Hello again, MHAA! I'm back once more with another writing. This one is the second in a series of various Reader Insert Oneshots.
For all interested in reading, I would like to sincerely apologize to a select few, once again. The reader in all of these stories will be female, as that's what I'm most comfortable writing. I will be coming back later and going down the same list of characters again, making brand new stories with a male reader.
I do work full time, so I cannot guarantee that all of these stories will be coming out regularly. But I promise I will post them as soon as I can once I complete them.
Now without further ado, I give you the second story in the installment!
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Why? Of all people, why did it have to be him that was stuck here just watching the street from a stupid coffee shop, waiting for their main target to come out of the woodwork? He’d be much better suited to barging right in there and chasing them out into the heavy mist, right into the handcuffs that were itching to put them behind bars. Stupid stealth missions. It really didn’t help that he was getting a lot of attention from fans that were coming and going. At least he had a valid excuse for not being able to take any breaks for pictures or autographs. His work was demanding his full attention right now.
“Another cup of coffee, sir?” The calm voice snapped him out of the burning glare he was giving to the window overlooking his area of surveillance.
The waitress was standing off to the side, a fresh pot of coffee in hand, ready to fill his mug again. The only person in this damn t who knew full well who he was and completely ignored it. Other than insisting the first three cups of coffee were on the house. A glance between the pot and his mug, then back out the window told her it was an affirmative answer, and she poured the piping hot liquid up to the brim. “If you need anything, just ask.”
Picking up the mug and carefully taking a long sip, Bakugo sighed. Strong and bitter, with a hint of berries, unless he was mistaken. “Berries?”
In the midst of walking back to the front counter, the woman stopped, her (e/c) twinkling in slight confusion. “Pardon?”
He held up the mug for a moment before setting it back down. “The coffee.”
She gave a firm nod, setting the pot back on the burner and walking back over to his table. “It’s my mother’s triple berry blend. I hope you don’t mind. I was running low on our original grind. We’ll be restocking it tom-”.
Bakugo held up a hand to silence her, taking another long sip of the liquid in his mug. “No, s’good. Just asking.” He heard her sigh in relief, going back to help out another customer that was coming in the front door. Taking out his phone, he sent a text off to the group chat between the handful of heroes that had been assigned to this job, silently raging at his childhood friend in the back of his mind.
Deku, you bastard. You set this up, didn’t you?
The response he got was predictable, coming from the greenette patiently waiting at another shop down the west end of the street.
Kacchan, not now. Bigger fish to fry.
Kaminari was more vocal about the fact that he was the only one stationed outside. Bakugo only smirked, knowing that someone else was more miserable than himself. He knew beyond any doubt that the electricity ’s clothes were soaked through by now. The only downside to this was that he would be complaining about it at great length once this was all over.
Poor Pikachu. Suck it up, buttercup and keep your eyes peeled. You’ll have to immobilize the guy on sight. Counting on you and Deku.
An incoming message from IcyHot silenced them all. Their target was on the move, headed east and moving fast. That was the same direction as Kaminari. He’d have to act quickly to subdue the guy.
Standing calmly from the booth where he’d been seated, Bakugo dug into his pocket, leaving an approximate sum for the coffees he’d had since his arrival earlier this morning. “Keep the change until I get back,” he grumbled, heading out the front door and stretching. Ugh, he hated wet days like this almost as much as he did winter weather. No matter, at least he still had his physical ability going for him. Sticking to the dry patch underneath the awning of the coffee shop, he waited for his phone to vibrate with the next notification from the group chat, or for him to see any little flicker of Kaminari’s electricity from down the east end of the street.
Glancing back inside the shop, he locked eyes with the waitress that had been so patient in serving him. There wasn’t anything notable about her. A nice figure, not outrageously thin like every woman he seemed to see her age. Working a minimum wage job and making the most of it, from what little he bothered to pick up. Tearing his gaze away, he peeked out down either end of the street. At the west end, Deku was outside, walking around like he was just casually out on patrol in the right area. East end was bland, with Kaminari displaying the same behavior. Finally, he saw their target and started walking towards him, setting a normal pace at first. Then he picked up speed. That made their target focus on him, now blind to Kaminari getting into position.
“Deku!” He called back once he saw electricity jumping around the electric blonde’s form.
“Right!” His rival bolted up next to him, both of them now running as Bakugo grabbed onto an arm, spinning in a circle, using a series of explosions to propel him faster, then flung Deku in the direction they were going. They were still far down the street, and whatever was going on ahead, he couldn’t see Kaminari anymore. That in itself was concerning. He stuck out like a sore thumb in the crowd with his hair. But then he heard said blonde calling his hero name, saying that the target was escaping fast.
Firing off heavy blasts, Bakugo rocketed over the crowd, spotting their runaway target. Deku of course was more concerned about Kaminari, who was on the ground, clutching his head. Growling to himself while he gave chase for a few more short moments, the angry blonde was victorious in tackling the perp to the ground, wasting no time in putting them in cuffs, taking out his phone to get ready to call in the police while he held them down.
“Let’s see just who the hell you are,” Bakugo huffed, yanking off the perpetrator’s hood. “Red Riot?” Pure confusion hit when he recognized the bright red hair that had been tamed to flow downward instead of spiking up like it usually did. Either this was some elaborate prank or something was very wrong here. Looking back over his shoulder to the other two, he quickly discovered the former observation was the answer. Both Deku and Kaminari were approaching, shit-eating grins on their faces. “You were all planning this from the start, weren’t you? I got out of bed for you idiots because I thought this was serious!”
“Oh c’mon, bro. You never let us celebrate your birthday with you,” Kirishima whined as he tried to get up, only to have the angry blonde push him back down against the pavement. “Please, man. You only turn twenty once in a lifetime. We wanna make it special. Nothing flashy, promise.”
He considered it for a while, mulling over why he hadn’t suspected this was their plan. Today was his birthday, after all. While it was the day that weed fanatics were up and about doing their stuff, it was harmless stuff that the police could handle on their own. “Why should I even bother with anything that you have planned? For all I know, Chargebolt is going to drag our asses into some crowded restaurant again and stand up on a table to announce it to the world.”
Kaminari whined in protest, recovering from his brain being fried. “C’mon Dynamight, we were freshmen. Let it go already.”
“No.”
After some bickering back and forth while Bakugo released his redheaded friend from the handcuffs, they came to a decision. At Deku’s insistence, the less-than-happy dog agreed to have a small gathering at the coffee shop where he’d been sitting for the past three hours for this false mission.This had all been a pathetic yet effective method that actually got him out of the house without immediately questioning the date on the calendar. Would he it that out loud to them? No, not even on his deathbed. Though they probably already knew it anyway.
When they arrived at the coffee shop and got a table, Bakugo was thankful that the same girl from this morning came to them. “Hello, I’m (Name). Is there anything I can get for you gentlemen? We have a small menu, if you’d like to take a look, see if anything tickles your fancy.”
It was Kirishima who answered, flashing her a polite smile. The angry blonde sank a little further into the seat of the booth. “Yes, please. We’re actually supposed to be celebrating something, although I’m pretty sure he wouldn’t be too happy if I told you what it was.”
(Name) seemed to catch on, her smile brightening as she pulled out a menu from the side pouch of her work apron. “I see. And would this occasion that we’re not celebrating happen to be a birthday?” All it took was a hardened glare from Bakugo for her to laugh and go back behind the counter, starting to prepare some coffee. When she came back carrying a tray bearing a fresh cup of a mysterious drink, the birthday blonde had to pause just to look at it, giving the mug a curious sniff. He was sure about only one thing so far. There was whipped topping with little chocolate shavings and some sort of powder on top. Cinnamon, maybe? Taking another sniff, he confirmed it was indeed said spice.
“A triple berry café mocha. Made with my mother’s triple berry coffee blend, house-made hot chocolate, and topped with whipped cream, dark chocolate shavings and a sprinkle of cinnamon for a little kick.” From the sound of it, she was very proud of this drink, and also confident that Bakugo would like it as well.
Carefully picking up the mug, his tongue swiped away a mouthful of the whipped cream before he took a sip. It was well mixed, and he could taste more of the triple berry coffee than hot chocolate. He didn’t even spare a glance to (Name) as the door opened, and IcyHot walked in with Sero and Ashido in tow. Before he could start mouthing off to Deku that there were now too many people here, said greenette got up from his seat, letting Sero take his place, Ashido plopping down beside Kirishima and Kaminari.
“You guys enjoy yourselves. Shoto and I are going to head back and see if anyone needs backup,” Deku explained, waving to the group as the pair left.
Now it was just the of the Bakusquad gathered with their leader. He’d be lying if he said he wasn’t pleased that it was just them and nobody else. At least he could be a little less aggressive with his crew than with others. While the others were all talking, the ash blonde just focused on the drink in his hands, sipping on it every few minutes. He loved the flavors of it, and he hoped there would be more of these drinks. Birthday be damned, he was going to pay the full price for them whether (Name) liked it or not. Or if he could strike a deal, he’d pay the price of a regular coffee for each. He wasn’t going to let her serve him drinks without paying for them.
The sight of a small gift being pushed across the table caught Bakugo’s attention, his displeased red eyes snapping to the offender. Kirishima flinched, hand withdrawing from the small box only for a moment, then the gift was pushed into reach.
“We know you kept insisting not to get you anything, but when Kaminari came back from Canada with a bunch of this stuff, we all decided that you might want some. Just in case, y’know?” Bakugo was going to open the box, but was quickly stopped, the electric blonde insisting that it would be best to open it once he got home.
Rolling his eyes at his friend, the ash blonde took the box and stored it away in one of the pouches down by his knees. It was just able to fit inside and stay concealed. If it was so concerning to be opening in public, it was probably something that was just barely legal to be carrying around here in Japan. Across the ocean, the Americas were much more lax about a lot of things. Canada in particular was an interesting one, as the country had legalized the use of marijuana, including using it for medical purposes. He hadn’t done too much research into it, but it seemed that the action was a step in the right direction. They were a much more peaceful crowd now, thanks to weed. A very amusing fact, for sure, considering they were already some of the friendliest people in the world, for the most part.
Pulling himself away from those thoughts, Bakugo tried to enjoy the time that he had with his friends, despite outwardly showing them overwise. Some lunch was ordered, and everyone at the table collectively refused to let their leader take out his wallet to pay for anything. The argument over who was paying went on for quite some time, until they settled for everyone just paying for their own food, which finally appeased the angry dog. While everyone was leaving, Bakugo stayed behind for a few minutes as they gathered outside, talking amongst themselves. He went up to the counter, waiting there while (Name) finished tending to a customer before turning her attention to him.
“Thanks... for not making a big deal out of this,” he muttered for her ears only, refusing to make eye . He wanted to add more, but pride stepped in to give him cold feet.
(Name) placed a hand on the counter, the sleeve of her shirt moving just enough for him to catch a glimpse of a specific bracelet that marked her as being Quirkless. Crimson orbs snapping up, he met her understanding smile, which caught him off guard just enough to remain silent.
“Myself and all of my staff respect that even heroes have personal lives just like any other civilian. This establishment is a safe space for anyone and everyone looking to escape their lives for a little while.” The words were simple, but he understood the hidden meaning behind them. “It’s no coincidence that you were here this morning, Dynamight. Your friend chose this place specifically for the peace and quiet it offered.”
So Deku really had planned out this whole thing. Right down to the location. “Damn nerd knows too much,” he growled under his breath. Turning his attention back to the bracelet that was on (Name)’s wrist, he backed up a step from the counter, looking around. The display was subtle, but the same symbol was displayed on the blackboard on the back wall. Listed up at the top as a promotional item was a take-home bag of triple berry blend coffee grinds. Right beside it was the very same symbol as on the woman’s bracelet. Pulling out his wallet, he fished out some bills and insisted he wanted to buy the largest available bag of said coffee.
After she’d accepted the cash and tendered him the change, Bakugo waited until she’d returned with the large bag of coffee grinds to place the change that he’d been given back onto the counter, and he left. (Name) was calling out to him the whole way out the door, only stopping when he turned back to insist that she keep it and put it to good use.
For the young hero, life continued on as normal, reporting to work every morning and giving Deku the finger, chatting with Kirishima while he got himself something to eat before patrol began in earnest. Summer was due to come into full swing next month, and already the temperatures were on the rise. This time of year, Bakugo refused to spend a day in the office unless it was mandatory. Granted, he was always looking for an excuse to get outside and beat up some baddies, but summertime was his most active season. It’s like he constantly needed to have some sort of active thing to be doing. He blamed Kaminari for the fact that he could hardly focus anymore without walking around and constantly checking his surroundings for potential threats. Friday afternoons were usually the busiest times of day, and he was more than willing to work himself until he couldn’t walk another step. That’s where he drew the line. If he wouldn’t be able to recover in time for the following day, he turned in and went home.
That had been an entire conversation with the rest of the squad that he loathed, because they all had a valid point. If he was always throwing himself into the thick of a fight and coming out so battered and bruised that he couldn’t come back in for several days, he wouldn’t get anywhere near the top ten rankings for the hero billboard charts. But he wasn’t a complete ass. If there were critical instances where he was needed while resting, of course he wouldn’t hesitate to suit up. Thankfully those times were few and far between, and a number of them bookended holidays, so he could at least be prepared for those ones.
“Dyna, where are you going, man? Our patrol route’s this way,” Kirishima laughed, catching up to the ash blonde and placing a hand on his shoulder.
Coming out of his thoughts, Bakugo noted he was headed in the direction of the coffee shop he and the squad had visited for his birthday a few weeks back. He couldn’t explain it, but he could feel a pull in that direction that he really couldn’t ignore. It was similar to the feeling he got when a hostile was in the area, but much more muted. Like a threat on the verge of breaking out, if he had to pin it to something specific. “Change of plan. We’re going this way, Red.”
Thankfully, his friend caught up to fall into step beside him, briefly concerned, but knew better than to question the angry blonde’s decision. When they arrived at the coffee shop, they found an interesting scene. An officer in uniform was standing outside, looking up at the second story window of the coffee shop, while his partner and fire fighters were standing by. This couldn’t be good. The officer watching the second floor reacted to something, a sign probably, and turned to the fireman, raising an arm to wave at them.
Kirishima called out to them, running over. “Officer! What’s going on here? Is there a fire inside? Any casualties?”
The answer to both questions -thank the gods- was no. Picking up the pace to a light jog, Bakugo caught a glimpse of the sight before the firemen started spraying it down. The building had been vandalized, someone having come along in the dead of the night to paint the symbol of the Quirkless all over the exterior of the shop’s entire second floor. That royally pissed him off.
Ignoring the officer’s protests not to enter the shop, the now fuming ash blonde went inside, locking the door behind him. Inside, he found (Name) seated at the furthest table from the door with her head buried in her hands. “Any idea who might have done this?”
She flinched at the sound of his voice, her head snapping up to reveal that there were silent tears streaming down her cheeks. A quick shake of her head came in response to his question. “I’m not so concerned about that right now...”
He wasn’t going to leave now, not while there was an unresolved issue here. For one, he’d get chewed out for it, and for another, (Name) didn’t exactly strike him as a woman who broke easily. “Alright, out with it.”
“Please, don’t trouble yourself with me. I’m sure you have much more important hero work that you could be doing right now.”
“Did I stutter? Out with it, woman. I’m not leaving here until I know for sure if I can actually do something or not.”
“You can’t do anything about it, so just go away!” She turned to him, arm raising like she wanted to smack him, and he quickly grabbed her wrist.
His crimson orbs met her weeping (e/c) ones, and he let out a low growl. “I’ll be the judge of that. Talk.”
Not wanting to spook her any more than she already was, he waited impatiently for her to start giving him information as to the epicenter of her concerns. At long last, she began, possibly realizing that he wasn’t going to leave until she’d spilled her futile concerns.
“It started two months ago... revenue started dropping just a little bit every other day. In the last week, though, it’s tanked so hard I have to use my savings to keep things going.”
That’s where she stopped, and he waited a few moments for any kind of addition to the explanation, but was offered nothing more. “That’s it?” His prompt was met with a slow, solemn nod. In answer to that, the ash blonde sent a text to Deku, stating that the two of them needed to have a talk. Now.
“I don’t need your help, if that’s what you’re doing,” (Name) said as she got up from her seat and went behind the counter. “I’ll make it work, somehow. I just needed to get that off my chest.” She paused in her task of putting on a pot of coffee, looking over her shoulder at him. “I feel a little better now, so I guess I just needed to have someone hear me out, is all. Thank you.”
“Whatever.” Snarling, Bakugo got up from his seat and left, telling Kirishima to continue on patrol without him. “I’m going to find Deku.”
By the time the angry dog did manage to find his rival and childhood friend, Bakugo’s swirling thoughts had made him nothing short of livid. So much so that the greenette was wary of approaching him. He wasn’t given the luxury of choice, though, as he was dragged off into a more secluded alley, where the risk of anyone overhearing them was significantly lower.
“H-hey, Kacchan, what’s got you so riled-?”
“Shut up and listen, Izuku.” Calling him by name certainly did the trick, and it was something he only used when it was a very serious conversation. “I need to know if that project of yours is anywhere near ready to be put into action.”
A brow of confusion was raised, and Deku had to think on it for a while. “You mean the project the three of us are funding together?”
“What are you, stupid? Of course that project!” Taking a deep breath to calm his raging nerves and collect his thoughts again, he informed the broccoli bean as to why he was inquiring about the secretive project. “How soon can we get on this?”
Deku was speechless. “Kacchan, you actually want to help-”.
“Answer the question, you damn nerd!”
Steeling his gaze, the green-haired male gave a firm nod, walking back out into the street. “Let’s go, Dynamight.”
Huffing as he followed behind, Bakugo stayed outside the shop while his friend went in to talk to (Name), explaining what was going to happen to her business now, and how life would continue on with this new normal. Standing outside the window and looking out over the street, the blonde didn’t need to strain to hear the muffled sobbing that was coming from inside. He didn’t want to hang around, and so he started walking down the street, thinking of which direction would be faster to up with Kirishima again.
Those thoughts were shoved away as someone careened into him from behind, arms wrapping firmly around his torso. Gaze whipping down completely on instinct, he found his eyes locking on to the bracelet that he’d seen (Name) wearing. A few moments later, he felt her muffled sobs against his back.
“Thank you, Dynamight... thank you.” She startled a bit when he pulled her around to stand in front of him, and patted her head.
“You remind me of someone I knew as a kid… always trying to be something he couldn’t. He was Quirkless, too. He never gave up. And now he’s a hero, because someone gave him a chance.” Looking around to make sure that nobody was really paying attention, he gave her a tiny little smile for a heartbeat, then went back to his devil-may-care expression. “Don’t give up, (Name).”
Walking away, Bakugo could hear Deku exchanging some concerned words with her before firing off some heavy blasts behind himself to take off into the air. He’d done his good deed for today, though he was going to stop by the coffee shop on his way back home and get something for the road. And check in on (Name) if she wasn’t too busy.
Over the course of the next few months, though Bakugo would never openly it it, stopping into (Name)’s shop at the end of the day was a force of habit. She’d convinced him to help her repaint the front of the store at one point, to prominently display the symbol for the Quirkless, and that one action alone had brought her revenue back to what it had been originally. And as those months of making sure that she was okay ed into years, the ash blonde finally approached her shop one night just before closing time, letting himself in despite there being no customers.
The reason he was here was still caught in the final stages of approval, but he wasn’t going to sit around and wait for it any longer. This needed to be put in place so that he could come here as just an ordinary customer, rather than waltzing into the shop in full costume as Dynamight.
(Name) was behind the counter, counting up the till and paused to look up at him in confusion. “Dyna? It’s closing time, you know that.”
He smirked, a little chuckle easily heard in the usually bustling space. “I’m fully aware of that, idiot. I got something for ya. For more peace of mind and all that sentimental crap.”
That got a laugh out of her, which he’d grown to love hearing. Again, pride would never let him it that aloud. Going up to her, he placed the pamphlet onto the counter and stepped back, shoving his hands into his pockets. While reading, her expression went from confusion to joyful tears. “Dyna,” she whimpered, dropping the packet of information and hopping the counter to hug him. The tears running down her cheeks were obvious, and she made no effort to hide them from him. It was that honesty to her that he respected most.
Patting her head and wrapping an arm around her waist, he smiled. Something only the closest people to his heart got to witness. “I have a name, y’know. You can use it when it’s just the two of us.” That earned another laugh.
“Come back here out of costume tomorrow morning and I’ll consider it, hero,” she countered, looking up at him and tapping the end of his nose with her finger.
Accepting the challenge, he gave a lazy goodbye and left (Name) to her devices again, hiding the tiniest genuine smile the whole way home. The following morning, bright and early, Bakugo got dressed in normal clothes, called into work saying he was taking a day off to rest, and made his way to (Name)’s coffee shop. To his relief, he found a few officers outside, alongside a company truck for the company he’d hired to do the work for him. There were customers around waiting to get in, as the shop was temporarily closed while they were working. Among them was (Name), who discreetly made her way over to Bakugo once she noticed his presence.
Ducking away from the crowd and finding a secluded spot, he did something he never would have considered years ago. Soft lips met hers, and he held her close, pressing her head into his chest while he leaned in close to her ear. “Even when I’m not here, I’ll still be watching over you, (Name). Dyna Security will keep you and your business safe from now on.”
A few more happy tears welled up in her eyes as she looked up at him, smiling ear to ear. Her entire body relaxed, like the heaviest weight had just been lifted from her shoulders. “Thank you, Katsuki.”
“Yeah, whatever... Teddy Bear.”
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Cover image is a picture taken by me
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