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jazwritesalot · 1 year

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Shaken, Not Stirred - Chapter 1: Amaretto Sour

Pairing: Shinsou Hitoshi/Kaminari Denki, ShinKami Fandom: Boku no Hero Academia, My Hero Academia Rating: Teen & Up Audiences Total Word Count: 22,634 Tags: Aged Up Characters, AU - College/University, AU - No Quirks, AU - Coffee Shops & Cafes, Barista/Electrician/DJ Kaminari, Waiter/Bartender/Psych Student Shinsou, Bakusquad Shenanigans, brief one-sided KamiJirou, side KiriBaku, background EraserMic, background CamieJirou, comedy, alcohol consumption, drinking, house parties, bar scene, implications of depression, cat cafes

Link to AO3

Written for the ShinKami Big Bang 2020

Summary: Kaminari Denki is a jack of all trades, but a master of none. Juggling three jobs seems impossible at times, but he manages well. That is, until romance gets in the way. After a failed attempt to woo his long-time crush, he finds himself slipping into a downward spiral. With a not-so-gentle nudge from his roommates, he finds himself at the doors of Cool Beans Cat Cafe. What he finds beyond those doors may just be the push he needs to get better. The hot waiter is just an added bonus.

“For the love of God, can you please stop? You’re so freakin’ annoying! I’m only going to say this once, okay? I’m not interested in you, so back off.” The words replayed themselves in his mind nonstop since the moment she uttered them. It had been a little less than a month since the unfortunate accident that Midoriya had at Tape Deck, and Denki was sure it was going to work out in his favor. Sato had called him in a panic once he heard about the broken arm, asking if he would mind picking up some of Midoriya’s shifts for him. He jumped at the opportunity, figuring that spending more time at work with Jirou would give him plenty of opportunity to put the moves on her until he was able to work up the courage to ask her out. It was a total win-win. Or so he thought. It was one of the rare days where Sato left the shop early, so that left the store with Bakugou manning the kitchen, Denki the register, and Jirou finishing out her shift as the sole bicycle delivery driver. Clearly his attempts to woo her were in vain, for the moment the electricity-based pickup line left his lips, she whipped around, delivering the words in a harsh tone, eyes narrowed and face tinged red.

Things had been awkward between them since that day, unfortunately for him. There was the sting of rejection, sure, but he was hoping that they could at least go back to their normal friendship and banter. However, he was proved wrong again and again as she continued to ignore his very presence at work for the next week. He couldn’t really talk about what was going on with his coworkers since he was working pretty exclusively with Bakugou, who was as prickly as they came. Why his roommate had a crush on him, then proceeded to date him, Denki would never know. It got both better and worse when Midoriya returned earlier than expected; better since he had less shifts to fill in for, yet worse since he went back to working the lunch shifts, which put him back to working more closely with Jirou, who was still ignoring him. His heart just wasn’t into it, or anything, anymore, which was a tragedy really, since he did enjoy this job. Because of this, he found himself calling out more frequently, which he knew was kind of a dick move, but he just couldn’t help himself. He knew he needed to just be honest with Sato about what was going on. The man was very kind and surely would understand and fix the schedule for him. Unfortunately, the truth would have to wait another day. He picked his phone up off the arm of the couch, exiting out of the picture of the schedule he took and dialed the cafe.

“Sugar Rush. Sato speaking. How may I help you?” He could hear the ovens buzzing in the background and Uraraka’s laughter filling the air.

“Hey Sato, sorry for calling on such short notice, but I think I’ve come down with a stomach bug. I won’t be able to make it in today. Sorry,” he lied.

“That’s okay, Kaminari. I’ll get your shift covered. Feel better soon,” Sato assured in a warm tone before ending the call and Denki almost felt guilty about lying to him. With a heavy sigh, he placed the phone down on the coffee table and stretched out on the couch, his eyes roving the ceiling, looking for patterns in the uneven, flaking paint. He let his mind wander aimlessly as time crawled by slowly, ruminating in what he could have done differently to avoid this entire mess.

The sound of footsteps clambering down the stairs brought him out of his head and he blinked blearily. He wasn’t sure how much time had passed from his phone call to Sato and now, but he was pretty sure he dozed off a little bit. Kirishima rounded the corner, humming along to whatever song was playing on his phone, when he stopped short at the sight of Kaminari’s prone form.

“Dude, shouldn’t you be getting ready for work?” he asked as he popped a headphone out and looked at his phone. “Or well, weren’t you supposed to be at work like thirty minutes ago?”

“Sato called me off. I guess it’s just not been busy enough for me to be there,” he shrugged, sitting up to make room for Kirishima. He hated how easily the lies rolled off his tongue, but there really wasn’t anything he could do about it now.

“Man, that’s strange, since finals are coming up next week,” Kirishima mused before brushing it off and moving to stand in front of the mirror in the room to fiddle with his hair instead of joining him on the couch.

“You’re in a good mood. Have plans?” Denki asked, trying to keep up appearances as he slumped back down across the cushions.

“Yeah! Katsuki gets out of class soon, so we were going to have a lunch date before his shift tonight,” he smiled.

“Dressed like that? I’m sure Bakugou will love that,” he chuckled, hoping that it was believable enough to pass as he looked over Kirishima’s outfit. The guy was a fashion disaster in his black joggers paired with a white “suns out, guns out” tank layered underneath a short-sleeved navy blue button down with cartoon sharks patterned on it. If he decided to wear his crocs with that, Denki would yell at him, on principle alone.

“He doesn’t mind,” Kirishima laughed. “Better to be myself with him rather than who the media wants me to be,” he called out as he walked to the bathroom, returning with a tub of hair gel.

“That’s gotta be the only reason you are able to maintain such a low profile out in public despite your popularity.”

“That, and everyone still thinks I have black hair. Makes it really easy to go undetected when they’re looking for someone who doesn’t exist anymore,” he mused while spiking his hair. They existed in silence, save for Kirishima humming, while Denki watched him work, mulling over his words. What would it be like to be with someone who cares about you for who you are, not for what you are? The silence was short-lived, however, as Kirishima’s phone started buzzing incessantly against the table under the mirror. A grin lit up his face as he swiped his pinky across the screen, answering the call and putting it on speaker.

“Hey babe! I’m almost ready, just doing my hair.”

“Sorry Ei, but I’m going to have to take a rain check on our date,” Bakugou grumbled.

“Oh? Did something happen in class?” Denki felt like he shouldn’t be overhearing their conversation, but he was curious as to why Bakugou would cancel at the last minute. It wasn’t really like him. Instantly, the realization hit him, and he felt a ball of panic weighing down on him.

“Not class. Kaminari freakin’ called out again, so Sato called me in.” Denki was frozen in place, watching the realization hit Kirishima as his hands stilled in his hair. He faintly heard the fridge door close too, meaning Sero was also hearing this.

“He did?” Kirishima asked, wiping his hands on a damp towel he had also brought out from the bathroom, his eyebrow quirked as he looked at Denki, who couldn’t look away no matter how much his brain was screaming at him to run and hide.

“Something about a stomach bug, I guess. Now I gotta work a freakin’ double shift today on top of studying for finals. I swear to God, Dunce Face better actually be sick. I’m tired of covering his shifts.”

“I’ll hit him up and see how he’s doing. Anyway, when is your break? I can stop by then and we can have a mini date. How does that sound?”

“Sounds good to me. I’ll probably take my break once Deku gets here at three. I’m about to head in, so I will see you then. Bye.”

“Bye babe! See you then!” Denki was still sitting there, petrified, as Kirishima ended the call and turned to face him, arms crossed over his chest. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Sero leaning against the entryway to the kitchen eating an apple.

“I thought Sato called you off, Denks?” Kirishima asked.

“Did I say that? Whoops, my bad. I meant to say I called off,” Kaminari laughed nervously, rubbing at the back of his neck.

“Denki, when is the last time you went to work?” Concern was written all over Kirishima’s face.

“Last week. I think you were busy doing filming.”

“Filming finished three weeks ago, Kaminari,” Sero chimed in as he finished off his apple. How long had it been since he last worked at Sugar Rush? Two weeks? He couldn’t really remember. “Let me ask you this—have you worked any of your jobs recently?”

“What? Of course I have!” He had, hadn’t he? Sure, it had been probably two weeks since he worked at Sugar Rush. And maybe he had been neglecting the emails and texts from the local bars about putting on a show. He had at least answered the work phone for his electrician job... four weeks ago. Shit.

“Kami, I know Kirishima helped you out with your rent for this month. Don’t lie to us.” Denki bit his lip, averting his eyes from Kirishima’s worried gaze and settling on Sero’s face, which looked both disappointed and concerned. It’s not like he liked lying to them. It was just easier than the truth. Sero shifted and the kitchen light glinted off the metal through his nose, catching Denki’s attention.

“When did you get your septum pierced?” Kaminari asked both in genuine curiosity and in an attempt to change the conversation. How much had he missed?

“Like two weeks ago. But that’s not the point, Denki.”

“We’re just worried about you, man,” Kirishima said softly, sitting down next to him on the couch and clapping a hand on his shoulder. “You haven’t left the house in weeks.” Oh shit. They had noticed that?He hadn’t even realized how much time he had been spending around their house.

“That, and you haven’t even worked on any new mixes,” Sero added, collapsing into the spot on the other side of Kirishima. “I miss hearing the bizarre shit blaring from your room.”

“I guess I just really haven’t been feeling inspired lately,” Denki shrugs, leaning back against the cushions, head tilted back to stare at the cracks in the ceiling.

“Does this have anything to do with Jirou?” Kirishima asked quietly and Kaminari whipped his head to the right to stare at him.

“Wha? How did you?” he babbled. He couldn’t remember ever saying anything to either one of them about what went down between the two of them at work. He was also pretty sure he had done a decent job of keeping his emotions and reactions in check whenever she got mentioned at home.

“Katsuki may have mentioned something to me the last time I saw him,” Kirishima admitted sheepishly. That made sense, Denki supposed. Bakugou had been at Sugar Rush on that ill-fated day—he remembered hearing the low whistle coming from the kitchen before Jirou stomped off, leaving the shift early, much to the chagrin of both he and Bakugou. Having to tell customers that deliveries stopped early was never a fun thing to do.

“Jirou? What happened? I thought things were going good between you two?” Sero questioned as he turned to face him, his chin resting on Kirishima’s shoulder.

“I don’t know. I guess I just built it up in my head too much. I totally thought she was into me, you know, but I guess not. So it’s no big deal.” Denki moved his gaze away from the pair and blinked up at the ceiling again, trying to will the tears away.

“Not a big deal? Kaminari, you’ve got to be kidding me, right?” Sero asked, brow quirked. “You literally got caught lying to us about your work schedule by Kiri. Clearly something is not okay here.”

“It’s really nothing guys. You don’t have to worry about it.” He felt himself shrugging again, trying to give off vibes that he really was okay. He hated that they were worrying about him over something so stupid. It was just a crush—it would go away.

“Bullshit!” Kirishima snapped at him. Denki sat up and stared at him in shock as his jaw dropped. Out of the three of them, Kirishima was the one with the patience of a saint. If he was the one to snap at him, he must really be concerned. “We worry because we love you, bro. If something’s wrong, you’ve got to trust that we will be here to help you out.” Kirishima’s earnest gaze was the final tipping point for Denki; all of the tears and emotions that he had been holding back for weeks all came spilling out. Sobs wracked his body and Kirishima was quick to pull him into a bear hug, squishing him against his chest. Sero stood and moved to the arm of the beat up couch, sitting on it and rubbing Kaminari’s back soothingly as he let it all out, finally telling them about the interaction they had at work and what was said.

“It just… it hurts guys,” he hiccuped after getting the story out. “ And that’s the most confusing part. It shouldn’t hurt like this. There was never a guarantee that we would get together, so why in the world does it feel like my heart was ripped from my chest and stomped on repeatedly?”

“You really liked her—it’s that simple. You guys have a lot in common and when you talked, it seemed like you could see a future with her that was more than just the friendship you already had established,” Sero reasoned as he ran his fingers through Denki’s tangled hair. When was the last time he brushed it? He couldn’t quite remember.

“But doesn’t that just make me an idiot? I was asking for more than she was comfortable with,” he sniffled.

“Nah, I don’t think it makes you an idiot. Maybe you could have backed off before it got to the blowup, but there’s really nothing you can do about that now.” Kirishima’s chest vibrated with his words, which started to lull Kaminari into a sense of peaceful bliss.

“Besides, if you’re an idiot, what does it make this one here?” Sero asked, sticking his thumb in Kirishima’s direction. “He has us wingman for him and forgets to set an alarm to be here on time. What a loser,” he snickers.

“But clearly it worked out for the two of them,” Denki pouted, looking tilting his head to look up at Sero. “What about me though? I don’t know what I should do. Do I try talking to her?”

“I think the best thing you can do regarding her is to give her some space. If you try talking to her too soon, she may think you’re trying to hit on her again.” What Kirishima said made sense, but it still left a sour taste in Denki’s mouth. He hated when his friends were mad at him.

“You should try doing something to get your mind off her, off the situation. The longer you sit here in the house, the worse you will get. Maybe you should try picking up a shift at the cafe, just so you can get out of the house,” Sero suggested.

“And risk running into her? She’s been avoiding me like the plague. Not to mention Bakugou might actually try and kill me if I randomly show up to work one day,” Kaminari whined, sinking down until his head was resting in Kirishima’s lap.

“I’d make sure Katsuki wouldn’t kill you,” Eijirou assured him with a grin. “He may try and maim you a bit, but I wouldn’t let him kill you.”

“Gee thanks. That makes me feel so relieved,” Denki deadpanned, blinking up at him.

“Okay, if not the cafe, why not try calling around and seeing if there is any electrician work that can be done? There’s got to be at least one building that needs repairs of some sort.” As if the fates were listening to Sero, Denki’s phone started to ring, the annoyingly loud ringtone signaling that it was his work line and not his personal one. The three of them turned to stare at it, not quite believing the luck that was bestowed upon them.

“Dude, are you a wizard or something?” Kirishima asked.

“Kaminari, you better answer that or so help me God,” Sero threatened lightly and Denki scrambled to grab the phone from the table.

“Chargebolt Electric! Kaminari speaking. How may I help you?” The cheer in his voice sounded forced, even to him. But this was necessary. Just a step on the right path to getting better.

“Kaminari? Hello! I am so glad you called! My name is Yamada and I am a world of trouble like you wouldn’t even believe. I’m at work and my walk-in cooler unit just stopped working. Is there any way you can come and fix it? I’m desperate here,” he begged.

“I’m not quite as familiar with that piece of equipment as I would like to say I am. I’m not sure if I would be the best match for you,” he admitted with a sigh, shoulders drooping. He was actually kind of excited to get out of the house for once.

“I’ve called around and everywhere else has said that they have no experience working with it. And they all referred me to you, saying you are the best in town. Please, I’m begging you here. I will pay you triple your hourly rate. This is urgent.”

“Holy shit,” Kaminari wheezed under his breath. Triple his rate? Good god, he would be able to pay back Kirishima with that money. His gaze flickered to his roommates, who were both looking at him questioningly.

“Please say you will help me. I don’t know what else to do and I really need this to run my operations today.” The desperation was clear in his tone and Denki felt a pang of sympathy for him.

“Send me the address and I will be there as soon as I can,” Denki assured, already rolling himself off of Kirishima’s lap and rushing to his room.

“Thank you so much! You will not regret this at all! I will text you the address ASAP!” Yamada agreed before hanging up. He let the phone fall from his hand and bounce on the mattress while he yanked up a pair of jeans and switched from his nightshirt to one of his numerous band shirts that was littered all over the floor. Huh, maybe he should get around to cleaning his room?

“This will be good for you, Denks,” Sero called to him from his perch on the couch as he ran out of his room, hopping into his tennis shoes.

“I agree! And remember man, if you need us, let us know. It’s not like it’s hard to find either one of us,” Kirishima reminded him as he also was putting his shoes on.

“Says the man who was gone at least 4 days a week for filming. Also, your crocs are an offense to every god known to man, please burn them,” Kaminari teased while shrugging on his black and yellow hoodie, already feeling a little bit better. He grabbed his tool bag from the entryway and slung it over his shoulder. “Time to learn everything there is to know about walk-in coolers before I get there! See you fools later!” he called to them before he raced out the door.

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The journey to the destination wasn’t a long one, thankfully enough. It gave him just enough time to read up about the repairs he would need to do without letting his mind wander too much. Before he knew it, he was walking up the steps to Cool Beans feeling more refreshed than he had in weeks.

“Hello? Is anyone there?” he called out as he entered the cafe, closing the door softly behind him, mindful to not let any of the cats out. He was forever thankful that Yamada gave himthat heads up before he got there. He looked around the waiting area for signs of any human life. There was a low curse that came from somewhere to the right of him, beyond the doorway, and Kaminari wondered what that was about.

“Damnit, I swore I told Eri to lock the front door.” Denki looked over to where the grumbling was coming from and nearly choked. The man looked like he could belong on the cover of one of those alternative music magazines that Sero was subscribed to. The sleeves of his white button down t-shirt were rolled all the way up, revealing heavily tattooed arms. The front of the shirt was unbuttoned to reveal a black tank top that had what Denki could only guess was the logo for a metal band underneath. His vibrant purple hair was pulled back into a loose bun with wisps escaping and curling wildly around his face. And what a face it was—Denki could appreciate a man with piercings, he is friends with Sero, after all, and this man was no exception to that rule with the metal threaded through his lip, eyebrow, and bridge. What really captivated him, however, were his indigo eyes, which were lazily locked with his. This man could tell him to kiss his feet and Denki was pretty sure that he would in a heartbeat just from his hypnotic gaze alone.

“Welcome to Cool Beans. Unfortunately, we are temporarily closed right now,” the man said, his low voice bored which should not have sent a chill down Denki’s spine, but that required further introspection that he didn’t want to delve into at the moment. The man quirked his eyebrow up at him—was that two piercings??—and Denki realized he was still standing there staring at him like a fool.

“So I heard. The name’s Kaminari and I’m with Chargebolt Electric. I’m here to look at your walk-in,” he said as he jiggled his tool bag nervously. He was forever thankful that Sero combed his hair out during his earlier melt down as the hot stranger looked him over with a small smirk.

“An electrician, huh? Well, you look like death warmed over,” he grinned, scooping up the big white and black fluffy cat that had walked up and started rubbing against his legs, demanding attention, as Denki talked.

“You’re not looking so hot yourself, handsome,” Denki shot back as he took in the deep bags under the man’s eyes. A chuckle left the other as he lightly rocked the cat and gave it a small scratch under its chin and that was when he realized that he had accidentally used his flirty voice with cat-man. What was he doing ? “Forget I said that. Anyway, am I right in assuming that you aren’t Yamada?”

“You would be correct,” cat-man snorted. “The name’s Shinsou. Pops is the one who called you.” Shinsou squatted to let the cat go as it started wriggling around in his arms and dusted his legs off as he stood back up. “Follow me. I’m sure he’s still moving the product to the freezer so it won’t spoil.” It was all that Denki could do to not nod his head stupidly (or check him out discreetly) while following him, nor to scream loudly when a young girl came popping out of seemingly nowhere in a uniform similar to Shinsou’s, cradling a sandy-colored cat in her arms and speaking rapidly in a soft voice, the words too faint for Denki to pick up what she was saying. Shinsou ruffled her hair, chuckling at whatever she said and Denki was almost certain he had just heard the sound of angels. How was it fair for one man to be this hot? The small girl flitted away back toward the entrance of the shop after assuring that she would lock the doors this time and they finally reached the kitchen.

“Pops! The electrician is here!” Shinsou yelled out and there was a loud bang with an even louder curse following it before a man emerged from inside the freezer, rubbing the top of his head. His hair was tied up in a loose ponytail and Denki blinked at him before recognition set in.

“Wait—you’re Yamada? But don’t you work at Hands Up Radio?” he asked as he placed his toolbag on the ground. He knew his memory was a little fuzzy, but he swore he remembered being stuck in a conversation with this man for a good hour a couple months ago.

“Oh wait! You’re Chargebolt Electric? Welcome, Little Listener! It’s nice to work with you again!” he smiled, showing off his perfectly straight teeth.

“Wait a second, you know each other?” Shinsou questioned, grabbing the case of eggs from the counter to transfer them over to the freezer.

“Not closely, but I did some work at Hands Up a couple months ago for him. I guess I just didn’t make the connection that Yamada was also the radio host, Present Mic.”

“That’s right, Little Listener! Knowing that you’re the one doing the work here makes me feel better! And there’s no need to be so formal with me—feel free to call me Hizashi,” he said, giving Denki a hearty pat on the back. “Hitoshi, leave those on the counter. They just came from the market, so no need to chill them yet.” Shinsou shrugged and put the case of eggs back on the counter and grabbed another case of ingredients that Denki couldn’t identify from where he was at to put into the freezer.

“Sounds good, Hizashi!” Denki grinned. “Now, how about you show me where the problem is.” Hizashi perked up instantly, and he followed him into the walk-in, already sucked into the chatter coming from the older man. It had been quite a while since Denki had really gotten to flex his electrician muscles, so he was eager to get to work.

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The repairs didn’t take as long as Denki had anticipated they would—thank you, internet—and he was putting his tool away after only around an hour of repairs.

“Hey Hizashi, do you need any help getting your kitchen put back together?” Denki asked as he exited the walk-in. Instead of coming face to face with Hizashi, however, he ran face-first into Shinsou’s chest as he was leaving the freezer with a bucket of ice. Cubes sloshed out of the container around them, and Denki held his nose, which was throbbing from smacking it.

“Whoa, you okay there?” Shinsou asked, putting the bucket up on the counter and went to take Denki’s hands, but before he could, Denki squeaked and took a step back. He was already in the midst of a bi panic—he didn’t need Shinsou accidentally adding onto it by holding his hand (even if it was for medical purposes).

“Yeah! Of course ‘m fine! No need to freak out!” he flailed his hand, the other still over his nose. Shinsou just arched his eyebrow and shrugged it off before grabbing the ice bucket again.

“Suit yourself. I’ll let Pops know you’re done.” He walked out of the kitchen and Denki was this close to smacking himself on the forehead. What a way to be an idiot. He pulled his hand away from his nose and was thankful to see that his nose wasn’t bleeding, at least. What a story that would have been; “oh yeah, I got a bloody nose from smacking my face on a hot man’s rock-hard pecs. No big deal.” He could hear Kirishima and Sero laughing already.

“How’s my favorite electrician doing?” Hizashi asked, wiping his hand on a towel as he walked into the kitchen.

“Not bad! Thankfully it was a pretty easy fix and I didn’t have to go out and get any special parts. That really saved on some of the costs!” he laughed.

“Cost really isn’t a worry right now. I’d rather spend the money to get things fixed properly than go cheap and have it break down in a couple of days.”

“I still can’t wait to see how you explain this to Dad. He had been harping on you for weeks to make sure all of the appliances are up to par,” Shinsou snickered as he came back into the kitchen, putting the ice bucket up.

“Don’t you have a bar to be attending to, eh Hitoshi?” Hizashi said with a forced smile, eyebrow twitching.

“Oh, you’re right. Probably don’t want me spilling any more of your company secrets, huh?” he snarked back, before locking eyes with Denki. “The lighting has been going haywire recently. I wouldn’t be surprised if we saw you again soon.”

“Alright that’s it!" Hizashi laughed, playfully shooing Shinsou out of the kitchen. “Get back to work before I get Shouta to dock your pay for mentally tormenting me.” Shinsou’s cackling laughter reverberated throughout the kitchen, and Denki’s skull, as he left the room and went back into the cafe. “Sorry about him. He just can’t help being snarky. I am scared to see what he may teach Eri in the years to come. Anyway,” he smiled, “how much do I owe you?”

“Um, give me a second,” Denki awkwardly chuckled, typing away in the calculator on his phone. “Since there weren’t any parts that I had to order, I only have to charge you for my labor. Which is 15,000 yen an hour. I hope that’s not too crazy of an amount for you.”

“Are you kidding me? That’s practically a steal! You’re almost undercharging yourself. But, as I promised, I would pay you triple your hourly rate. Let me go get the money.” Denki’s jaw dropped—he thought that Hizashi was kidding about that. He disappeared and came back with the wad of yen and pushed it into Denki’s hands.

“This is too much, I swear. Can I help you with anything else? Like, do you need help putting the stuff back into the walk-in?”

“Well, I was going to have Shinsou or Eri help me, but if you’re offering, then sure, why not!” The two set off to move all of the produce and day’s meat into the walk-in. Between the two of them, the job was done in no time.

“Was there anything else you needed from me today?” Denki asked, looking at his phone for the time. It was only a little after 1300, which wasn’t bad at all. He just needed to make sure he avoided the path to Sugar Rush, lest Bakugou see him and try to kill him on sight.

“I don’t think so, but you must be hungry. Why don’t you stay for a while and have a meal on me? For all of your hard work.”

“Oh, I wouldn’t want to impose. Besides, I have food at home, so it’s no big deal,” Denki chuckled, rubbing the back of his head.

“Oh, but I insist. You have done an amazing job today,” he said, directing him to the bar area of the cafe. “How do you feel about cold soba?” he asked as Denki slid into a seat at the bar.

“It's nice! But really, you don’t have to worry about it. Or, at least, let me pay for it. I feel bad for taking a free meal.” It wasn’t like he didn’t have the cash to pay for a meal now, after all.

“Not a chance, Little Listener. Also, feel free to order whatever you want from the bar and Hitoshi will make it for you. And if you want to go spend time with the cats, let Eri know and she can set you up with some time with them,” Hizashi instructed before heading to the kitchen, leaving Denki alone with his thoughts and Shinsou.

“So, wanna take him up on his offer for a free drink? I’d like to say I’m pretty decent at mixing them,” Shinsou asked, throwing a towel over his shoulder.

“Hmmm, what about an Amaretto Sour? It’s been a while since I’ve had a good one,” Denki responded and Shinsou hummed before grabbing a glass and the bottles of Amaretto liqueur and sour mix. He found himself being mesmerized by watching Shinsou move, pouring the liqueur, sour mix, and a splash of Sprite into the shaker. A few shakes later and he was draining the liquid into a highball glass that had a couple of ice cubes in it. He garnished the drink with a cherry and slid it over to Denki with a satisfied smirk on his face.

“One Amaretto Sour. Shaken, not stirred,” he grinned while wiping down the counter.

“You’re such a dork, Haven’t heard a James Bond reference in a hot minute,” Denki snorted. A cute dork, not that he would say that to his face, though. The first sip of the drink was enough to ruin Denki for any other Amaretto Sour he could ever come across. How dare Shinsou say he’s only ‘decent’ at mixing drinks. “Dude—this is the best drink I’ve ever had. Do you like, go to school for bartending or something?”

“Ah, no. Nothing like that. I took some mixing classes since those were kind of required once we got the bar installed here, but otherwise I just learned by trial and error.” He didn’t look up as he spoke, too focused on cleaning the glasses he had just dirtied. “I actually am going to school for a degree in psychology, if you can believe that.”

“Well,” Denki started, eyeing Shinsou up and down, “I’ve known you for a total of maybe two hours, but I can say that that definitely tracks for you,” he announced confidently. “What I’m trying to figure out is why the cafe, though. Not that I’m really one to speak, since I also work at a cafe, but a cat cafe? What even made you interested in that?”

“The cafe? Oh, well my dads own Cool Beans. It’s somewhat a family affair, I guess you could say. My little sister, Eri, mans the front counter, Pops and Dad switch off on running the kitchen, and I have the wonderful pleasure of being the barista, bartender, and waiter. It can be a bitch and a half to get everything done on a busy day, but it’s not all that bad. Especially when we can take a break and just chill with the cats.”

“How is it working with cats?” Denki asked while nursing his drink. “I’ve never had a pet before, so the idea of having many little bodies working around you seems so cool to me.”

“It can be somewhat challenging, since they can mask when they don’t feel well. But the group of cats we have here right now are all super friendly. Some don’t get along well with one another, but there’s plenty of room for them to get their space and destress. Besides, we are all cat people here, so we all know how to read their body language to know what they need.” His back was to Denki as he reshelved the bottles but Denki could just picture the small smile that was crossing his face as he talked about the cats.

“You sound like you really know your stuff. So, do the cats just get free rein over the cafe? Or are they only allowed in one area?”

“Well, they used to be able to roam around the dining area and the front lobby, but we had an incident a couple months back where we had a customer harassing the cats because he had too much to drink. Since then, we had to section off a room that is for the cats specifically and people can reserve times to go in and play with them. We have one cat, who is actually our family cat, that is a recurring escape artist. So, we always have to keep an eye on him.” He rubbed the back of his neck as he spoke, and while nodding along to what Shinsou was saying, Denki found himself being distracted by the intricate butterflies that wrapped around his forearm.

“That’s some really nice linework you’ve got there. Where do you get your tattoos done at?” Denki blurted out before he could stop himself. Shinsou blinked at him, looked at his arms, then back to Denki.

“Uh, I got these done at Tentacole’s. I came across Shoji’s portfolio and really liked his work. Awase, who also works there, was the one who did my piercings,” he admitted with a small blush on his face and Denki was pretty certain that talking about himself made him uncomfortable.

“Oh! That’s sick! My roommate got some of his tattoos done there. He and Shoji were good pals back in high school, so Shoji hooks him up. I thought the art style looked familiar. Say, you said you’re studying psychology. What school do you go to?” he asked as he finished off his drink, a small thrum of energy running through his veins.

“What is this, twenty questions?” Shinsou laughed. “I study at University of Akihabara. Why? You study there too?”

“Nah, I went to Isamu Technical School. That’s where I became a certified electrician. But one of my roommates goes to UA. Well, he does the online program route since his work schedule keeps him pretty busy.” That was the understatement of the century, not that Shinsou needed to know. “I also have some coworkers that go there. Heard a lot of good things. Maybe one day I will go back and get a degree in English. That seems like fun.”

“Don’t let Pops hear you—he’s a substitute teacher for English classes. He can, and will, talk your ear off about English literature for hours,” Shinsou grimaced and Denki laughed.

“Oh I can only imagine. The last time I did work for him, he talked my ear off for hours about different aspects of radio broadcasting. It was interesting stuff though. Definitely worth being late to my other job.”

“It’s not nice to talk about others when they aren’t there to defend themselves,” Hizashi chided, appearing from the kitchen with a bowl of cold soba and Denki’s stomach growled loudly. Guess it had been a while since he last ate, huh? As he dug in, he listened to Shinsou and Hizashi playfully banter and Denki made a mental note to come visit this place again, not only for the amazing food and drinks, and cats, but also to get to know the mysteriously hot waiter a little more. He could sense a friendship—and crush, who was he kidding?—budding and he would be damned if he passed this up. He just needed an excuse to stop by again. Oh well, he was sure he would think of something.

#jaz writes #kaminari denki #shinsou hitoshi #shinkami #boku no hero academia #my hero academia #long fic #chapter 1 #shaken not stirred #On the Rocks #also on ao3 and twitter #shinkami big bang 2020

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