#though… at one point.. red lighting and lightning on screen…… evil x is that you

[madscience]

saw taemin in london w/ @kil9 wtf

[alpacaparkaseok]

Mine

2. I’m fine, don’t I look fine?

Genre: Yoongi x OC

Warnings: anxiety/panic attack 

Word Count: 2.6k

The world is closing in around me, my lungs straining as they try to work through the heavy gulps of air that I can’t quite seem to get enough of. Any thought of sleep has long checked out of my brain, my body taking over when my brain decidedly burned out. 

My phone sits where I tossed it on my bed, the light from the constant flow of notifications being the only source of illumination in the hotel room as I cling to the curtains hanging from the window. Jaw clenched, hair a mess from all the times I’ve pondered just yanking it out, nostrils flared as I devour any hint of oxygen.

Fumbling hands push against the window until I manage to find the latch, a near-silent whimper escaping me as the cool London air floods the stuffy room. It doesn’t take long until I’m down on the floor, arms and legs pulled into my core head buried along with the rest of my mental capacity. 

I can’t decide which is worse. Closing my eyes and falling into that black abyss, or rocketing back up to the window, drinking in the air even as my eyes take in the city before me, reminding me of just how small and helpless I am.  

Everything, everything I have become and worked for scooped up in the palm of some man I’ve never met. There I am, right there. Falling from his hands like sand and he doesn’t even realize all that he’s holding.

The only hope I have left is that Min Yoongi has decided to create a castle with the remnants of me in his hands, and isn’t planning to wreck my tiny fortress with a well-timed stomp of his foot like some child on a playground. He must know, right? That while this may seem like some sort of trivial recess drama, it could end me? He will survive, because he’s loved the world over.

The world doesn’t know me well enough yet to even ascertain whether or not it loves me, but depending on what this stranger says about me will surely make up the world’s mind.

Like coming out of a deep sleep I begin to hear the constant vibrations of my phone on my bed. Someone is trying to call me. I don’t want to answer.

Moreover, I’m not sure I can answer. 

Eventually the sounds fade out again. Laying there on the ground before the window, I stare up at the ceiling. Naturally my eyes drift to the smoke detector, its small blue light holding me hostage even as I cling to that unspoken beacon of reality. It’s something so starkly normal; so completely common that I find my airways begin to open up bit by bit.

 The world is still spinning. 

I am still breathing.

The sun will rise. 

And Min Yoongi will have hell to pay.

🌙

What started as a gentle tap against my door quickly turns into an attempted breakin from the sounds of it. I jump up, forgetting where I am for a moment before I finally settle back down with a groan. 

I would personally not recommend the Waldorf to anyone purely based on the quality of their floors on my back.  

“Who is it?” I manage to croak out. The state of my throat serves as a reminder of my panic attack the night before. I wince, flipping around onto my stomach so I can stretch. 

“It’s Sebastian you ungrateful little weirdo, now open up this door before I-”

 I yank the door open, coming face to face with a red in the face Sebastian Stan. If I wasn’t currently fearing for my life I would have chuckled at the picture before me: Sebastian raging while doing his best to not crush the muffin he extends to me. He isn’t completely successful; there are imprints of his fingers on the base of my muffin, but I don’t mention it. 

“Did you just call me an ‘ungrateful little weirdo’? T-that’s not very nice.” I curse myself for my stutter, but I can’t help it as the weight that dragged me down last night comes crashing into me all over again. 

Sebastian closes the door behind him, looking around my hotel room like a bloodhound on a hunt. He lets out a triumphant shout when he comes across what he was looking for.

“This is quite the contraption. It allows people to communicate with you. All you have to do is press accept and then they can talk to you at all hours of the day and night.” Snatching my phone up from where I left it abandoned on the bed he hoists it up in the air. “Did you seriously ignore my calls all night? And everyone else’s?” 

He takes a look at my lock screen, eyebrows furrowing when he sees that I haven’t even opened my phone since the night before. Slowly, he takes in the bed which is only a little wrinkled from where I laid on it. I hadn’t even had time to get beneath the covers before I shot out of my bed like a bolt of lightning. I can see the gears shifting in Sebastian’s head. It’s clear that I didn’t sleep in my bed last night. But if I didn’t sleep there then... 

“Did you go somewhere last night?” His voice is quiet now, although I find that I prefer the yelling than I do the quiet. 

“No.”

“No? Then why is your bed still made?” He looks at me, but I make myself busy by shoving the muffin into my mouth. I know my face probably is red and blotchy from the stress tears I shed the night before. Setting the muffin down on the table, I make my way to the bathroom. Maybe if I can wash my face, he won’t notice. 

Sebastian follows me wordlessly. Quickly I reach for some facial scrub, turning the faucet on. 

Sebastian turns it off. I glare, but remain with my eyes downward. I turn it back on. 

He turns it off. 

“This is fun,” I growl out, going to turn the faucet back on but finding his hand planted firmly atop it. “But I don’t quite get the point of this game.” 

“Look at me.”

Sometimes, I really hate the fact that Sebastian has gotten to know me so well. I blame the crew of “Young Rising”, they were the ones who decided to cart us off to the middle of nowhere with no one to talk to except for each other and a few other actors or crew members that popped in and out.

 Sebastian’s tone has lost its edge when he speaks again, and I can tell that he’s starting to regret his temper tantrum from earlier. “Cara, look at me.”

Too exhausted to play this little game any further, I raise my head. I stare at my reflection in the mirror, eyes still red and puffy, dried tear-tracks sticking to my cheeks. I look like a complete mess. 

When I deem enough time has passed I reach for the faucet and throw it on, ripping open my facial bar. Sebastian stands there silent, connecting the dots. 

“Happy?” I bite out, eyes shut tight against the suds. My friend doesn’t say anything. When I finally finish up, he hands me a towel. 

Peaking my eyes open I find my friend leaning up against the counter with a faraway look in his eyes. When he notices my stare he comes back to life, silently opening his arms. I finish drying my face before tossing the towel aside and inching forward until Sebastian pulls me into his embrace. 

There’s a part of me that thinks that now would probably be a good time to cry again, but I can’t find the tears. Instead I just rest my head against his chest, feeling like a crumbling husk. 

“I didn’t realize, Car. That was uncalled for, my anger. I shouldn’t have called you, I- I should have just come over here-”

I shush him before he can get too far in his head. “Don’t worry about it,” I mumble against his chest.

“But, wait.” He moves so he can see my face. “Where did you sleep?”

I bite my lip, ignoring the way his eyes drift down to watch the action with more focus than required. “I’ll tell you one thing: these floors suck.”

Sebastian’s rolling laugh manages to bring a small smile to my face, although it serves as the final nail in my coffin when it suddenly stops, something dawning on his face.

“Oh yeah, Rhea wants to meet with us. Hurry and get ready.” I nod, already sure that our director will no doubt want to discuss the current situation. It doesn’t take long for me to throw some decent clothes on, Sebastian waiting outside my room. 

“Ready?” He asks, significantly more chipper than just a few minutes ago. 

“Yeah, ready.” Sebastian looks me over, smirking. “What?”

“You don’t have your phone, do you?” 

I groan, heading back inside as Sebastian chuckles. “Do I really need it?” I already know the answer, though. Wincing as I assess the damage, that being twenty-six missed calls from several different people and double the amount of texts, I head back out. 

“Ok, now let’s go.”

🌙

The small conference room on the second floor of the Waldorf is already filled to the brim with noise by the time I enter, Sebastian close behind me. All it takes is one look at me and the worried expression I masked a heartbeat too late for it to die down. 

“How are you doing, sweetie?” Rhea, the director and evil genius behind “Young Rising” comes up to me and gives me a warm smile. I nod, trying my best to return the smile but failing greatly in the “warmth” division.

Sebastian pulls out a seat, plopping down beside me once I’ve taken my seat. The room is still too quiet, a stark construct in comparison with previous meetings where the volume level was at a near constant high. 

“Alright everyone, let’s get started!” Rhea takes the lead, looking down at one of her many binders. “We’ve successfully finished shooting ‘Young Rising’, and now we are on to the next stage. Promotions.”

A groan goes around the table, the veterans in show business knowing full well what a nightmare that can be. I remain silent, just waiting for the other shoe to drop. Everyone here clearly knows what’s going on, right?

“Sebastian and Cara did a great job on the ‘Graham Norton Show’ last night, let’s give them a hand.” A scattered round of applause echoes around the room, pink blooming on my cheeks. “Last we checked, which was about fifteen minutes ago, one of your clips from the show on Youtube has already reached four million views. People are curious to know who you guys are.”

I look up at Rhea to see her already smiling at me. We both know why people are curious. 

“Which clip was it?” Sebastian asks. I refrain from punching him. Rhea sighs, looking down at her notes. 

“It was the clip where Cara was informed of her new fan.” People chuckle in the room even as I sink further down into my seat. “That’s mainly what I wanted to talk about in this meeting today. Stephen is going to talk to us a bit more about how we should handle promotions moving forward with this newfound knowledge and the possible advantages and disadvantages we’ll be facing.” 

Stephen stands up, fixing his glasses. “Right, so just like Rhea said, I think that we really need to focus on the advantages we’ve just been given. So first, shoutout to Cara for being so likeable.” If I wasn’t trying to disappear before, I definitely am now. Sebastian notices and flicks my elbow. I glare at him, sitting up again. “Now more people that originally wouldn’t have given ‘Young Rising’ the time of day are becoming interested in the film. What their intentions are is uncertain, but we do know that we can use this attention to explain from a higher platform why we think this film is worth seeing.”

Stephen chatters on, going on and on about different techniques we can use to steer interview questions away from our love lives and tie our answers into the film. At some point he passes out an outline, which I’m grateful for. There’s no way I’m going to remember this when it’s finished.

 “Now, we should address possible pitfalls as well as instructions for how we should carry ourselves during these promotions. Obviously, this is especially applicable for Cara and Sebastian.” Reaching below the table, Stephen comes up with a handful of envelopes of different shapes and sizes. “Just over the course of the past night, the hotel has delivered over twenty letters to us. They are almost all addressed to Cara. We haven’t read them, but I have a sneaking suspicion that they have something to do with Min Yoongi.” I can’t help but agree when I see one decked out with BTS themed stickers. 

“So what are we going to do about all of this?” Sebastian asks. 

“Well, there’s not a whole lot we can do except handle it with grace. People are unsure of whether or not they’re Cara’s fans now. That’s difficult to hear, but it’s true. They’re waiting to see how she reacts. While that’s entirely up to your discretion, I would advise you to talk with either me or your personal PR rep before showing your face on social media or in public. You need to be prepared for whatever comes your way. However, from a promotional standpoint, I’d say we should run with this. Use the people’s curiosity to drive them to the movie theater.”

I find myself nodding numbly along with the other people, mind finally quiet. It makes sense, and if we’re being honest, this really is a great opportunity. Yet, I can’t help but feel like nobody else sees this as I do. 

Like I’m looking at a door that either opens to another world or that just clanged shut and I’m on the wrong side, forever trapped. 

“I’m assuming you’ve heard the latest news, Cara?” Stephen shakes me from my thoughts, and I nod. Of course I have. It’s been all I can think about since that first notification popped up on my phone last night. 

“Yeah, are we actually going to do that?” Sebastian asks, a hint of disbelief in his voice.

“I see no reason not to. I think it would be worse to turn down the invitation. And Cara speaks the language, which is an added bonus. We just wanted to clear it with you two first, but we’ve already spoken with a few people from Seoul. They’re more than happy to accomodate us, if we do decide to extend our promotional route. What do you two think?”

If I close my eyes the tweet from last night is still there, glaring up at me. 

“‘Young Rising’ cast invited to film festival in Seoul - and BTS’ Suga already RSVPd”

You could hear a pin drop, it’s so quiet. Without opening my eyes I can already tell everyone is looking at me; awaiting my decision. I want to scream at them, tell them that I don’t know. I just wanted to act, I just wanted to be successful. And now that desire has twisted into some sick reality as I face the possibility that I will have to act through every social interaction for the foreseeable future. 

Taking a shaky breath I gather my thoughts, reminding myself that if all else fails I can just give Min Yoongi a piece of my mind and then move to the mountains for the rest of my life, far enough that nobody can ever find me. 

“I think we should go.”

Previous - Next

taglist is open! Lemme know! Also, these first few chapters are meant to set up who Cara is and what this entire crazy situation is. (I know that seems obvious but just if you’re wondering where the heck Yoongs is, I promise he’s coming.)

taglist: @taylorroe3​ @eusticenatalie​ @agustneeds​

[huffle-dork]

Written in the Cards (Part 7.5)

“What?” Marvin cries in disbelief, staring wide-eyed at Skylar, “A-are you sure?” The girl nods again and finally looks Marvin in the eye. She points to her own eyes and mumbles quietly, “He had evil eyes.” Marvin shuddered as he figured out what that meant.

Marvin gathers the kids and their stuff up in his arms and grabs the ominous card as he prepares a teleportation spell. He can't use it often as it drains a lot of his magic but he figures he’ll only need to use it one more time to figure out what he needs to.

He gets an earful from Stacy as he drops off the kids but he quietly scolds her, telling her this isn't the time. Chase was in danger. That shut her up. He promises her and the kids that he’s going to save him before he disappears in a poor of green and blue smoke.

When Marvin next opens his eyes he’s in Jackie’s apartment. He was only here a few weeks ago but it feels like forever. HIs apartment though is just the same as when Marvin last left it. No struggle, no broken furniture and knick knacks. Marvin balks at the change of pattern. He walks around the apartment to look for a clue and finds one way too easily. One of Jackie’s masks lays on the table and as soon as Marvin touches it it transforms to one last card, the king of diamonds.

Marvin struggles to think of the symbolism for this one. It’s a perfectly normal card. He walks over to the couch and sets the card on the coffee table before adding the others to the pile. He spreads them out and struggles to think about what they could mean.

As soon as all four are displayed and touching, a red light engulfs them and a new shape forms. A fresh card appears in front of the pile, an ace of diamonds. Marvin’s personal favorite card to use in tricks. A shiver goes down his back as he picks it up. A small streak of lightning streaks from the card and hits the tv in front of Marvin, making it flicker to life. Through the static a scene like one from a security camera plays. But it’s red tinted and curved at the corners. It’s like looking through Phantom’s scepter.

The scene shows a dark alley and the camera shifts to show a shot of Phantom and a small army of what looks like escaped prisoners, their eyes glinting red. Marvin’s heart stops.

There’s a shout and the camera shifts again to show a red hooded figure landing heroically in front of the group. He straightens and stands tall but his eyes betray fear.

“Phantom,” Jackie spits, “how… how the hell did you escape prison?”

The con man chuckles off screen but it still sends shivers down Marvin’s spine.

“Well hello to you Jackieboy man! Have you met my friends?” He teases. Jackie’s eyes narrow and he growls.

“Did you seriously enslave an entire prison? You are such a sick freak!” Jackie gets into a fighting stance his eyes glowing green, “Release these prisoners now Phantom! So I don’t haveta kill ya!”

Phantom tuts, tapping against his cane and the camera shakes. “I thought heroes don’t kill though. Do you really want my blood on your hands? I’m just doing what I was made to do, just like you.”

“Don’t compare me to you! We’re nothing alike!” Jackie snarls, eyes glowing brighter. Phantom laughs in return.

“Oh of course you and me are as different as can be. But we are bound to what we’re created to do. You were made to be a hero, and I was made to make people's dreams come true. So that’s what we do.”

“You trick people into giving you their talents and their souls,” the hero spits, “that’s not making dreams come true, you bastard. You ruined my best friend’s life!”

Phantom sighs, “you don’t know how I make all my deals, kid. Marvin was a runaway debtor that had to be dealt with and get his due. He’s paid it now so I’ll leave him alone.” Jackie gives him a skeptic look but it seems to be considering his words. Marvin’s heart is hammering in his ears.

“I still don’t trust you,” Jackie mutters after a few tense seconds. Phantom laughs, “you don’t have to trust me kid. But you don’t want to fight me.”

Jackie seems to agree to that but tries not to let his face show it. But Phantom can see right through him.

“Listen kid, i understand why you do what you do. You wanna protect people, that’s admirable! But what i’m doing doesnt need to involve you or anyone you’re protecting. But i’ll compromise with ya. If you leave me to my business, i swear i won’t touch your precious friends. And you can keep on being the hero you always were. No one has to know you let one shadow get away. Cuz you really don't want to fight me kid, you’re gonna lose.” Phantom’s hand enters the frame of the camera, “So whatdya say kid? Got a deal?”

Jackie bites his cheek and looks conflicted but eventually his shoulders fall and he sighs and strides over to Phantom. He extends a hand and meets Phantom’s and Marvin screams at the tv as Jackie mouths, “Deal.”

The screen turns to static and Marvin pounds against the tv. He feels tears of despair well up in his eyes. Phantom was taking everything from him. He leans his head against the screen, falling slowly to his knees.

His ears perk up as he hears the static clear and a new video plays. The time stamp says it happened earlier tonight.

The scene is close to the glowing neon sign of a bar and Jackie drops down into the frame again, looking as equally as surprised as last time but his stance betrays his exhaustion and you can see how tired his eyes look even from this distance.

“Phantom,” he stammers, “what the hell? How did you escape?!”

“Ah Jackie!” Phantom greets and Marvin can just hear the smugness in his voice. “You’re late, kid.”

“What the hell are you going on about?” Jackie sneers. He starts to look nervous as Phantom cackles madly.

“I always forget how well that little memory trick of mine works! C’mon jackaboy it’s only been a couple days.” Phantom laughs. Jackie takes a step back with a look of horror on his face. His eyes flash red and he stumbles, gripping his head.

“W-what the fuck?!” He whispers, his hands shaking. “What d-did you do to me?!”

Phantom chuckles darkly, “A deal’s a deal Jackie.”

Jackie seems to tense up, all his muscles going stiff as he seems to be pulled towards Phantom. He grits his teeth, trying to fight the movement but it’s clear he can’t. Finally he stops right in front of the camera, where Marvin assumes Phantom is. A hand reaches out and grabs Jackie’s chin and tilts it from side to side.

“How do you still have so much fight left in you?” Phantom muses. Jackie snarls through a pained expression. “This has to be like the fifth time I’ve had to fix that memory problem of yours after we finish our jobs.”

Jackie spits, “W-why are you doing this? You’re already free! Why do you need me?”

Phantom pauses for a second before a flash of red as Jackie crying out and falling to his knees. Phantom moves forward slightly.

“Well for starters, it ain’t bad to have a super strong good-doer around to help me steal shit and beat down whoever’s in my way,” The sneaky conman grins before he pauses.

“I thought I just needed more powerful little puppets to gain greater magic…” He mutters, “But even with an entire army and a deal with you, I still felt I was lacking.” Phantom leans down more and grabs Jackie by his hair and tilts his head as he grins sadistically, “I need that whiny little magician back. He’s stronger than I ever realized. I want my magnificent back.”

He lifts Jackie up to his feet by his hair and the hero cries out as Phantom sings into his ear, “But that little coward won’t come back to me willingly. So you and your little friends are gonna help me.”

Jackie snarls through gritted teeth at the conman, “Your deal said you wouldn’t hurt em!”

Phantom’s laugh causes Marvin to go cold, “I’m not gonna hurt them. You are.”

Phantom snaps his fingers and Jackie seized up with a strangled gasp. His eyes twitched as he tried to fight but it wasn’t long till the color left his eyes and a red glint appeared. Phantom cackled maniacally as he grabbed the scepter and started to walk away.

“Come along hero, we got some more puppets to collect~!”

The video started to shatter back into static as Marvin saw the form of his best friend follow obediently after Phantom. Marvin felt hot tears leaking down his cheeks as he hung his head against the screen. His whole body felt numb. All this was happening because of him.

“You have 24 hours~” A voice sang through the screen and Marvin jumped back, seeing only static. He felt a twinge of magic at his fingers and looked down to see the ace of diamonds card he held now had an address on the back.

The screen fizzled and skipped before a familiar face broke through, grinning wolfishly.

“Here’s what i’m offering, Marvin. Come and surrender yourself to me in 24 hours, and i’ll release your friends to go live their lives. Hell, I’ll even erase their memories so they won’t suffer having lost you. But if you fail to come by then… well they won’t feel anything. But i think you’re intelligent enough to figure out what I’ll do.” The video of Phantom starts to shift back to static so that Marvin can really only make out Phantom’s bright smile and eerie scarlet eyes.

“See you soon, Magnificent.”

Then the TV does dark.

Part 8: [x]

[ship-ambrosia]

Heir of Electricity (Kaminari x Jirou)

So this is a little scene I wrote, and I thought it fit the Day 6 Family Prompt for Kamijirou week pretty well. This is my first time posting original work!!

It stung in her soul the day Kyouka realized she didn't know that much about her boyfriend.

Of course she knew him, with his stupid golden hair and his stupid pretty golden eyes and that black lightning bolt that was in his hair that she loved to run her fingers through. She knew how frustrating his Quirk was - he had shocked her so many times both on purpose and by accident - while also being very strong. He tended to panic when facing villains but if Denki was able to keep a level head, his style of fighting was so unpredictable that he became a deadly combatant. He also had an unbelievably annoying fan base; she was pretty sure the the only reason he was ranked among the Top 10 UA Hero students was because of his flashy Quirk and his good looks which made his fan girls go crazy. His grades had only improved so much since freshman year.

He was also a very considerate person. Sure he said dumb stuff sometimes, but that was just because he liked to talk and often talked before thinking; but when he thought through his words, he could say the most reassuring, the sweetest things. He had a bite to him, a sarcasm, he was among the only people who could sneer at Bakugou and take a beating from him, and she knew that was why he was counted among Bakugou's inner circle, why she'd seen Bakugou go through hell for her boyfriend. Why he had even gotten Todoroki to crack a smile on occasion. And why Bakugou threatened him if they didn't end up working at the same Hero Agency.

But it was over the break before their final semester at UA High, when she realized she didn't know what made him, him. They had been dating for almost a year and a half at that point when he'd finally accepted her invitation to meet her parents. Kaminari had somehow gotten Bakugou to drive him over to her house, so naturally when she came outside to see him Kyouka was greeted by the entire rest of the "Bakusquad" hanging out the windows making kissy noises as Bakugou sped like a demon down her street. Her parents had loved him, but when they asked Kaminari about his family, he'd laughed and somehow steered the conversation away. So well that she didn't realize it until later that she still didn't know about his family.

"So they're getting moved today, huh...?"

She looked up when he spoke, and smiled a little at the cute way his eyebrows furrowed.

"Hey, Jamming-yey," she said, throwing a pencil at him. They were on the couch, her legs up on his lap and had one jack plugged into her phone, working on homework. He was staring intently into his phone, and his words were just mumbles that she had barely heard. The homework would have to take a backseat though, now that she was more focused on thinking of what she didn't know about him.

Kaminari was silent for a second before looking up from his phone at her. "Hm?" His eyes read an emotion she wasn't used to seeing in him. She couldn't quite name it. It immediately made her more interested in what he was reading on his phone; she thought he'd been playing Candy Crush or something dumb, but now she could see he had the news pulled up.

Kyouka leaned forward and wrapped her arms around his neck, snuggling her face against him. "Whatcha reading?" She squinted at the text. "Thunder and Electra? That's the crazy villain duo right?"

"Mm hm..."

"I know they're electric-types just like you, but you aren't thinking about going villain on us, are ya?" She laughed a little.

"There aren't a lot of electric-type Quirks who choose to be Pro Heroes," Kaminari mumbled absently again. "And there's a huge number of them who become villains."

"Yeah, and that's why you're so popular. That's why you've already got a huge fan base and Agencies who want you, Denki," She ran her fingers through his golden blonde hair. "What's gotten into you?"

"That's always been on my mind, you know," he spoke softly. "How people think of electricity as an evil Quirk. Not like Shinsou, but to a certain extent they're used to electric guys being villains. That is part of my drive though, you got that right. I want to be a Hero for all the kids like me growing up seeing their Quirk in a bad light," he looked back down at his phone, at the article on Thunder and Electra. "Who only see these two on the front page; I want them to see me."

The room was silent at his words. She was stunned. Her boyfriend was hardly ever so solemn. Had his childhood been that difficult? She never would have guessed it from his flirty, happy-go-lucky, and sociable exterior. Is that why she didn't know all that much about his past?

"You will be that Hero one day," she purred. "And I intend to be there to see it happen." Kyouka pressed arrogant, light kisses on his neck, not intending to give him hickies but just wanting to shower him with affection. She could feel his desire for it coming off in waves.

"Alongside myself, of course," she added with a cheeky grin.

After a moment, he turned to face her and wrapped his arms around her, dropping his phone into his lap. "I love you..." he whispered suddenly, with absolutely no warning.

She blushed brightly, having not expected that sort of confession right here, right now. It made sense with the situation, but in her head... she was still suspicious he was keeping something from her.

"Denki, what's your family like?" She asked carefully. "You know mine, but I don't know anything about yours."

He went silent again, so much that she thought she hurt his feelings and he wasn't going to reply. This confirmed her recently discovered suspicions; there was something about his past he didn't like.

"I'm an only kid," he mumbled, his fingers tracing absently on her skin. "Raised by my grandmother. I didn't know my parents that well."

Kyouka's eyebrows raised in a bit of surprise. He sounded so bitter, so pained... he was like a completely different person right now. She felt guilty for making him think about his family, the source of his distress. He didn't seem angry with her, just... ashamed?

"Um... I'm sorry..." she mumbled. "I shouldn't have asked about it. But if you ever want to talk about it, you know I'll listen to everything, okay?"

He rose his golden eyes to hers. It almost took her breath away, she'd never seen so much pain and broken emotion in them. What was happening to him?

"No, it's okay," was his answer. "You don't have to apologize. You want to know about me. I appreciate you, Kyouka... probably more than you realize."

She smiled a little at his lightened mood. "Well yeah, you did just sorta confess your love for me."

She watched with amusement as her boyfriend's face immediately turned red with a very intense blush. Deep inside her she realized she loved this face of his even more than the one he made when he used too much wattage and short-circuited.

"That... I... well-" while he was tongue tied, she took the opportunity to grab his face and plant her lips on his. Her shoulders shook with laughter at him.

Just as Kaminari reached up and pushed his fingers into her hair, their kiss was broken by the sound of an alarm echoing through the room. Kyouka looked up and didn't see any of the dorm's alarms going off; plus, the sound was just slightly too quiet. She realized with a jolt the emergency alarm was coming from Kaminari's phone itself.

He stared in shock at the phone for a moment, and she watched as his face turned to terror. Kaminari jumped to his feet. "Give me a second... I gotta call my Baba!" He didn't even give her a second to reply as he bolted outside of the dorm.

Wanting to respect his privacy, and let him wait to tell her what was going on, Kyouka stayed on the couch. She felt significantly colder without her body wrapped around him. She leaned back on the couch and groaned, definitely unable to go back to her homework as she anxiously worried about her boyfriend.

The tv, which Kaminari had turned on but kept silent, caught her attention. The news was on, and flashing 'Breaking Now'. She normally hated the news, but the fact that it was going crazy at the same time Kaminari's phone had suddenly blared an alarm piqued her interest. She grabbed the remote and unmuted it, shocked by the words on the screen.

"The supervillain duo Thunder and Electra, who were set for transfer to Tokyo's newest high-security prison, have escaped. Hero Agencies from all across the country are bringing in Pros to catch them. They are considered heavily armed and extremely dangerous. Their crimes include murder, kidnapping, smuggling, among others. The pair was captured by now-retired hero All Might three years ago. Again, the supervillains Thunder and Electra are on the run... citizens are advised to stay indoors until their area can be cleared. We are putting their pictures on screen now. If you are approached or see either of them, do not provoke. Contact the authorities as soon as safely possible..."

She didn't hear anything else that the news anchor said. Kyouka realized that she had never seen what Thunder and Electra looked like, she only knew about them. But she couldn't deny what the pictures showed her. Blonde hair, golden eyes on both of them, a black streak in Thunder's hair. They both wore their own unique arrogant grins, but both smiles stirred recognition in her gut. Horror washed over her soon after, and Kyouka jumped to her feet. She shoved the dorm's door out of the way to get to her boyfriend, privacy be damned.

He looks so much like them! Denki... it can't be... is this why you hate your past?

"Baba?" A pause, and then a sigh of relief. "Oh thank the gods above you finally answered!"

She ran toward the voice, tears stinging her eyes. She had to know... but most importantly, she had to know he was okay.

"Mm hm, yeah, I'm fine. I'm still on UA's campus, and they'd be dumb to show up here. Do you want me to ask the teachers if they can come get you and bring you here?" Another pause. "Oh, they're already coming? Gods, I thought they were exaggerating when they told me they'd prepared for this when I got accepted here. Good, I'll see you soon."

She stopped a few feet away from Kaminari, watching as he hung up the phone. He was smiling, but it was a melancholic smile.

"Denki!" She croaked, her voice breaking despite her conscious effort to hold herself together. Kyouka broke into tears, something she didn't do a lot. She couldn't help it. If he's been keeping this secret from me and all his friends, all this time, he must be in so much pain.

He jolted at her exclamation, looking up at her where she stood. He looked so concerned for her, who was in tears over his pain, that she couldn't even hold herself back from tackling him and throwing her arms around his neck.

"Thunder and Electra..." Kyouka mumbled into his shoulder, after her initial tears had quieted away.

Realizing what conclusion she had come to, Kaminari went stiff in her arms. "You saw them?" He asked.

She pulled away, her violet eyes looking him over as she twirled her ear jack around her finger nervously. "The news put their pictures up. They're your-"

He looked down, away from her, stuffing his hands into the pockets of his pants. "My parents," his voice cracked too. "Yeah. Only the top Pro Heroes know their real names, that's how I'm able to keep it a secret so well."

"So the alarm that went off on your phone...?"

Kaminari lifted his face a bit when he looked down at his phone, and she could see it was him who was crying now, despite the bittersweet smile on his face. "Yeah, it's cuz of them. It's like a witness protection program, wired to go off in case this sort of thing happened. My Baba and I are the first people they'll try to find if they can evade the Pros. My par- Thunder and Electra," - he spoke their names with so much bitter and malice that Kyouka felt her heart squeeze for him - "are convinced that I'm going to be stronger than both of them. They have completely different quirks, even though they're both electric-types and I got both of their abilities. So they wanted me to join the family business." He clenched his fists in anger. "They told me my Quirk was only suited to defeat Heroes. That the world would only accept me as their son, nothing else. They're the reason that I want to be a Hero."

"Oh my god," she shook her head, stepping back over to him. "Denki, I'm so sorry they made you feel like you would only ever be a villain. If there's one thing that I've learned through everything we've been through, it's that your mindset is the only thing that separates a villain from a hero and even from a sidekick. You're going to be a Pro Hero and prove them wrong, you know?"

Kaminari stared at her for a while, an eerie quiet drifting between them. "You don't hate me? Even though you know who my parents are now?"

"What? No, you idiot!" She stared at him with a dumbfounded expression, before hooking her arms around his neck. "You mean the world to me, Denki. Everything you said to me before; well, ditto right back at you. You give me this electricity that I've never had in my life before. You don't have to be afraid of your past anymore. Knowing who your parents are doesn't change anything about the way I see you. And you're going to be safe, right?"

When he didn't answer, her expression darkened. "They wouldn't be dumb enough to try and break into UA campus, right? Do they know you're training to be a Hero?"