the doofus that changed it all || kamijiro

17 : i could do about anything

two months shortened to one month, then two weeks, then one week, then oh god it was the day of the festival.

the festival had begun early in the morning, yet time flew past as quick as one could blink - and evening was dawning on the campus already; the weary moon scattering its dim rays from behind the clouds across the school, coating the greenery ibara shiozaki has delicately planted herself in a fine silver hue. the aroma of fresh flowers intertwined with the soft summer breeze that danced across the students faces as they walked past, their hands full with delicious treats and desserts that came from the booths and vendors thar were set up.

the school cultural festival was supposed to be a de-stressing day for ua students, as it was finally a break from all the laborious training and the suffocating heaps of homework. everyone was relatively laid back, chatting amongst themselves and treating eachother to drinks.

however, panning towards a small corner backstage, sat kaminari, hands trembling ever so slightly as he tried concentrating on the sound of his guitar as he was tuning it. the blonde's confidence had shrunken from the size of a football stadium to a pea, as his anxiety devoured him from within. plagued with thoughts of being rejected or humiliated, he started to wonder whether this whole idea was a good one.

he had been granted permission to do a final performance at the festival, albeit the contents of his performance were still a secret to everyone. his classmates were speculating what kaminari was planning, but this was the one mystery he planned to remain unbeknownst to everybody until today.

mina had just gone through the choreography for their class performance one last time, and was now hyping everyone up to give it the best they've got. iida rummaged around, nit-picking and making sure everyone performed their duties as planned, while bakugo sulked, slumping on a couch, unhappy he had just misplaced his drumsticks and was going to have to perform using dollarstore drumsticks "that were trashier than midnight's hero outfit", as he put it.

kaminari had everything sorted out, but again, like any normal teenager, was hesitant and over-anxious about screwing things up. what if jiro thought he was messing around? what if no one takes this seriously and i become an even bigger laughing stock?

he liked making others laugh, that was his specialty. even aizawa sensei complimented his extroverted personality - saying his cheery nature was what bonded class 1a together. but at what cost? more often than not, he found himself losing his dignity every time someone forced him to publicly humiliate himself, or becoming border-line insensitive with his jokes, all the while having no one take him serious when he meant it.

hopefully this'll change things.. right?

🌸

"give it up for... class 1a!"

present mic's voice rang with clarity as it boomed with prominence out of the stage's speakers, followed up by the roaring and cheering of the audience. the students began making their way onstage, getting into position.

kaminari flung his guitar onto his shoulder, well aware of how bakugo snarled at him for damaging his instrument. yet, he chose to ignore the latter's dagger-like glare, as it was overshadowed by the screams of the younger girls in the audience. kaminari smiled, seeing his charm was working that day. but he just hoped it'd work equally as well on jiro.

kaminari flashed his band mates an electric grin of approval, before bakugo cued the music to begin, twirling his drumsticks in his hands, yelling, "everyone at ua! let's fucking gooo!!"

colorful blasts of light blazed furiously, almost as if the stage was an exploding pack of paint. as jiro and her band blared energetic bursts of music, the dance crew hopped enthusiastically to the beat, performing their dance routine that oozed with style.

as the beat built up its rhythm, the performance grew with liveliness. blazing lights coated the stage in a mesmerising rainbow layer as aoyama was thrown up into the air like a human firework, ochako high-fived people in the crowd, floating audiences up into the air which was swirling with diamond dust that rained from above.

jiro's enchantingly husky voice rang across the campus, each syllable she enunciated brimming with emotion and power.

kaminari excitedly hopped around the staged, gaining the audience's attraction and hyping them up even more. he stood next to jiro, her head nodding to the beat of his playing, their eyes locking eye contact.

he smiled, she smiled back.

🌸

class 1a's students happily skipped offstage. though their faces were drenched in sweat, wide smiles were exchanged between eachother, congratulating one another on how well they performed. the floating audiences were slowly settled down onto the floor, thanks to sero's tape acting as a safety mechanic.

"what a roccckiinnnggg show that was from 1a!" present mic, announced to the crowd as he hurried on stage, "before you all go, we have just one last song from a student from the very same class."

the audience redirected their gaze onto the stage, curious as to what would follow after such an impressive performance.

the lights dimmed and donned on a light-purple appearance. there were still steamers and confetti littered around the stage, yet that made the aura feel more welcoming than hard to look at. a lone microphone stand stood in the middle of the large platform.

kaminari took a deep breath and skipped on stage with his guitar in hand. a few members in the audience cheered as they recognized him, along with a few "woos" from his classmates who were eager to see what he had planned.

the blonde caught sight of jiro in the crowd, and flashed a grin that somewhat concealed his nervousness - his lip still twitched at the sides, yet he reassured himself that everything would be fine in the end. maybe.

his free hand fumbled with the mic, tapping it gently before he cleared his throat and spoke.

"hi, so, im class 1a's denki kaminari. whether you know me or don't, that's not very important.

life's full of ups and downs and yknow, you just gotta deal with it. but when you see other people feeling down, it just feels, to me at least, a lot sadder. i dont like seeing people sad, is what im trying to say.

a lot of my friends conceal their feelings, and i get why, i do too - i dont want them to worry. but when they do hide their feelings, its counterintuitive because i worry about them anyway; i can tell theyre not their usual selves when they're sad.

one of my friends - closest friends, have been acting like this. i love hanging out with them, and i love making them laugh. they're incredibly talented and all that and i could gush on and on about them. but they've recently really been.. strange. they dont act like their usual self, and its really saddening to see.

so about this performance... this following song is dedicated to them. i hope you like it."

🌸

the melody slowly faded out as kaminari strummed his final chord. he glanced down at the audience, face a bit more flushed than usual. he bit his lip as the audience cheered, amazed at his vocals and the thoughtfulness of his performance.

he removed the microphone from the stand, and hovered near the edge of the stage.

"kyoka, will you come on stage with me?"

--

a/n AHA yea this'll continue next chapter lol
also pretend steven universe doesnt exist in this world and that kami was the one who composed it