My Hero Academia: Thunder God

As soon as Kaminari stepped through the front door of his home, he was greeted by the warm and familiar aroma of his mother's secret miso soup. The comforting scent instantly melted away the tension in his body and mind.

"My son is home!"

His father, seated in the living room, was the first to notice him. At his call, Kaminari's mother quickly emerged from the kitchen, her face lighting up with joy.

"Dear son!"

Before Kaminari could respond, his mother was already fussing over him, checking his arms and face as though she expected to find hidden injuries.

"Are you okay? Did you get hurt anywhere? Let me see!"

"Mom, I'm fine!" Kaminari assured her with a laugh, raising his hands in surrender. "I didn't get hurt at all, and even if I did, we have Recovery Girl at school. There's nothing to worry about!"

Though his words were meant to reassure her, Kaminari didn't mind the attention. In fact, he welcomed it. Having grown up as an orphan in his previous life, moments like this being doted on by a loving parent were something he'd dreamed of for years.

"Come, son!" his mother said, taking his arm and pulling him toward the kitchen. "I bought a whole chicken on the way home and stewed it for hours. You need to replenish your energy after such a long day!"

"Wow, chicken soup!" Kaminari exclaimed, his eyes lighting up.

"Here, drink it while it's still warm," his mother urged, placing a bowl in front of him. "You must have used up so much energy at the festival today."

As she hovered over him, her concern was evident in every movement. She had been at the festival in person and had watched Kaminari's disqualification unfold. To see her hardworking, kind son treated this way, it had been heartbreaking for her.

Still, she said nothing about it at the dinner table. She wanted to move on, for Kaminari's sake. So, the topic was avoided entirely, and the family instead enjoyed the steaming chicken soup and tender meat together.

They talked about other things instead. Kaminari mentioned the new song he'd be recording with Kyoka in a few days and his plans to create special merchandise for Momo.

His father nodded approvingly. "The recording studio is always open to you and your band. Let me know if you need anything else for the song."

As for the merchandise, his father didn't seem fazed. "I'll make a few calls to the company later. It shouldn't be a problem. Considering it's for Yaoyorozu's family, we'll make sure it's perfect."

"By the way, I've got some news for you too," his father added, wiping his hands with a napkin after finishing his meal. "Your Twitter account just passed 300,000 followers—and it's climbing fast!"

"Twitter?" Kaminari blinked, confused. "I don't remember making an account. Aren't I just using MTV Japan's platform for updates?"

"I set it up for you a while back," his father explained. "MTV is a music site, not a social network. I figured it'd be good for you to have a proper account, so I hired someone to manage it for you."

"Well… thanks, I guess," Kaminari said, scratching the back of his head. It wasn't something he'd thought much about, but it made sense.

After dinner, Kaminari's father sent him the account credentials. Meanwhile, Kaminari's mother happily cleared the table, pleased to see her son eat so well.

Kaminari, for his part, headed to his room. After a quick shower and a change of clothes, he logged onto Twitter to check things out for himself.

As expected, the follower count was impressive, sitting just shy of 300,000. The comments section was overflowing, mostly with messages of support for Kaminari after the festival.

Curious, he scrolled through the top comments with the most likes:

A Veteran of Corgi: "The real winner of this year's U.A. Sports Festival is Kaminari Denki! I'm holding back my frustration!" – 41,000 likes

Mr. Okarun: "The first-ever contestant to be disqualified for being too strong. Is this for real?" – 16,000 likes

Snow Peas Invited by the Monkey: "+1 to the above comments, but I just want to say the 'Brave Heart' song at the opening ceremony was amazing!" – 13,000 likes

Mechanical Knife: "But I need to know—what's the deal between Kaminari and Jiro? Any thoughts?" – 5,888 likes

Kaminari chuckled at the variety of responses. Most of the comments were positive, and even the few odd ones weren't too bad.

Deciding to post something himself, Kaminari typed out his first tweet:

"Hi everyone, it's Kaminari Denki here! Sorry for the delay in saying hello—I only just found out about this account. Thanks so much for your support and love. I've got some exciting news: my new single 'Blue Bird' will be out next Monday on MTV Japan. Hope you'll check it out!"

Satisfied, he shut off the computer and climbed into bed.

---

Despite how exhausted he was, Kaminari's internal clock woke him up before five in the morning, as always.

He stared at the ceiling for a moment, his mind wandering. Memories from his past life and this one flashed before him in a quiet montage.

For the first time, he realized just how much he'd changed since his rebirth. His days were filled with studying, training, and chasing goals he never would've dreamed of in his previous life.

"I'm… not the same person anymore," he thought, a strange mix of emotions washing over him.

An image came to mind: the old man who had changed his life. Kaminari could still see his kind smile and the wrinkles etched across his face. "Who are you?" he wondered.

"Pika pika pikachu! Pika pika pikachu!!"

His thoughts were interrupted by the cheerful sound of his Pikachu alarm clock. It had been a while since he'd actually heard it—he was usually up before it went off.

"Time to get moving," he muttered, taking a deep breath before swinging his legs over the side of the bed.

Today, he'd head to Omiya Park to start working on some of the ideas he'd come up with during the sports festival.

As Kaminari opened the curtains, the morning sunlight spilled into his room, warm and welcoming.

"I need to develop a way to attack from long range without relying on external objects," he murmured to himself, determination hardening in his chest.

***

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