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Hitoshi is exhausted and and it has everything to do with the mission he’s on and the people he has to work with.
Hitoshi like his underground work because it’s underground and out of the spotlight. Teaming up with some lime-light big shot heroes is not the worst because it means he’s doing his job right, thank you very much, but being paired with this particular agency just sucks ass.
Of course Hitoshi has made friends during his time in Class 1-A and of course he’s kept in contact with them, but they, too, are exhausting.
There are too many sunshine people in Class 1-A, people who are now still as painfully optimistic and bright as they were years ago and it’s draining every last bit of Hitoshi’s energy.
Bakugo Katsuki is not a sunshine person, not by a long shot, but by the gods is he exhausting.
“What the fuck is wrong with your face, troll doll?” Bakugo asks in just that moment as if he’s dead set on proving Hitoshi right and Hitoshi drops his face into his arms, praying to get at least a moment of peace before this debriefing starts. “Hiding it does nothing, it’s burned into my fucking retina,” Bakugo grumbles and Hitoshi tilts his head just enough to be able to look at him.
“Excuse me, for hurting your delicate sensibilities by simply existing,” he drawls out and hopes that contact between the two of them will be kept to a minimum.
Hitoshi usually doesn’t report back to the lead hero of a mission after all, and there’s no doubt that Bakugo is going to be exactly that. Hitoshi doubts he would allow himself to be anything but the main player of this.
“You don’t seem surprised to see me here,” Hitoshi mutters after a moment and decides to pick his face out of his arms if only so he can throw back his cup of coffee as if it were a shot of something much stronger.
“That’s because I requested you, you stupid fucker, of course I’m not surprised you’re here.”
“You—requested me,” Hitoshi repeats because that is news to him.
“I asked for the best underground hero they have and I know that’s you,” Bakugo replies as if he’s not yanking out the floor right underneath Hitoshi’s feet with that.
It’s one thing to be good at your job—and Hitoshi is very good, thank you very much—but to hear the current Number One hero say that, to know that his work has been recognised even though he’s not in the spotlight is different.
It feels as if Hitoshi’s entire world just shifted, because praise from Bakugo is like an eighth wonder of the world.
“I see,” he almost stupidly says and Bakugo smirks at him, clearly knowing what his words have done.
“Now look alive, zombie face, we’re about to kick this missions’ ass,” Bakugo cheerfully says and Hitoshi remembers who he’s talking to.
Right. Not quite a sunshine person but so, so draining to be around.
~*~*~
They are not working together, not quite, not really, because that’s just not what Hitoshi’s job description is all about, but they have to see each other much more often during the course of the mission than Hitoshi would like.
He’s still reporting to a handler, most of the time, because he is working undercover and cannot be seen with fucking Dynamight of all people but Bakugo Katsuki has a penchant for blending in when he really, really wants to.
And he clearly wants to ace this mission, because Hitoshi meets him at a coffee shop for the third time in about as many weeks.
“We’ve got to stop meeting like this,” Hitoshi jokes first thing and Bakugo levels him with a glare that not even his dressed down look can soften.
“What’s going on?” he asks instead of indulging Hitoshi and Hitoshi sighs before he gives Bakugo the run down of the latest developments.
The mission is coming to a close, they both know it and so this time is even more crucial than all the preparation they did beforehand.
“You think it’ll work?” Bakugo asks him when Hitoshi lays out his slightly adjusted plan, because he’s undercover for a reason and it’s to provide the attack team with precise locations and headcounts.
And things can change a whole lot over three weeks in organisations like the one they are trying to take down.
“I wouldn’t suggest it otherwise,” Hitoshi stiffly gives back and Bakugo nods.
“Alright. We’ll proceed with your plan then,” he decides and he doesn’t question Hitoshi further, doesn’t challenge his expertise on this and Hitoshi feels entirely caught off guard by it.
He thought Bakugo was straight-forward as hell, go in and explode the bad guys, and he always knows everything best but working with him has shown Hitoshi that while all of that is still true, Bakugo also values the input of people he thinks are capable.
He’s not here to suffer idiots but when someone has his respect Bakugo is surprisingly willing to compromise on his own ideas and isn’t that strange, to think that Bakugo respects Hitoshi and the work he does.
“You good?” Bakugo asks, clearly more amused than worried and he takes his coffee as he stands up before Hitoshi can even say something, so he clearly can’t care all that much.
Hitoshi fights the urge to flip him off but only just.
~*~*~
The mission has been over for a few weeks now—everything went exactly according to plan, meaning they got to take out one of the biggest organised crime families out there, Bakugo got all the public praise, Hitoshi got all the not so public praise and things are going back to normal.
Except for how Hitoshi keeps running into Bakugo.
“You’ve got to be kidding me,” Hitoshi mutters when he steps into his usual grocery store and finds Bakugo weighing some vegetables in his hands as if the weight alone could convince him of their quality.
“The fuck,” Bakugo mutters right back when he sees him and for a moment they just stand there and stare at each other.
It’s been years since they graduated from U.A. and they haven’t run into each other even once in all that time when it wasn’t premeditated by work so this is strange.
It’s just strange.
“You’re not allowed to shop here,” Hitoshi then decides because this is his grocery store and he likes it silent and quiet and anonymous and if Bakugo is being seen here it won’t be any of these things anymore because Bakugo’s fans are crazy.
“As if you get to decide that, troll doll,” Bakugo shoots back and stuffs one of the vegetables into his basket. “I can damn well shop wherever the fuck I please and it just so happens to be here.”
With that he turns around on his heels and walks deeper into the store, leaving Hitoshi gaping after him and Hitoshi decides that his groceries are not quite that important today. He can totally live off instant ramen one more day.
It’s not a problem at all, because this is just a fluke and nothing more.
~*~*~
“I’m going to murder you,” is the first thing Hitoshi hears when he steps into a new noodle shop he’s been wanting to try out for a while now and it’s enough to make him freeze in resignation.
“Please, no,” he whispers, not to Bakugo, but to whatever higher power is playing this stupidly idiotic prank on him.
“Begging won’t help you,” Bakugo hisses and Hitoshi can’t help himself, he just can’t.
“Aw, but I beg so prettily,” he says with a sweet smile and watches how Bakugo goes a little bit pale in the face before he mimes gagging.
“Do not talk to me,” Bakugo decisively tells him once he stops and then busies himself with his noodles again.
They are an alarming shade of red and Hitoshi moves along before Bakugo’s crazy infects him, too.
Surely it has to stop here now.
~*~*~
Hitoshi eyes the bakery across the street with some paranoia. It’s not a place he would frequent, but he’s craving something and he’s afraid of running into Bakugo if he goes to any of his usual haunts.
With most of his options taken out of his hand Hitoshi takes a deep breath and walks into the bakery, ready to simply grab whatever catches his eye first and be out in under a minute.
Except. Except what catches his eye first is a mop of ash blond hair and piercing red eyes.
“You’ve got to be fucking kidding me,” Bakugo mutters and storms up to Hitoshi. “What the fuck are you doing here? Be honest, mind fuck, are you following me?”
“You wish,” Hitoshi shoots back, “I’m looking for some peace and quiet from you and I would pay half of my wage to not have to see you for another month.”
They stare at each other for a long, tense moment before Bakugo deflates.
“Good,” he simply says and then shoulders past Hitoshi out of the shop.
Well. That haunt is ruined, but Hitoshi is going to get his stupid pastry. It’s the least he deserves.
~*~*~
Hitoshi drove the train two precincts over to get his coffee just to avoid Bakugo—not that he’s ever going to admit that—so when he spots him sitting idly in a booth with a slice of cake and a coffee in front of him, he lets out a long, measured breath before he makes up his mind.
Bakugo hasn’t spotted him yet it seems and so Hitoshi goes and orders his own cake and coffee and then slides into Bakugo’s booth.
“What did I do to deserve this,” Bakugo mutters, clearly not even surprised enough to muster some anger and Hitoshi shrugs.
“I’ve been wondering the same,” he gives back and then briefly leaves again to get his things.
Bakugo is still there when he comes back and Hitoshi counts it as a win and it will also, probably, make the next part a little easier if Bakugo is not dead-set on fleeing his presence.
“Listen,” Hitoshi starts and points between Bakugo and himself, “I know it’s stupid but there’s something going on. I’m not following you and you’re not following me, so there must be a reason why we keep running into each other.”
“And what the fuck would that be?”
“Some unknown force, trying to bring us together. Maybe we should let it.”
Bakugo is silent for a long time after that and Hitoshi is content to wait him out, lets him work through whatever goes on in that thick-headed skull of his.
“What do you think it wants?” Bakugo finally asks and Hitoshi is surprised that he simply rolls with it.
“For us to be together, clearly,” Hitoshi shrugs. “As friends or setting us up, no clue, but I’m tired of running into you all the time when I’m not expecting it.”
“Hard same, mind freak,” Bakugo agrees and then narrows his eyes at him. “You seem—surprisingly okay with this.”
Hitoshi presses his lips together but then figures if this is what fate or the universe wants then Bakugo is going to find out eventually anyway.
“It’s not the first time this is happening to me,” Hitoshi admits and now that seems to catch Bakugo’s attention.
“Some—force tried to set you up before?” He almost doesn’t sound as if he’s mocking Hitoshi at all.
“Not with a—” he waves at Bakugo instead of explaining himself better, “but with my dads.”
“How does that work?”
“I’ve been in foster care for a long time,” Hitoshi tells him, “and with my quirk, it wasn’t great. Went through one abusive family after the next, and I got really good at hiding shit. I was still good at hiding shit when I attended U.A.”
“By hiding shit you mean—”
“Bruises, lacerations, broken bones sometimes,” Hitoshi nods. “General neglect, malnourishment. Any kind of mistreatment you can imagine, I probably went through.”
“Shit,” Bakugo mutters and it’s not pitying for which Hitoshi is glad, it’s simply an acknowledgement of the situation.
“Yeah. So I got good at hiding things, at pretending as if everything was fine. And then Aizawa took me on as his personal student and suddenly all of it was just gone.”
“What do you mean?”
Hitoshi lets out a little laugh because now in hindsight it’s almost funny.
“Somehow Aizawa was always there when shit was real bad. It was a lot like with us, actually. I would go out after being beaten within an inch of my life, just trying to get an ice-pack or something actual peace and bam. Aizawa was there. I couldn’t go anywhere without him being there, seeing me at my lowest every damn time.”
“Bet he loved that,” Bakugo mutters because now they all know Aizawa had one hell of a soft spot for the kids in his care.
“Oh, he was ecstatic,” Hitoshi drily agrees. “So ecstatic in fact that he somehow got Yamada involved into our training as well and then I suddenly had two teachers showing up randomly everywhere I went.”
“You tried to fool them?”
“Course I did. I learned early on that authority figures are shit and teachers are especially bad, but of course nothing worked. Until one day I just—broke down, I guess. I told them everything and not even three days later I was living with them, all of my previous foster families investigated, all of my caseworkers fired and four months later I had official adoption papers to my name.”
“They sure work quick,” Bakugo appreciatively says and Hitoshi nods.
“I managed to keep them at bay for much longer than it took for everything to be sorted out and I’m in no rush to do that again,” Hitoshi brings the topic back to their starting point. “Something clearly wants us to interact, and I’m not going to fight that power.”
“So you’re gay,” Bakugo simply states, seemingly rolling with the punches now and Hitoshi shrugs.
“I can be gay for you,” he replies and doesn’t squirm under Bakugo’s gaze.
“What the fuck is that supposed to mean?”
“It means it’s complicated,” Hitoshi gives back and frowns when Bakugo rolls his eyes.
“What, you demi or some shit?”
“How do you even know that term?” Hitoshi sighs out but in all honesty, he’s glad for it.
Means he doesn’t have to explain it.
“You think someone who is friends with Mina has the privilege of staying ignorant about all kinds of sexual and romantic orientations? Or genders, for that matter?”
“Valid point,” Hitoshi nods, because he sometimes forgets Mina is one of the most openly queer heroes out there who is doing a whole of a lot of public events on the matter as well. “And yes, I’m demi, bot romantic and sexual, so I might as well just try for you, right?”
“Flattering,” Bakugo sarcastically says. “I’m gay.”
“Great, so the groundwork is already laid out,” Hitoshi mumbles and takes a sip of his rapidly cooling coffee.
“We’re trying for friends, first,” Bakugo decides and taps his fingers on the table. “I’m not looking for a relationship.”
Hitoshi bites back the urge to remind him what his sexual and romantic orientation actually means, because duh, of course they are trying for friends first, but in all honesty, Hitoshi has no hope that it’s going to stay that way.
He’s learned to listen to fate and what he hears is as terrifying as it’s exciting because it’s saying that Bakugo Katsuki and he are supposed to end up together.
And isn’t that a match made in hell, Hitoshi thinks with some delight because he can just imagine their friend groups groaning about this.
“What are you smiling about?” Bakugo wants to know and Hitoshi allows his smile to widen.
“Our friends are going to hate this,” he gleefully says and he sees some of the same delight on Bakugo’s face when the realisation hits him, too.
“Oh, this is going to be fun,” he says and raises his cup of coffee at Hitoshi. “To unnerving everyone around us.”
“Cheers.”
(Hitoshi has never made a friend faster than he has with Bakugo and that’s saying something because Midoriya was a force to be reckoned with, but Bakugo has him beat by almost two months. They have their first kiss two weeks after acknowledging that they are friends for the first time and four months after that, they move in together. Everyone thinks they are moving too fast, but Hitoshi and Katsuki know better. This is exactly what fate wanted after all.)