Chapter Text
Kirishima was finding it really, really hard not to whistle teasingly at Bakugou from across the restaurant. But hey, it wasn't his fault Bakugou looked so hot in the black, skin tight jeans and t-shirt tucked neatly into them that Sero's family had him wear as his busser uniform. Even with the stained apron tied around his waist, his figure was enticing, and Kirishima couldn't stop looking. The only thing keeping him from actually whistling were the few customers left at the tail end of the lunch rush still mulling around before they'd inevitably saunter out, bellies full.
But he could still look. Bakugou was his boyfriend after all—and no, he didn't care how much teasing he was enduring from his friends at the table around him. He was more than used to it by now and had long since grown immune to it.
When Bakugou was finally sent on break, Kirishima was, of course, more than happy to move over and make room for his boyfriend in the booth next to him. He even hooked an arm around the other's neck with a cheerful, "Hey, Bakubabe."
Bakugou leaned into him easily with a mildly tired sigh. "Hey," he muttered. "Don't you losers have anything better to do than bug me at work all the time?"
"D'you want us to leave?" Kirishima asked jokingly, which, typically, earned a halfhearted glare.
"Leave and I'll kill you," Bakugou grumbled.
With a laugh, Kirishima said, "S'okay, I can't exactly get out of the booth with you there now, anyway."
"Sooo, how's the new bike?" Mina piped up, leaning into the table with her hand resting casually on the shake—strawberry, appropriately—she'd been sipping at.
"Dude, yeah," Kaminari said. "You haven't even let us see it yet."
"It's fucking awesome," Bakugou said with a grin beginning to form on his face. "Even though my fuckin' dad wouldn't let me drive it to work."
"Why not?" Kirishima asked.
"He's all paranoid that something might be wrong with it so he's taking it to a mechanic first or whatever 'to make sure'." Bakugou punctuated the sentence with an eyeroll. "And since he paid for it, my mom wouldn't budge in trying to convince him to just fucking let me. Figures," he sighed.
"Isn't it... brand new?" Jirou asked.
"Yup. That's the stupidest part about it."
"...didn't you say your dad's friend got into an accident, though? He's probably just making sure you're safe," Kirishima reasoned.
"Yeah, but he didn't get into the accident because of a malfunction. It was some other idiot driver's incompetence," Bakugou mumbled, picking absently at his nails, dirtied from work.
"You can't really blame him for being protective, though," Mina murmured. "I think I would be, too."
The others nodded, but Bakugou merely brushed them off with a scoff and then changed the subject. "So what have you losers been doing all day, anyway?"
That was all it took to kick them of into typical exchange about their lives. Almost immediately Kaminari slumped over onto the table and mumbled about how tired he always was because of his job at some warehouse near downtown, but it wasn't without him reminding them how much he genuinely liked his job despite his exhaustion, which led to Jirou incredulously rolling her eyes at him.
On another hand, Kirishima was pretty damn sure Mina could and would talk about her internship with the marine wildlife preservation facility she'd been working with full time since the second they got out of high school. She was learning so much she was more than eager to share about wildlife in the oceans and the environment as a whole. She'd even encourage them to do certain things to help the environment, and while at some instances it could be slightly irritating, Kirishima couldn't help but be proud of how passionate his friend was about something and more than he'd seen her be before—even dancing, which was admittedly pretty impressive.
Jirou, while she didn't have an 'actual job,' per se, was working harder than ever on music. It was something she'd dabbled in a bit throughout high school but never had the time to focus on the way she wanted, so naturally she was taking advantage of her abundance of free time over the summer for it. Even though it took nearly a month of prodding and convincing by all of her friends (even Bakugou) and parents, she eventually started putting a few of her songs online. Kirishima wasn't surprised in the slightest when she was already pretty popular, even after only putting a handful of songs out there. She was set to head to college in autumn to continue her musical pursuit.
Sero remained in his parents' restaurant, learning the ropes of the business under their capable wings (and, essentially working as Bakugou's boss, much to Bakugou's irritation). He'd always been passionate about the place and proud of what his parents practically built from the ground up, so the fact that he was inheriting the place left him no less than ecstatic.
As for Kirishima himself, while he was working on college applications and waiting for acceptance letters, he worked on skateboard commissions. What with his art and the slight help of Bakugou, he was gaining new followers on Instagram all the time (that he, of course, continued to use to send stupid memes to his boyfriend on a daily basis, regardless of whether the other was sitting right beside him). When one request for a board came in, they seemed to almost flood toward him and, with finishing about a board a week, even he was making a fairly steady income despite the fact that he, like Jirou, didn't have a conventional job.
That left Bakugou, who'd been working in Sero's restaurant as a table busser and dealing with unloading shipments of supplies since the summer began. His motorcycle class lasted just under a month and as soon as he was given his license, his dad upheld his promise in taking him to buy a brand new bike he'd only actually acquired a few days ago.
Naturally, he promised Kirishima to take him for a ride as soon as they got the chance. Kirishima'd never been on a motorcycle, let alone all that near to one or even on one, and because it was something Bakugou was ridiculously passionate about there was no way he wasn't going to see for himself why that was. It gave him butterflies when he thought about it, but Bakugou was the person he trusted more than anyone in the world, so they were more out of excitement than fear or anything else.
"Yo, guys," Sero said from little more than halfway across the restaurant, interrupting their conversation.
"Hey, man," Kaminari greeted immediately, doing as Kirishima had earlier and moving over to make room for their friend. "How's the whole management thing going?"
"'S a lot to learn," Sero said, plopping down into the booth beside his friend. "But it's really fun."
"Hmph. Only you would be excited about being a manager," Jirou deadpanned, though not without a smirk.
"Hey, this is my calling!" Sero defended proudly. "And I think I'm pretty good at it anyway."
"Oh?" Mina asked teasingly. Her amber eyes turned straight to Bakugou. "Is he?"
"Why ask me?" grumbled Bakugou, shrinking slightly in his seat.
"'Cause you're brutally honest, obviously," Jirou said.
"No I'm not," he was quick to defend with an immediate crinkle in his brow.
"Yeah you are, babe," Kirishima told him. The remark earned a glare, of course, but he continued, "And that's somethin' I like about you."
"Aren't you guys past the honeymoon phase?" Mina asked.
"What, I'm not allowed to compliment my boyfriend?"
Mina's response was nothing but a quipped snort, but even still there was a slight sparkle in her eye that Kirishima didn't miss.
"Seriously though, man. D'you think I'm a good manager?" Sero was asking Bakugou. "Be honest. I won't get mad or anything."
"...why you gotta single me out?" Bakugou said, keeping his eyes anywhere but on Sero. "There are like twelve other employees you can ask."
"'Cause you're not just an employee, you're my friend."
Bakugou clicked his tongue. "You're fine, I guess," he mumbled. "But you're too damn cheerful."
"Are you sure it's not just you being too irritated all the time?" Kaminari joked.
"Shut up, Pikachu."
"Cheerful how?" Sero asked.
"I don't fucking know! Stop smiling like a fucking clown all the time. It freaks people out."
"Shoot." Sero scratched at the back of his head almost quizzically, thoughtfully. "I was just trying to be friendly, ya know? Keep up the mood. You think I've been overdoing it?"
A nod went around the group despite the fact that his question had been directed at Bakugou. The nods were hesitant, fearful that he'd take it too hard, but it only made him sit up and square his shoulders a bit, declaring that he'd work on it.
"Hanta, Bakugou, break's up!" came a semi-shrill voice from the direction of the kitchen door. Six heads swiveled around to see Sero's mom poking her head out of the doorway. "Stop dawdling!"
"Aye aye, cap'n! See ya guys later," Sero said before he stood up. After the group said their goodbyes, he headed back in the kitchen's direction.
"She's worse than my own damn mother," Bakugou grumbled, sitting up himself.
"That's impressive," Kirishima said.
"You're fuckin' telling me."
"Hey, you comin' over tonight?"
"Obviously."
"'Kay. See ya, Katsuki."
"Later, Dumb Hair," Bakugou mumbled. Before he slid out of the booth, he planted a firm kiss on Kirishima's lips that, as usual, left Kirishima grinning unconsciously. "Later, losers," he said to the rest of them before grabbing the bucket on the next table over, tossing a towel over his shoulder, and following Sero's path to the kitchen. Of course, Kirishima watched him the entire way until he was out of sight.