Chapter Text
As soon as Denki is about to answer Mina’s call, his phone stops ringing.
"Oh, shit," he mutters around the charging cable in his mouth. He teeters on his feet, waiting to see if Mina will call again.
Should he just call her back? Text her? Oh, this is so stupid. The two of them are best friends, and Denki is completely overthinking this. They just need to talk!
Having made up his mind, Denki dials Mina back. At the same time, he pushes open his door and heads out of his room, intending to tell Mina that he's on his way up to see her as soon as she answers the phone.
The elevator looks like it's in use, so he skips over it and enters the stairwell. He makes it halfway up the steps when he pauses, confused. His phone is still ringing, waiting for Mina to answer, but he can hear another familiar ringtone coming from below him.
He hurries back down the stairs and peers around the corner into the hall. "Mina?"
She jolts and looks up from her phone at him, having just stepped off the elevator on his floor. Like Denki, she's wearing pajamas and has her bangs messily clipped out of her face, and Denki realizes the clips in his own hair are ones he borrowed from her.
The elevator doors slowly close behind Mina. They blink at each other, then both start talking at the same time.
"I'm sorry I missed your call," Denki says, still talking around the end of the cable. "I went to answer but then it stopped ringing—"
"I was just coming down to see you," Mina says. "I didn't know if you were still awake, but—"
"—so, I thought I'd just go up and see you—"
"—you said you wanted to talk—"
They both cut off at the same time, too. Mina's phone is still ringing. Denki ends the call, then pulls his charging cable out of his mouth and wraps it around his phone.
"I'm still mad at you," Mina says, but there isn't much heat in her voice. She shoves her phone into her pocket.
"I'm still mad at you, too," Denki counters automatically. He cringes at himself and adds, "But I don't want to be."
"Me neither," Mina says. She glances away.
Denki sighs and plops down onto the steps. Mina sits beside him, still not looking at him.
Even though he's had plenty of practice with difficult conversations recently, Denki still has no idea how to start. He fiddles with the end of the cable.
Mina breaks the silent stalemate first and quietly asks, "Denki, you don't really think I'm a gossip, do you?"
He doesn't say anything, unsure how to answer that.
"Because I'm really not. I know you think I got you in trouble with Shiozaki, but she was the one coming to me to talk about you. If I'd known it wasn't her you were with in the shower, or whatever, I never would have said anything to her. Honestly."
"I know you weren't trying to get me in trouble," Denki says. "I shouldn't have blamed you for Shiozaki getting mad at me, but Mina… I kept telling you that I didn't like her, but you wouldn't leave it alone."
"Shiozaki kept asking me for advice about you,” Mina says, shrugging. “She can be annoying, but she's still sorta my friend, so I was just trying to help her out."
"But you and I are best friends, not 'sorta' friends. I figured that would take priority."
"Yeah, but I really did think you were into her and you only said you weren't because you were embarrassed, or something."
"I wasn't into her. I only hooked up with her again that one time because I was drunk and needed a distraction." He makes a face, realizing how that sounds. "Please don't tell her I said that."
Mina smiles ruefully. "Ha, don't worry. Now that she doesn't have a crush on you, we don't have much to talk about. I won't say anything." She purses her lips and adds, "But I still think you weren't very fair to her. You kept flirting with her all the time, so no wonder we were all confused."
"You're right, I was a dick to her. I don't really have a good excuse for leading her on."
"You were kind of a dick to us, too," Mina mumbles. "You stopped hanging out with us and kept ditching us at lunch."
"I was mostly just trying to ditch Shiozaki. Again, not a good excuse, but it's what I've got." He sighs. "Actually, it's not just that. It really isn't about Shiozaki at all, I would've been fine sitting with her as a friend. It's about how you guys have been treating me lately. You kept teasing me about Shiozaki, and about dating in general, and it was starting to really bother me."
Mina looks down. "I'm sorry. I don't mean to tease you so much. You're the only one of us who ever has a relationship, so I guess it's just easy to fall into that."
"I'm not the only one," Denki counters.
"You kind of are. Sero has never had a girlfriend, and the last time I went out with someone was when you set me up with Sato for that double date with you and Yaoyorozu. And who even knows who Kirishima likes, he's so oblivious about these things." She leans her cheek into her hand and sighs. "But you always have someone new."
"So, you make fun of me because you think I get around too much?"
"No! That's not what I said, I don't think that. It's just that…" Mina huffs, seeming to be searching for the right words. "People like you, Denki. You're so confident when it comes to dating. You don't get nervous asking people out, and you have a lot of experience, so I just assumed you weren't bothered by us teasing you about it."
"I'm not that confident. I'm actually sort of a mess when it comes to relationships."
"You must be good at hiding it, then," Mina says with a half-smile.
Denki's stomach twists. He doesn't want to be good at hiding, but lately it's all he seems to do. He gives her a tight-lipped smile in return. "I guess. All I'm really trying to say is that sometimes the way you tease me really hurts, even if you don't mean it to."
When she replies, Mina's voice is very small. "I'm sorry. I really am. But you've said some things that really hurt me, too."
He thinks about the last time they talked, and how he'd yelled at her and accused her of being overly nosy. "I know. I'm really sorry, too." He scoots in closer to her and hesitantly adds, "I think we both could try to be better friends to each other."
"Yeah." She gives a faint, humorless laugh. "I've said some really bitchy things to you lately, haven't I? I'm sorry. Ugh, I'm so sorry!" She suddenly throws her arms around him, causing him to startle and stiffen. "I hated not talking to you for so long. It was stupid, and I missed you, but it looked like you had moved on and maybe Shinsou was your new best friend or you were gonna start dating Jirou again, and I was so mean to you but I didn't know how to apologize and I'm sorry!"
As she talks, Denki relaxes and hugs her back. He's surprised to hear her apologize so profusely, since usually they're both a lot more stubborn with each other than this. "I'll forgive you if you'll forgive me." He pulls away and adds, "And don't worry—Shinsou is number two, you're still my number one."
She laughs. "I won't tell Sero or Kirishima you said that, they probably think they're two and three respectively."
"What if I say you're all my best friends?"
"Ugh, no way!" She scrunches her nose in displeasure. "You can only have one, and people who say otherwise are trying too hard to be diplomatic. Besides, you're my best friend and it's sad if it isn't reciprocal."
"Maybe I like being diplomatic. It's a good quality for a hero, right?"
She yanks him back into another crushing hug, pinning his arms to his sides. "Say we're best friends or I'm never letting go."
"Okay, okay, we're best friends!" Denki tries to squirm free, laughing. "I'm pretty sure I said that earlier!"
"Good." She releases him, looking genuinely relieved. "Okay, but question. Where does your mystery girl rank in all this?"
"Mystery girl?" Denki tips his head. "Who?"
"The shower girl? Not-Shiozaki?"
Denki groans and covers his face. "Oh my god, what did I just say about not wanting to be teased about this stuff?"
"I'm not trying to tease, promise! I'm just curious who it is."
"Why don't you tell me who you have a crush on and we can talk about them, instead?"
"No way, it's never gonna happen with him so there's no point."
Denki sits up straight, dropping his hands. "Hold on, so there is someone you like!"
Mina stammers and tries to backtrack immediately. "No, there isn't! That’s not what I said!”
Delighted at the chance to turn this back on Mina, Denki says, "You're blushing, there totally is! Who is it? Sato? Wait, no. You would've asked him out again if you liked him. Is it… Iida?"
"Stop guessing, I'm not going to tell you!"
"Shoji, maybe? Bakugou?"
She makes a face. "Does Bakugou seem like my type? Besides, I'm pretty sure he's gay anyway."
Denki stops short. "Wait, what? Is that an assumption you're making to be mean, or are you serious?"
"It's an assumption based on something Todoroki said, but Todoroki doesn't know how to make jokes, so." She waves a dismissive hand, as if this information is no big deal.
Denki sputters, unsure how to react to her nonchalance. Finally, he gets out, "And you'd be okay with that? If Bakugou really was gay?"
"Why wouldn't I be? Like I said, he's totally not my type."
Denki's mind is reeling, trying to process what her reaction means. Does she really not care? Is she only saying that because she wouldn't like Bakugou either way, so it doesn't matter because it doesn't affect her? His insides feel like a tangle of knots. She's made some pretty insensitive jokes about Denki being gay in the past, like at Jirou's party so many weeks ago. Did she only joke about it because she assumed Denki was so confident in his straight sexuality that it wouldn't bother him?
"So, um," Denki says, floundering to get more information from her. "What about Kirishima and Sero? Do they think Bakugou is gay?"
"I dunno. I only heard about this from Todoroki, like, last week."
"And you didn't mention it to them?"
"No." Mina sighs. "After everything we were fighting about, I figured I shouldn't because I didn't want to say the wrong thing to the wrong person and get anyone in trouble, like I did with Shiozaki. I probably shouldn't have said anything to you, but it just slipped out."
"But if Sero and Kirishima did know, do you think they'd be fine with it?"
Mina gives him an odd look. "I guess. Are you not fine with it, or something?"
"No! I mean yes, I'm fine with it. It's just—I mean, you've said some things before that made me think you guys wouldn't be cool with it, and I wanna make sure he'd be supported. Not that Bakugou is the type who needs anyone's approval. I'm sure he doesn't care either way." Denki should really stop rambling, because it's probably giving himself away. "But enough about Bakugou, you still haven't told me who you like!"
That effectively distracts Mina from his awkward stammering. "Ugh, you'll think I'm weird, I can't tell you."
"I won't think you're weird, no matter who it is. Unless it's Mineta."
Mina makes a retching sound. "I said weird, not disgusting!"
"Oh my god… It's not me, is it?" Denki says, gasping in mock horror.
She snorts. "In your dreams."
"Then it can't be any weirder than that would be. Tell me?"
She considers, chewing the inside of her cheek. "Do you promise not to say a word about it to him?"
"I swear on my, uh… On my provisional license! If I break my word, I'll give up hero work and become a model."
"You would make a very nice model," Mina says, nodding sagely. "You have the hair for it. But you'd have to work on your walk."
"I'll do catalogs. Now spill!"
She groans and slumps forward, covering her head with her arms.
Denki leans down, too. "Hey. I promise I won't tell him or tease you about it. Really."
She briefly peeks through her arms at him, pouting, then covers her face again. "Fine. It's Kirishima."
Denki's mouth drops open, but he quickly closes it.
"It's okay," Mina adds, when Denki doesn't say anything. "You can laugh."
"Why would I laugh? I guess I'm a bit surprised, but that's only because last year you told me you didn't like him like that."
"Last year I didn't," Mina mumbles.
“How long have you liked him?”
“A few months.”
“Really? So why haven’t you asked him out?”
She glares at him from under her arm. “Ha ha, very funny.”
“I’m serious!" Denki says. "He would absolutely go on a date with you if you asked.”
“Only because he’s nice.”
“Yeah, nice to you. He isn’t like that with everyone. You should hear him when you’re not around, he’s always defending your honor and stuff. Seriously, you should ask him out!"
"What if he says no, and I make things weird between us and we can never be friends again?"
"Jirou dumped me twice and we're friends again. Besides, your friendship with Kirishima is way stronger than that. You've known each other forever."
“I don’t know… He’s never seemed interested in dating or anything like that." She sits upright again and huffs, clearly vexed. "He's so hard to read!”
“Maybe he just hasn't been asked out by the right person yet," Denki offers. "He's not the type to go out with just anyone. It would have to be someone he cares about, and he clearly cares about you, so…”
"Ugh, see, this is what I mean about you being so confident with dating! You're all, 'just ask him out,' and expect that it'll go well! I don't have that sort of optimism."
"Mina. Ask him out before I do it for you."
Mina pokes him in the chest. "Hey, you swore on your license, remember?"
He raises his hands. "Alright, I won't tell him!"
She laughs and rolls her eyes affectionately. "So, I had to tell you who I like, but your mystery shower girl remains a secret, huh?"
Denki opens his mouth to deny her assumptions again, then hesitates. He could just tell her the truth, right? She doesn't seem to have a problem with potentially-gay Bakugou, so maybe she wouldn't have a problem with Denki being bi.
A wave of nausea rolls over him. Fuck, he hates that his reaction to the thought of coming out is still such anxiety. He can't get himself to say the words, but he wants her to understand.
"Mina, I couldn't have hooked up with a girl in the showers," he says, choosing his words carefully. "Someone would have caught her sneaking in. There was never any mystery girl."
Denki really hopes Mina will jump to the right conclusion on her own. He almost wants her to teasingly ask if it was a 'mystery guy' instead, so Denki can answer 'yes' without offering up the truth himself, but she just gives him a blank look, clearly confused by his earnest tone.
"Yeah, I guess you couldn't have gotten away with something like that," she says warily.
"Exactly, I couldn't have had a girl in there." Denki swallows hard. He feels like such a fucking coward, but this is the only way he can try to tell her. "But Sero did catch me with someone in the shower."
For a moment Mina just stares, but then her eyebrows raise as the realization clicks into place. "Oh."
"Yeah."
Her eyes grow even wider. "Oh. My. God. Wait, what? Do you mean you were hooking up with a guy?"
Denki's heart is pounding so hard he can feel it in his throat. He might throw up later. Somehow, he manages to nod and say, "Yeah. That's what I mean."
"Oh my god!" To Denki's absolute relief, Mina does not look disgusted or scandalized. In fact, her initial shock is already gone and she's moved on to shameless curiosity. "With who?"
"You cannot tell this to anyone. I mean it."
"No!" She emphatically shakes her head. "I would never! I just—I never would have thought that you're—you know. I mean, you've dated so many girls—"
"I still like girls," Denki says quickly. "I just also like guys."
"And you actually hooked up with a guy? Really?" She leans in conspiratorially, drumming her fingers on her legs in excitement.
"Just one, yeah. We're, uh, kind of a thing."
A second look of sudden realization crosses Mina's face. She gasps and covers her mouth with her hand. "Is it Shinsou?"
The way he flushes must be answer enough, because Mina giggles with excitement. "No way, he is so hot! Is he a good kisser? He seems like he'd be a good kisser. Oh my god, I take back everything I said about being hurt that you were ditching us to hang out with him. When did this even start? How long have you two been hooking up?"
Denki laughs, too, feeling a little light-headed. "A while." He's surprised by how easily she digested his confession. The fact that she's so eager to hear all the dirty details is oddly reassuring, and for some reason he finds himself tearing up. He attempts to discreetly wipe his eyes under the guise of fixing a loose strand of hair. "I really didn't think you were going to react this way."
"I mean, I'm totally surprised, but it all makes sense now! Geez, I actually feel like an idiot for not putting it together sooner, but you were dating Jirou for so long, and you've always been a total flirt with girls so I just never would have guessed."
"Ha, I'm glad you didn't put it together sooner, I've been kind of a mess about it," Denki says. Goddamn his frayed emotions, he really can't get a handle on his tears. "I've been so worried about what you guys would think."
"What, were you afraid we wouldn’t be supportive, or something?” she teases lightly.
“Yeah, I really was." It’s both thrilling and terrifying to admit that out loud to her.
"Oh." Her expression softens. "I'm so sorry if I made you feel like I wouldn't be. Oh god, this must have been so awful for you." She yanks him in for another surprise hug, which certainly doesn't help in his efforts to quell his brimming tears. "Do Kirishima and Sero know?"
"No, I haven't told them yet. But I will." It'll be a lot less intimidating telling them now that Mina knows. He takes deep, slow breaths, trying to pull himself together while Mina squeezes him tight. When he finally feels like he's not going to cry, he pulls back. "You're actually the first person I've told. Besides Shinsou."
"Really?" She looks both surprised and honored, and her eyes shine like she might cry, too. Denki knows if she starts up, he'll never pull himself together.
"I mean, it's not like I really told you. You guessed right," he says, trying to lighten the mood again.
She giggles and elbows his side. "You wanted me to guess! Oh my god, you were so serious, you were giving me this look, and I was like, uhhh, what are you not telling me?"
"Yeah, I had to give you a look, because you weren't getting it!"
"Sorry, I'm not fluent in 'intense eyebrow furrowing!'"
He scrunches his face. "I don't furrow."
"I think you've got permanent wrinkles."
"Then we match!" He tries to poke between her eyes, but she swats his hand away and dodges him. Once they've both stopped laughing, Denki says, "I'm really glad you know now."
"I'm glad you told me." She smiles warmly, then brightens as if she's had a brilliant idea. "We should have ice cream!"
"What?” He checks the time on his phone. “Now? It's so late!"
"So? This feels like an occasion for ice cream."
"You know what, I can't argue with that." He stands from his spot on the stairs and offers his hand to pull her up. As they descend the staircase toward the kitchen together, Denki adds, "I think I still have a tub of strawberry ice cream from when Yaoyorozu told me, 'thank you, but never again,' after we slept together."
Mina groans. "She did not say that, you're so dramatic!"
"She might as well have!" Clutching a hand to his chest, Denki sighs. "I was a broken man."
"Hey, didn't I buy that strawberry ice cream for you?"
Denki grins and throws an arm around her shoulder. "I've got a great best friend, don't I?"
She puts her arm around his waist. "Hmm, I'm pretty sure mine is better."