Chapter Text
Shinsou didn't know how he got semi popular in the little coffee shop he worked at. Especially in comparison to his co-workers. Okay, maybe he did.
Mina for once tended to chatter loudly and was sometimes a little much with her flirting. Though she quickly realized that she wouldn't get far with Shinsou, a gay man without any appreciation of the art of flirting, according to her.
But for every advance she would have directed at Shinsou she put twice as much effort into her flirting with their other barista co-worker, Uraraka. And accordingly she reacted twice as much as Shinsou ever could; getting red in the face and often times freezing in the middle of a task.
Shinsou even witnessed her having to leave for the break room to cool down after Mina had surprised her via hug and had sneaked a hand on her waist under her work shirt, which wasn't tucked in properly, all while whispering something in her ear. She had squealed and stammered, her face bright red, before disappearing quickly.
As if she wasn't distracted enough by the pink haired girl already, stealing glances more often than not and getting flustered in her immediate proximity.
And she was a little clumsy with orders and dishes sometimes. Generally they somehow seemed to defy gravity in her surroundings.
So their customers preferred Shinsou's down to earth approach to the counter. Or just his coffee. After years and years of perfecting the life saving bean juice it shouldn't surprise him that many complimented him on his warm beverages.
“Hey Eyebags, outta my way”, a voice shouted from behind him.
He jumped out the way, barely missing the hot tray of fresh croissants. Shinsou glared at Bakugou's back, who now aggressively pushed the baked goods in the display window.
He sighed. Bakugou was a perfectionist which directly translated into his work. And every other part of his life as long as it hadn't anything to do with people. As fast as he had come through the door to the kitchen, he was gone again, grumbling on his way, about “lazy ass baristas not even doing any real work”.
Shinsou sighed again and approached display, wiping off any lost crumbs Bakugou had left behind.
Right now it was a noon low for their little shop. Shinsou would have a few more hours of his shift and then classes in the afternoon. Which was basically all he did at the moment. Working, uni and more or less sleeping. There were some meet ups with his little group of friends, but they had all been busy the last few weeks.
Maybe he should hint at Izuku that he wouldn't be against another game night and he would spread the news via group chat and they would hustle for a good date. Shinsou was also in that group, but barely texted. He just didn't know what to say most of the time, but the others never seemed to mind.
The bell above the door rang and Shinsou took the newcomers order. He handled the machines with experience and confidence. Within a few minutes and minimal communication the customer was gone, not before complimenting the coffee though.
Shinsou glanced at the clock and started preparing two coffees. Another one for himself and for-
Ding-
Jirou stepped through the threshold, looking at her phone. “Morning”, she greeted, grabbing her drink and pushing some bills over the counter. She took a big sip of the warm coffee, a yawn following close behind.
“Seems like your gig yesterday was successful if you're that tired”, Shinsou leaned on his forearms on the counter.
Jirou was one of the few regulars whom Shinsou was something like friends with, although they only talked while working either of their jobs. She had an amazing music taste and worked part time across the street at Mic's Records.
Funny story actually, because she was basically the main part of the story of how he came out to his parents. He had never thought it necessary, but when his paps -who owned the music store- hired Jirou, he had wanted to play matchmaker. And props to him, if Shinsou and Jirou were somehow interested in the opposite gender, they would probably have dated sometime. They had similar interests and styles and tastes in music and had fun just chilling in either of the stores when they both had a slow day.
Anyway, his paps had been sending Jirou for coffee on Shinsou's shift for weeks before hinting at him at the dinner table that Jirou was single, which got him a similar deadpan from both men at the table. Shinsou still didn't know how his other dad had known, but he didn't even blink and congratulated Shinsou on finally letting his paps in on the fact. Of course Hizashi wasn't dejected for a second and two weeks later started implying that there was a cute boy who frequented the shop to see Jirou and look for new albums.
“Yeah the gig went great, the crowd was pretty cool, but in the end I had to pack up alone, because the venues technician didn't want to stay as long but didn't tell anyone how anything works, so I had to call a friend and it took a minute to get all my stuff off the grid safely”, she sighed and got comfortable at the counter.
Just then Mina came back from wiping down the tables, grinning widely, “Oh hey Jirou, how's it going? How's Momo doing?”
Jirou got red in the face and Mina giggled. “Gotcha”
Momo had been the main investor when Bakugou had started the little coffee shop. He didn't know how someone like Bakugou knew someone like Momo, but he was sure to find out. One day. On the same day Jirou would ask Momo out. A smile sneaked on his lips at the thought. At work, he really was surrounded by disaster lesbians.
And Bakugou. Close enough.
They talked until a few minutes before Jirou had to start her shift and Shinsou gave her another coffee for his paps. And then he was busy for the next few hours, between the lunch break crowd and several people getting comfortable for studying. But soon enough it was time for Shinsou's shift to end and he got his uni stuff from the office in the back.
The main building of the university wasn't far from their shop and Shinsou enjoyed the sun and light breeze outside. He would have two classes almost back to back and only return to his apartment late, still having some studying to do before he could pretend to sleep for a few hours.
And then rinse and repeat. He really needed a hobby or a boyfriend or something to keep him occupied.
Classes were pretty boring. Not that his subjects weren't interesting but most of his professors could not make the content as exciting as it deserved.
When he had started his psychology studies everything was completely different than school and his anxiety and insomnia weren't helping getting used to his mixed uni schedule. There were some classes where he had weekly submissions which were taken very seriously and he didn't even have to go some other classes, because no one checked attendance.
It wasn't easy to manage, so he brought it up the next time he was at his dads' and his paps suggested he start working at the music store to get some rhythm into his days. He had grimaced, preferring not to work for his paps, but he did start looking into student jobs nearby.
And that's how he found the coffee shop across the street. He was convinced Bakugou only hired him, because of the coffee he managed to make without instructions at his job interview.
-----
The next morning was the same, Mina chattering on about her new chemistry lab she had this semester and how she was gonna be working with Bakugou and it's the first time they really did something interesting and so on and so forth.
Jirou came by around noon and Uraraka started her shift an hour before Mina left, taking a grumbling Bakugou with her. When it was time for his break he took his lunch and a coffee and went across the street to hang around the music shop.
Just as he went for the door, it opened, revealing a blonde guy, yelling something at Jirou and almost running into Shinsou.
“Heh sorry 'bout that”, he said and glanced Shinsou up and down. When Shinsou mumbled that it was fine, he grinned. Cute.
And then the guy waved and disappeared around a corner.
“Friend of yours?”, Shinsou asked when he got to the counter, where Jirou was sitting in front of her laptop, headphones slung around her neck.
“Something like that”, she answered and lifted one side of the headphones to her ear. She was probably working on a set for her next gig or something. Shinsou sat himself at the little table next to the counter and stared at his phone, checking the news and snacking his lunch.
The hour went by pretty fast, with a little conversation every now and then, but nonetheless Shinsou was happy to not be restricted to the coffee shop for the whole day. It was the one day of the week he didn't have classes so he had the morning and afternoon shift, but spending the whole day there was a bit much sometimes.
The rest of the day dragged by, somehow despite the slow day it was still tiring to work the register. He closed the shop with Uraraka, saying goodbyes at the door and Shinsou beginning the track home.
He was barely around the first corner when his phone vibrated in his pocket, which was pretty unusual for the time of the day, so he checked it.
“Need you to step in for Mina tomorrow morning” -Bakugou
He frowned. Mina didn't seem sick this morning. And she wouldn't just miss a shift. He was just writing a response when a body crashed into his own, his phone flying out his hand,. Then he felt liquid seep through his shirt. A can rattled on the ground. He barely held his balance and glared at the other guy. It was the blond dude from the music store. He had taken a few steps back for balance, shaking his head and looking startled. His hands were shaking and his face paler than earlier. His phone was gripped tight in his hand, still lit up bright. Shinsou glanced around, looking for his own phone on the ground.
“Oh my god, I'm so sorry I wasn't- Oh gosh I gotta go- I'm so sorry again”, and without anything else he speed walked off.
Shinsou took half a second, staring where the guy had vanished off to. He saw his phone light up on the ground. Right next to a can of some unholy energy drink mixture which was making a puddle, slowly creeping towards his phone. He picked it up quickly and assessed to damage. Still in one peace, thank god, not even a scratch.
But his hands were sticky, his sweater drenched with the overly sweet smelling monstrosity of caffeine. He sighed. And the guy hadn't even really stopped or offer any kind of help. Rude. The walk home was gonna be awkward, the sweet smell already summoning a headache.
And against expectations he would have to miss his morning class to cover for Mina the next morning. Awesome.