Work Text:
All of Ido Sakura’s life, she’s never been the one to receive compliments or be chosen in a sea of other women. Quite bland in personality and an extreme overthinker, Sakura has always shied away from attention and thinks of herself as a side character in her own story. She has always worked towards the goal of getting into the management of any pro-hero agency: graduating in the U.A. Department of Hero Management as valedictorian with top grades and participating in any extracurriculars that could potentially help her towards that goal. When she was a sophomore college student, Sakura interned under Gang Orca’s assistant. Her teleportation quirk was vital for any assistant work and due to her gym training, Sakura was able to participate on battlefields if necessary.
During this time at the agency, she met two pro-hero sidekicks, Earphone Jack and Tentacole. With their shared love for rock music, Sakura gets closer to Jiro Kyoka rather than Shoji Mezo. Kyoka, an introvert that occasionally leans into an extrovert, had a buzzing (literally) man as a boyfriend. Being brought onto different friend circle excursions with her best friend, she meets Kyoka’s boyfriend’s… friend. Sakura has seen the man before, a pro-hero sidekick of Best Jeanist. He was Great Explosion Murder God Dynamight, Bakugo Katsuki.
Kyoka warned her about him at the get go. “He’s rough around the edges but he knows when to shut up,” she would mention in the break room. “Don’t take whatever he says to heart. That’s just his character.”
Their second meeting, Bakugo called her stupid when she accidentally broke a glass cup on his kitchen floor. Monthly movie nights were held in rotation amongst the residences of the friends. He shoved her to the side and huffed, “I’ll fucking handle it, stupid woman.” Bakugo started mumbling under his breath as he started sweeping the glass off the floor. He rudely yelled at his friends in the living room playing Mario Kart to not step into the kitchen. Once the glass was all cleared and his floor was swept, he stomped into the hallway of his house. Sakura stood there like a deer in headlights as he came back with a first aid kit. “Fucking stupid, breaking glass and then cutting yourself. Shouldn’t have fucking touched it.”
Definitely taken aback, Sakura was unable to sleep the entire night as she stared at her bandaged finger. When she clocked in for work that morning, Kyoka had noticed her appearance. “Woah, you look like your goldfish drowned this morning. Are you okay?” Mezo was in tow, tilting his head to ask the same question silently.
“Kyoka…” Sakura started tearing up. “When you said to not take Bakugo’s words to heart… you didn’t tell me it would hurt if I did.”
Gang Orca sent her home that day. She didn’t want to see Bakugo ever again. I’m not stupid, I’m not stupid, I’m not stupid. Sakura chanted to herself every night. Sure, I’m not a pro-hero. I’m not perfect. I’m just me, ditzy and clumsy me. However, she also couldn’t forget how, even though Bakugo was rough with his words, he held her hands with the utmost care as he bandaged it tightly. The thought of the touches lingered far longer than she wanted them to.
It took her three months before she found herself in Bakugo’s house again. Forcing herself to not interact with him, Sakura found herself in the farthest corner of the living room and farthest away in proximity to the Explosion hero for every month after. She thanked Kyoka for not airing out her problems that very day at the Gang Orca agency as all of them accepted the story that she was simply too busy with college finals.
Bakugo caught on after a year. When they all took a trip to Okinawa during the summer in between her junior and senior years, she did not talk to him at all. It’s very telling when the group consists of seven people and she talked to all of them except him. Why? Did he do something wrong? They’ve barely interacted so why was she avoiding him like the plague?
“Katsuki is cooking tonight, wahoo!” Kaminari hollered as they walked back to the rented villa. “Oi, Sakura, you’ve never had his spicy curry right?” Sakura nodded. “It’s spicy and tasty.. I’m sure if he ever had a girlfriend, she would only like him for his cooking.”
“What the FUCK did you say, fucking Pikachu? You want a smaller portion tonight? I’ll give your extras to Ido here if you don’t shut up,” he yelled, nearly bursting her eardrums.
“Eek!! There he goes!” Kaminari exclaimed as he darted back to his girlfriend in feigned horror.
Now, it left Sakura walking alongside Bakugo in silence. He held all the ingredients in the grocery bag he paid five yen for, but he honestly couldn’t give a shit. This was his chance. He opened his mouth, “How spicy do you like your food? Never cooked for ya before.”
Convinced he was asking to ruin her food (or, poison her even), Sakura deadpanned, “However you make it is fine, thanks.”
“I want to make it for your liking, dumbass.”
There it was again, the weird palpitation in her heart when he gave her these rude names.
“I… I can’t handle too much spice but if you make it mild, I could start building my tolerance.”
There was always a first for everything. Bakugo internally cheered. It was the most he’s talked to her ever. The sparkling face she had when she ate the curry dish was enough for him to think of it as his very first step.
Their friendship stayed stagnant after that trip, despite the first step. Busy with pro-hero sidekick work, Bakugo never had time to further his… need for a better connection with Sakura. She, too, was busy juggling her senior year of college and her final week of internships at the Gang Orca agency. Since the pro-hero’s assistant had no plans of retiring, it left Sakura scrambling for a job.
At graduation, Sakura was met with her friends to celebrate her well-earned degree in management. Kyoka sobbed on her graduation gown as they hugged because they wouldn’t be able to see each other anymore. Kaminari had to pull her off in case she caused tear stains on “that lovely dress”. Secretly looking for Bakugo, she couldn’t help but feel slightly sad when he didn’t make it to her graduation. She’s whisked off with her family to celebrate. He never showed up.
Busy applying everywhere to be a pro-hero assistant, Sakura was met with a lot of acceptances for interviews. However, none of them were from an agency that she wanted. It made sense, the fact that a lot of bigshot pro-heroes rarely open roles for a new assistant because they would rather keep the one they have due to trust.
When she got a job at a small pro-hero agency, the group celebrated. Bakugo showed up then. Surprisingly, he showed up with a bouquet. The bouquet had her favorite flowers: blue, pink and purple hydrangeas with white roses and baby’s breath. She didn’t know he knew. A card was sifted in between the petals, which the Explosive blond told her to read it when she was at home. The rest of the group ooh’d and aah’d at their private exchange, hinting at something more which Sakura denied. They had a pleasant dinner that night. Sakura didn’t want to comment on the fact that Bakugo was staring at her the entire meal, like she was his whole world.
When she got back to her apartment, Sakura opened up the letter immediately.
“From: Bakugo Katsuki,
Sorry, I never showed up to your graduation. Denim Head had me on a very intensive mission overseas that I couldn’t tell the others about. I was fucking livid. I’ve always felt like you hated me, and I didn’t want to overstep… I hope these flowers fucking do it for you. Why did you have to select a flower that grows in the summer? What the hell, I can’t get that in the early spring. I made do. It was a few months in the workings with a florist that my mom knew.
I just wanted to let you know that I plan on building my own agency in five years. I will hire you as my assistant. That’s my fucking goal, so don’t get fucking comfortable at your new job. Take it or leave it, you dumbass.
Also, stop calling me Bakugo. I’m Katsuki, god dammit.”
Sakura held onto the letter, not knowing what to think. Wasn’t this technically a confession? It sounds more like a threat. Were they friends this entire time? Her mind blanked, she’s always thought of him as an acquaintance. Why is her heart beating so quick? Tonight was also the night that she realized that she’s always had a crush on the Explosion pro-hero.
Bakugo– err, Katsuki’s small signs of affection replayed in her head far more often than not. He pushed her out of harm’s way and immediately attended to her injuries. He asked her for her preference for the first meal he made. He attentively listened in on her conversations with Mina and Kyoka about favorites. Her favorite flower only grows in the damp summer but he did whatever it took to make sure she could get a bouquet of it in the early spring. He was aware of her dreams and planned on fulfilling his own dreams with her’s.
Maybe I am stupid, Sakura thought as she reread the letter again.
It was radio silence from Bakugo… Katsuki (she’s getting in the habit of renaming him) for the next few weeks. She assumed he didn’t want to overstep. The next movie night was held at his house once more. Sakura couldn’t make it because the pro-hero she worked for had piled a lot of admin paperwork on her desk right after her lunch hour. She clocked out around midnight, when the subway stations had stopped running for the day. With a heavy sigh, Sakura sat down on a bench, not knowing who to call to help.
Not wanting to bother anyone at the monthly movie night, Sakura calculated a walk back to her place. Thirty minutes wasn’t bad. It was then she saw a missed message on her phone from an unknown number and decided to reply.
[unknown, 10:41PM] where are you? why arent u here yet?
[sakura, 12:05AM} sorry who is this
[unknown, 12:05AM] jesus fucking christ it’s late, you dont even have my number saved?
[sakura, 12:06AM] um... am i supposed to?
[unknown, 12:07AM] bakugo katsuki. save it.
[sakura, 12:07AM] ok.
[katsuki, 12:10AM] ??????
[sakura, 12:13AM] walking back to my apartment
[katsuki, 12:15AM] fucking IDIOT why are you walking???
Sakura had already closed out her messages as she made a beeline straight to her apartment complex. Jiggling her keys into the lock, she closed the door behind her and slumped down on the foyer floor. Dinner was definitely not an option anymore, as she went for a quick shower and got in bed to sleep for the weekend.
In the morning, there was a pounding in her head… or was that a pounding on her door? Sakura couldn’t differentiate the two as her eyes opened to adjust to the white ceiling wall of her bedroom. The pounding didn’t go away. The sound moving to the background as she grabbed her phone, the drowsy woman in bed swiped through all her missed messages of the night. All of the messages being from… Katsuki.
[katsuki, 12:20AM] are u back yet
[katsuki, 12:21AM] you’re worrying me.
[katsuki, 12:23AM] what the fuck
[katsuki, 12:40AM] ok you have to be back now
[katsuki, 12:45AM] you’re ruining my fucking sleep schedule
[katsuki, 1:00AM] hello????
The pounding sound became the foreground in an instant as it picked up. Slowly, Sakura dragged herself out of bed and to the door of her apartment. In her tank top and pajama shorts, she met eyes with the person in front of the door.
“Sleeping Beauty was home after all,” he smirked.
Her heart lept. Why is he here? “Why are you here?” she asked.
He held up a grocery bag with food, “Did you eat dinner last night?”
“No.”
“Let me in.”
No question and no answer was given as Sakura didn’t step aside but neither did Katsuki make a move to invite himself in without her consent. It’s just one of the few things that she noticed about his personality.
“Okay,” she finally said after a few minutes of silent tension. She walked away from the door, letting Katsuki walk in as he carefully placed his shoes in the foyer before stepping foot in her apartment.
“I hope you’re okay with an omurice. Do you have eggs?”
“In the fridge.”
“Thanks.”
“I’m going to wash up.”
“Okay.”
They fell into a comfortable silence. As Sakura stepped back out to sit at the dining table to watch him cook, she let herself get lulled by the sizzling of the pan.
“How’s work?” he tiptoed.
“Fine. He’s working me for all the hours of my day though.”
“That’s ridiculous,” he removed the fried rice from the pan into the molds he bought. “Even for a small pro-hero, that’s ridiculous admin work,” he started to whisk the eggs. “Is he really that busy?” he poured the egg into the pan.
Everything he did was so calculated. Majestic.
“Up and coming on the rankings, apparently. The press wants him badly.”
“I see,” he took the pan and lightly tapped the handle to make the egg bounce into the iconic omurice shape. “Grab your plate,” he said as his free hand took the mold off of a plate. Sakura listened as she stood up from the dining table and walked over. “Stand over here,” he pointed and mumbled, as he turned around and placed the omurice softly over her bed of rice. “Stay,” he grabbed the nearby knife and cut the omurice straight down, the runny egg falling elegantly over the rice. “Go eat first. I’ll make mine.”
“Thank you,” Sakura blushed.
She started to eat, absolutely mesmerized by how runny that egg was, mixed with the fried rice underneath that had a perfect mix of beef, carrots, corn, and onion. As she ate, Katsuki found himself back at Okinawa where he placed the sparkling image of her eating his meal in his memory box. She looked so… content.
As his egg finished, he removed the mold on his plate and put it on top, cutting it in half. He pulled the seat across from her and sat with his plate, chowing down as well. The silence is comfortable: the clinking of the silverware on the ceramic plate as they finished their meal. Not wanting to do the dishes just yet, Katsuki got comfortable on the seat. He manspread, his arm draped on the back of the chair next to him and he observed Sakura’s attempts at dodging his eye contact.
“I asked Ears for your address. Sorry, I was worried about you.”
He answered her unasked question. She stopped fidgeting, meeting his eyes. “All good. I just… was too tired yesterday to respond to my messages. I’m sorry.”
“No,” he stopped her, “Don’t be sorry. That fucking pro-hero is working you to the bone.”
She dryly chuckled.
“Have you been eating properly on your work days?”
“Yes, I do.”
“Good.”
The silence settled once more. Sakura tried to not leer at him but it was practically impossible with the way his presence commanded the room. It was unfair, does he know he’s handsome?
“You know,” he spoke once more, “I’m serious about it.”
“About what?”
“Building my own agency and hiring you as my assistant. I’m working on it.”
“Oh.”
“You read my letter, right?”
“Of course. Everything you said on that letter, I read.”
“Like I said, don’t get comfortable. Once you move to my agency, I’ll give you all the meals you could want and make sure you rest when you’re not needed. I won’t make you do unnecessary admin work, I’ll give that to your assistant. I’m thinking about my future, as much as I think about yours.”
The words echoed in Sakura’s mind the entire night. This has to mean that he wants her in his future… right? But… they’re just friends, right? She is confused, absolutely confused. A handsome man like Katsuki laid all his cards out on the table and the poor woman is too dizzy to comprehend what he meant. As much as he wants… her (?), does she want him (?) like that? Kicking her feet in her bed, Sakura experienced another sleepless night.
What a wasted weekend. Come Monday, Sakura is not well-rested. Period. Sitting at the desk, there’s too much for her to do. The day flew by in stamped approvals and reshifted schedules. After having received little to no sleep, Sakura finished work on time and happily left the building for a well-rested nap. As she walked towards the subway station, a black Porsche rolled up to the sidewalk, honking at her.
“Ah!” she shrieked. Her head turns to the black Porsche that had the fucking audacity. “What the HELL are you doing? Honking at a random stranger?”
As the window rolled down, she saw Katsuki in the driver’s seat laughing his ass off. He was not in his hero gear. “Looks like the princess can swear. Did I scare you?”
“Oh, fuck you,” she didn’t know this was his car. “What do you want?”
“Woah. What got you so prickly today? Little boss got a stick up his ass today?”
“Why are you here?”
Katsuki stopped laughing at the situation and sat up straight. “Picking you up. I found a bakery nearby that I want to take you to.”
“Isn’t a pro-hero supposed to be on patrol today?”
He shook his head. “Get in… please?”
Sakura blinked, surprised at the unexpected plead. She nodded as she walks closer to the black Porsche. It’s owner opened his car door, stepping out and leading her to the passenger side. He closed her passenger door before rounding his car and got in his seat. As he started driving to the destination (30 minutes away), Sakura asked, “How did you know I was craving a croissant today?”
“You posted on your stupid Instagram close friends story a few hours ago about how your fuckass mediocre office coffee would be made better by a fucking croissant.”
Sakura groaned, “I thought you didn’t watch those…”
“I like to notice everything about you,” he quickly said, his eyes still on the road during the rush hour traffic.
Sakura smiled, “I guess you do.”
A few weeks later, the movie night their friends put together was at Kyoka’s house. Kyoka’s workload as a sidekick under Gang Orca has only increased so their time together was always spread thin. The Earphone Jack hero constantly joked that maybe she would be needing an assistant in the near future. Of course, Sakura doesn’t offer herself up for that role. Of course, Kyoka caught on to the slight glimmer of hesitance. It doesn’t slip past her as the best friend.
She was the only one that Sakura showed the letter to, earning a squeal from the pro-hero. Kyoka doesn’t think too much of her realized feelings for Katsuki. She explained to Sakura during that one hour lunch break they both had to meet that Katsuki has always worn his heart on his sleeve. Since high school, the man has been described as emotionally constipated by the media, but what the public doesn’t know is that he’s observant of others and prefers to show his emotions through actions. Sakura agreed.
Back to the movie night, the movie selected by Kyoka was Pitch Perfect… and Pitch Perfect 2. Having already seen the movie multiple times with her best friend, Sakura retreated to the kitchen to munch on some recently microwaved popcorn. Following her was Katsuki. “Why did you follow me here? You should watch Pitch Perfect, it’s a classic,” she said, sprinkling some sugar into the bag to shake while it was still hot from the heat.
“Making sure you don’t fucking break her glass cup too.”
Gasping, Sakura felt insulted. “Rude, that was years ago! I’m not even holding onto a glass cup.”
“I know,” he let a small smile slip, “Messin’ with ya.”
Sakura smiled, “We’ve sure come a long way since then, huh?”
“You think? We’re still sitting in a cramped apartment space because fucking Pikachu needs all the space he can get for his inflated ego and Eijiro and Mina always need to cuddle on the couch. You retreat to the kitchen because it’s fucking cramped and I follow you because I think the same.”
“No, dummy, I’m talking about us.”
“Us?” Katsuki questioned. “What do you mean by that?”
Sakura hummed, not knowing if she should be holding popcorn for this moment. The woman set the bag down on the kitchen counter and turned back to the man in front of her as she leaned against the counter. “I actually did hate you for a bit after I broke your glass cup. You called me stupid and shoved me aside and I didn’t like it. But…” she bit on her lip, “I liked how you treated my injuries after. That was very sweet of you.”
His eyes grew wide.
“I think slowly throughout the years, I’ve come to terms that that’s what makes you… you. You’re so unapologetically you that it captivates me. Even you saying you come to the kitchen to get away from the cramped living room, that’s because you’d rather give the space to your friends who could use it better. Maybe you need water too, who knows. But the story is, you’re so much more than you let on.”
The movie was currently playing in one of the acapella stages. Anna Kendrick is singing her heart out with the rest of her group. The song is in full swing.
Katsuki started to respond to her. He stepped to stand next to her, leaning against the kitchen counter as well. He didn’t want to look at her for this moment, with his face flushed and his heart pounding. “Good of you to know that my intentions with you are always pure.”
“That just means you have a soft spot for me.”
“Do I?” he scrunched his nose to think. “I guess I do. I don’t ruin sleep schedules for anyone.”
“You also don’t check anyone else’s Instagram stories. Mina’s tagged you in so many photos and you haven’t liked a single one of them.”
“That’s because she keeps posting the worst fucking photos of me. I have better ones, the hell?”
“You also don’t have anyone else in your future goals. Maybe Eijiro, though.”
Katsuki finally moved from his spot, turning his body towards Sakura.
“And I’m serious about those goals.”
“Hm, okay. What else are you serious about?” Sakura asked, her body shifted to turn towards him as well. At this point, Hanta and Kaminari were in the living cheering for the Bellas as Kyoka is trying to pipe them down in case of a noise complaint. Obviously, this is no place to talk about her feelings with the man in front of her.
“I don’t want to have this conversation here…”
“That’s okay, I think the first movie is ending soon anyways. Wanna bounce?”
Katsuki nodded, pushing off of the kitchen counter. Sakura followed after him, walking into the living room to see the commotion as Denki drunkenly cheers on the acapella groups. She snuck around her friends to grab her purce on the sofa behind her best friend. Recognizing Katsuki as the one to depart without saying anything, Sakura exclaimed, “Me and Katsuki are heading out, enjoy the rest of your movies!”
“Awww, man!” Eijiro shot up from Mina’s embrace of him. “We’re not even on the second movie yet!”
As Sakura is quickly putting on her Mary Jane shoes, Katsuki held out his arm for her to hold on as she attempted to balance during this ordeal. He turned to his best friend and exclaimed, “And I’m asking her to be my girlfriend. So bye.” The woman finished putting on her shoes and immediately darted her head up to look at Katsuki, who is flustered as he pushed her out the door. Once the lock engages in a flurry of WHAT??? coming from inside the apartment, Katsuki grabbed Sakura’s hand, “C’mon, let’s head back and talk about us.”