Archive of Our Own ^beta

Midoriya Izuku had a routine.

Every day on his lunch break, he’d walk to the Starbucks across the mall and order a large strawberry açaí and a packet of madeleines. He never ordered anything different, because Izuku valued stability and sameness.

He was also a coward who didn’t like talking to new people.

So it was a good thing that the barista on duty during his lunch break was always his old college friend Uraraka Ochaco. Today seemed like it would be no different.

First, he finished up watering all of the flowers in his shop, taking extra care not to spill any. Then, he swept the tiled floor clean from any fallen leaves and other plant debris one would expect to find in a florist’s shop. Lastly, he hung up his apron and put up a small “Gone for lunch!” sign on the inside of the door.

He strode confidently towards the Starbucks, not even considering that his precious routine might be disrupted, because why would he? He had been given no hint that he wouldn’t find Uraraka making his tea.

Izuku calmly walked up to the counter, already sliding a packet of madeleines towards who he automatically assumed was Uraraka despite not having looked up at them. As he lifted his head to greet “her”, his eyes caught sight of first very pale, very muscular arms. His brow furrowed in confusion, and he quickly brought his head up the rest of the way to see―not Uraraka.

“Kacchan?!”

Behind the counter, donned in a Starbucks apron and hat, stood Izuku’s childhood friend and crush, Bakugou Katsuki, or as he rather affectionately called him, Kacchan.

In sharp contrast to his shock, Bakugou didn’t seem the least bit surprised to see Izuku there, a fact Izuku decided to file away for later.

With a sigh, Bakugou crossed his arms. “Just order something, nerd.”

“O-Okay, can I have a―uhhhh c-caramel frappuccino???” Izuku’s eyes darted to look at anything, anything other than Bakugou and had landed on an advertisement for their new caramel frappuccino. He ordered it without even thinking.

Bakugou gave him a weird look, one he couldn’t hope to understand, and swiftly turned around, beginning to make his admittedly unwanted drink.

Because Izuku had closed his eyes to take a few deep breaths and try to understand why the fuck Bakugou Katsuki was taking his order, he missed how the man in question seemed to write on the cup for far longer than necessary. “Izuku” didn’t take that long to write.

Having somewhat calmed down, Izuku surveyed the rest of the café and was surprised to see that it was empty. Usually, the shop was packed with people during his lunch break runs.

A snapping sound brought his attention back to the counter, where Bakugou had seemingly finished his drink. Izuku took it and managed to stutter out a thank-you.

Just as he was about to leave, black writing caught his attention. In fact, it was too much black writing that he noticed, and so he glanced back down at the cup to see a very surprising message written:

“Go out with me, loser”

Izuku felt his face turn redder and redder the more he stared at the words, drinking them in. His brain felt like it was short-circuiting with this rather new development. The man he’s been crushing on for years just asked him out? How was this possible?

He quickly looked back up at Bakugou in fear that this was some prank done in poor taste, but was met with a face that might have been redder than his staring right back.

Raising an eyebrow, Izuku gestured to the cup, as if to say, “Are you serious?”

Bakugou raised a hand in response, and in a voice probably louder than necessary, said: “I get off at five.”

Izuku took another moment to process, then flashed Bakugou a grin that could rival the sun. He dashed back to the counter and stood on his tip-toes to kiss Bakugou’s cheek. Pulling away, his smile became impossibly brighter.

“See you at five, Kacchan.”

And with that, he was off, speed-walking back to his shop. He missed seeing Bakugou tentatively place a hand on his cheek, right where he had been kissed. He also missed Bakugou’s shy smile as he thought about seeing Izuku later.

BONUS:

Izuku once again swept the floors, hung up his apron, and placed a “Closed” sign on the door of his shop, except this time he was smiling to himself like a lovesick fool the whole time. Cleaning his shirt off best he could, Izuku thought for a moment, then decided to grab a few red and yellow roses, bundling them together. As he was leaving, he saw his reflection in the shop window and grinned yet again to himself, overjoyed and still a little in shock that this was even happening.

He locked the shop and quickly headed over to Starbucks, nearly bouncing with excitement and nervous energy.

He hoped Bakugou liked flowers.