Work Text:
To celebrate the one-year anniversary of Suneater Coffee's opening, Tamaki's coworker and childhood friend Nejire managed to book an interview with a locally acclaimed reporter and food critic. The goal was to encourage more customers and tourists on the anniversary, when they would be having multiple specials going, which would hopefully lead to more and larger crowds afterwards. After all, the café was still small and growing, and while it made a profit, Tamaki really wanted the opportunity to give his employees raises and upgrade some of their equipment.
Still, while Tamaki was infinitely better at dealing with customers now than he was when the store opened, he was not looking forward to meeting the reporter. It was one thing to repeat a script over and over to people who genuinely weren't that interested in continuing the conversation; it was something totally different to be personally interviewed while his recipes were critiqued. The reporter had been kind enough to email his questions in advance so Tamaki would be able to prepare for them, but he still found himself shaking with nerves as the day of the interview came.
His coworkers -- employees, technically, but he'd never felt it right to refer to them as below himself -- knew he had an abnormal amount of anxiety and tried to encourage him, to varying degrees of success. Kirishima-kun, their youngest and most enthusiastic worker who'd be graduating high school soon, had talked Tamaki up so much Tamaki actually felt worse. Nejire, who was better with actions than words, gave him a nice shoulder rub to ease some of his tension away. Toyomitsu-san, the sponsor for the store who volunteered more than worked, brought him some takoyaki to munch on while waiting for the reporter to arrive. Before returning to the back to help make some of the shop's pastries, Toyomitsu-san patted Tamaki's back in a rather fatherly way and gave him a confident smile.
Tamaki felt his heart swell with gratitude, and he did the breathing exercises his therapist recommended to settle himself just in time for the store's bell to ring as someone opened the door. Tamaki recognized the face of Toogata Mirio from his many articles and reviews of various restaurants and bakeries in the area. Reading his writing had helped a bit with Tamaki's nerves, actually, as he never said harsh critiques about the places he reviewed; rather, he offered gentle constructive criticism and encouraging words to even the worst food places. Tamaki would know; he's had the unfortunate luck to end up in some especially terrible joints that Toogata-san could still spin a positive light on. He was accompanied by a photographer, a young thing around Kirishima-kun's age, who immediately lit up upon seeing the store's interior and began taking photographs.
That in and of itself made Tamaki's nerves return, but then he truly focused on Toogata-san himself and the air was knocked from his lungs. Tamaki had always thought the photographs in Nighteye Magazine were gorgeous, but clearly they had never properly caught Toogata-san's beauty and charm. It was weird, calling someone as tall and muscular as Toogata-san beautiful, but no other word could describe just how warm and welcoming his eyes were, or how radiant and calming his smile was. His muscles looked like they were made for giving hugs and lifting you up, strong and secure, completely unlike how most super-muscular men appeared.
And then he spoke. "Ah, hello!" he said with a polite bow. His voice sounded like a warm spring day; there was no other way to describe how comforting and enchanting it was. "My name is Toogata Mirio, of Nighteye Magazine. It's a pleasure to meet you!"
Swallowing thickly, Tamaki forced himself to remember any kind of etiquette. "H-hello," he replied softly, bowing in return. "M-my n-name is A-Amajiki Ta-Tamaki, owner of S-Suneater C-Coffee. It's n-nice to m-meet you, t-too." He cursed himself for stuttering, a habit he could've sworn he'd broken at least two years ago. His ears burned with shame, but Toogata-san didn't appear phazed.
"This is my assistant and photographer, Midoriya Izuku. Forgive him for being a little enthusiastic about his job, I meant to ask for permission to take photos first." He bowed especially low this time. "I apologize for his rudeness!"
Midoriya-kun, hearing his name and immediately coming back to himself dropped into an equally deep bow. "Ah! Forgive my rudeness Amajiki-san! Your café is just so beautiful I couldn't help myself! I sincerely apologize!"
Tamaki's entire face felt on fire, now. "Eh! I-it's not a p-problem! I f-figured pictures w-would be t-taken, a-and my s-staff and I are f-fine with it!"
Midoriya-kun bowed deeply again. "Thank you so much Amajiki-san!"
Toogata-san bowed as well. "Yes, thank you Amajik-san!"
Tamaki's soul nearly left his body, hearing Toogata-san's voice saying his name so passionately. "U-um, w-would either of you l-like s-so-so-so- a d-drink or p-pastry before we b-begin?" He then mentally slapped himself for making such a foolish offer. Obviously Toogata-san would be drinking some of his coffee and eating some of the pastries!
Midoriya-kun perked up at the suggestion, though. "I would love that, yes please!"
Figuring it better to keep his mouth shut, Tamaki nodded at Nejire, who currently manned the register.
She grinned brightly at the energetic boy. "What can I get for you? It's on the house!"
"Thank you so much!"
Toogata-san, still smiling warmly and completely unperturbed by how much of a disaster Tamaki was being, said easily, "I'll wait until after I've tried everything to make up my mind." He chuckled a bit, and that too was the most enchanting sound Tamaki had ever heard. "Everything does look amazing, though! Your displays are wonderful!"
If Tamaki managed to not explode during this encounter, he'd be able to face anything with confidence. Frantically trying to recover the script he'd spent so long on, he said, "U-unders-stood, T-Toogata-s-san. W-would you l-like a s-sample p-plate before or a-after our in-interview?"
"If it's alright with you, I would like to have the interview first," he offered, still much too kind for Tamaki's heart to handle.
He nodded, trying to ignore the tremors wracking his entire body. "W-would you l-like to sit h-here, then? I-if n-not w-w-w- there are m-more seats av-available."
"Here is fine," Toogata-san replied eagerly. "Wow, I came at the perfect time! The sun shines so warmly here. Ah, if you'd like to get started, that actually leads me into my first question."
They both sat down, Toogata-san pulling out a notebook. Tamaki noticed Midoriya-kun take his first bite of a pastry and nearly go haywire with joy, bouncing up and down. He made few sounds, though, probably because he didn't want to influence Toogata-san's own tasting. Still, the boy's enthusiastic reaction helped some of Tamaki's nerves settle down. Midoriya-kun's sip of coffee caused him to begin flapping his hands excitedly. Tamaki quickly averted his eyes so that he wouldn't start mirroring the action, but it did warm his heart to see someone like him so unabashedly enjoying his recipes.
"Uh, y-yes, that's fine," Tamaki answered Toogata-san's question.
Toogata-san grinned wider, somehow. "Wonderful! How did you come up with the name of this café? It's certainly unique and eye-catching."
Tamaki took a deep breath, recalling the answer he'd prepared and practiced. "It... might sound a l-little odd but, when I was a k-kid, I was jealous of the s-sun. It s-seemed so confident, and everyone l-loved it, even if it made the d-day too hot. Even those who favored the m-moon knew they couldn't have it without the sun. I thought, maybe if I ate it, I could be just like it, confident and beloved by everyone. You see, at the time, I was obsessed with the manga about a boy who could turn into whatever he ate-"
From there, the interview flowed smoothly. Tamaki's stutter faded away so gradually, he didn't even notice it was gone. Toogata-san listened so attentively, and Tamaki found himself getting lost in his bright blue eyes. Tamaki smiled and laughed at Toogata-san's comments, didn't shy away from clarifying questions he hadn't prepared for, and suddenly realized that if Toogata-san truly was the sun, Tamaki could never eat him like that manga protagonist from his childhood. But if he could live every day in Toogata-san's warm, bright presence, maybe he could absorb enough sunlight to send it back and make Toogata-san feel just as happy and content as he made Tamaki feel.
By the time Toogata-san began tasting his sample platter, Tamaki was completely at ease in a way he'd never been before. Not even Nejire was so respectful about Tamaki's idiosyncrasies, tending to start treating him like glass when he became especially anxious. Toogata-san, though, treated him so normally it almost hurt. Tamaki was sure it had to deal with him being such a good reporter, but another part of him knew that was just the way he was, which made him such a good reporter.
Toogata-san praised Tamaki's recipes so genuinely, and Tamaki realized the other man could never be disingenuous. There was just no way.
As the interview finished, Tamaki found himself reluctant to see Toogata-san go. In a move so brave he'd be talking about it to his therapist for weeks, he pulled out a slip of paper and wrote his number on it. Ears on fire, but not nearly as anxious as he'd expect himself to be, Tamaki handed it to Toogata-san.
"I enjoyed talking with you, Toogata-san. I would love to talk more outside of a business context, if you'd like," he confessed.
Toogata-san blinked, stunned, before smiling again. "I would like to talk with you, too, Amajiki-san."
"You can call me Tamaki."
"In that case, you can call me Mirio, Tamaki."