Purple Band-Aids (ShinKami)

Chapter Twenty-Nine

"I'm really sorry about that."

"I told you not to apologize."

Kaminari shifts. Shinso lent Kaminari his hoodie and since Shinso had a shirt under, it was fine. It made the blond feel giddy.

It's so soft, and when he moves, even though the scratches he made on himself hurt, he could also feel the Band-Aids that Shinso put on him.

'Important'

'Funny'

'Smart'

'Brave'

And even just '<3'

"Thank you," Kaminari starts, lip wobbling, "I don't know what I would have done. I'm really-" he sniffles "-sad."

Shinso nods, understanding.

"Rightfully so. I'm about to talk shit about your parents. Your mom should feel so fucking ashamed for allowing that guy back into her life and into your home. You should have been able to feel safe in that place and after at least a decade, she should have believed you. You deserve better..."

"I guess," he adds with a laugh.

Kaminari smiles, pressing further into Shinso's arms.

"You're safe. You're good for me and I really don't deserve this."

"You deserve everything good."

Kaminari snorts. "I swear, you must like me a bit," he says jokingly, aware of their friendship and feelings for one another.

"More than you know."

They both turn red at the admittance, Shinso embarrassed at it.

After a long moment of silence, the air in the room changes. It stays like that until Kaminari finally speaks up again.

"I'm scared about the summer," he whispers.

"I told you that my home is always free. My parents are cool and will understand," Shinso promises.

Kaminari shakes his head. "You've already done so much for me. I'll just talk to Mr. Aizawa about the dorms. Hopefully he understands and I can stay here."

Shinso nods. "Okay."

He can't really do anything else. The blond is his own person, the only thing he can really do is keep trying to convince him throughout the remainder of the school year.

~~~~~

Finals pass quickly, so quickly and Kaminari waits anxiously to get his written exam scores.

Everyone in class passed the physical part, but the written scores were yet to be released, and it had the whole class on edge, especially Kaminari.

If he didn't pass, what would happen?

He'd studied so hard and done everything he could. There was so much stress on him, his mom hadn't reached out to him since he last went home, his dad got out tomorrow, and then the day after was his birthday.

He doesn't even want to celebrate it.

The scratches on himself had yet to heal, and he continues to pick at them when he feels fuzzy.

His counselor has only stayed supportive since she's heard about everything, and it's validating.

He just needs to talk to Mr. Aizawa about the dorms in the summer.

He's been putting it off, but now that exams are over, he really has no excuse to not ask. After this week there's only two weeks left of school before summer.