Work Text:
Izuku sighed as he unlocked the cafe he worked in, his Mother was sick and he didn't have enough money to buy her medication for the month. He balled his hands up into a fist and shoved open the door and hurried inside.
The timer implanted in his skin made a beeping noise, but he ignored it. The beep meant the time between you meeting your Soulmate had changed drastically, but no matter what he did it would always beep when the time got longer so at this point he didn't bother choking. Unless it started beeping the five second countdown he ignored it. He even went as far as wrapping a bandage around his wrist to keep it out of sight. It wasn't an uncommon practice, so no one looked at him weird when he was on the street. In fact, people who showed their timer were usually given odd glances.
The green haired boy inhaled deeply, walking behind the counter and putting the apron with the cafe emblem on it. Not too long after he did it, the bell above the door rung as someone entered the shop. Two familiar faces greeted him.
"Izuku!" A girl with brown hair said brightly.
"Good morning Midoriya." Spoke a man with dark hair and thin rimmed glasses.
"Iida, Uraraka! How are you guys?" He asked, smiling at them.
Iida Tenya: Son of the Iida family, a prestigious family that is very well known for its engineering industry. Most of it revolves around cars, or more specifically, race cars that are planned to be transported to America. Tenya is one of the five children of the current CEO, depending on if he can prove himself to his Father then he could possibly become the next CEO after his Father.
Uraraka Ochako: Daughter of a rather poor family, both of her parents worked in construction but it didn't make a lot of money. She planned on finding a way to support her family since they didn't have a very good financial standing. But instead, she found Iida.
They met as mutual friends of Izuku and found out that they were Soulmates when their timers hit the five second countdown.
Izuku would be lying if he said he wasn't jealous of them, that he wasn't jealous that they had found each other. Sometimes Soulmates didn't meet, ever, people would just die alone while everyone else found their Soulmates.
Though there was one other person that he met who he would've loved to have as a Soulmate. His name was Todoroki Shouto, but he found out that one of their classmates ended up being Todoroki's Soulmate, and he also found out that Todoroki had to interest in men. It was a bit of a let down, but Izuku accepted it.
"We're great, how's it been on your end?" The brunette asked curiously.
"Yes, how has your Mother been?" Iida narrowed.
"Oh, she's been fine. I haven't gotten enough money for her medicine this month but I'm sure I'll manage." He told them, turning away to start brewing the coffee.
"You know I could always help you Midoriya, I owe you a great deal and wouldn't mind-" Iida began but Izuku cut him off.
"No, no, no, no, no, no! I can handle it by myself Iida, really! I'll be fine, I promise." He said quickly, then slowed down near the end and rubbed the back of his neck anxiously.
"Okay..." Uraraka said, breaking the awkward silence that had filled the air.
"So did you guys come in here for anything important?" Izuku asked, turning his attention back to the task at hand. He pulled the full coffee pot out as Uraraka started talking again.
"Bakugou Katsuki is coming back to Japan! He's coming here, to Tokyo! You knew him when you were little right?" She said with a smile, Izuku almost dropped the pot in surprise.
Katsuki Bakugou: A famous male model from Japan who moved from country to country for photo shoots all over the world. He was #6 on the 'Most Wealthy People Under 20' list.
"Kacchan is coming back?" He asked with wide eyes. Uraraka pulled out her phone and pulled up an article titled 'Katsuki Bakugou Returns Home' with a picture of Katsuki getting off an airplane. The picture was a bit blurred but Izuku recognized Katsuki's pointed hair.
"Yes, he arrived this morning. I assumed you of all people would know when he was returning." Iida commented.
"Well when we were eleven Katsuki left Japan with his family to train, originally to be an actor, but he ended up becoming a model. I stopped keeping track of him a little while after I turned sixteen, I had honestly thought he'd never be coming back." Izuku said nervously, setting the pot on the counter carefully. Then put another pot into the coffee maker and filled it up.
"Well, maybe you can get in contact again? Why don't you go find him?" Uraraka asked, tilting her head to the side a little. Her brown hair falling to the side and almost falling into her face. Izuku couldn't help but chuckle in amusement. "I have no way to contact him, plus I don't think he's forgiven me yet." He said, shaking his head.
"Forgiven you for what?" Iida asked, they were being a bit nosy about his past but it was probably time he get it off his chest.
"I... I kissed him when we were kids. I wanted to learn how to kiss a girl and he always bragged about how he kissed a bunch of girls, he screamed at me and hit me when I did it. He quit talking to me for a while, one day he called my house and said he wanted to meet at his house on Saturday. But when I got there Saturday afternoon, they weren't home so I waited outside for about two hours, finally their neighbor told me that they had left to go to America Friday. I hoped it was to talk about what happened so I could apologize but... I guess it was a sick joke." Izuku said softly, not looking at them.
"Did... Did you like him?" Uraraka asked, speaking just as quietly as he did.
"Looking back on it... Yeah, I think I did. When I was a kid I thought I could only like girls and he was only a friend but when I got older..." His voice trailed off, he seen Iida glance at his watch.
"Uraraka, we have to leave or we'll be late to lunch with my parents." Iida said calmly, trying to pull away from the topic.
"Yeah, okay... Bye Izuku." She said, waving at him. He could see the pity in her eyes.
He waved back, the bell signaling their exit. He sighed deeply, looking up at the ceiling and just staring for a little while.
When it hit around one, the lunch rush came in. People ordered coffee and sandwiches and chips (it was his idea to get that stuff to drum up more business, and it worked.).
Pretty soon the seats were filled, a few teenagers were drinking frozen coffee and sitting on the couches, some businessmen were talking and looking at a folder full of god knows what while drinking black coffee. The cafe felt very alive.
He smiled a bit, taking more orders and serving more coffee and snacks. It was hard being the only employee sometimes, but it was worth it, he could see people enjoying the coffee he made. The tips weren't half bad either. He sighed in contentment as he started a new brew of coffee, he kept up the common pattern.
The bell tinged and he looked over to see a woman dressed in a business uniform looking at a few papers. She walked to his bar and started talking in a quick and commanding tone.
"I need a coffee with two pumps of chocolate, vanilla extract, steamed milk, with whipped cream and cinnamon." She said quickly.
"Okay... So you want a cafe mocha? Because that's what you're asking for. You could've just said that." He said simply before turning on his heels and making the drink quickly and efficiently. He added their 'special ingredient' that always left customers wanting more.
No.
It wasn't a drug.
He turned back around and handed it to her in a plastic cup with a top and straw. "Be careful, it's hot." He said mechanically. She paid, let him keep the change of over $40, and left within seconds. He couldn't help but be excited over the extra $40, his common tip was maybe two dollars or less. This would definitely get him closer to his goal so he could get his Mother's medicine.
The rest of the day went out without a hitch.
The next day came by and the woman arrived again, ordering the same thing and leaving the same tip.
It kept up for around a week before she arrived early on a Saturday morning, she ordered the same thing but Izuku grimaced. "I'm sorry, but right now we're out of the whipped cream and chocolate, we can't get any more until Monday." He told her, her face turned a sudden bright red.
"You cannot be serious! If I don't get this drink then my job is on the line!" She hissed, Izuku held up his hands in surrender.
"I'm sorry ma'am but there isn't anything I can do, you should try another coffee shop if you need it that badly." He sighed, he couldn't help her so she shouldn't be lashing out at him.
She turned around and stomped out of the shop, he went back to doing what he had been doing beforehand and started washing dishes. When he was done, he decided to go on a lunch break. It was about four, and business seemed to be pretty slow.
He took off his apron and put on a sweatshirt that was too big for his small body.
The 19 year old picked up his keys and pushed open the door, and it slammed into something hard. It took a few seconds for Izuku to realize that he had hit a person.
"Oh my god I'm so sorry!" He said quickly, beginning to panic. "Are you alright? I can't believe I did that!" He almost ignored the other starting to get up as he walked in circles, but he suddenly froze. His back was facing the person, but there was an on sync beeping coming from both of them.
Izuku unclenched his hands from his green hair and let his arms fall loosely at his side he slowly turned, counting off the beeps in his head.
Five.
Four.
Three.
Two.
... One.
His emerald gaze met a furious red one, but the reaction from both of them almost seemed to be buffering.
"K-Kacchan...?" Izuku asked, for a second he questioned if Katsuki was just an apparition in his head that he was just making up because he knew that the blonde was back in Japan. Katsuki's reaction was almost the opposite, he brought his hand up and punched Izuku in the shoulder.
"Ow!" He groaned gripping his arm.
"Do you get off on hitting people with doors Deku?!" He growled, Izuku really didn't have much of an answer for that so he just stuck his tongue out childishly.
"You work here?" He asked, rather aggressively actually, and pointed at the store. Izuku nodded quickly. "Why the fuck wasn't my assistant able to get my drink?" He asked, once again being aggressive. Izuku couldn't remember a time where Katsuki wasn't aggressive honestly.
"We're out of the ingredients, I told her that and said to get one from a different store." Izuku told him, still rubbing his arm.
"It isn't the same you idiot!" Katsuki told him.
"I'll make one Monday Kacchan, just calm down!" Izuku rose his voice to match Katsuki's.
"I'm not gonna calm down! You didn't make my coffee then you hit me with a fucking door!" He ranted, raising his voice even higher.
"Stop yelling! This is why we never have real conversations!" Izuku yelled back.
There came a point where the newly found Soulmates were arguing about coffee in general, and it caught a lot of attention. A few pictures were even taken before Izuku dragged him away to talk in private. He locked them inside of the coffee shop so they could yell alone.
"Why do you keep yelling?! There isn't a point anymore!" Izuku shouted as they continued their rant.
"Because you keep yelling! Stop yelling!" Katsuki screamed back.
A smile spread across Izuku's face, he burst out in laughter. It seemed to be contagious because Katsuki smiled a bit and chuckled.
"You haven't changed at all, have you?" Izuku finally asked, crossing his arms over his chest.
"Neither have you, you're still a nerd. Running a coffee shop? Really? Cliche much?" Katsuki critiqued. It made Izuku roll his eyes, but he couldn't hold back at this point. He needed to know.
"Kacchan... Why... Why did you make me come to your house the day after you left? That wasn't a funny trick... I cried and I was mad at you." Izuku never got mad at anyone, he is the 'forgive and forget' type so he won't stay mad for long, but he stayed mad at Katsuki and he wouldn't forgive him until he knew the answer to why he had done that to him.
Katsuki had to look away, his face was tinted pink.
"I was supposed to leave Sunday, but there was a change of plans and they moved it to Friday. I didn't know, so by the time I realized I needed to tell you we had already got on the plane and took off." He said, his red eyes flicking back to meet Izuku's green ones.
"So, it wasn't a trick? It was an accident?" He asked, Katsuki nodded slowly. "One more thing, I really want to know why you wanted me to come over." He told the other, trying his best to avoid crying but he could feel the tears welling up in his eyes.
"I wanted to say sorry, then-" Katsuki reached out and grasped Izuku's hips, forcing him close, "- do this." He said before shoving their lips together. Izuku quickly melted into it.
To think, he wanted to apologize for this.