Archive of Our Own ^beta

It was an early Tuesday morning as Touya pulled on his green visor. He hated the damn thing, but it was part of his uniform, so he begrudgingly pulled it into place. Despite the earliness, he preferred the morning shift to the afternoon or the evening one. While people without their caffeine fix were irritable, he was a bitch himself so he could handle it. Plastering on his best customer service smile, he secured his name tag in place and headed to the front of the shop, starting the coffee and cleaning up the mess left over from the night before. Night shift is supposed to clean and prep what they can, but since it was run by two of the laziest people he knew, they usually just pushed it onto him instead.

Popping one earphone in, he filled the sink with the nasty old cold brew pitchers and blenders, leaving them to soak. He technically wasn’t supposed to listen to music on shift, but the manager wasn’t here so fuck him. While the coffee brewed and dishes soaked, he did a quick mop of the tiles and tried to prepare himself for another day of serving coffee and coffee-adjacent drinks to assholes.

He had wanted to be a hero once upon a time, but that dream was crushed when he was diagnosed with a quirk which destroyed his body. Though he had developed a fire quirk, his body was more suited to his mother’s ice, and the fire burned hot, hotter than he could handle. Despite his father’s efforts to mold him into a “hero to surpass All Might”, he couldn’t even use his quirk, not really. He tried not to be bitter as he was tossed aside for the next quirk project, but a little fiery outburst meant he was kicked from the house before he was 16. Six years later he was here, living the dream.

He snorted, setting that box of trauma aside to unpack never. Done with the mopping, he made quick work of the dishes, wanting to get at least one quadruple espresso in himself before coworkers and customers ruined his day. He turned his music up, blasting the heavy metal into his eardrums loudly enough he’d probably be deaf by the time he was thirty.
~~~~

Outside of the shop, the sun was barely peeking over the horizon, golden fingers piercing the grayish-purple of fading night and slowly awakening the Kyushu area. Out on the streets, a few heroes were beginning the very early morning patrol, trading off shifts with the night and underground heroes. One of these was Keigo Takami, otherwise known as the Wing Hero Hawks.

Waving at a couple of citizens who were up and already heading to their morning trains, he walked the streets of his city, too tired to fly yet despite his usually relentless energy. Of course, much of that energy was a facade, one he used to propel himself toward his eventual dream of a society without heroes, but everyday people didn’t need to know that. It was simpler to tamp it all down underneath a smile and artfully tousled hair, to refuse to acknowledge the fucked up mess he was on the inside.

Smiling more brightly to drive away the demons, he waved at a couple more people before speed walking to his favorite vending machine. A couple cans of Max coffee was just what he needed to brighten up his day. As a bonus, it should give him enough energy to perk up his wings and do an air patrol of the area. He may have a reputation as the fastest hero, but those who knew him the best knew that a lot of that speed was bolstered by ample amounts of caffeine and sugar.

Reaching the machine, he prepared to put in his coins and receive the blessed nectar, but he was dismayed to see an “Out of order” sign plastered on the front of it.

“Dammit,” he said under his breath, his wings drooping in dismay. He had plenty of the beverage at his office, but it was miles away and he didn’t have time to duck in. He contemplated what to do for a moment before deciding to see if he could find a coffee shop or convenience store nearby.

As he passed through the streets and encountered more and more people, he felt his energy depleting more quickly than normal. He wondered if he had become too reliant on his coffee, but he didn’t have time to think about that too deeply. If he wanted to be able to perform his job capably, he needed caffeine.

Passing by a small conbini, he ducked inside and headed straight to the drinks section. To his horror, while there was plenty of coffee, they were completely out of Max.

Heading up to the front, he smiled kindly at the bored looking cashier running the register.

“Excuse me?”

“Hmm?” they hummed quizzically, too tired to even speak up.

“Do you have any more Max coffee in the back? I know it’s a pain, but it’s my favorite,” he asked with a charming smile, putting his gloved hands together in a pleading prayer gesture.

“If it’s not out in the case, then we don’t have any,” they said, frowning. “Sorry man.”

Keigo waved his hand placatingly.

“No, it’s fine! Don’t worry, I know how easy it is to run out of these things,” he assured them. “Thanks.”

Ducking disappointedly out of the conbini, he spotted a Starbucks down the block. His mouth curled up on one side in a half-grimace; it wasn’t his favorite, but in a pinch he could always dump the sugar shaker into some shitty drip coffee. He was getting desperate.

Speeding up just a little, always making sure not to run into any civilians, Keigo double-checked the hours posted on the door to make sure that the shop was actually open. Luckily for him, they had just opened, and the door appeared to be unlocked. He didn’t spot any employees, though. Curious, he ducked inside, figuring that he could always work something out if no one was running the place. He was a hero, after all, and one thing heroes are is capable.

“Hello?” he said, making sure he sounded friendly rather than demanding this early in the morning.

Touya emerged from the back, wiping his hands on a towel before setting it aside and fixing his smile in place. His eyebrows rose a tiny bit, betraying the surprise at seeing the Pro Hero Hawks in his crappy little Starbucks. Nevertheless, he smoothly transitioned to his practiced customer service personality.

“Good morning. What can I get you?”

Keigo glanced up at the menu, smiling nervously. “Ahh, what would you recommend? I haven’t really been to a Starbucks before. I usually drink vending machine coffee.”

Touya rolled his eyes internally for a millisecond before quizzing the hero.

“What kind of flavors do you like? Bitter, sweet, creamy? Fruity, caramel, chocolate? Nuts?”

“I know I like sweet coffee, but I don’t have a lot of experience with flavored coffee.”

Touya thought for a moment before landing upon a suggestion.

“Hmm, how about a vanilla sweet cream cold brew? It’s plenty sweet, has some creaminess to balance bitterness, and is flavored but not super strongly. Plus I figured if you usually drink canned coffee, you probably like it cold, right?”

“Yeah!” Keigo agreed. “What’s sweet cream, though?”

“It’s a sweet foam on top of the coffee.”

“Is it possible for me to try a little on its own? Just to see if I’d like it,” he asked nervously. Keigo knew he was kind of being a pain, but well, due to his upbringing he hadn’t had a lot of opportunities to experience things or develop his own tastes.

“Sure, ‘s not a problem,” Touya said, glad that no one else had come in yet since this was taking a while, and the last thing he needed was a bunch of impatient people riding his ass about their coffee. He grabbed a cup and dumped in vanilla syrup, 2% milk, and heavy cream, frothing it up to make it thick. Once it was thick enough, he passed it over the counter to the pro hero.

Keigo accepted it, his fingers brushing against the barista’s as he took the cup. His wing feathers ruffled a little, betraying the fact he was startled, but he otherwise looked like his usual self as he accepted the foam. He tasted it, smiling when the flavors hit his tongue.
“This is really good!” he exclaimed loudly before turning pink. “Sorry,” he apologized as the barista flinched.

Touya smiled a little, his mouth moving upwards subtly. “It’s fine, birdie. Not like anyone else is in here anyway.”

“Excuse me, I’m here,” Toga said indignantly, poking her head out from the back of the shop, where she was working on defrosting pastries.

“You don’t count, psycho,” Touya shot back before turning back to Keigo. “Sorry about that. So, the vanilla sweet cream cold brew, yeah?”

“Sounds good,” Keigo agreed. “What’s the biggest size you have?”

“Venti. That’s a 20 ounce cup.”

“Okay, I’ll take two then,” Keigo said, pulling out his wallet to pay.

Touya’s eyebrows rose subtly again, but he worked on making the drinks, eyeing the pro as he stood off to the side of the counter. He nearly spilled the sweet cream on himself in the process, his eyes lingering on the blond for a bit too long, but he otherwise managed to make them without incident, sliding them across the counter with “Hawks” written on both cups in blocky lettering.

“1200 yen, please,” he said, accepting the payment and quickly finishing the transaction.

Keigo nodded and picked up both drinks, giving a small wave before leaving.

Once the pro was gone, Touya laid his head on the counter, groaning softly.

Toga skipped out from the back, flashing her fangs at Touya and twirling a small knife in her hand. “You like him, don’t you?” she teased, flipping the knife in the air and catching it as she did so.

“No I don’t, it was just weird seeing someone as famous as Hawks in our shop,” Touya said, standing up straight as a few other customers started to trickle into the store. “And put that knife away, you know you’re not supposed to have that shit out around customers.”

“Aww, but I just want a little taste,” she said with a playful whine.

“No. Go straighten up the cups or something, Jesus.”
~~~~

As Hawks left the shop sipping his coffee, he felt life and energy returning to him, and even his wings felt lighter.

Bless him, he thought, rising into the air to continue his patrol of the neighborhood.

Once his patrol shift was finished, he flew back to the office, whistling as he did so. He continued the happy noises as he headed into his agency, smiling and nodding at the security desk worker as he headed inside.

“Hey Hoshino,” he greeted the man, who smiled back at him just as warmly.

“Good afternoon, boss. Glad to see you looking lively.”

Keigo let out a laugh at that. “Really? I’m just my usual self.”

Hoshino shook his head at that. “No, there’s definitely something different about you. You seem happier somehow.”

“Must be all the caffeine I had today,” he said jokingly, effectively cutting off the conversation cordially. “See you later,” he finished, heading over to the bank of elevators and pressing the button for the top floor. As the doors slid open smoothly and he stepped inside, he found himself thinking about the barista from earlier. There was something about him that was intriguing, despite the fact they had only interacted for less than ten minutes.

Maybe it’s because he didn’t expect anything from you, his inner voice said, but he pushed that thought aside harshly, not wanting to think about his issues with his childhood or the Hero Public Safety Commission. As always, it was easier that way.

Settling into his office chair, he booted up his computer and pulled up the software for their case files, eager to lose himself in work and drown his troubling thoughts.
~~~~

Across the city, the morning rush had slowed at the shop and Touya found himself lost in thought, a condition he usually avoided as it could lead to thinking about his pathetic childhood, and that was a subject best left alone at all costs. As he cleaned the blenders and frothers again, his mind kept flashing back to the unsure smile of the pro hero that had visited their shop that morning. It was much different from the usual wide, confident grin he displayed on billboards and in his encounters with the public. It was softer, more genuine in its hesitancy. He wondered if maybe the hero was hiding something behind the smiles and confident demeanor he used to tackle villainy.

Oh come on, Touy, just because you had a fucked up childhood doesn’t mean everyone around you does. You barely even know the man, all you did was make him coffee. Pathetic, pathetic…

His self-deprecation was suddenly cut off as Toga walked over to him and hugged him tightly from behind. He jumped, turning around with a frown.

“Jeez, would you stop that?” he asked her, voice raised. “You know I hate being touched unexpectedly.”

“Sorry, but you looked like you were letting your mind fill up with bad thoughts again,” she said, her voice softer and more sympathetic than usual.

He sighed lightly, pulling out of the hug but not pulling away entirely. “Sorry, Psycho. Shouldn’t have yelled at you like that. Just got lost in thought again.”

“Anything good? Or just the same stuff again?” she asked.

“You want the truth?”

“Always. You know that.”

“I was just thinking about our customer from this morning.”

“Do you mean the crazy bitch that came in and wanted to pick up fraps for her whole office? Or do you mean Mister Not-So-Tall and Blond?”

Touya’s cheeks colored slightly at that, giving himself away.

“Oh, Touya’s got a cruuu-ush!” Toga teased, poking at the dark-haired man with glee.

“I do not!” he shot back, knowing if he didn’t try and cut her off now she would keep at this forever.

“You do too, a big one. Do you think about him naked, you pervert?”

“Himiko Toga!” Touya exclaimed, actually angry now. “Too far.”

“Damn, sorry,” she responded, though in truth she didn’t seem all that sorry. “I won’t bring it up again.”

“Good.”

He ran his hand through his hair before speaking again.

“I guess I’m just a little starstruck, I don’t usually see the top heroes that close,” he said, not mentioning the definite overthinking he had been doing before he was interrupted.

“Mmm, makes sense. Plus doesn’t he usually drink canned coffee? Or maybe I’m just thinking of his ads,” she muttered in thought.

“He did mention that when I was trying to figure out what he wanted,” Touya said. “Which makes sense, he didn’t seem to be familiar with the Starbucks menu at all. Or even how to order, really.”

“Other than selfies with citizens it doesn’t seem like he goes out much, at least based on his publicity,” Toga mused, scrolling through her phone. “A mention here or there of him at a chicken place with Endeavor, but definitely nothing about coffee aside from his ads for Max.”

Touya tried not to let the mention of his father shake him, and he was almost successful, managing to keep the reaction mostly internal this time. He’d have to tell his therapist, he was sure she’d manage to be impressed by the tiny bit of progress.

“Ah well. Guess he was just in the area,” Touya finished. He managed to push his thoughts aside once again, returning to his work with gusto. As long as he didn’t think about it, it wasn’t a problem.
~~~~

That night, as Keigo finally finished up at the office, he found himself happier than he usually was after a full day of work. Not that he was an unhappy man usually.

Lies, his mind briefly interjected before he shut it up.

He wondered if it was perhaps the slight change in his usual routine that morning that perked him up. A brief moment to just act like a regular person, rather than a hero that everyone depended on.

Pushing aside his slightly unpleasant thoughts once more, he entered a small karaoke bar close to the suburbs. It wasn’t an incredibly popular one, but it was one of his and Rumi’s favorite places to spend time together. Walking in, he spotted the rabbit-eared hero immediately, leaning against the check-in counter and attempting to talk up the woman running it. Keigo rolled his eyes good-naturedly at her flirting attempts before deciding to interrupt her and give the worker a break.

“Hey Rumi,” he called, waving at her as he walked over to her.

“Hey Kei!” she called back happily, coming over to embrace the other hero. “How’s it going? The usual?” She hoped someday “the usual” didn’t include ignoring the mental health issues he needed to address, but for now she accepted him at his word when he said he was okay.

“Heh, yeah, the usual. You know how it goes,” he said, glad at least that he didn’t have to elaborate to her how tough hero work could be, and how unforgiving it could be when it came to having a “normal” life.

“Definitely,” she agreed. “You ready to sing, get some of this energy out?”

“You know it,” he said, pulling some money from his wallet and placing it on the counter along with Rumi’s. They tended to book a room for only two hours, but tonight he put down extra money so they could have it for four.

Rumi eyed the money for a moment as they booked their session. “Damn, honey, got something you need to talk about? You know I’m always here to listen,” she said, gesturing at her ears with a small laugh.

“Nah, I’m good. Just need a few drinks and a microphone,” he said, though the smile he wore as he came in had flagged by the time they were led to their room. Rumi frowned, but otherwise said nothing.

Once the door was shut behind them, Keigo took a seat with a sigh, his wings flagging to rest on the sofa cushions. He was grateful for these weekly sessions with Rumi, and was positive that he would have exploded by now if it weren’t for her befriending him a few years ago at a hero gala. He smiled as he remembered how she had spotted him alone in the crowd and headed right over, wrapping an arm around his shoulders and leading him over to the bar.

Rumi took her own seat across from him, grabbing the drink menu immediately.

“Rough day?” Keigo asked, able to push aside his own swirling thoughts and focus on his friend right away.

“Ugh, you have no idea,” she said, sipping a free bottle of water as she contemplated ordering several of the strongest drinks the karaoke bar has to offer. “A bank robbery started out fine, but one of the villains had an unexpected quirk that caused chaos, there were civilians running everywhere and screaming, broken glass, and in all that chaos the bastards got away with the money. Finally managed to get everything straightened up, then the police showed up to cordon off the area and it set some people off again.” She sipped at her water again, picking up the phone to give the servers at the front their order.

“Damn, sounds like hell,” Keigo said. “Too bad I wasn’t there, I probably could have at least caught the villains for you.”

“Yeah, too bad you weren’t,” Rumi teased him. “Where’s the ‘fastest hero’ when I need him, hmm?” She walked over to him and grabbed him up in one arm, rubbing the knuckles of her other hand into his head hard, ruffling his hair and bruising his scalp.

“Oww, oww, mercy!” he cried out exaggeratedly. “Oh, the agony!”

Rumi laughed and let him go after a moment, feeling a tiny bit better.

“So what about you, huh? You said your day was ‘the usual’, but you seemed awfully chipper coming in here.”

“Hmm? Oh, yeah. Just had a good day, is all. Tried some new coffee for the first time.”

“Gasp. You, the Hawks, Keigo Takami, betraying his beloved Max canned coffee? I never thought I’d see the day.”

“Come on,” Keigo said, pushing her away a little. “It’s not that big of a deal, is it?”

“Keigo, babe. You’ve drank the same brand of coffee, and eaten at the same chicken stands, every day since I’ve known you. You don’t do change. You find change scary. So the fact that you changed anything up at all is kind of impressive.”

Keigo’s cheeks colored and he reached for his own free bottle of water, wishing the drinks would hurry up already so he could get up enough courage to sing. He took a swig before setting the bottle back down and speaking again.

“Yeah, well, it’s not like I had much of a choice. The vending machines near my patrol area were out, the conbini was out, since I was on patrol it was too far to fly back to the agency, even as fast as I am. Luckily for me, there was a Starbucks nearby. And the barista there was really patient with me.”

“Oh?”

“Hmm. He listened when I told him I didn’t know much about ordering coffee, and gave recommendations based on what flavors I like. Let me try some sweet cream cold foam since I had no idea what that is.”

Rumi noted the soft look in his eye but decided not to bring it up for now. If she was lucky, maybe later in the night she could. But she knew her friend, and knew that it took a soft approach for him sometimes to open up the way he should.

“Well, I’m glad that the barista was patient with you. Lord knows it takes you forever to make a decision sometimes,” she teased gently.

“Does not,” he said defensively.

“Mmhmm,” she hummed in disbelief.

“Ugh, no more teasing,” he said, crossing his arms and shaking his head dramatically. “Let’s sing.” He grabbed up the programming device for the karaoke machine and started to input songs.

A knock at the door signaled the arrival of their drinks, and Rumi answered it, taking the tray from the server. She smiled at her politely before shutting the soundproof door and taking a seat. She set the tray on the table and grabbed up her screwdriver, taking a large gulp from it. Feeling some of her own self-confidence flowing back into her, she took the device from Keigo and started putting in some songs herself. Tonight was going to be good.
~~~~

Meanwhile, in a crappy part of the city a few miles from the Starbucks where he worked, Touya was busy unlocking the front door to his apartment. He grunted as he threw his shoulder against it, the door having a bad tendency to jam most of the time. After a moment he managed to get it open, cursing under his breath as he walked inside the entrance and closed the door behind him. He locked the door again as he removed his shoes, not wanting anyone to drunkenly stumble into his place thinking it was their own. It had happened once when he first moved here, and it scared him enough to remind him to always lock it behind him now.

Flicking on the light, he headed tiredly towards his kitchen, grimacing as the crappy fluorescent light came on and made his already aching head throb. Once he had finished his morning shift, he had been prepared to go home, but another one of the workers, Jin, had called off for the day, so he had decided to pick up his shift and make a little extra on his paycheck for the month. He could use it, after all. Unfortunately, the afternoon customers had been massive pains in his ass, and the bus home had been packed, meaning he couldn’t even rest his tired feet. He only hoped that he could find something decent in his fridge for dinner and then sleep the headache off.

Pulling open the fridge door, he was pleased to see that he had a few veggies and eggs, and the container of leftover rice from take out the other day was still good.

Stir fry it is.

He pulled a pan out from his cabinets and set it on the stovetop, starting to heat it while he prepped the ingredients for his dinner. Luckily one of the few things he had picked up over the years was cooking skills, and he was able to make quick work of chopping the veggies and beating the eggs. Holding his hand over the pan, he felt the heat coming off of it.

For a moment, he thought about placing his hand down on the rippling steel and letting it set there. Just long enough to add some more scars to his already hideously scarred body.

Stop that, he told himself firmly, adding oil to the pan instead and pushing aside the dark thoughts. He really should call his therapist tomorrow.

While he cooked his dinner, he let his mind wander to more pleasant things that wouldn’t worsen his headache. He found his thoughts moving back toward his encounter with Hawks this morning. He didn’t know what it was, but for whatever reason he couldn’t get the pro hero off of his mind. His golden eyes and artfully tousled hair were all part of his image, but the unsure smile was something Touya was starting to feel was only for him.

“Ugh, no, stop that right now,” he scolded himself aloud, firmly tamping down on the thoughts as he dumped his dinner onto a plate and grabbed some chopsticks from the drawer. He headed back to his living room and took a seat on the sagging couch, flipping on the TV to try and find something to distract him while he ate.

Scrolling through the channels, he almost paused on the Hero News Network, but his frontal cortex took over and steered him towards an old movie station instead. He made up his mind to lose himself in the soothing colors and mindless action of the old All Might film, chewing a mouthful of the stir fry in a determined fashion. All he had to do was stop thinking. Simple.
~~~~

Two hours and several drinks into their karaoke night, Keigo was much more loose than he had been when he first met up with Rumi. As he belted out Livin’ on a Prayer in his best (terrible) English, she wondered if she could bring up the subject of why he was so cheery earlier. He had steadfastly avoided any of her attempts to bring it up so far, but perhaps now he would at least give her a little information to satisfy her curiosity.

Finishing the song, Keigo walked over to the couch and flopped down next to Rumi, chugging the last of his lemon drop. He went to reach for another one, but she stopped him and pressed some water into his hand instead.

“Uh uh, I think it’s time you took a little break,” she insisted.

“Aww, but why?” he pleaded, trying to make his eyes wide and innocent as he looked at his friend.

“Because as much as I love you and these little excursions, there’s no way I’m dragging your ass home if you pass out,” she said.

“Ugh, fine,” he said dramatically, letting his wings droop to the floor. He sipped his water sullenly for a moment before perking up again. “Did I tell you about the Starbucks I visited this morning?” he asked her, not remembering having mentioned it at the beginning of the night.

“Yes, you did, and you said the barista was really nice,” she reminded him. “Why? Did something happen there that you want to talk about? Trip over your big feet and fall right onto the tile?”

“No, I’m not that clumsy,” he said. He took another sip of water before turning a bit to look Rumi in the eyes. “No, I just…I’ve been feeling kind of funny since this morning. Since I went to that Starbucks.”

“You don’t think you were poisoned via coffee, do you?” She was mostly joking, but she had heard of plots to poison heroes through food before.

“No, no. Even if someone did want to do that, they would probably do it with the Max since I drink that usually. No, it’s just…I kinda can’t stop thinking about him. That barista.” His cheeks colored pink at that as thoughts of the dark-haired man came back up.

“Yeah?” Rumi asked. She had to admit she was curious, since Keigo had never mentioned people outside of work before. “Are you sure it’s not just because he was nice to you? Because I hate to break it to you, Kei, but he’s kind of paid to be nice to people,” she finished gently.

“I know that!” Keigo exclaimed angrily, huffing. He grabbed his water and drained it, calming down slightly. “I’m aware of the concept of customer service, Rumi. I may have been kind of sheltered growing up, but I’m not stupid.”

“I know you’re not stupid, Kei, I didn’t mean to imply that you were.”

He sat gathering his thoughts for a moment before speaking up again.

“As I was saying, yes, I know he was being nice to me because he’s paid to do so. I’m familiar with the concept of public niceties. But I just…he was pretty. So pretty. His hair is black and his eyes are this shining turquoise that I’ve never seen before. And yes he was nice, but I just…feel like I want to get to know him more, you know? But what if he says no, what if he laughs at me? Not to mention how fucked up I am inside, I shouldn’t really impose that on anyone…”

“Whoa, whoa, slow down Keigo,” Rumi said, startled by his sudden rambling. She placed a hand on his back, between his wings, and rubbed the space to calm him down. “Let’s talk this out.”

“Okay,” he agreed, feeling calmer.

“So, you said this guy is pretty, huh?”

“Yes.”

“And it sounds like you kind of might want to ask him on a date?”

“Yes?”

“Was that a question or an answer?”

“Yes,” he said, more confidently.

“Okay. So do that. Yes, he might turn you down, but he might not. And even if he agrees, there’s no guarantee it’s going to turn into a relationship, all right?”

“But what if it did?”

“Would you want it to?”

Keigo’s eyebrows drew down and his mouth pinched as he thought, dark thoughts surfacing before going away, one after another. But the thought that maybe he could actually be happy, truly happy, was the clearest one.

“I mean, I wouldn’t be opposed,” he said quietly.

Rumi laughed, knowing that he meant yes and was just having difficulty expressing himself.

“Then go ask him out. You work the morning shift again tomorrow, right?”

“Always.”

“Then just saunter that tight little butt on down to his Starbucks, ask for a drink and then his number. Easy peasy.”

“Rumiiiiii. Just because you flirt with every woman you come across doesn’t mean this is easy for me,” he said, pouting.

Oh boy, she thought.

“Okay, how about we finish up here, and then I’ll take you home. I can give you some tips on how to ask this guy out,” she said.

“Thank you,” Keigo said, hugging Rumi tightly and wrapping his wings around her. “You’re the best.”

“Yeah, yeah. No need to compliment me,” she said with a laugh. “What song do you want to sing with me?”

“Don’t Go Breakin’ My Heart.”

“You got it,” she said, queuing the song up and handing him a mic. She grabbed her own, and soon their troubles were floating away, caught up in the music. As they finished and she took a cab with Keigo to his apartment that night, she sent up a silent prayer that this would go well and Keigo wouldn’t end up getting hurt.
~~~~

The next morning, Touya woke up with a small groan, his back and neck cracking as he sat up on his small, crappy bed. His head was feeling better than it had yesterday, but the headache wasn’t entirely gone. He hoped that a shower before work would help, and maybe a little food. If he was lucky, his shift would be easy today and he wouldn’t have to take Jin’s shift again.

And maybe if you’re really lucky, that blond pro will show up, the hornier part of him chimed in before he shut it down.

He has no reason to come in, I’m sure he’s managed to get himself some more of that crappy Max coffee by now, he countered, trying to tamp down the tiny bit of hope he felt. Running his hand through his hair to push it back from his face, he stood and headed to his tiny bathroom, turning the hot water on to full blast before grabbing a towel. He shed his t-shirt and boxers, ducking away from the mirror so he wouldn’t glimpse the scars which covered most of his torso and chest. Most of the time his thoughts didn’t linger on them anymore, but if he looked at them for too long his thoughts tended to spiral. It was best to cut himself off from those thoughts to begin with.

Stepping under the water, he started to scrub himself down, taking off the layer of dead skin that tended to accumulate on the scarred parts of him. Once that was done, he washed his hair and face with efficiency, grabbing his towel afterwards and rubbing his hair roughly. A quick application of lotion later and he was in his bedroom, towel wrapped around his waist as he grabbed his uniform shirt and pants to put on.

After a few minutes, he was as ready as he could be, and so headed to the door to grab his shoes and coat. Pulling them on, he headed out, locking his door behind him before beginning the walk to work. Luckily despite the early hour, the weather wasn’t too cold, and the walk to work was pleasant when he wasn’t exhausted. He found himself smiling slightly despite himself, and soon he reached the shop, unlocking it to head inside and do his usual prep work. Like yesterday, the night shift had left a mess behind them, but he found himself not minding very much today as he started to clean. He hoped it was a sign that today would be a good day.
~~~~

In his own apartment, Keigo groaned, rolling over and slapping angrily at his nightstand as his phone blared his morning alarm. His head was pounding, and he cursed himself and Rumi for letting him drink so much last night. Finding the offensively loud object, he jabbed angrily at the “turn off” button for the alarm, tossing it away from him once it was silenced and rolling over. He pulled his pillows over his face, wondering if he could potentially suffocate himself and avoid dealing with the world today.

Sometimes he wished he weren’t a hero.

After a few moments of lying beneath his pillow and breathing the increasingly hot air, he faced the fact he would have to get up. Moving the pillow aside, he sat up, groaning as the light coming in from his windows pierced his eyes and made his head pound. He grabbed the small bottle of water from his nightstand and drank some, hoping that he could recover enough to do his job. Draining about half the bottle, he decided to bring the rest with him into his bathroom while he showered.

Turning on the water, he grabbed a towel and shucked his clothing, shivering in the cool air as it hit his skin. He spread his wings and shook them to make sure he didn’t have any loose feathers which needed to be preened away before he got them wet. Finding none, he stepped under the water, sighing a bit as the hot water hit him. He decided to take his time to clean himself extra thoroughly this morning, due to both his hungover state and the fact that he was going to try and ask the barista out today. If he was going to be rejected, he might as well look put together when it happened.

As he carefully washed each feather of his wings, spreading them out and shaking them to make sure they got clean, he thought through the strategy he was going to use to speak to the barista.

Step one: show up at the Starbucks in the first place. He figured having a hangover would give him an excuse to show up, since he knew the caffeine would help with it.

Step two: try not to throw up. He seemed to be doing okay with that so far, but considering he was only thinking about it and not actually asking yet, he would see how that went.

Step three: be himself. Rumi had advised him to go with this strategy after his attempts at various pickup lines last night just ended in humiliation and hilarity. The hardest part of the plan, and one he had maybe 1% confidence in.

Come on, you’re a hero for fuck’s sake. You stare down villains every day. You managed to work with Endeavor even though he’s your idol. You can manage to ask someone out.

He nodded firmly to punctuate the bolstering of his self-esteem, and went back to his shower, singing as he finished with his feathers and moved on to his hair.

Twenty minutes later, he found himself in his bedroom, hair and teeth brushed and pulling on his uniform. Thank God for easy decisions. He topped off the ensemble with a pair of sunglasses, finished his bottle of water from earlier and half of another, and flew off his balcony into the morning air. Showtime.
~~~~

Touya was bustling around in the shop as he had yesterday, finishing up his morning prep, when he heard the bell on the door jingle. He looked up, his heart skipping a beat when he spotted Hawks coming into his coffee shop again. The man looked distinctly windblown–well, more than usual–and was wearing a large pair of sunglasses. Strange, but it was fairly bright today, and Touya reasoned that the man’s usual visor probably didn’t provide enough protection against it.

Keigo walked inside nervously, plastering a smile into place, trying to prevent it from faltering. He walked up to the counter casually, just like yesterday, and looked up at the dark-haired barista.

“Hey, how are you doing?” he asked.

Touya let out a short chuckle. “Hey. Nice to see you again, Hawks. Not bad. How are you?”

“Mmm, if I’m honest, a little hungover,” he answered. “Figured some of your coffee might be the cure.”

Touya laughed at that again. “Well, I can’t say if it’s a cure, but it might help. Same as yesterday?”

“Yes please,” Keigo said, standing off to the side again to wait for his drink. He drummed his fingers on the counter before stopping, the sound annoying him. Pulling out his phone to play with it and appear more natural, he found an encouraging message from Rumi.

Bunny: Go for it! If it goes wrong I’ll take you out later.

A wry smile crossed his face as he slipped his phone back into his pocket, taking a steadying breath before walking back over to the order area of the counter.

“Hey, your drink’s almost ready,” Touya assured the blond, pulling the espresso shots for it before adding them to the cup and topping it off with cold brew and syrup.

“Ah, that’s good,” Keigo said awkwardly. “But, um…are you on break soon?”

“Not really, I just barely started my shift,” Touya said, concern rising within him. “Why?”

“I was hoping to talk to you.”

“We’re kind of talking right now,” Touya jokes, sliding the drink across the counter and accepting Keigo’s money, completing the transaction.

“Hah, yeah, but it’s not about coffee. Or well, it sort of is, um…” Keigo set his coffee down for a moment before meeting those turquoise eyes and opening his mouth again. “Would you go out with me? On a date? Maybe this Friday?”

“What,” Touya said flatly. No way he could have heard that right. He checked his pulse, sure he was hallucinating due to the caffeine, but unfortunately he found it as steady as it usually was. Damn.

“Would you like to go on a date?” Keigo asked, hesitancy creeping back into his voice as he repeated his question. The worries he usually kept suppressed were already creeping back in, telling him he had failed, he was so stupid, what was he thinking?

“Are you…asking me out?” Touya said disbelievingly. “Really? You just met me yesterday.” Better to try to use logic than emotion to turn the bird-man down. It would be easier to deal with the pain later.

“I know, but…this is going to sound so stupid, but I think you’re cute and I’d like to get to know you. You don’t have to say yes, but my friend said I should ask you, so here I am,” Keigo finished, gesturing at himself.

Touya sighed, a small, pained smile flitting across his face as he stepped out from behind the counter.

“Look, I’m just some barista you met yesterday,” he said. “I acknowledge I’m kind of attractive, but I barely know you past your hero status.”

“Isn’t that the purpose of a date? To get to know each other?”

Touya noticed the look of hope on Keigo’s face and decided to take a leap of faith, meeting the hero halfway.

“I suppose you’re right. Fine, Friday night. You pick the place, but it better not be some big expensive place, I can’t afford it,” Touya said, his smile warming up the longer he spoke to the hero.

“Can do,” Keigo said, smiling broadly but with real warmth at the barista. “See you Friday, Touya. You won’t regret it.”

“Yeah, yeah, get out of here before I call some other hero to arrest you for loitering,” Touya said playfully. He chuckled as he watched Keigo grab his coffee and leave, scrambling out the door to work his patrol. He had to admit, the man had his charms despite the fact that he was only allowing himself to notice them today.

For once, he would allow the hope inside him to flourish.

~~~END~~~