Chapter Text
Katsuki fucking hated it here. Every moment he spent in the district was a reminder that he wasn’t visiting his mother. And if he stopped by to see her, she was going to nag him about seeing her more often. And if he saw her more often, it was going to turn into excessive attention about his career and his love life— or rather, the lack of one.
But he was done with his laps for that morning— mostly just scoping out the bay; it had been years since he swam it— and he needed some fucking caffeine before he trudged back into the heart of city where his apartment was.
He eyed the Starbucks by the train stop suspiciously. That was new. Well, it was convenient, and it saved him from looking for another cafe.
Stupid pop was playing at a low hum. The place was moderately filled with students and a couple families. Too crowded for Katsuki.
He glared at the queue, already regretting his choice, but fuck if he was going to resort to vending machine coffee.
A flash of green hair caught his attention. He only knew one person with fucking green hair. And not that dyed shit, but actually naturally green hair.
Deku.
He looked like he had hardly aged a day, those round cheeks scattered with freckles, bubbly green eyes, and green hair with out of control curls.
Katsuki should turn around and leave. He really should just leave. He didn’t need to deal with this shit. But there was a phantom sensation on his lips, a knot in his gut, and he was stepping into line.
The damn nerd looked up, and at the sight of Katsuki seemed to freeze. Fantastic. Deku hated his guts. No wonder Katsuki hadn’t heard from him in years. Deku looked back to his next customer, but he was still visibly nervous. Prick.
This was the longest, slowest queue Katsuki had ever waited in. What was wrong with this Starbucks? His opinion of the chain had never been high, but damnit he was tempted to leave an angry review.
Finally he made it up to the register. Deku couldn’t avoid him anymore. Wait, was the nerd trying to get someone else to take his order? What a fucking—
Oh, this shitty ass cafe had no one else to take the register, since the rest of them were busy with their slow ass order prep. Good.
“Um, hi, hi, um hi,” Deku stuttered, tucking a stray hair behind his ear, barely able to make eye contact. “What— what can I—”
“What the fuck are you doing here?” Katsuki asked. Not what he had meant to say, but whatever.
“What?” Deku squealed, fumbling with the keypad.
“Why the fuck are you working at Starbucks?” Katsuki asked. Of all the places to find the little shit after years of no contact, there better be a good fucking reasons he was working at a fucking chain coffee place.
“Um, well, a job?”
“Tchk.”
Deku just stood there silently, this deer in the headlights look on his face. That was really the best explanation he had? What a loser. Both of them.
“Well, are you gonna take my order or what, Deku?” Katsuki smirked.
“Oh! Of course, I’m sorry,” Deku winced, awkwardly clicking around even though Katsuki hadn’t even ordered anything yet. “What can I—”
Katsuki rolled his eyes. “Grande iced Americano, two extra shots.”
“Got it. Anything else?”
Katsuki knew it was just a damn script, but the way Deku asked Katsuki felt like he was compelled to get something else. Fucker.
“Sure. Why the fuck not,” Katsuki grunted. “Ham and cheese croissant.”
“Very good,” Deku chirped. “Is that all?”
“Fuck, do you want me to buy the whole damn store?” Katsuki growled.
“No!” Deku squeaked. “Sorry, that’ll be 1305 yen.”
Katsuki tapped his card aggressively against the receiver.
“Wow, Kacchan,” Deku marveled, as if Katsuki had just done a fucking miracle.
“Shut the fuck up,” Katsuki snapped, snatching his receipt from the nerd’s hand. And then he lingered for too long. What an idiot.
Katsuki stomped away, looking for a table to sit at, because for some moronic reason he had decided to stay.
He vaguely heard Deku murmur something to his coworker with the round, pink cheeks and dash off. Probably so he could get a break from seeing his worst enemy, or however Deku thought of him because it could only be bad at this point. Fucker.
Katsuki almost missed it when his order was called. He collected his shitty coffee and shitty pastry, setting them on the table before he opened his laptop, and looked for something to do—emails or some shit. It was going to be a long afternoon.
—
What was Kacchan doing here? What was Kacchan doing here? What was Kacchan doing here?
The splash of cold water in the bathroom did nothing to help. Okay, it had helped at least physiologically, but it did nothing to change the overwhelming sense in Izuku that told him to run.
He had always known there was a chance of meeting Kacchan once he had started working here, but it had already been a few months without the blond walking through the doors, so Izuku figured he was safe.
Izuku should just abandon everything now. He can say goodbye, put all his money and belongings in a lockbox or something, and return to the ocean. He could go back to the world he knew and where there wasn’t a Kacchan sitting at a table in his workplace staring at him.
It wasn’t that he wasn’t happy to see Kacchan. He hadn’t stopped thinking about the boy— well, now he was a man— since the last time he saw him. He just felt incredibly guilty, and he had no idea how to explain to Kacchan that he hadn’t said a word in years because he was in the ocean without one piece of technology or internet, busy fighting a war to prevent a merfolk uprising against the humans. And in the absence of telling Kacchan the truth, what could he tell him?
Nothing. There was nothing he could tell him that was sufficient reason for having gone six years without contact.
They had finally entered the slow part of the evening, when most people were getting dinner rather than getting coffee. But Kacchan was still sitting there on his laptop, occasionally averting his attention to stare at Izuku, those red eyes piercing through to his soul.
“Go talk to him,” Ochako said, bumping Izuku affectionately with her hip.
Izuku moved away from leaning against the counter. “I can’t.”
Ochako scrunched her face together in skepticism. “You two have been staring at each other all afternoon. Are you kidding me?”
Izuku fidgeted with wiping down the counter he had just wiped. “Well, um, you see…”
“What?”
“We were kind of each other’s first kiss and then I… what’s the word, ghosted him for six years?”
Ochako’s jaw dropped. “Six—” She said too loudly and, stopping herself, brought her voice down. “Izuku, what in the world—”
“It’s complicated,” Izuku winced, trying not to look over at the blonde.
Ochako clicked her tongue. “Well, it’s not complicated enough for him not to be lingering.”
“What do you mean?”
“When that man walked in,” she said, “he completely had to go vibes. But when he saw you, his plans changed.”
“Oh come on,” Izuku whined.
“He is not a regular, I’ve never seen him before; he doesn’t even look like a Starbucks regular, and yet he’s sat here for hours making eyes at you,” Ochako explained.
“He has not been—”
Ochako glared at him.
“Okay fine, but it’s just too much,” Izuku protested.
Ochako looked up at the new customer approaching the register. “I’m going to take this order, but you seriously need to think about talking to this guy.”
She gave him a serious mothering type look before walking away and greeting the customer with all of her usual bubbliness.
Izuku sighed and dared a glance back at Kacchan, where the blond was already staring at him. He turned back to his computer impatiently, but Izuku knew he had been caught.
He continued with his shift, making drinks and taking orders, deliberating on what he could possibly say to Kacchan.
“Hi, sorry I was incommunicado for so long. I was busy fighting a war.”
“Hey, so I actually come from a weird religious cult that doesn’t let me have technology.”
“I moved to America and never got a cell phone.”
“I was on a pilgrimage finding myself.”
“The currents weren’t right.”
All of his options were stupid. And despite the electricity that had brought them back together again and again over the years, could Izuku risk sharing his secret with Kacchan? And not just his own, but of his people?
Merfolk had worked so hard to keep their existence a secret, even in the age of humanity’s scientific innovation. There was only so much longer before they finally managed to invent something that would pierce the ocean depths and reveal the world of merfolk. And Izuku had just fought for their right to keep that a secret. He felt like a traitor if he went and told Kacchan now, just because he l—
Izuku ended the thought. It was just a teenage crush. That’s all it had been. Nothing more.
Kacchan finally left. He didn’t even say goodbye, though he did leave with one last lingering stare. Izuku should have felt relief, but he didn’t. He only felt guilt.
Izuku would still be working until close, around 10pm, and then for all the cleaning tasks beyond that. That was still too far away. He needed to get in the ocean and let the moon wash away the impurities. Then maybe he would feel like himself again.
“Dang, you let him leave without saying a word,” Ochako said.
“No,” Izuku sighed.
Ochako looked like she was about to tease him more, but something changed her mind. “Hey, do you need to head out early?’
“Huh?”
“I can tell you had it rough today,” Ochako said. “Tsu and I got this, you can head out.”
“We do?” Tsu said from a bit behind Ochako.
Ochako glared back at her. “Yes we do.”
“Well, if you’re sure, that would be nice.” Izuku smiled.
“Absolutely, you cover for us so much, it’s not a problem at all.”
“I guess you’re right,” Izuku said. “Thanks, I will go ahead and go home.”
“Atta boy!” Ochako cheered, before turning to the customer waiting at the counter. “I’ll be with you shortly,” she said with the usual politeness.
Izuku left the cafe in Ochako and Tsu’s capable hands. He jumped on his bike and rode for the coast as quickly as he could. He took a circuitous route so that he would not be easily followed, even using a bit of illusion magic at points just in case.
His cave was a welcome site, where he stripped himself of his human clothing and objects with impatient haste. Finally Izuku jumped into the water, lavishing in the joy of being back in his own skin and scales. As water flowed over his gills, he felt like he could finally breathe again.
The change, at least, relieved the pressure that came with maintaining his human form all day. He would feel even better once the sun had set and the moon could give him her light. But for now, the comfort of his own body and the waves was enough for him.
And yet those red eyes still lingered in his mind, haunting him and reminding him of what was lost, and what he could not dare to start again.