Secrets

Eighteen (Kaminari P.O.V)

Kaminari's fingers hurt from how tight he was gripping the fabric of his shirt. He was on the elevator, having barely made it safely on before Sero and Kirishima came out of the kitchen. At some point he got tired of playing the game and went to go tell the two of him he was going upstairs, but he ended up over hearing the conversation.

It was getting close to the deadline, their plan was supposed to be put into motion in a little more than two weeks, this wasn't how it was supposed to go. Kaminari's eyes moved to the metal door of the elevator, he could see just how red his own face was. "There's no way" he breathed out, gripping the fabric a bit tighter. While he was thankful the two of them didn't really suspect him as the UA Traitor, he just couldn't believe that Kirishima.. "Sero's imaging things, there's no way" he repeated, the doors opening.

Green eyes looked back to him, blinking as the owner of the eyes stepped onto the elevator "Kaminari?" Midoriya questioned, Kaminari quickly shook his head

"Ah! I missed my floor!" he let out, realizing that he hadn't been paying attention. He clicked the button for his floor again as he gave a sheepish grin to Midoriya "I haven't thought this hard in a while" He forced a laugh out.

"What has you so in thought?" Midoriya asked, tilting his head to the side. It looked like Midoriya had just gotten back from some exercise.

"Oh you know, things" Kaminari planned on avoiding the subject as well as he could, but he let out a sigh, deciding the ask Midoriya a question "You're in love with Bakugou.. right?"

Midoriya's eyes widened a bit, his freckles standing out on now red cheeks. "W-What?"

"Oh! Sorry! I probably could have come out with a better way to ask that, huh?" Kaminari shoved his hands into his pockets, looking up to the elevator ceiling.

"S-So even you figured it out..? Ah! Not that I mean anything by that!" Midoriya awakes his hands quickly, looking to the side. "B-But uh.. why do you ask?"

Kaminari's clicked his tongue, closing his eyes after a moment "Well.. I dunno.. I guess I wanted to ask what love feels like" he gave a slight shrug, shaking his head "But.. you don't really have to answer"

"You want to know what love feels like..? But you're always flirting with the girls in our class."

"Flirting isn't really 'love' Midoriya. You can flirt without love. Sometimes that's how people find love"

"Ah, I suppose that's true.." Midoriya went quiet and Kaminari opened his eyes. He noticed Midoriya has closed his own eyes and was muttering while he tapped his chin.

Kaminari awkwardly shifted a bit, moving a hand to his cheek. He scratched it a bit, about to to say something before Midoriya started to talk again.

"Love.. probably feels different for everybody. I fell in love with Kacchan when we were younger, and it started off as respect I guess.. I know I really shouldn't love him anymore, he hasn't really been the greatest person.. but I find myself still gravitating towards him.. he's brave, strong, smart.. I don't really know how to explain it." Midoriya let out, looking to Kaminari now. "I'm always looking forward to seeing what he does next. I like watching his figure while he's in battle and his hands are really nice too."

Kaminari chuckled slightly, shaking his head "Okay, okay. I get it" He said carefully, looking back to the ceiling. Midoriya's 'love' was different than how he had heard Kirishima explain it, but it made sense to him now. Or at least, it sort of did. "Love is different.. I suppose it could start differently too"

"Yeah, like 'love at first sight' or 'childhood friends' kind of love.. love is always changing" Midoriya smiled gently before speaking up "You know, I never would have expected you of all people to come to me for love advice Kaminari. Why did you want to know?"

"Ah.. well, I guess maybe because I might.." Kaminari swallowed a bit, a lump in his throat. He knew what saying it meant. He knew that admitting it and acknowledging its existence would only complicate things further... but he couldn't help it. He already knew for a long time that it wasn't just friendship he felt with Kirishima, it was something more. Something he pushed back to the back of his mind in order to separate himself from his make believe life and his real one. He took a deep breath, closing his eyes again.

"I might be in love.." He let himself say, bringing his hand back to the fabric at his chest. He could feel his face heating up more, hear his voice screaming at him from inside his head, his heart beating roughly. "I just.. I wanted to hear if what I was feeling was love or if I'm imagining things under the circumstances"

"Oh Kaminari" He felt Midoriya's hand on his shoulder, the boy giving it a small squeeze. "I don't think I've seen you this serious before. If you're really thinking about it this hard, the person you're in love with is really lucky."

"Midoriya.." Kaminari's eyes went to him. He gave a small sigh "How do I.. how do I stop feeling this way? I feel like my world is crumbling down around me.. Is love supposed to hurt so much?"

Midoriya looked a bit taken aback by that. It took a moment before his question was answered "Love is painful sometimes. You just got to find a way to make the pain stop. Tell this person how you feel, maybe that will help"

"I can't tell him!" He felt the words leave his mouth before he even thought about actually saying them. He turned roughly to face Midoriya, once again catching him off guard "Things won't be the same, it'll ruin everything! If I tell him.."

Kaminari heard his voice trail off as the elevator doors opened. He looked to the number and saw the were on the second floor. "Kaminari.. maybe that's the way it should be. Maybe you have to break a few of those eggs you've been saving to make yourself a nice omelette" Midoriya replied as he stepped off the elevator "I'm sure Kirishima wouldn't let it ruin anything between the two of you"

He froze, a bit surprised that Midoriya got it. "Oh.. thanks Midoriya.. I'm glad I asked you"

"No problem" Midoriya smiled

"Oh! Why were you on the fifth floor?"

Midoriya blinked a bit "Todoroki and I were doing some training"

Kaminari moved to something but the elevator doors closed between the two of them. He blinked, crossing his arms before he realized something "Shit!" He let out "I missed my floor again!" With that, Kaminari once again clicked the third floor button, shifting as he let himself relax a bit.

"Ah.. I guess it's a little too late for me to regret these feelings" He said softly, because after all.. Kaminari knew there was no way he could tell Kirishima. It would only hurt two of them more, the secrets he held.