Behind the Seams [Chapter 6]

“I’m so glad we have a few days in one place!” Ochako sighed with relief, kneeling on the sofa to watch the hotel carpark roll into view. “Don’t get me wrong, I’m having a blast, but I’m so keen to just get in a real bed and sleep uninterrupted.”

“We still have events to do,” Aizawa reminded her, glancing over at Tenya and the clipboard hugged to his chest.

“But not until Wednesday!” she objected.

“Granted, but I don’t want you all making bad decisions and not being able to perform later in the week.”

“We won’t!” she assured him. “But I had so much fun sightseeing yesterday, we can at least do that again, right?”

“Yes, as long as you don’t go alone and we know where you’re going.”

“Easy! I can’t wait!”

“We have tomorrow off to rest, then the photoshoot on Wednesday,” Tenya spoke up, reading from his schedule even though they all knew he had it memorised. “That will start at around ten a.m. and run for most of the day. Thursday you have some more free time to get plenty of rest before the show Friday and another bus trip straight after.”

“Heaps of time,” Tsuyu grinned. “Lots of rest and fun!”

“Can we order room service?” Denki asked, bouncing in his seat as the bus pulled to a stop. “Is there a pool? It looks like a hotel that would have a pool!”

“Yes, there is a pool,” Tenya confirmed. “And a gym, too. More importantly, we need to decide the sleeping arrangements since we have a few rooms to split between.”

“Sensibly,” Aizawa added pointedly. “I don’t want to hear about any disturbances.”

“We knooooow,” Denki whined. “We already promised no fucking on tour!”

“Denki,” Tenya protested. “Language.”

“No one here minds!”

Tenya just sighed, resigned, and looked down at his clipboard again, finding comfort in the paperwork.

“We have two suites next to each other,” he continued finally. “Yagi and Aizawa have their own rooms on the next floor down.”

“No parents! Woo!”

“Denki, please,” Tenya sighed. “The largest room has both a king-sized bed and a single in it, then we have another king, two sets of two singles, and some pull-out couches. Ochako and Tsuyu have said they’re happy to share a king, is that still the case?”

“Of course!” Ochako assured him. “We have no qualms about personal space.”

“Then I recommend Kyouka takes the single with them, and Ashido can have the other king bed in her own room.”

“I’ll share with Blasty,” Mina offered, glancing over at Katsuki, who nodded faintly. “We’ve done worse things than share a bed.”

“You’re making it sound worse,” Katsuki sighed. “We’re not screwing, don’t get the wrong idea.”

“You don’t have to,” Deku spoke up. “You could have a room with two singles, if you want? We don’t mind using one of the couches!”

“It’s fine,” Katsuki assured him, beating down the part of his brain that wanted to suggest Deku share with him instead. “The math works, this way.”

“So Deku and I will take one room, and Denki and Shouto the other?” Tenya suggested. “I don’t mind sleeping on a couch, though, if Ashido or Bakugou would like some privacy.”

“We’re good,” Mina grinned, slinging an arm around Katsuki’s shoulders and ignoring his little grunt of protest. “He’s my bestie, we share rooms a lot!”

“We’re not wimps,” Katsuki shrugged. “You don’t need to tiptoe around us and shit.”

The hotel doors swung open, and Katsuki looked up to see two people in hotel uniforms heading toward the back of the bus, All Might leading the way. Tenya hurried down the steps to meet them, and All Might handed over a stack of room keys, waving for everyone else to come join them, too.

Katsuki grabbed his small suitcase and followed the little procession of idols, nodding faintly when the hotel staff bowed and greeted them all way too politely. Tenya was already handing out keys to everyone, letting them hurry off toward the fancy hotel doors, but Katsuki hung back, watching All Might unload suitcases from the back of the bus.

“That’s all the blue tags,” All Might said knowingly, when he saw Katsuki standing there. “Do you want anything else out at the moment, Young Bakugou?”

“No, that’s all. Uh, thank you.”

“Would you like me to take this one?” one of the staff members offered, gesturing toward the smaller suitcase at Katsuki’s feet.

“Oh, no, that’s okay. I’ll take it.”

“Of course, Sir.”

Together they wheeled the cart of suitcases toward the hotel, and Katsuki watched for a minute longer while All Might closed up the bus, blushing when All Might smiled widely at him.

“It looked like you were working hard on the ride here,” he prompted. “How are you doing? Not too stressed?”

“No, I’m fine. I’ve got heaps of time still.”

“You’re a very talented young man, I’m very impressed by all your work so far.”

“Oh. Thank you.” Katsuki cringed at his own awkwardness, but All Might didn’t even seem to notice. “I’d better head inside and find my room. Are you coming too?”

“You go ahead, I’ll be in shortly.”

With a last nod, Katsuki picked up his bag, following the others’ path indoors. Tenya and Deku were waiting in the lobby still, perched on a comfy-looking couch, just chatting quietly together. Katsuki was still a little surprised every time he saw them hanging out, with how sweet and cute Deku was and how strict and picky Tenya was, but apparently they’d been best friends for half their lives, so he could hardly begrudge them their weirdo nerd friendship.

“Hi Kacchan!” Deku beamed, as soon as Katsuki got close enough. “You and Ashido are gonna be sharing a suite with me and Tenya!”

He glanced around briefly, making sure no one was listening in, then leaned in to whisper in Katsuki’s ear.

“They told everyone no room service, but Tenya is the one who checks the bills, so I bet I can talk him into it.”

“Sounds good,” Katsuki chuckled, unable to resist a little smile at Deku’s glee. “You just gonna sit around here all day?”

“Had to give you your key!” Deku explained, holding up the little swipe card. “And All Might his.”

“You two go ahead,” Tenya offered. “I’ll wait for Yagi then meet you up there.”

“Are you sure?”

“Of course. Go get settled in.”

“Thanks, Tenya! See you soon!”

Deku chattered the whole way up to the top floor, and Katsuki could only listen fondly, barely taking in a word but enjoying everything about the nerd’s enthusiasm. God, he was so fucking whipped for the guy, his friends back home wouldn’t have even recognised him.

“Ta-da!” Deku declared, as he pushed open the door to the suite. “Isn’t it fancy?!”

For once, Deku was actually right – not just being overly positive. The room was beautiful, all shining wood floors and huge windows that looked out over a big balcony. Through one door he glimpsed two neatly-made beds, both untouched as of yet, and from across the hall he heard the rustling of Mina setting up her things for the week.

“There you are,” she grinned, when the two of them appeared in her doorway. “This place is huge!”

“Tenya said it was cheaper to get two big fancy suites than to get enough individual rooms for all of us, I guess sometimes it’s good to travel with a lot of people!”

In addition to a frankly huge bed, the room had a comfy-looking recliner, and a little desk that was surprisingly clear of clutter. Usually when Katsuki stayed in hotels, the surfaces came covered in hotel information and notepads and whatever other nonsense the hotel wanted to push on you – it was always his first job in a room, finding empty drawers to shove a bunch of random shit in. This one, though, had a clean glass top with only a lamp and a phone to impede any of his workspace.

“It’s all yours,” Mina said knowingly. “You can get your little setup going.”

Katsuki wanted to object, wanted to find an excuse to hang around Deku longer instead, but he really did need to get his sewing machine back out and make sure he was ready to get some work done. He was still ahead of schedule on all his creations, but he wanted to stay that way, he didn’t want to get caught by surprise and end up unable to finish on time.

When he glanced over, Deku was already excusing himself with a smile, picking up his hand-delivered suitcase from the pile in the hallway and heading over to the other bedroom to settle in. Katsuki had missed his chance, and he mentally kicked himself for it.

With a soft sigh he sat down at the desk, setting to work on getting all his sewing gear unpacked and set up just the way he liked it. Mina watched for a minute, when she’d finished hanging her clothes, then moved silently to his side to help – taking out stacks of neatly-folded fabric and setting them out on one end of the desk. He nodded his gratitude, but Mina didn’t bother to acknowledge it – they’d known each other far too long to worry about formalities like words.

“I’m gonna go talk to Aizawa,” he mumbled, when everything was laid out and his seemingly endless to-do list was taped to the glass to keep track. “Back later.”

“Take care, Boomy. I’ve got my phone on if you need anything.”

Katsuki checked his pockets briefly on his way out, making sure his phone and wallet were still present, then he was heading down a flight of stairs, hunting down the number Deku had babbled out at some point in their trip up the elevator.

Aizawa seemed surprised to see him, when he opened the door, and it took Katsuki a moment to find his voice – there was something so weird about it all, he wasn’t even entirely sure if he was meant to be asking a question or making a statement or somewhere in between.

“I want to take a look at some prospective locations for the shoot,” he explained finally. “I was thinking about doing it tonight, but I figured I shouldn’t just wander off without giving you a heads up. It’ll only take me a couple of hours, I’ll be back by dinner time.”

“Okay,” Aizawa nodded. “I’d appreciate if you took someone with you, though, so you’re not just out alone in the city while we have no clue where you are.”

“Sure,” Katsuki agreed – it wouldn’t be hard to convince Mina to join him, after all. “You have my phone number, if you need anything, right?”

“I do. The same goes for you, please call me if anything goes wrong or you need anything.”

“I will. Thanks.”

With an awkward nod, Katsuki took his leave again, and Mina’s eyebrows rose when she saw him return.

“I’m gonna go scout locations,” he explained. “Aizawa doesn’t want me to go alone, though, in case I get lost or whatever. You up for a few hours out?”

Mina rolled her eyes, not even dignifying him with an answer, and he scowled at the attitude.

“This is your chance to ask Izuku,” she explained, in a hushed voice. “Why would you ask me?”

“Oh.”

“Go have fun, grab dinner or something, spend some time hanging out together, without the rest of us interrupting.”

“You think?”

“Dude.”

“Okay, okay.”

He paused for a second, leaning against the doorway, and Mina just waited knowingly.

“Am I an idiot for trying?” he asked. “Like, I should probably just stop bothering, right?”

“Who are you and what have you done with my boom-boy?” she laughed, walking over just to pinch his cheek playfully. “You doubting yourself all of a sudden? What happened to ‘I’m a hot piece of ass and can get anyone I want’ or whatever it is you usually spout?”

“Shut up, you know what I mean.”

Mina smiled softly, freeing him when he swatted at her hand, and Katsuki felt his face burn when he saw the expression she wore.

“Go have fun, Katsuki,” she said quietly. “No matter what happens in the future, you deserve to at least spend time with him and be happy while it lasts.”

“Gross,” Katsuki grumbled, shoving her lightly. “You’re so cheesy.”

“Love you too.”

He rolled his eyes, ignoring it in favour of marching himself across the little hallway to knock on an open door.

“Kacchan!” Deku said brightly, grinning at him like they hadn’t seen each other in weeks. “Is everything okay?”

“I was thinking about doing some scouting,” Katsuki mumbled, strangely nervous. “We have a bunch of potential spots for the shoot, I wanted to narrow them down a bit.”

“Oh, that sounds cool!”

“Aizawa thinks I should take another person with me, so uh, I thought maybe you’d wanna go? It’d be cool to... you know, hang out, and get your thoughts on some spots.”

“Me? Really?” Deku asked, wide-eyed. “Yeah! That sounds fun!”

He hurried to his suitcase, humming as he contemplated what to wear on their excursion, and Katsuki could only watch on with a fondness sitting in his chest, unable to resist a soft smile at Deku’s back. Everything about the man was just so sweet and so oddly amusing; Katsuki felt like he’d been dragged, unsuspecting, into Deku’s orbit, and he was left with no hope of escape, even if he wanted to.

“Okay!” Deku said brightly, when he’d changed into a clean t-shirt and grabbed his favourite jacket. “I’m so excited! Where are we going?”

“I want to do five locations total, for the five outfits you guys have worn so far,” Katsuki explained, as they headed back down to the lobby. “I’m pretty sure the castle will be one, it’s pretty iconic and there are these big gardens where we can definitely find a good spot. And it would be silly to not do one at Dotonbori, I think. So we need to pick three other spots that would be good. I haven’t really thought about where to go first or anything.”

“Do you have a list?”

Katsuki nodded, pulling it up on his phone and handing it over, and Deku’s eyes lit up as he read it over, vibrating in his excitement.

“I read about a bunch of these!” he exclaimed, an adorable bounce in his step as they walked through the lobby. “This is so exciting!”

“Which one do you want to do first?” Katsuki asked, surprisingly happy to hand over the reins – that sure didn’t happen often. “Is there one you really want to visit?”

“Well... I know it’s cheesy, but I love ferris wheels.”

“Cool, we can do that.”

He pulled up directions on his phone, struggling to contain his smile at the excitement immediately washing over Deku, and soon they were sitting side by side on a train, Deku’s warm thigh pressed against Katsuki’s. It made him jiggle, with the way Deku’s leg never stopped moving, his heel tapping rapidly against the floor, but somehow Katsuki didn’t even mind it.

Mina would never let that go if she found out.

─

“Okay, turn a little more to your left,” Deku instructed, grinning when Katsuki rolled his eyes. “Yeah, just like that! And point like you’ve just seen something exciting! There, that light looks pretty! Now smiiiiile!”

Katsuki just raised an eyebrow at him, refusing to dignify it with an answer, and Deku snapped the photo anyway – he’d gotten used to that, after a few attempts. Truth be told, Katsuki didn’t really mind being in front of a camera; he’d been looking forward to taking some cute pictures of Deku, but the sheer enthusiasm with which Deku had begged to be the photographer for once had been pretty convincing.

“You look so good,” Deku whined. “How do you make it look so easy?”

“Practice?” Katsuki shrugged, looking off down the little alleyway and hearing the telltale sound of the camera shutter again. “People coming, hold off.”

Deku stepped back obediently, letting the little group of teenagers walk past, sharing hushed whispers and glances at them that filled Katsuki’s stomach with dread. They’d gotten off easy so far, with Deku not getting recognised in the streets, but it seemed like his luck was finally running out.

Deku watched the people go for a minute longer than Katsuki expected, and he wondered if Deku had noticed the whispers too, if he was considering offering them a hug or an autograph. He didn’t want to share his Deku Time with some random extras, but he could hardly begrudge them a quick meeting – he would have done the same, after all.

As soon as the people were out of sight, Deku hurried to Katsuki’s side, giggling as he leaned in so close that his breath tickled Katsuki’s ear.

“Did you hear that?” he asked

“Hear what?” Katsuki asked warily.

“They were talking about how handsome you are!” Deku continued to giggle, only growing louder when Katsuki’s face flushed. “Did you not hear?”

“They were probably talking about you, you damn nerd. You’re the celebrity here.”

“Nuh-uh!” Deku objected, shaking his head and making his curls bounce in the process. “They were talking about your hair and your eyes and your arms, definitely not me!”

“Whatever,” Katsuki huffed, looking away in a hurry to hide how increasingly red he was becoming. “You done taking photos?”

“Nope! Can we do one down there?”

He pointed to the mouth of the alley, where people steadily filed past but rarely came toward them, and Katsuki nodded faintly as he stood up.

“Sure,” he agreed. “But this time you’re taking it with me.”

He snatched the phone from Deku’s hand, dragging him by the sleeve to get in position, and Deku just grinned as he obeyed, letting Katsuki position him in the middle of the alley. Together in the frame they looked surprisingly good, Katsuki thought, and he wondered if other people would think the same, not that he’d ever show them.

“Cheeeese!” Deku grinned, tilting his head in and holding up his hand. “Kacchan!”

Katsuki took a minute to catch on, blushing again when he realised, but Deku just waited patiently, letting Katsuki awkwardly position himself to complete Deku’s little hand-heart.

“That’s so cute!” Deku gushed, when the photo preview popped up. “I love it!”

“Cheesy as fuck,” Katsuki complained half-heartedly. “Better not post that anywhere.”

“I’m gonna post it everywhere.”

“Don’t you fuckin’ dare.”

Deku just laughed brightly, and Katsuki couldn’t help but soften a little.

“It’s your phone anyway,” Deku pointed out, and Katsuki immediately felt like an idiot all over again. “But send it to me, okay?”

“Fine.”

“Where to next?”

Katsuki hesitated, glancing at the time in the corner of his screen, then out at the dim evening sky.

“I think that’s all of them,” he confessed, swiping back through a whole collection of photos of himself. “Unless there’s anywhere else you wanna go?”

Deku hummed thoughtfully, his lips stretching into a little smile.

“Well, there’s one place.”

If Katsuki hadn’t known before that he was whipped, he certainly figured it out in that moment. Together they made their way back to the hotel, and Katsuki grimaced when Deku pushed open a shining glass door, the queues from earlier all but disappeared.

“It all looks so good,” he gushed, hurrying to the cases to explore. “Kacchan, look how beautiful everything is!”

Katsuki nodded his agreement, but didn’t say a word, content to just watch Deku dart back and forth like a caffeinated squirrel who’d just discovered an exotic nut store.

“I’ll just take a coffee,” Katsuki said to the cashier, pointing at a menu board. “The local blend, with oat milk if you have it.”

“You’re not gonna try a dessert?” Deku pouted, waving toward all the pretty cakes. “But they look so good.”

“You can get one,” Katsuki assured him. “Which do you want?”

“But it’s more fun together!”

“I’m not a big sweets-eater.”

Deku paused, mulling over his words, and Katsuki hated himself a little for taking away that smile.

“No one else is watching,” Deku pointed out quietly. “And I won’t tell anybody. This is your chance to sneak in one pretty, delicious cake without being judged, right?”

Katsuki cursed under his breath. The damn nerd could see right through him, apparently – he’d gotten so used to just surviving on fancy coffees; the entire trip had been weird as fuck, watching the idols eat whatever the hell they felt like.

“I’ve seen it in both of you,” Deku shrugged, not meeting Katsuki’s eyes for once. “You and Ashido. I admire your self-control, it’s amazing, but sometimes you should treat yourself, too!”

“It’s not like that,” Katsuki grumbled. “We’re just... busy, and shit. Always on the go.”

“So take some time now. With me.”

Katsuki was a strong, stubborn man, but Deku just knew exactly how to push all his buttons, how to tear down his walls and coax him into whatever the hell he felt like coaxing him into.

“I’ll have a white peach pie,” he conceded.

“Yay!” Deku beamed, back in full force as if it had never wavered for even a moment. “And I’ll have a cherry cake, please!”

Katsuki paid for it all before Deku had a chance to object, not giving him even a moment to attempt to cut in, but despite his little whine about it, he thanked Katsuki profusely. When Katsuki’s coffee was ready, they sat together at a little table in the corner, and Katsuki poked at his pie with a fork. It did look good, he had to admit, with a crisp tart base, a layer of soft sponge cake, and half a peach on top, caramelised or glazed in something sweet-smelling. Deku’s cake was equally pretty, with layers of chocolate sponge sandwiched with cream and cherries. But most importantly, his coffee was fucking great, and that had been a rarity on the tour.

“You and Ashido are... okay, right?” Deku pushed gently. “Like, should I be worried?”

“We’re fine,” Katsuki answered immediately, wincing a little at his own sharp tone. “The industry is judgy, that’s all.”

“People would give you a hard time?”

“Just looks, mostly. And gossip behind the scenes, or whatever. You get used to it.”

“But Kacchan is amazing,” Deku huffed quietly. “There’s nothing to be judgy about.”

Katsuki just shook his head faintly, scooping up a bite of his pie, and Deku smiled again softly when he ate it.

“Tasty?”

“Really good,” Katsuki admitted. “But I’m not making a habit out of this.”

“That’s fine!” Deku assured him. “As long as you’re not... you know. Sick.”

“No,” Katsuki shook his head again, a little slower this time. “I, um, know a few people who... are. It’s pretty shitty.”

“I’m sorry, that must be hard.”

“Mm.”

Deku reached out, placing his hand over Katsuki’s comfortingly, but immediately thinking better of it. Katsuki froze, and Deku patted him awkwardly, retreating quickly and making Katsuki’s hand feel cold all of a sudden.

“Do you want to try mine?” Deku offered, scooping up a bite of his cake quickly. “It’s really good! Here!”

He held it out, and Katsuki accepted the fork with a nod, ignoring the chants of indirect kiss in his brain that sounded oddly like Denki’s voice, for some reason. It was pretty good, he had to admit, and he took a chunk of his own before he offered the fork back.

“Really good,” he agreed. “Try mine.”

Deku accepted eagerly, wrapping his lips around the sweet bite of peach, and his eyes widened for a moment before he swallowed.

“It’s so good!” he gushed, leaning in to steal another bite with a cheeky grin. “Kacchan has good taste!”

“Yeah,” Katsuki snorted, eyes locking with Deku’s shining emeralds. “I do.”

Deku didn’t seem to notice the cheesiness, and Katsuki didn’t point it out, relieved to have gotten away with the moment of weakness.

He pulled up his photo gallery to distract himself, scrolling through pages and pages of photos, and Deku leaned over to look with him, laughing as he pointed out different shots that he liked the best, and why. Katsuki, on the other hand, was just taken aback by how happy he looked in them, too busy laughing at Deku’s stupid pose ideas to worry about how he looked. Any actual model would have sneered at them, at how “unprofessional” they’d be considered, but Katsuki thought they might be his favourite pictures of himself that he’d ever seen.

Deku sneaked another bite of peach pie, nudging his plate slightly when Katsuki caught him out, and Katsuki bit back a smile as he took another scoop of cake obediently to match.

For a long while they sat there: looking through photos together, debating the merits of each location, discussing the outfits they’d be using and where they might photograph the best, and sharing bites of two perfect little desserts that Katsuki would never have expected to enjoy so much.

He wondered, in the back of his mind, if somewhere along the line, it had turned into a date.