The afternoon sun spilled lazily across U.A.’s courtyard, casting long golden shadows over the grass. The air was warm, humming faintly with the sound of cicadas and distant laughter from the dorms.

Kaminari leaned against the low wall near the fountain, fiddling with the strings on his hoodie. He told himself he was just out here to relax after class… but his eyes kept drifting toward the path that led from the dorms. You were supposed to meet him.

“Alright, Kaminari,” he muttered to himself, straightening up. “Be cool. You’re just hanging out with a friend. Totally casual. Not a date. Definitely not a—”

“Talking to yourself again?”

Your voice cut through the quiet, and Denki nearly jumped. You stood there, smiling — sunlight catching in your hair like something out of a dream.

He grinned, rubbing the back of his neck. “Uh… nope! Just, y’know, practicing my lines for when I become famous someday.”

You laughed, walking over to him. “Sure you were.” The two of you wandered through the courtyard, chatting about everything and nothing — the latest class drills, Kirishima’s terrible breakfast experiments, Mina’s new playlist obsession. Every now and then, Denki glanced at you, wondering how you could make even the most boring stories sound like something worth listening to forever. When you reached the far edge of the field, the light had softened into that perfect gold that made the whole world feel slower, gentler.

You sat down in the grass first, tugging at a stray blade. “It’s nice out today. Kind of peaceful.”

“Yeah,” Denki said, flopping down beside you with his arms stretched behind his head. “Guess even heroes-in-training need chill days sometimes.”

The two of you watched the sky quietly for a while. The breeze brushed through the grass, and Denki felt a spark in his chest that had nothing to do with electricity.

He tilted his head toward you.

“Hey… you ever think about what we’ll be like after graduation? Like, where we’ll end up?”

You smiled faintly.

“Sometimes. It’s kind of scary — but exciting too.”

Denki nodded, eyes tracing the clouds.

“Yeah. I just… hope I’m not doing it all alone, y’know?”

You glanced over at him, curious.

“You won’t be.”

He turned to meet your eyes, and for once, there was no goofy grin, no joke sitting on the edge of his tongue — just quiet honesty.

“Good,” he said softly. “’Cause I kinda like having you around.”

You laughed, the sound light and easy.

“Is that your way of saying you’d miss me?”

He smirked, trying to recover his usual playfulness.

“Miss you? Nah. I’d just… maybe short-circuit a little.”

You nudged his shoulder. “You’re impossible.”

“Yeah,” he said, smiling. “But you keep showing up anyway.”

The light began to fade, painting everything in soft orange and pink. Denki’s voice dropped, almost a whisper.

“Hey,” he said. “Don’t tell anyone I said this, but… you make this whole hero thing feel a lot less scary.”

You looked at him — really looked — and for the first time, you saw the calm beneath the jokes, the spark behind the smiles.

You leaned back beside him, shoulders brushing lightly.

“Don’t worry. Your secret’s safe with me.”

Denki smiled to himself, staring up at the first stars appearing overhead.

Maybe the world was full of noise and chaos and lightning…

But right now, sitting beside you in the quiet glow of golden hour — he didn’t need anything else.