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Shinsou would like it to be made clear that this was not his fault. There was no blame to be placed on his shoulders. In fact, he was willing to bet money that he did everything he could to not end up in this situation. He had woken up in the morning, earlier than he would like, just like every other day. He drank exactly two cups of coffee. He even remembered to water the single plant he owned. It was looking to be an average day, which was fine with him. Better than fine, really. Average wasn’t horrible. Then his phone rang.
Technically it was his day off, though that is an almost foreign concept to heroes. He had been told quite a few times that he really was too much like Aizawa, down the ever growing bags under his eyes. He was eternally grateful that his quirk wasn’t reliant on his vision, unlike his forever dry-eyed mentor. His insomnia did enough damage. Which was also one of the main reasons he decided to answer the call; he wasn’t getting any more sleep anyways.
It was the standard, ‘I know it’s your day off, but you know that smuggling ring you have been working with the police on taking down? Yeah, we found one of their bases and need you to get in there and figure out who's involved and where their next shipment is. We’re sending you because we have intel that at least three mid-level villains are on site. Hope this didn’t interrupt anything, just kidding, everyone knows you have no life anyways!’ except for this time it came with the additional bonus of working with another hero, which is one of Shinsou’s least favorite things to do.
So off he went, to the agency, on his perfectly average day. His perfectly average day that was slowly disintegrating as soon as he entered the building and saw a head of golden blonde hair. Golden blonde hair that had a completely ludicrous black lightning streak across one section. A completely ludicrous lightning streak that Shinsou may or may not have been obsessing over since high school. Kaminari Denki was apparently the one who caught the villain who gave them the details on the base. So, by rights, he was also a part of the mission. There was some other rabble about how once they had the info he could fry any computers, but Shinsou knew it was just a precaution. Apparently, he lost the trust of his superiors to work alone on anything but basic patrol, and he was on thin ice. You pass out in one alleyway, and everyone thinks you’re ‘hazardous to your own health’ and ‘don’t know when to take a break’.
In all the time it took for him to learn this, Kaminari hadn’t said a thing. Which was not a very Kaminari way to act. Shinsou belatedly realized that he had been avoiding the other man, so desperate to stop himself from staring he overshot and ignored him. Damnit, this is why he doesn’t like working with other people. They're so complicated.
It wasn’t like this was the first time he had seen Kaminari since high school, they saw each other both in and outside of work. Usually at little get-togethers hosted by Midoriya, or in larger operations that required more than just the two of them. That being said, Shinsou had tried his damndest to not interact with him more than simple friendly acquaintances should. It was bad enough that Aizawa and Present Mic both knew of his massive crush, the last thing he needed was his old classmates, or Kaminari himself, to figure it out. Just imagining Midoriya’s reaction, or god forbid, Bakugou’s reaction, gave him a headache.
Maybe he should be more friendly to the man. It’s not like it’s his fault that Shinsou developed his idiotic crush. In reality, he had no control over the fact that everytime he smiled he made the other weak in the knees. It’s not like he could ask Kaminari to stop smiling, no matter how much he wanted to. He was just too damn distracting. And bright. Like, Jesus, did one of his parents have an affair with the sun? Was he fed pure starlight as a child? It hurt Shinsou’s eyes. Maybe he should make like Aizawa and invest in some sunglasses.
He figured small talk wouldn’t hurt. If he was feeling brave, maybe even eye contact. Kaminari looked like he was upset about something, other than the fact they were on their way to infiltrate a smuggling shipyard, going by how he wasn’t talking a million miles per hour like he usually did. The issue here is that Shinsuo has no honest to god idea of how to talk to him. When he actually has contact with his crush, it is almost always initiated by the man himself. What does he say? He’s technically known the man for years, and yet... And yet he couldn’t even begin to think of what to say to him. How does one communicate with people? Especially if every time you look at them all you want to do is bite at the stupid choker that somehow make it into their official hero costume?
Shinsou inhaled. At this point, they were already in the-not-quite-as-discreet-as-the-agency- thinks-it-is van, heading to the other side of the city near the docs. He had already wasted around an hour of time, so caught up in his head that he hadn’t managed to articulate any actual words. He supposed a good first step would be to actually look at the man, so he gave it a try. It wasn’t physically difficult, since Kaminari was, torturously, siding next to him. Emotionally, well, it took this long just to look at him.
He was staring out the window, looking for all the world like a painting. For the briefest of moments, Shinsou almost wished he was an artist, so that he might capture this moment, or at least sneaky enough that he could snap a picture. The only thing he would change would be the melancholic look on his face. Usually, when he daydreams of Kaminari, it involves his famous megawatt smile. The look was exactly why you wanted to talk to him Shinsou, goddamnit. Pull yourself together.
Deep inhale. Long controlled exhale. Find an easy middleground, probably work or mutual friends. He cleared his throat.
“So, I kind of missed the surprise birthday bash Midoriya had for Bakugou. Did you end up making it?” Shinsou knew he had, he had seen the pictures. They were mostly centered around an angry Bakugou, Shinsou was ninety percent sure Midoriya did it to piss the man off, but there had been a few of Kaminari. He vaguely remembered feeling like a stalker when he actually debated saving the pictures to his phone. Kaminari jumped a little, seeming to be lost in his own mind.
“Uh, yeah. You didn’t miss much, it was mostly just the usual. Bakugou screamed at us all for like half an hour, while Deku tried to hide his laughter. I don’t know how he always manages to frustrate Bakugou so much that he forgets what he was originally mad about, but it should really be an olympic sport. He was almost docile by the end of his rant. Kiri even managed to get a piece of cake into him. I’ve never seen someone so desperately try to hide the fact that they enjoyed cake before. We even ordered a Jalapeño chocolate cake, which everyone knows is his favorite. He was too stubborn to have more than one piece, but I did see him snag the rest of Sero’s when he wasn’t looking. And you probably don’t care about how much cake Bakugou did or did not eat. I’m sorry, I’m word vomiting again. Right before we head into a super dangerous sneaky mission too. Oh my god, say something before I start to rattle off how much cake each person ate-”
Shinsou snorted, then let out a little chuckle. Whenever he talked to Kaminari he always did something unexpected. There was never a boring conversation, though the entertainment was very one sided. Shinsou wasn’t the most comedic person.
“Oh my god you actually laughed. I made Shinsou Hitoshi laugh. I think I have to mark this on my calendar.” He took out his phone, as if to do just that.
“You act as though it’s unusual.” He knows he has resting zombie face, but that doesn’t mean he’s actually dead. The smile kind of dipped, and he rubbed the back of his neck. Was he that standoffish? He never really tried to connect with others, but that didn’t seem to stop them.
“I didn’t mean it like that! It’s just that usually you seem kind of over it, or annoyed or something. Not that I blame you!” His hands were fluttering about, and he was avoiding eye contact. Shinsou couldn’t help but find his little mannerisms adorable. He desperately wanted to grab those expressive hands and yank the other towards him. One of his favorite daydreams involve him doing just that, and placing his chin on top of his head and burying his face in that stupid lightning hair.
He raised an eyebrow. This seemed to only spur Kaminari on further. “You should totally come to movie night one of these days, though! I’m sure Deku’s mentioned it before, but it’s really cool. I know you’re more of a solitary hero, but we all just chill, no work talk. It’d be so cool if you came, maybe relax a bit?” Deku had told him about movie night, and it was largely an attempt to get him to relax. Shinsou denied anything meant to make him relax on principle, so he hadn’t given it much thought. Now it looked like it would be taking up too many of his future thoughts.
“Maybe.” It was only one word, but Kaminari lit up like the fucking sun.
“Cool! Hey, maybe we coul-”
The slider separating the driver opened abruptly. “ETA five minutes. We’re going to drop you off three blocks south, there is a pretty clear path along the waterfront. Remember, we’re sending you in because this is a known villain base, and subtlety is of the utmost importance.” There was a pointed glance at Kaminari. The mood turned serious, as the two of them started mentally preparing for their mission.
Roughly five minutes later the van pulled up at a random dock. Shinsou and Kaminari had to find their way into their target on their own. They did have emergency radios for backup, but that was only for if the mission went south. For the actual operation, they were on their own. Honestly, there were more precautions than with his usual missions, but Shinsuo was sure that was because Kaminari wasn’t used to this kind of work.
Actually getting to the villain’s base was easier said than done, and it involved more mud than he was really happy with. It also involved Kaminari repeatedly running into his back whenever he stopped abruptly. This happened more than he would have liked, largely because the press of Kaminari between his shoulder blades only accentuated the fact that he was roughly Shinsuo’s chest height. Kaminari’s face would smoosh right between his shoulder blades. It was absurdly distracting. They were trying to sneak into a villain base, goddamnit, and he had to focus. The only reason they were standing so close was because they had to sneak, and Shinsou was leading because this was his thing, and by god, he was not going to get them killed. No matter how much this was killing him.
They made it to the property line without any issues, but getting past the guard rotation had its problems. First being that it seemed that there were only two entry options into the actual warehouse, the first being the entryway where the trucks and whatnot entered. The other was on the other side, where there were people entering and exiting. They had decided previously that it was better if they entered through the truck entrance via Shinsuo brainwashing. It was almost simple to get past the doors when the driver is willing to hide you. And drive you to a secluded area they might not usually have access to. And then drive themself to the police station. Honestly, infiltration was the easy part, the hard part was staying hidden. They accomplished this largely by finding a power box and using Kaminari to absolutely wreck their system. Well, he really fried it or something, Shinsou wasn’t really paying attention.
There proceeded to be a lot of sneaky whatnots, and they eventually found the main computer.
It was a stressful handful of minutes, and Shinsou really wished that the ceilings in these stupid villain headquarters were higher. Once they left the garage, largely through hiding behind trucks and cars, they were nearly going in blind through the tiny hallways. The only reason it was possible was Shinsou’s new gadget: goggles that can scan for body heat through surfaces. Once they could avoid people, not that there were many, it was a simple trip to the computer room. There was someone at said computer, but he was quickly convinced to unlock it and then let Kaminari knock him out and shove him in a closet. He even agreed that he never saw them, and had simply been drinking too much and accidentally locked himself in the closet. Then it was just a matter of downloading everything from said computer before frying the everloving hell out of it and high tailing the fuck out of there. Getting the fuck out of there proved to be a problem, however, as the way they originally entered happened clogged from their earlier distraction. He only barely realised that there were a lot of heat signatures heading their way before Kaminari almost ran out the door. He had to yank the other by the back of his stupidly hot black jacket, which sent him crashing into Shinsou.
Getting out any other way provided similar problems, and eventually they had to backtrack back to the main computer room. The computer room that was empty for a good ten seconds before they heard the stampede make its way over. This really only left them with one option. One option that led to The Situation that was one hundred percent not his fault.
He was just standing there, getting ready for phase ‘call for backup’ in their plan, and a fight. He would hide, but the only closet in the room was already occupied. Just as he was debating if raising his fists would actually do anything, Kaminari shouted and yanked him by the elbow. The next thing he knew he was being shoved in a trapdoor that was probably originally some sort of storage, since it was tiny and only had one entrance. He hit the bottom, it wasn’t big enough for more than part of his back so he folded like a lawn chair. His legs were bent up against the wall, and his neck was crooked so much that it almost touched chest. Before he could rectify this, however, an entire body plopped itself onto his chest, while shutting the door above them. All the air was forced out of his lungs, and he managed to wheeze out a weak “Kaminari?”
The other man might have been quite a bit shorter than Shinsou, but it was still another athletic full adult weight that was putting even more stress on his neck. There was a full head of blonde hair shoved right into his face, a back pressing down on his chest, and legs pressed against his awkwardly bent ones. He was effectively shoved into a rabbit hole, but with the added bonus of having his crush, well, crushing him.
Oh god. He hadn’t been this close to Kaminari in, in ever really. Why did he smell good?! They had been running around a nasty warehouse for hours, he should smell like sweat, muck, and grime. What the hell. No, no. Nononononono stop Shinsou. You aren’t going to start having fantasies about snuggling into your unrequited person of affection’s hair in the morning, when said person is pressed up against the front of your body. In the middle of a criminal base. No thank you, not today, please and thank you.
Shinsou took a couple of difficult, but very much needed breaths. “Kaminari, what the-” he took a second to spit out the others hair, “What the fuck?!”
Kaminari shushed him, then started rotating with what little space there was. This was a problem, not only because it was pressing his body even more into Shinsou, but also because he was starting to jab him in places that were not meant for elbows and knees. By the time he had managed to finagle himself so he was on his stomach, Shinsou had multiple issues.
Multiple issues of various types, but he was going to focus on the bruised spleen. It was better than thinking about the man between his legs, whose chin was now on his chest, scant inches between their faces. He was still trying to move, which was unnecessary and causing even more pain, so Shinsou unthinkingly freed his right hand and wrapped it around the other, stopping him. They were pressed even closer together.
Kaminari stuttered a bit, before starting to explain himself. “Uh- if we signal to start the raid, they can come get us, but we compromise the mission. It’s best if we wait as long as we can for Hakagure to come and fetch us, we get out without having to start from scratch! I know you’ve been chasing them for months now, and I don’t think they are going to look in this tiny storage unit any time soon. Now that I’m seeing you, though, it looks painful.”
He freed his left arm with some considerable effort, and reached to touch Shinsou’s bent neck. His fingers just barely caressed right underneath his hairline. It sent shivers down Shinsou’s spine. Kaminari’s face was concerned, and Shinsuou just stopped himself from kissing between the others' eyes.
“Maybe this was a bad idea. I’ll just-” He started to lift himself up, pressing on Shinsou’s chest, but he stopped him with his hand.
“It’s fine.” It was very much not fine, but not for the reasons Kaminari might think. He had shoved himself in worse positions, but usually he didn’t have another person on his chest. It was oddly nice; he hadn’t had any real human contact in a long time. Punching villains decidedly didn’t count. If he focused enough, he could even pretend that they were just cuddling, instead of being shoved in a cramped space so they weren’t murdered by the dozens of criminals that were walking around above them.
Kaminari moved the hand from the back of the other’s neck, still twisted with his legs to the side and spine bent so his chest matched Shinsous. It was almost like he was sitting on his lap, except they were horizontal. And there were a bunch of footsteps above them, sending dust onto their faces. It was a real mood killer. They faded fast enough that Shinsou was sure that they would be in the clear soon enough. Kaminari must’ve felt the same way, as he attempted to twist his arm behind him, but there wasn’t enough room for him to get his arm past his torso, with his shoulder pressing against the hatch door and an arm around his back.
There was a still, silent moment, before he let out a hesitant: “Shinsou, I can’t reach my phone, can you move your hand.” Another moment, then a slow moving of his hand to the side. This didn’t seem to help, as putting his hand to his side squished his torso more upward, and Kaminari couldn’t get his arms behind him. There was another brief silence, before he once again spoke up.
“Umm. Shinsou. I can’t get to my pocket, do you think you can reach your phone?” He kept it zipped in his pants pockets, and there was absolutely no way he was going to be able to bend his elbows enough to reach it. He shook his head.
“Okay then, I guess we’re, I mean, umm. Do you think you could reach mine? It’s in my back pocket.” He hesitated a moment, then tentatively reached up with his left hand. It was too dark and at such an angle that he couldn’t see what he was doing, and he ended up missing the first time and gently patting Kaminari directly on the curve of his ass. He nearly whimpered, but continued onward in his pursuit, gently dragging his hand up to the top of the pocket. There, he hesitated a second, preparing himself, before he put his hand in the other's pocket enough that he could pull out his phone. It was a brief text before they were informed Hagakure’s ETA for their location was around seven minutes. He told Kaminari, who snorted and whispered something about ‘seven minutes in heaven.’ Shinsou decided that he was just going to keep the phone.
There was an awkward silence, with their faces just inches apart, bodies plastered together. Kaminari’s face was steadily getting more red, and he seemed to make an internal decision before his face turned downward and buried itself in Shinsou’s chest. It was simultaneously the worst and best thing that had ever happened to him. His shoulder was starting to crap, so he figured what the hell, and re-wrapped his arm around Kaminari’s back. They just sat there, definitely cuddling, and Shinsou was uncomfortable beyond belief, but he couldn’t help and savor it. He wasn’t going to forget a second of actually holding Kaminari in his arms, no matter how painful the position.
Hours, but most definitely only a couple of minutes later, there was a subtle knocking on the door above them. He knocked back, and the door was opened by an invisible hand. It was opened for entirely too long before anyone moved, obvious by the snickers that someone was enjoying the look of them a little too much. From there it was a rushed and extremely uncomfortable unfolding. There was some finagling, and there was a moment where Shinsou just had to lay back, close his eyes and take a breath. It was just a short bolt out a pre planned escape route, a tiny leap out of a fifth story building, and an eventual swim through a muddy tunnel.
Throughout the entire escape, it was only silence. This was pretty standard, only there was an uncomfortable air, and they couldn’t even look at each other. Well Shinsou and Kaminari couldn’t, and frankly he couldn’t tell where Hagakure was looking. Eventually they made it back to a car, where they were carted into the back and taken to headquarters. After a short briefing, mostly explaining how they completed the mission, they were sent home. And by sent home, he means kicked out the front doors and told to get some sleep. He and Kaminari just sat there, in front of the main doors, standing in a sort of post mission daze. There was silence before Kaminari let out a quiet yawn. He looked over at Shinsou before he started to speak.
“So ummm.. About the whole using you as a folded mattress. Sorry? I swear I’m usually a better partner than that! So, y’know, if you ever want to work together again, I’d be down. Not to pressure you or anything, I know you’ve probably seen enough of me, just saying if you’re ever feeling social, we could hang! Or something. Maybe not. Anyway, good night!” He turned abruptly, and bolted down the side of the road. Shinsou blinked and he was gone, and he was just standing there by himself, feeling like he was struck by lightning.
Eventually he made his way home, still thinking about the feeling of Kaminari in his arms. Despite how awful the day had been, he can’t say that he wouldn’t daydream about the blond hair tucked under his chin.