Chapter Text
There was a storefront on main street.
It was a high end one, and one with glass walls clearly made for fawning rather than actual purchases. The store’s brand name itself made it abundantly clear purchases were only by appointment, or at least that was the assumption.
That main street ran nearby to a high school, and was a convenient avenue for most students to get to bus stops, or hang out with friends, or even just take a walk. Three different coffee shops, two bakeries, countless clothing stores, a comic store, book store, a few scattered restaurants, a candy store sold in barrels, and a small ice cream shop that had clearly seen better days.
Along with days dating back to the early 90s, apparently.
The book store had sky high ceilings with glass panes, allowing whatever form of light to seep in, whether it be sun or stars. It had closing hours, sure, but ones that the owner tended to ignore for Katsuki Bakugo’s sake.
He loved that book store.
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“Is there anything you need help with…?” Inko’s voice trailed off as she cautiously approached Bakugo’s rigid back, where it sat hunched over a textbook. He had been there for about 3 hours and 23 minutes running so far, with an hour of that being past closing.
She always let him stay a little longer when it was raining though, she knew how much he hated it.
“No.” Bakugo’s rough voice rang out a few seconds later, though it was dulled by the soft patter of rain dancing on the glass, along with the clear toll of studying for hours on end. He had problems.
“I could give you a ride?” Inko tried to offer, eyes wide with concern. It was becoming increasingly evident that these late night sessions were becoming a pattern. Almost like an addiction, or just a reluctance to actually buy books to study out of.
“I’m fine.” Bakugo responded faster this time, crimson eyes darting up for just a moment before snapping back down. “I can walk once it stops.”
Inko knew not to push the boy when he was in his moods, so did back off, moving to the carts stored at the back of the store to unpack some new shipments.
Bakugo really didn’t take any distractions kindly when studying, or in general really, but mainly during anything academics related. Which was why it was infuriating that his usual seat was near a window.
Across from the book store, there was some high end overpriced money vacuum crap of a boutique. Prices that raised at the tip of a hat, clothes that were advertised to last a lifetime, everything a broke college student dreamed they would one day be able to wear for themselves.
Especially that jacket.
There was a rotation in the mannequins inhabiting the glass area, or really just in their clothing, but the clothes shown on them were expensive enough to not need to be taken off. So it became part of rotations.
Crimson red leather, that’s what the jacket was made out of. It was perfect. And Bakugo needed it.
Bakugo knew dang well, it was pathetic. But what better way to fix it than to stop it at the source?
He was running two jobs, tutoring money too, and yet also having to juggle partial college payments to ensure he didn’t spiral into debt. Combined with the food and dorm fines, Bakugo didn’t have 11,000 dollars just laying around to buy the jacket of his dreams.
But how he wished he did.
It was just some stupid jacket, but yet it was perfect. The color, the texture that Bakugo could practically feel, the look, everything. It made him feel like there was something out there that he wanted for himself as a person, and not himself as a successful world class chemical engineer. And maybe it would stop the nerd label going around at college. Who cares?
They’re all extras anyway, just throwing the nerd label on anyone not set to live in a burning dumpster eating their own crap out of a hat. He could understand the loner label, he had earned that one. But the nerd one? Just because he was smart didn’t mean all that.
Bakugo was just getting to the end of the big fat calculus textbook in front of him, wrist cramping from filling up paper after paper, when he was promptly interrupted by a sharp click. It was abrupt enough to make him mess up writing an equation, which did piss him off.
After erasing the error with angry, jerky movements, all while listening to some form of stupid giggling echoing from across the store, he decided to check it out.
Breathy giggling. And slamming. Great.
Making out, or worse.
Shutting the textbook with a loud thump, Bakugo stood up abruptly, every footstep he made matched by at least a few more infuriating sounds from behind the nearby bookshelves. With every extra second Bakugo took to get over there, the noise pollution just got worse.
Some people didn't have any shame.
Bakugo rounded the corner expecting to find some girl slammed against the shelf while a boy did whatever college boys fancied in closed book stores, but honestly wasn’t that surprised either to find two boys.
Maybe it was the hair dye getting to their heads, because there was no way the red and green heads locked together were natural. The red was far too bright, and the green was just plain strange.
But Bakugo had never been into watching people make out, and most definitely not listening.
“HEY! Shut the h up, it’s past closing hours.” Bakugo snarled at the pair, ignoring how clearly startled both of them looked. He could frankly care less. At least it was confirmed that they weren’t crooks, and the green haired boy had a striking resemblance to the book store’s owner.
He had seen him around campus, he was sure of that much. No one could exactly miss that mop of green hair, and most definitely not the stroke of red matting the hair of the man next to him.
Everyone with half a brain and at least one working eye knew that hair.
Eijoru Kirishima. Star hockey player, sports prodigy, unbreakable, coined himself ‘Red Riot’.
It would have been unbelievably corny of a name if he didn’t back it up. Bakugo had never been one to watch sports, much less some idiotic college drunkard matches, but he heard the rumors. And everyone knew that hair. Apparently it appeared in the nightmares of at least half of any college hockey team in a 500 mile radius.
Sure, it also appeared in the dreams of most college girls and any boys with sexuality questions. Bakugo could vaguely see where they were coming from, with all the muscles and grin and spiky hair, but at the same time, jocks were off limits.
They had egos bigger than any muscles they could even imagine flexing.
“Oh- uh- I’m-” The green eyed boy stammered, eyes frantically darting around like a startled rabbit. Almost immediately, Bakugo felt a surge of irritation, one he was sure would only get worse once the boy learned how to open his mouth right. Thankfully for the structural integrity of the green kid’s face, before he could formulate whatever he planned on saying, his green eyes disappeared behind a well built back.
“Hey man, chill out, you’re here after closing too.” Kirishima casually remarked, managing an easy-going grin. Bakugo could tell by the way his muscles were tensed that he wasn’t feeling the same casual energy he gave off. “Plus, Izuku’s mom owns this place.”
Bakugo just scoffs at that, anger reigniting almost instantaneously. “I’m here for actual studying, something you two clearly only do in anatomy.”
Crimson red eyes immediately narrow at him, forcing Bakugo to watch as his reflection is forced down to only a sliver in the larger man’s eyes. He had never been one to back down though.
“Say that again.” Kirishima tried to snarl, but just came off sounding desperate for Bakugo to drop it. Bakugo just rolled his eyes. Typical of hockey players to think they were hot stuff.
Plus, it was clear Kirishima wasn’t exactly used to the whole intimidating thing, despite the fact that he was honestly built for it. His voice was far too shaky for someone actually pissed, the insult too emphasized. Overcompensating.
Kirishima could probably throw a punch harder than he could, and Bakugo’s hits wouldn’t do much likely, but Bakugo would be much faster. He could easily outmaneuver him, he decided. So he just kept on being cocky.
“Tch, you’re not worth the breath.” Bakugo sneered, lips curving into a harsh smirk. He just needed Kirishima to throw the first punch, to save the stain on his academic record. That’s all he needed to send that wannabee crayon back to kindergarten, as if his mind wasn’t already there.
But Kirishima never did, just tucking the nerd further behind him and narrowing his eyes once again all mock menacing, though his pupils still kept darting around.
The glare looked like it had been practiced in the mirror.
But before he could say whatever probably totally devastating line he was planning, the green haired freak cut in. What had Kirishima called him? Izuku? Yeah.
“You’re in my Calculus. You sit behind Shoto.” The boy says slowly and carefully, like how you would talk to a feral wild animal. That actually does piss Bakugo off.
“Ohhhh so you’re a nerd.” Kirishima blurts in, smirk widening into a full blown grin as he looked far too proud of himself, like he had just delivered some crushing insult to Bakugo’s entire existence. But it does calm Bakugo’s anger down into something more akin to plain confusion.
“Deku over there’s in the same class, and he’s not a nerd?” Kirishima’s eyes immediately blew wide at that, head whipping around back at Izuku, already frantically shaking his head, stammering about how that wasn’t directed at him.
Bakugo couldn’t help but bark out a harsh laugh at that.
“You’re one pathetic bully, if that’s what you were going for.” Bakugo cooed, already turning on his heel to put the various textbooks back in their proper places. There wasn’t anything he would rather do less in the moment than listen to anatomy practice while he tried to cram calculus.
Sure, he had earbuds, and was already bad enough at hearing to where if they went far enough, he realistically wouldn’t even know it was happening, but still.
“Hey- HEY! That’s not my name!” A shaky voice echoes from behind Bakugo, paired with Kirishima still dumbly trying to explain how not all nerds were bad, and then quickly fixing that to how being a nerd period wasn’t bad, all the while Bakugo was shelving textbooks.
The organization in the free student section was always a bit more janky than the others, due to most of the students not taking as much care in putting the textbooks back, or of the textbooks period. Though, surprisingly, no textbooks have been stolen yet.
They could be checked out of the book store, sure, but always using a sort of loan system, to where if they went missing the charge would just automatically be taken off the student’s account, which had to be on file to be in the program.
Bakugo had insisted Inko added that part at the beginning of this year.
He could still hear the hushed talking even as he moved to grab his bag, scoffing at the two still standing there. Sure, Bakugo had honestly wanted to finish out the textbook before he left, but he had priorities. One of which was not getting his ear talked off.
“Hey! Uhhh skull guy!” Kirishima loudly said from behind him, sadly managing to catch up in only about three long strides. Curse long legs. Bakugo did stop, knowing there wasn’t a point in leaving for the rain earlier than he had to. Plus, upon an actual look back, he realized he forgot his notes.
Which were in Kirishima’s hand.
“Hey give those back you-” Bakugo had already started to snarl, when Kirishima promptly lifted his arm to put them above his head, handwriting crinkling with the force of his grip.
“Ok soooo don’t tell anyone about the whole… you know….” Kirishima trailed off with a nervous grin, one that quickly faded back into a stone face the second he realized he was slipping. The guy really wasn’t the best at this. Bakugo just scowled, but nodded.
Not like he had anyone to tell anyway, and to his credit, Kirishima was a solid amount taller than him. He wouldn’t be able to reach anyway, not unless he tried to jump and yank at his arm, which would just look pathetic. Like a dog begging for scraps. Never.
“Yeah whatever. NOW GIVE ME MY-” The notes were back in his hand before Bakugo could even finish the sentence, followed by the soft noises of Kirishima walking away. With an even harsher scowl, Bakugo ripped open the zipper to his bag and shoved the notes in it.
There were already wrinkles in the papers from that psycho’s claw hands, so who cared.
Shoving his way out of the bookstore was immediately met with a cold onslaught of rain, prompting just a few curses and for Bakugo to angrily yank his hood up. It barely held back his hair, but worked. From then was the hurried stalk walk to the nearby 24/7 coffee shop.
Insomniac was the only actually tolerable coffee shop open this late at night, as the rest of them both closed far too early, and were intolerable to sit in, much less study.
One was this stupid cat cafe, the other was all sleek and the hype of the street, leaving just the one with the literal insomniac running it, along with the only one that sold the proper amount of caffeine. In other words, people hung out at the other two, sleep deprived students lived at the 24/7 stop.
Whenever he couldn’t properly finish his studies at the book store, he had to complete them in his dorm room or at that coffee shop. Thankfully his roommate was out partying most nights. Sadly, that also meant on the occasional night, there was a third person in the room.
And even more sadly, Bakugo had gotten a text just 15 minutes earlier to crash somewhere else.
“You look like a wet cat.” A voice drawled the second Bakugo walked in, bell rattling as he slammed open the door. Sure enough, eye bags himself was working. There didn’t seem to be a single late night shift where the freak wasn’t.
Honestly, same went for Bakugo most nights.
“And you look like a hungover ferret. Red eye. Now.” Bakugo snapped, digging in his rain splattered jean pocket for some cash. Him and Shinsou weren’t friends, far from it, but did have their own language. One where Shinsou shut up, Bakugo got his coffee, and then did whatever in peace.
Shinsou didn’t speak that language.
So far, there still wasn’t any luck on fishing the cash out, as wet jeans tended to have more flushed pockets. Which was infuriating, and made trying to grab a five dollar bill with a collection of coins genuinely difficult. Shinsou hadn’t even bothered waiting to see if Bakugo had the cash before grabbing the cup though, smoothly walking back over with a sharpie now too.
The usual skull design with little z’s starred Bakugo down as it always did, but thankfully got to stare at Bakugo finally managing to yank out the right amount in a fistful.
“Name for the order?” Shinsou slowly said, lifting his eyes to numbly look at Bakugo. Honestly, the only shocker about that was the fact that he wasn’t smirking.
That changed within seconds though, and just annoyed Bakugo further. So he just stared the idiot down at that, slowly narrowed eyes roaming over his stupid, annoyingly placid face. Bakugo really did wish the shop’s uniform was a full face mask instead of a t- shirt and hat, but whatever.
“You know my name, stop playing slow and just make the coffee.” Bakugo said slowly, intentionally elongating each syllable like he was talking to a toddler. Shinsou didn’t even flinch, just slowly frog blinking at him.
At that point, Bakugo was seconds away from saying his name anyway, because it wasn’t exactly a horrible bet to assume Shinsou had forgotten it due to lack of sleep. Apparently Shinsou had gotten enough sleep to remember after all though, because he spoke pretty soon after.
“How would I know? Not like you come in here every night or something.” That same stupid drawl crawled into Bakugo’s head, but thankfully wasn’t matched with a face, as Shinsou had already turned around to get to work on the coffee.
Using the same cup that he had just clumsily scrawled ‘Caffeine Junkie’ on, Sharpie left uncapped on the counter beside the register.
Bakugo knew the caffeine wasn’t good for him. Of course he did. He felt the twitches, still felt the lingering bleary sensation of absolutely no sleep. Well, he got sleep. When he didn’t have work to do. But when he didn’t have work to do, there was always more studying to do.
The last time he slept was about 25 hours ago after reading an article that short power naps can keep you boosted for a bit. He accidentally went for 5 hours, freaked out, got a black eye instead of the usual red, and finished the paper due in 30 minutes while plugged into the coffee shop port.
It wasn’t healthy. At all.
He aced the paper though.
“Do you ever sleep?” That same infuriatingly calm voice drifted over amidst the soft noises of cups and liquid, causing for Bakugo to snap back out of his daze. He had been zoning out a whole lot recently.
“Yes.” Bakugo snapped back, not bothering to elaborate further. Sleep had cost him his entire plan far too recently, as that paper was supposed to be done in an hour, along with a few pages of notes on Physics, and sending an email asking for increased shifts at the bistro on the corner.
They paid better than tutoring. And the other job didn’t even pay crap, just gave academic credit. Being a lab aide wasn’t that bad though. Chemical engineering was something Bakugo was genuinely interested in, and set to pursue, so why burn a chance to get more credits towards that just for some cash?
“You know, you could try just actually sleeping, and not spending five bucks a day on coffee. Fifteen on your crams.” Shinsou replied, almost singsong, clicking the lid onto the cup.
“Total’s-”
“5.34. I know.” Bakugo muttered, slamming the amount in cash and coins onto the counter. He only paid for coffee using cash. There wasn’t any reasoning behind it really, just some stupid gimmick. And one that created the rule for tutoring sessions only being paid in cash.
“And how, Katsuki, would you possibly know that without being addicted?” Shinsou sighed as he slid the coffee across the counter towards Bakugo, scooping up the money to file into the cash register. Bakugo just narrowed his eyes, and pointed at the menu.
“Price on the menu.”
“And tax?”
“I’m good at math idiot.”
“That fast too?” At that point Bakugo really would have dunked the boy in scalding coffee if he didn’t value the caffeine that much. He wasn’t about to waste a cup on some egotistical bastard like him. So he just stuck up his middle finger, and found a stool by the window facing-counter.
He could head back to the dorms once it wasn’t pouring down rain.
Surprisingly, Shinsou didn’t make any more comments, simply doing mundane tasks while Bakugo finished up on the digital textbooks. He preferred physical ones, but those two jocks had messed that up.
There was a line of stools where Bakugo usually resided on his late nights, all sitting levelly by a counter right flush to a window. It wasn’t like he only got the spot for the sightseeing, as only a bit of the sky was actually visible due to the building across the street, but it was the most solitary.
Tables were too big, wall tables were made for two, and everyone in colleges understood the basic etiquette of not sitting right next to some twitching kid chugging caffeine. So Bakugo always at least had a free stool to his left and right, sometimes only one side, but who cared?
Anyone got too close, he would actually bite them.
“You don’t mean that.” Shinsou’s annoyingly accurate voice drifted from behind the counter where he was cleaning a mug, and Bakugo just lifted that same middle finger over his shoulder. He tended to talk under his breath when focused, and even with that, only when sleep deprived.
Shinsou sadly tended to give him crap for every word.
The coffee shop stayed solitary despite him and Shinsou for the next hour, with Shinsou himself switching to study a bit just due to the lack of customers. It was a common thing to do at this place, due to the 24/7 aspect.
Plus, Bakugo did have to admit it was nice having someone that wasn’t a total idiot to ask occasional questions to.
Noise only entered again at about 2 am, when the typical partying and bar hopping ended for most students, fading out to hungover slurring at Shinsou for coffees black. That was about when Bakugo officially took his cue to put earbuds in.
By the time Bakugo noticed just how low his laptop power was getting, the sky was already starting to glow a soft blue with twilight. Frick. He had a 7 am class.
Cursing, Bakugo slid out of the stool and fumbled around for a portable charger in his bag, just barely managing to catch the object thrown at his head.
“Don’t fail differential equations.” Bakugo scowled, but jammed the charger into the socket anyway, the glare he gave Shinsou a bit less heated than earlier. He didn’t even bother questioning how Shinsou knew his schedule, Bakugo decided. Probably pieced it together over time.
That was about when he realized he was starting to see spots again.
“Hey racco-”
“Already made it. On the house.” Shinsou sighed out, holding the still steaming cup out to Bakugo. After a long incredulous look, as if waiting to see if he was kidding, Bakugo took the cup.
Shinsou did do this, on occasion, probably just out of pity for the amount of all nighters Bakugo pulled for his academics. Honestly, Bakugo was providing half the business too, especially near exam season. He only bought dead-eyes then though.
Due to only bringing enough for that one coffee, and just planning on paying him back later, Bakugo was more than happy to fully accept the cup once he realized it wasn’t bullcrap. The only thanks he offered was a sharp nod, but even that was more from chugging the coffee.
“You’re an addict.” Shinsou sighed as he leaned back against the counter, prompting a nice real fast gentle-manly middle finger for the third time that visit from Bakugo, who was still chugging. If his taste buds burned off, then so what?
It let him skip lunch at least. More studying time.
“See ya eye bags.” Bakugo snapped over his shoulder as he slung the bag on properly while walking, ripping open the shop door with far too much force. He could see in the window reflection Shinsou giving him a mock salute, which he rolled his eyes at.
At least, to Shinsou’s credit, the freak was never actually mean about Bakugo’s absurd study habits. Only concerned, and openly judging, but not mean. Even nice at times. I mean, who understood a lack of sleep better than someone who thrived on the deprivation?
The rain was long gone by now, but the air remained humid, that stupid wet scent lingering in every breeze. Why couldn’t it smell more like fall already? It was mid-October for frick’s sake, something should be changing. At least most of the puddles had started to try up by now, and it was actually light outside.
Walking by streetlight at night sucked.
“Nice coffee uhh skull guy!” A rough yet somehow far too optimistic voice sounded out from behind Bakugo, after he had only made it past a few stores. Judging by the flash of red in his peripheral, it was that Kirishima guy again. Seems like he ditched the boy toy though.
Plus, he could smell the alcohol. For the record none of it was on his breath, only around him, but it was typical for jocks to party. At least he hadn’t been drinking, Bakugo would have been way more defensive if he had.
“Is that really the best bullying you can manage?” Bakugo scowled, taking another sip of his red eye as he kept walking. He knew Kirishima could easily catch up to him if he actually needed to, and judging by the increasing then slowing footsteps behind him then beside him.
“Lemme see that.” Before Bakugo knew it, the cup was out of his hand and in Kirishima’s. Bakugo did actually turn to look at the boy at that, face flushing with anger, but before he could even formulate a proper curse, Kirishima had already taken a sip out of it.
The boy smirked victoriously for only a few seconds before abruptly gagging, cup falling to the ground with the harsh motion. Liquid seeped out the second it connected, lid skidding off into the road while the coffee steamed slightly on the pavement, smoke curling up in spirals as Bakugo slowly, incredulously, looked down at the crouched choking hockey star.
“You owe me a f’n coffee you t-”
“HOLY MOTHER OF CRAP HOW MUCH CAFFEINE IS IN THIS.” Kirishima wheezed before Bakugo could finish, looking down at the liquid like it was lava.
“More mg than you can count stupid hair.” Bakugo muttered, shoulder checking the still gagging jock the second he managed to get up. Kirishima did glare at him a bit from that, but quickly resumed being doubled over. He was clearly trying to make out something. By the time he got past the gagging, he only managed a few words.
“That was a threat by the way! Don’t tell anyone about the-” Kirishima cut himself off with another fit of coughing, while Bakugo just ignored him. At this point he was gonna hack the announcements.
But there were more important things at hand that Bakugo had to attend to. He might be a few minutes late to class, but he needed that coffee, so therefore set his route back towards Insomniac.
Maybe he was a tiny bit addicted.