Work Text:
“Thank you, have a nice day! Hello, what would you like to get today?”
Kaminari gives his best service smile. He’s really thankful that the owner of the cafe allowed him to work here despite his unique circumstances. He doesn’t remember a single thing from before he turned 21. He lost all of his memories from a car accident. He had a high school diploma to his name and nothing else, and he lived all alone in Tokyo away from his family.
They had offered to help him after the accident, but he felt awkward accepting help from people who felt like strangers to him. They did end up paying for his hospital bills and then some. He rejected their offer to bring him back home.
There was something about Tokyo that made him want to stay. Something lingered beyond the edge of his consciousness, like memories trapped behind a wall. Every day he learned something new about himself, the current Kaminari Denki. For example, he was absent-minded and would often misplace his things. He liked eating hamburgers and western food over Japanese food. However, he didn’t know if the previous Kaminari shared the same traits.
“Matcha Latte.”
Kaminari keys the order, feeling a strange pang in his chest. Matcha latte does that to him for some reason. He doesn’t know if it’s allergies. Maybe it meant something to the old Kaminari.
“Your name, sir?”
“Todoroki.”
“That will be six dollars!”
Kaminari looks up to accept the payment. However, the man in front of him had nothing prepared, not card nor cash. He just stared at Kaminari with a burning intensity through his differently coloured eyes. Were those contact lenses? His hair was two-toned too, and it was pretty cool. This guy was one of the most attractive people Kaminari saw, though that might not be saying much because he only had 2 years of memory after his accident.
“Sir? Would you like to pay by cash or card?” Kaminari says with a smile. They do get the occasional zombie in need of a coffee fix, and Kaminari can sympathize with that.
“Denki,” Todoroki says quietly, the name heavy with emotion. Kaminari blinks in confusion and tilts his head. What’s wrong? The handsome man stares at him wordlessly, a complicated mix of emotions in his eyes Kaminari couldn’t understand.
“Hurry up will you?” the customer behind sighs.
That seems to break Todoroki out of whatever spell he was in. Taking a shuddering breath, he takes his wallet from his pocket, handing Kaminari a… what the fuck, this was one of those credit cards for super rich people. Taking it and trying to keep his cool, Kaminari accepted the card.
“Here’s your receipt, we’ll call you later! Have a nice day,” Kaminari says with his customer service voice. He’s not losing the best customer service bonus he’s had for three months.
With disbelief in his eyes, Todoroki says, “You too.”
He steps away, clearly shaken. Kaminari’s hella confused. Did he do something wrong? Why did the man look like he saw a ghost? He frowned, before remembering he was still at work. He turned up his service smile, brightening up.
“Welcome!”
As he went through the motions of his work, he couldn’t help but wonder. The way Todoroki called out his name was weird. Like sure, his name was on his nametag and there were customers who addressed him by name, but none like Todoroki has. He got friendly greetings, polite greetings, angry complaints, not… whatever that was.
Wait, his nametag only had his surname.
He looked around the cafe in a hurry, but Todoroki was gone. Was it someone who used to know him? But… Todoroki hadn’t looked particularly happy, not the way you would greet an old friend. It wasn’t the way Kirishima reacted after seeing him on the streets by chance. They managed to become friends again, although Kaminari had no doubt Kirishima could easily befriend anyone.
He didn’t remember anything about Kirishima before the accident, though. Nor could he remember anything about Todoroki. Maybe it was better left alone. He couldn’t stand the feeling of his family constantly talking about ‘shared’ memories that he couldn’t remember. He couldn’t help but feel bad about the disappointment in their eyes when he failed to act like their Kaminari. Old friends too, they too would feel nothing but disappointment if they met the current him.
“Thanks for all the hard work!” his coworker says with a beaming grin, slapping him on the back. Ashido Mina was a bubbly girl with endless enthusiasm, and they often competed for the top service award. Though honestly, it might not count for much of a competition since they were always helping each other.
“Ow! You too! And stop displacing all your anger from nasty customers on me,” Kaminari pouted.
“I don’t want to bring it home,” Ashido giggles like that’s a valid answer. Kaminari huffed, shaking his head. She taught him a lot when he first came, and didn’t judge him or coddle him for his amnesia. He appreciated her for treating him as him.
“By the way, that ikemen you served? You’re so lucky! I hope he comes back,” Ashido gushes, sighing wistfully. She develops crushes on their customers so often. Kaminari rolls his eyes. Admittedly yeah, this guy was indeed gorgeous, but Ashido’s crushes never lasted long.
“I’ll let you serve the counter when he does,” Kaminari relents. Crushing makes her happy, and he likes seeing her happy.
She squeals in joy and hugs him. “You’re the best, Denki!”
As it turns out, the ikemen returns often. Whenever ‘Hottie alert’ is called, they switch spots before Todoroki reaches the counter. Ashido giggles and attempts to flirt with the stoic man, who always orders a matcha latte without fail. He looks awfully confused by her attempts, inadvertently shooting her down with statements like ‘Why would I?’ but she’s undeterred. He often looks over at Kaminari when this happens, who would look away like he’s not part of it.
Todoroki has a new routine of taking a seat in the far corner of the cafe, looking over at Kaminari and Ashido ever so often. He looks like he has something to say, but unsure of how to say it. It’s a little uncomfortable, being watched while working. Kaminari tries to take it in stride. Maybe Todoroki likes people watching, likes watching baristas make drinks.
There’s a lull in customers, and Ashido leans against the counter, pouting. “Think he’s playing hard to get?”
“Todoroki?”
“Yeah, who else! He’s not giving me his first name, his number, or a date. But he’s always coming back, and always looking over.”
“Maybe he likes our coffee?” Kaminari offers weakly. The stares are a bit too intense for just coffee though. He’s starting to really wonder what the previous Kaminari did. Owe the man some money? Killed someone?
“Our matcha latte is pretty great,” Ashido nods like it’s possible.
They’re a lot busier thanks to Todoroki. The man has been getting a bit of a fan club. There are girls coming more often just to ogle him from the other seats. Kaminari gets it, Todoroki is insanely hot, looking like he’s filming a commercial whenever he drinks from his cup.
He’s busy wiping cups, lost in his thoughts when there’s suddenly a harsh nudge against his arm.
“Incoming!! Incoming!!” Ashido hisses under her breath. He looks up to see Ashido rapidly trying to preen herself, making sure her hair was perfect. Huh? Following her line of sight, oh my god, it’s Todoroki coming to their counter again. Maybe to get another matcha latte? He watches as Ashido bounces up to the cashier, beaming at Todoroki.
“Hey, handsome! Can I get you another drink?”
Todoroki looks visibly frustrated. His eyes cut towards Kaminari, who flinches. Wait what? Did he do something wrong?
“No, I want to talk to him.”
Well, fuck. There goes his best customer service award.
Ashido gasps theatrically like it’s one of the plot twists in her dramas. Her eyes grow wide as saucers as she stares at Kaminari.
His move.
“Uh, okay?” Kaminari says weakly, tongue heavy as lead. Was Todoroki one of those, uh, undercover quality check customers? They had those sometimes. He was pretty sure he treated Todoroki well according to the protocol though.
Todoroki’s eyebrows furrow. His patience looks like it’s being stretched thin. With a grimace, he says politely, “Outside, if possible.”
Ashido gasps again. Kaminari could just hear the cogs turning in her head. She ships anything and everything her eyes comes across online, and no doubt she’s imagining Todoroki making out with Kaminari in the alleyway. It doesn’t matter if she had a passing crush on Todoroki, her love for gayness supersedes that. Besides, who hasn’t had a crush on Todoroki? Everyone he knows must have crushed on him before. Like all the customers curiously glancing their way.
Kaminari looks at Ashido nervously, despite knowing that she can’t, and won’t, save him. She gives him an unhelpful thumbs up that says ‘Go get em tiger’. Doesn’t she get that it’s a LOT more likely that Todoroki is some son of the yakuza that wants to cut his fingers off?
“Outside then,” Kaminari relents. It wouldn’t do to cause a scene in the cafe when the owner was kind enough to give him a job. Blood would be a mess to clean up. He puts the cleaning cloth down, gesturing for Todoroki to lead the way.
It’s a little chilly outside, as they step into the alleyway where all the trash bins are. They could’ve talked in the cafe sure, but there would be too many prying eyes and ears. A soft wind ruffles their hair as they stand in front of each other, both awkward. Kaminari looks away and rubs his hands together to warm them up. There’s something familiar and unsettling about Todoroki, and the discomfort makes him want to avoid the man.
He wants to go back in to warmth and safety, even if that means having to withstand Ashido’s gossiping.
Todoroki speaks first. It was him who asked to talk outside, after all.
“How have you been, Denki?” His voice is soft, barely heard over the distant sounds of traffic. It sounds gentle, and a little hurt. It tugs at Kaminari’s heart.
Why are you calling me Denki?
“Since we last met in the cafe? Or in general?” Kaminari asks, puzzled. His golden eyes flit back towards Todoroki, wanting to be polite.
He doesn’t expect to see the way Todoroki’s expression twists into one of anguish.
“I know I’ve hurt you. But must you really act like this?” A single tear drops from Todoroki’s gray eye. “Must you act like I’m a complete stranger to you?”
Kaminari doesn’t know what happened between him and Todoroki, but the sight of Todoroki crying pains him. Todoroki looks beautiful even when crying. His eyes still met Kaminari’s straight on, earnestly. Waiting.
“I think I need to tell you something,” Kaminari says tentatively, feeling the urge to wipe Todoroki’s tears away. “I think you knew me. But I wouldn’t know you.”
Todoroki looks confused. Kaminari’s eyes follow the slow slide of the tear on Todoroki’s pale cheek until it rests on a sharp chin.
He opens up, honestly, about everything. He starts with the accident two years ago during summer, talks about losing his own memories. He’s regained not a single one of them. Todoroki listens carefully, solemn.
Kaminari feels sorry again, that he’s not the Kaminari that others want him to be.
“So, I don’t know what happened between us, but I’m really sorry if I hurt you…?” he ends carefully.
The beautiful man shakes his head. “Thanks for telling me. I trust you. Do you want to hear about...” Todoroki is hesitant, chewing on his lower lip, “Hear about what happened between us?”
Just as unsure, Kaminari nods.
Todoroki tells a tale straight out of Ashido’s Japanese dramas. The two of them were part of the same literature club in college and bonded over similar interests. They had a system where they would take turns recommending each other a book, and discussing it in the club room and even after club. One way or another, they started dating.
Kaminari made Todoroki pause there, because what? How did the old Kaminari ever snag someone so attractive?
He finally sees Todoroki smile, and damn, the old Kaminari was so lucky. Todoroki looks attractive when he’s expressionless, but he smiles, his facial features soften. His eyes light up in a way that makes you stare in awe.
“You made so many literature puns,” Todoroki chuckles, a clear twinkling sound. Puns, the current Kaminari likes that too. It’s hard not to smile along when Todoroki looks so happy, so wistful. “I don’t know when I started liking you, but you kept flirting with me, and I found it cute. In a way, it was creative and kind of amazing. I liked the way you thought, the way you stopped to listen to me, the way you considered everything I said seriously. You worked hard to get new members for the club, making posters and book reviews. You’ve always been the social glue, being friends with everyone and making sure they were comfortable. I admired that.”
The old Kaminari sounded like a pretty decent guy. Kaminari wasn’t sure if he could match up to that. Wait. if they were dating, why did Todoroki take so long to find him? What did Todoroki mean by ‘hurting him’?
“We dated. Then what happened?” Kaminari asks.
Todoroki’s smile falters and dies off.
“You don’t have to talk about it if it’s hard,” Kaminari offers.
Todoroki shakes his head gently. “No, you deserve an answer. I never did give one to you in the past.”
In his words, Kaminari hears regret, hears guilt. He doesn’t know if it matters any more when not a single bit of who he was made any sense any longer. Perhaps, it might help Todoroki move on.
“Okay,” he agrees.
Things turn into a Korean drama plot.
“My father, he found out about us,” he sighs, looking at the ground. “He didn’t approve of us. His approval wouldn’t have mattered to me, but he froze all of my accounts. He told me to cut off all contact with you, to leave Japan and study abroad, or he would stop…”
Todoroki looks very upset, and Kaminari reaches out to squeeze his shoulder in a show of support. A wry smile of thankfulness and Todoroki continues,
“He threatened to stop paying for my mother’s hospital bills.”
“Wait wait. Hold on a second. He didn’t want to pay his wife’s hospital bills? He threatened his son with that because his son was gay? ”
Todoroki shrugs helplessly, bitterness in his tight smile.
“He’s a prominent businessman, and he wants to protect his reputation.”
“Holy shit man, I am so sorry for you,” Kaminari says in disbelief. “Shit. Can I hug you?”
Something in Todoroki seems to break a little. He barely whispers a ‘yes please’, collapsing into Kaminari’s arms like it’s something natural between them. He holds onto Kaminari in a tight hug, almost bruising in its intensity. Kaminari hugs him back just as hard because he thinks Todoroki needs it at this moment. He couldn’t imagine it, having to leave your boyfriend to save your mom, because you were a broke college student dependent on your parents to survive. No amount of part-time jobs would have been enough to pay for school fees and hospital bills. One way or another, Todoroki would have had to give up things important to him.
He chose to lose Kaminari.
It’s not like Kaminari could fault him for that. Pretty much anyone would have. Right now, as Todoroki nuzzles into his shoulder and breathes in deep, Kaminari knows it must have been a hard choice. He pats Todoroki on the back, resting his head on Todoroki’s shoulder. It feels right, the way they fit together. Yet it feels wrong, like it's not his place to be.
“I never did explain to you why we broke up, I’m sorry,” Todoroki mumbles.
“It’s not like I would remember,” Kaminari jokes lightheartedly but it causes an unintended effect. Todoroki frowns, pushing Kaminari away.
Kaminari doesn’t know why it hurts to be pushed away.
“I hurt you,” Todoroki says, and the frown doesn’t suit his face. “Back then, I hurt you. I’m sorry for making you cry.”
Kaminari tilts his head, fixing a smile on his face. He’s hurt now too, although he can’t understand why. “Like I said, I don’t remember, so it doesn’t matter.” Something resentful, something that feels like irritation starts bubbling in him. It’s reminiscent of the way his ‘family’ kept saying ‘Kaminari would’ this and that, ‘Kaminari did’ this and that. He’s not that Kaminari anymore.
It feels like everyone would rather that Kaminari be back. Well, sometimes so does he. Sometimes he wants to fade away, give this body back to the original owner, but things don’t work that way. Todoroki opens his mouth like he wants to protest, and Kaminari feels so tired, and he doesn’t know how to make things better like the old Kaminari would.
“Oi!”
They both flinch as an angry blond stomp towards them.
Kaminari’s eyes widen in surprise.
“Bakugou! You’re back!”
Todoroki’s eyes widen in surprise as well, and then it widens even further when Bakugou grabs his collar, lifting him up. Okay, now Kaminari is surprised for an entirely different reason. Sure, Bakugou’s quick to anger, but it usually ended in yelling and light hits, not a full-blown fight.
“Why the fuck are you back here!” Bakugou growls, putting himself between Kaminari and Todoroki.
“Bakugou, you know Todoroki?”
“Denki, you remember Bakugou?”
Kaminari and Todoroki both speak at the same time. Remember Bakugou? Confused, Kaminari glanced between the owner of the cafe that hired him and his supposed ex-boyfriend.
“You leave Kaminari alone, you bastard! Don’t you think you’ve done enough? You’re not allowed in my store!” Bakugou manhandles Todoroki, dragging him out of the alley to dump him on the streets. Todoroki, surprisingly, takes it. Curious passerbys look on as Kaminari tries to pull Bakugou back.
“Dude, what’s going on with you?”
“Shut up, we’re going back in,” Bakugou snarls, grabbing Kaminari and dragging him away from Todoroki. He glared at Todoroki a final time from their doorstep. “And you! Don’t you. dare. fucking. come. back.”
Bakugou slams the door shut as hard as he can, which is not very hard because it’s a push-dull door that’s a little rusty. Clearly, that irritates Bakugou, because it’s not as aggressive as he wanted.
Kaminari is filled with questions. What just happened?
“Bakugou, why did you do that?” he wails, because what the fuck? Bakugou ignores him, going to the counter to rip Ashido a new one.
“Didn’t I warn you two years ago to never let guys with two-toned hair in?!” he yells.
“I wouldn’t remember instructions from two years ago!” Ashido says defensively, trying to look out the door to see what happened. “What did that hot guy ever do to you?”
“Guys please, you’re scaring the customers,” Kaminari hisses under his breath. Everyone’s watching, and is that someone with their phone out? Dear lord, what if someone videoed Bakugou manhandling Todoroki?
Bakugou is quick to solve that problem. “We’re closed today! Out, out!”
Way to run a business. Kaminari groans as customers escape from their cafe lest they incur Bakugou’s wrath. Come on, Bakugou’s all bark and no bite. Usually.
“He’s a bastard, that’s what,” Bakugou grumbles, but offers no other explanations. He stomps back to the storeroom, leaving Kaminari and Ashido to clean up. The two of them share very confused looks.
Bakugou sure is back early from his mount everest expedition.
“What happened out there with the hot guy?” Ashido whispers as they wipe the tables.
“He’s apparently my ex.”
“Woah, way to go Denki!”
“Bakugou almost punched him.”
“Whaaaat? Why do you get all the guys?”
“I’m pretty sure Bakugou doesn’t like me that way, okay? Have you seen the way he looks at Kirishima?”
Minutes later, Kirishima rushes in through the door. Sweat drips off his brow, and he clearly ran over from the gym he owns. He breathes heavily, sagging in relief when he spots them.
“We’re closed darling,” Ashido says lightly, but Kirishima beelines for Kaminari, grabbing his shoulders.
“You okay? Todoroki say anything to you?” he worries, looking at Kaminari’s expression carefully.
Okay, what the hell? Kirishima knew Todoroki too? Then again, that made sense since Kirishima said he was Kaminari’s long-time childhood friend. He was with Kaminari that first day in the hospital when he came to from his car accident, was with him before that, and ever since.
“He said he broke up with me…?” Kaminari says, unsure.
“That’s putting it hella lightly!” Bakugou yells, coming out from the storeroom, dropping a box heavily on the counter. Ashido is quick to go to his side to help unpack the coffee beans. “Damn asshole broke up with you over text and cut off all contact with us, and he dares come back as if nothing happened?”
“But… how do you know that…?” he glanced helplessly between all of them. Just how many people knew Todoroki? Did Kirishima tell Bakugou?
Kirishima looks equally helpless, gesturing that they should take a seat. “Well okay, Denki. Just stay calm and listen, okay?”
“Uh huh.”
“We were all friends in high school, and went to the same college together. You introduced us to Todoroki there,” Kirishima explains.
Us. That includes Bakugou.
“Friends? I’m friends with my boss?” Kaminari looks wildly confused. How many secret friends and boyfriends did he have?
“See uh, that’s the thing,” Kirishima explains as Bakugou slams jars and rips apart wrapping, “I was the first to the hospital, then your family. You got really upset about us talking about you and who and what you should know. So I wanted to take it slow with you, but you stumbled into this cafe for a job interview, and Bakugou decided to pretend he didn’t know you.”
Okay, because that’s totally normal?
“Okay cool, so my boss was actually my friend, but he pretended we were strangers and hired me, totally fine. Where does Todoroki fit in all this? I don’t get it. Do you guys hate him for breaking up with me? Like wow, thanks if so, but, kinda, everything’s kinda weird,” Kaminari flails with his hands in the air. “Breakups happen, no need to stop being friends over it.”
There’s a sudden quietness in the air. Then, Bakugou slams another jar with renewed vigour.
“Bakugou, that’s glass!” Ashido shrieks.
“That’s… uh,” Kirishima visibly struggles. He looks sad. Kaminari doesn’t like seeing him sad. What, did Todoroki cheat on him or something? That’s fairly commonplace in society.
“You got into a car accident the night he broke up with you,” Kirishima says quietly. Ashido gasps. The atmosphere in the room feels weird. Suffocating. It’s heavy with implications. What, did the old Kaminari… did he…
“Based on your injuries, it seemed like you jumped off a bridge onto the expressway, and got hit by a car.”
Oh.
“We almost lost you that night,” Kirishima starts tearing up as he recalls that night. He was the first to reach the hospital and had to wait outside the emergency room. All alone, he had to make calls to Kaminari’s family and friends, who were back in their hometown and not Tokyo. He had to tell them that Kaminari might not make it.
He couldn’t reach Bakugou, who was on a trip to hike up mountains worldwide. Every minute spent waiting felt like torture. He heard them try to save Kaminari with a defribillator. He wasn’t sure if Kaminari would’ve made it.
“Wow, I loved him that much huh?” Kaminari says mildly. The room doesn’t get less tense. Ashido’s strangely quiet, and Bakugou is still furious.
Kaminari stares at the decor of the cafe he’s gotten so familiar with for the past two years. This place was the only one that wanted to hire him despite his amnesia. ‘I don’t care you the fuck you were if you can make coffee’, Bakugou had said. It feels like Bakugou would have hired him even if he was utter shit at making coffee.
It had become part of his personality, serving customers, gossiping with Ashido and joking around with her. Teasing Bakugou to see how far he could go, experimenting to make new menu items. He spent most of his memories here, spent most of his off days with Kirishima. His world is so small now, but he’s so thankful for it. This is familiar. This is home.
“I love you guys, so don’t worry about me leaving,” Kaminari says cheerfully, trying to bring up the mood. “It doesn’t matter anymore. What’s done is done. I remember none of it anyway.”
“It matters to ME, I hate him, and he’s never stepping foot in here, or I’ll beat him up. I ain’t afraid of jail!” Bakugou slams another jar, and Ashido shrieks. He retreats into the storeroom again, scowling the whole time.
“Bakugou would rather you forget everything,” Kirishima confides quietly. “He cares about you.”
And to Ashido, he says, a little louder, “Don’t worry, everything in this store is extra heavy duty! Nothing will break!”
Kaminari tests the theory by throwing a glass. It doesn’t shatter, but the windows nearly do from Ashido’s shriek.