Chapter Text
Choosing to sit with his back towards the door, Bakugou Katsuki finds himself being surprisingly blinded by the sun at 17:00 (5 PM). So much for going against his norm and choosing a window seat. He doesn’t pin the blame on himself, however, because ever since his local coffee shop adopted the new “for-here” policy, Katsuki has found himself loitering in Starbucks more often. So much so that the baristas have learned his walk-in time and prepare his black coffee before he’s even placed his order.
Today, however, he decides to send back the black coffee and order a Tall Peppermint Mocha Frappuccino. With “Sunflower by Rex Orange County” playing on his wired earbuds, drumming his fingers to the beat against the table, he feels at peace.
Despite his newfound status as a regular, Katsuki still keeps to himself. The baristas have never attempted to speak to him, most likely due to being tired and overworked, and he's been okay with their arrangement as is. He's always preferred watching others instead of talking to them anyway.
As the chorus of the song plays, he takes note of the lives passing by the window. A family of three walks hand-in-hand, laughing with their toddler daughter, while a teenage boy skates towards a group of other skaters. However, the most eye-catching lives of all are located by the shoreline.
A young couple walks along the beach when the man stops in his tracks. He looks nervous as he fidgets with his hands in his pockets. The young woman looks confused, but rubs her hands up along his shoulders in reassurance. It isn’t until the man drops down to one knee and pulls a miniature box out of his pocket that the woman looks to be squealing in excitement and bringing the man up to his feet to pull him into a warm embrace.
Katsuki scoffs before looking away. He rolls his eyes and takes a sip from his Frappuccino.
Throughout his entire life, Katsuki has not once questioned his personality. He knew since his teenage years that others would potentially view him as an arrogant and self-centered person, which is why he had never concerned himself with finding love. But now… as someone who was pushing into his mid-20s, watching those around him experience romance, deep down, he knew he longed for the same feelings. He wanted nothing more than to love his partner to death! Although he’d never admit that to anyone.
He let out a sigh, and as soon as “Falling Behind by Laufey” began to play, he heard the bell of the coffee shop’s door jingle behind him.
“Kacchan!” a voice followed.
Katsuki rolled his eyes. It’s been nearly 10 years since they graduated high school, yet the damn nerd refused to let the nickname go. “Took you long enough to arrive on time, Izuku!”
“Haha, sorry about that! But I had to pick up Ochaco from work before we met you here,” Midoriya replied as he and Uraraka found their seats in front of Katsuki.
Uraraka gave Katsuki a warm smile, “It’s been a while, hasn’t it, Bakugou?”
Katsuki nodded.
“What have you been up to, anyways, Kacchan?”
“Seriously?” Katsuki rolled his eyes. “I agreed to meet up with you because this place is within walking distance of my apartment. I have to get to work in a few hours, so I don’t have time to chit-chat with you lovebirds.”
He was lying through his teeth. Katsuki didn’t need to be at work today, but did need to catch up on watching the next episode of “The Rookie.” It was Wednesday after all.
Midoriya laughed, “Right… sorry about that. Ochaco and I’ll make this quick, then. There’s no easy way to say this, especially since we’ve all known each other since way back in our high school days, so maybe this shouldn’t even be a surprise, but we both really wanted to tell you in person since this is such big news on our part and—“
“Just spit it out, nerd.”
Midoriya and Uraraka exchanged glances before she finally spoke, “We’re getting married!”
Katsuki froze in his seat. He had stayed that way for so long that he hadn’t even realized his playlist’s last song had already ended.
The couple cleared their throats, shocking Katsuki back to reality, “You know, Kacchan, a little acknowledgment to our news would be nice…”
“Right, uh… congratulations on your… marriage, or whatever,” was all Katsuki could manage to articulate. After hearing that news, he felt somewhat uneasy being around the two.
“Thank you, Bakugou,” Uraraka smiled. She dug something out of her bag and handed an envelope to Katsuki, her diamond ring shimmering in the sunlight on her finger.
Damn… Katsuki thinks. How did Izuku even manage to afford a ring of that size with his teacher’s salary?
Katsuki willingly takes the envelope from her and begins to rip the paper open. Inside a wedding invitation reads: You’ve been invited to celebrate the wedding of Midoriya Izuku and Uraraka Ochaco! Save the date: xx/xx/xx.
Reading the invitation made Katsuki feel even worse. Not about the wedding of his friends, but more about himself. He wanted to be alone. Forget about watching “The Rookie,” he just needed to get the hell out of there.
“And while you’re here, I have a request,” Midoriya says. “Although we’ve only recently become friends again… I guess, you know, you were the one actually in my life. It’s because of that that I want you to be the Best Man at my wedding, Kacchan.”
Katsuki is taken aback by Midoriya's request. Several emotions had already hit him all at once in a matter of minutes, so he wasn’t sure how he was even handling all these emotions anymore. He stares blankly between his childhood friend and his childhood friend’s fiancée.
“I know it’s a lot to think about and a big commitment, but I’d love to have my best friend by my side on the big day. If you’re unsure now… at least think about it..?”
As much as he wants to get up and get the hell out of his favorite loitering spot, he’s filled with a bittersweet feeling towards the couple and himself. Despite his shitty feelings about his own nonexistent love life, he at least owes Midoriya an answer now. As much as he hates to admit, Midoriya has been there throughout every moment in his life, the ugly and the decent. In Katsuki’s mind, this is the only way he’ll ever be able to pay back Midoriya for all those years of sticking by his side without feeling like he has to go out of his way to do so.
With a heavy sigh and the pit feeling in his stomach growing the longer he saw Midoriya and Uraraka act lovey dovey together, he looked up at the two sitting in front of him. He responds, “I’ll do it. I’ll be part of your guys’ shitty little circus act and attend the stupid wedding,” before grabbing his drink and walking towards the safety net he calls home.
After an extremely last-minute root touch-up to his hair, Kirishima Eijirou finally decided to look at the time: 17:38 (5:38 PM). Crap. He was very late to his best friend’s birthday party.
Although he hated keeping his hair down, as it reminded him of the weak middle schooler he once was, he decided to let his hair roam free for once. He was manly enough to admit he knew the spikes wouldn’t last long in the humidity of the bar anyway. That was Eijirou’s favorite quality about himself: knowing when to admit defeat. It was the manliest quality any person could have, regardless of their gender.
Slipping on his shoes, Eijirou contemplated whether or not he should grab his car keys. However, knowing the group he’d be with, he knew damn well his friends would try to get as drunk as humanly possible. Being the lightweight of the group, he figured he’d end up being the designated driver and shook his head with a chuckle. Eijirou clipped his carabiner to one of the belt loops of his black washed baggy jeans.
As much as he complained about never getting the opportunity to get blackout drunk, he was always happy to be everyone’s designated driver. He found it comforting knowing that his friends relied on him to make sure they got home safely. It made him feel like their friend group’s dad in a way. Plus, there was a subconscious part of him that didn’t fully trust his friends to get him home in one piece if he did drink the night away.
Eijirou made a quick effort to pick up the empty Red Bull cans he’d left off the floor and into a nearby trash can in his apartment’s parking garage before starting his black Ford F-150. Luckily for Eijirou, it was warm enough that he could keep his windows down while driving rather than keeping his AC on for the entirety of his 10-minute drive.
Although it wasn’t the flashiest car out there, he was proud of how well-kept the exterior of his truck was. He admits, a Ford F-150 wasn’t his dream car, but he made it work. Eijirou made frequent efforts to get his truck washed and waxed every two weeks to keep it looking new, while changing his cherry-scented air fresheners once a month. Once he finally saved up enough money to get the interior modded, he opted for a loud surround sound system and LED lights along the floor of the truck. His favorite personal touch, though, was the new red leather seat covers that kept his car smelling like it once did on the dealership’s lot. He figured if he was going to make the effort to make his car look manly inside and out, he’d let everyone on the road know, too, which is why he blasted “Touch the Sky by Kanye West” on his way to Kaminari’s favorite club, All Bar One.
Once inside, Eijirou immediately took note of the birthday balloons floating in the corner of one of the bar’s booths. Under the balloons, he found his rowdy group of friends yelling at Kaminari to chug an entire bottle of Heineken. Despite “Crank That by Soulja Boy” blasting on the bars’ loudspeakers, the group still managed to be louder. He noticed others giving his friends dirty looks. Eijirou couldn’t help but chuckle as he walked towards them.
Kaminari, already slurring his words, was the first to notice Eijirou, “Kirishima! Hey, you finally made it, man! I was worried you’d bailed on my birthday.”
“Wouldn’t miss it for the world, man!” Eijirou dapped Kaminari up. “I’m sorry, I’m late, dude. I was touching up my roots and lost track of time.”
Sero clapped Eijirou on the back. It stung a bit more than he’d like to admit, “Look who finally decided to show up. Feels like we haven’t seen you in forever, big guy!”
Ashido and Jirou stalked their way to the group of boys, Pina Coladas in their hands, “Oh em gosh, Kirishima! I can’t believe you’re finally here!” Ashido squealed, squeezing him into a somewhat awkward side hug. He took note of her fruity-alcoholic smell.
“Hey, Ashido, Jirou. I missed you guys.”
“Yeah? Well, maybe act like it next time instead of running late,” Jirou punches Eijirou with her free hand before taking her place next to Kaminari in the large corner booth seat.
Ashido slides into the booth next to Sero, and Eijirou follows.
Although they were all catching up with Eijirou, now sitting with his friends after what felt like forever, he slowly realizes how out of place he is. Since he had been occupied with school for the past few months, he hadn’t been able to catch up with any of his friends. Being around them now, he noticed that they had all grown much closer together without him.
Kaminari and Jirou spoke with each other, grinning ear-to-ear, taking occasional sips from each other’s drinks. Sero and Ashido, on the other hand, bickered like a married couple over Sero asking for a sip of Ashido’s yellow drink. Each pair cracked jokes with each other, laughing at things that Eijirou himself hadn’t understood.
He was happy his friends’ relationships had developed over the time he hadn’t seen them, but it made him somewhat sad to be left out.
With everyone preoccupied with everyone else’s presence, Eijirou took the opportunity to head to the bar and order himself a Root Beer. As he waited by the bar counter for the bartender to grab his bottle of Root Beer, “Keep Their Head Ringing by Dr. Dre” played in the background. Eijirou felt his head bobbing up and down to the music. During the first verse, he felt himself getting into the flow of the rhythm when someone tapped him on the shoulder
He turned around to find a chick smiling at him, “Hey!”
Eijrou smiled back, grabbing his Root Beer from the bartender, “Hey, do you need something?”
“I need you, actually.”
“Excuse me?”
“You know,” Eijirou elbowed the chartreuse-haired girl standing next to him, “You could have just asked me straight up to play pool with you.”
The chartreuse-haired girl giggled at him, “Haha, sorry about that, I really didn’t mean to give you the wrong idea. You just seemed like a pretty muscular guy so I figured you’d be good to have on my team for this, you know?”
Eijirou rolled his eyes. After years of feeling weak and powerless in middle school, he’d hoped all those years he’d spent working on his physique would eventually pay off. He’d need to be fit if he wanted to become an Athletic Trainer after all.
Grabbing the pool cue from his partner, they started up their third game of the night with the chick’s two other friends. They had all been playing together for nearly an hour, with the time reading 18:49 (6:49 PM). Over the past hour, he’s learned that the chick and her friends were at the bar celebrating her friend’s recent engagement. Other than that, he knew no other details.
Just as Eijirou was able to take the break shot on the cue ball, he heard a loud crash followed by a familiar squeal over “Differences by Ginuwine.” Looking over his shoulder, he noticed Ashido standing up, hair puffed up from the humidity of the bar, arms thrown up in the air. Kaminari was sprawled on the floor under the group’s table, with Jirou pointing and laughing at both Kaminari and Ashido.
“Whoa,” one of the chick’s friends had let out. “Seems like someone can’t handle their alcohol…”
Eijirou sighed, taking the scene behind him as his sign to leave, “Hey, um… I’m really sorry to leave when we were about to start a new game, but that group over there is actually mine.”
The chartreuse-haired chick laughed, “Don’t worry about it, dude. They seem totally wasted, so it’s not a big deal if you’ve gotta go. I can beat these two on my own!”
“Right,” Eijirou laughed back. As he was about to take his leave to tend to his friends, he turned around to face the chick and her friends. Eijirou, known best for his selflessness, decided to be selfish just this once. “By chance are you… single?”
Once home, Katsuki immediately made his way towards his fridge, throwing the now-torn envelope of Midoriya and Uraraka’s wedding invitation onto his kitchen counter. The pit in his stomach grew larger looking at his own fridge. Every wedding invitation, baby shower invite, and holiday card with his former classmates’ families smiled back at him. He was livid.
Flinging the fridge door open angrily, he grabs his 6-pack case of COORS LIGHT and trudges towards his corduroy L-shaped couch. He immediately cracks open a can and chugs it like there’s no tomorrow. Katsuki hopes there’s no tomorrow at least.
Stupid Deku. Stupid Round Cheeks. He thinks to himself, cracking open his second can of beer in the last 5 minutes. They really had the fucking nerve to call me out of my house just to shove their happy little love life into my fucking face. See if I actually show up to their goddamn wedding!
Katsuki throws his head back, tears pooling in the corners of his eyes.
Nothing he was thinking was true. It wasn’t the couple’s fault that they were happy and he wasn’t. Katsuki’s happiness had nothing to do with anyone but himself, but that thought only made his heart hurt more. It was now official: Bakugou Katsuki was the last of his high school classmates to be legally single, and he had no one to blame but himself.
“Fuck,” he says, grabbing yet another can of beer and slowly taking a sip, thumbing through his Spotify playlist. He settles on “Chest Pain (I Love) by Malcolm Todd,” connecting his phone to his Bluetooth speaker. The speaker is turned up so loud, he feels the bass reverberate throughout his entire body. He knows his neighbors are going to make a noise complaint, but at the moment, he doesn’t give a fuck about anyone but himself.
Since childhood, Katsuki has never been good at expressing himself with words. Any emotion that he felt, he normally kept bottled up until taking his anger out on himself. Things hadn’t gotten better as he got older. The only difference between his teenage outbursts and his adult outbursts had been that Katsuki was now able to drink his feelings away. Rarely did he feel the need to, though, since he always kept to himself. Most days, he fell into a routine of doing things alone, never wanting to talk to others unless they probed their way into his life. After high school, the only prober had been Midoriya, really.
Part of the reason he was as single as he was now was that he pushed anyone away who tried to get close to him. His ambitions of becoming the World’s Number One Chef and surpassing All Might, or Yagi Toshinori, himself were so strong, he felt that finding a romantic partner would only get in the way of his goals. As a teenager, he figured he’d be too famous to deal with the trials and tribulations that came with being in a relationship. He didn’t want to have to worry about being someone else’s support system. All he cared about was himself.
But sitting on his couch, drinking so much alcohol he’s convinced his kidneys will fail him tomorrow, Katsuki only regretted his teenage stubbornness in never letting anyone in. He wanted to understand what holding another man had felt like. He wanted to have someone around who made him feel special. He wanted to know that, no matter how shitty his life would turn out, he’d always have someone there by his side, even when things didn’t go his way. Even when he finally exposed the most vulnerable parts of himself, he wanted nothing more than to be accepted for who he truly was.
At that moment, Katsuki’s life had never felt so unbearably lonely.
Thirty minutes and an entire 6-pack case of beer later, Katsuki found himself staring at a text message from an unknown number.
Unknown Number: Hey, it's the ‘big guy’ from the bar! Sorry again, I had to cut our pool night short to be DD, Hagakure… but maybe we can meet up sometime?
Unknown Number: Maybe ACTUALLY get to know each other, haha :)
As drunk as Katsuki was, he knew damn well he would never set foot in a bar to play pool with a bunch of drunk bastards. Let alone allow himself to give some random extra his phone number. However, reading the text that he knew some other extra was supposed to receive enraged him in a way.
There’s no way in hell that even these random people are finding love before I am, Katsuki thought to himself.
With all the tension that’s built up throughout the day mixed with his drunken state, he wants to fuck around with other people’s love lives and tell the shitty loser to fuck off. If Katsuki couldn’t be happy, he might as well take a few other people down with him in spite. However, the better, more sober part of him refused to let his shitty personality affect his life any longer. Instead, that better part of him found the wrong text message as a way out of his lonely life.
Whether it be the selfishness that had accumulated within him for several years or drunkenness from the 80 grams of pure alcohol he had just drunk, Katsuki, against his better judgment, saved “mystery man’s” number and shot him a text.