Denki Kaminari had one goal today: impress his girlfriend without completely embarrassing himself.
It was… an ambitious goal.
U.A. was hosting a new hero training simulation, designed to challenge students in real-world scenarios. The catch? It was partner-based, meaning every student had to pair up and complete a high-risk challenge together.
When Denki saw his name next to Jiro's on the assignment sheet, his brain short-circuited immediately.
"Okay, okay," he muttered, pacing in the common area. "This is fine. Totally fine. I am so good at this."
Mina raised an eyebrow. "You almost electrocuted yourself trying to toast bread yesterday."
Denki groaned. "Okay, FIRST of all, that toaster was out to get me."
Sero smirked. "Sure, man. We totally believe you."
Jiro sighed, leaning against the doorway. "Denki, you realize we do training exercises all the time, right?"
Denki pointed dramatically. "YEAH, but now I have a reputation to maintain! You're my girlfriend now—I gotta look cool!"
Jiro smirked. "You think I care about that?"
Denki froze. "…Wait. Do you not?"
Jiro sighed. "Denki. I started dating you knowing you were an absolute disaster. Why would I expect anything else?"
Denki gasped. "Wow. So rude."
Kirishima gave him a sympathetic pat. "Bro, she's got a point."
Mina grinned. "Oh, you are sooo gonna embarrass yourself today."
Denki groaned. "I FEEL SO SUPPORTED."
The training simulation was set up like a city-wide rescue mission. The goal was simple:
- Navigate the mock-destroyed city.
- Find and rescue the assigned "civilians."
- Avoid "villains" (played by upperclassmen, because apparently they got to have fun tormenting everyone).
It should have been a normal challenge.
It was not.
"Denki, stop running ahead!" Jiro yelled as Kaminari sprinted down a cracked street, eyes darting around excitedly.
"We gotta MOVE, babe!" Denki grinned. "Speed is key!"
Jiro sighed. "Speed is not key if you don't have a plan!"
Before Denki could respond, a loud explosion echoed from a nearby building.
"OH SHOOT, ACTION TIME!" Denki yelled, practically launching himself toward the sound.
Jiro groaned. "You're gonna get yourself killed."
Denki did immediately trip over debris, but that was beside the point.
Jiro dragged him back up, muttering, "I swear, you're impossible."
They rushed toward the scene, where the upperclassmen "villains" were already causing havoc. One of them, a tall student with a fire-based Quirk, spotted them and smirked.
"Oh, Kaminari and Jiro?" he grinned. "This is gonna be fun."
Denki panicked. "THAT'S A TERRIFYING RESPONSE."
Jiro sighed. "Stay focused, idiot."
Denki absolutely did not stay focused.
Instead, he accidentally unleashed an overcharged lightning blast, which fried every electronic in the block and accidentally launched Jiro straight into him.
They tumbled to the ground in a very unfortunate position. Jiro landed on top of Denki.
Denki short-circuited.
His brain fully crashed.
Jiro blinked, realization settling in. "Oh."
Denki made a sound that was not human.
The villains just stared.
Mina, watching from the sidelines, screamed. "OH MY GOSH THE ROMANCE IS AFFECTING THE TRAINING."
Sero sighed. "He's dead. He is so dead."
Kirishima nodded solemnly. "Rest in peace, Kaminari."
Jiro, very much aware of their awkward position, sighed and rolled off him. "Get up, idiot."
Denki wheezed. "I CANNOT FUNCTION."
Jiro sighed, grabbed him by his hoodie, and dragged him upright. "We are not losing this mission because you forgot how to exist."
Denki nodded aggressively. "OKAY. RIGHT. HERO STUFF."
The villains, amused but still fully in character, attacked again.
Despite the
disaster start, Denki actually pulled himself together, balancing his Quirk use while Jiro coordinated their strategy. They fought through the obstacles, dodging incoming attacks, and finally reached their target civilians to escort them out.
Miraculously, they won their round.
Denki collapsed onto the ground. "WE DID IT! I DID NOT FAIL!"
Jiro sighed. "Barely."
Denki pointed dramatically. "HEY. GIVE ME THIS WIN."
Jiro smirked. "Fine. You did okay."
Denki pumped his fists into the air. "SUCCESS."
After the training ended, everyone gathered in the common area to review their performances.
Bakugo leaned against the wall, arms crossed. "Tch. Kaminari's team somehow didn't fail. Shocking."
Denki gasped. "I AM SO OFFENDED."
Mina grinned. "You were a disaster, but honestly? That was peak entertainment."
Sero nodded. "10/10. Would watch again."
Denki groaned. "I feel so appreciated right now."
Jiro smirked. "You did short-circuit in battle. Multiple times."
Denki blinked. "Wait, you noticed?"
Jiro rolled her eyes. "Denki, I always notice."
Denki gasped dramatically. "OH MY GOSH. YOU PAY ATTENTION TO ME."
Jiro sighed. "Obviously."
Denki swooned. Mina, watching, squealed. "THE CUTENESS LEVELS ARE UNREAL."
Sero sighed. "There is so much happening."
Despite the teasing, Denki felt weirdly accomplished. Maybe he was a walking disaster, but somehow, he kept proving that he was still a capable hero.
And maybe, just maybe, he was doing alright as a boyfriend too.
(The next day)
Denki Kaminari always knew being a hero meant facing danger. Real danger. But knowing that and living it were two different things.
The industrial district was a graveyard of forgotten machinery and rusted steel. Faded neon signs flickered weakly against the gloom, their once-bright lettering now cracked and barely legible. Everything around them felt heavy the air thick with the scent of damp concrete, the faint tang of old oil lingering between the skeletal remains of long-abandoned factories.
Denki and Jiro walked side by side, their footsteps echoing against the cracked pavement. The streetlights hummed softly, casting long, distorted shadows across the alleyways, stretching their figures into something almost monstrous against the graffiti-stained brick walls.
Jiro nudged him, her smirk barely visible beneath the dim glow of streetlamps. "Bet you five bucks I spot something before you," she teased, her voice carrying a playful edge.
Denki scoffed, stuffing his hands into his hoodie pockets. "Babe, you have SOUND WAVES. That's not fair."
Jiro shrugged, the corner of her lips curling higher. "Not my problem."
He sighed dramatically, rolling his eyes as they continued forward. "Fine! Game on."
Despite the eerie silence wrapping around them, the moment felt easy, and comfortable kind of rhythm they had settled into over months of training together.
The faint hum of the city in the distance was like white noise, blending into the occasional distant clang of loose metal shifting in the wind. The streets were mostly empty, save for a few forgotten crates and broken-down vehicles long consumed by rust.
Denki kicked a stray can with the toe of his boot, watching as it rattled down the pavement, rolling until it disappeared into a storm drain.
For the first few minutes, everything was normal.
Fun.
Nothing wrong.
Until Jiro suddenly froze.
Denki didn't even need to ask. The way her expression shifted—from teasing to serious was enough.
"There's something here," she muttered.
Denki's heart rate kicked up. "Like… what kind of something?"
Jiro pressed a finger to the ground, sending vibrations outward. Her eyes widened. "A lot of footsteps. Too many."
Denki didn't have time to react before the warehouse behind them exploded. Denki didn't have time to react before the warehouse behind them exploded.
It wasn't just a blast—it was a detonation, the kind that didn't just sound loud but felt loud, rattling through the bones, stealing the breath from the lungs.
The shockwave hit first, slamming into Denki like a freight train of heat and force. It wasn't just pressure—it was pure devastation, throwing him forward as if gravity itself had been ripped out from beneath him. The ground beneath his feet trembled, concrete cracking like shattered glass, sending jagged fissures racing outward.
Then came the sound a monstrous, deafening roar that seemed to split the air in two, shaking the surrounding buildings as fiery debris erupted into the sky. The explosion wasn't uniform—it was chaos, bursts of light and heat flickering in uneven waves, swallowing the warehouse in an angry inferno.
Denki barely managed to shield his face before the heat crashed over him searing, suffocating, wrapping around his skin like a scorching windstorm. Ash and smoke poured out, thick and toxic, curling into the night like monstrous fingers reaching for the sky.
Metal twisted and screamed as the warehouse's skeletal remains collapsed inward, steel beams warping from the heat, crashing against each other in a symphony of destruction. Flames licked hungrily at the rubble, spreading in violent streaks of orange and blue, casting the surrounding streets into a nightmare glow.
Denki coughed, lungs burning from the smoke, eyes stinging from the swirling debris. He turned, frantic, scanning through the chaos—
Jiro. Where was Jiro?
The moment was pure panic, heart pounding in uneven, desperate beats. Every nerve in his body screamed to move, to find her, to not let this be real. And then, through the wreckage, figures emerged.
Not civilians.
Not instructors.
Villains.
Their shadows stretched against the firelight, bodies concealed beneath dark tactical gear, their movements calm in a way that was terrifying.
Denki's stomach dropped.
This wasn't an accident. This wasn't just some random attack.
They had been waiting for them.
In the distance he saw Jiro, but a villain is heading straight towards her. Then, Denki ran.
Not with strategy. Not with precision. He bolted, reckless and wild, the breath ripped straight from his lungs as his feet barely touched the ground.
It wasn't just running. It was panic, pure and blinding, the kind that made everything around him blur, drowning in the rush of adrenaline that screamed MOVE before his brain could catch up.
His heart hammered against his ribcage, erratic and uncontrollable. The world tilted, the edges of his vision narrowing into a tunnel—Jiro was the only thing in focus. Her form, mid-counter. The masked figure emerging, too fast way too fast.
Denki pushed harder.
The ground felt uneven, his muscles burning, his chest tight. Electricity snapped at his fingertips, unstable, crackling with the intensity of his panic but too late.
The villain's glowing hands locked onto Jiro before Denki could reach her.
And just like that—
She wasn't moving.
Denki skidded to a stop, his entire body locking in place. It was wrong. All wrong.
Jiro—mid-motion, strong, steady—was now frozen, limbs stiff, eyes wide with shock.
Denki's blood ran cold, and for the first time in his life, electricity wasn't enough.
Jiro's body locked up, her limbs seizing as the villain's Quirk paralyzed her on contact. Her eyes widened in shock, panic flickering across her face—
And Denki?
Denki saw red.
Before the villain could drag her away, Denki unleashed the biggest electric blast he had ever conjured.
The air cracked. Sparks exploded. The villain was thrown back, their grip on Jiro breaking.
She collapsed.
Denki didn't breathe.
The villains retreated just as reinforcements arrived—but not before getting one last hit in.
One last act of vengeance.
The villains were retreating, their mission complete, their victory carved into the ruined streets like a scar that would never fade. But one of them—the masked figure who had paralyzed Jiro—paused, lingering in the chaos, eyes cold and calculating beneath their shrouded hood.
They weren't done.
Not yet.
Their fingers twitched, their stance shifting slightly, and Denki knew knew in the pit of his gut—that something was coming. But his body was too slow, his mind too scrambled from the fight, the smoke in his lungs suffocating his thoughts before he could react.
And then—
A flicker of movement.
A gleam of steel.
A blade, dark and dripping with blood, cutting through the air like a whisper of death.
Denki barely saw it before it was too late.
His breath hitched. His muscles screamed to move—to reach for Jiro, to stop whatever was coming, but he was too late.
Pain. Blinding, searing, all-consuming pain.
He gasped, a raw, choking sound ripping from his throat as air rushed out of his lungs, stolen by the cold bite of metal now buried deep within his abdomen.
For a moment, his brain refused to process what had happened.
Then—
The sensation hit him all at once.
The blade, wedged mercilessly into his middle, its edges tearing muscle, nerve, everything. A flood of warmth soaked through his uniform his blood, thick and scalding, spilling from the wound, clinging to his skin like a final warning.
His knees buckled.
The world tilted.
Denki felt everything and nothing at the same time—his vision blurring, his pulse staggering, his body failing. He tried to breathe, but every inhale felt like he was drowning in his own shattered insides, a sharp, jagged pressure pressing down on his chest.
But none of it mattered.
Because in the distance—through the distortion of pain, past the violent haze swallowing his consciousness he saw her.
Jiro.
Her body limp, her face twisted in silent protest, her eyes wide with fury as she was dragged away.
Denki's hand twitched, reaching forward, desperate, hopeless—because this couldn't be happening. Watching her being dragged away filled him with a pain that was stronger then the blade.
Not her.
Not now.
Not like this.
But no matter how much his heart screamed, his body wouldn't move.
Everything was slipping.
Everything was….fading.
And just as the world collapsed around him
Everything went black.