SOULMATES [My Hero Academia]

Hot and Cold - Denki Kaminari

-

Before high school, Kaminari never went anywhere without a sweatshirt. It was his thing, what he was known for. Winter, summer, indoors, outdoors, rain or shine... Denki Kaminari always had a sweatshirt on.

Because he was freezing. His stupid soulmate had to be awfully far away for him to be that cold all the time. It drove him crazy, wondering.

The only thing that usually got his mind off of the bone-deep chill was playing video games, immersing himself in an entirely different world and staying there for as long as possible. He liked slaying dragons, fighting zombies, shooting bad guys... anything to take his mind off of the cold.

Plus, his best friend was online, playing from the States. Together they played Call of Duty, teaming up and slaying noobs with reckless abandon. He got them into Dragon's Dogma, creating pawns and the complicated class system. Sometimes they raced fancy cars or hunted predators, but usually they played separate games and just talked through their headsets. One night, they sent Kaminari their phone number, and they began texting.

Kaminari stopped being reliable when high school started. He'd gotten into a fancy hero high school called UA, which he explained to his friend over text, and apologized in advance for his spotty texting.

But he didn't know how bad it would be once class started.

Once he started getting warmer.

-

I checked my phone for what felt like the hundredth time that morning. Still no response from Kaminari. He was infuriating.

Stowing my phone in my backpack, I turned back to my notes and Mr. Aizawa's lecture on attendance (something about how it reflected on the school and how it looked to potential employers). My eyes kept drifting across the room to settle on Kaminari, noticing that he wasn't taking notes. Just daydreaming. One of the times, he was staring back at me, so I pantomimed note taking with my pen and gestured for him to focus. He smiled and shook his head, planting his cheek in his palm and facing Mr. Aizawa.

So annoying.

How was he going to graduate if he didn't pay attention?

I mean, obviously he didn't pay attention, otherwise he'd have noticed that he wasn't as cold as usual. And he still hadn't pieced together that I was his friend from PlayStation. Why... Why is he so dense? Why me?

That's a rhetorical question. Of course I know why.

Because I love Denki Kaminari. And he's my soulmate.

The idiot.

-

"Kaminari!"

He slowed, letting me catch up. School had just let out, students filing out into the cherry blossom air. His smile strengthened as I approached, and he said, "Hey, thanks for the nudge in class this morning. I was up late playing video games again."

I know. "No worries," I said, elbowing him as we walked toward the train station, "I've got your back." The heat was so uncomfortable that I had to pause and take off my blazer. If my hair was longer, I'd put it up. I stepped away from him, just a bit to ease off the heat. How was he still not noticing?

"You okay?" He squinted at my face, "You look flushed. You're not getting a fever, right? It's only the second week of school." Kaminari's hand drifted up to check my forehead, and I twisted out of the way.

"Kaminari," I gasped, taking a wide, defensive stance on the sidewalk, "Do you seriously not see it?"

He stopped walking, standing just across from me. "See what?"

"How cold are you right now?" I said, crossing my arms over my chest. I had to walk him through this, obviously.

Kaminari seemed to consider it, pursing his lips and looking at his hands. "I guess kinda warm, actually," he said, his eyes widening as the realization crept through his sluggish brain. "Wait, do you think my soulmate is nearby?"

"And now?" I said, stepping closer.

"W-wait..."

"How about now?" I muttered, nearly chest-to-chest with him. The heat was unbearable. I wanted to strip right there on the sidewalk, but even that felt like it wouldn't be sufficient, plus inappropriate to boot.

"I don't..." Kaminari gasped, his breathing ragged and cheeks bright as I leaned in, glancing from his lips to his eyes. "When did you-?"

Poor thing. Maybe I should have taken it easier on him. "A few months ago," I whispered, "You texted and said you felt warmer when you went to the video game store... the same one I worked at."

"But I," he stammered, "But we didn't know each other months ago." Kaminari's mouth opened like he had more to say, but thought better of it.

I traced a finger across his exposed collar bone perking out from his button-up, shiny with sweat. "I think we've known each other for years, Denki Kaminari," I whispered, catching his gaze once more with a smirk, "We've been playing Dragon's Dogma since middle school, after all."

His eyes widened, and I saw the information click in his mind. "But... but you," he said, hands fluttering up to catch my face in his palms, "You live in the States. You... you can't be here."

"My mom got a promotion," I explained, meeting his golden gaze head on, "We moved here last year." I dragged my finger up his neck to rest under the tip of his chin and grinned. "And I've wanted to kiss you for longer than that."

He pressed forward, our lips meeting finally. Finally. The heat ebbed, spring chill seeping back into all the right places, and I melted into his gentle, eager touch.

Not too hot, not too cold.

Everything was just right.

-

[Finding your soulmate is one big game of hot and cold; the closer you are, the warmer you feel, the further away, the colder. courtesy of wlwprompts on tumblr]

A/N: Edited on 08/06/2020; made some slight clarification edits.