Kaminari spotted Shinsou in the hall as their classes passed each other between periods. Earlier in the day he'd realised he didn't have a way to contact Shinsou and he needed to organise a time to meet up and work on their reports.

He sauntered over to him and blocked his path by stopping right in front of him.

Kaminari batted his eyes and with a cocky smile said, "I send the best memes but you'd know that already if I had your number."

Shinsou eyed Kaminari warily, wondering what he was up to. "Do you always say the first thing that pops into your head? Because, please don't tell me you actually put thought into that line."

Kaminari flashed him a dramatically offended look. Thoughts tended to pop into his head and tumble out of his mouth entirely without his permission or any forethought and Shinsou had figured that out entirely too quickly. "Honestly? Sometimes I'm just as surprised as the next person by what comes out of my mouth. Did you know I told Bakugou his personality was flaming crap mixed with garbage just after I met him?"

Shinsou choked on what sounded suspiciously like a laugh. "Well you're not wrong," he said with a shrug.

Kaminari grinned back at him. "So your number, can I have it?" When Shinsou didn't look like he was going to reply right away he filled in the silence with, "So I can text you about meeting up to study."

Shinsou looked down at him steadily and said, "Don't people usually have to work harder than that to get someone's number?"

Mina popped up over Kaminari's shoulder and said, "Denki wouldn't know, he doesn't usually get anyone's number. Be his first, would ya?"

Kaminari shoved at her with a scandalised gasp but Mina twirled out of the way with a giggle.

Shinsou rolled his eyes at the pair's exchange but held out his hand for Kaminari's phone. The blond handed it over and he typed his number in. "Don't send me memes," he said seriously as he handed the phone back to him.

Shinsou had received a text from Kaminari asking him where he wanted to meet after class and Shinsou had suggested the library. Kaminari's reply had read 'I don't have a library card but I'll check you out' and was signed off with a cat emoji.

Shinsou had rolled his eyes, assumed that was a yes and hadn't replied.

After class, Shinsou found him in the library chatting to a girl he didn't recognise.

The blond noticed Shinsou's arrival as he made his way over and Kaminari greeted him with a grin which was only met with Shinsou's vaguely bored, tired looking expression.

They found a free table and Kaminari dropped down into a chair and pulled his things out. "Okay where were we up to?"

"How many people in your family have a similar quirk to yours?" Shinsou asked as he flicked through his notebook and they fell back into a rhythm of easy questions.

As they worked, the tip of Kaminari's tongue appeared between his lips in concentration and it was as distracting as it was annoying, much like the rest of his personality, and Shinsou had to not snap at him to stop it.

Kaminari caught Shinsou looking at him a couple of times as if he were a puzzle he couldn't work out. Maybe he just wasn't giving him the right answers to his questions. Or, more likely, he was just doing something else that annoyed him. Like existing.

Kaminari had gotten bored of writing and had instead filled the quiet by chattering about some thing or other. Shinsou had quickly learned that Kaminari was easily distracted but he didn't mind his tangents so much; listening to him was easy.

Kaminari was, surprisingly, genuinely interesting. There really was more to him than he'd initially given him credit for.

Now though, Kaminari was going on about the newest girl he'd tried to charm and it was grating on Shinsou. That wasn't interesting.

"Do you ever stop speaking?" Shinsou asked when he noticed the librarian looking pointedly their way.

Kaminari didn't miss a beat. "Only when my mouth's busy," he teased with a smirk. He enjoyed riling Shinsou up far too much. For someone so unexpressive, it really was far too easy. The tense set of his jaw gave him away every time.

Shinsou felt his cheeks pink when he realised his innuendo and Kaminari laughed quietly. He hadn't expected Shinsou to blush. Well this was going to be fun.

"Pink is a good look on you," Kaminari said and gestured at his cheeks.

"You are the worst," Shinsou replied, but his cheeks still held the telltale sign of a blush, deeper than before.

Kaminari only answered with a chuckle as he turned back to his laptop.

That night, Kaminari sat down with his dinner and joined Uraraka and Iida who were already seated.

"Hey, Kaminari! How's your report going? You're with Shinsou, right? How's that?" Uraraka asked cheerfully.

Kaminari pulled a face and huffed.

"It can't be that bad," she said as she laughed.

"It is exactly that bad, he hates me," Kaminari whined.

"He might not want to make friends but I don't think there's ever been someone who hates you, Kami," she consoled.

"I never said I didn't want to be friends with him. I like him," Kaminari shrugged before he continued, "but he's so serious and focused. He wouldn't want to be friends with a guy like me."

"He does seem very dedicated to becoming a hero, but he just doesn't know how fun you are yet! Maybe he'll realise that once he gets to know you."

It was Iida who spoke up then, "I don't think he hates you, Kaminari. He said he's not here to make friends but it is because he feels like he doesn't have time for things like that."

"You said he was a real hero hopeful just like the rest of us, but I think this is more to him. You know we all have our own private reasons for becoming a hero. I think this is about him, and proving that he can be a hero to show others like him that they have a choice."

When Kaminari let his words sink in for a second, Iida carried on, "His whole life he's been rejected for his quirk, right?"

Kaminari nodded and Iida continued, "Well, most villains are created by society. Right or wrong, we reject them for their values or appearance or sometimes for their quirks and push them down the wrong path, giving them no other choice. But it's the ones who hold onto their convictions in the face of this unforgiving society that will go on to become great heroes. That's why this is so important to him."

"For him it's all the same reasons that we're here but it's also about proving that he is enough. If he succeeds, it will show others that they are too."

Something in Kaminari clicked and it was as if so much about Shinsou made sense in that moment.

One thing was for sure; he wanted to get to know the newest hero hopeful in their course.