Point Based Dating

Favorite Place Quest Part 11: Kaminari

    Monday comes and the last five are ready. They have had two weeks to prepare themselves for the quest. Sure, they are still nervous. Even though two of them are Bakugou's closests friends, one on one time with him is very rare.

    The wheel has spoken, and Bakugou himself had to mentally prepare for the name that he was about to utter. Starting off the week with a high energy selection is either going to be a good idea, or very bad. Especially since class today put him through the wringer.

    "Alright Kaminari. Give me a few minutes to log today's points and then we can go." Bakugou says.

-

    "Good to see you're alright, Kid." The bus driver says once the doors open.

    "Good to see you again as well, Sir. Same as always. Destination is wherever he wants to go." Bakugou says.

    "Alrighty then. Have a seat and I'll get you both there in one piece." The driver says with a smile. The two boys nod, and Bakugou takes Kaminari to his usual seat.

    "So that's the driver that everyone else was talking about. He seems nice." Kaminari says.

    "And you seem nervous." Bakugou says, glancing at Kaminari from the corner of his eye.

    There was no doubt that hos friend was indeed nervous. To the untrained eye, Kaminari would look excited. He is literally buzzing with electricity right now. That is something that an excited Kaminari does. However, there is one difference. It is small, but something that Bakugou noticed a long time ago. When Kaminari is nervous, the electricity that forms around him isn't wild. The sound it makes isn't a crackle. It's a hum. The current is controlled. He doubts that Kaminari even notices it himself.

    "Go on. Tell me what has you nervous." Bakugou says. He relized early on in the year that it is best to be direct with Kaminari. If you beat around the bush, or try to say something without actually saying it, then he won't understand.

    "Well... This is my first time really hanging out with someone one on one. There's always at least one other person, so the attention isn't all on me. I bet that sounds odd comeing from someone who is always looking for attention, and even trying to be a hero." Kaminari says. He hangs his head in embarrassment, but Bakugou doesn't immediately agree with him.

    "No, I get it." He says. This startles Kaminari. He looks back up and at Bakugou in confusion. "I do. It's not secret that I always try to overshadow everyone, and get as much attention on me as possible. At least in a like a tournament or in class. Those are the times you tend to shy away from attention because those are the areas you don't excel in. When we are in the dorms, that's when you try and get attention, and I back off from it.

You are strong at socializing. I am strong at preforming. Put you in a situation where you have to preform, you clam up. Tell me to socialize with someone, chances are they will leave crying, or there will be a fight. When you are one on one, it feels like a performance because you have to figure out which personality that person is comfortable around. You have to know what that person likes, what their eneegy level is, what is their current mood. All those things so you can give them the best time and they'll want to hang out with you again. When it's a crowd it doesn't matter as much since there is statistically going to be at least one person who will enjoy what you are doing. That's why you prefer crowds."

    Kaminari thinks about this for a second and then nods. That makes sense. Those were the reasons it always made him nervous. The need to make sure the one person he is with doesn't leave disappointed, and all the work that goes into it. But this is Bakugou that he is with. Solo or not, Bakugou judged him from day one, yet he still hangs out with him. His favorite place is also right up his alley. So why should he be nervous?

    "Thank you for understanding." Kaminari says, already feeling more comfortable.

    After that, the conversation was more lighthearted. For that, Bakugou was thankful. Kaminari is one of the people he can not stand seeing upset.

    They soon get to Kaminari's chosen location. An arcade near the roller rink that Iida had chosen. They each get a card loaded with a good bit of money and then look at the prize counter to choose a prize they want to work for. A lot of the prizes were either cheap novelty stuff or very expensive electronics that they could never hope to win in such a short amount of time. So they decided to go for the one weird thing that caught their eye. A stuffed animal that looks like a frog with abs. And with that, they dive into the games.

    Bakugou soon learns that when it comes to the older skill based games, and the ticket claw machines, Kaminari is a master. He was wracking up points that he could only dream of. Meanwhile Bakugou set some high scores on the basketball game and ski ball.

    After a couple hours they check their tickets to find that they have more than enough to get that weird toy. They also have some money left over, so they hop on games they can play together. Air hockey got very competitive. When they got to a zombie shooter game they ended up beating the last high score by over a thousand points. While Bakugou was trying an actual prize winning claw machine his alarm goes off, signaling that it was time to head for the bus stop. So he lines up the claw, miraculously getting the giant spikey orange bouncy ball he wanted. They go to the prize counter, present their tickets, and get the muscled up frog along with a bag full of candy.

    The ride back to school was peaceful. All the stimulation from the flashing lights and kids yelling had worn them out, so they took a small nap. The driver, knowing where to drop them off, let them sleep. When they reached the school he shook them awake. He made sure they had everything before telling them to have a good night and leaving.

    Neither has the energy to talk to everyone else when they get to their dorms. They both immediately go upstairs to collapse on their respective beds. It's only after laying down that Bakugou realizes he still has the ugly frog that only looks more disturbing in this lighting. Still, it brings a smile to his face. With a silent thanks to Mina for pushing him into making this challenge he hugs the plush to himself and falls asleep.