Storms
BakuKami week day one (Part three): Not enough/Better off Summary: All quirks have a cost. A price or a drawback, something which makes the user suffer. It’s the natural order of things. Read on Ao3
Kaminari was known for being rather loud, boisterous and cheerful. A ball of happy energy and sunshine. It was something Bakugo loved about him, one of the many. Kaminari balanced him out, always had a quick quip in response to his insults, something he regretfully appreciated. His cockiness tended to get him in trouble, and people like Kaminari helped rein him in. It was a comfort to know he had his back, in a fight or life. He'd even heard how, back at the training camp, he and Kirishima had been willing to fight the villain all on their own, and Vlad King if necessary.
But the clouds were rolling in, storming, and blocking out the sunshine.
And with storms came rain and lightning; lightning meant electricity, and electricity always took the path of least resistance to the ground. Often, this meant Kaminari, with the hum and buzz of power under his skin, became its target. He held back so much energy on a daily basis, being careful not to hurt someone.
Everyone knew that Kaminari's quirk was classified as an evil one, easily able to kill if he let loose without being careful.
The storm was getting closer, and Kaminari's control was slipping.
First, he'd zapped several of his classmates on their way into class, then he'd accidentally knocked out Jirou when she hit him with her jacks, their quirks interacting and she received the brunt of the shock. Kaminari wanted to cry, watching her be carried to Recovery Girl by a worried Iida, Yaoyorozu following behind with her hands clutched.
Aizawa had been watching him all day, but considering he had a class to teach, he couldn't actively continuously disable Kaminari's quirk. Elemental quirks were always violent and volatile, able to be affected by the slightest change around the user.
To Kaminari, even though it had been explained to him time and time again that there was a threshold of power a child just couldn't control, all he heard was that his control wasn't enough to keep people safe. He was a liability, and the look on people's faces when he'd taken down Jirou had been enough to say it all.
Almost everyone around him didn't feel safe.
Blissfully, his boyfriend was an exception. Bakugo wasn't a touchy-feely person anyway, so he didn't need to worry about zapping him. When Iida had chastized Kaminari for letting his quirk loose without Aizawa in the room, Bakugo was the one to get up and yell right back at the class representative.
"God, you're supposed to be the goddamn smart guy, Engine legs? Look the fuck outside; it's fucking storming, asswipe!" He'd yelled, hands crackling with explosions. Kaminari's head hurt from focusing; he couldn't think, too preoccupied with what he had allowed to happen to his friend.
"He should be-"
"THERE'S FUCKING LIGHTNING! HIS FUCKING QUIRK IS ELECTRICITY! THINK ABOUT IT FOR TWO SECONDS! Jesus fuck!" Bakugo exclaimed, getting louder and the class fell silent, looking from the window where rain pounded harshly against the glass, lightning striking in the distance, and thunder cracking. Kaminari pressed his forehead against the desk, whining and clutching his head, the sheer willpower he needed to exert to keep himself from overloading enough to take a more significant toll on his body than letting loose over two million volts.
Iida hadn't said anything as he walked by, Yaoyorozu getting up as well so they could take Jirou to the nurse.
Aizawa returned and didn't ask questions, but he told Kaminari to return to the dorms as a safety precaution. Kaminari was happy to follow the order, even forgetting his umbrella as he ran through the halls.
No matter what he did, it wouldn't be enough to keep his electricity under control; he could feel it reaching out and buzzing. He heard the light bulbs shatter as he ran by, tears streaming down his face.
Bakugo stared out the window, only barely paying enough attention to the lesson enough to remember what the hell it was about. He was more worried about what would happen with Kaminari once he got outside since he would get wet and water was a conductor.
The lightning was far away, he should be safe, but a nagging feeling in his gut told him he should keep an eye out.
He was right to do so.
He could see Kaminari quickly walking out of the school building, electricity thrashing about around him and onto the wet walkway. The walkway was covered in water, absorbing the electricity and heating it. Thunder cracked loudly, and suddenly a giant bolt of lightning came from the sky, right in front of the window, light near blinding and the shockwave enough to break the windows, shattering and everyone turned towards it, the students clamoring over to them and Aizawa telling them to be careful, running over himself. Bakugo hadn't even noticed he'd been cut by the glass, leaning over out the window. The wind blew harshly, and Kaminari was screaming, now all the lightning focusing on him. Another came down, striking him directly and sparking, the bushes and trees catching on the sparks which danced around him.
Bakugo called out to his boyfriend as another bolt of lightning came down, crashing, the shockwave enough to force him back. The other students yelled and fell back from it, shutting their eyes against the light. Almost as soon as one bolt dissipated, another crashed down and the shockwave only increased.
"Shit! Stay here!" Aizawa swore, jumping out through the broken windows, his binding cloth catching onto the tree. He needed to time his quirk use just right, or he could kill Kaminari by accident. The teenager screamed, falling to his knees and his quirk lashing out more, fire surrounding the building and lights flickering. Students from all classes had gathered by the windows, watching as this happened to Kaminari.
There was a brief second in between the lightning bolts, and Aizawa had to blink to protect himself from the harsh light. He threw his binding cloth to Kaminari, activating his quirk as soon as the flash stopped, and he yanked Kaminari away from the walkway.
Kaminari passed out with the relief without the electricity, tears streaming down his face, angry Lichtenberg figures marring his entire body.
Aizawa used his binding cloth to get back into the classroom through the window, Kaminari safe in his hold, and the students clamored around.
"He's going to be fine," Aizawa said, though he noticed the lights had shut off. Probably a power surge. The only source of light was Bakugo's sparking hands and Todoroki's fire, also helping to keep Dark Shadow at bay.
"Like fuck he is!" Bakugo yelled, the rest of the class backing him up.
"He just took fifteen lightning bolts directly into his body!" Midoriya said.
"I know that. I'm going to take him to Recovery girl. Bakugo, you're with me, okay? Midoriya, Todoroki, keep everyone here under control."
Both teens nodded, Bakugo lighting the way for them to get to Recovery girl while teachers looked out of their classrooms, asking what had happened. People were panicking, though things were slowly calming down.
"You're Kaminari's boyfriend, right?" Aizawa asked Bakugo while they walked, even though the popping and crackling from Bakugo's explosions were nice background noise.
"Yeah, what about it?" Bakugo scoffed as they turned the corner.
"I'm surprised you're not more worried about him." Aizawa shrugged, his eyes burning; he'd need to blink soon, but he wanted to get Kaminari as close to Recovery Girl as possible. He couldn't run, it would only agitate the soaking wet student's injuries.
"Well. He's always got electricity in him, yeah?" Bakugo said, more of a growl than actual words, "This probably isn't the first fucking time it's happened to him. Yeah, I'm fucking worried, but he's not enough of a damn weakling to go and die."
Aizawa blinked, feeling Kaminari's quirk start up again from the tingling sensation, lights flickering. He opened them again as quickly as he could, Kaminari shutting down again.
"You're not wrong," Aizawa said, smirking slightly. He was proud of his students, especially so for what they could withstand.
"Am I ever fucking wrong?" Bakugo glanced at the face of his boyfriend, seeing what he hated and loved to look at at the same time. His face was covered in freckles, though through his right eye and over his right cheek was the same Lichtenberg figures which he was sure covered the rest of his body as well. Veins heated up, and they might as well be burn scars, but Kaminari's body never seemed to let them scar over. It set apart the difference in their power levels.
Bakugo was powerful, and no one would ever doubt that after the sports festival, but if Kaminari could get more control then he'd be more powerful. Out of the whole class, Kaminari had the most potential and raw energy, and it grated at Bakugo's nerves that he didn't care enough to learn to use it properly. Fuck.
"There are days." Aizawa had to blink again, and they walked the rest of the way to the nurse's office in moderate silence.
Aizawa placed Kaminari onto one of the beds, next to Jirou, Bakugo having to stay to create light so the woman could administer a quirk blocker to his boyfriend, stopping his quirk from working normally for the next twenty-four hours. She also applied burn cream to the figures she could access easily.
The lights came back on, emergency generator finally kicking in, and Aizawa said he was heading back to class, but Bakugo didn't have to if he didn't want to.
Bakugo stayed, sitting next to the bed and listening to the rain. He wanted to be there when Kaminari woke up.
Which he did, an hour after school ended. He'd been carried back to the dorms once the rain had stopped since Recovery girl said she couldn't do much more for him. So there he was, laying in Katsuki's bed, his boyfriend right next to him.
"H-he-hey," Denki said, stuttering on his words through a stressed throat.
"Hey, dunce face." Katsuki smiled, just a tiny bit, and reached up to run his fingers through damp golden strands.
"I... So.. sorry..." Denki strained, and Katsuki glared.
"You've got nothing to be sorry for. Fucking lightning sucks ass."
"j... Just. I. If. I'd b-b-b-beeeeennn." Tears came to his eyes, and Katsuki waited for him to finish. "Bet-bettr. It. Not eno-nough." Denki was having a hard time talking, and Katsuki stopped petting his hair to reach over to the nightstand, getting a glass of water to help him.
He reached his other hand under Denki's head and pulled his head up so he could drink properly, the cool liquid soothing the throat sore from screaming.
"What the fuck wasn't enough, sparky?" Katsuki asked once the cup was empty.
"Con-trol." Denki squeaked out, and Katsuki glared once again.
"Fuck your shitty control, dunce face. You fucking survived a shit ton of lightning straight to your goddamn body, and you managed not to kill anyone with it. How's that for fucking control?" He said, looking down at the other hero in training.
"Y-You'd be. Bet. Better without."
"Better without what? You? Who the fuck are you to decide that for me?"
The tears started to fall from Denki's eyes, stinging against his wounds.
"I. Danger. Dangerous."
"Yeah, you're fucking dangerous, big whoop. Everyone in our goddamn class is dangerous; we're training to be heroes."
"Kach-"
"Don't try to convince me otherwise, it won't work dammit." Katsuki leaned forward and kissed him carefully, Denki unable to really do anything to reciprocate.
"I've gotta check you over for burns, alright? The old hag gave me a bunch of burn cream to put on your damn scars." Katsuki said Denki nodding. He couldn't move much, his body stinging like an open wound. Slowly, Katsuki helped him out of his uniform, revealing the figures running along almost every vein in his body. His back was the worst, however, and had already been gauzed and wrapped by Recovery girl. He couldn't touch it.
"Fuck, that did a number on you," Katsuki said, slowly rubbing the cream into Denki's legs. Denki nodded, whining.
"H... How's. Jirou?"
"The second-rate iPod is fine, she fucking left the nurse's office before the storm stopped."
As soon as he'd been covered in the burn cream, Katsuki helped Denki get dressed again, though just in briefs and a rather large hoodie, which was big enough on his boyfriend it might as well be a dress.
"Hung..." Denki whined, Katsuki huffing.
"I'm not your fucking nursemaid, okay? As soon as you're okay to walk, don't expect this." He grumbled, picking up his boyfriend and bringing him down to the main floor.
The storm hadn't quite passed yet, but it was certainly on its way.
