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Katsuki comes to the same coffee shop every day. It’s this small little shop on the outskirts of town, and damn if it isn’t the best coffee he’s ever tasted. Every day, he stops by before work, and he spends fifteen minutes or so in the cafe, just enjoying his caramel macchiato.
Sometimes, the barista, Uraraka Ochako, will have a free moment, and she’ll come over and strike up a conversation. This is one such morning.
“So, I see you’re still employed,” she says by way of greeting.
Katsuki snorts. “Like those bastards would ever fire me. They took months to fire Mineta, and he’s way worse than I am.”
“Oh, they got him?” Uraraka leans onto the table. “What’d he do to finally get him fired?”
“Aizawa’s daughter was visiting,” Katsuki starts, and he can see by the look on her face that Uraraka knows where this is going. “Mineta tried to get grabby and, well.”
Uraraka rolls her eyes and leans back. “I’m glad that they finally fired that asshole.”
“Yeah, me too. Now they just need to hire someone who’s actually competent and replace him,” Katsuki snorts. “Not that they’ll have much trouble. Anyone’d be more competent than him.”
“Can’t exactly go wrong with those parameters,” Uraraka snorts as well. “Still, it sounds like the whole lot of them are assho-”
“Hey,” someone interrupts. “Don’t you work here?”
“What? Yeah…” Uraraka trails off and glances at the counter. “Ugh, Takeda left. Bastard,” she mutters. Katsuki snorts. Uraraka turns back to the customer with an obviously fake smile and says, “I’ll be right with you, if you’ll head up to the counter!”
The customer scoffs but obliges, and Uraraka bids Katsuki a hasty farewell. He leans his elbow on the table and takes a slow sip of coffee. Delicious.
Katsuki takes another drink, then bends to grab his bag. That’s when he hears someone YELL across the store. Katsuki bolts upright and looks towards the counter.
The same customer from earlier spilled her drink on Uraraka, and from this angle Katsuki can’t tell if it was an accident or not. Regardless of that, he stands and slips behind the counter, grabbing the emergency towels he knows they keep on hand for incidents like this and heading for Uraraka.
Uraraka tells the customer to leave the store in a hard, flat voice, so they must have spilled it on purpose.
“I’m gonna tell everyone how shitty your service was,” she threatens.
Katsuki can’t help but laugh. “Like we want any of your asshole friends stopping by.”
The customer recoils and opens her mouth to shoot another barb, but Uraraka says, “Get. Out.”
She glares at Uraraka one last time, then haughtily turns and stalks out of the building.
Uraraka falls against the counter with a sigh, and Katsuki takes the opportunity to hand her one towel to use for herself and use the other to wipe down the counter.
“Thanks,” Uraraka says quietly.
Katsuki grunts and keeps scrubbing the counter.
Uraraka hesitates. “You know… we’ve got an opening at the store, if you’re interested.”
“Mm?” Katsuki looks up.
Uraraka kicks one foot over the other and says, “You’ve never seemed happy with your current job, and I figured that it couldn’t hurt to offer you a new one.”
“You’d really want to work with me?” Katsuki scoffs. “I’m not ‘too abrasive’ or anything?”
“You probably wouldn’t man the counter,” Uraraka allows, “but you’re not as huge an asshole as you make yourself out to be.”
Katsuki rolls his eyes and says, “Yeah, sure,” but there’s no bite in his tone. He glances sideways at Uraraka and adds, “I’ll.. I’ll think about it.”
“That’s all I ask,” she grins. “Alright, I’ll be right back. This coffee stain is just not coming out!” Uraraka ducks into the back room. Katsuki keeps scrubbing the coffee out.
Three weeks later, Katsuki strolls into the cafe with a job application in hand.
“Are you serious?” Uraraka gasps.
“When am I not?” Katsuki snarks.
Uraraka rolls her eyes and gestures for Katsuki to take a seat at a nearby table. “Wait here, I’ve gotta get my boss for the interview.”
“Yeah yeah, alright,” Katsuki nods.
Uraraka emerges two minutes later, a person Katsuki vaguely recognizes as Iida Tenya following behind.
“G’morning,” Katsuki greets. Uraraka waves, then backs away to man the counter once more.
Iida pushes his glasses up. “Good morning. You are Bakugou Katsuki, I presume?”
“Yes, I am,” Katsuki says bluntly. Normally he’d be less formal, but he knows how to make a good impression on an uptight bastard like Iida. “I’ve got my resume here, if you’re interested.”
“Just set it down and I shall look through it in due time,” Iida requests. Katsuki nods and does as asked. “Now, let’s start with something simple. Why do you want to work here?”
Katsuki doesn’t think that’s simple at all, but whatever. “I’ve been coming here since, sh- shoot, forever, practically. My old job wasn’t all that great, either, so when a friend suggested I apply for a job here I took the opportunity.”
Uraraka, who Katsuki knows is listening in, nearly knocks over the coffee maker.
Iida turns to her with a stern look, and Uraraka squeaks, “Sorry!”
He nods to show he heard her, then turns back to Katsuki. “I apologize for the interruption; you were saying..?”
“I want to work here because a friend suggested I apply,” Katsuki repeats. “It seems like a good opportunity.”
“I’m glad to hear that!” Iida exclaims. “Now, why should we hire you?”
Katsuki grins. He’s always psyched to talk himself up. “I’ve got a good work ethic, and I’m smart enough to do any job you give me. I’m already familiar with the staff here and we get along well.”
“All good reasons,” Iida nods. “What are you looking for in this job?”
“I’m looking for…”
The interview goes on for about half an hour before Iida puts Katsuki through a supervised test run, which goes better than Katsuki could’ve hoped. The customers are all pretty reasonable, and he must make a good impression on Iida because Katsuki’s hired.
Katsuki can’t help the happy grin that slips onto his face as Uraraka pulls him into a hug and spins him around. “Congratulations!”
Katsuki can’t wait to start his new life.