Chapter Text
TAMAKI AMAJIKI was dead last when it came to advice, much less relationship advice. So he really had no idea why Red Riot, the social butterfly he is, was turning to him for advice in his love life.
"I mean, he's gotta like me, right?" The redhead pondered while slamming a robber into the concrete of the sidewalk, "We've been sharing a bed since mid-second year and we kissed!" He exclaimed and grunted, judo-flipping an accomplice over his shoulder, "He wouldn't do that for no reason, right? Denki, sure, Sero, sure, but Kats?"
Tamaki sighed, pinning several criminals with the tentacles he'd grown. "So kissing your friends is a common thing?"
"I—" he paused, slapping a pair of anti-quirk cuffs onto a criminal. "It's...every other occasion — but that's not the point! It's never been Kats!"
Tamaki hummed, he didn't know the blond besides the fact that his dad was a great designer and he had a temper that matched his mother's. "You could ask him? Or just confess that your feelings are beyond what friends feel for each other,"
A criminal struggled to scoff. "Trouble in paradise?"
"Trouble staying off your mom," Kirishima said, tossing the criminal over his shoulder after slapping a pair of quirk-canceling cuffs on tighter than recommended. "I just don't want to lose what we have if he doesn't feel the same," he sighed.
"You should talk to Nejire or Mirio. They're better than me at this stuff," Tamaki gently recommends. "I know you're not as close to them, but I think it's better to talk to them because they don't speak to Katsuki,"
Kirishima hummed. "I appreciate the advice man, thanks a lot!" he grinned, shark-like teeth managing to come off as friendly.
They returned to their original patrol route after securing the handoff of the bandits to the authorities. The rest of their day was relatively uneventful aside from accumulating positive press. They were occasionally separated for one on one interviews which happened after dealing with the robbers. "Suneater! I'm Misa with Heroes Nutrition, what do you eat in a day that contributes to your high capture success rates?"
Tamaki wilted under the attention of the magazine journalist. "I...um, I eat lots of ika somen or ikayaki...y-yeah," the journalist nodded to encourage him to continue. "I-I keep...a balanced diet to maintain my, uh, my health, but I don't really eat meats whenever I'm off duty,"
The journalist tilted her head with an unwavering smile on her face. "How does eating squid contribute to your success rates?"
"It's harder to break bones in my limbs since squids don't have any bones...and it's kinda hard to dodge tentacles," he chuckled awkwardly. Tamaki continued to answer the questions to the best of his abilities while keeping an eye on Kirishima.
A woman sitting a few seats to the right of Shindo scoffed at the hero on the TV. "I don't understand why he's a Pro, he can barely speak a sentence so I doubt he can fight crime,"
A younger girl sitting beside the woman sighed out a heavy, "Mom," but it only seemed to encourage the woman further.
"Not to mention seeing him is like spotting a Yeti! He comes out once every blue moon and leaves just to come back when people start forgetting about him again," the woman shook her head as the daughter pinched the bridge of her nose.
The daughter glanced over at her mother. "He's an underground hero, he's not supposed to be seen unless it gets that bad," Shindo nodded to himself in agreement.
"Well, why is he out now then?" And they got their answer as the journalist asked her the next question.
"You're not typically seen doing patrols around the city, is there any special occasion?"
Tamaki hesitated before yielding to the question. "Over the past six months there has been a thorough investigation of a suspected mass violation of human rights, and the culprit was assumed to have connections in my prior jurisdiction. That's all I'm allowed to reveal at the moment," he nodded slightly with an awkward smile that made Shindo's chest tighten for some odd reason. Good thing he was at the doctor's office.
Before the mother-daughter pair could continue their argument he was called to the back. He was led to the open-door facility and greeted by his trainer, doctor, and quirk researcher.
His quirk had been unstable recently and for reasons unknown to himself. No one had been harmed in his usage of it, but the uncertainty of his quirk performance has affected his performance. They started with a normal physical exam and connected him to an altered seismometer.
"Whenever you're ready," his physical trainer signaled. The machine surged slightly. "Level two,"
"Fuck...again," Shindo grunted. He waited until he was given the go-ahead and forced another surge.
"That's an eight," the researcher, Izumi, relayed.
The cycle repeated with inconsistent trials before his physical trainer, Ayaka this time, requested a break. "Any feedback?"
Ayaka shook her head. "Nothing about your physiology is out of the ordinary and your routines are still the same," she sighed, "have you changed your diet any?"
It was Shindo's turn to shake his head. "No, I still eat what I usually eat," he threw down the towel in his hand, "this doesn't make any fucking sense,"
"We'll do another round of trials, take some DNA for cross reference, and have you train for consistency until we have solid results, hm?" Izumi declared, back from the medical center's break room.
Shindo glanced up at him and grunted. "I won't be benched in the meantime, right?"
Izumi grimaced slightly. "Sadly, you will unless you plan on fighting crime without the use of your quirk or while wearing quirk dampeners," Shindo let out a loud, long, and obnoxious groan and stood to get the trials over with.
Tamaki winced at Nejire's loud whining. "I-I'm not in the mood, Nejire,"
"It's Hado to you, mister," she pouted, "but you haven't gone out with us in months because of that human trafficking case you were working on! Now that you've only got some loose strings to tie up what's a drink or two to catch up?" she spoke hopefully.
Tamaki hasn't even made it home from the agency yet. He was tired and loud music and technicolor lights weren't the most appealing thing to his sore ribs and jellied arm muscles. "Hado, as much as I do miss you guys, I'm exhausted...tomorrow?"
"The bar is super exclusive and not even a twenty-minute walk from your place and they play jazz! You love jazz!" she chirped. The tone was insistent enough that Tamaki did not correct her on the fact that he did not have a love for jazz.
"Fine. Two hours is all you'll get out of me," he relented.
Nejire squealed. "Mirio is going to be so fucking thrown I got you out!"
The faintest bit of heat rose to his cheeks at the name. His half-hearted confession made at the end of their third year burned hot and bright in his memory. Half-hearted in the sense of never expecting anything more than rejection. It was short and sweet and Mirio's response was gentle and—as Kirishima would put it—manly. Even if the encounter was four years ago, the embarrassment seared hot as if had happened just hours ago.
"Should I change? Is there a dress code?" Tamaki changed the topic of conversation.
Nejire shook her head. "Come as you are!"
The bar/lounge was a little over a block away from his house which was incredibly convenient for him. It was a discreet entrance and quite literally underground. Tamaki went to grab for his ID, but the bouncer stopped him and waved him through after Nejire who had simply walked through.
Tamaki frowned as he glanced back at the entrance. "Do they not ID here?" he asked Nejire as she made her way to an empty booth.
"The bouncers have to memorize all the of age charting heroes of Japan and they ID anyone else with a Hero License," she hummed just over the soft R&B music playing throughout the lounge.
As Tamaki's anxiety began to dissipate, he took notice of his surroundings. The club was decorated with darker colors like various shades of browns, purples, and blacks. The lighting was warm and dim with the brightest lights being above and around the bar. As he calmed further he realized the vegetative decor, mainly consisting of vines and the occasional budding flower, were moving.
When he finally settled into the new environment with the help of Nejire's chattering Mirio showed up and slid into their booth. "Togata!" Nejire cooed, reaching for him across the table with grabby hands.
"Mirio-san," Tamaki greeted softly with a nod.
Mirio frowned. "We've been friends for so long that not calling me by just my given name is disrespectful at this point," he pouted, nose upturned.
"Sorry, Mirio," Tamaki apologized sheepishly. Mirio waved it off and reached to ruffle Tamaki's hair, which he leaned in to allow him to do. "I'll get drinks," Tamaki volunteered. "Have your orders changed since I've been gone?"
Mirio and Nejire shook their heads simultaneously, but Nejire perked up before he left with, "But ask for sugar around the rim this time!" a Mai Tai with sugar around the rim...fitting, he thought to himself.
Shindo entered the club with a nod of acknowledgment to the bouncer, Yuri. He perched at his usual spot about a third of the way down the bar and ordered his usual, a Negroni. He doubts the initial bitterness of the drink would even out his equally bitter mood, but he'd be damned if he didn't at least try.
"Rough day?" Ren, the bar tender, asked as he passed over his drink.
Shindo lifted his glass in a wordless thanks. "And many more to come," he muttered. Ren chuckled as he wiped down the bar. "I'm glad you find my misery amusing," Shindo hummed, glancing up at one of the screens playing a traditional game of hockey.
"Aw, don't say that! Maybe you'll get lucky with someone tonight and take your mind off things," Ren shrugged with his suggestion.
Shindo huffed. "Sure, but getting lucky isn't the issue," he glared at Ren's disbelieving eyebrow raise, "fuck you—my quirk's been on the fritz. I spent the last two days running tests," he sighed.
Ren held up a hand and nodded over Shindo's shoulder. A familiar voice, Suneater's voice, ordered drinks for three people. "Alright man, what name is it under?"
Without much thought, Shindo's gaze flicked between Tamaki's and Ren's before saying, "Put it under my name,"
Ren smirked and shook his head as Tamaki's eyes widened. "Oh, you-you don't have to that," he sputtered out.
"I wanted to," Shindo shrugged, "I'm Shindo Yo,"
Tamaki floundered for his ability to speak. "Amajiki Tamaki," he managed to spit out with hot cheeks. "Thank you, I'll pay you back," he promised, looking down at his hands.
"Pay me back with a conversation, yeah?" Shindo smiled charmingly. "Take a seat and stay a while," he offered up the empty seat beside him, "at least until your friend's drinks get here," Ren caught his gaze as he zipped by and winked.
Tamaki accepted the offered seat. A suede purple stool. "Wh-what are you having," he asked.
Shindo looked down at his drink. "A Negroni," he made eye contact with Tamaki, "do you want a taste?"
Tamaki shook his head. "I can't, you're already paying me and my friend's' drinks; I'll just order...order my own if I want to taste it,"
Shindo huffed. "Nonsense, here," he said as he raised the glass. Tamaki raised his hand to reject to drink but stopped in the motion as Shindo lifted the cup to his lips. Tamaki was confused and not quite sure what Shindo drinking his own drink has to do with him tasting it until Shindo tilted his head and kissed him.
It was bittersweet, the drink.
Tamaki was hardly aware of that fact though. The kiss was unexpected but not entirely unwelcome. Shindo was handsome and very charming in the public eye, but behind doors closed to the media he was cold and only focused on his physical and quirk improvement. He knew this only because Nejire had a task from The Commission with him roughly three years ago and complained about how closed off he was.
Shindo's cold hands caressing his jaw removed him from his internal background check. As they parted, he resisted the anxious urge to glance back at his booth.
"So?"
Tamaki blinked. Then he blinked again. "It's...bittersweet," he said softly.
"A perfect palette," Shindo grinned against his lips. "Reminds me of someone," he said with a suggestive glance. The bartender placed Tamaki's drinks on the bar as they fully separated.