Chapter Text
You would think that if someone tells you to remind them of something, they would appreciate being reminded.
Not Shinsou, apparently. Not that he ever says anything about it, but that’s exactly how Denki knows he doesn’t appreciate it. Because if he did, he would say something. He’d say thank you. Instead, he just vanishes.
The first time it happens, Denki thinks nothing of it. After all, it’s nine in the morning when Kyouka sends the reminder. Shinsou is usually still asleep then and he usually doesn’t reply to whatever was said in the group chat while he was asleep unless it’s important. This is not important, apparently.
Then it happens again. At noon. Shinsou is barely online, though, so Denki figures he’s just busy. Probably filing his taxes.
The third time it happens, Denki is certain the reminders are being ignored. Kirishima said only ten minutes prior that he asked Bakugou if he wanted to hang out, but Bakugou said he was already hanging out with Shinsou. Denki can’t think of a single reason why Bakugou would be able to reply to his texts but not Shinsou, unless Bakugou is just hanging out at Shinsou’s apartment while he’s taking a nap, but that seems unlikely. What seems more likely is that Shinsou is avoiding the group chat.
Denki calls Bakugou.
“Kaminari,” Bakugou answers.
“Hey. Are you with Shinsou-kun right now?”
“Yeah?”
“What are you guys doing?”
“Why?”
“Well, Kyouka just sent a reminder—”
Denki’s phone beeps. He pulls it away from his ear to look at the screen and blinks.
Did Bakugou just… end the call?
Or… Damn. That was Shinsou, wasn’t it?
Denki calls Shinsou.
It rings and rings and rings. It’s about to go to voicemail when the call finally connects. It’s not Shinsou who answers, though. It’s Bakugou. He sounds out of breath. “Hold on. I—”
“Katsuki,” Shinsou says in the background. He doesn’t yell, but there’s an edge to his voice that makes Denki’s hackles rise. “Give me my phone.”
“No.”
“I won’t let you off with a warning this time.”
“I’m not even—”
“Katsuki.”
“This is different and you know it.”
“Give me my phone. Katsuki.” There’s some rustling and a muffled grunt. Then Shinsou snaps, “Hey. Katsuki. Red.”
It’s quiet for a second.
“I’ll call you back,” Bakugou says quietly.
The call ends before Denki can reply. Not that he would’ve known what to say. It’s weird enough to hear Bakugou and Shinsou arguing like that—not just bickering, but actually arguing. What’s even weirder is that Denki has never heard Shinsou use a safeword before—not even a yellow—and it didn’t sound like they were having sex, so what the fuck was that?
Denki calls Kyouka.
“Hey.”
“Hey, I’m… uh…”
“What’s wrong?” she asks.
He hesitates, before it tumbles out all at once.
“I was just on the phone with Bakugou-kun. I wanted to know if Shinsou-kun was ignoring our reminders. And I knew he was with Bakugou-kun. Kirishima-kun told me. So I called him. Instead of Shinsou-kun. I figured he’d probably ignore me. But then he ended the call. Shinsou-kun, I mean. At least, I think that was him. Bakugou-kun wouldn’t hang up on me if I was in the middle of answering a question he asked. I think. Unless I was being annoying, which I don’t think I was. Anyway, so I called Shinsou-kun, but Bakugou-kun answered the call. He told me to hold on, because they were… arguing. It sounded tense. And then Shinsou-kun safeworded.”
“Safeworded?”
“Yeah, he told Bakugou-kun to stop, like… holding his phone hostage or whatever. But Bakugou-kun wasn’t listening. Then he called red. And Bakugou-kun stopped and hung up.”
“Oh.”
“He said he’d call me back, but…” Denki sighs, rubbing his forehead. “Fuck, I shouldn’t have called. I think Shinsou-kun is mad at me.”
“Why would he be mad at you?”
“Because I got his boyfriend involved! And now they’re arguing because of me!”
“Denki… I don’t think they’re arguing because of you.”
“But—”
“Bakugou knows, doesn’t he?”
“What?”
“Didn’t you say Shinsou already told him about his job?”
“Oh. Yeah.”
“Right. So he was already involved.”
“I guess.”
“Also, when Shinsou told us to remind him, he didn’t sound particularly excited about the prospect, so I’m not surprised he’s ignoring our reminders. Let’s just wait for Bakugou to call you back, okay? I’m sure they’ll be fine.”
“You think?”
“Yeah.”
“But… he safeworded.”
“I know. That’s why I think they’ll be fine.”
Denki pauses.
That makes sense, actually.
Bakugou reacted pretty fast, so that was probably not the first time Shinsou used a safeword in an argument, which… Honestly, Denki finds that disconcerting as much as he finds it comforting. It’s good that it’s an option, but they’ve only been dating for, what, three weeks? And they’re already arguing so much that they need safewords? Denki has never even seen Shinsou mad. He’s seen him irritated, of course, which is a good sign you need to back off, because Shinsou gets worryingly unresponsive when you push him too far. It feels like he’s trying really hard not to get mad, and Denki isn’t sure if he wants to know what happens when he stops trying.
Denki can only imagine what happened to make safewords necessary.
Regardless, Bakugou backed off when Shinsou told him to, so yeah, they’ll probably be fine. Hopefully. Denki might have to make sure later.
“Okay,” he says. “I’ll wait.”
*
Bakugou calls Denki back an hour later.
“Hey,” he says nervously.
Bakugou sighs. “Listen. Hitoshi’s not in the mood for this shit right now, so just leave it, okay? No more reminders. I’ll handle it.”
“Oh. Okay.”
“He’ll text you later.”
“Okay.” Denki fidgets with his sleeve. “Sorry.”
“Sorry?”
“For… calling and stuff. I didn’t mean to be pushy.”
“Tch. It’s not your fault he’s being a dick ‘cause you’re doing something he literally told you to do.”
Denki frowns. “He’s not being a dick.”
“Kaminari. He’s ignoring you.”
“Well…”
“He ripped my phone out of my hand when he realized why you were calling, ‘cause he didn’t want me to know he’s ignoring you. I had to drag it out of him.”
“I mean, if he doesn’t wanna talk about it, he doesn’t—”
“He does. He just needs a push.”
“I don’t think he needs a push when he’s calling red.”
Bakugou is quiet for a moment.
Then he asks, “You know why he did that?”
“Because we pushed him too far?” Denki guesses.
He barks a laugh. “No.”
Denki huffs, not amused by the condescending tone. “Then why?”
“Same reason he’s ignoring you.”
“I don’t understand.”
“You don’t understand why he’s ignoring you?”
“Well, I would think he doesn’t wanna talk about it, but you’re implying there’s more to it, so no, I don’t. Apparently, I don’t understand him at all.”
Bakugou sighs again. “You know what happens when you push him too far?”
“Can’t say I’ve tried.”
“It never happened by accident?”
“It’s pretty obvious when he’s at his limit, Bakugou-kun,” Denki snips. “Like, I think you have to be blind not to notice it—or an asshole to ignore it.”
Bakugou snorts. “Yeah, well, takes one to know one.”
“What do you mean?”
“I can push him ‘cause he knows he can be an asshole to me. He doesn’t know if he can be an asshole to you. That’s why he’s ignoring you. And why he called red. Didn’t want you to hear it.”
Denki blinks. “So he’d be an asshole to me if I pushed him?”
“Maybe. If he thought you could take it.”
“I… Should I be offended?”
Bakugou laughs.
“I’m offended,” Denki decides.
“No. He doesn’t wanna be an asshole, even if you could take it. He doesn’t wanna be an asshole to me, either. But I don’t care. If I don’t push him, he’s just gonna be an asshole to himself. He’s gonna repress the hell out of it till he can’t take it anymore.”
“Right.”
“But I’ll handle it. Okay?”
“If you’re sure…”
“Kaminari. If he didn’t wanna tell you, he’d say so. He’s just being an asshole ‘cause he doesn’t wanna tell you right now.”
Denki lets out a long breath. “Okay.”
*
Two hours later, Shinsou finally texts the group chat.
Mind Jack (Shinsou)
sorry guys
i don’t think i’m ready to talk about it
Earphone Jack (Jirou)
That’s fine. Let us know when you’re ready.
Chargebolt (Kaminari)
Yeah no problem
*
Denki tries to put Shinsou’s reticence about confiding in his friends out of his mind. He mostly succeeds.
Three days later, something terrible happens.
It’s almost the end of his shift, and he’s already making himself hungry thinking about what’s in the fridge, when the Hero Network puts out an alert. Three Pro Heroes went radio silent after responding to the Hero Network’s previous alert about the staff members of a small company being impossible to reach by their loved ones. The company itself is not answering calls, either. They tried many different phone numbers, and someone’s wife even went over to see what was going on, but no one has heard from her. Someone needs to go and check on everyone.
Several heroes who are much closer to the scene have already responded, but Denki wanders in their direction just in case.
A few minutes later, the Hero Network reports that the second group of heroes found approximately 20 civilians, as well as the first group of heroes, but there was no sign of any villains. But when they went in to save them, they stopped responding, too. That’s when Denki starts running.
Thankfully, he’s not the first to get there. Midoriya, Bakugou, and his interns Marbles and Weaver are standing in front of the building. Bakugou is peering through the window.
“What’s going on?” Denki asks.
“No idea,” Midoriya answers. “It seems like they’re just… trapped.”
“Trapped?”
“Look,” he says, pointing inside.
Denki steps closer.
It’s like looking at a still image from a weird horror movie. Nothing is broken in the entrance hall and nobody seems injured, but they’re all frozen and covered in these gross-looking… vines or something? Maybe tentacles? They don’t have suction cups, though. They’re slimy and knobby and flesh-colored like… entrails? Yuck. Denki refuses to call them that. They’re vines, okay?
They make all the hostages hard to identify, but Denki can see the bright teal of Kendou’s qipao, Tsunotori’s big horns, Monoma’s blond hair, and Sero’s yellow shoulder guards.
He grimaces, turning back to the other heroes. “What is that stuff?”
Midoriya shrugs. “Someone’s quirk, I guess. I think it might be one of the civilians. There’s still no sign of any villains.”
“Why would a civilian trap a bunch of heroes?”
“Maybe they can’t control it.”
Bakugou hums, tapping the window. “Doesn’t look like it.”
Midoriya frowns.
“Think there’d be more movement. Chaos.”
Marbles shrugs. “We don’t know how their quirk works.”
“Yeah,” Midoriya says. “It might seem like nothing’s going on, but… it probably seemed like nothing was going on to the other heroes as well, and look what happened to them. We have to be careful.”
“You saying I’m not being careful?” Bakugou demands.
Midoriya sighs.
“What if we just… throw something and see what happens?” Denki suggests.
“I can throw a few marbles,” Marbles says.
Midoriya nods. “Good idea.”
A crowd of curious civilians is forming around them, so Bakugou starts barking at them to back off while Marbles draws a handful of colorful marbles from his skin. Midoriya opens the door a crack so Marbles can toss them inside, but nothing happens. They just bounce around and roll across the floor. One bumps into one of the vines and skids away. No reaction.
He sends in a few more, using his quirk to move them around and poke at the vines to provoke a reaction. Still nothing.
“Huh,” Denki says.
“Maybe they only react to people?” Midoriya guesses.
“Maybe?”
Bakugou stomps back over to them, relieved by the arrival of police cars.
“What?” he says, scowling at the window.
Denki understands why he’s on edge. Denki would be, too, if his partner was in there. Monoma seems fine, though. Frozen and covered in slimy vines, but fine.
“Nothing,” Midoriya says. “No reaction.”
“Should we go in?” Denki asks.
Midoriya hesitates, tapping his jaw. “I suppose…”
“I’ll go,” Bakugou says, yanking the door open. He holds his hands out in front of him, ready to blast anyone off their feet if they come at him, but he moves slowly, carefully. He approaches the mass of vines step by step, until he’s right in front of Sero.
Again, nothing happens.
“Shit smells,” he says, wrinkling his nose.
Denki steps inside to investigate, followed by the interns.
“Like what?” Marbles asks.
“Death.”
Denki opens his mouth to respond, but then one of the vines starts moving.
“Watch your feet!” Marbles shouts.
Bakugou immediately looks down and pulls his foot back, but the vine is faster. It wraps around his leg like it wants to strangle him.
Denki runs toward him while he tries to kick it off and aims his gauntlet down, but it’s already up to his chest and yanks his shoulder back. He fires uselessly at the tall ceiling. Weaver manages to pull the vine away with his quirk before it can go any further, but two more vines immediately take its place. When they wrap around Bakugou’s arms, his quirk fizzles out with a pop.
He goes silent mid-scream.
Denki skids to a halt.
“Dynamight!” Weaver calls out.
Bakugou doesn’t respond. He’s frozen now, too.
“Chargebolt?” Midoriya says.
“Yeah?” Denki whispers, too scared to raise his voice or look back at him. His eyes are trained on the vine that’s, like… five feet away from him.
“Don’t move.”
Wasn’t planning on it.
“I think the vines grab you when you get too close,” Midoriya says.
Why aren’t they grabbing Denki, then? He’s just as close as Bakugou was.
“Do you think I could fry them?” Denki asks, still whispering. Midoriya probably can’t hear him, but he doesn’t want to agitate the vines.
“What?”
“No, that’ll fry the others, too…”
“What…? Are you talking to the vines?”
Oh. Maybe that’s why they grabbed Bakugou. He said it smelled like death.
It kinda does, but the vines probably didn’t like that. Or, well, the person who’s (not) in control of the vines. Maybe the vines respond to their emotions or something.
“Hey,” Denki says, louder now, looking around the hall to see if any of the civilians are watching him, but everyone is staring at nothing. “I’m sorry about Dynamight. He can be a bit of an ass sometimes, but he means well. He’s just worried, you know?”
No response.
“I’m sure he would apologize if you released him. Can you do that?”
Nothing.
“Ah. I suppose you can’t. That’s okay, though. I’m sure we can figure it out. Hey, Deku?” He still doesn’t look back, but he trusts Midoriya is listening. “I think it reacts to their emotions.”
Midoriya starts muttering.
Denki slowly lowers himself to the tiled floor to appear non-threatening, crossing his legs. “I’m guessing something happened that made you lose control of your quirk? Happens to the best of us.”
The vine in front of him suddenly shoots forward, grabbing his leg.
He shrieks and activates his quirk on pure instinct.
Everyone in the hall screams.
Okay, well, that confirms Denki’s suspicion that frying the vines would be a terrible idea. That was just a little shock. If he’d gone all out, he probably would’ve killed everyone, including his friends.
“Sorry. I didn’t mean to do that. You scared me.”
Still nothing.
“That’s exactly what I’m talking about, though. Even Pro Heroes lose control.” He stares at the vine wrapped around his leg. He considers pulling it off, but he doesn’t really wanna touch it. “It’s okay. Nothing to worry about. You won’t get in trouble. It was just an accident, right?”
The vine starts moving again. Slowly now. Crawling up.
Denki’s heart hammers in his chest. What about what he said was upsetting? Are they dealing with a villain after all?
The vine reaches the top of his pants.
“Please,” he whispers.
It slithers under his shirt and touches his skin.
Suddenly, he feels over thirty hearts hammering in his chest. He feels over thirty pairs of lungs breathing in, out, in, out. He feels everything. He feels Bakugou and Sero and Monoma and all the other heroes. He feels the civilians, too, even if he doesn’t know them. The only thing he can’t feel is who he belongs to. He belongs to all of them, and they belong to him. They belong together.
“No, it wasn’t an accident,” they say, all at once. “Welcome to the cluster, Chargebolt and Dynamight. Now we all smell like death. Together. Forever.”
The part of Denki that is still very much him turns cold with fear.
Definitely a villain. And they can control them. All of them.
“Who are you?” Midoriya demands. “Why are you doing this?”
Silence.
“Chargebolt?”
Denki wants to respond, but he can’t. He can see Midoriya, though, despite facing away from him. He can see him through someone else’s eyes. He can see the interns, too. They look terrified.
“Weaver. Marbles. Back up.”
They start backing up towards Midoriya.
But the vines are faster.
“No!” Midoriya yells, using the wires in his suit to yank the interns towards him.
Unfortunately, he can only do so much when there are more than a dozen vines pulling at their limbs from all directions. They scream in pain. If Midoriya pulls any harder, they’ll be torn in two. He curses and lets them go. They fly back into the mass of vines. Denki feels the moment they become part of the cluster, two more hearts hammering in his chest.
Midoriya creates a smokescreen and gets the hell out of there.