Work Text:
Minoru is way too short for this job, but they were short-staffed when he got hired, and they couldn’t not hire him, just for his height, so he gets over his hang-ups about platform shoes being for girls, and they provide him with a stool, and he gets a job at a coffee shop. It’s a small one, and not one that is all that popular, but he starts there with the hope of getting to meet girls through his job nonetheless.
He doesn’t count on getting so close to another guy, however. Midoriya hasn’t been working there for too long, when Minoru starts, but they are so short-staffed that he oversees a lot of Minoru’s training. He’s good at that, and very supportive, especially when the work gets so stressful that Minoru is on the verge of tears- and Midoriya is quick to assure him that he’s felt like crying more than once during a rush.
Long story short, the two of them become fast friends, and to Minoru, that’s all there is to it. He’s never liked guys before, so he certainly wouldn’t think he does now, and he’s still doing everything he can to check out the girls who come in. In his eyes, nothing has changed in the slightest.
When Uraraka enters the picture, however, it quickly becomes apparent that a lot has changed.
~X~
The first time she comes in, nothing of note happens, other than Midoriya seeming more flustered than usual, but Minoru is a bit too distracted by the very pretty girl to notice that until later. Uraraka- whose name they learn due to her order- isn’t exactly a knockout, or even particularly eye-catching, by most standards, but Minoru prides himself on being able to look beyond the most conventional beauty standards.
(Though some would just say he’s a jerk, no matter how you look at it.)
The point is, she’s cute as hell and has a very nice body, and he’s too busy checking her out at first to notice that Midoriya develops an interest in her immediately. Later, when she comes back a second time, it’s more obvious, and even though he feels a little weird about it, Minoru shakes it off. It’s not the first time he and a friend have liked the same girl- since he likes just about any girl- so it’s not like it’s really that big of a deal.
In fact, it’s supposed to make things more fun. Since she’s so clearly out of both of their leagues, the two of them can moon over her together as much as they want without there ever being any serious rivalry, because it would be such a miracle if one of them got her that the other would have to be supportive. That’s what friends are for, after all, or at least, that’s how Minoru has always seen it.
Except, whenever she comes in and they sigh behind the counter whenever she isn’t looking, and swoon after she leaves, something just feels off . Nothing that Minoru can put his finger on, but even so, he can’t completely ignore it. It isn’t like he’s interested in Midoriya, or anything ridiculous like that, but he knows that he’s not weirded out that they like the same girl, so he doesn’t know what else it could be.
Except, once the thought enters his mind, he can’t get rid of it. He knows he doesn’t like guys, he can’t even begin to list what might be appealing about one, but then, he’s suddenly up late at night, trying to figure out what he might possibly see in Midoriya, if he hypothetically did like guys.
As far as men go, he guesses Midoriya isn’t bad looking. Maybe a bit on the plain side, but with a soft face and bright eyes, and the perpetually messy hair look works for him, and Minoru doesn’t know if he works out or what, but when he rolls up his sleeves, his arms are a lot buffer than he would have expected for someone of his frame, and holy shit, why is he thinking all of this stuff?!
Minoru starts to realize that he might, against all odds, have a crush on Midoriya, the night before Uraraka finally leaves her phone number for him.
~X~
“What do you think it means?” Midoriya asks frantically, once she’s left.
“Uh, that she wants you to text her?” replies Minoru, in a tone that almost sounds bored. Internally, he’s anything but, but he’s getting better at not letting his emotions show and he’s doing his best to hide them from Midoriya. “What else could it mean?”
“I don’t know, I just...do you think she likes me?! No way, that can’t be it, maybe she’s just being friendly…”
“Are you kidding me? She’s been friendly the past two months she’s been coming here, this is different.”
“How can you know for sure? I-I mean…”
“Listen, I know I don’t have any more experience than you do, but just trust me on this. She totally likes you, so just go for it.” He can’t believe how cool he’s being about this, all things considered.
“But don’t you like her too?” And there goes Midoriya, with concern in those big eyes of his, trying to be a decent friend, and Minoru wishes things could be that simple again. He wishes he could go back to a time where all he cared about was which girl in the room had the best rack- still a very important matter, of course- and where he never spared a second look to any guy, least of all his best friend.
“Eh, not that much,” he lies with a shrug, or is it really a lie to begin with? It’s been harder to remember what caught his interest lately. “You’ve got someone who looks like her interested in you, so you don’t even need to worry about me!”
“Yeah, but you’re my friend,” Midoriya argues. “How can I not worry about you?”
“Please, please, if there’s one thing I learned in my life, it’s that the ladies come and and go.”
“Well…” Midoriya still looks troubled. “If it’s really okay with you, then I won’t worry about that. Still, I don’t know...I don’t know what I’m going to do about this. I’ll text her, definitely, but I don’t know if it’s going to go any further than that.”
“You’re really gonna look a gift horse in the mouth like that? If she’s into you, you need to go for it! Unless…” And he can’t stop the sentence before it’s out of his mouth. “Unless there’s someone else you like?”
At that, his face goes red and he stammers, “I-I-I don’t know about that, it’s more that I don’t, you know, want to...to rush into anything! I-I mean, we only talk a little bit here, so maybe I don’t even like her as much as I think I do! You know?”
With a reaction like that, there’s no way he isn’t lying, and it hits Minoru like a punch to the stomach. Of course, he knew even as he asked that he was stupidly hoping that Midoriya would say he liked him, but it’s not like that would actually happen. He knows that, if Midoriya does like someone else, then there’s no way in hell it’s him. It’s probably some girl he knows from somewhere, who’s just as cute as Uraraka and who’ll end up giving him her number in just a matter of days.
“So, you just wanna keep playing the field?” he teases, surprised at how perfectly he manages to swallow his feelings, and with that, everything becomes playful and he can try to forget how messed up this is.
~X~
He has a few days off after that, which he spends wondering if Midoriya has texted Uraraka yet. It’s not like he really wants to know, but not knowing drives him crazy as well, and he wonders why they’re such good friends at work but have no way to talk outside of work. Maybe they aren’t as close as he thought.
Or maybe he’s just overthinking things like an idiot, because this is the first time he’s been in a situation like this. As much as Minoru hates to admit it, he’s never liked anyone like this before. With girls, he’s always liked them because they were girls, because they were hot or cute or pretty, but he’s never gotten to know any of them, and he’s never liked someone that gets to talk to several times a week.
I need to get out, he thinks, but makes no move to do so. I need to meet someone who isn’t Midoriya so I can stop moping over him and go back to liking girls already.
But he stays in, and continues to mope, because he really doesn’t know what else to do.
~X~
He casually gives Midoriya his phone number the next time they work together, claiming that he might need to call him to cover a shift sometime soon, or something. Midoriya doesn’t seem to think much of it as he puts it in his phone, and he even sends Minoru a text, so that he has his number as well, and that gives the perfect introduction to the next topic.
“Speaking of texting, did you ever text Uraraka?” he asks, oh-so-casually.
“O-oh! Yeah, uh...yeah, we talked a little bit,” he mumbles.
“So? What’s going on?” asks Minoru with a forced grin.
“Nothing! Nothing yet, we just talked some! We’re not...you know...we haven’t even talked about that yet!”
“Is it because of the someone else you like?” Minoru continues to be proud of how easily he can tease Midoriya, even though it is absolutely killing him to have this conversation. At what point did he fall so hard, and what can he do to get out of this?
“Say, Mineta…” There is a pause that gets drawn out for a bit too long, because a customer chooses that moment to come up and order another drink, but once they’ve got that out of the way, he tries again. “Mineta, is it...possible to like more than one person? I mean, is it bad?”
“I don’t see why it would be bad, I mean, I love to keep my options. I fall for every girl I see!” he exclaims. “So, you’re two-timing Uraraka already? Honestly, you’re such a player. Save some girls for the rest of us.” Now, he knows he’s laying it on too thick, but anything to hide how much this is bothering him.his is bothering him.
“Th-that’s not what it’s like at all…” However, Midoriya doesn’t seem to know how to explain what it is like, and he eventually changes the subject, and the two act like nothing happen. Uraraka doesn’t come by that day, or any of the other days they have shifts together, but Minoru already knows.
~X~
A week later, Midoriya tells him that he and Uraraka are dating, and Minoru does a good job of congratulating him and teasing him, and totally doesn’t cry about it when he gets home.
At least, not much.
~X~
Things stay the same at work, because why wouldn’t they? Midoriya acts the same as ever, even though he has a girlfriend now, and Minoru keeps on pretending that he’s the same as always. If he keeps it up, he might even be able to convince himself and finally get over this ridiculous crush, considering he’s not even supposed to like guys to begin with .
Uraraka becomes less of a regular, but it’d be unprofessional to have her around all the time- almost as unprofessional as having a pathetic crush on your coworker - so it’s understandable. She does a good job of not bugging Midoriya too much while he’s working, though he’s always on edge whenever she’s in there, and she always give him these weird looks, and sometimes gives Minoru weird looks as well, though he has no idea what that’s all about.
Once, he would have hoped that all the attention meant that she was into him, and now he just tells himself not to panic, that there’s no way she knows.
On her way out on one of those days, she passes by the counter and says, in a low voice, “You need to say something to him.” Minoru is sure that he isn’t meant to hear that, but he’s not on his stool so he’s basically invisible, and she probably didn’t see him behind the counter to begin with.
But Midoriya knows he’s there, and once she’s gone, he looks down nervously and says, “Can we talk once our shift is over?”
“Y-yeah, sure, whatever you want.” At this point, it’s nearly impossible to play it cool, and Minoru spends the rest of the evening in a panic, because he just knows that they have him all figured out, that Uraraka has told Midoriya to tell him to stop being such a damn creep, and that this is all over.
It’s hard not to make a break for it when he gets off for the night, but he walks with Midoriya out to the parking lot, where he shuffles his feet and stares at the concrete off to the side of Minoru. “Do you remember when I asked you if it was bad to like more than one person?”
“Uh...um, yeah?”
“Well, I...this isn’t about two-timing, or whatever you said, but what if...what if someone was dating two people? And both of them knew about it and were okay with it?”
Is he just doing this to brag about having two girlfriends?!
“I don’t know, I mean...whatever they’re into, I guess.”
“So...you wouldn’t be okay with something like that?”
Wait, what?
“I-I don’t know what I have to do with it, I mean...I mean…”
Please don’t start crying right now, this is, like, the worst time for that.
But he can already feel confused tears welling up even before Midoriya says, “What if, um...what if Ochako, I-I mean, what if Uraraka was okay with me asking you out?”
“Asking me out?!” he screams.
“Y-you don’t have to say yes if you don’t want! I was just asking!” Midoriya screams back, and Minoru can’t see very well due to his own tears, but he thinks Midoriya might be near tears as well.
“But I do want to!” Minoru all but sobs, and by this point, they’re both so hysterical that they have to calm down and remember they’re standing in the parking lot of their workplace, before they catch some unwanted attention.
Needless to say, it takes them a bit longer to actually work things out.
~X~
Hanging out with Izuku and Ochako is a little weird at first, but nothing Minoru can’t get used to. It’s weird to finally be dating someone, and to be dating a guy, and to be dating a guy who is also dating a girl, and to just be friends with that girl, but he adjusts. They keep their relationship under wraps at work, acting just like they always have, but they go out now, sometimes with Ochako, and sometimes with just the two of them, and even though it’s a lot to get used to, Minoru is happier than he’s ever been.
And when Ochako begins seeing someone new, and introduces her girlfriend, Tsuyu Asui, to Izuku and Minoru, he begins thinking that he might not have missed his chance to get his own girlfriend after all.