Tea In A Bar

Chapter 3: That Good Sleep

Izuku really did like how Kurogiri made his tea. He's had tea before, even made some himself. But none of it seemed to be as good as the one the warped villain had made for him.

At first, Izuku had seen his mom make herself tea and how she seemed to enjoy it. She never did offer it to him. So he had thought that maybe she just didn't know if he would like to try it. It was after about a week that Izuku got up the courage to ask his mom if maybe she could make tea for him too.

The look that she gave him, made the weight in his chest feel heavier and he regretted asking her. It was like she had looked at him like he was an inconvenience like it was the biggest annoyance to be asked to make tea for her son. She usually ignored him or treated him as a distant relative, but at that moment she showed something else. It was a look that reminded him of the ones his teachers showed him at school or any of his classmates did when he greeted them. It was a look that reminded him of the spider lilies that would be found shoved in his bag after it was left unattended or simply laid out on his desk.

Maybe he asked on a bad day or maybe she had simply been in a bad mood. But after that incident, he taught himself how to make tea. Although, it didn't taste as good as Kurogiri's.

So having Kurogiri not look at him that way, and actually seem happy to make him tea made it feel nice when he picked up the teacup. The heat seeped into his hands and he closed his eyes feeling content.

The heat helped with the ache in his hands. They had started to ache more after he had finished his drawing. He hoped that they wouldn't hurt so bad after drawing Toga something. Despite throwing a knife at him and not so quietly talking about his blood, she had been nice. And she had called his drawing pretty, so he didn't mind making a drawing for her.

He went over the different ideas of what he could draw for her while finishing the cup of tea. The whole time, making sure to keep his hands around the cup as long as possible. The tea must have finally taken effect as Izuku had to open his eyes when he heard someone chuckle. He hadn't noticed that he had fallen asleep.

"Midoriya, I believe the chamomile tea has proven effective," Kurogiri said while standing in front of him across the bar counter. To Izuku, it actually looked like the man was amused. When he went to respond he was interrupted by the need to yawn which he couldn't hold back

Izuku chuckled when he finally stopped yawning, "I think I'll have to agree with you Kurogiri, thank you again for the tea, it was really good."

"It was my pleasure," the man said before taking away the empty teacup.

Izuku watched the man walked away and then he looked beside him where Shigaraki still had his head down. His hair was splayed out, there were some parts that looked tangled and needed to be brushed. The funny thought of what hair routine Shigaraki had crossed his mind.

Just because you're a villain didn't mean that you didn't use shampoo, conditioner, or even leave-in hair conditioner.

Feeling sleepy and not very caring about what others may think at the moment, Izuku set his head down on the bar counter with his right arm as his cushion. He was facing Shigaraki. The man hadn't moved a bit, Izuku wondered if maybe Shigaraki was tired like him. It wouldn't have been a surprise. Being a villain and avoiding getting caught by the law sounded stressful and tiring. He wouldn't be surprised if Shigaraki was actually asleep next to him. He's not one to judge.

So Izuku stared at Shigaraki's head and with his tired muddled mind and uncaring attitude, he reached out his fingers to touch the bluish-grey strands of hair. He started playing with them.

Shigaraki didn't seem to notice.

Izuku didn't seem to notice Dabi who started choking on his drink after seeing what Izuku did.