The Proximation of Hello and Goodbye

2

"Back for another freebie?" She asks, one eyebrow arched.

Katsuki stares, stunned, "Excuse me?"

The girl's eyes soften, a glimmer peeking through as a soft smile sneaks across her face. "I was asking if you were back for another free drink."

"Oh, no. I intend to pay this time," Katsuki answers. "I think your co-worker was trying to be nice last night."

Her gentle smile turns to a mischievous smirk, "Was that it?" She chuckles, "I'm glad you came ready to pay, but keep your money. Thanks for not killing my friend and making sure he got home without a cold last night. I owe you one."

"Do I look like someone who'd kill a person?" Katsuki murmurs.

She shrugs, "Looks can be deceiving. You gonna turn into a regular around here or something?"

"What is this, an interrogation?" Katsuki asks.

"Keep that up and it will be," she answers. "Izuku may be a little reserved, but I tend to get to the bottom of things. So, can we expect to see you more often?"

Someone's a little too nosy. "Izuku, he's the one from last night, right?" Katsuki asks. "How is he today?"

She frowns, "He seems fine. Why wouldn't he be?"

"Well, the lights were on when I dropped him off and he seemed a little thrown off by that. It's actually why I came, I wanted to see if things were okay when he got inside," Katsuki explains. "He hasn't mentioned anything?"

She exhales loudly, and despite the cafe being full, she yells, "Izu! Get out here!"

Katsuki jumps, shocked by the mere power of her voice. She keeps her gaze fixed on the door to the back until Izuku emerges. His eyes immediately befall Katsuki and instead of the wide-eyed gaze he had last night, he simply looks away toward his friend. "Is everything okay, Ena?" He asks, stopping a few centimeters away from her.

The woman, Ena, crosses her arms, her eyes narrowing in on Izuku. Katsuki looks over his shoulder making sure there isn't a line behind him before looking back at the duo. "Why were the lights on when you got home?"

"Oh, I forgot to turn them off when I left," he answers without skipping a beat.

She whips on her heel, facing a girl with short, white curls. Katsuki isn't sure how he overlooked her when he first got here. "Su?"

The girl doesn't even turn from her work as she answers, "He's lying. There's something he doesn't want us to know."

Katsuki's mouth falls slightly agape as he stares her down. Ena starts back in on her interrogation, this one being aimed toward her friend instead of himself. She places her hands on her hips, "What are you hiding?"

"No fair! Why is Akasuki using Link on me?" He pouts.

"You didn't say a word when you walked in and you rode home with a stranger last night. We just wanted to make sure you were okay, what else were we supposed to do?" Ena asks defensively.

Izuku's eyes grow wide, "Ask me?"

Ena's hard-ass exterior crumbles, her arms relaxing at her sides. "But there's no fun in that," she whines. "Sorry for encouraging Akasuki to use Link on you, but that doesn't change the fact that something happened. Was the ass wipe home or something?"

Izuku glances toward Katsuki as if to see if he was still there or not. His face is expressionless as he looks back at Ena. " My boyfriend was home, yes. But, I'm not discussing this right now," he says, promptly turning to walk to the back again.