Lightning Serenade

Chapter 17: Denki's Birthday Party

A/N: So... here on Wattpad... Lightning Serenade was rated number 289 for the #MyHeroAcademia tag out of 68,600 stories!!! That sent me so hard that I'm living in the clouds for now, Skypiea style! AO3 has been treating me well, too, with kudos and bookmarks and favorites and comments as well, so shout out to them! Thanks everyone for your support and time and attention toward my story. I'm always amazed when I refresh and find even more notifications than there had been the last time I checked. I'm really feeling the love and I want you guys to know that I appreciate every single one of you so, so much!

Denki and Hitoshi continued to grow closer, but Denki started to grow closer to the soulmates as a pair, as well. After Neito's birthday party, Denki tagged along every once in a while, when Hitoshi would go to spend time with his soulmate. Denki was worried about this, at first. He reassured his friends over and over again that if they want time just for themselves, that he would not be offended or hurt in anyway and that he would completely understand, but both boys insisted that they loved his company and asked him to keep joining them.

Denki spoke to Neito and Hitoshi separately, as well, in case they didn't feel like they could voice their true opinions in front of each other without looking like a jerk, promising each one to start backing off and not let the other know that it was for any other reason than his own choice, but even in private, both boys were adamant that Denki continue to join them.

Denki felt like he was walking on clouds for the first time in his life; he was no longer walking on eggshells, nervous that one wrong subject change would annoy his friends enough for them to start a silent treatment period that he always hated, or even drop him completely as a friend if they were annoyed enough.

Denki's metaphorical feet had healed nicely after his runway of choice switched from eggshells to clouds, no longer having to nurse the micro-injuries from every misstep taken that would build up and get worse over time.

Denki's parents noticed the change in him easily and quickly. When Denki's grades started to rise steadily, they were even more lenient with how often they would send him across the city to spend time with the soulmates that he declared as his best friends. They didn't know if they were actually studying together, or if it was something as simple as Denki's self-esteem allowing him more confidence and less second-guessing that allowed his marks to rise so steadily, but they were grateful for it either way.

It was a nice, positive cycle that Denki had found himself in. He got better grades, so he was often less stressed and in a better mood. He was in a better mood around his soulmates, who then were also in a good mood because Denki's smiles and laughing fits were contagious. When the soulmates were in a good mood, their time spent studying was filled with fun and laughter. When Denki was taking an exam, he would think back to a joke that Hitoshi had made about the subject matter, chuckle to himself, and then promptly pencil in the correct answer.

Denki was hesitant, however, when Hitoshi brought up the idea of learning degrees, angles, percentages, and fractions on their own time without it being the subject of study in his math class. Hitoshi and Neito agreed that it would be best training-wise to get to know those areas very, very well so that they could use the commands while under Hitoshi's quirk.

At first, if Hitoshi or Neito commanded Denki to turn 1/3 of the way around to his left, he would have just stood there, his brain not being able to compute what was being asked of him. But now, he could be given the same command and automatically comply... even while not under a brainwashing quirk. That is how thoroughly they dug into their studies to make giving and receiving precise instructions as efficient as possible. Denki was nervous for nothing, because with his best friends by his side, he could learn anything! And they never even once called him stupid, even when he struggled with associating degrees with percentages!