Lightning Serenade

Chapter 45: Not a Filter II

A/N: This is a longer one, and very dialogue heavy. I had it all typed out, and just wasn't very happy with the flow of the conversation. I cut and pasted different parts, changed the wording in some areas, and added and removed certain things, and now I'm very pleased with it. A lot of work went into this one, and I hope that it shows!

Denki looked startled, looking wide-eyed and a little panicked as his gaze continuously switched between Hitoshi and Neito. They didn't warn him not to lie to them; they knew Denki wouldn't be able to bring himself to try to deceive them, just like how they would never have been able to lie to each other or him. Despite Denki's amazing poker face minutes earlier during the game, it was no longer a game, and Denki's thoughts were clear on his face for the soulmates to read.

"I wanted to tell you guys, I really did," Denki started out slowly, waiting for the quirk-induced block to render his tongue useless.

Hitoshi had started to run his hand through his hair every few seconds, a very clear sign that he was very, very stressed. Neito sat very still, hands clasped and pressed against his lips as he hunched over, his elbows supporting his weight on his legs as he stared at Denki. It wasn't a good sign that Neito didn't have anything to say.

The soulmates' reactions fed into Denki's own anxiety, so he rushed to explain himself, hoping to give everyone, including himself, a little relief. "It's not what it looks like! Or maybe it is, depending on what you think it looks like... I wanted to tell you everything, but Force Majeure's quirk wouldn't let me! I couldn't talk about anything that happened with the League, or you know I would have told you, right?! I couldn't even use sign language or write anything down, she's so thorough! Her quirk is really amazing actually, but—"

"Did it hurt?" Hitoshi interrupted, brow furrowed with concern. "Her quirk? Aizawa said that it's painful to her victims."

"That's what she warned me before she started!" Denki exclaimed, flailing his arms around in his energetic state as he rushed to make his best friends understand. "But it didn't hurt at all! I was waiting for the pain to start, and then the next thing I knew, she said it was over!"

"How are you talking about this right now?" Neito wondered aloud, not moving from his position with his hands still clasped tightly against his mouth, his voice slightly smothered from the obstacle.

Denki stopped and held his breath, paranoid that now that he was thinking about it, her quirk would start back up again.

"Uh," he hesitated, "I am not sure, actually. I swear it really wouldn't let me before, though. You have to believe me!"

"We believe you," Hitoshi answered automatically, answering for Neito as well.

"Oh, uh... good. Good!" Denki sputtered, hands clenching into fists and unclenching again.

"We're going to sit here and talk this out," Neito reassured Denki in a gentle voice, intentionally relaxing his body language to put Denki at ease, even though he still felt very tightly wound up inside. "No one's going anywhere, and there's no rush. Take a deep breath, okay? Copy me."

Denki would have laughed at the irony of copying the boy with the copy quirk, but he was too wound up with anxiety, so he just did as he was told. Neito continued to model deep breathing for Denki to copy, and Hitoshi had unwittingly joined in as well, matching their calming breaths.

"What did they do to you?" Neito prompted once everyone was calmer.

Denki slumped in place before muttering, "nothing."

"We were so worried when you came back so depressed, and now you're saying that they didn't do anything to you?" Hitoshi asked.

And it wasn't that he didn't believe Denki. Denki didn't lie, not to the soulmates, at least. They were closer than that. He just didn't understand how both things could be true and needed further explanation.