moving up

Chapter 8

Izuku is on the sales floor one night, not very busy because it's a weeknight, and business is usually slow on weeknights. He's kept up with keeping the store clean and keeping all of the returns put back where they go, and is pretty on top of things when Katsuki comes over to him.

All night, he has been slightly on edge, knowing that he's closing with Katsuki, but he's done what he can to keep focused on work and now the other man has actually come over to talk to him.

"Deku, come back to the stockroom with me. It's a mess back there, and we've got to get it set up for tomorrow," he says. Of course, he's only talking to Izuku because he has work for him to do. There's no other reason that he would have, but still, Izuku knows that there's always going to be a part of him that gets his hopes up, until he manages to get over this infatuation for good. After all these years, it's looking unlikely, but he still hopes that he'll come to his senses eventually.

"Yeah, sure!" he says, following after Katsuki when he heads off, the two of them heading to the stockroom. Once they get back there, he can see what Katsuki meant about it being a mess; the sales floor team for the morning and afternoon took down several temporary displays, and left them in the back when they were done, focusing on taking what was left in the temporary displays and working it all back onto the shelves. They must not have had time to take apart the displays and put the pieces back, but with it like this, there's not even room to set up for the truck the next day, much less for the team to actually unload the merchandise.

"Don't just stare at it, start taking them apart," Katsuki mutters. The two of them haven't talked much since Izuku started here, but it's nice to know that he's not changed much at all.

"Right, I know," Izuku replies, and gets to work. He doesn't know much about these displays, but they seem pretty simple.

"Let me know if you need any help," his friend says, almost helpfully, but continues with, "I'd rather you annoy me with your questions than fuck it all up and make me clean up after you."

"Whatever you say, Kacchan."

"Hey, I'm being serious!"

"I never said you weren't."

"Whatever, you were implying it, bastard."

"Whatever you say, Kacchan."

"There you go again!"

Izuku laughs at that, unable to help himself, and the glare Katsuki gives him makes it impossible to stop laughing. The two of them go back and forth, with Katsuki getting defensive and Izuku teasing a little more than he should, and it starts to really feel like old times. Even while they clean up, disassembling displays and putting the supplies back on the shelves, they continue to bicker and poke fun at one another.

"Alright, Deku, some of these go up really high so I'm gonna get a ladder. You remember the ladder safety rules, don't you?"

"Managers have to authorize the use of a ladder, and two people have to be in the room while a ladder is in use, with one of them standing at the bottom to hold it steady and make sure that the other doesn't fall," he echoes.

"And I'm the manager, and I'm authorizing it," Katsuki replies. "You stand at the bottom, I don't know if I can trust you climbing a ladder for the first time."

"It wouldn't be the first time."

"At home with your mom doesn't count," he mutters, as he goes to get the ladder and set it up in front of the shelves. "You can pass things up to me, so pay attention to what I'm asking for."

"You act like I didn't just take it all apart," Izuku replies. "I know what most of it is now."

"You sure do love talking back to your managers, don't you?"

"Only with you, Kacchan."

"If I wasn't on a ladder, I'd kick your ass right now."

"You sure do love threatening your employees, don't you?"

"Only if it's you , Deku."

Things go like this for a while, and Izuku passes objects up to Katsuki, who puts them away, and sometimes climbs back down to move the ladder to a different location. It feels more natural now, to be alone with Katsuki, and Izuku is so glad that he was scheduled tonight. In fact, things are so natural that he can almost forget the way his heart siezes up whenever Katsuki looks at him for too long, and can almost pretend like they really are just old friends.

And then the unthinkable happens, as Katsuki starts to come down the ladder again.

After doing it so many times, it shouldn't be different, but something is this time. This time, Katsuki climbs down, and for a half of a second, looks like he's about to lose his footing. It's just enough to cause Izuku to reach up for him to try to help him, and whether or not Katsuki needs help, he matches the reaction.

Their hands touch.

He keeps his balance and he starts to come down the ladder, and they don't stop touching, and he's closer, and now Izuku's arms are around him, and then-

Izuku has no idea how long they stay like that, no idea how long he clings to Katsuki in the stockroom, kissing him like he's wanted to for years, kissing him like they aren't at work, where anyone could walk in on them. Whenever one of them breaks it to breathe, the other lunges back in, and Izuku can't tell anymore who started it, the only thing he can tell is that neither want to end it.

So this is what he's been missing out on all this time?

The only reason they stop is due to a sound that causes them to both spring apart. Fortunately for them, they're far enough to the back that by the time Denki has found them, they're far enough apart that he wouldn't suspect a thing. Still, Izuku's face is burning and he stares at the ground, not sure what to do, or think.

"It's about time to make a closing announcement, Katsuki," Denki says. "There are still a couple stragglers in the store, you gotta get rid of them."

"Yeah, alright," Katsuki says, his voice sounding just the same as always, and Izuku wonders how he can be completely unaffected by this. "Deku, finish setting up for truck tomorrow. We're done with the ladder, so you should be fine on your own."

With that, Katsuki follows behind Denki, and for the rest of the night, he doesn't say a word to Izuku, other than to give him instructions as a manager. He doesn't mention it again, and no matter how Izuku tries to get him alone, he simply brushes him off. This goes on for only a few days before Izuku finally gives up.

~X~

"Man, I've really gotta get going, my shift's over," Ochako says. "But it was fun talking to you, you made it go by really fast! Can't wait to talk to you next time!"

"Wait, before you go, I-!" Izuku hesitates for a moment while she looks at him, waiting for him to speak, but then he steels himself. "Do you want to, um...exchange numbers? Just in case we need to talk outside of work for some reason, I don't know why we would, but you can't be too careful, and, uh-"

"Sure!" she says, as if it's nothing, and so they exchange numbers, as if it's nothing.