Izuku clocked into his second day of work at seven-thirty to find he was the only one there. That's weird. I thought Bakugo would be here by now. Tokoyami wasn't there either. Or Kaminari. Are we closed or something?

He walked over to the registers and saw no one punched in their codes yet. Both of the touch screens were still on the main menu.

After ten minutes of straightening out shirts, re-stacking the pop figures in order of character name, and even using the Keurig in the backroom to make a coffee, he was still alone.

Where is everyone? He wondered. They had a sale today, and he still hadn't worked a register yet. At least, not one of Hot Topic's. He flushed when he saw people already lined up on the other side of the metal window, waiting for the store to open.

He'd just started working. He didn't have anyone's numbers yet. There's gotta be a contact list...

Izuku started snooping in the drawers and cabinets behind the register. Finally, he found the schedule binder. Kaminari has his phone number listed, but no one else's was in there. Izuku winced when he saw the shift schedule for that day.

Tokoyami scheduled himself off and Jiro was still away at Warp Tour. That left him, Kaminari, and Bakugo.

At the very back of the book, he saw everyone's clock-in information. I'm not in the system yet, so I don't have a POS code. But they are. In one register he programmed in Bakugo's passcode and in the other he punched in Kaminari's. Then he opened the drawers of both, counting the money and opening them for business.

Next, he grabbed the coupon book for that day. Their sale was buy-one-get-one half-off Graphic T's and forty percent off autumn merch. They were trying to make room for the summer clothes they'd be getting next week.

Izuku used his cell to call Kaminari, but he didn't pick up. His heart pounded when he realized they'd have to open in five minutes.

He couldn't leave the store to ask for help, he was the only one there. He didn't know Bakugo's number and Kaminari wasn't answering. He'd ask Tokoyami to come in but his contact information wasn't listed either. Not even an email address.

Izuku took a deep breath and gazed determinedly at the metal door. "I can do this," he mumbled to himself as he grabbed the hidden key and unlocked the store.

~.~

"Where the hell is my car?!" Bakugo growled on the phone. He'd paid extra to have his car delivered to his address from the auto shop once they finished installing the new hubcaps.

"The repairs are taking longer than expected."

"Why?!"

"You lost more than just your hubcaps," the guy said. "It's a good thing you weren't pulled over for anything. You're also missing your catalytic converter."

Bakugo growled. "My...what?"

"It filters out harmful emissions like carbon monoxide. It's illegal to drive without one. If a cop caught you driving without a catalytic converter they would've fined you almost three hundred bucks."

Bakugo glared at the curb, where his car was supposed to be. "How did you know it was gone?"

The mechanic laughed. "I'm surprised you didn't notice sooner. When you start this baby up she roars like a lawnmower and accelerates like a spooked cat."

His mind briefly flickered to Izuku. Nerd knows cars. Maybe I should've...he snarled before he could finish the thought. "How much longer is it gonna be? I was supposed to be at work an hour ago!"

"If I were you, I'd take the bus."

Bakugo hung up, annoyed before installing the uber app. Izuku should be fine. Kaminari's with him. They'll be able to handle the store until I get there.

~.~

Izuku had a pile of plastic tags at his feet that spilled out from the drawer they ordinarily kept them in. But for the past hour, he'd been able to use both registers so he could tackle multiple transactions at once. He was lucky in the fact most of his customers saw he was working alone and went easy on him. If the register froze and he had to restart it, they were understanding. When the printer ran out of receipt paper, they waited for him to write one by hand.

"What if I want to return my dress?" A woman asked, raising an eyebrow at the handwritten note. "There's no barcode on this."

"Not a problem! Just bring that in and I can punch in the numbers manually."

After each transaction, he made a quick note in his journal of each transaction and their totals.

He'd gotten into a zone by the time someone showed up.

Bakugo came in with an irritated look on his face. But he was handsome as usual, looking fine in a black skull T-shirt, his explosion-shaped ear cuffs, and form-fitting black jeans.

"The hell?" he asked, sliding behind the registers and sweeping the sensor tags into a box. "Where's that idiot Kaminari?"

"I don't know," Izuku said in a rush as he scanned price tags. "I've tried calling him a few times but his phone just goes straight to voicemail."

"Dammit. Then it's probably dead." Bakugo gawked at him darting between both registers. "You're using two at the same time?"

"It was the only way to keep the line moving," Izuku explained.

"But...you're not in the system, how did you even - "

" - I found your passcode and punched it in. By the way, according to the POS system, you've completed forty transactions. Kaminari's done twenty-eight."

"Huh?! YOU HACKED THE REGISTERS?!"

Izuku had time to shoot a glare at him even as he bagged several shirts. "What else was I supposed to do?!"

"Do you know how illegal that is?!"

Izuku flushed. "It's illegal?"

Bakugo snarled. "Whatever. Just...move." He moved to stand in front of "his" register and picked up where Izuku left off with a guy's purchase. "Why didn't you call anyone else?"

"Kaminari's cell is the only one I could find in the binder." Izuku flushed with annoyance. Why am I the only one getting yelled at? "What about you? Where have you been? You were supposed to be here two hours ago!"

Bakugo growled, aggressively scanning price tags. "My car's still in the shop getting repaired. I didn't have a way to get here!"

Oh crap. He was probably getting his hubcaps replaced. "When did you drop off your car?"Izuku asked curiously.

Bakugo raised an eyebrow. "Last night. Why?"

Izuku made a face. "Then it shouldn't be taking this long. Hubcaps are easy. Fifteen minutes tops."

The irritated blonde averted his gaze. "Apparently it wasn't just the hubcaps. They said some converting thing was missing too."

"Catalytic converter?" Izuku asked with wide eyes.

Bakugo's anger melted. "Yeah."

Izuku gasped. "You're lucky. If a policeman found you driving without - "

" - Yeah, I got that," Bakugo snapped. "it would've sucked."

Izuku pursed his mouth. "I had a feeling, but I didn't wanna say anything."

Bakugo blinked, baffled. "How did you know?"

He scoffed. "How did you not know? On the drive back to work your acceleration kept spazzing out. And the noise it made - "

" - Yeah, that's the same thing that the..." he cut himself off with a snarl. "Why would someone lift a converter-whatever anyway?"

Izuku spoke in a rush. "A cat has a lot of valuable metals on the interior that can be sold as scrap metal. Platinum, palladium, rhodium...and it's easy to steal if you know where it is. Other than tailgates, wheels, and hubcaps they're the most common part thieves jack from your car."

Bakugo froze for a moment. "How do you know so much about cars?" he asked softly.

Izuku flushed. For once he's using a tone that isn't angry. "A couple of years ago, the Acura broke down. My mom got really scared. After that, I taught myself everything I could so I'd know how to fix it if it ever happened again."

The two of them fell into a comfortable silence as they got through transactions. Then the rush finally started to slow down. At noon, everyone went up to the food court for lunch. Izuku wiped his brow, out of breath. The cash-wrap area looked like a tornado blew through it, but they'd done it. Just the two of them.

Izuku flinched as he felt a gentle shove on his shoulder, pushing him out onto the sales floor.

"Clock out for a break," Bakugo ordered gruffly. "I can take it from here until you get back."

He blushed. "Oh. Okay." When he grabbed for the cup ramen he'd set aside, however, Bakugo narrowed his brows at it like it was a bug.

"That's all you brought?" He asked.

Izuku shrugged. "What's wrong with cup noodles?"

Bakugo grumbled under his breath as he dug for something in his pockets. When it emerged, he held a folded twenty between his pointer and middle fingers. "Grab something from the food court."

The green-haired boy frowned at it. "I won't be able to pay you back for a while, so I - "

" - You don't need to pay me back," Bakugo insisted.

Izuku still hesitated. He wasn't exactly used to hand-outs. Maybe twenty bucks doesn't mean much to him, but to me... "I'm alright with my - "

" - You saved my ass," Bakugo admitted, locking eyes with Izuku. "I don't like owing people, so just take it."

He gasped with surprise. Is it really possible? That I...I did something right? He gawked at the money, stunned.

"What's the problem?"

Izuku swallowed, taking a step away. "Take it out of what I owe you for your hubs and cat. It's my fault they got stolen."

Bakugo visibly winced. "No, it's not. I should've listened to you."

Izuku blushed red. He wasn't expecting that. "Then take it out of what you paid for breakfast yesterday."

Bakugo frowned. "I don't want you to pay me back for that, either."

"Why not?"

He turned his head away. "I just don't! Okay?! I don't care. So get some real food."

Izuku's heart raced. In the heat of the moment, he didn't compute that he'd been side by side with his three-year-old crush. But now that he had time for a breather, the reality of the situation finally hit him. Not only did he brush elbows with Bakugo, working alongside him as if he had been their whole lives, but Bakugo was talking to him. In a gentle, concerned voice. He'd never heard him use that voice with anyone else. Izuku stared at his hand. Roman numerals were tattooed on his middle finger. Everything from the wrist up was tattooed with soft-petaled white roses that weaved up his arm. He never knew Bakugo had a soft side. Is he acting like this because he's taking pity on me? Or could it be because…

Izuku reached out his hand and placed it on top of Bakugo's.

Bakugo turned his head to look at Izuku, shocked.

He's so warm, Izuku thought as a flush rose to his face. Izuku's skin looked paler than his. Bakugo clearly spent more time outside than he did. There was a sunkissed glow to his hand. His arm. His…

Well, everything.

Bakugo's grip on the twenty-dollar bill loosened. Izuku grabbed it and reluctantly pulled his hand away.

He turned to clock out.

"Izuku."

His heart pounded so hard he heard it in his ears. That's the first time I've ever heard him call me by my name. "Yes?" he asked breathlessly.

Bakugo absently rubbed his thumb over the place Izuku's fingers had rested on his hand. "Thank you."