Chapter Text
Uraraka groaned as her long brown hair whipped at her face due to the chilly autumn wind. She made a mental note to get it cut soon as she made her way across the street towards her favourite coffee shop, Explosion Coffee.
She had tied her hair up in a ponytail but it had come loose and was now flying all over the place. Uraraka cursed under her breath as some of the strands made its way into her mouth.
It wouldn't stay in a ponytail because of all the uneven edges, she knew that. Uraraka had tried to cut her own hair in order to save money, but it was proving to be more and more difficult as she was no hair stylist.
Her college fees were expensive enough and she didn't want to burden her parents even more. Uraraka tightened her grip around the textbooks and notebooks she had in her arms. She was going to work hard and ace all of her assignments. She was going to graduate as one of the top students in UA University and make her parents proud!
For that to happen, though, she was going to need some coffee.
If not, Uraraka Ochako was going to collapse from the lack of sleep and the stress.
Eventually, the girl found herself at her destination. Uraraka smiled, thinking about the hot coffee that would soon be flowing down her throat, warming her up.
She paused in front of the coffee shop, looking at her reflection in the window. Uraraka sighed as she caught sight of her untidy hair and baggy grey sweatshirt in the reflection. She shook her head and moved an arm up to adjust her hair more neatly, then made her way into the shop.
The air smelled of freshly brewed coffee and she took a deep breath to let the familiar smell fill up her senses. She looked around the store, it seemed to be really crowded today. There was a long line too. Well, there goes her plan to quickly grab a cup and head to the library.
Suddenly, she made eye contact with a pair of dark racoon- looking eyes. She recognized the pink fluffy hair attached to the owner of those eyes at once.
"Mina, you're here too? " she exclaimed as she waved at her college mate.
Mina smiled excitedly as she beckoned Uraraka over to the table she was seated at. The girl decided to kill some time by chatting with her friend, being in no hurry to wait in that dreaded line. As she made her way over, she noticed two other girls sitting with Mina and they looked up at her, flashing warm smiles in her direction.
"Momo,Tsu, nice to see you two as well," Uraraka said good- naturedly. The girl with jet black hair nodded her head politely in greeting and continued to sip her coffee. She had a book in her other hand and went back to reading it intently. The other one with dark, green hair that was tied in some sort of ribbon at the end put a finger to her mouth and said, " Nice to see you too, Ochako. Would you like to join us for coffee?"
"Oh, i wish i could, guys, but i've got tons of work to do," Uraraka denied the offer, rather regrettably. She scratched the back of her head and smiled sheepishly as she continiued, "I'm just here to get a coffee to go."
"Girlsss," Mina giggled excitedly from behind her coffee cup, causing all the girls to turn to her and stop conversing.
"Now that i've got all of your attention," Mina said triumphantly, "There seems to be a hot new addition to the menu and i'm not talking about the coffee!"
The girls each raised an eyebrow at this and exchanged looks with each other, obviously confused at Mina's comment.
The pink-haired girl rolled her eyes at her clueless friends and sat back in her chair, crossing her arms, "You guys are soooo dense! I'm talking about the new barista at Explosion Coffee, he's really cute."
Now it was Momo's turn to roll her eyes, "Mina, don't you already have a boyfriend? That nice spiky-haired boy? You shouldn't be ogling other guys like this."
Mina huffed at Momo's remark, "Oh please, Momo! I'm just calling it as i see it. Besides, he's not my type, looks too grumpy" Her eyes had a mischievous glint in it all of a sudden as she turned her gaze on Uraraka, making the poor girl feel uneasy.
Mina smirked, "Anyhow, i'm just letting our little, single, friend over here know what to look out for!" She giggled as Uraraka's face flushed bright red.
It was true, out of everyone in her group of friends, Uraraka was the only one without a significant other. It was not like she minded much, since her time was mostly occupied by her studies. Although, sometimes she did long for someone to hold hands with, or to watch silly movies with, or to go out on nice dates wi-
She shook her head to get out of her thoughts and back to reality. The reality that Uraraka Ochako was just not going to have a boyfriend anytime soon. Some cute barista wasn't going to change that. She wouldn't have the nerve to flirt with him, or anyone for that matter.
Suddenly feeling uncomfortable, Uraraka glanced over at the line of people waiting to order coffee and was filled with releif to see it considerably shorter. She hastily excused herself from the girls and quickly made her way to take her position in the line.
After a few minutes, it was her turn. She looked up at the barista, ready with her usual order.
As she met his eyes, her mind went completely blank.
"Oh shit," Uraraka thought as she gaped at the boy in front of her, "Mina was right."
The barista had ashy blonde hair that spiked upwards in all angles. There was a portion that sat low over his piercing red eyes which felt as if they were starring with a little too much intensity into Ochako's own. He had multiple piercings on his right ear that gave him an edgy look but what really caught Uraraka's attention was his arms. His sleeves were pulled up all the way to his elbows, showing off how muscular they were.
Uraraka starred at him for a good few seconds, silent. The barista furrowed his brow in irritation and cleared his throat.
"What can i get you? " He asked, voice low and gruff.
Before she could stop herself, Uraraka blurted out, "You."
Silence followed in which the two just starred at each other, wide-eyed.
As it slowly occured to Uraraka what she had just said, she flushed fully red for the second time that day.
"Crap, crap, crap! I need to get out of this situation!" the brown- haired girl thought frantically as she tried to get her bearings.
"What i meant to say was, i'll have an Iced Caramel! Okay, thanks, BYE!" Uraraka quickly spluttered. As soon as she finished her sentence, she spun around and was about to make a run for it when the barista called after her, "Wait!"
She froze, grimacing.
"...yes?" Uraraka managed to squeak out as she turned around to reluctantly face the barista.
He had an amused look plastered on his face, which didn't help her feel any better.
"Name, please?" He then asked.
She stared at him for a few seconds and then realization dawned on her. Gosh, she was such an idiot.
"Oh, hahaha it's...uh...Ochako! I mean, Uraraka! Yeah, Uraraka," she stuttered helplessly.
Before he could say anything else, she was gone.
After a couple of minutes spent hiding from the view of the blonde barista, Uraraka heard her name called to collect her coffee. She made her way to the collection counter, not daring to look up as she grabbed her coffee and left as fast as she could.
On her way out, she heard Mina call out to her but she pretended not to hear her friend. There was no way she was going to tell anyone what happened. There was also no way she would let them see how red she was.
She moaned in despair as she walked on the streets in the direction of the library, coffee in hand. Uraraka no longer felt cold, the heat of her full-body blush keeping her warm.
"Aaahh...why did i say that?" she wanted to scream in frustration. "So embarassing...maybe i should consider going somewhere else for coffee." She would really miss Explosion Coffee's stuff though.
"This is all your fault!" Uraraka looked angrily at her coffe cup, trying to direct her anger towards anything but herself.
Then, she noticed something scribbled underneath the writting of her name. She gasped as she realized it was someone's phone number written on the cup. Right underneath the number, written in small and neat handwritting, were the words,
"Call me."
Uraraka Ochako stopped dead in the streets, suddenly not having the mood to study at all.
************
"Hey, bro!" Kirishima called out as he noticed his blonde- haired friend walk out of Explosion Coffee. He knew that Bakugou got off shift around this time in the evening and wanted to drop by and ask if he wanted to hang out.
When Bakugou didn't respond, Kirishima bounded up to him and threw an arm over his shoulder, "Yo, dude, how was work today?" he asked.
Bakugou grumbled but made no effort to push Kirishima off. He mumbled something under his breath.
"What was that? You know i can't understand you when you mumble and grunt like that, dude," the sharp- toothed boy laughed as he trudged along with his friend under his arm.
Bakugou grumbled again, this time much more loudly, and said, "Urghh...I said i gave my number to a girl today, damn it."
Kirishima stopped laughing and let go of Bakugou, stopping in his tracks and starring after him as he continued to walk ahead. Kirishima shook his head in disbeleif and ran to catch up with him after processing what his grumpy friend had just said.
"No way, man!" he punched Bakugou in the shoulder, causing the boy to raise a fist threateningly in his direction. Kirishima put his hands up in defeat, saying a quick sorry.
"I'm just so excited for you, man," Kirishima chuckled while shaking his head, "She must have really caught your attention, you were never intetested in meeting girls before this."
"Yeah, well...fuck...i don't know," Bakugou scratched his head in annoyance at Kirishima's boyish attitude and his own uncertainty. He fought hard to contain a blush that was slowly spreading across his cheeks.
" I just hope i don't fucking regret this..."