My Hero Academia One-Shots | Self Insert

🔹🗿kaminari | lack of understanding🗿🔹

It was a young summer's day. The birds and cicadas were having a chirping competition, and the sky was a gentle overcast. The town center was as lively as usual for a Saturday afternoon—extroverts spending time with their friends, introverts enjoying the warm weather. Then there was Kaminari: the lonely extrovert.

A boy who desired to spend such a perfect day with his friends but could not because they were "busy". They were never busy. It seemed like every time he asked to meet outside of school, they had more and more to do—yet only on the days he was available.

But the energetic boy didn't let the absence of his friends stop him from enjoying the day. Maybe he would meet someone interesting, who knew?

As the rock he had been kicking splashed into a shallow pond, the boy looked up. His eyes followed the water's edge until he spotted a worn, wooden bench. There was a person, about his age, throwing a mix of breadcrumbs and bird seed across the ground where a charm of finches fed.

Curious, he skipped toward the stranger but deliberately slowed to a walk as not to startle the birds. He held his hands behind his lower back and faced them.

"Hey!"

Your heart skipped a beat from the sudden shout. You turned your attention away from the birds and to the yellow haired boy on your left. Softly, you replied, "Hi, Kaminari-san."

"Wha- you know my name!" His head tilted askew with a sharp jerk.

"I'm in your class," you said, slightly disappointed, yet understanding. You were fairly new to Class 1A; consequently, you didn't get the chance to make a reputation for yourself. Not that there was much to show anyway.

"Oh, sorry." He looked down with genuine guilt, then paused shortly to observe your actions.

You returned to spreading the bird feed by your feet. A family of ducks had waddled up from the pond, harmoniously sharing their findings with the finches.

"Can I?" Kaminari gestured to the spot beside you on the bench.

You nodded.

The boy sat down, his right thumb rolling over his left knuckles.

He seemed more tense than he usually was in class. From the perspective of a new student, you assumed Kaminari was the class clown—the loudest student—the center of attention. He was outgoing, cheerful, and funny. So why was he so quiet?

Kaminari's eyes traced the baby duckling at the back of the brood. It stumbled over every pebble no matter the size, desperately competing with its siblings to grab at least one crumb.

He cleared his throat. "How often do you do this?"

You looked at him through the corners of your eyes. "Almost every day. Whenever I feel like it."

He quietly hummed in acknowledgment. You noticed his right leg bouncing impatiently in your peripheral.

"I don't get it. You—you just sit here and watch them eat? What do you get out of it."

Silently, you scooped a handful of bird feed from the crumpled paper bag and held it in your palm. Kaminari turned to you, a confused look on his face. Your eyes signaled from his right hand back to his eyes, and you rose your eyebrows.

"Oh, okay..." the boy mumbled aloud, reaching his hand out.

You emptied the feed into his cupped palm and brushed your own on your knee.

The yellow haired boy glanced at you, then at the birds—hesitant, waiting. It was such a simple task, yet it felt humiliating to him.

You noticed his tense manner and took the first step, scattering a scarce amount of seeds in front of your feet. The winged animals chirped and quacked with delight as they picked their food from the grass.

Kaminari was watching you more than the birds. It was confusing to him. Why was it confusing?

He picked out a sunflower seed from his palm and flicked it toward the flock. His eyes followed it as it bounced off the back of a house finch and onto the dirt. The finch chirped, rotated its body in a single hop, and pecked the single seed from the ground. Then, it looked back at him, it's head slightly tilted.

This time, Kaminari threw a pinch of feed to the bird which it consumed gratefully.

As he continued to humor the single finch, you observed his movements. His expression was blank, his body relaxed. It was hard to tell if he genuinely enjoyed sharing your pastime, or if he was bored out of his mind.

"Kaminari-san," your voice an echo.

"Hm?" He turned his head to face you.

"Are you bored?"

"Oh, um." He shuffled in his seat, his hand still cupping some bird feed. "I don't think so."

"Think?" you uttered, confused.

"I don't really know. I'm thinking about a lot while not thinking of anything. And I'm doing something, but I feel like I'm doing nothing. A-and I feel lonely even when I'm talking to someone." His eyes drifted away and he blinked suddenly. "Sorry... I didn't mean to say that much." A weak smile etched itself across his face.

Your hands subconsciously twisted around the top of the paper bag. "I'm sorry."

"Huh? For what?"

"That I make you feel lonely," you thought. "That you feel that way," you said.

"Oh!" he laughed lightly. "It's fine. It's not your fault. It's not anyone's really. I guess I'm just confused is all."

How could he do that? He was just sad a moment ago. How was he able to laugh now?

"Emotions are hard to understand, aren't they?" you replied, pouring the rest of the bird feed into a pile on the ground.

"Yeah." He scratched his head. "I guess they are."