Work Text:
“I’ll have my usual” said the disheveled man in all black, with hair to match.
“I-I’m sorry, can you tell me what that is?” you responded nervously. Great I’m screwing up already…
“A large latte with five shots of espresso. To go.”
Your jaw dropped, thinking this was some type of joke, and you weren’t sure how to appropriately address the situation. You realized he was serious when the scruffy looking man’s expression changed from one of boredom to impatience, as you simply stood there.
“Y-yes, coming right up sir!” You went to the back to make his ridiculous drink while your coworker took the next order. You were proud that the flower design you had been practicing actually turned out well. You walked back to the counter to find that the man was nearly asleep while still standing in line. His eyes opened upon hearing your heels clicking back towards the register. He took his ungodly drink from you and your fingers brushed. He paid and then finally seemed to notice your presence.
“You must be new” he stated flatly.
“Yes… today is actually my first day working here.”
He gave a ‘hmph’ before turning and leaving, the bell above the door jingling.
What a strange man…
You prayed that every customer wouldn’t be like him.
*******
It turns out Mr. Raven Hair is a regular at the coffee shop that you just started to work at. He’d order a ‘usual’ or, every once in a while, when you worked the evening shift, just straight up espresso shots. He was reserved and blunt, almost to the point of being rude at times. But there was something about him that intrigued you. Why would a single man need so much caffeine!? And he always tipped well- strange for someone who seemed to be in their own world half the time.
Something about his aloof nature made you want to see him smile, just once.
Your thoughts got the best of you one day when you heard the bell ring and the man walked in… you looked over and walked straight into a customer with a full cup of (thankfully iced) coffee. Crap! I can’t get fired this quickly! Your friend knew the owner and had pulled some strings to get you this job. She had saved you from the world of… retail, ugh.
“I apologize sir! My mistake! I’ll get some towels to help clean this up right away…”
You bowed in apology to the large, now wet, man. He did not take his new condition very well. His lips pulled back into a snarl.
“I have a meeting to go to after this! What’s wrong with you, you freaking air-headed bitch- “
“That’s enough! Calm down and leave her alone” a voice commanded from the front of the store. You stood up in alarm. None other than the mystery man was walking over to stand between you and your aggressor.
His voice was so authoritative… I think he startled everyone in the café. Who is this guy?
“You can be a decent human being and take this lady’s apology, or we can take this outside. Your choice.”
From this angle, you could see his broad shoulders and muscular biceps. There was also a pair of bright yellow goggles clipped to his belt. Was this chronically sleep-deprived man… a hero?
Your suspicions were nearly confirmed when the offended man mumbled an apology and sat down in his seat while staring at the floor.
“(L/N), are you alright?” You were started to hear your name come out of his lips, but you then remember you have a nametag pinned to your uniform. You blushed lightly, still trembling from the encounter, and nodded.
Your “savior” gave you a once-over before nodding back and returning to the line. You rushed into the back to clean yourself off, and to hide the red spreading across your face from feeling that strange hero look somewhere besides your face.
*******
The coffee you were drinking was just what you needed. You found yourself drinking g the ground bean juice to stay alert and chipper. Delegated to the evening shift this week, you had trouble keeping your customer service smile on without it. Thankfully, for your wallet’s sake, coffee was on the house for employees.
But the worst part was that you missed seeing him. He always came in around the same time, early in the morning, during your previous work slot. Now you hadn’t seen him in days. The only good thing about the late shift was that there were less customers. You felt your mind drifting as you restocked napkins. That is, until you heard the bell ring. You were about to let your coworker (who was mopping, as the café was empty) take the customer, until you noticed it was the man you had just been thinking of! Well… you determined he was.
You nearly lunged over the counter to the register.
“What can I get for you today- err- I guess tonight?” you stumbled, staring.
“I haven’t seen you in a while. I thought you might have quit.” The very different looking man stated bluntly. He had his long hair in a bun and was wearing jeans and a form-fitting gray top. Yet he still had that strange white scarf wrapped around his neck.
You were stunned and pleased that he remembered you. It took you a couple beats too long to respond.
“No! I umm… my schedule keeps getting shifted around. I’m on the later shift this week and maybe the next.” Smooth.
“Oh, that’s good”, he muttered. “I’ll have the usual, but to stay… I have some work I have to get done.”
“Of course!” You responded cheerfully and smiled at him, but to no avail. He simply walked over to a large table and pulled out a huge stack of… papers? or were they tests? from his bag. It was Saturday, so the shop was open late but… wow. Was I wrong about him being a hero? He looks like a teacher right now… but I guess hero academies need heroes as teachers, right?
If he hadn’t already ordered an early heart attack, you would have given him an extra shot out of pity.
“Here you go sir. One of the usual.” You set the large mug down in front of him, completing the difficult task of finding a spot that wasn’t covered in papers.
He looked up at you with the eyes of a dead man but still spoke.
“Thank you… (L/N).
“M-my pleasure!” You bowed slightly and returned to stacking napkins, almost dropping them three times in the process. I really overdid it, didn’t I? Wait, since when do I care so much!? You groaned internally. Why does he have to be wearing such a revealing shirt?
You watched the teacher grade his papers, occasionally muttering something to himself in an annoyed tone. You were glad you weren’t one of the poor kids in his class.
A few more customers came and went. After about two hours you heard a light thunk coming from the front of the store.
You rushed over to (man you really have to get this guy’s name)’s table, just to find him asleep: head half on one arm and half on the table (that must have been the sound you heard), and a red pen a couple inches away from his other hand.
He really fell asleep grading… I guess I shouldn’t be surprised; the man does look like he pulls all-nighters on a regular basis. After imprinting how cute he looked into your mind, you decided to let him be.
*******
It was closing time and the dark-haired man was the only customer left… and still dead asleep. Your coworker started cleaning the machines while you asked her what to do about the sleeping customer. She told you to simply wake him up. When you asked how you were supposed to do that, she gave you an ‘I don’t know’ gesture and returned to work.
You walked over to his table, slamming your heels on the floor to give a louder than necessary sound. That didn’t seem to work, as he was in the exact same position he was when you last saw him.
“Sir, we’re closing.” Nothing. You got closer to him and said it louder,
“SIR!” …No response! You could hear his light breathing and saw that your coworker was almost done cleaning up. You had to take more drastic measures if you were going to wake this man, even though you were almost scarlet already with nerves. You couldn’t keep her waiting.
You slowly reached out and put your hand on his shoulder. You shook him gently.
“Sir.”
You felt muscles move underneath your hand and pulled away immediately, worried that you had overstepped a boundary.
“Sir, we’re closing soon…”
The man sat up and stretched his arms over his head, causing his shirt to ride up a bit. You definitely didn’t notice.
He looked around and then at the messy pile of papers in front of him.
“Shit. I fell asleep again didn’t I?”
“Yes, you did… Sorry to have to wake you up, sir.” He chuckled briefly.
That was almost a smile! He actually laughed… I’m getting somewhere!
You were so glad you snapped back to attention and caught his next words.
“I call you by your name, right? So, you don’t have to call me sir… The name is Aizawa.”
Aizawa… you feel like you’ve heard that name before. You felt emboldened.
“Do you want me to help you pick up your papers, Aizawa?” The name felt right on your tongue.
“No, I got it, I made this mess in the first place. But anyway-” He stood up and started sorting his papers into two piles. “Thank you, (L/N)” he said for the second time that day.
You felt your heart flutter a bit.
*******
You ended up working the evening shift the next week as well. After the sleeping incident, you found you were able to talk normally to Aizawa. Maybe you felt more comfortable around him now that you knew his name. He even asked you about your day when the store wasn’t busy. You were as smooth as ever the first time. And by smooth, I mean awkward as hell. He either didn’t seem to notice and/ or mind. You got him to laugh again- dryly at a dumb joke- but nothing truly broke his bored, almost stoic expression. At least you had gotten him to talk more. Small victories.
*******
You were working late again the next Saturday- the day Aizawa usually sits around to grade papers and you chat. You were disappointed when your shift was over, as you had been expecting him that day. It was your turn to lock up (you had that ‘privilege’ now… ugh) and you made your way towards your apartment, ready to go to bed.
“Hey there darling! Looking sexy tonight! Why don’t you come over to my place?” You rolled your eyes into the back of your head and ignored the pervert. You wished you could use your quirk against every catcaller.
“…How rude. I thought you were supposed to accept orders from customers…”
You jumped and spun around. The voice suddenly waaaayyyy too close. In the streetlights, you could see a familiar looking man who was about to get in your personal bubble!
He was the last one to leave the coffee shop!
You instinctively put your hands up and screamed as loud as you could, knowing you couldn’t outrun this man in your high heels. Why today, of all days, had I not bothered to bring a change of shoes!?
He took a step forward and attempted to grab you. You quickly dodged and reached up to slap him across the face, knowing, even in the dark, that you just gave him a third-degree burn in the shape of your palm on his face. He roared in pain and in anger. Instead of taking the hint that you weren’t going to go easy, your attack only seemed to increase his drive to get you. You screamed again as he went for your arm… and he never made contact. You blinked and saw his arms and torso get encased by bindings that shot out from behind him. He was slammed back on the concrete, completely immobilized. You looked to see who could have possibly saved you… and walking into the light was none other than Aizawa! His eyes blazed red, and the scarf he always wore around his neck was wrapped around your attacker.
“He seems to be out cold, probably from the impact.” He stared at the man below him in disgust, opting to take off the remainder of his scarf and simply hold it the ends. Aizawa looked up at you with a concerned expression.
“Are you alright (L/N)? That’s stupid, of course you’re not… Did he hurt you? I made it over here as fast as I could…”
“I’m okay, really... He didn’t even touch me, because of you! Thank you so much… I-I guess I was right, you really are a pro-hero!” You were still in awe of the tremendous display of power Aizawa exhibited. He knocked a large man out cold in about a second. And that was just using his weapon… not to mention all of his muscles…
You could hear sirens wailing in the distance.
“The police will come take this guy off of our hands. Then they’ll want a statement from you. Can you do that?” You nodded.
*******
When the police arrived, you told them the full story, including how you defended yourself.
By the time they had left, Aizawa was still there, waiting for you on the nearby bench, and you were tired. You sit down next to him. You don’t even realize you’re shaking until Aizawa slowly and gently puts his arm around your shoulders. Normally, the action would make you squeal, but now it just seemed… comfortable.
“Hey… everything’s going to be alright… but I can’t help but ask… how did he get that burn mark on his face? In the shape of a hand?” Aizawa looks at you quizzically.
“That’s my quirk, it’s actually pretty boring. I can heat up the palms of my hands to crazy hot temperatures. All it’s really good for is not having to buy a tea kettle. Oh, and I can warm up people’s drinks at the café when they go cold!” You smiled a little bit at that one.
“I can use it for self-defense, as you saw, but the first thing that most people do is try to incapacitate your arms and hands. So, it’s not very effective… Sometimes I wish I could make things explode like that crazy kid… Bakugo? Who won the U.A. sports festival, right?” At that, Aizawa groaned.
“Trust me, you don’t want to be like Bakugo” he said, almost ominously. Then he sighed.
“I’m sorry your line of work is… difficult. Not everyone goes to cafes to get coffee. Some creeps just go to look at pretty girls in skirts.” He turned away when he said this.
“I fell asleep at work, so I decided I would do patrols tonight since I had a decent amount of energy from napping. I was going to stop by to grab some espresso shots, but you were already closed by the time I got there… It’s just luck that I went this direction and heard you scream. You really shouldn’t be walking around at this time at night by yourself.” You sighed.
“I know. I’m going to request to switch back to the early morning shift- when you used to come around- after this. Some of my coworkers who are guys or who have stronger offensive quirks than me can take this freaking hell of a night shift.”
“…I know this sounds awful to someone who just had a stalker incident; but would you like me to walk you home? It would make me feel better as well. By the way, you can call me Shouta from now on.”
“(F/N)… “ you tell him your name and everything feels almost intimate.
You became more aware of Shouta’s arm around your shoulder and were glad it was too dark out for him to see you turn pink.
“It’s getting late- we should get you home.” He removes his arm from you and stands. To your surprise, he offers you the same arm to hold onto as you walk. You take him up on his offer.
*******
You hear the bell ring, and you know it’s Shouta before you even look up. He’s right on time. He looks around and sees there’s no one else on line or around. He walks up to the register and smiles at you, SMILES, a genuine smile that reaches his eyes and make his dark orbs look like the starry night sky. You can’t help but smile back. He beckons you and you take a few steps forward and lean over, elbows on the counter. Aizawa copies your gesture and speaks in a low voice.
“I’d like to order something off of the menu” he says, still smiling and gazing at you.
“I-I’ll do my best to accommodate what you want.” You stutter a bit, confused at his statement and look- although your heart is still fluttering.
“I’d like a date… with you.”
You snap up straight in shock. Shouta stands as well.
“I’m not asking for this for free, of course. It’ll be my treat. What do you say (F/N)?”
“Y-y-yes of course! I’d really like that!” You fiddled with the hem of your skirt, not able to look Shouta in the eyes anymore, knowing that your face must be completely scarlet. He laughs, a real one.
“You’re so easy to read (F/N)!”
“Hey! Don’t make fun of me… or I’ll kick you out!” you teased and giggled, elated by the fact that the man you had been thinking about for …how many weeks?… returns your feelings.
“That reminds me… I’ll have one of my usual.”