"Maybe" | Denki Kaminari [COMPLETED]

Chapter Three: Phone

I didn't want to be class representative. It just didn't appeal to me. I don't like to lead people, not that I've ever had an opportunity.

It seemed no one in the class aligned with my view of the position. Everyone was scrambling to become class rep. Even Midoriya, a kid who keeps breaking his bones due to his quirk, wanted to lead the class. Personally, I don't think he's cut out for representative. Maybe one day he will be, but not now.

"Put it to a vote if it's such a big deal," I said, quieting the voices and shouts. "Then we'll really see who's best for this."

"I completely agree!" Iida said. He always managed to sound like he's shouting even when he's only talking.

It was put to a vote. I didn't really care, so I voted for Mina Ashido, a charismatic and capable student who I had become friends with. Much of the appeal of being class representative came from the opportunity to lead future heroes, which looks good on a resume. Such a thing wouldn't matter for me, but Mina would want and need the extra help.

"I knew it was a stretch, but I'm still disappointed," the boy next to me said once the votes had been tallied.

"Who did you vote for, Kaminari?" I asked him.

"Myself," he said, resting his head on his hand and facing me. "And call me Denki. We're friends, right?"

"Even with your own vote, you only have a one in twenty chance of becoming class rep," I said, ignoring his question. "And it's not like you've done anything to really stand out. Midoriya most likely received votes becasue he has shown cleverness and the ability to overcome the obstacles placed in his way. I don't even know what your quirk is."

"You may be right. My electrification quirk may be pretty useless most of the time, but at least my phone battery never dies," he said, electricity running across his fingertips.

I smiled, and I realized that for the few moments I had been talking to Kaminari, I had forgotten I was a villain.

By the end of the day, Iida had replaced Midoriya as class representative. After the school's alarm system went off, Iida had been the only one to notice it was false, the press only searching for stories. Somehow, he'd managed to alert the rest of the school to this and avoid mass panic.

It was starting to rain when I left UA for the day. It began as only a light drizzle, but that quickly turned into a downpour.

"Why is rain never predicted when it needs to be?" I muttered, lifting my jacket over my head to block out at least some of the rain. But within minutes, my jacket was soaked through. I sighed and shrugged it back onto my shoulders.

Once I reached the door of my house, I was shivering from the cold rain. I wrung the water from my hair and changed my clothes. My water quirk may be average, but it does have its uses when my clothing is soaked. It took time, but I could dry my clothes by drawing the water out.

I was nearly done with removing the water from my boots when a knock came from the door. I dropped the shoes and gathered the water from them into my palms, just in case someone unfriendly was waiting on the other side of the door. Even if it was the villains I knew, I didn't trust them. And if it was someone who wanted to kill me, well, I'd have to defend myself.

But when I opened the door, it wasn't a villain.

"Hi!" Kaminari said. "Can I come in?"

"Uh, sure," I said.

"Great!"

I was suddenly all too aware of the faults in me and the place in which I was living. The clothes that were halfway through drying, the school papers which were strewn about the kitchen table, and my own damp hair all seemed to become exponentially more noticeable when Kaminari walked through the front door.

"Anyway, I promise I'm not here for no reason," Kaminari said, leaning against the table. I flinched his dripping jacket and motioned to redirect the flow. "You left your phone in class."

"Oh, thank you!" I said, taking it from him. "I don't know how I forgot it."

"Who's Tomura?" he asked abruptly. "Some boyfriend of yours?"

"Tomura?" I furrowed my brow in confusion. Oh. Tomura Shigaraki. Right. "No. He's my... brother."

"Oh. Good," Kaminari said, fidgeting nervously with the sleeve of his jacket.

What should I say? Do I wait for him to speak? Do I say something?

"I should probably get going," he said before I could figure out what to say. "See you tomorrow?"

"See you tomorrow," I confirmed.

My phone rang almost before Kaminari had gone. I sighed and answered it.

"Why aren't you answering your phone?" Shigaraki hissed.

"Because I left my phone at school," I shot back. "You don't need to hover like a worried mother hen."

"I am not a mother hen!"

"Then stop acting like it! Every time you contact me you raise suspicion!"

"Then don't be suspicious!" he snarled, then calmed himself a little. "We're meeting again tonight. You need to be here."

"No."

"What?"

"I can't keep going to these meetings," I said. "I need to make friends, and friends will notice if I disappear every few evenings. I'll report once a week. If anything important happens, I'll contact you. If you keep contacting me, I will block you."

"You can't--"

I hung up.

There would probably be repercussions for my rash actions, but I didn't care in that moment. I just wanted to sleep, but I didn't get a chance. The villains would never give me the chance to rest, not when I had so blatantly offended them. There were painful repercussions.

"Hey, Yamikawa!" Mina slung her arm around my shoulder, making me flinch. "Why didn't you answer your phone? I heard you left it at school, but I thought Kaminari got it back to you. Did he? If he didn't--"

"I got my phone back," I said, slipping out from under her arm, "it just ran out of battery."

Mina continued to talk about everything in existence, but I couldn't focus. Not only did it drain my energy to mute the pain using my emotion manipulation quirk, but I had to go out of my way today to hide the fresh wounds covering my shoulders and back.

My inability to pay attention continued throughout the rest of the day. At lunch, I finally used too much of my energy and fell asleep. I wasn't exactly well-rested afterwards, but at least I was able to walk to class without flinching when other students bumped into me.

As a villain, it's a requirement to hate (or at least dislike) heroes. So having All Might, the top hero and symbol of peace, as a teacher grated on my nerves. I didn't listen to anything he said.

Which meant I had no idea what was happening when we were told to change into our hero costumes and go outside.