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Mashirao knows that things are getting kind of weird in his class, and, if he’s being completely honest, that’s part of what makes it easier to finally ask Hagakure out. After all, there’s the mess with Midoriya and his group of friends, and Bakugo , of all people, and now whatever’s popped up with Kaminari, Kirishima, and Jiro, and the fact that they seem to be expanding.
He’s liked Hagakure for a while now, and always got the vibe that she might like him back, but recently she’s begun to get close to Sato as well, and that caused him to hesitate. Mashirao started to wonder if she might like him instead, but now, with all the weird happenings in his class, he’s starting to think that that might not be a problem.
At least, he supposes that, if she likes the both of them, he wouldn’t mind sharing. Right now, he’s really only interested in her, but if she doesn’t want to be exclusive, he doesn’t think that will bother him. So he finally gets up the nerve to ask her out, and the two spend a nice day out together. He gets a few weird looks for walking around and having conversations with a set of floating clothes, but that’s nothing he wasn’t expecting.
“This place looks so cute!” she cries, pointing. Or, at least, he assumes she is, since her sleeve is waving in the general direction of a bakery.
“Alright, let’s go in,” he says with a smile, leading the way. It is a pretty cute place, and he’s glad that she noticed it, since he might not have otherwise. However, once the door opens and a bell announces their entry, the boy working behind the counter calls out to welcome him, and Mashirao sees something he really wasn’t expecting.
Behind the counter, looking somewhat comical in this rather girly bakery, in an apron that looks too small for him, is Sato, and once he realizes who’s walked in, he looks just as surprised.
“Ojiro? Hagakure?”
“Sato!” Hagakure cries, running up to the counter with Mashirao just barely able to keep up. “I didn’t know you worked in a place like this!”
“Oh, well, I’m just helping us,” he replies, blushing a bit. “This is my aunt’s place, and whenever she needs help, I’m always the first person she asks. She says I’m her ‘best student’, or something like that…”
“Do you make the stuff here?”
“Some of it,” he says sheepishly, looking off to the side. “I mean, I helped her get some stuff together before we opened, but now I’m mostly just manning the counter.”
Mashirao searches for something to say so that he can feel like a part of their conversation, rather than an invader, but he can’t think of anything. Hagakure is so excited to see Sato, and now, to try something that he’s made, and Mashirao wonders if he was right when he thought that they could work something out between the three of them, if that was what Hagakure wanted.
But then Sato asks, “Are you two on a date?” and he’s snapped out of his thoughts.
“We are!” Hagakure replies, without hesitation, and Mashirao supposes he jumped the gun a little, assuming that she’s losing interest already.
“Oh! Well, sorry if this, uh...makes that a little weird,” says Sato. “Seeing someone from school, I mean.”
“It’s no big deal,” Mashirao says, finally able to contribute to the discussion. “It’s nice to see you.”
“It’ll be even nicer if you let us buy some of the cake you made!” Hagakure says, and no amount of arguing or insisting that it’s “really not that good” from Sato can sway her.
It’s not very busy, so while the two of them eat, Sato’s sometimes able to come talk to them, and he blushes furiously whenever Hagakure compliments his cake. Watching her eat is always a strange experience and it’s hard not to stare, so Mashirao is honestly somewhat grateful that he has Sato there as a distraction.
“It almost feels like all three of us were hanging out,” Hagakure says, before they leave. “Maybe we should all three hang out next time!”
She says it casually, like it’s nothing, but he and Sato exchange a look, and Mashirao knows that Sato is thinking the exact same thing he is. The only question is, when is she going to want to try to make it official?
~X~
The next chance they all get, they do hang out together, at Hagakure’s suggestion. Even if she hasn’t come out and said it, it’s very apparent that she wants to go out with the both of them, and that she’s trying to test the waters. Mashirao supposes he needs to talk to Sato about it, and see how exactly the other boy would feel about something like that.
Getting Sato alone isn’t very difficult, and that means that he must be thinking along the same lines. Mashirao wastes no time in asking him, “Do you like Hagakure?”
“I don’t want to get in the way of anything,” Sato says quickly. “I know you were going out with her before I cut in…”
“I’m pretty sure she likes both of us,” he replies, “and I’m pretty sure I’m okay with that. I mean, you know how Midoriya and his group are, or Kirishima and them...if Hagakure really wanted to go out with both of us, I don’t have a problem with it if you don’t.”
Sato looks a little surprised by this, but soon smiles. “I’m glad you feel the same way I do. She’s such a great girl, and if that’s what makes her happy, then I know I’m fine with it. Plus, all of us hanging out has been fun. You’re not too bad yourself.”
“Same to you, man,” says Mashirao, not quite sure why this feels like such an embarrassing thing to admit. They’re both just talking about how they want to go out with the same girl, nothing more, nothing less. So, then, why does it feel like a little bit more than it really is?
~X~
Fortunately for him, he has more important things to think about after that, such as how excited Hagakure is when the two of them go to her with that suggestion. Even though there isn’t anything there to see, Mashirao gets the mental image of someone- though he can’t pin down their features- wearing the brightest smile. And knowing that he’s finally with her is almost overwhelming, so when he’s up late that night, he’s only thinking about her.
At first, anyway. And then he’s thinking about Sato again, and everything still feels weird. In the back of his mind, he knows what’s bothering him, but he still doesn’t know if he’s ready to fully face that, or if he’s ever going to be ready to pursue something like that. They’re only one step away from it, if it’s what they want, but he’s certainly not going to come out and ask that right away.
Maybe later, when he’s had more time to think about it, or time to talk to Hagakure about it first. But for now, he decides he isn’t going to worry about it.