Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Eijiro desperately needed caffeine.

The screen in front of him looked less like lecture notes and more like a black and white alphabet soup, and he was pretty sure that if he did so much as blink for a second too long, he’d be out like a light. He may as well have skipped and slept in, but with attendance counting for 20% of his overall grade, he instead found himself sitting in class, head dropping to the beat of a non-existent drum.

Momentarily surrendering to his exhaustion, he closed his eyes and willed time to pass by faster. Was it in his best interests to stay up ‘til 4 A.M the night (morning?) before? No, not really, especially when he had an 8 A.M class the next day. Honestly, it was a miracle that he woke up in the first place. But it wasn’t like it was even his fault - it was the system’s fault! With two essays, a lab report, and an online quiz due the next day, he had no choice but to stay up late. It wasn’t like he could have started on any of that stuff earlier - after all, he worked best under pressure.

The sound of students packing up signaled the end of class (apparently, he missed the closing remarks of the day’s lecture). Eijiro threw his notes into his backpack and made a beeline for the exit. If there wasn’t caffeine flowing through his veins within the next five minutes, Eijiro was sure he’d drop dead. Thankfully, the Lucky Cat Cafe was just a seven-minute walk away, and he had an hour before he needed to be at his next lecture.

The Lucky Cat was a favorite coffee shop that Eijiro frequented for several reasons. One, it was conveniently placed halfway between his morning class and the next, meaning Eijiro didn’t have to go out of his way for a quick drink. Two, the Lucky Cat’s caramel frappe was by far the best on campus for the price it was sold at, and since Eijiro knew the barista, he got extra whipped cream for no additional cost.

Speaking of baristas, the third reason why Eijiro preferred the Lucky Cat over all other options was that one of his best bros, Denki, got a position there at the beginning of the semester. Being the bro that he was, Denki would shave a dollar off Eijiro’s orders whenever his boss (the owner of the cafe - Eijiro didn’t know him personally, but he was a tall scary man that looked like he hadn’t slept in thirty years) wasn’t there. All for the sake of bro-hood.

Sure, the drink he ordered might not be manly, but the discount he got from his friend certainly was.

Once he arrived, Eijiro pushed the doors of the café open and was instantly hit with the alluring smell of caffeine.

“Denki bro! I’ll have the usual-”

And despite the sheer exhaustion he felt only seconds ago, Eijiro never felt more awake.

Denki was nowhere to be found. In his place, however, was an actual angel.

Or maybe a demon? But like, a really, really hot demon. It would definitely explain the intensity behind his red eyes and how unrealistically attractive the man behind the counter was. Actually, “attractive” was just putting it lightly; whoever this new guy, this Not Denki, was, was more attractive than anyone Eijiro had ever seen before.

Broad and slightly buffed out shoulders lead to a chest barely contained by the cafe’s standard “white polo with a brown apron” uniform. Red eyes sat under a set of slightly pinched brows, followed by a strong nose and pink lips that, while maybe on the slightly dry side, formed the most attractive scowl Eijiro had ever seen in his life (could scowls even be attractive?). All of which was framed by a shock of unruly blonde hair. Eijiro was never really attracted to blondes before, but he would gladly allow this new guy to be an exception.

He was the manliest man Eijiro had ever seen.

If it weren’t for the hand (they looked so soft, so manly!) that was shoved towards face, he’s sure he could have stared for hours.

“-huh?”

“-the fuck, are you high? Earth to fuck-face, what the fuck is ‘the usual’?”

Eijiro didn’t know it was possible to say “fuck” three times in the same sentence, or that it could be so sexy.

“You’re not Denki bro!” Eijiro immediately face palmed himself internally. Of all the things he could’ve said, that was his opener?

The blonde bristled and tsked, “And thank fuck that I’m not. Now what the fuck is ‘the usual?’”

“Where is he?”

“The fuck do you want to know for? You his fucking boyfriend or something?”

“Wha- n-no! We’re just bros and I wasn’t expecting him to not be here is all-”

“Well he’s fucking not, he’s out sick with the flu or some shit. Now, are you going to fucking order or not? You’re starting to hold up the line.”

A quick glance behind Eijiro confirmed that there was, indeed, a line beginning to grow behind him.

“Ah I’m sorry, I only slept a couple hours last night and must’ve zoned out!”

He momentarily averted his eyes and sheepishly rubbed the back of his neck – of course he’d get distracted, he’d never met someone as manly as the man behind the register (Katsuki? That’s what his name tag read. What a manly name!). When he looked back he was met with a deadpan stare.

“Your. Fucking. Order.”

“Oh, yeah sorry um, my usual is-” Eijiro was about to say caramel frappe, his go-to drink, but he paused.

Caramel frappes, admittedly, weren’t the manliest drinks available to order. One could even go as far as to say that they were quite the opposite of manly - saturated with sugar and probably containing more milk than caffeine, one could even say they were unmanly. Usually, Eijiro didn’t care - the taste of sweet caramel was way more enjoyable than “harder” coffee orders. But Katsuki was manly as hell, and if he wanted any shot of wooing this mortal Adonis, Eijiro would have to show him how damn well manly he could be!

“- the manliest brew this café serves!” he finished with a flourish and a grin, arms crossed over his chest. Fucking nailed it!

For a moment or two, the counter was consumed with an awkward silence. Someone behind Eijiro coughed. Katsuji’s eyebrow twitched.

“What the fuck.”

The redhead cleared his throat, clarifying -

“Coffee – uh, that is, one black coffee. Medium, to go. Please?”

A grunt, before “Can I get a name for the order?”

Eijiro grinned, sticking his hand out for a shake, “You can call me Eijiro!”. Katsuki simply looked down and wrote the name on the cup, ignoring the extended hand. Eijiro let it hang there awkwardly for a second or two before slowly letting it drop to his side.

Katsuki set the cup to the side, punched (literally) some buttons on the register, “That’ll be $4.52.”

Eijiro hastily pulled out a five from his wallet. He handed it to the barista with a smile, “You can keep the change”.

Katsuki snorted, “My lucky day. An extra forty-eight cents.”

Mental math? That’s hot. Eijiro was about to say as much when Katsuki cut him off. He vaguely gestured to an area around the counter and said,

“Your order will be out shortly, now please, stand to the fucking side. Next!”

Eijiro shuffled off to the side and gave himself a pat on the back. Though he had a rough start, he was doing a pretty good job of impressing Katsuki with his manliness!

He waited for ten minutes (the line had grown pretty long during Eijiro’s interaction with the barista), occasionally glancing in Katsuki’s direction, before his drink came out.

Katsuki held the cup out, “One medium black coffee for Eijiro?”

With the confidence of a man who feared no God, Kirishima took the cup out of the barista’s hand and put it to his lips in one sweeping motion.

“The fuck, wait for it to cool down shitty hai-”

A spray of caffeine and spit drenched Bakugou’s front side, effectively cutting off any comment of concern he thought to say.

Chapter Text

Bakugou Katsuki had a reputation.

Anyone who knew him knew of his explosive personality.

Some days, it was targeted at his roommate and his tendency for idiotic decision making ( ‘Idiot Deku, why’d you buy three gallons of milk?!’ ‘K-kachaan there was a buy two get one free sale!’ ‘WE’RE LACTOSE INTOLERANT DIP-SHIT’.)

Others, it was against “the system” (‘What do you mean the textbook is $250 ?! IT’S A TWENTY PAGED PAMPHLET’ ‘Sir please, I just work the register’).

Most days, he seemed to be pissed for no particular reason – he’d surely find a reason as the day went on (‘Here’s your change sir, have a nice day!’ ‘DON’T TELL ME WHAT TO FUCKING DO’).

His patience seemed to thin more and more by the day, which his friends were quick to notice. (‘Hey Kachaan have you seen my hat – ’ ‘Suck my dick and choke on it Deku’ ‘Right, thanks for that, will be going now’ ) It was like the people around him were trying to annoy him on purpose!

Seriously, if it weren’t for the laws of this land, Katsuki would have committed homicide. The only thing stopping him was that murdering a fellow student could, at the very least, place him on academic probation and probably get him fired. That didn’t stop him, however, from creating a theoretical hitlist (purely used as a healthier outlet for his rage).

On the top of that list was that yellow haired e-boy, Denki. The main source of his work-related woes. Ever since Denki got sick, Katsuki was forced to cover his shift. He hated it – he preferred taking the dead hours where he could get away from the stress of classes and not have as many people bother him. Whoever bought coffee that late was too sleep deprived or depressed to actually interact with him, and he loved the peace and quiet that came with his shift.

Now, he was stuck manning the morning shifts, and it sucked ass. The shift was awkwardly slotted in-between his classes, there were twice as many people to serve, and they were so fucking chatty !

“Bakubro! One coffee please!”

Speaking of chatty shit heads.

He glowered at the red head and replied, “I told you not to fucking call me that shitty hair. Small, medium, or large?”

Eijirou gave no indication that he heard the blonde’s initial statement and grinned, “Medium, no sugar or cream.”

He grumbled something along the lines of why the hell did I even ask and punched the order into the register. “$4.52”

Eijirou passed a five-dollar bill, “Kee-“

“Keep the fucking change, I know”. Eijiro grinned wider (How are his teeth so white and spiky?!), and he nodded.

Katsuki grabbed a medium cup with such a ferocity he dented one of the sides and scribbled ‘Shitty Hair – Black Coffee’ on the side. He slammed it on the counter for someone else to take care of and motioned for Eijirou to get out of the way. Grin remaining on his face, the latter easily complied and moved to the side to lean against the counter.

Katsuki didn’t know what to think of shitty hair. Given the coffee stained white polo that was permanently out of commission (coffee stains are such a bitch) and how the red head’s presence screamed notice me, one would think that he’d be near the top of Katsuki’s “If I could kill you I would have already done so” list.

As painfully annoying Eijirou seemed though, Katsuki found his weirdness to be quite…amusing.

He never failed to beam at him whenever he dropped by, which certainly didn’t hurt his ego. Normally something like that would annoy him, but with Eijirou, it was tolerable. Enjoyable even. Additionally, unlike other customers, he never tried to avoid his eyes – if anything, it was like he was constantly trying to engage in a staring contest he didn’t know he was playing. Not that he was complaining; Eijirou wasn’t exactly hard on the eyes either.

Shitty hair was also very persistent, that was for sure. After he got spat on (he still couldn’t believe the idiot tried to drink hot coffee in one go), he thought he’d never see him again. Katsuki wouldn’t blame him – it was mortifying, and he was the victim! Strangely enough, Eijirou came back the next day, apologizing profusely and wanting to pay him back for the shirt.

“Shitty hair I already told you it’s fine, you don’t need to pay me back for the shirt!”

“But I spit coffee all over you! I want to pay you back, so just take the twenty!”

“For the last time, I don’t want it, and even if I did – which I don’t – I’m not allowed to accept money from you unless it’s for coffee, so unless you’d like to order something, you’re holding up the line!”.

“Fine! I’ll just have to keep buying black coffee until the change you keep is equal to the cost of your shirt.” He put the twenty back in his wallet and pulled out a five. “One medium black coffee please!”

Katsuki stared at the other. “That’s not how it works – you know what never mind”. He processed the order and ignored Eijirou’s smug grin before shoving him to the side. “Next!”

That was a week and ago and, true to his word, Eijirou bought one medium black coffee every day. The amount of “kept change” was nowhere near the cost of his shirt, and Katsuki wanted to laugh at how ridiculous the red head’s line of thinking of was. He didn’t though and instead ended up thinking about how oddly charming the other’s gimmicks were. He snuck a glance at Eijirou through the corner of his eye and caught him staring and averted his gaze with a huff.

Eijirou leaned against the counter and unabashedly stared at the blonde. It had been about a week and a half since the incident, which would forever reign as both Eijirou’s best and worst day ever. He chalked up his inability to clearly recall the rest of that day as a defense mechanism to save himself the eternal embarrassment, but Mina never failed to tease him about it whenever he saw her.

“Eijirou you- you literally SHOWERED HIM WITH YOUR LOVE” Mina howled with laughter, clutching her side.

“SHH Mina shut up, we’re in the middle of a library! And it wasn’t love, it was just hot black coffee!” Eijirou whipped his head side to side, checking to make sure that Katsuki wasn’t in the vicinity. Mina shook her head, barely able to conceal her glee.

“Yeah, that you swallowed in one go to- to IMPRESS HIM!” The hand covering her mouth fell as she resumed her obnoxious laughter again, only quieting down when a librarian came by to scold them.

Eijirou winced at the memory. Maybe telling her wasn’t the best idea.

Since then, he made it a point to come to the café every day. He ordered the same black coffee, attempted to impress Katsuki, and stared at him. If it weren’t for his classes and other collegiate responsibilities, he’d be there all day, staring. But like, in a totally manly and non-stalkerish way of course.

“Your black coffee.” Katsuki held the drink out for Eijirou. The latter grabbed the cup and took a purposeful (yet mindful) sip, and grimaced. A week and a half later and he still wasn’t used to the bitterness

“Why do you keep ordering black coffee if you hate it so much?”

Kirishima choked on a swallow. “Who said anything about hating it? I love black coffee. Manliest drink someone could order at a café, no?” He took another sip and tried to conceal the shiver of disgust that ran up his spine. Katsuki rolled his eyes.

“Manly, sure”.

Eijirou took another sip and flashed another quick smile at the blonde. Noticing a dip in customers, he took a deep breath.

“Hey so, I was actually wondering if you’re free tomorrow night! I have extra movie tickets for this totally manly action movie.”

Katsuki stared at him in silence for a moment. Finally,

“Can’t. I’ve got a test the day after.”

“O-oh. Well that sucks. It’s alright, I’ll just come a bit earlier tomorrow to see you-“

“I’m not going to be here tomorrow. Denki’s coming back”

Eijirou paused, completely forgetting that Denki usually took this shift. He pressed on
“Right, I guess he should be better after a week of being sick. When’s your usual shift?”

“I usually work the night shift, so 9 PM and onward. Why?”

Eijirou wilted. He had rugby practice at night, and since he lived far from campus, there wasn’t much opportunity for him to see Katsuki at his usual shift. He started to say something else when he received a ping and a notification that his next class would be starting soon.

“Shit, I gotta go.” He pouted, genuinely saddened by the thought that he wouldn’t be able to see Katsuki and his stellar manliness regularly. “Listen, I’ll pass on the rest of the money for your shirt through Denki. I guess I’ll see you around” He smiled half-heartedly and hurried out the door before Katsuki got a chance to respond.