Lightning Strikes the Heart

Chapter 2: Praying for Deliverance

Kaminari barely made it to Mr. Aizawa's class in time. The bell rang as he slipped into his seat. Thankfully, his teacher was tucked into his giant sleeping bag, so maybe he hadn't seen– "Try and come in before the bell next time, Kaminari." And he should've known. He swore the pro-hero had a sixth sense that allowed him to know what was going on around him even when he was asleep. Kaminari laughed sheepishly.

Mr. Aizawa sighed and dragged himself out of his sleeping bag. "Okay, class. We're looking over your grades today." Oh, shit. Kill me now, Kaminari thought, totally not faking the paleness in his face. He hated the days they checked their grades. He knew he could do better–he was purposely doing badly–and he cringed every time he saw his grades. It was honestly embarrassing.

Mr. Aizawa started passing out the papers, calling out their names in his normal, monotone voice. When Kaminari heard his name, he grimaced and went to get his paper. "Kaminari, stay after class," Mr. Aizawa said, his gaze penetrating. Kaminari flinched. So they were that bad, huh–to make the most motivationally-challenged teacher that practically lived on caffeine and the suffering of students have the "what can I do to help" speech with him. Maybe he shouldn't have played so dumb.

When he returned to his seat, Mina plopped down on his desk. "So, what did you get?" She asked cheerfully. He winced. "I haven't looked yet. And I don't think I particularly want to." She held up her own. "Well, it can't be worse than mine!" He read her's. Homeroom–47, Foundational Hero Studies–64, Modern Literature–57, Mathematics–36, History–42, Science–35, English–32, and Art History–54. Mina laughed sheepishly. "Honestly, the only reason its so high in Foundational Hero Studies is because All Might's too nice to fail anyone."

Yeah, Kaminari agreed. Honestly, seeing her grades just made him not want to see his even more. He had the feeling his were worse. But, he bit the bullet and flipped over his paper. Mina looked over his shoulder as he read and whistled. "Yikes, Kaminari!" Yeah, 'yikes' about sums it up, he thought, grimacing. Homeroom–34, Foundational Hero Studies–60, Modern Literature–30, Mathematics–47, History–34, Science–34, English–a stunning 27, and Art History–36.

He buried his face into his desk and groaned. Yeah, he'd definitely played too dumb. Especially in English–he was great in English! And he had dumbed it down so much, he got that miserable grade. Though, his math grade was pretty accurate. He sucked at math and nothing would ever fix that. And that made it all the worse to see that his worst subject was now his 'best'. And the only reason he got a 60 in Hero Studies was because Mina was right–All Might was entirely too nice. He wondered what the teacher had had to do to get his grade that high.

"Hey, man," he heard Kirishima say. "Your report card not looking too good? Neither did mine." Kaminari just wordlessly handed him the paper without lifting his head. Kirishima took it and Kaminari could hear him wince at how bad it was. "Well, we'll definitely hold more study sessions," he said, obviously trying to make him feel better. "I'm sure things will get better." Kaminari finally lifted his head to thank his classmate for trying to cheer him up. "But Mr. Aizawa told me to stay after class," he told them.

Kirishima, Mina, and Sero, who he hadn't realized came up to him with Kirishima, had terrified grimaces on their faces. "Holy crap, that can't be good," Sero said. Kaminari just nodded, covering his eyes with his hand. "So how are you doing?" He lifted his head again to see Jirou coming up to them, her eyes focused on him. He shrugged. "Ah, you know. Same things. How about you? I bet you made all A+ on yours." He winked at her, falling into his normal habit of flirting. It was easy and distracting.

Sero and Mina rolled their eyes. Kirishima just grinned. Jirou rolled her eyes as well and didn't even acknowledge his flirting, which Kaminari was used to by now. She looked over at his paper and Kaminari had to resist the urge to quickly turn the paper over so she couldn't see it. Why did he care what she thought? It wasn't like he'd ever see her again after high school, however long he was able to stay. But, he resisted and she quickly read through his grades and whistled. Even while whistling, her musical inclinations popped up and it sounded more like it should be on a music record than in a classroom, amazed by his shitty grades.