What's Your Name Mouse?

coffee shop au ideas

bakudeku

What day was it again? Tuesday? Midoriya pulls his phone from his pocket and brings it up closer to his face. He blinks once, twice, his eyes trying to focus on the date and time information the screen was trying to give him. 'Thursday?!' He groans and pockets the phone. University was kicking his ass this semester and things were getting so bad that there were days he couldn't keep track of what was going on. Frankly, he wasn't even sure how he's managed to turn assignments in on time. The bags under his eyes, had bags under those bags.

The line in front of him moves, so he steps forward along with the growing crowd like a factory assembly line part awaiting their turn. He'd just finished his last class of the day and all he wanted was a nice cup of iced coffee to keep him awake long enough to make it home. Another step forward, with four more customers ahead of him. Ugh, this line feels like it's dragging today. Or is it just him? He sways on feet before catching himself. It was criminal how much studying his teachers were requiring, because he knew he wasn't alone. Half of the class falls asleep during lectures!

Midoriya zones out while watching the baristas behind the counter scurry around working on orders. The set up was similar to most coffee shops, with each employee tasked with a specific focus in order to make the process smoother. Like an assembly line. If it works, it works he guesses, why rock the boat. The cashier taking the orders, calls each one out. Hot brews. Cold brews. Toppings. There was one person making the snack orders, while another kept the ingredients stocked. So many parts to one order, it made a lot of sense to treat it like a factory. The days of a simple cream and sugar coffee transformed into a mocha, salted caramel latte, with extra foam, a dash of vanilla cream, with a croissant to go.

"I'd like a grande Iced caramel macchiato with a double shot of espresso please…"

After placing his order, Midoriya moves to the side to wait. Just a few minutes to make the order, a 10-minute walk to the train station, and a 15-minute commute to his apartment. If he catches the right train on time, he'll be walking through the front door long before the next hour rears its head. He was still living at home to save on dorm fees, which he didn't really mind since his mom didn't bother him much. Plus, the homecooked meals were a bonus. Get home, toss his school bag, and pass out, that was his plan, with a couple hour nap to recharge, then hit the books again. Tonight, would be a rare night that he didn't need to pull an all-night study session, but with three writing intensive classes, if he didn't try to stay ahead, it was easy to fall behind. Yup, he'd shot himself in the foot when he'd signed up for classes this semester. 'Next year I need to pay more attention to the course descriptions!'

"Izuku?"

He takes the cup from the employee. Mmmm, liquid caffeine! Midoriya turns to leave as he raises the straw to his lips, his eyes rolling back at the sheer delight of the sweet dark-golden nectar about to blast his veins with a rush of...

WHAM!

As Midoriya collides with a solid surface, the plastic cup crushes in his hand, popping the top, and sends the contents bursting upward at a slightly angled trajectory towards the object. No! No! No! This wasn't happening! His coffee! What the hell?! About half of the cup had emptied out and now covered his hands, the tops of his shoes, and…

"Oi! You stupid Kermit the frog nerd!"

Midoriya's dead eyes track upwards from his devastated drink to the taller man in front of him, focus shifting to the source of the angry tone, the solid surface, wearing a newly decorated coffee shirt. The frown curving along his lips dip further south. The solid surface turned out to be the chest of a man a foot taller than him.

"Are you listening to me?!" the man asks again.

But Midoriya isn't hearing a word. He was too irritated, too tired, a zombie only focused on primal instincts, and the current one being his damn coffee! This blonde-haired man who looked his age, maybe a fellow student, was glaring, but he didn't care. It was the guy's own fault for being too damn close as far as he was concerned. "You spilled my drink," is all Midoriya responds with in a monotone.

"What!" the man explodes. "You walked into me and spilled your coffee all over my shirt you little piece of!"

"Shhh," Midoriya places a finger on the man's lips, effectively halting the rage, "coffee now, talk later."

The man was absolutely shocked by the brazen and emotionless response. No one had ever shushed him before! What was up with this lanky guy who looked like death walking? He was pissed, but at the same time intrigued that a mouse of a man would stand up to him like this. An adorable mouse at that. "Tch!" the man slaps Midoriya's hand away and stomps off to wait in line.

By this point an employee had come over with a wet mop to clean the floor and a rag that Midoriya uses to wipe off his hands and shoes. He notices the cashier hand the man a rag as well, which he uses to wipe off as much of the coffee as he can. The man points in his direction. He can't hear what they are saying, but the cashier nods and grabs two cups to write the orders on. That's right, he'd told the guy he wanted a coffee…. Wait, a minute…. Midoriya's eyes burst open from a sudden rush of adrenaline. He'd spilled coffee on the man and shushed him! 'what the hell was I thinking!' Nothing apparently, his brain was officially fried.

A panic sets in and Midoriya looks around. Should he sneak away now and find a corner to curl up into a ball? But he couldn't, the man was watching him from the cash register through narrowed, glaring eyes as if he was planning a murder. 'Oh no,' he cringes, 'I'm dead meat!' He wanted to die of embarrassment. Of all the people he could have spilled his coffee on, it had to be a cute guy too. 'As if I'd ever have a chance.' Well not after what he just pulled.

When the man walks back towards him, every muscle in Midoriya's legs vibrate as the nerves pinged messages of flight through his brain. Yet he couldn't budge. It was as if his feet had been glued to the floor by the sugar residue left by the coffee concoction. Once the man is within reaching distance, Midoriya cringes in anticipation of being rightfully sucker punched or something for what he'd done.

"Here."

But all the man does is hand him a new iced coffee.

"It's what the cashier said you ordered."

Huh?! Midoriya looks at the cup, then looks at the man, shaking his head frantically, "I'm so sorry!" he waves his hands at the drink, "I-I can't accept that, it was all my fault! I don't know what I was thinking. I wasn't paying attention. I shouldn't have…"

"Tch!" The man grabs one of Midoriya's hands and shoves the drink into it. "It's already paid for you idiot, just take the damn thing!"

"B-But why would you… wh-when I was the one wrong?"

"Oh, don't think you're off the hook," the man grins. "You're gonna replace my shirt." He throws an arm around Midoriya's shoulders, pulling him flush against his side, "right now."

"But I…" His plans to sleep! "I was gonna…" The adrenaline was fueling the resurgence of energy, but surely, it'll crash quickly enough.

"But nothin' mouse, we're going straight to the store where I bought this shirt from, and you better hope they still have it."

"What if they don't?"

"Tch. Then I'll be upgrading on your dime."

Midoriya groans internally. So, much for his afternoon nap. Let's just hope he doesn't pass out on this guy at some point and make things even more awkward.

"What's your name mouse?"

"I-Izuku Midoriya… and yours?"

"Katsuki Bakugou. Now let's get this over with!"

As Bakugou drags him out of the coffee shop, Midoriya can feel all the eyes leveled at them along with a few cocky smirks. He turns his face away from the crowd towards Bakugou's chest to avoid all the stares imagined or not, covering his face with his hand. This was so embarrassing to be dragged out of a coffee shop by another man who he didn't even know beyond 15 minutes ago! And why was Bakugou's arm still around his shoulder?! Was he afraid that he'd run? If he'd wanted to do that, he would have left before the coffee's had been made.

"Oi, you better not waste that drink, shit is expensive."

Ugh, coffee was the last thing on his mind now, but he also wanted to survive the rest of the day. Midoriya takes a long sip to placate the leering man. Outside, Bakugou steers them towards the parking lot. "So, um," with hesitation in his voice, "where are we going exactly?"

"My car's right there," Bakugou points to a green compact sedan in the distance, "Uniqlo is a few blocks away."

"Oh." That's perfect! The store isn't far, so this should be a quick shopping trip! Maybe it won't ruin his plans after all. What luck that this guy has a car, so they won't have to walk.

They throw their backpacks into the back seat, and Midoriya gets into the passenger side. Once both doors are closed, the man's scent in the compact space hits him like a ton of bricks. He couldn't tell what it was, strangely smoky or spicy, but pleasant. 'Stop it,' Midoriya scolds himself, 'you're being a weirdo!' He refocuses on the car itself, very neat and tidy, almost too clean for a typical college guy. Well, in comparison to him anyways, his room was a disaster area, and if he'd had a car it would probably look that way as well.

For the first block, they travel in silence until he hears Bakugou chuckle under his breath.

"What?" Midoriya questions.

"I just realized my car is almost the same color as your hair!" Saying it aloud, causes Bakugou's laughter to increase. "That's a weird coincidence."

"Y-Yeah," Midoriya laughs dryly. "Funny."

"Will you lighten up!" Bakugou back-hands Midoriya in the chest. "Geez, you need to loosen up. You act like I'm gonna bite or something."

"I don't know anything about you."

"Look I only bite…" Bakugou side eyes him with a grin, "if you want me to."

"What?!" Midoriya cringes against the doorframe. What the hell did that mean?!

Again, the overreaction from Midoriya sends Bakugou into a fit of laughter. "It is so much fun getting arise out of ya! You know I bet I could get something else to rise on you too."

Okay seriously, Midoriya was about two seconds away from jumping out of the car at the next red light. Is this guy flirting with him now? He was never good at figuring out if someone was flirting, teasing, or just being funny. Frankly, he's only had one other relationship and that had ended a couple of years ago before he'd started college. He didn't know how to handle these kinds of situations.

Unsure of what to say or how to react, Midoriya laughs awkwardly, shifting back to a normal position on the seat. He takes a long sip from his coffee cup and stares out of the window, praying that was the end of the conversation for now… and it was, thankfully. Two more blocks to go, if he remembered the location of the store.

As they get out and walk towards the store, Bakugou doesn't make any more awkward gestures, but simply goes straight towards the section he had originally found the shirt in. Midoriya follows behind, peering at other selections along the way. He hasn't shopped here in a while and had forgotten all the cool stuff they sometimes carried. Seeing a shirt from a show he enjoys, he stops to see if they have his size, in the meanwhile losing Bakugou amongst the racks. Yes, they have his size! Midoriya pulls it from the rack to take a better look at it, but when he sees the tag, he realizes he wouldn't have enough cash on him for two shirts today.

"Mouse?! Where the hell did you go?!"

Midoriya looks up just as Bakugou rounds one of the racks. He waves. "Here!"

"You got lucky, they have it in my size," Bakugou hands him the shirt. "Now pay up."

Yup, sure enough, a quick look at the tag confirms he'd be short. With a sad sigh, Midoriya puts the shirt he was looking at back on the rack and starts walking towards the cashier. When he notices Bakugou isn't following him, he stops, "are you coming?"

"Yeah, I'll be right there," the man responds, "just gonna look at one more thing."

"Okay."

After paying for the shirt, Midoriya hands Bakugou the bag that contained it. "Here you go."

"Sweet!" Bakugou proceeds to pull the shirt from the bag, yanks the tag off, and starts pulling off the shirt he was wearing.

"What are you doing?!" Midoriya panics, trying to yank the shirt back down without completely turning the color of a tomato. The mere glimpse of the abs this man was sporting was about to send his heart straight though his rib cage!

"What does it look like?!" Bakugou growls and pushes Midoriya's hands away. "I wanna get out of this coffee stained shirt!" He laughs as Midoriya's hands fly up to cover his face while he finishes yanking off his shirt, tossing it into the bag, and putting the new one on. Bakugou didn't care that it wasn't washed yet, because it was better than the sticky feel of the old one. He pulls Midoriya's hands down when he's done, laughing when he finds the man's eyes closed tight. "Oi, I'm done."

Midoriya peeks first before opening his eyes all the way. "G-great, c-can I go now?"

"Come on," Bakugou throws his arm around Midoriya's shoulder again, "I'll take ya home if ya want."

"I-It's okay, really. I live all the way by Musutafu..."

"Tch, small world! I live two apartments over."

Another groan rips through Midoriya's mind. Yeah, small world, lovely. Are all the stars trying to align or something?! He should be happy that this cute guy is trying so hard too, regardless, he was still too embarrassed by his behaviors to believe it could lead to anything more. But there was a flash of something in Bakugou's eyes that was making his knees buckle. "I guess so, if it's not too much trouble."

"It's not."

The whole car ride was heady and tense. Every few minutes he'd watch Bakugou through his periphery. So many things were running through Midoriya's mind about the things this man had said earlier. He couldn't tell what the man was thinking either because Bakugou had gone strangely silent, staring forward with a… it wasn't an angry look, maybe determined, no confused… he really wasn't sure. Maybe Bakugou was thinking about something too? It takes about 45 minutes to reach the apartment complex. Bakugou drops him off in front of the building. Midoriya mumbles a quick thanks and rushes away before the man can say anything to him…

A week later, Midoriya is standing in line once again at the coffee shop waiting to order. He was in great spirits that Friday afternoon, ready for the weekend to begin, when suddenly something bumps him from behind. Midoriya turns around. "Oh, h-hey Katsuki, funny running into you again here."

"We're in the same Uni mouse, it's bound to happen."

"R-Right," Midoriya rubs the back of his neck smiling nervously.

"Here," Bakugou thrusts a bag at Midoriya.

"What's… this…" he takes the bag tentatively. Looking inside, it's the shirt he was looking at in Uniqlo! Midoriya's eyes widen, "Wh-why, you didn't have to!"

"Just look at the tag," Bakugou mumbles while averting his gaze.

For the first time since he'd met the man, it was surprising to Midoriya to see Bakugou blushing! He lifts up the tag and sees a bunch of numbers scribbled on it. Was this?! He's about to have a heart attack. Midoriya deadpans at Bakugou. "Is this your phone number?!"

"You ran off before I could ask you for yours," Bakugou looks away, "but yeah, that's mine…. I was wondering if you're seeing anyone…"