump in with a wild question for Neito, spreading the attention between the blonds instead. When it was not a good time for a valid question, Denki wouldn't hesitate to ask what color the curtains in the classroom were, like he just had to be updated on the latest curtain gossip. Denki didn't even mind when a technician who was checking in on them snickered at his pointless question because all of the people who mattered, the three at the table with him, knew exactly what he was doing and went along with it anyhow. Denki was amazed when he was allowed to take the lead like that instead of having pushback and forced to stay in a follower kind of role. He wasn't used to people following his lead, especially when it was something that could easily be thrown back onto him in order to tease and pick on him for his situational unawareness, even though to the most observant people, it was quite the opposite. So, when Denki just had to know what color the curtains were, Neito just had to lean in like he was about to unleash a mind-blowing secret and tell Denki in bated whispers, loud enough for the others to hear if they leaned in and gave him their full attention, that the curtains were royal blue with red and yellow triangles all over them. Denki would gasp like the thought was ridiculous and ask why they would use triangles instead of music notes in a music classroom. Touya would point out that Denki should be an interior designer, but Neito would argue that triangles are an important instrument. Ochako, who was passing by, would second that wholeheartedly before going back to coloring with the group who sat a few tables away. And just like that, all of the attention would be away from Hitoshi as they all laughed at how talking about soulmates led to a debate about which instrument was objectively the most important.