In Your Shadow [Chapter 21]

[Chapter 20]

The phone rang three times, then four, and five, and- Fucking finally.

“Katsuki!” his father’s voice said brightly. “Is everything okay?”

“Hey. Yeah. Uh, I’m not gonna make it home today,” he explained, hoping his voice came off apologetic enough – he knew The Hag would have complained, but hopefully his dad understood. “Something important came up, I’ll tell you more after, but I’m in a bit of a hurry.”

“No problem, Katsuki! Stay safe, okay?”

“I will. Um, sorry.”

“Call me later? If you can?”

“Yeah. Tonight, I promise.”

“Okay. I’ll be looking forward to it. Take care.”

“You too.”

He hung up, taking a shuddering breath as he stared at the little note clutched tight inside his fist. It was a day late, so Deku had clearly made a point of waiting until after the offers went out, so he wouldn’t get his hopes up. But still, a small part of him was hopeful. Deku was number one, after all, so maybe they’d make an exception for him? With how busy he was, especially? And failing that, he could at least ask which of Deku’s best friends he should go work with instead – there was something satisfying about being able to subtly say ‘maybe you don’t want me, but clearly your friends have better taste’.

The train pulled in with a jaunty little tune, and Katsuki stuffed the note in his pocket for later, hurrying on to find a seat. He held his backpack in his lap, reassuring himself that the thick folder was still inside, and glanced at his phone to check the time once more when they began to move. He was cutting it close, but he’d needed every possible moment, and now he just had to pray he didn’t keep Deku waiting.

The moment he was back off the train, he began to jog – down the street to where he’d eaten barbecue with the sidekicks, around the corner toward the towering agency building, but stopping two blocks short of reaching it. If his memory – and maps app – were correct, it would be... Yes!

He ran across the road as soon as it was clear, breathing a little harder by the time he reached the door, and took a moment to compose himself. He paused to catch his breath, straightened his shirt, checked his reflection in the front window to make sure his hair wasn't overly wild, and—

“Katsuki, you made it!”

Katsuki whirled around. He wondered exactly how much the grinning man had seen, but he knew he’d never tell, even if Katsuki tried to ask.

“Deku,” he said instead, keeping his voice carefully level. “Thanks for inviting me.”

“My pleasure,” Deku said, pulling the door open and waving Katsuki in first. “Sorry for the short notice, it’s good to see you.”

“You too.”

They found a table off in a back corner, out of the way of other customers, and Katsuki slouched a little in his seat, hyper-aware of every pair of eyes that had turned their way as they entered. Being so close to the agency, Katsuki had expected it to be no big deal when Deku walked in, but apparently being number one meant it was always a big deal. There were endless whispers and people pointing, cameras clicking despite the photographers trying to muffle it with their hands, and Deku just smiled through it all, unaware or undeterred.

“Are you hungry?” Deku asked him, when they picked up their menus. “I missed lunch today, so I might grab something to eat. Feel free to do the same!”

“A little,” Katsuki said quietly. “I might grab a snack, or something.”

“And it's my treat, of course.”

“You don’t have to do that.”

“Don’t be silly,” Deku grinned. “What kind of number one hero would I be if I asked a high school student to come meet with me, and didn't even pay for their food?”

Katsuki huffed a little laugh, but conceded a nod – it did sound kind of silly, when he put it like that. He didn’t like letting people buy him things, had always hated feeling like he owed them anything, but Deku… well, he had a point.

“Thank you, then,” he said, rather than argue. “Do you come here a lot? What’s the best?”

“They do amazing pancakes, but you’re not much of a sweets person, right? They make all their own bread in-house so all their rolls and things are super fresh and delicious. I’m a huge fan of the katsu sandwich, personally, and Mirio loves the hotdogs.”

“A katsu sandwich sounds great.”

“Excellent choice. And what do you drink?”

“Coffee is good, I’m not fussy.”

Deku signalled for one of the waiters, ordering for them both with a smile that never wavered, so Katsuki just had to add a quick ‘thank you’ on the end to be polite.

“So, how’s school been?” Deku asked, leaning forward a little in his seat like it was about to be the most exciting thing he’d ever heard. “I’ve heard good things from your teachers, so well done for working hard and being good in class.”

Being good made Katsuki cringe a little, but he held it back valiantly, refusing to give Deku even a single excuse, if he could help it.

“It’s been good,” he said instead, his cheeks a little warm. “It was weird trying to settle back in, but it’s been nice to see my… friends again, and for us to all share the things we learned while we were apart.”

“I’m so happy to hear that. I know the first week back was always hard when I did it, so I’m glad you’ve been finding some good in it. I’ve been worried about you! Did anyone learn any cool new stuff to show you?”

Katsuki squirmed in his seat, willing himself to just make something up and sound enthusiastic about it, but he was such a shitty liar.

“Not really,” he admitted, cursing himself for it mentally. “I mean, great stuff for them, but I’m… glad I was here. At your agency, I mean.”

“Just think, for the rest of your life you’ll be able to say you were my first intern!”

“Don’t go and do a bad job with the future ones and give me a bad name,” Katsuki couldn’t help but tease. “I got an A-plus on my post-internship project, so we have a hundred-percent track record right now.”

“You did? That’s amazing! Good job, Katsuki! Is that the one you were asking people about on your last day?”

“Yeah,” Katsuki confirmed – he hadn’t even realised Deku knew about that. “It was a whole thing about ‘what it means to be a hero’ so I was trying to get thoughts from as many people as possible.”

“I hope you got some good stuff, I don’t want to fire any of my heroes!”

“They were great,” Katsuki assured him with a smile. “Genuinely, they all gave me really thoughtful and honest answers, I really appreciated it.”

“How did everyone else in your class do?”

“I didn’t see most of the grades, but a few of them did really cool projects, so I hope Aizawa appreciated them.” He paused, but Deku waited, and something about his expression just felt so genuine. “Mina wrote a poem that was really hard-hitting, we were all kind of speechless when she read it to us. She had this essay drafted originally that was fine, but nothing special, and she turned it into something so personal and meaningful before she handed it in, it was really impressive.”

“That sounds amazing. Remind me which one Mina is?”

“Oh. Uh, you probably don’t know her. Acid quirk, was interning with Ryukyu this time around. She’s pink.”

“I think I’ve seen her in photos.” Deku nodded. “Continue?”

“Um, Jirou wrote a song, apparently, but I haven’t gotten to hear it yet. She has a sound quirk and is really into music, so it made sense and I'm sure it was great. And Kaminari did this paper mache thing with his paperwork and assignments; it’s hard to explain, but it was cool. Honestly I was kinda shocked he came up with it, I still kinda think he just made it for fun and stumbled across a meaning by accident. Most of the others just wrote essays, which is all they needed to do so that’s fair, but it was cool to see how some people chose to connect with their project.”

“I didn’t realise it wasn’t just an essay project, before. I did something similar at school, but it was a much more boring version. What did you do?”

“I uh, I cut together a video. With clips I filmed on my last day, and some stuff Spark Plug sent me too, and voiceovers I recorded, that kind of thing.”

“Oh? I wondered why he asked me about sharing security footage. That sounds much more interesting than just writing reports all the time, I’m glad they let you be creative.”

The waiter stopped by to drop off their drinks, and Katsuki took the opportunity to compose himself again as he took a long sip, buying himself time.

“I um, I wanted to ask you something, while we’re here. If that’s okay.”

“Go ahead.”

Try as he might, Katsuki couldn’t just get the stupid words out – he’d practiced so hard on the way over, debating how best to phrase it. He’d landed on ‘is there any feedback you can give me on what I should have done better?’ as his lead in, but his damn tongue just didn’t want to cooperate.

“Or just talk to me,” Deku said knowingly. “It doesn’t have to be a question.”

Somehow, that was what seemed to loosen his tongue – the pressure was off, he didn’t have to keep it short and snappy, Deku was okay with it if he just… word-vomited all over the table.

“I know I didn’t take all the opportunities I could have, during my internship,” he began slowly. “I should have dropped my stupid ego from the start, made the most of the short time I had with you all, and I hope you know I regret that, every day. If I’d just been less stupid, I could’ve had one more day with you, or Trax, or Ephia, or Paragon, or… any of you, honestly. I should have been more grateful to everyone, instead of sulking, and I hope you know that I know that. I know I already apologised for being a dick, but I just need you to know that I regret it, that I’ve learned from my mistakes, and I’ll do better the next time. I promise.”

His voice got quicker as he spoke, like Deku might cut him off at any moment, before he could say everything he wanted to say. But still, Deku just sat there, smiling softly, listening in silence.

“I know how much of a burden I must have felt like – and I know you’ll say it was okay, that I was there to learn, that’s what interns do, and all that, I know. But I also want you to know that I can help you, too.” He finally pulled out his folder, fingers trembling as he fumbled out the right pages and handed them across the table. “Last time, you wanted to know why I would fit in with the agency, why you should let me stay. This time, I want… I want you to see why you want me there.”

Deku looked down at the pages in his hands, still with that unshakeable smile, and Katsuki wondered if Deku could hear how damn hard his heart was beating. Their food arrived just in time to save Katsuki from blurting out more stupid words, and he said a quick thank you when the thick sandwich was set in front of him. A plate of fancy-looking pancakes landed in front of Deku, all covered in cream and berries, and against all odds, it made Katsuki smile a little to see.

“Can I read it while we eat?” Deku asked.

“Y-Yeah, of course.”

Deku’s first bite of pancake left whipped cream on his lips, and Katsuki couldn’t stop staring at it, even as he picked up his sandwich. It was so thick he could barely get the whole thing in his mouth to bite a chunk off, but the pork was perfectly cooked, all tender and juicy, and he hummed his approval even though his eyes never left the cream.

“Delicious,” Katsuki explained, when Deku looked up. “Good suggestion.”

“I’m glad,” Deku said with a smile, taking another bite of pancake before he returned to the page. “How long did you work on this?”

“Not very,” Katsuki admitted. “I didn’t have long before I had to get on the train, so I’m sorry if it’s full of typos.”

“No, it’s very good,” Deku assured him. “I thought you must have been writing it all week.”

“I guess in my head I kind of was.”

Deku nodded understandingly, and Katsuki took another bite of his sandwich, torn between watching Deku read, looking around the room awkwardly, and staring at that damn whipped cream.

Deku finished reading at the same time as he finished eating, and Katsuki couldn’t help but think it was intentional – the big nerd had probably been re-reading his last sentence for five minutes just for the drama of it all. Katsuki’s lungs ached with the effort it took just to keep breathing steadily, and he tried to shift his attention to his feet, curling his toes tightly within his shoes, where it wouldn't be seen, then pointing his feet into the floor, feeling the stretch in his ankles.

Deku reached into his bag, pulling out some papers of his own, and slid them across the table.

Work Studies Rules was written across the top, and Katsuki’s lungs finally stopped working altogether as he picked it up with shaky hands, staring at Deku's amused little smile with wide, slightly blurry eyes.

1. Answer all questions from seniors politely and succinctly, e.g. ‘Yes, Deku’ or ‘No, Deku’ unless asked for further elaboration.

Well that one was familiar. A little more lax than the previous version, even. He could work with that.

2. Ask permission before asking any other questions

Once again, familiar. Annoying, but familiar.

3. When given an instruction by a senior, follow it to the best of your abilities.

That one seemed a little nicer, too. He remembered wanting to argue about it, the last time, about how stifling it was, but he’d held his tongue.

3.1. When an instruction is given, you may ask ‘please elaborate’ when appropriate or necessary.

No more blindly following dumb orders? Hell yeah.

3.2 You may ask “May I ______?” in regard to following or requesting instructions.

He was pretty sure that was aimed at ‘may I leave now’ or ‘may I take a bathroom break’ but he was sure as hell gonna keep it in his back pocket for a rainy day, with that vague phrasing.

4. Counselling sessions will be attended once a week, with complete confidentiality.

He was actually happy about that one, not that he’d say it out loud.

5. Communication with Deku and Aizawa will be maintained at all times.

“Um, may I… ask you to elaborate on this last one, please?”

“Certainly,” Deku said with a grin – Katsuki hated the smugness of it, but it was not the time to protest, and he knew it. “Aizawa and I both need to know where you are, so that you can’t just go missing on your way to or from the agency, and if there’s an emergency of some kind, we know if we need to account for you. If you’re commuting back and forth regularly, we’ll be sharing responsibility for you, so we need to know who is in charge of you at any point in time. We’ll set up a group chat of some sort, and you can just let us know there whenever you leave one location or arrive at the next one safely.”

“Okay. Thank you.”

“Do these all seem fair to you so far?”

“Yeah, they do.”

He picked up the pen to sign the spot waiting for him at the bottom, but Deku halted him, smiling to himself still.

“Lesson number one, if I’m gonna be your mentor: Never sign the first offer they give you.”

“What? I mean, uh, shit- Please elaborate?”

“When people offer you a contract, they’ve usually found a way to benefit themselves more than necessary. You should always negotiate for something you want changed, added, or removed. You can always get a better deal.”

“What if you take back the offer entirely?”

“Worst case, they’ll say ‘sorry, we can’t do that’ and you can accept or decline the original offer.”

“Okay.” Katsuki grimaced, reading the page again. “Number four, I want it specified that I get to see Yutaka, not anyone random that you choose.”

“Good. Write it in.”

4.1. Katsuki added in his best handwriting. Sessions will take place with Surusumi Yutaka, or another counsellor by negotiation if this is not possible.

“Perfect, good work,” Deku praised. “Anything else?”

“Number two. It should be just for seniors, like number one, not just a general comment.”

“That seems fair.”

Katsuki inked it in carefully, tapping his fingertips on the table lightly as he contemplated.

“As my mentor, what else would you suggest I ask for?”

Deku laughed brightly, and Katsuki was relieved to hear it, to know that Deku wasn’t going to be mad at him for trying to exploit a little loophole or use some dumb humour.

“For number five, I would probably request something to cover the communication costs or efforts. A work phone, or a payment toward the phone plan, or something.”

“Carrying a second phone just for that seems excessive.”

“How about a smart watch? You can set up a shortcut to message us, instead of having to type it out each time.”

“Really?”

“Yeah, you’ve just gotta frame it right. Like, what if I want you to come to the agency, or meet me somewhere different, but you can’t check your phone in class, so you wouldn’t know until too late? Obviously I expect you to pay attention in class and not abuse it, but that’s a good angle to work with, in terms of negotiation. They're also super useful for contacting people during a patrol, so you can keep your phone somewhere safe.”

“Okay,” Katsuki agreed. “I bet they have a location tracker too, so if I don’t message you on time, you can check whether my train was just delayed or if I’ve been kidnapped again.”

Deku cringed a little at the again, but nodded, reaching for the pen to write it in.

“So 5.1 is a smart watch provided to make this task easier, and 5.2 is a privacy agreement that I’ll only check it for safety purposes, and won’t abuse your privacy with it.”

“That sounds good.”

“But I’m also going to add 6, where you have to communicate with us both openly about how you’re doing, too. If you feel like you’re burning out from being here too much, or you’re falling behind on schoolwork, or anything like that, you have to tell us honestly.”

“Okay, but for 6.1, I’d like a loan-laptop again so I can work do homework in my downtime here, to help avoid falling behind like you're worried about.”

“Good move, and very fair. I’d also recommend for 7 you request an allowance toward food and transport costs, since you’ll be back and forth a lot.”

“What would be a fair price for that?”

“Well that changes a lot depending on cost of living at the time, so I would probably say something like ‘an allowance which will cover all transport between the U.A. campus and Deku Agency building, along with an appropriate meal allowance for number of days spent at the Deku Agency site each week’ rather than a set number.”

“And that’s clear enough that you can’t worm your way out?”

“It’s clear enough that if I tried, you could take it to HR and have a good case against me.”

“Okay, I like that. Could I also have something about phrasing, in the earlier points? Like the ‘please elaborate’ thing, that phrasing just feels awkward, so can I use something else to the same effect as long as it’s polite?”

“Like what?”

“Like... ‘can you explain why, please?’ or ‘how would you like me to do that?’ or something like that?”

“Okay, sure, that’s fair.”

Deku went back up the list, finding the right spots, adding in a little ‘or a similar, polite phrase’ to each, and Katsuki nodded, satisfied.

“Anything else?”

“Number 8, Deku is required to spar with me at least once a week.”

“Vetoed, but good try.” Deku laughed, and Katsuki felt himself relax a little at the sound. “I’m gonna do my best to work with you when I can, I hope you know that, but I trust that you’ll work with and learn from the other heroes I employ when it can’t be me personally.”

“I will,” Katsuki assured him. “I’m really looking forward to it.”

─────

Katsuki couldn’t stop himself from grinning as Aizawa picked up the phone. It was probably weird that his teacher had become the first person he wanted to share the news with, but he knew how happy Aizawa would be for him, even if he didn’t usually show it.

“Did Deku tell you?”

“Tell me what?” Aizawa asked, sounded equal parts exasperated and concerned.

“He offered me a spot.”

There was silence for a second, and Katsuki wondered if he was going to have to say it again – would it feel even better the second time around? Or would the impact be lost?

“He did not tell me that,” Aizawa said finally. “I had certainly hoped he would, but no, he did not tell me he intended to do so.”

“Well, he did,” Katsuki said, kicking his legs lightly to get out some of his excited energy. “I asked him. Well, I told him that I wanted it, and why I thought he should take me. And he pulled out a contract he’d already written up and brought with him, so he’d intended it even before then. You really didn’t talk to him at all?”

“I talked to him, but he didn’t tell me,” Aizawa corrected him. “I told him that I thought he'd been a great fit for you, and asked him to consider keeping you on, and he said he was already considering it. I confess I thought he had decided against it, when he didn’t contact me yesterday.”

“Oh. Right. Um, I know it’s a day late, but-”

“Bakugou,” Aizawa stopped him. “Do you really think I’m going to say you can’t do it because he was a day late sending his offer?”

“Not really, no.”

“Good. I would hope that after two years, you know me better than that.”

“I do. And thank you. I wanted to tell you first., before I saw anyone else.”

“First?”

“Yeah. We just finished our meeting, and I’m heading back to campus soon, plus I need to call my parents at some point, but I wanted to call you and tell you about it first, before I see anyone in the dorms and stuff.”

“Well, thank you,” Aizawa said, his surprise clear even through a phone. “I hope you know I’m happy for you, Bakugou.”

“I do, I know. And thank you.”

“We can meet up tomorrow or Monday, to talk about your hours, and figure out how to maximise your time with him.”

“That sounds great. I’d better go get on the train, sorry. Um, do you want me to message you when I get back to the school? Deku wants me to start doing that when I’m commuting and stuff.”

“That would be great, thank you.”

“Alright. I’ll let you know when I get back, then. Thanks again, Sensei.”

He shoved his phone back in his pocket just in time for the little jingle to start, letting him know that his train was arriving. Usually on a Saturday night he just wanted to get back to the dorms, do his meal prep for the week, and retire to his room early, to recover from a week of school. That night, though, he suspected he’d be spending a little more time with his friends, while he still had the chance.

[Chapter 22]