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The morning it started was dreary and dull- all in all, and awful day. Kirishima Eijirou was late- hellishly late, at that; completely soaked from the rain; and as lost as the day he was born. Dragging his feet, the redhead felt like he had been walking for hours. Hell, even his stomach was grumbling in annoyance- well, technically his stomach was grumbling because he skipped breakfast in order to head across town for some “super important thing” his friend had texted him about, neglecting to give him proper directions, or maybe Kirishima had missed a turn with raindrops falling in his face....
Nonetheless, his mouth was grumbling grievances, and his stomach was grumbling with its pitiful emptiness. The rain had let up, even if just a little bit, but there weren’t many- if any shops around that would take him in looking like he did. Kirishima looked like a dog that had just jumped into a river after its day at the puppy spa or some shit. He would have said a regular wet dog, but the redhead was still pulling clumps of hair gel from his soaked head.
“You look awful!” a voice- jovial, but masculine- cut through the air. It sounded like a spring day personified, and Kirishima was hit right then and there with the thought that he could listen to it go on for hours.
Ruby eyes turned to the voice just in time to catch the next few sentences as they stumbled out of a semi-flustered mouth. “If you, um, don’t have anywhere to be, you can come in here! We have an assortment of drinks that can warm you up, and I, uh, I can bring you some towels from the back…” The man talking /looked/ like Spring personified.
Forest hair, unruly as the wind, sat atop a face that could make the birds sing. His skin was creamy, smooth, and unblemished other than the flush of freckles that looked like seeds or dirt that had been kicked onto a sidewalk- Kirishima’s mind went with seeds, because the man looked like a flower of everything he looked for in a guy. The male had piercing emerald eyes that softened at the corners to give him a more friendly appearance; although, Kirishima had a feeling he wouldn’t want to see this person mad.
Scarlet blinked back into focus at the movement of said eyes. They shifted downcast, avoiding his gaze, cheeks suddenly pooling with pink. Kirishima knew that he wasn’t talking out loud, because he couldn’t feel his jaw- other than the slack it stole from his anger, so he wasn’t afraid to hold the stranger in his gaze. He looked like a strawberry with the blush drawing out his freckles and especially with his wild, dark hair. Ugh, how he’d like to take a bite of those cute, chewable cheeks.
Or maybe the strawberry could take a bite out of him with those pretty pink, plush lips as they moved, making them seem even more enticing, and, wait, fuck, they were moving- “You, uh, don’t have to- sorry, I, uh, didn’t mean to be weird… I, um, just work here, and figured it wasn’t very, uh, I figured you could use a break from the rain, but, if you don’t want to, you can always
say no… I um, I’m sorry…” it was clear that, whoever Spring was, he was losing confidence fast, but who wouldn’t under Kirishima’s apparent staring. Fuck, he probably looked like such an asshole by that point.
“No, no, no, no, I, um!” the redhead yelped, clearly startling Spring, but it was unmanly of him to be rude, “Sorry! That was my fault! I wasn’t expecting anyone to call out to me! I almost thought you were a hallucination or something!” He laughed awkwardly, trying not to embarrass himself, but it was clear that he had already failed at that.
“Oh! Okay!” Spring brightened instantly, a smile forming on his face that could have replaced the sun from where it hid behind the clouds. The only thing wearing it down was the sight downward quirk of awkwardness, followed by him scratching the back of his tilted head. It was clear how uncomfortable he still was, rambling on, “I get it’s a bit weird, sorry, I just thought that maybe you could use a place to dry off with all of this rain, and a lot of shops tend to turn away guests that are really wet, so I figured I might as well call out to you, sorry…”
Wow Spring had an apology complex.
“Nah, man! You’re good! I’d love to come in, if your, uh, offer still stands?” Kirishima shot him a grin of his own, hoping to reassure the Spring deity that he was truly grateful for the offer.
“Oh! Um, yes! It still stands!” finally, he was smiling again without awkwardness, stepping into the building and holding the door open for the redhead jogging over. With a few waves of his hands and a thank you on Kirishima’s part, Spring made his way to the back, “If you don’t mind standing in the doorway for a few minutes, I can grab you some towels. I think we might be about the same size, if you want to borrow one of my extra shirts… I might have a pair of shorts somewhere, since you do have long legs…” he trailed off, pausing to look back at Kirishima from the employee door.
“Ah, if you think they’ll fit…?” Kirishima didn’t want to be rude to Spring, the cutie seemed on edge enough as it was. However, the redhead was at least a head taller than the other male; and, he didn’t want to brag, but he was also very broad. Spring looked cute, but he was shorter than Kirishima. It was impossible to tell his build under the baggy hoodie that he wore, but he couldn’t have been too beefy, right? At least not with his height and baby face… Maybe he wore all of his clothes baggy?
Shifting from foot to foot, he was definitely not thinking about how domestic it would be to borrow Spring’s clothing… not at all. He was not in any way happy! He was caught in an unfortunate downpour! And never made it to his friend’s call! Although, knowing his friend, it was probably nothing. Kaminari Denki was a good friend, pretty chill guy, but he was also a fucking dumbass with no sense of genuine urgency. One time he called up the entire squad because he broke a shoelace.
“Here you go!” a voice chirped from the back, and Spring reemerged. It was a shame that the cute barista wasn’t wearing a proper nametag, since it felt weird to refer to him as the season he most resembled, but Kirishima felt a bit too awkward to really ask the story behind his missing tag. “The restrooms are right over there!”
Trying not to blush, Kirishima made his way over to the bathrooms, glancing down at the towel and the clothes he was given. They didn’t look as small as he expected- a pair of black basketball shorts with a single dark green stripe down the side and a matching green teeshirt. It looked like someone’s workout clothes… but maybe not Spring’s. The aesthetic definitely fit, but there was no way his shirts were actually that size.
Of course, Kirishima was on his own when it came to underwear, but the shorts fit particularly well. He suspected that was because they had an elastic band and could stretch, but the real kicker was the shirt. It was barely even tight on him. Sure, it was closer to a fitted shirt than a tee shirt, but that was a lot better than he was expecting from short lil Spring, who he could hear humming through the door.
Maybe it was a bit creepy that he spent almost a whole minute like that: fully dressed and just pressed up against the door listening to Spring hum as he shuffled back and forth. Kirishima figured he was probably making pastries or something… maybe coffee?
Curiosity got the best of him, so the redhead ended up leaving the bathroom with the towel around his shoulders and his damp clothes in hand.
“Thanks for the clothes, man!” Kirishima beamed, trying to hide his surprise.
“You were worried they wouldn’t fit, huh?” Busted…
“Well, I mean…”
“No it’s fine! I get that a lot, since I’m..” Spring patted his own head sorrowfully, looking down at the ground.
“Vertically challenged?”
“I was gonna say fun sized…”
“I can see it, I can see it. You do seem pretty fun to be around, bro!” It wasn’t flirting; Kirishima assured himself. He wasn’t flirting. He was just cheering up a bro… who happened to look really cute, and he might possibly be thinking about how it would feel to push the smaller boy up against the wall and kiss him stupid; but it was not flirting. He was not flirting.
Spring giggled, averting his eyes and blushing at the ears- cute- but he dismissed the claim, “You’re just saying that.” He wasn’t- at least not in Spring’s case. With the way he fiddled with his curls, or slunk into his hoodie, Spring was the definition of adorable. Gah, Kirishima could spent hours getting lost in his eyes… not that he would ever say that sort of thing out loud.
“I’m really not, bro!” the redhead assured, “I can’t lie to save my life… it’s a bit of a bad habit- or a good habit, I guess?” He had been the butt end of quite a few jokes because of his inability to lie… like when he first met Bakugou Katsuki who was practically the opposite of Spring. He was Summer, tall, intimidating, and devilishly handsome. He had a radiant aura that demanded all eyes, all attention. On the other hand, he was not approachable at all. If it weren’t for Kirishima’s idiocy and resilience, he would have never found himself forming the Bakusquad. It was only a matter of time until their resident gossip expert- one Ashido Mina- figured out that Kirishima treated Bakugou differently.
Of course, that relationship went nowhere since he was accidentally outed, thankfully, before his attraction went anywhere. Bakugou revealed that he was ace and wasn’t looking for a relationship- just a stable group of friends, which Kirishima respected. It took a bit to overcome the awkwardness, but it made their friendship stronger.
It, however, was mortally embarrassing, and, while he was an idiot, the redhead vowed to keep his crushes to himself. At. All. Times. Spring was no different. It didn’t matter how stupidly mesmerizing his smile was, or how huggable he looked in that hoodie.
“Hmm… I’d say it’s a good thing, you know? Honesty is the best policy!” Spring chirped happily, grateful to move on from the topic of whether or not he was good company, “But you know what else is pretty good?”
Kirishima was willing to bet that Spring had a few self worth issues up his baggy, cozy sleeves, but the bulky dumbass pushed it aside for his curiosity. “What?”
“Our coffee!” Spring declared proudly, “Or our assortment of hot cocoas and teas if coffee isn’t really your thing-” He dissolved into a fit of giggles that had Kirishima laughing, too.
“Well, if you insist-” he dramatically bowed, as if he wasn’t going to ask for something to drink as an excuse to watch Spring work, “What would you recommend?”
“Hmmm…” Spring put his hand on his chin thoughtfully, before pointing it at Kirishima, “Tea, coffee, or cocoa?”
“I guess tea?” he wasn’t normally a tea person, but he wasn’t feeling like coffee on an empty stomach- which reminded him again that he was hungry, “And something that goes well with it, please! I’m famished!”
Another set of giggles mad Kirishima happy for the dramatics he threw in. He didn’t mind making a fool of himself if it meant that he got to hear more of that beautiful sound.
“If you insist!” Spring bellowed back, equally as dramatic, “We wouldn’t want you to lose any of your freakish height by taking away your nutrients!”
“My height is not freakish!” Kirishima whined- yes, he whined, because it was true that he was tall, but freakish?
“Says you!” Spring huffed, hands on his hips as he tilted his chin upward to look ruby gems in the eyes.
“Yes, says me!”
“Helpful advice: don’t mess with the person preparing your food-” Spring threatened, but the pout on his face was too much for Kirishima to take him seriously.
“Whatever you say, man…” he trailed off, losing steam with every extra moment he spent staring at the male in front of him. Honestly, he could watch Spring put poison in his drink, and he’d still sip it like it was nothing.
Silence stilled the air, other than the light sounds of Spring working up a storm. The pattering of the rain outside dulled significantly, but it didn’t matter to the two who were in their own world.
In short time, Spring finished his work, handing Kirishima a mug of some aromatic tea and a plate of small flower shaped cookies, dusted with a rusty brown.
“Tea and cookies. A classic!” he declared happily.
The subtly sweet jasmine tea paired perfectly with the cinnamon cookies. Their fragrances danced in his nose- neither was quite powerful enough to overthrow the balance of soft and spicy. He would like to think of the dish as a hint of how well they would work together. The flowery touch of spring, obviously reminiscent of the barista sneaking glances from afar, and a crisp touch of Autumn, something he had heard used to describe himself. Kirishima was like crunchy leaves, like the first drops of mist gathering in the air as the temperature drops; his personality was wearing soft hoodies and breaking out blankets as it finally cooled down enough to cuddle.
Not that he really thought that highly of himself, but even he could agree that, if he were a season, it would be Autumn.
The romanticist in him told him that they could make it work. His logical side disagreed.
However from that afternoon on, he couldn’t help but to keep coming back… The time they shared peacefully together, sheltering from the rain- as cheesy as it was to say, it felt special. No one was around to interrupt them as they went on about nothing, laughing aimlessly at the wonders of the world. It didn’t matter to Kirishima that the cafe was two miles out of his way in the mornings; that barely added twenty minutes to his daily routine, and he could practically half it if he ran.
Seeing Spring a second time really solidified it for Kirishima. When he came back to return the clothes that he had borrowed and ended up giving his name for an order, it was like the sun shone a little bit brighter. Hearing Spring say ‘Kirishima’ flustered him a lot more than it should have, but who was he if not a hopeless gay? A hopeless gay that ended up walking two miles out of his way every morning, just to see a cute guy that looked like spring.
He ended up finding out that Spring’s name was actually “Midoriya Izuku,” and that he didn’t wear a nametag because his childhood friend would come in and tease him about his name. He also ended up learning that Spring, well Midoriya, was fucking built. Of course, he had seen Midoriya lifting boxes and stuff, but a young lady accidentally spilled her coffee on him and no one was sorry after seeing him taking off his hoodie. Eventually, they ended up exchanging numbers, too, and every day Kirishima looked forward to learning even the slightest bit of information about Midoriya- like the fact that his favorite color was actually red (sue Kirishima for getting excited about that), his favorite food was Katsudon, and he loved vintage comic books.
He couldn’t help but wonder what else he could learn if given the chance...