The first time Kaminari held a proper conversation with Monoma Neito was in their second year at UA. They’d had a joint training session between class A and class B, where Monoma had copied his quirk. Since then, the other blond had been staring at him whenever they were near each other, not saying anything. It was strange and unsettling, especially given the history between Monoma and class A. Their classes had worked together great during the raid in their first year, but the class was still uncomfortable around Monoma. No wonder, really, when he had antagonised them throughout their whole first year at UA. Shinsou seemed to be the only one who was comfortable around him, due to having befriended the annoying blond before he joined the hero course.

So yes, having him stare at him now felt strange. He didn’t know why copying his quirk would make him behave like this. He hadn’t even made any snide remarks when they passed each other, just stared him down and looked… almost thoughtful? He didn’t get it.

It got even more confusing when it went from staring for one solid week after the joint training to him striding up to him, look him dead in the eyes and tell him that they needed to talk. Alone.

That made him really uncomfortable, so he asked Kirishima to wait outside the classroom. Monoma rolled his eyes but agreed, Kirishima giving Monoma a bright but slightly awkward smile as he propped himself up outside the door and pulled out his phone to play a game while he waited.

Inside the classroom the lights were off, and Monoma made no attempt to turn them on again. Kaminari sat down at his own desk out of pure habit, Monoma raising an eyebrow in response. Still there was no mockery. What was going on?

Suddenly, there was a finger in his face, an accusatory look on Monoma’s to mirror the shock in Kaminari’s. “Why the hell do you only train in long range attacks? No wonder you stay pathetic, your quirk is much more suited for close combat. What, are Eraserhead-sensei or All Might not teaching you how to throw a punch?”

Kaminari stared at Monoma with wide eyes, stunned into silence as he processed what had just been said? “Uuuh, what?” came the response, making him feel dumb as soon as it’d come out of his mouth. Judging by the look on Monoma’s face, it had sounded just as stupid to him.

“Do you not know how much better you could utilise your quirk if you were trained in hand to hand combat? Right now you’re letting out way too much electricity at once, hitting your limit way too quickly. If you were to zap people with your quirk at the same time as you landed a hit, you could incapacitate your opponent immediately. The way you do it now wastes huge amounts of your stored powers in one moment since you got to make it travel and last all the way to whoever you’re fighting. If you were a close range hero you’d be able to use your quirk much more efficiently, especially in public; you know, where a hero does most of their work.”

The rush of words made sense when he thought about it, but the only thing he was able to say was “wow, you sound like Midoriya, the two of you could talk about quirk analasys forever if you got started.”

A look of pure disgust came across Monoma’s face, at the same time as it went bright red. “Don’t compare me to that bone-breaking, self-sacrificing asshole ever again.” With that, he turned around, stomping angrily out of the room. He could hear Kirishima’s startled “hey, what’s-” before the redhead popped his head in, looking utterly confused. “What happened?”

“I have no idea, man.”

That was a lie. He had some idea, but the thought made his head spin. Had Monoma Neito just tried to give him advice?

The following days it was like Monoma had disappeared. He was obviously in class since he’d caught a glimpse of his homework when he handed his own to Present Mic, but any time he saw any of the class B students he knew Monoma usually spent time with he wasn’t there. Was he avoiding him? He asked his group of friends as much when they were having lunch and he saw an empty seat next to Kendou for the third lunch this week.

Bakugo only grunted a ‘who the fuck cares’ and Jirou asked him why he would do that anyway. Kirishima looked class B’s way and looked thoughtful for a moment while he chewed his food. “You still haven’t told me what you two talked about on Tuesday. It has something to do with that, right?”

Mina’s shriek of ‘you did what?!’ went ignored, and Bakugo gave his girlfriend a nudge in the side and grumbled a low ‘shut up’, only resulting in her asking if he wanted to spar this weekend. “Yeah probably. You’re playing video games with Tetsutetsu tonight, right? Can I crash it and ask him what room Monoma’s in?”

“Yeah, sure. He won’t mind.” Kirishima definitely meant Tetsutetsu, because he was sure Monoma would mind a lot .

Tetsutetsu was far too trusting when Kirishima was around to wonder why he needed to know which room was Monoma’s, and as soon as he had the information he needed he dipped out, leaving the other two to their video games.

A man on a mission, he knocked on Monoma’s door. He heard an ‘if it’s Awase, the door’s unlocked’ and he decided to come in even though he wasn’t Awase. Or even a member of 2B.

When he entered the room, Monoma didn’t turn around, instead waving a hand over his shoulder. “If you think you can just copy my math homework you’re gonna have to go without, I already handed it in. You’re gonna have to do a bit more work than that.”

“Uuuh, sorry, I’m not Awase.”

With a loud groan, Monoma turned around, rubbing the bridge of his nose, pushing the glasses he was wearing down on the tip of his nose. They were thick rimmed and bright red with darker red speckles in them. He would have looked cute if not for the sour look on his face.

“What the hell are you doing here? Go away.”

Kaminari ignored him and stayed right where he was. He didn’t think it was a good idea to invade Monoma’s space more than that, so he didn’t move to sit down anywhere. “I’ve been thinking about what you told me a few days ago. I think you’ve got a point, soooo, you wanna help me train? I’ve heard from Tetsutetsu that you do a lot of hand to hand combat.”

The other teen rubbed his face in frustration, pushing his glasses up to his forehead with his fingers. “God, I never should have talked to you. Insulting me by comparing me to Midoriya and then asking me to help you? This is why I hate your class.”

“So is that a yes or a no? Cus you’re the one that realised it so I’m sure you’ve got a lot of ideas already.”

“Ugh, fine. But if you tell any of those assholes in your class that I’m helping you I’ll kill you with your own quirk.”

“Too bad for you I can’t die from my own quirk!”

“Too bad.”

They decided they might as well get started right away. Unless they wanted to get in trouble though, they would have to ask their homeroom teachers for permission. Monoma told him to go ask Aizawa while he asked Vlad. And to not tell his classmates who he was training with . They would need to make a schedule and figure out when and where they would be alone. Kaminari didn’t think it was that big of a deal, really, but if that was what it took to get Monoma to train with him, then he would put in the effort.

Aizawa just gave him a weird look that said ‘you want to be alone with him ?’ before he gave him a form to fill out, and Kaminari asked him if the most secluded training area was free, and a friday afternoon? Honestly, given what school they went to, it could be either or. But they were lucky, and he quickly booked it for the rest of the day. Then he texted Monoma, having gotten his number after the other blond told him it would make sure they weren’t seen with each other. Again, he thought it was over the top, but he agreed anyway.

Half an hour later they met at the training grounds. This one was made up mostly of a grass surface, trees and big rocks as obstacles and cover. Normally he would have worried about setting the dry grass on fire, but for this kind of training it would probably be fine.

Monoma had changed out of the big sweater he’d worn in his room into workout clothes, and the glasses were nowhere to be seen. Kaminari too was dressed to work hard and he put his phone and water bottle to the side of the grounds, Monoma following suit.

“Do you at least know the basics of hand to hand combat?”

“Yeah, of course. I’ve just never thought of implementing it with my electricity before.” He definitely heard a ‘ridiculous’ being murmured, but Monoma didn’t voice any other complaints for now.

He felt a tap on his bare arm and watched as sparks emitted from Monoma’s hand when he flexed it. “I’m going to start by demonstrating on you so you know exactly what you’re doing. I’ve used your quirk before, so I’ll keep it light, but since you said you won’t die from it I guess you don’t need to worry either way. Now, take a stance.”

They started to work out together at least twice a week, in the same forest-like ground. His classmates were curious about what he was doing, and it seemed like only Kirishima had caught on, but so far the redhead had kept it to himself. There was something in the way Mina was looking at him, too, that made him wonder if she had figured something out as well.

A few weeks in Monoma decided that Kaminari should start using what they’d worked on in class. It was a good idea, once he showed it to his teachers they should be able to give advice on how to use it better. Another joint training was coming up the following week, and he decided to do it then, so Monoma could see how much he’d learnt.

They were piled into one of Ground Beta’s monitoring rooms, class A and class B alike. It was cramped but doable. Aizawa, Vlad and All Might were all there, and Recovery Girl was ready in the infirmary in case she was needed.

They were going to fight three against three, and the objective was to capture your opponents while causing as little destruction as possible. You gained a point by capturing an opposing team member, and lost a point when you caused destruction. Fights had a time limit of 10 minutes, and the team with the most points won. This was a fight to train speedy capture with as little damage as possible.

Kaminari couldn’t wait for his turn. His group had him, as well as Pony and Awase from class B. He’d never teamed up with either of them before, so it was weird but exciting. They were facing up against Todoroki, Sato and Tokage. Facing off against two recommended students would be a struggle, he was sure, but hell if he’d go down without a fight.

He threw his arms over his teammates shoulders. “Hey, I’m looking forward to our match. Wanna scheme?”

Todoroki was at a disadvantage in this scenario, and they had to play on that. He was used to going big and bold, but if he did so here his team would lose points, and if they hit three negative points they’d lose. He could use small attacks, but it was still a reflex to go bigger. The team itself was at an advantage though, thanks to having Tokage’s stealth and spying abilities. Sato’s brute strength could tip the scales either way depending on how they utilised him and how much sweet stuff he’d brought with him.

Kaminari’s own team had Pony, who was mostly a ranged fighter but knew how to kick hard enough to bust a skull open. Apparently, that was a line Monoma had taught her to say. Awase’s quirk was extremely versatile from what Kaminari had seen, but he hadn’t seen enough to know the nitty-gritty details.

The key, when going up against such strong opponents, was to get Todoroki to mess up and cause his own team to lose points. Monoma had taught him a little about how useful a little bit of playing dirty could be, even for a hero. It had taken Monoma a good while to explain it to Kaminari though. He’d told him that underhanded methods were almost inescapable when you didn’t have a flashy quirk. Kaminari had asked him if he was provoking people to get them to touch him first so he could copy their quirks, but he only got a ‘shut up’ in reply. It did make Monoma make a tiny bit more sense though.

They got five minutes to hide and prepare on the grounds before the start of the fight, which Kaminari’s team spent preparing by having Awase lay down traps with his welding, and then they hid from view, aside from Pony, who was still semi out in the open, pretending to hide but in a much more easily found spot.

The air horn rang out loudly throughout the arena, and for a few seconds, no one in the team moved. Then, they saw both Sato and Todoroki, and it was obvious that Tokage had been able to quickly find Pony, and guided them in that direction. Pony just turned around and booked it. Todoroki reacted on instinct, shooting out a mountain of ice, but Pony whipped around the corner just in time, Todoroki too slow to stop his ice before it hit the building behind her. The look on Todoroki’s face would have made Kaminari crack up if he didn’t have to be silent. Todoroki had just cost his team their first point.

Tokage’s mouth popped up next to the dual haired teen, and she said something, making him nod and pull back, Sato following. It seemed to be a distraction though, as they heard a yelp from Awase, and he came tumbling down his hiding spot, a floating Tokage-arm tugging at him when he welded his own hand to the building. Todoroki moved to throw out another tower of ice, but was stopped in time by Sato, who no doubt reminded him of the point system. They separated, Todoroki chasing after where Pony had gone.

While Tokage and Sato were focused on Awase, Kaminari took his chance, rushing soundlessly toward Sato from behind. Tokage noticed him at the last second, but couldn’t cry out to warm her team member as she sent her mouth and one eye after Pony and Todoroki. Sato himself noticed just in time to dodge the first punch, a shocked expression on his face. Sato was a close range combatant, while Kaminari was not, so he hadn’t expected the electric blond to stand eye to eye with him.

Sato quickly composed himself, swinging at Kaminari’s guts. He managed to dodge just in time, answering with a strike of his own. Sato attempted to dodge again, but the strike connected, gently, but enough. The current ran through Sato, who cried out in alarm and pain, only to collapse a split second later. Kaminari did his best to catch him so he wouldn’t hit his head, then put the bracelet on Sato’s wrist, gaining the first point of the match.

The grin on his face was so big it made his cheeks ache, and he turned around, only to get struck in the chin by one of Tokage’s legs. He flew backwards, an arm pulling him back. He reached behind him, stunning the limb by wrapping his hand around Tokage’s wrist before she could let go. Getting back on his feet, he dashed toward the leg, but he only managed to catch a chunk of her thigh as it split up into pieces. The flesh fell to the ground with a thunk that made his skin crawl, even as he continued moving, now changing course to help out Awase, who had welded half of Tokage’s hand to himself. They had come to the same conclusion, that the only way they’d be able to take down the lizard girl was to take out one part of her at a time.

Kaminari jumped as high as he could, reaching for the flying parts of the girl to try and stun them, but she easily dodged this time. It did give Awase enough time to safely reach the ground though, and they rushed after Pony and Todoroki. They had 3 minutes left.

When they reached the horned girl they found her pinned to the third floor wall of a building by ice, Todoroki obviously having lost Tokage enough to not be able to be stopped by her. Pony was wearing the opposing team’s bracelet, neutralising the lost point with an added one.

Tokage collected all her available pieces to float next to Todoroki, looking frustrated with her team partner. They could probably work together great with some practice, but they hadn’t reached that state yet, as they hadn’t fought together and barely even against each other before. Todoroki may have come a long way from where he started, but he still had his bad days.

Tokage was missing half an arm, the chunk of thigh Kaminari had paralysed and three fingers. Said fingers were stuck to Awase’s shoulder. It would be an inconvenience to her but Kaminari knew from talking to Awase and Pony that it wouldn’t keep her from posing a threat. As long as they kept their distance from Todoroki, she was the most dangerous of their remaining opponents.

Todoroki took one step toward his opponents, as if considering which one to go for, but with Tokage in his ear, he dashed toward Awase, the girl separating into pieces and seemingly disappearing. Kaminari stayed on high alert though, knowing that with only about two minutes left of the fight she would soon appear again.

As he thought that, he felt a finger poke his cheek, and when he turned around, he was met with Tokage’s face, grinning ear to ear. He felt something come at him from behind, and when he was about to turn again, Tokage’s legs wrapped him in a chokehold. Kaminari instantly sent a current of electricity that surged through her detached legs. It seemed like he hadn’t thought this action through though, as the contracting muscles tightened around his neck, and he had to stop his quirk so he wouldn’t pass out. The legs loosened their grip as the current had rendered the parts of her it had gone through unusable. Black spots swam all over his vision and he just barely managed to roll out of the way of Tokage’s arm throwing a punch at him. She had a look on her face that reminded him of Bakugo when he was enjoying a fight. He needed to remember to get them to interact more later, they could be interesting friends.

He’d lost track of time, but it had to be less than a minute till the end of the fight. He got back on his feet, only stumbling a tiny bit before regaining his balance. He chanced a glance in Awase’s direction, but he didn’t get the chance to see much before Tokage was at him again, this time her arms locking around his throat. He couldn’t see if her head was with her, but he took his chances, grabbing the arms and electrocuting his opponent. This time he was ready for the arms locking up, managing to take a deep breath before his airway was cut off.

The airhorn blared, signaling the end of the battle.

Kaminari deactivated his quirk, Tokage’s arms letting go of him, flopping down under him. He met Tokage’s eyes where she grinned, even though she looked kind of frustrated. “That was a good fight, man! I’m down to my head and that two-finger hand Awase left me with!” She attempted a finger gun, but it looked… definitely kind of freaky when she was missing three of her fingers. Then she floated over in the direction of Awase and Todoroki, Kaminari following as well.

Awase seemed to have gotten Todoroki to fall into one of the traps he’d prepared, but he had only managed to weld the hole back shut halfway, meaning Todoroki was able to get halfway out before he was stuck with his waist dangling. Awase himself was frozen stuck to the ground where Todoroki had managed to reach him, but evidently the bracelet was stuck in his waistband. Awase himself had gotten the bracelet meant for Todoroki frozen to his hand, but Todoroki was now melting the ice, steam rising around them. When he could properly move his hands again, he guided Kaminari to hold the dual coloured teen under his arms so he didn’t fall back down again when he opened the hole up again.

Pony was quickly melted out, and then they came back to go get a dazed Sato, who looked completely out of it. “Damn, man, I didn’t think you’d try to go close range with me like that,” he told Kaminari as he helped him stand, and arm over his shoulders, the others gathering up the pieces of the lizard girl before heading back to the rest of the class.

The feedback went okay. Kaminari, Awase and Pony had just barely managed to win the fight, and Aizawa was going to add more elements to his, Todoroki’s and Sato’s training, Vlad going to do the same to his students. He noticed Monoma listening in when Aizawa gave him his feedback, and without thinking about it, he turned around to give his sort-of friend a high five. “It worked! Thank you, man!” Monoma had raised his own hand to respond to the gesture, used to it from several of his own classmates, but froze when Mina blurted out a “WHAT, right in their ears from where she’d been standing with Ochaco and Ojiro.

Kendo, too, was staring at the two blonds, surprise growing into satisfaction. “I told you he’d befriend someone in class A eventually.”

Monoma sputtered, looking indignant. “We- I’m- we’re not friends!”

“Well, aren’t we, technically?”

Kendo burst into laughter, messing up Monoma’s hair as she gave him a noogie. “Just give it up, we know you wouldn’t work with someone unless you liked them at least a little bit outside class.”

Kaminari’s fellow blond just pouted and straightened his hair. “Don’t tell him that.”

Kaminari’s smile was blinding.

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