Sitting there awkwardly as everyone sings to him is, well, awkward.

Everyone knows that when they sing happy birthday to you, you're stuck faking a smile for way too long. Sure, the smile might be real at first, but it gets hard to keep up after a while because it's nerve wracking.

It feels like everyone is staring at your biggest insecurities.

What if he has a pimple?

Is his forehead too big?

What if they think he looks stupid?

Everyone claps and he smiles, blowing out the candles. God, he's so dumb. Over thinking could just lead to a panic attack and does he want one of those right now?

Not really, no. That wouldn't be great for him.

"Alright, let's give you your presents," Momo says, and motions everyone to go to the common area.

They didn't have birthday parties for everyone in class. This isn't fair.

Why would they have one for him and not for the others? They probably feel bad, and Kaminari doesn't even deserve it. He feels guilty, but should be enjoying this. They did this for him and all he's doing is moping and being a fucking downer.

Just enjoy today, dumbass. You never know when they'll do something like this again.

He sits down on the floor, in front of the table where there was a space surrounded by presents, so he figures that this is where they wanted him to sit.

The dorms look nice. The streamers are still up, and the colors are nice. They used purple.

They probably asked Shinso his favorite color.

"Who's present should I open first?" He asks and before he can even finish, his classmates are yelling, fighting with each other because they want Kaminari to open theirs first.

"Um, I'll just grab a random one," he decides with a smile.

He feels a little better.

Grabbing a small one to his right, he looks at the name and sees it's from Jirou.

"This is from Jirou," he announces, and looks at her with a smile.

She smiles back a bit and then he opens it.

It's a small box, so he opens it to see a bracelet in it. It's a metal bracelet, probably stainless steel, and it had an engraving.

'Chargebolt'

He smiles at the word. "It says Chargebolt this is so cool," he says, already trying to put it on.

"Mine next, please," Mina begs, clasping her hands together and squeezing her eyes shut.

As he puts on the bracelet, he accepts Mina's request and opens hers next.

"Kami, what the fuck, I thought we were best friends," Shinso scoffs.

The blond laughs at that, and smiles a bit too much at the taller teen, and everyone notices that the smile is different from the one he's given them.

"Sucks to suck," he says and sticks out his tongue before unwrapping Mina's gift.

He feels the bracelet Jiro got him on his wrist as he moves his hand and it gives him a warm feeling because wow, he has great friends. He tries not to tear up at that thought and focuses on Mina's present instead, but that backfires because oh shit, Mina's present.

His eyes burn while looking at the frame. It's a picture of all of them recently and they all look so happy in it together. 

"Cause we're you're family."

He nods, tears falling. "Yeah," he breathes, huffing. 

"You made me cry on my birthday," he complains, rubbing his eyes with both hands after he sets the frame down on his lap. 

Cause we're you're family.

It's way better than his real one, and honestly he prefers this one over it anyway. 

He hears laughs across the room, and looks at the picture one last time before someone else screams for him to open their present.

It goes on like this as he finishes up. 

Much to their annoyance, the last three presents are from Shinso, Bakugo, and Iida.

They wait there impatiently, secretly hoping that he opens theirs first to see his reaction to the gift already. 

"Kaminari! You are being very slow," Iida says and Kaminari laughs at him. 

"Fine," he says, looking at Bakugo and Shinso as he talks to Iida, "I'll open Iida's next."

Unwrapping it, he opens it to find a black and yellow mug with the letter 'K' in yellow. It has lighting designs all over it and Kaminari absolutely loves it. He never really felt like getting another one for himself because he felt like it would be annoying for the others. 

It's not rational at all, he knows, but he can't help what he thinks.

So, yeah, when Mineta broke his mug, he thought it was a sign and never bought another one for himself. Of course Iida noticed, especially with how he had to lend Kaminari his own that one time.

"Thanks Iida," he says happily. 

Even though everyone is looking at him as he does this, he feels genuinely happy, so his reactions aren't as exaggerated as he thought. He's loved every gift from previous birthdays, too, but for some reason, even though he's so damn happy on the inside, he can never really express it outwardly. 

Iida looks proud, and Bakugo huffs as he crosses his arms over his chest as Shinso moves back and forth on his feet next to him. 

"Alrighty, Bakugo's is next," he says and Bakugo reacts instantly.

"HA!" He exclaims, and shoves Shinso. "Sucks to suck, doesn't it," he grins.

Kaminari rolls his eyes at them, especially since Shinso glares back at Bakugo.

It's a small box, but when he opens it, there's lots of rings. Some black, other's silver. Hm. He takes them out, there's ten. 

"They're highly conductible, and since they look like regular ass rings, you can always wear them. Throw them wherever the fuck you want and, boom, a straight shot."

Kaminari's jaw drops, and he looks back at the rings. They're really nice and sound very expensive, he's scared of losing them. Why would he get him something so expensive? 

"Oh, there's a little device shit in there," he says, pointing around the box, "Tracks the rings in case you fuck up when throwing them where you want."

Okay, so he's not gonna lose them. 

Also, since the device is so thin and small, he can fit it in his wallet easily. Damn, technology these days. 

This is so impressive, and his other classmates think so too as they lean over to try and get a good look at the present, but Shinso is waiting for Kaminari to open his present, so he thinks he should get a move on and finish. Also because he wants the others to go get their desserts already and have fun. 

"Okay, Shinso's." 

He nods, and Kaminari starts unwrapping. 

It's a shoe box with a logo that he's never seen.

When he opens the box, he sees the coolest fucking shoes he's ever laid his eyes on. What the fuck?

"You bought me a whole ass fit," Kaminari says, looking up at Shinso with awe in his tone. 

They're so nice. They're black with hints of white, so they match his hero costume, but he can wear them all the time. 

"I bought them cause of the grip. They're skateboarding shoes, but obviously you can always wear them," he says. 

Kaminari is examining them, and when he looks at he bottom, his eyes widen. Oh god, he loves them so much. 

At the bottom of the shoes are his initials. 

'D' under one shoe and 'K' under the other. 

"Man, all of you are so damn cool. I love all your presents. Now, let's get some cake!"

With that, half of the class heads to the kitchen and the other half approaches him to get closer looks at his other presents. He's got so much that he feels like he's going to cry from how amazing his class is. 

Shoes that he can wear with his hero costume, and since they have grip, it'd be easier for him not to slip. Rings to help with conducting? And there's still the stuff that the other's got him. Damn.

"Oh, Kaminari," Mina yells. He looks up as he gathers his stuff to take upstairs quickly as the other's finish looking and Shinso lingers by him.

"Hm?"

"There's a gift card in there, too," she mentions quickly before running off to get cake. 

"Need help?" Shinso asks and Kaminari nods. 

They grab as much as they can, leaving the mug behind since it belongs down here, before heading to the elevator.

"Yeah, thanks for the shoes. And the hoodie. And the socks. And the sweats."

He pauses between each thing and it annoys Shinso, so he paused for longer each time.

"Shut up, it's your birthday. I should've bought more."

The elevator doors close and Kaminari turns with a scoff at the taller teen who was looking at him.

"What the fuck, no," he says before the elevator rings and they walk to the room.

Shinso thinks it over. He'd buy the world for Kaminari. Hm. That's cheesy. Okay, yeah, don't say that out loud.

"Whatever."

The put all the stuff back quickly, only taking two trips, but before they head back downstairs, Shinso stops Kaminari hesitantly.

God he feels so awkward.

"Hey, Kami."

Said blond turns before actually getting his hand on the doorknob, looking at the taller teen.

"Hm?"

"Look- shit- uh, I know that you're still in a place where you might not feel ready to date. And maybe you're just someone who doesn't date- god I feel so embarrassed right now- but I wanted to tell you that it would be nice if we- if you would let me take you out," he says before quickly adding, "again?"

Shinso is blushing so bad, and Kaminari feels as though his face is exactly the same as Shinso's.

He opens his mouth to talk, but shuts it, clearing his throat for more time to think about what to say because oh god, his crush just said it would be nice if he could take Kaminari out again, which means that Shinso liked their first date a lot more than Kaminari thought.

The awkwardness of it all, especially Kaminari's situation makes it so funny, so before he can even say anything, he laughs.

It's not to make fun of Shinso. He kind of just felt giddy and weird at the same time because of his past.

"Shit, I'm not laughing at you. I just felt so awkward, but yeah," Kaminari smiles, "I think it would be nice if we went out again."

Shinso sighs in relief, shoulders relaxing visibly.

"Damn, I really thought that was your way of rejecting me. Don't tell anyone, but I was gonna start crying if that was how you let me down," Shinso says, breaking into laughter at the end.

He feels better now that he's told Kaminari about his feelings.

Hell, maybe Kaminari won't ever want to actually become partners, but Shinso just wants to be close to him.

"I would never do that."

Shinso knows that Kaminari has mixed feelings about dating and his trauma plays a big factor in this. That kind of stuff doesn't just go away, Shinso knows that. He's not trying to rush Kaminari or anything.

The last thing he wants is to pressure Kaminari into thinking he has to go out with Shinso or anything like that.

Doing that would be so bad, Shinso can't even think about that without feeling guilty.

Like hell is he actually going to make Kaminari feel that way, so he just hopes that if Kaminari feels that he isn't ready, he'll tell Shinso because he trusts Shinso enough to tell him that.

"If at any point you feel like you're not liking anything at all, tell me. I hope that you trust me enough to be able to tell me without being scared about me. I care about you more than anything, alright?"

Kaminari nods, feeling a little taken aback by this whole thing, but the fuzzy feeling in his chest is so great and warm. He's so lucky to have Shinso. What the fuck? How did he even get Shinso to like him? It seems too unrealistic and good for him.

"I will. I promise."

"Good. And I promise to be my best self around you," he says, feeling anxious about this confession.

They both stay there a bit longer, looking at each other and smiling like idiots. There's so much good happening at once and he doesn't know if it'll end up ending really badly.

It's like a really high high, and he's waiting for the really low low.

Once he gets downstairs with Shinso, walking hand-in-hand with him, he realizes he doesn't have to wait that long.

"Denki. What the fuck are you doing?"

Oh, god. His mom.

~~~~~

He ends up outside with her, not as happy as he thought he'd be seeing her today.

Couldn't she just say happy birthday and leave like he'd wanted? Just a hug would do, too. It's not like he was asking for a lot. He just wanted a hug from his mom.

His mom for God's sake.

"You're just gonna lie about your father and turn around and start dating a guy? I knew you were gay, Denki, but all of this is too much. You say your dad did something disgusting, I don't even know why you would say it, and the next minute you're dating a guy. You accused a man of doing that to you. What the fuck?"

Is- is she really accusing him of lying?

This makes no sense.

If she doesn't believe him, then why is she so upset about him dating a guy?

"I- you were accepting of me," he chokes out, trying his best not to break down.

It's his birthday.

"Yes, before you went and lied about your father. Jesus, Denki, you're such an attention seeker. Look, and you're gonna cry? Oh, cause poor Denki, right?" She says mockingly.

He steps back a bit and shakes his head.

"No, ma, I'm sorry," he says.

"I can't look at you right now. I wanted to come by and tell you happy birthday, but you're over here dating a man after everything. You could at least try to make it more realistic by dating a girl."

Yukako is really mad at him.

She really doesn't believe him.

"Ma, please. I- he's a good guy. He's safe. I wasn't lying, ma, I swear," he begs, feeling like he'd fall to his knees at the overwhelming sadness he feels.

Tears are falling from his eyes and he looks up at her to see how she looks.

She looks absolutely disappointed.

His heart breaks.

"You're too old to be acting out like this," she sighs, turning around and she shakes her head, "happy birthday."

He watches her leave without her turning back once, voice caught in his throat as each step away from him brings even more pain to his chest.

Eventually, he does fall to his knees, gripping the front of his shirt so tight, his hands hurt.

He doesn't hear a thing as he screams into the floor outside of the dorms, vision blurred through tears.

Eventually, he starts hearing his loud sobs and sniffling as he rests his head on the floor. This hurts too much. God, if he dies, everything would be so much easier.

It's such an easy way to fix everything.

Everyone's problems and worries would go away.

Why are people so caring towards him?

What makes him so likable?

"Denki?"

He tenses up so hard at the sound of the voice.

He can't see me like this.

The crying immediately stops, and he sniffles only a few times and rubs the tears away quickly before looking up at his teacher.

Noticing the difference in height, he stands up so fast, his knees hurt.

"I-"

"What happened?"

He shakes his head. "It's nothing. You know, just dramatic teenage things. Hormones, am I right?" He laughs.

He hurts so much inside.

"You were in the same position for as long as I could see you when I was walking here. I was walking pretty slow. I heard you crying, kid. What's up?"

Kaminari shakes his head.

"Are you okay?"

Tears suddenly fill his eyes again and he gets choked up. Fuck.

He opens his mouth to tell him that he's fine, but it gets interrupted with a sob, and he covers his face. He hates when people look at him when he cries. Especially his face.

"Oh, shit, kid." His voice is closer and Kaminari knows that his hands are hovering over him, scared to actually touch him.

He doesn't know whether or not he's okay with touch.

"My mom hates me."

And it's true. If she didn't hate him, she wouldn't have let Kisho go back home. He'd be spending his birthday with her instead of here.

Yukako wouldn't leave him wondering where he's going to stay for the summer right before finals.

"Oh, I don't think that's true. It's very hard to hate you, Denki. Sure, you're loud sometimes and you make horrible jokes, but no one could hate you," Mr. Aizawa says.

Denki just sobs into his hands.

It hurts.

"I just wanted her to hug me and tell me happy birthday," he says, looking up and he sees his teacher's face change into something sad.

"Was that too much to ask for? Tell me," he says, too close to sounding like begging.

The teacher shakes his head. "It wasn't too much. Listen," he sighs, "your mom wasn't cut out for being a mom. Not if this is they way she treats you. Even if you were a bad kid, no one should be treated like this. Especially not you, kid. You've been through too much."

Kaminari doesn't allow himself to sob anymore, but the tears just keep going and he has to sniffle every now and then so his snot doesn't run down his face.

Mr. Aizawa picks up a bag and hands it to the blond.

"I got you this. Not much, but I figured since you don't really have anyone to help you out, I could do something," Mr. Aizawa says.

The blond opens the bag to find some money and small snacks like chocolates and gum.

"I wouldn't take your money if it was any other day," he tells his teacher, looking up with a serious look.

Even with the tears still falling, his teacher believes him and nods.

"I could pay you to help with cutting the grass and stuff. Nezu has me hiring people to do all the cleaning, but I won't make you do a lot unless you want more money. You know UA doesn't let students get jobs unless it's with a pro hero who does internships. Since I don't do internships, you could do this for me instead, and whatever you don't do, I can just hire someone to finish."

Kaminari is taken aback by the information.

I can make money.

"Are you for real? That would be so cool, sir. And- okay, for the cleaning, what would I clean? I'll do as much to make more money if I can. It would really help me out," Kaminari says, bringing his hands together.

The offer only fills Kaminari with hope, and the scene from before kind of moves to the back of his mind, trying to forget about it quickly.

The look breaks Aizawa's heart because he can still see the tears on his student's face.

"Just the dorms and the classroom would need cleaning. The classroom would be weekly and the dorms would be every so often. Since the students usually take care of the dorms, all you'd need to do is cut the grass. It is a large chunk of land, and you'd also need to pick up the trash," he explains.

Kaminari nods, listening.

"Okay, but since it's summer, everyone is going home, except maybe two other students, so the dorms will get dusty, so you can get paid extra during the summers and breaks. Are you okay with that?"

Kaminari nods eagerly. "Yes, sir. That would be great. Thank you so much," he says, bowing to really show his thanks.

"And I'm really sorry about right now. I just got emotional. Are you coming in? There's dessert and the class would love to see you," he tells his teacher.

Aizawa shakes his head at the apology and thinks over his offer. He could stay for a bit. He was planning to earlier, so it would be fine. He doesn't really have anything else to do.

"I'll join you inside for a bit," he nods.

Kaminari smiles widely and turns around towards the doors, wiping his face quickly.

"Oh, one more thing," the older one says, making Kaminari stop with his hand still on the door handle.

"Shinso mentioned some stray cats and how you love them. If you promise to take care of one and clean up after it, you can keep one here at the dorms," he says, remembering the conversation he'd had with the purple-haired student recently.

Kaminari turns around, eyes wide and in shock.

"My day is such a rollercoaster. Thank you so much, Mr. Aizawa."

Kaminari needed as many wins as he could get after he found him like that. He doesn't know what Kaminari's mom said to him, but it really broke him.

He'll just keep trying to give the blond more wins. He deserves as many as he can get.

Dammit, he's going soft on these kids.

Maybe it's not so bad.

"Let's go inside now, kid."

"Thank you again, Mr. Aizawa. Really."

***
Word Count: 3,639
Y'all I start school again tmrw cause I finally tested negative. Lol after a month of testing positive I finally tested negative 😈😈😈 HAHHAHS i only wanted to test negative to be able to pet cats again and go out with my friend, but I just wanted to miss school. Ugh lol. Anyway I made this chapter longer😈😈 ik one of you said that the length of the chapter was good, but I wanted to increase it AT LEAST A LITTLE BIT. the next chapter is around the same length and I will continue making them this long if I can 😌 I hope y'all liked this chapter and I'll post the next one next Sunday at 8pm central time. I love you all and tysm for reading<3