A drop of honey-sweet bitterness
It happened on a hot, summer day.
"Aahh! That was another hard day at work! Damn, it was a piece of cake! I could take on those kinds of missions anytime!" Twice stretched his arms above his head.
"Hehe! It was pretty fun, cutting up all those fake heroes…" Toga cooed, smiling happily as she walked with a skip in her step. She turned back, looking at the green haired male behind her. "Don't you think, Deku-kun?"
"Hmm? I don't know, I guess I'm just glad we're done with it," Deku chuckled, scratching the back of his neck. "At least now, society has fewer things to worry about."
"True! So not true!" Twice nodded, but Deku wasn't so sure whether the taller male was agreeing or not. "Ooh, but I could use a small break right now, before we return to the hideout! I don't need a break! I'm still raring to go!"
"Me too, me too!" Toga exclaimed, jumping up and down. "Let's stop by a café or something!"
While Shigaraki might not be pleased by their tardiness, if Deku were to be honest, he was exhausted and the summer heat was not gentle on him. Stopping at a café seemed like a pretty great idea at this point, so he agreed to Toga and Twice's idea and took out his phone.
He searched up the cafes in their area, and they were lucky that there was one nearby. Toga was happily skipping away in the right direction while Twice trailed after her, and Deku was chuckling to himself as he followed the two.
They stopped in front of a quaint coffee shop. It wasn't huge, but the atmosphere surrounding it seemed homey and warm, and for some reason, Deku couldn't take his eyes off it.
"Ooh, this is the place? It looks nice!" Toga hummed.
He spotted Twice looking at the words written in chalk on the small blackboard outside of the shop. "How do you read this? This looks easy to read!"
"Let me take a look," Deku offered and walked up to the spandex clad man. He peered at the words, and understood why Twice couldn't read it. "You're right, I have no idea."
"Let me see!" Toga glomped him from behind and looked at the name over his shoulder. "R,e? Re? It looks stylish though!"
"You got that right! It looks totally lame!"
Deku let out another small chuckle. "Alright, let's go in before someone reports us for suspicious activity. Besides, I could go for a good cup of coffee and some air conditioning right now."
"Oh yeah! Come on, Deku-kun!" Toga grabbed his hand and practically dragged him in with Twice following in protest at her touching his hand. Deku hid a smile at seeing Twice act like a puppy around the girl.
They entered the shop with a soft chime. The inside was beautiful in an antique way, it was welcoming and had a different charm to it compared to the other cafes he'd visited. However, what hit him most was the delicious scent of coffee floating in the air.
"Wow, it smells great." Deku breathed out. Before Toga or Twice could answer though, a blonde guy stalked up to them while grumbling and looking at everywhere else but them.
"Welcome to :Re, how may I help you?" He inquired with a gruff voice. For some reason, Deku felt like he was threatening them rather than asking for their order. He was a little taller than Deku, with blonde hair that spiked in every direction and glowing red eyes. His uniform was crumpled and messy, his pants sagging and one too many buttons undone on his dress shirt.
"Um, a table for three? And maybe three cups of coffee?" Deku answered sheepishly.
He let out an irritated sigh. "Alright, just follow me-" All of a sudden, a tray flew out of nowhere and hit the blonde guy in the face, a feminine voice following right after. "Kacchan! Stop being a grump and serve our customers properly, please?"
The blonde let out a growl and yelled back. "Shut up round face! It's your fault anyways!" He seemed to listen to her and severed around to finally look at them in the face, but the strangest thing happened when his eyes landed on Deku.
The blonde froze and stared at him. Deku tilted his head and offered a smile, but he wasn't responding. With his eyes widened and mouth slightly ajar, the man looked as if he was seeing a ghost. When Toga tapped her foot impatiently and asked him if he was done staring at Deku, he finally snapped out of his weird daze and averted his gaze. He directed them to a table and shuffled away awkwardly, as if seeing Deku was something revolutionary.
"Hmf, that guy was rude!" Toga huffed and pouted. "He kept staring at Deku-kun!"
"Hah! Don't be jealous, Toga-chan! Deku could never be interested in you!" Twice laughed out loud and Toga puffed up her cheeks, banging her fists on the man's chest while telling him he was being mean. Normally, Deku would laugh and try to settle them down, but for some reason, he couldn't. The scene that happened earlier was engraved into his mind, and what was this strange feeling of…nostalgia?
He was so busy buried in his thoughts that he didn't notice three cups of coffee being presented in front of them until someone cleared their throat. "Um, excuse me? Here are your orders! Three cups of coffee right?"
Deku blinked and looked up, smiling. "Yes, thank you very-"
His heart squeezed, and he forgot how to breathe.
The brown haired woman in front of him was smiling. Her short, brown hair flared inwards softly, and there were two longs bangs framing the side of her slightly round face. Two blush circles were painted on her cheeks, her brown eyes were warm and kind, and for some reason-
Deku couldn't think.
While he paused in his words, Twice came to the rescue. "Yeah, totally! Thanks! No thanks!"
The brown haired girl tilted her head in confusion, but a good natured chuckle slipped out of her lips and Deku swore he had never heard anything sweeter. "Hehe, it's no problem! I'm sorry for Kacchan's attitude just now, but I hope you have a good time here! Please don't hesitate to call for me if you need something else!" She flashed them another quick smile and turned away, but Deku swore her eyes lingered on him longer before she left their table.
"Well, let's dig in!" Toga chirped and sipped her drink. Almost immediately, a happy flush rose to her cheeks. "Wow, this is great! It's so good!"
"Really?" Twice drank his coffee after seeing her. "Wow, you were right! It tastes awful!"
A voice snapped at them behind the counter, and Deku averted his gaze to see the spiky blonde. "The fuck?! You telling me our coffee's bad?!" Another tray went flying at him and he shut his mouth, though he didn't stop glaring holes at the black and white clad man.
Deku decided to try his next, and took a sip of the mixture.
The taste was… amazing. It had a rich and aromatic flavor, the mixture being not too bitter for him. It was brilliant and delicious and all the words he could offer, but his chest squeezed so tightly. He felt an indescribable emotion grip at him, and Deku was at loss for words.
"-Deku? What are you doing, some kind of new joke? I don't get it! I totally do!" Twice's voice interrupted his thoughts.
"Hmm? Deku-kun, is something wrong? You look…strange." Toga looked at him with question in her eyes.
Deku blinked, not understanding what they meant until something dripped onto the table.
"Huh…?" He reached up to touch his face, and was shocked at what he found there. Tears were falling from his eyes, wetting his face and the wooden surface of the table. He was crying. He was crying.
Why? For what reason?
He didn't understand. He didn't understand anything.
Voices blurred into the background. His comrades' voices were fuzzy, and his head felt light. His chest was squeezing even harder now, and he felt like he was suffocating.
It was then when a handkerchief was offered to him.
"Are you okay? You don't look too well." A beautiful voice laced with concern entered his ears, and his sight suddenly became fully occupied with the young lady who had served them their coffee. Her eyes were glimmering with worry, and Deku managed to gulp down a strange bump in his throat.
"Ah, I'm sorry. I just…the coffee is delicious. I'm pretty sure I'm just overreacting a little. Sorry," He let out a semi-forced chuckle, and to his surprise, the lady giggled with him.
"You don't have to apologize so much, you know? But…I'm glad that you like it so much," She was smiling again, but this smile was a little different from the ones that she had shown them.
This smile…made her look sad. Maybe even a little troubled, really. But that smile seemed reserved for him and only him, and the fact that she was gazing at him with those amazing eyes…made his heart thump a little louder than it should have.
He couldn't believe a person as beautiful as her existed.
The spell was broken when she averted her eyes and turned around. Deku managed to find his voice before she left, "Um, excuse me! Thank you for your handkerchief, but uh, how should I-"
He heard another chime of laughter, and he felt his lips tremble. "You can keep it, I don't mind! You can also wash it and return it to me the next time you visit, I really don't mind either." She tilted her head backwards slightly and sent him another smile.
"Uraraka! Hurry up and get your ass back here!" Deku saw her roll her eyes but she answered back in a playful tone, "Ok, ok! Don't get your bomber boxes in a twist, Kacchan!"
Her eyes dragged over his face, as if she was trying to remember every detail like this was their last meeting, and went behind the counter to the back.
He could faintly register Toga poking him while Twice was trying to get his attention, but his gaze was focused on the door she went.
Uraraka, her name was Uraraka. He silently whispered the words, and they felt like honey on his tongue.
Blame Tokyo Ghoul for this. They are around twenty in this.
AU with Izuku as a villain. He used to work in a coffee shop with Ochako and Katsuki as a side job to their jobs as hero sidekicks, but got into a big accident and lost his memories while being kidnapped by the League of Villains. Deku is the only thing he remembers of himself and that becomes his name. Or at least I think so. In this scene anyway, Izuku/Deku is Haise, Toga is Mutsuki, Twice is Shirazu, Ochako is Touka and Katsuki is Yomo.
The feels are great when you listen to the OST remembering. Great BGM.
~LunaricFairy12~