Prologue

A trio of high school girls were chatting avidly among themselves as they were walking down the street until one of them stopped abruptly, catching her friends' attention.

"Is something the matter, Chako-chan?" The purple skinned girl asked curiously, bending forward to look up at her friend in the face, the two antennae on her head wiggled a bit.

"Oh, it's nothing Mina-chan!" The brunette laughed to herself, shaking her head. She pointed at the shop in the distance in front of them. "Has that tea shop always been there?"

The shortest girl hummed to herself, nodding in agreement at her two friends. "Yeah, I've never seen that shop there before either. I think it was vacant a few weeks ago."

"Ooooh! We should totally check it out!" Mina said giddily, hopping up and down with a shrilly cry. "I've always wanted to try homemade brewed tea! I've heard it's good for the soul!"

"Heh, and they are probably having a grand opening. The drinks might be free. Worst case scenario they'd be at discount prices." The short girl chuckled.

When the three girls opened the door, a soft melodic chime rang across their ears. It made them imagine a tranquil past with koi ponds and a loud steady stream without the hustle and bustle of city life. Looking around, the décor was definitely chic, everything screamed extravagant with the shiny mahogany wood and black metal chairs with red velvet cushions. There was even a large art board with a picture of a sleeping dragon hanging on the wall above the cafe's pastry counter.

It was a mix of simplicity and creative arts that was both homey and exciting.

"Oh! Hello and welcome to Ryō-Oaishi," a young male who looked no older than they did greeted them with a light bow. He was dressed in the formal black and white suit typical of cafe waiters with a white apron wrapped around his waist. He straightened his tie before looking at them with a huge heartfelt smile. "What can I do for you?" He asks.

All three girls just stared at him as they attempted to block out the shining light surrounding him. Was this his first time working? That smile of his was just something out of this world! Even if he had nothing to sell he could probably pull in a few customers with it as it is.

The girls, minus Tsuyu. struggled to refrain themselves from jumping the poor waiter. "A seat for three!" They practically screamed in his face causing him to wince back a bit.

When they were properly seated, there were a million things running through their minds that they wanted to ask the boy. What was his phone number or which high school did he go to? Was this his parent's shop?

While the other girls were busy raking through their brains over things that had nothing to do with anything, Tsuyu looked down at the menu in her hand before glancing back up at the green haired boy. "Do you have coffee?" Tsuyu asks bluntly.

The boy froze and seemed to be registering her words, taking a little longer than needed making her two friends glare daggers at her for giving the boy trouble.

He twiddled his thumbs together, looking down at his feet. "I'm sorry," he finally said, calmly recomposing himself. "As this is a traditional tea house, we don't make coffee. My apologies!" He ducked down and bowed repeatedly.

"It's fine." Tsuyu said, looking out the glass windows passively. "Is this your grand opening?" She asks.

"Actually, yes, we had just opened shop about half an hour ago." The boy, whom was named Izuku Midoriya from what his name tag stated, had replied.

"So that means free samples right?" Tsuyu continued.

"Ha? Ah yes, that would be the case." Izuku chuckled at their friend's bluntness, rubbing nervously at the back of his neck. "So what would you like?"

"Um, what would you recommend–" Ochako started but found a large slimy hand slapping her in the face.

"Three of everything to drink." The frog girl stated, ignoring the glare that Ochako was giving her from behind her hand.

"Um, the pastries wouldn't happen to be free too, would they?" Mina asked meekly, slightly ashamed at how they were kind of taking advantage of the young boy's hospitality.

"Actually, for pastries they're half off." Izuku said, smiling, showing not even the least bit offended at their attitude towards him.

"I'll take the green tea cake, then!" Mina said, cheerfully, slightly happy that it wasn't free so as to not take too much advantage of him but at the same time that it wasn't going to eat at her wallet either.

"I'll have...the toffee cake and the apple pie." Ochako said after a moment.

"Hmm...I'll take the unsweetened jasmine jelly and some soy crackers." Tsuyu said.

"Will that be all?" Izuku asked, writing everything off on his notepad. Seeing everyone give their nod of approval, he smiled. "Alright! It'll be ready in a bit!"

A few moments after he disappeared from their sight, the girls heard an angry and very masculine yelling in the background, almost thinking that it was Izuku throwing a tantrum until they heard him speak back to the other voice in a loud but meek voice.

"I think you made his boss angry." Mina muttered towards Tsuyu who just looked at the other girls with a tilt of her head, slightly confused at her friend's words.

"Awww! This is heaven!" Mina moaned, closing her eyes as she sucked on the spoon. "It really goes well with the oolong tea!" She gestured towards her cake that she ordered. "I gotta say this is probably the best cake and tea I've ever had! Homemade is definitely in!" She held a palm under her cheek as she was whisked away to bliss.

"Mmmm! Delicious!" Ochako said as she started to dig into her snacks while trying a different sip of tea with each bite. No matter which one she tried each was better than the next! It was a flawless combination.

Tsuyu watched her friends with an open mouth, slightly registering what was going on. "You two are so crude and gluttonous. Not very lady-like, at all." She stated before dodging some cream that was flicked her way.

"Shut up and just drink the tea." Ochako growled from under her food frenzy. She didn't forget about that slap as she glared at her friend.

'Eh, I'm more of a coffee person.' Tsuyu thought to herself, despite being the one who ordered, before picking up one of the tall glasses filled with iced tea. She thinks it was called Dragon Sweet Wine. It was actually pretty good; nice amount of caffeine and not overly sweet as the name would imply.

It still wasn't coffee but still really tasty.

"So how's everything?" Izuku came back to check on them, still smiling as sappy as ever.

"Really good!"

"The best!"

"9/10."

He kind of sweat dropped at the last comment from Tsuyu but just laughed it off.

Soon, after getting their tea, whether from watching the three enjoy their tea or because of the various type of tea that were being offered for all to see through the glass window, more customers had filled in. The place was already almost packed in only 15 minutes after their arrival. Thankfully, none of the other customers seemed to be too extravagant in their orders like the girls had been but that still left Izuku's hands full as he dashed back in forth, nearly tripping all the way. But even in his slight stress he didn't seem all that fazed as he continued to give all the customers the same respect he had given them, smiling every step of the way.

Then that was when it hit Tsuyu.

"Is anyone else working here?" She asked, bluntly, catching her friends off guard as they looked around to see. It took them a few frozen seconds to realize that she was right. Only Izuku was working the cash register and catering to the customers all by himself. Right now he was already tending to over 30 patrons of the tea shop.

When Izuku came by to check on them and refill one of the iced tea glasses, they decided to ask him about it.

"Izuku-kun, aren't there any others working here?" Ochako asked, feeling even more guilty when realizing that they were just adding more to his workload with their insane order. It was his job but that didn't mean they had to make it more difficult than necessary right?

Izuku just gave a light-hearted laugh in reply causing heat to rise up in her cheeks.

"Well, I'm not really alone." He rubs the back of his neck. "I mean, I do have Kacchan helping me. And that's more than enough for me."

"Kacchan?" They all perk up at the name and watch Izuku become nervous from their sudden interest. While Tsuyu was the only one to notice how Izuku said that name with a certain heartfelt tone, all of them were curious about the relationship the two had, each for their own reason. Mina loved to gossip, Ochako had a slight crush on him and Tsuyu for the most part couldn't really be bothered about it really, it was more of a 'I have nothing better going on' thing.

"Y-Yeah, Kacchan and I were looking for a place together and when we found this little tea shop that's when I knew we just had to buy it!" He scratched at his cheek with an index finger and looked shyly away, glancing at the girls.

"Is that your girlfriend?"

"Oh!" Izuku spoke up, his voice slightly higher pitch from his surprise. "Ah, no, no, no! He's not my girlfriend. He would probably kill me if he heard anyone say that, he's never had a good sense of humor." He laughed, and each girl found themselves sighing a breath of relief for some reason while Mina crossed her arms at a lack of juicy details.

Almost as if on queue, the sound of something smashing in the background shook them out of their conversation and they all turned in the direction of the sound, expecting a mess of spilled tea in the vicinity but the rest of the customers were just as oblivious as they were, looking around with wide eyes.

"Yo, you bastard!" An angry spiky haired ash-blond appeared from behind the counter. He slammed his palms on the counter surface, scaring the patrons who were nearest to him. The glare in his eyes intensified as he stared up at Izuku with what was presumed to be furrowed eyebrows, it was hard to tell from under his bandana.

"Stop chatting up the money and get back to work!" He roared making a few of the customers sneer at his rudeness. Noticing their looks he growled at them, his body temporarily set in flames, quickly turning them meek as they felt the demon towering over them.

"Oh, sorry, Kacchan!" Izuku called back with a slight giggle, the first thing he did was go up to the customers who had to deal with the man's outburst and fiercely apologizing in earnest while making sure to clean the tea that was spilled.

"That guy..."

"Was Kacchan?!"

"What a jerk."

When Izuku came back to tend to them, they asked him about Kacchan and if they were related, stating how they looked nothing alike.

"Oh, he's my childhood friend from my younger years. We've been through a lot, ya know..." Izuku gave out a light sigh and seemed to disappear into another time and place. It seemed like he was frozen in place but he quickly shook his head and continued chatting with the girls. "By the way, are you three from Yuuei Academy?"

"Oh, yea. Yeah, that's right, we're Yuuei girls!" Mina said proudly as if just remembering that little detail. Yuuei was one of the most prestigious of the schools around Tokyo and only the most elitist could attend, though the three of them roughly got by on scholarships. Though, Izuku didn't need to know that last part.

"I've always considered about going to Yuuei..." he started to say but then Ochako nearly jumped up in his face. "You can still apply! I'm sure if its you, you can definitely make it in!" Her face was beaming as she said every word with all of her might, turning beat red by the second. Her two friends added their own voice of approval, trying to encourage Izuku but then he raised an embarrassed hand.

"Oh, I'm so happy that you three have faith in me." He said, blushing and looking away. "But, I think it's silly for an old man to attend a private high school, isn't it?"

The three of them looked at him curiously, frozen at his choice of words. He was joking right? He barely looked 15.

"H-How old are you?" Ochako asked.

"I'm turning 21 in a few months," Izuku said and everything came crashing down on her. He was 5 years older than them! B-B-But he doesn't look the least bit old!

"Yeah, I can see where that would be a problem. But you can always go to Yuuei Tech." Tsuyu said, not flinching as she took another sip of tea. Ochako wanted to scream at her friend for being so nonchalant about it. Sometimes it irked her that Tsuyu was so passive at critical moments like these.

"How old's Kacchan?" Mina asked curiously, her antennae wiggling side to side. The guy looked at most in his late 20s. There was no way he was any younger right?

"He's just turned 23 a few days ago." Izuku chuckled to himself. "We had a little special birthday party and he went ballistic. He's very sensitive about things despite how he seems."

"Kinda makes sense considering that he's a childhood friend, I suppose. But then again, you'd think he'd be closer to your age range." Tsuyu pointed out but Izuku could only laugh at himself at the strangeness of it all. He and Kacchan were both strange people.

After some time passed, the patrons slowly left until only just the three girls and a few stragglers were left. They really enjoyed chatting with Izuku and the tea seemed to taste better when they took it slow and watched their surroundings.

Then, the door opened. It was opened like normal, nothing big or strange but it attracted the attention of all of the residents inside and they all looked towards the door with the bells chiming peacefully as ever, ignorant of the chill that suddenly filled the warm shop.

In the doorway there were half a dozen brooding men, all of varying sizes and shapes, wearing black suits with sharp fedora hats slanted over their eyes. One of the men was so large, in fact, that he had to duck down to enter the shop. On his back stuck out giant fleshy tentacle wings that had large gaping eyes at the spines, staring menacingly at everyone. He towered so high that he continued to duck despite now being inside the shop.

Everything went silent as the group trenched on slowly until Izuku approached them.

All of the girls wanted to scream at him to run away, to find a place to hide or something but their bodies were frozen where they stood. They wanted to just run up there, snatch Izuku under their arms and dash the hell out of there past the large group but they knew they couldn't. This was dangerous territory that would break the ice if they tread wrongly.

The one leading the group in front, a man with crimson red and spiky rock-like hair approached him with heavy steps that almost echoed throughout the entire shop. He slouched, almost kneeling in a strange slouching position, giving Izuku a sneer and tilting his head obnoxiously.

It seemed to be a standstill lasting forever with the man glaring at Izuku and Izuku looking almost fearfully back at the man, neither of them saying anything for a while. When it looked like Izuku was going to say something to tell the group to leave, Tsuyu and the girls wanted to jump in there and slap his mouth shut. Guys like that couldn't be reasoned with, they wanted to say.

But the red haired man beat him to the punch.

"Is aniki here?" He asked with a loud groan, almost sounding annoyed.

Izuku paused a bit, his mouth hanging open as if trying to get the words out but realizing that they were probably not appropriate and searched for newer ones to say. After an agonizing second, he returned a stern look back at the man and the girls, except for Tsuyu, ducked their heads under the table, not wanting to see Izuku be a hero.

"Eijirou, you know that Kacchan doesn't like to be called aniki." Izuku finally said with a shake of his head. The girls peeked their heads out with gaping maws, trying to figure out if they heard right.

"I'm sorry, Izuku-nii, it's just a bad habit, ya know?" The red haired named Eijirou scratched his rough hair while apologizing. One of the men from behind him, a blond with a lightning shaped streak, smacked him from behind his head, "You should show Izuku-kun more respect." He scoffed.

"Oh yeah? Wanna fight about it you bastard?!" Eijirou turned and shouted, jumping at the other man with raised fists. The two of them rolled to the floor in a heap of flying fists and feet.

"Hey, hey, Eijirou-nii, Denki-nii, stop fighting. This is a public establishment, ya know. We're just here to pay our respects to our nii-sans." The large man from before said in a kind voice that greatly contrasted with his winged tentacle form, speaking even more strangely from out of a mouth that was at the end of one of his tentacles.

The lanky man with slicked down black hair walked over to Izuku and gave him a humble bow, "Please, Izuku, a seat for 7." The man gave him another bow before letting Izuku guide him and their group to their seats.

The girls felt their jaws drop to the floor. What reality was this and how'd they get here? The gangsters were being overly polite with Izuku like they knew each other for a long time even referring to him with strange honorifics. There was no way that innocent Izuku was ever involved with the yakuza, right?

"Yo, who's causing the ruckus?" Izuku's childhood friend, the man with the bandana, walked out from the counter, holding a cooking towel strapped over his shoulders. He sneered angrily at the group in front of him. "What the fuck are you guys doing here?" His crude words and how he presented himself quickly reminded the girls of his character and they briefly wondered if he was an ex-yakuza. Looking back at him, they couldn't grasp the concept of ex- immediately brushing aside the idea of him ever leaving.

"Nice seeing you, too, Katsuki." A short stump of a boyish man popped out from the crowd and said in mockery, waving his legs back and forth when he took a seat. He quickly found a fist slamming down into his skull before he was set ablaze.

"Kacchan! Don't maim the customers!" Izuku cried, holding out his palms. He quickly retreated to get a towel to smack the flames off of the tiny man.

"Stop spoiling them, Deku, or they'll never learn." Katsuki frowned as he scanned his eyes over the group. "They're trash anyway, not customers."

"That's why you're the boss, aniki!" Eijirou cheered, pumping a fist into the air. Ochako came to the conclusion that the red haired man was a masochist. Or an idiot. Possibly a combination of the two.

"Anyway, this is your grand opening, aint it?" The tiny man from before coughed out pitifully after Izuku finished smacking most of the flames away. A single flicker was still dancing on top of his round sticky hair. It became silent with the other man ignoring him. Then, he snickered. "We wanna order everything." That was the second time he was set on fire.

Closing time came and the girls left, thanking Izuku a million times for his wonderful service and also apologizing for their rudeness which he easily brushed off, only asking them if they could come again, saying he'd enjoy their company.

"Still, I couldn't believe Izuku-kun knew those thugs." Mina said with a shiver. "They were so scary looking!"

"Maybe he used to be a yakuza, too." Tsuyu suggested.

The other girls hushed her, bringing their fingers over her mouth. "There's no way that Izuku is a gangster! If anything it was Katsuki-san who was the gangster. His gang probably just followed him everywhere he went, including when he and Izuku-kun hung out." The two reasoned. Tsuyu just shrugged, finding no fault in their words.

"Oh no!" Ochako suddenly jumped up. "I forgot my cellphone!"

"You probably left it at the tea shop."

"Let's go get it!"

The three of them quickly ran back, hoping that the shop wasn't closed yet and smiled when they saw the lighting was still on. They ran to the window and saw Izuku in the background as he was clearing the tables and wiping them clean. They were going to bang on the window to ask him to let them in when out of nowhere Katsuki appeared like a crazed murderous demon from some horror flick. The girls became silent.

The ashen blond slowly stalked towards the ignorant Izuku as he continued whistling to himself as he cleaned, smiling all the way with closed blissful eyes. When he was within pouncing distance of Izuku, he stretched his arms out to block any escape routes. A darkness covered his eyes and his mouth was curved in a tiresome crazed frown. The girls were about to scream at Izuku to get away but it was too late! When he turned around he quickly found himself forced onto the table with both wrists pinned. All of the expensive tableware fell to the ground, shattering. Izuku looked up fearfully at Katsuki who was glaring him down and then...

Katsuki leaned down and kissed him!

Izuku blushed madly but didn't fight back the kiss. Eventually he was going far as deepening it also, returning the gesture in full fold.

The girls froze and broke like shattered glass before they turned multiple shades of crimson. They all slid to the floor and laid their backs against the wall under the window. Ochako was opening and shutting her mouth repeatedly from between her friends. No words were coming out until finally she shook her head.

"I don't think I need my cellphone anytime soon. I can get it back tomorrow, right?" She smiled but her red face belied what she was actually thinking.

Her friends nodded in understanding as they got up to walk back home together.