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The first time Todoroki saw Bakugou again after six years, on the flower shop on the building just across the street, he dropped his mug of coffee and spilled the hot dark liquid all over himself, staining forever a perfectly tailored suit and making a fool of himself in front of all his father’s employees.
It was ten in the morning of a tuesday in the end of winter and Todoroki was preparing himself to the meeting he would have with one of his father’s clients in the afternoon. He had just came back from the kitchen with his Gudetama mug - it was a gift from Midoriya - filled with recently made coffee and was reading again the papers of the house he would be selling to the man on that afternoon when his eyes drifted to the window.
Todoroki Real Estate Agency occupies the second floor of a business building in downtown Tokyo, right across the street of a big and busy two-story mall. Todoroki had never paid attention to the mall before, always too busy with work, so he never knew that right in front of his window lies a flower shop. The flower shop has two floors and a door directly to the sidewalk. The second floor of the flower shops looks to be what Todoroki would consider some sort of a studio and it was there where he saw Bakugou.
Although they haven’t seen each other it has almost six years, yet it was virtually impossible to Todoroki to not remember the man he had shared not only a dorm but also a bed for four years during college. When he saw ash-blonde mohican and sleeve tattoos he knew it was Bakugou, even from a fair distance.
Bakugou and him had had something they had never put a name on. They weren’t boyfriends per se, but pretty much acted as if. They would walk around holding hands and kiss under the street lamps, and by the end of their second year Bakugou’s bed stopped being used altogether. Bakugou even got to know Todoroki’s mother, going to the hospital do visit here, either with or without Todoroki. They never put a label on what they had, but everyone knew where it was heading. Until they graduated.
As soon as Todoroki graduated on college, his father called him to work at the Agency, even though Todoroki had majored in biochemistry and not in nothing remotely related to the real estate world. In all fairness, Todoroki already knew when he first started college that he would end up taking care of his family’s business, so he didn’t complain about moving from Kyoto to Tokyo to start working at the Agency. At the same time, Bakugou was offered a scholarship in Canada.
They parted ways without much drama, no tears or yells, no accusations or bitter words. They sat down on the still empty living room of Todoroki’s new apartment and talked. They talked for hours, about everything. About their relationship. About their years together. About how there was a huge chance of Bakugou staying in Canada for an undetermined period of time. About how neither of them thought a distance relationship would be good for them. And more important than everything, about how they didn’t had regrets, nor for their choices in the past neither for the ones they were taking about the future.
When they finally settled everything, they spent their last night together, and under the pale light of the moonlight there could have rolled a tear or two.
For five, almost six, years neither of them had contacted each other. As much as it could sound stupid for other people, for them remaining present of each other’s life would only bring pain and suffering. It was agreed that they wouldn’t talk, that they wouldn’t keep strings attaching them more than their friends already would. They should live their lives without looking to the past, without thinking about each other.
A cold move to avoid their very present pain. A cold move to force them to move on.
-
Me: [10:47] Bakugou is back?
Midoriya: [10:50] .... Yes…. Since last July.
Me: [10:53] Last July? That was seven months ago…
Midoriya: [10:55] Yeah………..
Me: [10:56] Why haven’t you told me he was back?
Midoriya: [10:59] You two decided to forget about each other! And he told me I shouldn’t tell you because he didn’t want to mess with your life. I wanted to tell you, but you know how Kacchan is!
Me: [11:02] Well, he’s working across the street from my office.
Midoriya: [11:03] Shit….
Me: [11:03] Yeah….
Midoriya: [11:05] What you gonna do?
Me: [11:16] Avoid him at all cost.
-
It turns out that Todoroki couldn’t avoid Bakugou at all cost how he wanted.
Two months after Todoroki had found out that Bakugou had came back, months in which Todoroki had lost hours of his days staring at the window to watch Bakugou work, his father calls him to his office.
“Shouto.”, Enji says as Todoroki steps into the office. “Friday is Fuyumi’s engagement party. I want you to go to that flower shop across the street to order her one of those extravagant bouquets.”
“Why me?”, Todoroki quickly asks, his pulse racing up. “I don’t understand anything about flowers, dad. Why won’t you ask your secretary?”
“Because it’s for your sister. You know her better than Miko and Fuyumi will appreciate the effort.”, Enji says and Todoroki knows that he’s being logical, but the idea of meeting Bakugou makes his stomach drop.
“Alright…”, Todoroki agrees, taking a long breath to calm himself. “I’m going to that fancy flower shop in Ginza, then.”
“Nonsense.”, Enji says, waving his big hand dismissively. “There’s a flower shop right across the street and your sister said yesterday she liked the extravagant bouquets they are making now.”
“But, dad…”
“Pick the most expensive one.”, Enji talks over him. “It’s for your sister’s engagement, after all. We have to show the Suzuki that us, the Todoroki, are used only to the best.”
Todoroki sighs heavily, knowing that there’s no use in arguing with his father now that he wants to show Fuyumi’s soon-to-be father-in-law how their family rule.
His only hope is that maybe Bakugou won’t be at the shopping today. Todoroki had noticed, from his constant staring, that Bakugou isn’t at the flower shop every day and that he mostly appears by the window around sunset. It’s just a little after noon, so it’s probably safe to visit the flower shop.
The flower shop, named Blue Bird, is bigger than Todoroki had imagined. The walls are light blue and the furniture white, the shelves hold a huge variety of flowers that bloom even in the winter. The colors of the flowers contrast with the pale background, the smell being both a punch and a kiss to Todoroki’s senses. Displayed in the shop window are big and extravagant bouquets with flowers of the season.
“Good afternoon, sir!”, a woman that can’t be more than a couple of years older than Todoroki greets from behind the counter.
“Good afternoon.”, he says with a small nod of his head, walking to the counter.
“How can I help you?”, the woman, Kaede accordingly with her name tag, asks with a kind smile.
“I would to order one of those extravagant bouquets from the window, please.”, Todoroki answers, relieved that Bakugou is nowhere to be seen.
“Oh, of course!”, Kaede smiles brightly. “They are custom made. I’m going to call the person responsible for it, alright? Please, wait a moment.”, she says.
“Sure”, Todoroki nods and she walks to the spiral staircase behind her.
Kaede walks up to the middle of the stair, talking to someone on the second floor. “Are you free now? We have a client here wanting to order one of the big bouquets. Can you talk to him?”
“Sure.”, the person says and Todoroki’s pulse skyrockets because he had heard that husky voice for way too long to ever forget about it.
Kaede walks down the stairs and not more than thirty seconds later, Bakugou follows.
Bakugou is as beautiful as Todoroki remembered, with a long mohican whose bangs cast shadows over his unfairly pretty reddish-brown eyes. Tattoos cover up his skin, from his fingers to his shoulders, some going up his neck and Todoroki wonders how many there are under his bright orange tank-top. On the middle of his lower lip Bakugou still has the piercing that Todoroki had pierced himself one night when they were drunk at Kirishima’s couch. There are new piercings on his face, like the ring on his septum and the one on his left eyebrow, and if Bakugou kept the rings he had on his nipples Todoroki can’t tell.
“Shouto.”, Bakugou says, his voice almost not giving out how surprised he is for seeing Todoroki there.
“Katsuki.”, Todoroki says, meeting his eyes.
“Oh! You two know each other?”, Kaede asks with a happy smile.
“We lived together back in college…”, Bakugou says, his eyes still on Todoroki’s mismatched ones. “Among other things…”
“Among other things.”, Todoroki nods, keeping their eyes locked.
“That’s great!”, Kaede says, oblivious to their small staring content. The flower shop door open again and she smiles even brighter, “Good afternoon, madam!”, she greets the old woman that had just entered, excusing herself from the two man before walking to the client.
Todoroki approaches the counter again and Bakugou finishes walking down the stairs, standing close to the counter. They stay in a tense silence for what feels like an whole hour, too many things coming back for both of them while neither are sure on what to say, or even if they should say something.
“So…”, Bakugou starts, blinking his eyes a few times and breaking their eye contact. “The bouquet.”, he says, grabbing a small notepad and a pen.
“Yes, sure.”, Todoroki nods, placing his hands on the counter. “I want one like the ones on the window, even more extravagant than that… The more you can think of.”
“That’s a lot…”, Bakugou says, leaning over the counter a small bit to start scribbling on the notepad. “What’s the occasion?”
“Fuyumi is getting engaged in three days.”, Todoroki says. “And my dad wants to assert dominance over her significant other’s father by being ridiculously extra about a bouquet.”, he says in a flat voice and Bakugou snorts a small laugh, which cause the tiniest of the smiles to take place on the corner of Todoroki’s lips.
“So your dad remains the same as ever.”, Bakugou comments airly as he keeps tracing things on the paper.
“I would say that aging is making him worse.”
Bakugou laughs again, it’s small and short, but enough to make Todoroki feel weirdly warm. “Not surprising… Fuyumi, though… To someone that used to say that a good man was a dead one, it’s a surprise that she’s getting married.”
Todoroki laughs at that, because Fuyumi’s punk phase was one of the best things in his life. “That’s probably why she’s marrying a woman.”
“Oh…”, Bakugou says surprised, looking up at Todoroki. “That makes more sense.”
“It does.”
“How’s your dad dealing with not having a single straight kid?”, Bakugou asks, a hint of amusement in his eyes.
“I think he gave up on us already.”, Todoroki shrugs. “He’s ok as long as we take care of the company.”
Bakugou hums in agreement, sliding the notepad to Todoroki so he can see the sketch of the bouquet. “What you think?”
“That you really do know my dad…”, Todoroki mumbles, honestly surprised with how Bakugou could come up with such an extravagant bouquet. “It’s amazing, honestly.”
“Great.”, Bakugou nods. “It’ll be ready Friday around three pm.”
“Alright.”, Todoroki nods, grabbing his wallet.
“Did you manage to choose a bouquet?”, Kaede asks, sliding past Bakugou to go to the cashier.
“Yeah. I don’t know how I’m gonna take this home, though.”, Todoroki says, his eyes following as Bakugou hands the notepad to Kaede.
“Kaede will ring you up. I need to go finish a bouquet.”, Bakugou says, stepping away from the counter and towards the staircase. “Bye, Shouto.”
“Bye…”, Todoroki offers him a half-heartedly wave of his hand. “It was good to see you.”
“Yeah…”, Bakugou nods before turning around and walking up the stairs.
-
When Friday came and Todoroki went to pick up the over a meter tall and completely made of pink and white flowers bouquet, Bakugou wasn’t there.
-
“Todoroki-san, your father is calling you to his office.”, Miko says over the phone and Todoroki sighs.
“Tell him I’m going.”, Todoroki answer, turning off his computer screen before getting up.
Enji is on the phone when Todoroki enters his office, powerful and boisterous voice echoing through the big room as he negotiates the sale of a whole building outside the city. He waves Todoroki to sit down and Todoroki obeys, messing around on his phone while his dad finishes his phone call.
“So, next monday is your mother’s birthday.”, Enji says as soon as he hangs up the call and Todoroki locks his phone before pocketing it.
“Yeah.”, Todoroki nods. “I talked to her yesterday and she said she would like to go to that fancy seafood restaurant we used to go when grandma was alive.”
“Sure.”, Enji nods, pressing a button on his phone before talking. “Miko, make a reservation on the Waves for my family on Monday night.”
“Table by the window.”, Todoroki suggests, knowing that his mother would like to see the sea.
“Table by the window.”, Enji says before lifting his finger from the phone, ending the call.
“Will Kaoru come?”, Todoroki asks. His second older brother lives in Korea with his wife, so Todoroki isn’t sure if he’ll gonna make it.
“Yes. Fuyumi will pick him and his family at the airport saturday morning.”
“Mom knows that?”
“No, it’ll be a surprise.”, Enji says and Todoroki nods. “Are you free now?”
“Sort of. I just finished the papers of that apartment in Setagaya.”
“Everything good with that one?”, Enji asks and Todoroki nods. “Great. I need you to go to that flower shop to order a bouquet to your mother.”
“Again?”
“Your mother really liked that one we gave to Fuyumi.”, Enji explains. “Whoever made that bouquet is really good at their job.”
“It was Bakugou.”, Todoroki answers without thinking.
“Bakugou… Your ex-boyfriend?”, Enji frowns confused.
“We were never boyfriends, but yes, him. Bakugou Katsuki.”, Todoroki nods.
“Weren’t him in Canada?”
“He came back last July.”, Todoroki says.
“Oh.”, Enji nods, thoughtful. “He’s working at a flower shop? Weren’t him majoring in psychiatry?”
“He did majored in psychiatry, but I don’t know what happened.”, Todoroki says, and this is a thing that have been on his mind lately, the reason why Bakugou is currently working at the flower shop even with his ridiculously amazing college curriculum.
“Well… Maybe you could call him to your mother’s birthday?”, Enji suggests. “Your mother always liked him, she would be happy.”
“Dad…”, Todoroki sighs. “I can’t call him, it would be weird.”
“Why not? Everyone likes him in our family.”
“Dad, I can’t call my ex-boyfriend to my mother’s birthday!”, Todoroki exclaims, his usually levered and apathetic voice jumping up a few octaves.
“You just said you weren’t boyfriends!”
“I-We-Dad…”, Todoroki takes a deep breath, calming himself again. “We had a thing years ago, and it’s over. We aren’t even friends anymore.”
“That’s ridiculous.”, Enji complains. “Did it end badly?”
“Dad, I’m not discussing my love life with you.”, Todoroki cuts, getting up. “I’m gonna order the bouquet and that’s it. Forget that Bakugou is back.”
“You’re being ridiculous. Call him to get a coffee, at least. You haven’t had a single good boyfriend since he went away, you should at least…”, Todoroki closes the door so he can’t hear the rest.
-
“Again?”, Bakugou asks as he walks down the stairs, his brows arched in surprise.
“Mom’s birthday.”, Todoroki says and Bakugou looks at the callendar hanging on the wall.
“Oh, that’s true.”, he nods, grabbing the notepad and the pen. “Did your sister like her bouquet?”
“Yeah. She loved it.”, Todoroki says honestly, because Fuyumi couldn’t stop talking about the bouquet the whole night. “Everyone loved it, actually. That’s why I’m back.”
“Good.”, Bakugou nods, starting to scribble on the notepad. “Are violets still your mother’s favorite flowers?”
“You know I don’t know that…”, Todoroki says, his voice softening in the way that is specific for when he’s talking to Bakugou.
“Violets and lavender, Shouto.”, Bakugou says, leaning more over the notepad. “Your mother’s favorite color is purple, that’s why she likes purple flowers…”
“That’s true…”, Todoroki says with a small smile.
They fall into a comfortable silence while Bakugou sketched the bouquet. Todoroki had forgotten how much he loved to watch Bakugou doing stuff, how much he liked Bakugou’s concentrated face, how much watching Bakugou doing stuff was calming to him. Todoroki, in fact, seems to have forgotten how much Bakugou actually affected him.
“What you think?”, Bakugou asks, sliding the notepad to Todoroki.
It’s a way simpler bouquet than the one he made to Fuyumi. It was smaller and more delicate, full of little flowers and small details. It was, also, something his mother would love. “It’s amazing.”, Todoroki says sincerely.
“Good…”, Bakugou nods. “I’m gonna call Kaede to ring you up.”, he says before going to the stairs and shouting Kaede’s name. “She was in a phone call with her husband, their son is sick…”, Bakugou explains.
“It’s ok. I don’t mind waiting.”, Todoroki assures him.
Again the silence falls over them and this time it’s a bit uncomfortable. Neither of them seem to know what to say, awkwardly staring at each other as if the answer would pop up out of nowhere.
“Why are you working here?”, Todoroki asks once the silence gets unbearable.
“What?”, Bakugou frowns.
“Why are you working at a flower shop and not at a psychiatric office?”, Todoroki asks again.
“I’m not working here.”, Bakugou says and Todoroki’s confused face makes him laugh. “I work at the tattoo parlour at the other end of the mall. Blue Bird is short on people because the other girl that works here is on maternity lease.”, he explains. “We made a deal that we’ll help until she comes back and they let our apprentice stay here training drawing flowers.”
“You… Work at a tattoo parlour?”,Todoroki asks slowly, the information making his head spin.
“Yes? I’m a tattoo artist.”, Bakugou says and Todoroki’s shocked expression seems to delight Bakugou, by the way he’s smiling.
“What? How?”, Todoroki asks even more confused than he was when he was only thinking that Bakugou worked at the flower shop. “How this happened?”
“A year into my masters I started working as a body piercer at a tattoo parlour and got into drawing. Ended up becoming an apprentice and then I gave up on psychiatry to work as a tattoo artist.”, Bakugou says.
“But your drawings were awful.”, Todoroki says.
“Practice makes the master, honeybee.”, Bakugou says with a small smirk.
Todoroki blushes, his whole face getting a dark shade of red because the pet name and as soon as Bakugou notices what he had said, his face also turns crimson red. Bakugou started calling Todoroki “honeybee” as a way to annoy him when they first met, but with the years the nickname became a loving way of Bakugou calling him. Being called “honeybee” after all these years make things to Todoroki’s heart that he doesn’t want to think about right now.
“Oh, you’re back!”, Kaede exclaims happily once he gets to the first floor and Bakugou and Todoroki look at opposite directions.
-
Me: [16:48] Is Bakugou seeing someone?
Midoriya: [17:00] WHAT?
Me: [17:01] I’m just asking if he’s seeing someone...
Midoriya: [17:05] Why???????
Me: [17:07] I want to call him for coffee and I don’t want it to be weird, so I won’t call if he’s seeing someone.
Midoriya: [17:13] Todoroki-kun, isn’t it weird to you to call him for a coffee no matter if he’s seeing someone or not?
Me: [17:15] It’s just a coffee.
Midoriya: [17:16] Nothing is “just something” with you two.”
Me: [17:20] JUST a coffee.
Midoriya: [17:20] Right…
Me: [17:22] Is he seeing someone or not?
Midoriya: [17:25] I don’t know. We don’t talk much. I only see him when he comes to visit Kirishima at the hospital.
Me: [17:26] Alright, thanks.
-
Kirishima: [17:56] No, he’s not. And he leaves the shop at 19 today.
Me: [17:57] Thanks
-
The Poison Ivy Tattoo Studio is, in Todoroki’s opinion, intimidating. The store facade is paint in black and the glass walls are also tinted in black, with the name of the shop in black, red and purple displayed on the glass. The inside walls of the shop are sleek black from the ceiling until the middle where it turns into a chess pattern tiles, the floor in a mid-toned brushed wood. There are four tattoo stations and a glass room for piercing, the front desk lying between the entrance and the rest fo the shop, a couple of white couches and a coffee table making a small reception at the right of the door. On the walls there are frames with amazing drawings, both colorful and black-and-white, in a huge amount of styles.
“Hey, there!”, the guy at the front desk smiles brightly at him. He’s small and have a green mohican, and a face full of piercings.
“Hi.”, Todoroki says, approaching the front desk.
“Hi, hi!”, he greets happily, “I’m Kamakiri. What’s your name?”
“Todoroki Shouto. Nice to meet you.”
“Nice to meet you too! Do you have an appointment with one of our artists?”, Kamakiri asks, opening a black notebook to search for Todoroki’s appointment.
“Not really.”, Todoroki shakes his head. “I’m actually looking for Bakugou Katsuki. Is he still here?”
“Oh! Yep.”, Kamikari smiles, leaning on his chair to yell to inside the studio. “Katsu! There’s a hottie here wanting to talk to you!”
Todoroki can feel himself reddening, his face getting all warm. “Oh God…”, he mumbles, covering the lower part of his face with his hand.
Bakugou lifts his face and he’s on the station on the farthest corner, but Todoroki can see his cheeks getting pink too. “Kamikari, stop yelling inside the studio.”, he scowls, before waving to Todoroki to approach.
“Go there.”, Kamikari says, waving his hand dismissively and completely ignoring what Bakugou had first said.
Todoroki nods, walking past the front desk to Bakugou’s station, keenly aware of everyone’s eyes on him. But he completely forgets about the others when he gets to Bakugou’s station and see what he’s doing. The tattoo is a realistic lion in black-and-white taking the woman’s whole back, the lion’s mane flowing as if there’s wind blowing the fur.
“Holy shit.”, Todoroki’s breath out, his eyes widening.
“Is this a good ‘holy shit’ or a bad ‘holy shit’?”, the woman asks, her eyes closed.
“A good one. Definitely a good one.”, Todoroki tells her and Bakugou snorts a laugh.
“Great.”, she says, relaxing her shoulders.
“Shouldn’t you be working?”, Bakugou asks, leaning over the woman’s back to keep working.
“Just finished.”, Todoroki says, giving a couple of steps back to give both Bakugou and his client some space. “I came to ask if you wanna go for a coffee after you finish here.”
“Ah…”, Bakugou blinks a few times before nodding. “Yeah, that would be good.”
“Kat.”, a tall man with black hair and tattoos all the way up to his chin calls, entering the station and leaning over Bakugou. “We have a rule against bringing boyfriends to the studio. But since yours is really hot, I’m gonna let it slip.”, he says and Todoroki chokes on his own spit.
“First of all, stop fuckin breathing on my neck, what the hell.”, Bakugou nearly growls, but without taking his attention from the tattoo he’s making. “Second, he’s not my boyfriend, fuck you. Get out.”
“Dabi, stop bothering him.”, the client slaps the black haired man’s, Dabi, thigh. “If he messes up my tattoo, I’m suing you.”
“Oh, Takeyama-chan, if you keep being mean to me, I’m gonna fall in love.”, Dabi says, his hand on his heart. But he does leave Bakugou alone. “Toga, grab a chair to Kat’s boyfriend.”, he says as he walks out of the station.
“Alright!”, a girl answers somewhere.
“That piece of shit is our manager.”, Bakugou tells Todoroki. “It’s a mystery why the fuck Aizawa let him in charge of the shop.”
“Aizawa loves the chaos.”, Takeyama answers and Bakugou hums in agreement.
“What surprises me the most is you allowing them to call you nicknames.”, Todoroki says with a tiny smile. “You used to hate it.”
“Still do, but I’m new.”, Bakugou says, moving the light from place. “There’s no use fighting against it.”
“Hi!”, a blonde girl greets Todoroki, she has a face full of piercings and her arms have cute sweets tattooed. She hands him a chair. “Your nose is so pretty! Wanna a piercing?!”
“Thanks, but no.”, Todoroki answers politely, placing the chair at the corner.
Toga gives bunny jumps to approach him as soon as he sits down.
“Ok, enough. Get out of my station”, Bakugou says, his voice gaining the growled tone that Todoroki didn’t know he missed to hear. “The only people allowed here are Yu and Shouto, or I swear to God I’m gonna throw something at you.”
She only laughs at him, bunny jumping to another station to bother someone else.
-
“So where are we going?”, Bakugou asks as they step outside the mall.
“There’s a coffee shop down the street that sells that nasty sweet stuff you like.”, Todoroki says, burying his hands on his pockets.
“It’s called ‘frappuccino’, you annoying idiot.”, Bakugou grumbles and Todoroki glares at him.
“It’s called ‘not real coffee’, sugar.”, he says and Bakugou rolls his eyes.
“You drink tea with milk, Shouto, for fucks sake.”
“Tea is supposed to be drank with milk, Katsuki.”, Todoroki says.
“What are you? The Queen of England?”, Bakugou scoffs.
“No. I’m someone who knows how to drink tea, unlike you that doesn’t know how to drink coffee.”, Todoroki says, opening the door so Bakugou can enter the coffee shop.
“I’m gonna order with two times more whipped cream.”, Bakugou grumbles inside his scarf and Todoroki snorts a soft laugh.
True to his words, Bakugou does order a caramel frappuccino with double whipped cream. Out of spite, Todoroki orders tea with milk. They sit down at a table close to the window, a plate with warm chocolate chip cookies between them. For the first twenty minutes they stay in silence, enjoying the quietude of an nearly empty coffee shop.
Todoroki is the first one to talk, “My mom asked why you haven’t gone visit her yet.”
Bakugou lifts his eyes from the plate of cookies, blinking slowly. “I didn’t know if I could go…”
“Of course you can. My mom loves you, you know that.”, Todoroki says, leaning against the chair. “Even my dad likes you, somehow.”
Bakugou snorts a laugh. “When I told my mom that I had meet you again she asked if you would come to have dinner with us any time soon.”
“Dad wanted me to invite you to my mom’s birthday.”, Todoroki chuckles, sipping on his tea.
“Oh God…”, Bakugou laughs, shaking his head. “Why are they like this?”
“I don’t know.. But, I’m not against it.”, Todoroki says, shrugging softly. “I mean, we broke up in good terms.”
“That’s true.”, Bakugou nods. “I’m not against it either… It feels kinda weird, but it’s not bad, I guess.”
“I’m gonna see my mom next Saturday… If you’re free, you can come.”
-
Bakugou is free on Saturday, and Todoroki picks him up at his apartment to go to the hospital visit his mom.
Todoroki’s mother, Hana, have been living living in a luxury rest home it has fifteen years already. After a mental breakdown because of the stress, resulting on Todoroki’s scar, she was admitted into a psychiatric institution. Todoroki’s dad had put her in a rest home after she had got a little bit better, and they go out as a family frequently enough that his mother won’t feel forgotten.
“This place is better than that hospital.”, Bakugou comments as they cross the garden.
“Way better.”, Todoroki agrees, “She’s happier here.”
They enter the building, checking in on the reception before Todoroki guides them through the corridors to his mother’s studio apartment. He knocks at the door and a nurse opens. She smiles at them, letting them in.
“Your mother is cooking.”, the nurse says with a kind smile.
“Really?”, Todoroki asks surprised.
“Hmhm.”, the nurse nods. “She said that today’s visit was special.”
“Shouto! Katsuki!”, Hana greets happily, looking way better than she the last weekend. “I’m almost finishing lunch!”
“What’re you cooking, mom?”, Todoroki asks, guiding Bakugou to inside the apartment.
“Chilly noodles!”, she says, walking to them so she can properly greet them with hugs and kisses.
His mother’s emotions can vary widely. Sometimes she will be stoic, others really calm, others she’ll be miserably sad, but there are times where she is genuinely happy. Todoroki loves these times the most.
“You’re always spoiling me, aren’t you?”, Bakugou smiles, handing her a pretty bouquet.
“Just a little bit.”, she smiles, grabbing the bouquet. “Oh! Lavenders! I love them! Thank you, sugar.”, Hana smiles, kissing Bakugou’s cheeks.
Calling Bakugou ‘sugar’ also started as a joke, as a payback for the whole ‘honeybee’ thing. But with time, the pet name also turned into a lovingly manner to call the blond. His mother ended up adopting the nickname after hearing Todoroki calling him that so many times. Bakugou never complained.
“Did you like the bouquet I made for your birthday?”, Bakugou asks as Todoroki stays back to talk to the nurse.
“Yes! It was lovely.”, Hana smiles, filling a jar with water to put her flowers. “I took care of them the best I could, but you know that sometimes my head doesn’t let me work, so they ended up dying.”
“It’s natural to them to end up dying, don’t worry. I’ll make Shouto bring you flowers every week, alright?”, he smiles and Todoroki thinks that it’s unfair how easy Bakugou can mess up with him.
“Oh, it’ll be great!”, Hana nods. “I miss having plants. I think I’m killing my succulents.”, she whispers and Bakugou chuckles.
“Do you want me to take a look at them?”, he asks, stepping away from the counter he was leaning against.
“Would you do me this favor, sugar?”, Hana asks with a kind smile.
“Of course, mamabee.”, Bakugou smiles, walking to the window to see the succulents.
“You need help, mom?”, Todoroki asks as he enters the kitchen.
“Oh no, honey, everything is fine.”, she flashes him a smile from over her shoulder.
“You seem happier today.”, Todoroki comments, leaning against the sink.
“It’s because I’m happy that you and Katsuki are here.”, she says. “Are you two back together?”
“No, mom. We’re just friends now.”, Todoroki says, leaning forward so he can taste the sauce his mother is offering him.
“Nothing is ‘just something’ with you two, Shouto…”, she says, patting his cheek.
“You’re sounding exactly like Midoriya.”, Todoroki snorts a laugh.
“Izuku is a wise kid. You should listen to him sometimes.”
-
They got into a routine pretty quickly. They would eat lunch together at a healthy restaurant if Bakugou wasn’t busy tattooing someone during Todoroki’s lunchtime and at night they would go to the coffee shop to drink something before going home. Sometimes Todoroki would drive Bakugou home and they would stay inside the car chatting for at least forty minutes before their body started to complain and they finally part ways.
Everything is going fine as long as Todoroki completely ignores how his heart beats fast when their hands touch, or how warm he feels everytime Bakugou smiles, or even how a butterflies storm happens inside his stomach everytime that it’s too cold and Bakugou leans against him. As long as Todoroki pretends nothing of this happens, he’s great.
“You’re digging your own grave.”, Midoriya tells him one day in the middle of autumn when they stop to eat something at a cafe.
“I’m not doing anything…”, Todoroki sighs, leaning against his chair. “We’re just friends.”
“Nothing is…”
“‘just something with us’, I know.”, Todoroki cuts. “But I’m telling you, it’s just friendship.”
“Are you telling me that, given chance, you wouldn’t kiss him again?”, Midoriya asks and blushes faintly. “You really trying to convince me that, if he gave you the tiniest opening possible, you wouldn’t make him yours again?”, he asks, “Be honest with me, Shouto. You never think about having him again? Not even for a single moment?”
Todoroki bites down his lip, looking anywhere that isn’t Midoriya. Of course he thinks about having Bakugou again. Of course he that, given chance, no matter how small that chance could be, he would made Bakugou his again. Of fucking course he wants to kiss Bakugou again. The answer is “yes” to every single one of Midoriya’s question, but he can’t bring himself to say it out loud.
“You’re digging your own grave.”, Midoriya tells him again, sighing heavily.
-
They go hiking with Bakugou’s parents on the first day of the winter.
It’s cold and gloomy, and Todoroki had completely forgotten about how much energy the Bakugou family has. He’s honestly out of shape, because he has to stop to catch his breath at least three times.
“I work in a office, Katsuki.”, Todoroki grumbles when Bakugou pokes fun at him for being out of shape.
“I work sitting down too, so it’s not an excuse.”, Bakugou says, handing Todoroki the bottle of water. His parents are already ahead of them.
“I’ve stopped going to the gym…”, he says, drinking the water while still trying to normalize his breath.
“I’m gonna pick you up every morning so you can train with Eijirou and I.”
“Please, no, I want to remain alive.”, Todoroki says, because only someone with deathwish would agree on going to the gym with Bakugou and Kirishima. Kaminari tried once and was traumatized for the rest of his life. Only Tetsutetsu can follow them, and even so it’s not always.
“Ok, but we gonna start jogging every day.”, Bakugou warns him before resume on walking. “I’m not letting you become sedentary.”
“God save me.”
-
It’s Christmas Eve and it’s snowing lightly. Bakugou is hugging Todoroki’s left arm, wearing more layers than necessary, while they walk around the square.
“The next time I tell you that I wanna see the fuckin lights, you tell me to go fuck myself because it’s an stupid idea.”, Bakugou grumbles, pressing his face against Todoroki’s arm in hope of warming up his red nose.
“As if that would work.”, Todoroki chuckles, walking towards a coffee shop to buy something hot to drink.
“Why did you accept, anyways? It’s freezing cold and my stupid-ass goes all like ‘oh, let’s go see the motherfuckin Christmas lights, it’ll be fun, we won’t freeze our asses off’ and you’re like ‘alright’! Why?! Haven’t it crossed your damn mind that I’m going nuts?”, Bakugou asks, his growling tone coming back.
“I forgot how grumpy you get when you’re cold.”, Todoroki comments, amused. “And it’s not even that cold.”
“Fuck you and everything you stand for.”, Bakugou says, but he sighs in relief when they get inside the warm ambiance of the cafe.
They buy their drinks and go sitting on a couch near a fireplace on the back of the coffee shop. There are a lot of people inside, so they don’t have too much space on the couch, but it’s fine. In the end, Bakugou throws his legs over Todoroki’s as Todoroki leans against him.
If you ask any of them how long they stayed there, pretty much cuddling on the couch of a cafe, neither would be able to answer for sure. They lost the count of time, talking about anything and at the same time everything. Their coffees go cold, forgotten on their hands as they get way too involved on the conversation. It’s as if the world had stop spinning and the time had freeze like the weather outside. When they look around, the couch is completely empty and it had stopped snowing outside.
Todoroki drives Bakugou home that night and Bakugou gives him a goodnight kiss on the cheek before getting out of the car.
-
On the last day of January, they decide to go to the beach at night.
It’s freezing cold and Bakugou had gathered every single blanket he could find on both his and Todoroki’s houses. They lay down the back seat of Todoroki’s car and put an old inflatable mattress on top of it. The trunk is open and facing the ocean and they can hear the waves crashing against the rocks of a cliff nearby. There’s a old-style lantern on the front seat, her light casting weird shadows on the car roof.
They have been sitting on the open trunk for about an hour, drinking the hot chocolate they had brought, when Bakugou asks, his voice soft and low as if he didn’t want to disturb the night. “Why are we doing this, Shouto?”
“Why… We are... Watching the ocean?”, Todoroki asks slowly, not understanding.
“No, you idiot.”, Bakugou chuckles, looking down at his thermos bottle. “Why have we been doing this for the past year?”
“What are you talking about?”, he asks again, still confused.
“You and I. Why are we always going out together? Why do we have lunch together every day? Why do you drive me home even though your house is on the opposite side of the city? Why do you go hiking with my family and I go have lunch with your mom? Fuck, Shouto, why did we go see the Christmas lights together?”, Bakugou asks, not looking at him yet. “Why are we doing all this? Weren’t we supposed to move on? Didn’t we promise that we would forget about each other and move on with our lives? So why the fuck are we doing this, Shouto? Why are we here?”, he ask, now lifting up his gaze to meet Todoroki’s.
They stare at each other’s eyes for a full minute before Todoroki sighs heavily and averts his gaze, looking back at the empty beach in front of them.
“I hated that idea…”, Todoroki says. “I agreed because it sounded logical at time, but I hated that idea since the first moment we said it out loud.”, he sighs. “I would have gone visiting you in Canada every single month you had asked me for it. Jesus, I would have moved there with you if had told me that that was what you wanted. I would have done anything just so we could stay together… I don’t know why we’re doing this, Katsuki. But I know that I never wanted, and I still don’t want to move on.”
Bakugou sighs, his shoulders dropping. “I wouldn’t have gone if you asked me to…”, he says, his voice barely over a whisper. “If you had asked me to stay, I would have dropped Canada without even think about it. I would have moved with you to Tokyo and I would started working at a clinic as a psychiatrist. If you had told me that you wanted me to stay, I would never step away from you.”
Todoroki snorts a soft and pretty sad laugh. “We’re such idiots.”
“Yeah…”, Bakugou nods.
They look at each other and Todoroki leans down, touching Bakugou’s lips with his own. The kiss is slow and calm, not even getting deep. It’s just a physical confirmation that yes, this is really happening.
“I still want you to stay…”, Todoroki whispers against Bakugou’s lips, his eyes still closed, one of his hands curling up against the blond’s waist.
“I’m not going anywhere.”