Work Text:
Part 1
Ochako Uraraka sat alone in a boothed alcove, swirling the melting ice around in her water glass as she watched condensation roll down the sides onto the ironed ivory tablecloth. Beside her sat her second empty basket of breadsticks, the only thing saving her from starvation that night, and an unopened drink menu. She hadn’t put that high of hopes on the night, it being her first date nearly eight months, but she had at least expected her date to show up.
She’d splurged on a dress, taking the time to deep condition her hair. Hell, she’d even shaved. Not that she had any delusions of remedying that dry spell. She just wanted to be prepared. But now she sat in a deep emerald dress she had no business buying, looking and feeling like the pathetic loser she was.
At least the waitstaff had taken pity on her.
“More breadsticks, Miss?”
Ochako sighed. “No.” She gave up. He wasn’t coming. She wasn’t even sure why she’d bothered in the first place. “I’ll just take the check, please.”
“Bread and water are free,” her waiter said, offering her a sympathetic look.
“I can’t not pay,” Ochako argued, feeling guilty for having taken up a booth during the restaurant’s dinner rush. She had to make a reservation two weeks in advance, which admittedly should have been her first red flag. Not that she was one to automatically assume that the man had to make the reservations or pay, just that she’d done all of the legwork.
The realization that she was officially desperate made her want to cry.
At twenty-one years old, she was hard-pressed to believe that she’d already peaked in her dating life, having been in one long-term relationship before managing to finagle a drunken one-night stand shortly after it ended. It wasn’t as though her standards were exceptionally high; her drunken rebound had been Yo Shindou, after all.
“We have a pretty decent chocolate cake if you wanted to take that to go?” the waiter suggested. Ochako didn’t have to guess their meaning as she nodded her head in defeat. As humiliating as the night was, at least she could drown her sorrows in chocolate icing.
“Cheeks?”
“And it just gets better,” she groaned, slamming her forehead against the table.
“What are you doing here?” Katsuki Bakugou asked, suddenly beside her table for two seating just one.
“Dying,” she answered without looking up.
Ochako heard the chair across from her slide out, feeling the table shift as the hero sat across from her. She never wanted someone to rob a bank sooner, calling him away from witnessing the shitshow that was her alleged dating life.
“Okay, but for real,” he said, tilting to meet her gaze when she was finally brave enough to look up, cringing as she did. Of course, he wasn’t there on patrol. No, Japan’s most eligible bachelor just had to be out on a date, suit-clad and cleaned up. “What’s up?”
“Oh, you know, making a fool of myself,” she answered with a painted smile. “You?”
“Third-wheeling it with Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dumb over there,” he answered, pointing to a table where Denki Kaminari and Camie Utshushimi sat, the latter laughing at his walrus impression he was pulling off with straws. Seemed everyone had hope.
But her.
“Where’s the nerd at?”
The inherent problem with amicably ending a relationship and deciding to keep the details away from the public eye was that unless you told a person that you broke up with the number three hero, literally no one would believe that you had. Because in reality, who would be stupid enough to break up with Izuku Midoriya?
Judging by the way Katsuki was looking around for his former school rival, Izuku hadn’t told anyone other than his mother, making good on his promise to follow Ochako’s lead and what would inevitably become a PR nightmare.
“He’s, uh, out of country,” she answered lamely. It wasn’t a lie. But it wasn’t the truth Katsuki was looking for either.
“And here’s that dessert,” Ochako’s waiter began, approaching the table with a to-go box. “Found the biggest slice— Oh, hey! Your date showed up.”
What Ochako would give to have Toru’s Quirk at that moment.
“He’s not—”
“Bottle of Caymus,” Katsuki cut in, settling back in his chair, grabbing the folded napkin to spread it over his lap.
“Very good, Sir.”
Ochako leaned forward, lowering her voice. “What are you doing?”
“Not gonna make you eat alone just cause the nerd is out of town.”
“You don’t—”
“Have you tried their porterhouse? They glaze it with this truffle oil—”
“Katsuki.”
“Little sauteed scallions—”
“Katsuki,” Ochako whined, unsure how much more embarrassment she could handle.
“Honeyed carrots—”
“Bakugou!” she snapped loud enough to garner the attention of everyone in the restaurant, her waiter shifting awkwardly from foot to foot. “I’m not dining alone,” she explained when he stopped.
“Oh. Shit, I’m sorry,” Katsuki apologized quickly. “I shouldn’t have assumed—” He made moves to leave, the tips of his ears staining pink.
“Ugh,” she groaned, screwing her eyes shut. “I mean, I am alone, I just….” Ochako took a deep breath. “Izuku and I broke up months ago, and I was supposed to be on a date tonight, but the guy stood me up, and I was just about to leave—”
“With complimentary cake,” the waiter chimed in.
“Yes, with my pity cake, to go shove my face in a bathtub while I try to forget this whole night,” Ochako finished.
Katsuki simply blinked, putting it all together.
“I appreciate it,” she added, on the verge of tears. “But don’t let me ruin your night, okay?”
“Who was it?” he asked abruptly.
“It doesn’t matter,” she sighed.
“To fuck it doesn’t. I want to know who was stupid enough to stand you up.”
“Really,” Ochako insisted.
Katsuki’s eyes narrowed before he turned to the waiter. “Two bottles. The porterhouse. And another slice of cake.”
Ochako never told Katsuki who the “cock sucking son of a bitch” was. Instead, the conversation veered toward their careers and world events, how he set up Denki and Camie, how he was positive Denki was going to blow it. Their conversation was surprisingly easy, the second bottle of wine making it moreso. The steak was better than he had described it, the two sharing the cut between bites of cake.
Needless to say, Ochako’s night turned around nicely.
“Alright,” Katsuki laughed, completely at ease with his suit jacket shrugged off and tie loosened. “I’ve gotta ask….”
“Rather you didn’t,” Ochako scrunched her nose, swirling the last of her wine in her glass.
“You and the nerd?”
She hadn’t expected that.
Well, no, she had. Eventually. Katsuki had just been pushing to find out the name of her would-be date, that the question caught her off guard.
“Well,” Ochako began, trying to find the words to say. It wasn’t that she didn’t want to tell Katsuki the truth, just that half of the truth wasn’t hers to tell. If and when Deku decided to come out publicly, she would support him. Until then, it was no one’s business that after years of trying to make it work, because they did, do, love each other, they realized they have the sexual chemistry of nail clippings.
“We realized we’d grown apart,” she continued. “And that while we’re still close friends, we never really were….”
Katsuki waved his hand. “I get it,” he said with a soft smile, saving her from herself.
Ochako sank back into her chair, feeling lightheaded from the wine and the sugar. “What about you? Has anyone caught the eye of Japan’s Most Eligible Bachelor?”
“There was someone,” Katsuki confessed. “A while ago.”
“What happened?”
He shrugged, downing the last of his wine. “Out of my league.”
Ochako scoffed. “Yeah, okay. Have you seen yourself?” She winced, hating how loose wine made her tongue.
“You should see her.”
“Bet she’s beautiful.”
“That’s one word for it,” he mused before sitting forward. “Take you home?”
“Oh, I—” Ochako looked around, realizing that the restaurant was empty, linens cleared, and chairs stacked. “What time is it?”
“Nearly midnight,” he answered, moving to stand.
“What about Denki and—?”
“I’m sure they’re fine,” he said from behind her, helping her slide her chair out, taking her hand to help her stand. If she was lightheaded before, she was downright dizzy now.
After she gave him her address, the two walked side by side the four blocks to her apartment, bullshitting about property values and patrol routes. Ochako’s feet should have hurt from the heels she’d so stupidly worn, but as they walked, she found her company so distracting that she hadn’t even realized they’d made it to her apartment lobby.
“This is you, right?”
Ochako looked up, dumbfounded at how quickly they’d gotten there. If she were a braver person, she’d have invited him inside, remembering a bottle of wine she kept shoved toward the back of her pantry. Realistically she knew she’d only be getting her own hopes up, and there was no sense in torturing herself further.
“Thank you,” she said softly, faces illuminated by the lobby’s light. “For tonight.”
“Beat the shit out of listening to those two idiots try to flirt,” he chuckled, shoving his hands in his pockets to rock on his feet.
“Right, so…”
“Whatareyoudoingtomorrow?” Katsuki blurt, his cheeks and ears darkening in the low light.
“I… I don’t know. Why?”
“I have tickets to the Tigers-Hawk’s game tomorrow,” he explained. “Not sure if you’re into baseball or not, but—”
“I’d love to go,” Ochako blurt back. “With you. And baseball. I like baseball.”
“Yeah?”
Ochako couldn’t have contained the grin that spread across her face if she tried. “Yeah.”
“Cool,” Katsuki exhaled, returning her smile.
“Alright, so, tomorrow?” Ochako wouldn’t say that she was stalling, but she certainly wasn’t in any hurry to run inside.
“Yeah. I’ll pick you up around eight?”
“Cool.” Ochako was practically bouncing in place. Rolling her eyes with a breathy laugh, she reached for her keys, nearly slamming into the lobby door. Opening it, she felt the cool rush of her building’s AC hit her, grounding her from flying away with glee.
“Hey, Cheeks?”
She paused in her doorway. “Yeah?”
“You’ve gotta tell me. Who the fuck was stupid enough to stand your ass up tonight?”
Ochako smiled, having nearly forgotten how her night even started. “Monoma,” she answered.
Katsuki clicked his tongue. “Fuckin’ idiot.”