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“I thought you and Toga were doing great?” Izuku questioned as he leaned back into the booth.
“We were, I just… I can’t…” Ochako sighed into her soul and plopped her head in her arms as they rested on the table, mumbling the rest of her response “I worry I’m not enough with her.”
“Wait a minute. You broke up with her?” Given how lovestruck and determined to date Himiko Ochako had been, Izuku had assumed Himiko must have broken up with her. At the accusation, Ochako raised her head to meet his eyes.
“I didn’t want to. I love her, I really do. It’s just hard.” Ochako took a long sip of her beer before continuing. “We didn’t get along at first, but she did show interest. It was the first time a girl ever showed interest in me and it kind of scared me. I pushed her away, but I couldn’t stop thinking about her. When we eventually got together I was ecstatic. I’d been smiling nonstop. And then I find out, I’m not as special to her as she is to me. I wasn’t even the only one she hit on that night.”
Izuku could confirm that. He remembers meeting Himiko at that party and also being freaked out by her forwardness, but she was good people so they were able to become friends.
“I’m not mad at her for liking other people, but it’s just… it’s so easy for her to love. And for me it’s exhausting and allconsuming. We don’t mesh right.” She stared down at her drink, looking forlorn but determined.
“Besides, I’m sure it’ll be easy for her to find someone else.” She continued, “At the least, it’ll be easy for her to love again. Meanwhile, I’ll be 30 and still thinking about her.” Ochako groaned.
“I don’t understand. You sound miserable, so why’d you break up at all?” Izuku questioned as he watched her finish off her drink.
“Because! I don’t want to keep her from pursuing someone better for her, and… I don’t want her to leave me.”
“So you left her first.” Izuku finished for her.
“Ugh!” Ochako groaned again, slamming her face into the table again sans arms to protect her head. “Am I an awful person?” She mumbled against the wood.
“You? You don’t have a wicked bone in your body. Toga on the other hand? I wouldn’t be surprised if she’d killed someone before.” Izuku joked.
“Heh, don’t say that.” Ochako turned her face against the table to face him.
“Alright. What do you feel like? What could help you do better?” Izuku asked, determined to bring a smile back to his best friend's face.
“I just want Himiko.” Ochako spurted out with a hiccup.
“You want to try getting back together? I’m sure if you two just talk things out everything will be okay.” Izuku assured her.
“No! She’s better off. Besides, I already broke her heart once by breaking up with her.” Her voice started to break at the end as she started to hold back tears, feeling the true weight of their breakup.
“Oh no. Hey, it’s okay!” Izuku began rubbing her back as tears came closer to breaking through. Then all of a sudden Ochako shot up in her seat, and the tears in her eyes began to recede back.
“Himiko?” She questioned in a tiny voice. Izuku followed her eyes to where a blond with sharp eyes and spikey hair just entered the bar, following a red head. Izuku chuckled at the confusion given how blatantly different they looked in build alone. But Izuku supposed that in Ochako’s yearning, tipsy-bordering-drunk mind it wouldn’t be a surprise if half the people in the bar ended up looking like Himiko to her.
Ochako sat back and grabbed the paper napkin closest to her to dab her eyes. With her now clear vision she made out that it wasn’t Himiko, but she couldn’t shake the thought of their resemblance.
“I think I want to talk to him.” Ochako started quietly.
“A rebound? Really? That’s not like you.” Izuku insisted. Ochako shrugged.
“Himiko finds something to love in everyone. I want to be like that. I want to love like she does.” She said more so to herself as she held her chest like her heart might give out.
“Right. You ‘want to love like she does’… with a person who looks like your ex.” Izuku stated sardonically. Ochako shoved him hard enough to loosen his stiff expression then pulled him back with a shy smile.
“Could you find out if he’s single? See if he’s interested in me?”
“What? Why me?” Ochako dropped her smile for a second and gestured to her face. Her puffy eyes and red nose. Izuku let out a long sigh, gently banging his forehead against the table before letting the sigh lead into his answer.
“Fine.” He spoke begrudgingly though he felt his attitude loosen and relax as Ochako cheered. He got up from their table and spotted the blond man sitting by the end of the bar. He shook himself off and, with Ochako pushing again, headed towards him.
He tried to come to a script in his head on the short walk over, but as he went to introduce himself he noticed the man was talking to a redhead sitting next to him—the same guy he had entered with. He suddenly felt anxious with the possibility that he was here on a date and was about to retreat when he noticed their conversation had lulled and the blond’s eyes were scrutinizingly on him.
“Oh!” Izuku exclaimed as he realized he’s been staring “S-sorry, uhh, are you two dating?” He asked, pointing back and forth between the two of them, face red at what he already deemed a failed social interaction.
“No.” The blond replied shortly with a raised eyebrow. Izuku couldn’t help the sigh that escaped from his mouth before continuing.
“Well in that case, would you be interested in–”
“Didn’t say I wasn’t dating anybody.” The blond cut him off with an eye roll.
“Oh, sorry.” Izuku felt his face heat up at the error and turned to walk back to his seat.
“I didn’t say I was dating anyone either.” The blond called before he could take a step away. Izuku turned back, confusion evident on his features.
“Then why would you mention it?” He questioned earnestly.
“I wanted you to know you’re doing a bad job.” He answered with a shrug and a smirk before taking a sip of his drink. Izuku’s face grew even more red.
“Hey!” Izuku growled under his breath. “You know if you weren’t interested–”
“Who said I wasn’t interested?” The blond questioned, looking genuinely confused.
“I mean you sure aren’t acting like it.” The blond scowled at that reading.
“You don’t know me. This could be me at my most pleasant.”
“If that’s the case then I think we're done here.” Izuku retorted with a pointed glare before turning to walk back to his seat.
“If I was interested, I’m sure not now!” The blond called as he walked away, Izuku didn’t give him the pleasure of a response and instead grumbled comebacks under his breath as he walked back to his seat.
He was so caught up in his imagined responses he didn’t even notice he’d made it back nor that Ochako was staring at him. She nudged his arm and he was shaken from his reverie.
“What was that about?” Ochako questioned.
“Huh?” It took Izuku a second to remember what he was there for and then felt guilt at his failure to wingman creep up. “Oh, sorry. I didn’t get the chance to let him know you were interested.” As he glanced towards the blond he felt his guilt quickly secede. “But it’s for the best anyway. That guy’s an asshole.” Izuku resolutely decided, replaying their conversation in his head.
“He’s mean?” Ochako questioned, looking deep in thought before coyly turning back to Izuku. “Like Himiko levels of mean? Or…”
“No!” Izuku shut her down immediately. “He wouldn’t be good for you.”
“How can you know that from a brief conversation?” Izuku didn’t feel a need to answer that for himself. He felt confident that the two of them together would be all wrong. In fact, the image of that jerk dating anybody pissed him off to no end, and he wasn’t the type to get angry easily. He glanced back towards the guy to find him already glaring at him, then they both shot their heads forward at the same time, avoiding eye contact.
“Just trust me. Besides, you’re only missing Himiko.” Izuku tried to shake off the interaction and return to the problem at hand. “Why don’t you just text her? I feel like a single conversation would solve this whole issue.”
“You think I can get over all my insecurities in a single conversation?” Ochako raised a questioning eyebrow.
“Well it only took one to get you to admit you had them.” Izuku retorted. Ochako chuckled to herself. Half a minute of thought passed before Ochako let out a sigh.
“Alright, I’m gonna do it.” She decided, pulling out her phone and flipping it open. She opened up her chat with Himiko before immediately closing her phone and putting it back down. “No. No, I’m not.”
“What? Why not?”
“Who breaks up with a person only to unbreak up with them a few hours later? I can’t do that to her!” Ochako held her face in her hands, trying to reckon with her immense regret and guilt.
“Hey,” Izuku started gently rubbing her back to calm her, “I’m sure Toga’s feeling just as broken up about all this as you are. She’ll be thrilled you want to talk.”
“Mmm.” Ochako dove back into her arms. “I can’t do it. I’m not brave like you are.”
“That’s not true,” Izuku couldn’t help chuckling at the compliment “but if that’s how you feel we’ll just have to get you some courage!” Izuku brought his hands down on the table to push himself up to his feet and head towards the bar for refills.
“My hero!” Ochako called after him. Izuku blushed at the accolade as he made his way to the bar. He was happy to see her smiling and joking and arrived at the bar with a skip in his step.
“Two beers, please.”
“Coming right up.” The barkeep responded.
“Well look who came crawling back.” Izuku turned to see the blond from before staring at him all smug. Izuku cursed himself for not noticing he’d come right up next to him. He’d been so caught up in making Ochako feel better he’d forgotten about the previous unpleasant conversation. He turned his head to the opposite direction to stare at the time on the wall.
“Hey! Don’t ignore me!” The blond sounded genuinely distraught.
“Sorry, did you have something to say?” Izuku asked, already pleased he’d gotten the upperhand. The blond growled at his condescending response.
“You know you’ve got some real attitude for someone who keeps approaching me.”
“I didn’t approach you; I approached the bartender.” Izuku informed him.
“What and the ten more feet of bar wasn’t approachable?” He said gesturing emphatically down the rest of the table. The blond and the redhead had sat at the tailend of a largely empty bar and Izuku had come up to stand right next to them. Izuku felt his face heat up at the fair accusation.
“I–I wasn’t looking where I was going… and I was heading towards the bartender who was serving you guys!” The smug look returned to the blond at Izuku’s awkwardness.
“Mhm. So which is it? You weren’t looking or you were headed towards the bartender?” He questioned leaning in closer, and with how high the bar seats were that put the blond only slightly below Izuku’s face, causing it to heat up impossibly more.
“Ugh, both!” He insisted as he squeezed his eyes shut to avoid his stare.
“Your drinks.” The barkeep returned.
“Thank you.” Izuku went to grab his drinks.
“I’ll pay.” That response from the blond did serve to catch Izuku temporarily off guard before he got a hold of himself and turned fully to face the blond.
“I can pay just fine.”
“Probably not as well as I can.” The blond insisted, looking more like he was trying to win against Izuku than be courteous by paying.
“It’s not a competition! They’re my drinks. I get to pay for them.”
“As if you enjoy paying for drinks! Just let me do what I want! Or what, you lookin’ down on me? Think I can’t pay for them just fine?”
“How could you even think that?”
“Fellas!” The barkeep grabbed their attention, “If this is gonna turn into a fight, I’m gonna have to ask you to take it outside.” Izuku turned towards the blond who oddly looked ready to fight and tensed up a bit at the odd reaction. Izuku sighed and gestured his head toward the blond.
“He’ll pay.”
“Damn right I will.” He stated proudly before he took out his wallet in time with Izuku getting his drinks and heading back to his booth. As he walked, the strangeness of the interaction hit him.
“What was all that?” Ochako asked as Izuku sat down next to her and handed her a beer.
“Uhh…” he glanced back towards the blond who was getting his card back before deciding over what had just transpired. “I think he was ready to beat me to a pulp in order to pay for my drinks.”
“Why?” Ochako looked just as confused as Izuku felt.
“I have no idea. Pride, maybe? That man is an enigma.”
“Hmm, he’s a cute enigma at least.” Ochako tried, feeling guilty for sending Izuku to talk to him at all.
“Yeah, he is.” He quickly confirmed, not needing to put much thought into agreeing.
Ochako took a huge swig of her beer.
“You know, I bet Himiko would fight me to pay for my drinks.” She sighed happily to herself, blushing red from the alcohol.
“Like you would have fought her about that.” Izuku laughed to himself.
“Yeah,” Ochako agreed, chuckling as she drank more beer, “she spoils me. She really was the perfect girlfriend. For all her flaws, and all my uncertainties, and all our struggles we just worked. Oddly enough, we worked.”
Izuku stared at her and thought about how much the two of them had struggled in their relationship or butted heads before getting together. All those hardships they experienced made their relationship stronger, and what’s more they grew as people as they came to terms with each other. Izuku hoped to find something like that someday, and he found himself more than ever rooting for them.
As though Ochako could read his mind, or maybe as if her brain headed on the same journey as his did, she grabbed her phone assuredly and opened up Himiko’s chat again.
“That’s my girl.” Izuku smiled as he patted her on the back.
“If that’s your girl then what the hell were you doing talking to me?” Izuku’s eyes shot up with Ochako’s following shortly after to find the blond had approached their table and was now glowering at the two of them.
“What he means to say is, would you mind if we sat down?” The redhead from before interjected, gesturing to the other side of the booth as the blond grumbled.
“Uhhh, sure?” Ochako answered as Izuku remained frozen, staring at the blond.
“Thanks. Eijirou Kirishima. Katsuki Bakugou.” Eijirou informed as he sat down, gesturing to himself and then Katsuki.
“Ochako Uraraka. Izuku Midoriya.” Ochako responded in turn gesturing between herself and Izuku.
“We wanted to…” Eijirou petered off as he noticed Katsuki hadn’t sat down and grabbed his sleeve to force him next to him before wrapping his arm around his shoulder, holding him in place. “We wanted to apologize for the rude interaction, isn’t that right Bakugou?”
Katsuki growled to himself before he forced out a “yes.”
Ochako giggled at the awkwardness before turning to see Izuku still frozen and answering for him.
“It’s okay! Sorry for interrupting your evening.” She offered a short bow in apology.
“Oh, it was no interruption! Bakugou had been–ow!” Eijirou was cut off by a harsh elbow to the ribs courtesy of Katsuki. Eijirou removed his arm from Bakugou’s shoulder to block off the space to him and began to rub sadly at his ribs with his opposite hand. Before anyone had the chance to question what Katsuki’s been doing he spoke up.
“Nice shirt.” The blond mumbled as he nodded across the booth to where Izuku was sitting opposite him.
“Huh?” He questioned dumbly, finally being knocked out of his stupor.
“I said I like your shirt.” He reiterated with a louder voice than necessary. Izuku looked down to an All Might shirt he was wearing and felt a blush overtake his face.
“It–it’s laundry day.” He informed, pulling at his shirt as he glanced off to the side.
“Said I liked it, didn’t I? Don’t have to justify your shirt.” The blond grumbled.
“Yeah.” Izuku awkwardly scratched the back of his neck as he felt it heat up. After a minute of silence Katsuki cleared his throat.
“So?” He prompted Izuku with a raised eyebrow.
“S-so what?” Izuku sputtered.
“You gonna ask me what you wanted to ask me or what?” Katsuki began tapping his foot insistently as though his time was being wasted with every passing second.
“Oh, well…” Izuku unconsciously glared at the table between them. Even if the blond wasn’t a total jerk, he still hated the idea of him and Ochako getting together. Ochako tapped his shoulder twice bringing his eyes up to where she was waving her phone with a sent message to Himiko. He let out a sigh of relief and let himself smile as he turned back to Katsuki with more confidence.
“Nope!” He assured him happily.
“No?” Katsuki’s foot stopped tapping.
“Yep, all good here.” Izuku confirmed. Katsuki looked surprised by his response or potentially the positive attitude he was carrying with it.
“Said I was sorry.” Katsuki grumbled under his breath as his blond bangs drooped over his eyes.
“Actually you didn’t.” Eijirou whispered to him, though not effectively as both Izuku and Ochako heard him.
“I’m sorry alright! I can be kind of a jackass sometimes–”
“It’s okay!” Izuku waved his hands, scrambling to cut him off before he could continue as it sounded like Katsuki’s voice was about to break and in hindsight Izuku didn’t think the interaction was that bad. “It’s nothing really.” He assured him with a smile.
“Then why won’t you ask the question?” Katsuki grumbled through gritted teeth pressed into a terrifying smile Izuku couldn’t help but chuckle at.
“It’s already taken care of.” Izuku informed him. At that, all of Katsuki’s tense muscles relaxed into confusion. His mouth dropped open and he blinked a few times, looking at Eijirou like he might have a clue before turning to Izuku with a raised eyebrow.
“How ya figure?” Sensing both men’s confusion, Ochako jumped in.
“I had asked him to see if you were interested in hanging out with me sometime, but we decided I should just text my ex instead.” Ochako informed, once again shaking her flip phone to attention.
“With you?” Katsuki questioned Ochako with furrowed eyebrows, his volume jumping too loud for the conversation.
“Yeah…” Ochako affirmed looking between the two men. Eijirou’s skin turned ghostly pale, and he slowly turned towards Katsuki who was still looking questioningly at Ochako. “But I texted my ex–and she texted back!” Ochako realized as she glanced back down at her open phone. “Sorry, I have to take this.” She said as she slid out of the booth and hit the call button.
Izuku smiled as he watched her walk off but found an awkward silence in her stead. Eijirou’s mouth zipped in a tight line as he stared at Katsuki, bracing for his reaction. Katsuki stayed frozen in place, seemingly lost in thought, but it was hard to tell as his eyes remained hidden away under the shadow of his bangs.
“Uhhh… are you two okay?” Izuku asked tentatively, uncertain by the mood shift. Eijirou’s eyes traced to him signaling that he heard, but he made no effort to respond to the question, instead turning back to Katsuki and waiting for him to answer.
The blond let out a heavy sigh before he finally raised his head and let his eyes meet Izuku’s.
“You’re an idiot, you know that?”
“Excuse me?” Izuku asked, genuinely put off guard as he’d thought they were getting along better.
“You’re an oblivious, useless idiot.” Katsuki affirmed, leaning his head back on his seat and bringing his right hand up to massage at the crease between his eyebrows. “Do you have any idea how you sounded to me? Coming up asking if I was single like that? You didn’t even mention your friend!” He gestured in the direction Ochako just left before crossing his arms on top of the table and burrowing his face in them.
Izuku sputtered indignantly and turned to Eijirou whose eyes darted awkwardly around the bar. He looked torn between giving them space and remaining here for Katsuki.
“How…” Izuku started unassuredly “how did it sound to you?”
“You really gonna make me say it?” Katsuki raised his head in his arms to meet his eyes.
Izuku nodded his head slowly before becoming more determined and nodding vigorously. Katsuki sighed again and lifted himself to sit at his full height.
“I thought you were asking me for you, not her.”
It took a second for what he was saying to click in Izuku’s head, all the while Katsuki glared at his obliviousness. Izuku’s face became red with the realization that not only did Katsuki think he had been trying to hit on him but that he was disappointed when he found out he wasn’t.
“W-w-what?” Izuku stuttered in surprise and Katsuki’s own face scrunched up at the reaction.
“Stop that useless sputtering!” Katsuki demanded as he tried to tame his own embarrassment. “Is this something you could want?”
“Huh?” Izuku exclaimed once more though he started to come down a little from the initial surprise. Katsuki growled at Izuku prolonging his torment.
“Did you approach me because you were interested or not?” He said pointblank, capturing his eyes in a fierce glare. Izuku took a deep breath as he met his glare, trying to level his reddening face so as to not embarrass himself further.
“No, that’s not why I came up to you.” Izuku answered truthfully.
“Tch, whatever. C’mon stupid ass Shitty Hair with your stupid ass ideas…” Katuski muttered as he slid out of the booth. Izuku was quick to reply and cut off his mumblings.
“That doesn’t mean I’m not interested.” Katsuki froze in his stance next to the table and met his eyes once more. After a minute of staring and searching for any sign of deception he responded.
“Better not be teasing, nerd.” He grumbled.
“I mean, I am teasing, but I’m also interested. If you are, that is.” Izuku spoke resolutely. Katsuki stared for another while longer, as though waiting for the wool to be pulled over his eyes. Eventually he sighed and let himself smile slightly.
“Yeah, alright.” He finally responded and Izuku returned his smile tenfold. He stood up to hug him before immediately backing out of the hug.
“S-sorry! I should have asked!”
“It’s fine.” He said as he turned his head to the side, avoiding his gaze while holding out his own arms out for a proper hug.
Izuku went to hold him again, and this time he allowed himself to relax into the hug. He wasn’t sure what it was that made him feel so at ease with Katsuki given they had just met and had such a rocky start, but he was thrilled at the opportunity to see him again and find out.
After they’d hugged for what must have been too long Eijirou let out a gentle cough to get their attention.
“We all good to head out, man?” He asked the blond, gesturing with his thumb and his head towards the exit.
“Just give me a second.” Katsuki responded as he backed out of the hug. “Your number?”
Izuku stared at him for a minute in awe before he realized what he was being asked and scrambled for his phone. He opened up his contacts to create a new one and Katsuki snatched the phone out of his hand. He typed his information in and sent off a text to himself. Katsuki glanced back at Izuku who was awkwardly fidgeting with his shirt and the blond smirked. He handed his phone back and pulled at Izuku’s All Might shirt to get a good look at it before flicking at it.
“See you later, nerd.” He called as he turned to leave with his friend.
“S-see you!” He returned, feeling thoroughly frazzled by the interaction. Izuku stood alone in shock for a few minutes. He’s always been oblivious when it comes to love and considers himself plain, so he wasn’t asking many people out or properly reading a room when someone was interested in him. He’d never been on many dates before, so the image that he was going to go on one with such a cool and handsome guy (one who was a fan of All Might nonetheless)? He couldn’t believe his luck.
By the time Ochako came back to the table she was absolutely glowing. She noticed the two boys were gone and raised her eyebrows slightly at the realization of how long it’d been.
“Sorry for taking so long,” she started, sounding dreamy and dazed, “but I have some good news!” She exclaimed with a blush floating across her cheeks.
“I think I have some good news too.” Izuku responded in kind, a blush rising on his face as well.