KiriBakuKami

Chapter Eight

Kaminari POV:

I was pretending to sleep because by this point I doubted I'd actually be able to sleep, but my closed eyes seemed to give my boyfriends a little peace of mind. In turn, I could listen to their casual conversation without adding any extra tension by being all sad and depressed.

"Does this place not have any service?" Kat grumbled, and I assumed he was staring at his phone. "I doubt anyone will care if I don't talk to anyone for a week, but your guys' radio silence is bound to freak out everyone else."

"Don't say that. Sure people will notice that you're gone," Ei replied.

"I never said they wouldn't notice. I said they wouldn't care," the blonde huffed. "Like, half the class still hates my chaotic ass. I'm sure the lack of my presence for a week will be refreshing. That wasn't my point, though." Kat sighed. "You and Denks are on Twitter and shit like that a lot. You're active in group chats and you're... you guys are like constants, I guess. People will probably genuinely be worried. Isn't that the opposite of what he wanted?"

Well, there I went, fucking it up again somehow. Sure, I'd probably just tell the truth and say that I didn't have any service here. But along with that, I was bound to be skinnier, and probably still have visible bruises and whatnot. It wasn't like Dad would try and hide anything.

But the last thing I wanted was to make people worry for my sake. Besides my boyfriends, Sero was the only person in class who had any sort of idea that my home situation was bad. And he hadn't been there when I told Kat and Ei about some of the details.

"Good point," Ei agreed. "I do have unlimited, though. So I'm not gonna be totally disconnected. Slow, but not disconnected."

"I guess. I just don't want people to worry too much now. They'll be fine again once we all get back safe and shit, but they might worry now. And—" holy cow, was Kat the one getting anxious? This didn't normally happen.

"It's all gonna be okay. You'll see," Ei interjected before Kat could freak himself (and probably, unknowingly, me) out. "I know that pretty much everything sucks right now. And that you're probably still mad at me for earlier. But please just try to relax. We'll make it out, all of us. You'll see. And hey, if it makes you more comfortable, I can post something online so that people don't freak out."

"I still hate this," Kat grumbled, and the mattress rustled as he shifted to curl up against Ei like a cat.

"I know, kitty," Ei replied. Kat would never admit it, but he liked that nickname. Just not in front of people.

"I'm really scared," he admitted. "What you said earlier about what could've happened if we weren't here... I can't stop thinking about it. What if..."

Don't even entertain the idea, I thought. I swear right now, I'll never get that close again. I'll never even look at a pill bottle again.

"Relax. I don't think he will. Because he knows that even though this place is pretty much hell on earth, there's still a lot to live for. I mean, he's a hero. A great one. And he can only ever get better, I know it." Ei let out a little laugh. "I mean, he really is smart. I don't know why they can't see that, at least. Last place in the best class in the best hero school in the country is still fucking awesome. Even you're not all the way on top, and you're you. The standard they have is so impossible that I don't know how they don't know that."

"Screw you, I'm on top on the inside," Kat grumbled, but I could tell his heart wasn't in it. Yeah, he was getting tired. "But yeah, I know what you mean. Sure he's always gonna be dunce-face. But who the fuck needs to be literate to call themselves smart?"

"Ouch," Ei laughed softly.

Backhanded compliment, in true Kat fashion. I let myself smile just a little bit.

"Hey, are you awake?" I felt one of them shake me just a little bit.

I opened one of my eyes just wide enough to see them clearly. They were both staring through my soul, so I shut it again and shook my head.

"See? Perfect. How could they be so cruel to someone so cute? It's literally illegal," Kat said exasperatedly, flopping down next to me.

He kissed me on the mouth, and it was becoming increasingly difficult to hide the smile I wore. It felt good, actually, to remember how to smile for real and not just for looks.

"God," Ei whispered. "Please stay like this forever."

I giggled. "I wish."

"Geez, Ei. Just take a picture, it'll last longer," Kat rolled his eyes. I smacked his shoulder playfully. "And then send it to me."

I laughed again, then found myself blushing when I realized that Ei had actually taken a picture.

"Lemme see," Kat reached out with his grabby gremlin hands, and Ei sighed, giving him the phone.

It was a cute picture, I guess. I was laughing, and Kat was even smiling at me. "Bloody nose is a shame," I pointed out.

"Yeah," Ei nodded. "But I don't mind it so much since you were smiling so big. I think it's honestly the realest looking smile of yours I caught on camera."

"You have more?" Kat asked suddenly.

"Course I do," Ei rolled his eyes. "I have two whole folders of pictures of you guys. You're both cute as hell."

"Two?" I raised an eyebrow.

"I have two boyfriends, so there are two folders. Impeccable logic right there."

"Ha, fine. I wanna see how you convinced Kat to let you take pictures of him," I grinned.

"I never did," Kat replied, grumbling. "Hang on, how the hell did you get seventy—"