This Color Ain't It

Chapter 6: Friends or Villains?

Notes:

(See the end of the chapter for notes.)

Chapter Text
On the fourth day of their internships, while on patrol (together since Shishido wants them to work together for some reason), their phones dinged at the same time.

"Midoriya shared his location?" Kaminari questioned aloud. Kenji opened his phone to find that he had the same message as the electric boy. The sidekick they were shadowing was listening to a civilian describing some petty criminal - ahem, villain - who had stolen her bag. The students weren't supposed to be on their phones, but the fact that they received a notification at the same time spurred their curiosity.

"It looks like he sent it to everyone in our class," Kenji commented as the group chat was filled with other students wondering if the rest had gotten the location as well.

"Maybe Midoriya accidentally sent it out to the class," Kaminari chuckled. He put away his phone and waited for the sidekick to give them instructions. Kenji, on the other hand, didn't stop staring at the location. Midoriya's internship wasn't in Hosu. That means that he was either called out there with his mentor or they were simply passing by which seemed unlikely.

The screens broadcasting the news all week came to the front of Kenji's mind in an instant. He knows why Midoriya had shared his location.

Shrugging his shoulders, he slipped his phone back into his pocket and looked at their superior calmly. Kaminari noticed the unusual calmness radiating from his smile and started to open his mouth to ask. "Midoriya-san is in trouble. It'll be fine though. Some of our classmates must be with him already along with some pro-heroes."

"Villain is on the run that way, boys!" The sidekick began running without looking back. Kaminari almost stumbled as Kenji followed without pause.

"Why do you think he's in trouble?"

"He's in Hosu." Recognition filled Kaminari's eyes. He pulled out his phone again to look at the location and whistled in surprise. He almost ended up running into an electrical pole because of this.

"I didn't even realize that. Good catch, Kenji." Kenji simply hummed. He was prepared to hear Kaminari question why he thought Midoriya already had backup and was very surprised to not hear it.

Deciding to test his luck, Kenji glanced back. "You're not going to ask?"

Kaminari's smile showed that he knew what Kenji was referring to. "You and I may not be smart in academics, but I know you can think logically. If you think Midoriya already has backup, then I have no reason to argue with you."

Kenji's gained enough of his trust. Looks like he can move on to the next step of their plan.

10:13 p.m. - Almost twenty minutes later than they usually get home. They had to chase the crafty villain across many busy streets away from their usual route. Kenji is glad that the sidekick has at least some moral code to follow a criminal even if it's no longer in his way. Sure he got praise from the civilian, but they were scolded when they made it back to the agency late.

Now the duo was walking alongside one another after getting off the train. Lighthearted chatter filled the air along with Kaminari's worried tapping to see if there were any more updates to Midoriya's situation. None as far as they could tell.

In the brief moment of silence that fell on the classmates, a shrill beeping almost made Kaminari drop his phone. Kenji gave him an apologetic smile when he pulled out his phone. Kaminari was sure Kenji was holding back his giggles.

"Nii-san! I'm almost home if that's what you're worried about-" Kenji's smile faltered. "W-what? Oh, no, that's okay. I'll be fine. I can take care of myself. Take care! Bye..."