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The door to the staff room bursts open noisily, interrupting the coffee that Izuku is trying to down. It’s still slightly too bitter for him. He peeks around just in time to see a blonde, spiked head of hair sauntering over to his desk and slamming a hand on top of it.
“Kacchan!” He smiles up at his friend(???), setting down his coffee. Maybe when he picks it up later it’ll taste a little sweeter. “How are you? What brings you here?”
“You,” Kacchan jabs a finger at Izuku’s tie, “are coming with me,” he points a thumb back at himself.
Izuku follows his thumb. “Oh! Haha… um.” A big orange ‘X’ stares back at him from Kacchan’s torso.
“You’re still in your hero costume, no? Aren’t you usually on patrol right about now?” He glances at the clock on the wall. Lunch break will be over in about forty minutes.
Kacchan ignores him in favour of tasting his abandoned coffee. He makes an incredibly disgusted face, accompanied by a loud gagging noise, and spits it back in the cup. “That’s fucking disgusting.”
“Kacchan!” Izuku scolds halfheartedly, snickering. Well. At least he doesn’t need to finish it anymore. But geez, Uraraka was right when she mentioned that Kacchan was in desperate need of media training. He really knows nothing about keeping up appearances, whether on live television or in the UA staffroom. …Wait.
Izuku is suddenly acutely aware of their surroundings. He blinks, mortified, at Aizawa-sensei- no, Aizawa-san, who sips his own coffee beside him. He’s not your teacher anymore, he’s a coworker! Oh my god, he’s totally looking! Am I getting fired?! Izuku sits up a little straighter, sweating profusely.
Kacchan, helpful as always, leans back against his desk. He’s practically sitting on it now, palms splayed across Izuku’s supposed-to-be workspace. It can’t even be that comfortable. He’s got to be doing it on purpose.
Izuku prays to All Might in hopes that he doesn’t get fired from his brand new teaching job for whatever category of misconduct this files under.
“Oi.”
Pulled from the holy singing of All-Might-shaped angels, he realises he’s face to face with Kacchan and staring right into his eyes.
Oh, curse him.
He’s pretty sure his face is the same shade as Kacchan’s eyes when he stumbles back and trips, if that’s even possible, in his office chair. He’s halfway to the floor and contemplating the meaning of life when a hand grips him and yanks him back up.
“Izuku,” Kacchan drawls, placing his hand back on the table like nothing had happened. “Are you busy?” His head is tilted, eyebrows furrowed. You could almost describe it as a pout.
Izuku thinks that this might be the day he dies. He wills his eyes away and onto his paperwork, which is currently being covered by Kacchan’s hands. Splendid!
“I, ah, I need to prepare for my next class, y’know? Because, um, I’m a teacher now, and all that. Preparing the next generation of heroes, right?!” He stammers. It pains him to realise that teaching is the last thing on his mind right now.
“Midoriya.”
“Y-Yes, Sensei– I mean, Aizawa-san?!”
“Just go,” the man says gruffly, sitting back in his chair.
Izuku, once again, remembers that they’re currently in the UA staffroom. Though, this time it’s worse because he can feel the eyes of half the Pro-Heroes in the room boring into him. He raises a scarred hand to slap himself out of it before shakily lowering it because now that he gives it some thought he realises that doing so would probably just make everyone think he’s even stranger.
DAMMIT!!!!
“Izuku! C’mon!” Kacchan’s grin is blinding, and Izuku can’t help but return it. It’s been years since Kacchan started calling him that, but every time it still leaves his heart swelling with something warm and stupidly bright, a feeling he can’t explain away in his notebooks even if he tried. …And he’s tried.
Kacchan is sliding off his desk now, looking smug. Izuku is distantly reminded of paperwork and class and adulting responsibilities. Kacchan really enjoys causing trouble, huh? Izuku’s blessed to see that smile of his, but at what cost?
Honestly, he couldn’t care less right now. “Coming!” He calls, hurrying to match Kacchan’s pace.
“Come on, Kacchan, won’t you tell me where we’re going, at least?” Izuku sighs, wiping sweat from his forehead. They had been walking for a while now, and if it weren’t for the abnormally secluded path they took, he would have suspected that Kacchan just dragged him out on hero patrol with him.
Right, hero patrol! Don’t ask him why, but he knows that Great Explosion Murder God Dynamight™ is meant to be on hero patrol right now. No, it’s not weird! He knows his other friends’ schedules too! Why? Uh. He enjoys knowing what they’re up to...?
Izuku dramatically slouches while walking, earning something between a laugh and a scoff from Kacchan. “Stop that. Don’t tell me you’ve already gone weak from sitting in that chair all day, Izuku-sensei. We’re almost there.”
“Argh. Don’t call me that, Kacchan. It’s weird. And the distance isn’t the problem! It’s the fact that you aren’t telling me where we’ve been walking for the past–” He checks his watch. “–fifteen minutes!”
Kacchan sticks his tongue out. “Shut up already. It’s a surprise.”
He’s silent after that. Izuku decides not to question him further. No, not because of what a patient guy he is. But because another, more demanding question has arisen in the cruel place in his skull that’s called a brain.
Is this a date?
Oh my god. It’s a date, isn’t it? No, idiot, why would it be a date? Why would Kacchan want to go on a date with me? He wouldn’t want to do that! Why am I getting so worked up over Kacchan potentially-maybe-but-probably-not taking me on a date? Well, obviously because it’s awkward. Do people usually take others on dates before establishing mutual romantic interest in each other? Oh no, if I need to reject his feelings–
You aren’t going to reject him.
Izuku pauses and thinks through an imaginary scenario. And then a dozen of them. Even after imagining the least romantic, most mundane date ever with Kacchan, he finds that his heart won’t stop racing like he had just undergone the ten months of pre-One-For-All training All Might gave him in two seconds.
Do I want this to be a date?
“We’re here.”
Izuku is yanked by the wrist out of his quickly spiralling thoughts and into the doors of a cafe, a twinkling bell announcing their entrance.
The cafe smells of desserts, and there’s mellow music quietly playing from a speaker in the corner. Dainty paintings and fake plants decorate the white brick walls. It’s a nice atmosphere, but… it’s empty. Completely empty, save for a very familiar looking waiter who guides them to their seats.
“Right over here, sirs,” the red-haired man gestures to two seats by the window.
“Oh, thank you,” Izuku bows quickly, settling in. Kacchan takes the seat across from him wordlessly.
…Why is there no one here? Why are we being escorted to our seats like we’re in a fancy restaurant? Not that I’m doubting how rich Kacchan is, but this seriously just looks like a regular cafe. He squints at the waiter hurrying behind the counter. He looks like Kirishima. And sounds like Kirishima. Kirishima with a moustache?
The suspiciously-Kirishima-shaped waiter returns with a vase and roses. He places it in the middle of the table, and fills it with water. He promptly leaves after.
So now there’s a vase of roses on the table. Between him and Kacchan.
Kacchan seems unfazed.
Izuku pauses.
This is way too much like a date!!
A different waiter arrives at their table with two tall glasses. There’s a black streak shaped like a lightning bolt in his yellow hair. He’s got… very large sunglasses. “Your order, sirs.”
Izuku blinks. Kaminari? He looks like Kaminari. And wow, that was fast. We’ve barely sat down. Wait, no, what? We haven’t even ordered anything yet????
“Thanks,” Kacchan mumbles.
“W-Wait! Uh, what is this?” Izuku asks, although he already recognises both drinks. Their favourites.
“Iced mocha for you, and iced caramel macchiato for your boyf– AHEM– your friend here.”
Before Izuku can ask anything else, the waiter is promptly dragged away by another waiter- waitress? He can barely see them from the copious layers covering every inch of their body, including their face.
He spots some pink fingertips as they grip the yellow-haired waiter and haul him to the back of the cafe. He hears muffled hissing. “Shut up! You’re totally giving us away!”
Kacchan clears his throat, avoiding eye contact. “You gonna drink that, or what? You like the coffee at UA more?”
Izuku tries and fails to hide a grimace, and Kacchan snorts. “I can see your answer written all over your face.”
“N-No, it isn’t that bad! It’s certainly useful for a boost and keeping me awake in the day, and it’s free too, so like, the pros cancel out the cons? Not that there are many cons! It’s just– mmph!”
He gets a straw shoved into his mouth. He frowns at Kacchan, who rests his elbow on the table and leans a cheek against his palm. He smirks.
Izuku decides to shut up and drink.
“It’s too bitter,” Kacchan finishes his incomplete sentence for him. “And it just sucks in general.”
Izuku stops downing his mocha and sighs, pointedly ignoring the second part of his statement. “I don’t understand how all the Pro-Heroes at UA can drink it. Maybe it’s because they’re more mature.”
“Don’t fuck with me. They probably all despise it too but drink it so that they can just get through the day.”
“Whatever you say, Kacchan. Aren’t you gonna have yours?” Izuku points at his untouched glass.
It seems to startle Kacchan for whatever reason, and he makes a motion under the table that looks like he’s wiping his hands. “Right,” he says, before drinking.
It’s quiet.
Izuku stares at Kacchan for a moment. Kacchan stares back.
Izuku suddenly forgets how to make small talk, and decides that he should initiate conversation, but should probably avoid asking questions like ‘How do they know what drinks we like’ or ‘Are our friends the waiters’.
Instead, he asks, “So, why’d you take me here, Kacchan?”
DAMMIT!!!!
He almost chokes trying to correct himself. “I mean, not that it’s weird, or anything, that you did, because that– that’s what friends do, right? I was just curious, because like, I know you’re busy doing hero work, and you must be exhausted, but you still took the time to come to UA and take me here and that’s really kind of you even if this cafe is strangely secluded from the rest of society and also just strange in general and I’m kind of confused right now!?”
After a beat, Kacchan raises an eyebrow at him. “Is it really so strange that I want to take time off and spend it with the person I care about?” He grabs at his drink and slurps it through the straw noisily.
Izuku swallows, flushing. The person he cares about.
Kacchan’s fingers tap the glass rhythmically. He’s nervous, Izuku realises distantly. A habit of his since middle school.
It’s kind of making sense now. Kacchan is nervous. There are roses on the table. The cafe is empty. They’d received drinks before even ordering anything.
It’s a date???? It is, right????
He should probably say something before his brain explodes.
Unfortunately, or fortunately, there’s a crash from the kitchen and they both whip their heads around in search of the noise.
“ARGH, get off of me, Mina!”
“I-I literally can’t see! And I don’t wanna fall!”
“Hold on, I’ve got you– Stay still, Kirishima–!”
The fully covered waitress, or, Ashido, is clinging onto the moustached waiter, now revealed as Kirishima, for dear life as he tries to get her off without letting her just crash onto the floor. Kaminari’s sunglasses have been abandoned and he’s tugging on Ashido’s weird clothing in an attempt to give her sense of sight back.
Izuku and Kacchan watch the scene unfold before them.
Kirishima seems to notice that they’ve been seen. And heard. With an exclamation that is definitely not under his breath, he hoists Ashido up and drags Kaminari further into the back. After a couple more seconds of shuffling and cursing, it’s silent again.
Kacchan sighs and presses his fingers to the bridge of his nose. “Oh my god.”
Izuku’s eyes dart from the now empty kitchen doorway back to Kacchan’s expression that yells ‘I’m so done with these idiots’.
Right. Well, if it wasn’t obvious before, how set-up this was, it sure was now. A normal cafe doesn’t have three Pro-Heroes working in it. Three Pro-Heroes that happen to be their former classmates and Kacchan’s closest friends.
“Uh…” Izuku starts. “Kacchan, is this…? Are you…?”
Kacchan reaches over and grabs the cuff of Izuku’s sleeve. It looks like he’s forcing himself to meet Izuku’s gaze. “Hey, Izuku.”
Izuku gulps, warmth flooding his chest. “Y-Yes?”
Kacchan’s grip tightens.
“May I go out with you?”
I was right. Izuku laughs giddily as he clasps Kacchan’s hands in his own. And, just as he had imagined earlier in all of those fake scenarios, he doesn’t reject him.
“Of course!”
Of course it was a date.
Bonus !!
Izuku stumbles into the UA staffroom, gasping. His eyes dart to his watch. 12:30.
He breathes a sigh of relief, before taking ten more heaving breaths in. He still has five minutes till his next class.
He makes a mental note to himself: it’s probably not a good idea to spend 90% of his lunch break with Kacchan and then have to sprint the fifteen minute walk back to UA in two minutes and thirty seconds.
“Midoriya, you might want to look at the news,” Aizawa-san calls over.
Izuku plops into his seat and sighs, pushing his cold coffee to the side of his desk. The paper cup it sits in looks like it’s about to start disintegrating, but he’ll need to get rid of it later.
“Okay, I’ll check after this class. It’s not super important, is it?” Izuku mumbles, packing his teaching materials.
Aizawa-san pauses. “Not to the wellbeing of society, but to you, it is…?”
“Oh?”
“Just– here.” His former teacher hands him his cellphone. Open on the screen is a web article titled with big bold letters:
“Pro-Hero GEMGD (Dynamight) and UA Teacher Midoriya “Deku” Izuku Spotted on a Date!”
Izuku drops the phone as if it scalded him, then realises it’s Aizawa-san’s phone, and scrambles to catch it. He does, then very tentatively he brings it right up to his face to make sure he’s not gone blind. He squints and reads again.
“(Dynamight) … UA Teacher … “Deku” … Date”.
“W-WHAH– HUH??” He chokes on his own spit and doubles over. Oh my god. Aizawa-san sympathetically (or disappointedly, Izuku can’t tell) pats him on the back.
When he resurfaces for air, he blinks the tears from his eyes and takes in every detail from the article.
An anonymous civilian recounts the setting that Izuku had been in just twenty minutes ago. Roses on the table, an empty cafe, him and Kacchan sitting opposite to each other engaged in conversation.
Izuku groans. The quote is accompanied by a photo. Isn’t taking photos of people without permission illegal, or something? It’s not even like I’m a celebrity, unlike Kacchan…
His thoughts trail away when he sees the photo. It’s taken from outside the cafe, and positioned at an angle behind Izuku so that his face is hidden but Kacchan’s is completely visible. He’s smiling at Izuku like he just hung the stars.
Immediately, Izuku feels his cheeks burn. Oh!! My!! God!! Kacchan likes me!!!!!
He puts the phone down, buries his head in his hands, and barely manages to suppress a very teenage-Izuku-esque squeal.
Aizawa-san takes his phone back and ruffles his hair, standing up. “Congrats, I think? I’ve got to head off now. Don’t be late for your next class.”
Izuku is late for his next class.
Somewhere in Musutafu, on the top floor of Great Explosion Murder God Dynamight’s hero agency, an explosion rings out and almost shatters the windows.
Katsuki is staring at his phone, which is open on some shitty news article that somehow has pictures of him and Izuku in the cafe.
He drags a hand down his face. Seriously? He had even taken the time to find a secluded area, and those idiots had offered to help him keep the operation somewhat private, too.
The article is replaced by an incoming call from an unknown number.
You’ve got to be shitting me. This better not be what I think it is.
Begrudgingly, he picks up.
“Hello, is this Dynamight Agency? I would like to request a statement regarding the current rumours between Dynamight and Midoriya Izuku. This is NHA News. Thank you for your ti–”
“FUCK OFF!!!!”
There’s another explosion and the burnt remains of Katsuki’s phone scatter across the room.
…
Shit, he needs to call Izuku to warn him.
He’s going to need a new phone.