A Communication Error - Part 3

[Part 2]

Izuku was sitting in the corner of the dining area, when Katsuki walked in, and it took all Katsuki’s willpower to not just turn around and walk straight back out again. Yaoyorozu had obviously invited him to some stupid little tea party, and the nerd didn’t even have the courtesy of looking embarrassed about it.

“Mm! This is so good!” Izuku gushed, when he took a sip from the delicate cup Yaoyorozu had poured for him. “Thanks for sharing, Yaoyorozu!”

“You’re welcome!” she said, smiling warmly. “It’s my favourite, from a store in Uji. My parents went on a little holiday recently and brought some back for me.”

“That’s so nice of them!”

Yaoyorozu had gotten herself all dressed up for the occasion, Katsuki noticed. She always looked nicely put together, with her expensive clothes and all, but she’d picked out a flowy little dress for the tea party, her hair in perfect curls around her shoulders that were clearly not natural. On some level, Katsuki supposed it made sense; Uraraka’s skin to win strategy had clearly not worked out for her, so Yaoyorozu had gone for cute and pretty, in the hopes it would turn things around for her. Katsuki applauded her strategy, but clearly his classmates knew nothing about Izuku.

“Taste test these for me!” Sato said, hurrying in with a plate of little pastries fresh from the oven – he’d been roped into helping Yaoyorozu out, huh? “What do you think?”

He set the plate down and carefully picked up one of the tiny cakie-looking things, delicately lifting it to Izuku’s mouth. Izuku blinked at him, taken aback, but took a bite all the same, going all starry-eyed when it reached his tongue.

“Oh my gosh Sato, you’ve out done yourself! Are they for something special?”

“Yes,” Sato said, with a little smile. “For you.”

Oh. Not helping after all.

“Aww,” Izuku said, laughing sheepishly. “You’re sweet.”

“Not at all, you deserve a little treat with how hard you’ve been working recently!”

Katsuki wondered if Izuku had factored ‘little treats’ into the diet and workout plan he spent so much time researching, writing, revising, rewriting, reresearching, and rewriting again. To be entirely honest, Katsuki wouldn’t be even the slightest bit surprised if he had.

“I’ve been very impressed with your work lately, in class,” Yaoyorozu said, taking another sip from her tea. “You’re always so dedicated, and while everyone else is tired or burning out, you’re out here working harder than ever. I admire your resolve.”

“That’s so sweet of you to say!” Izuku smiled, his cheeks turning pink. “I just want to be a hero so much, it’s been my dream my whole life, so every time I start to get exhausted, I remind myself what it’s all for, and I get a good night’s sleep, and by morning I’m rearing to go again! I have so much to live up to, and so many people to repay, and a quirk that I have to do justice to, so I can’t go slacking off!”

“You’re such an inspiration!”

Honestly, Katsuki was starting to think Yaoyorozu was the only one with a shot. Praising Izuku for his work ethic and telling him he was a good hero might have been the closest to an effective flirting technique that Katsuki had seen so far. As for the others, he found himself wondering if their ‘techniques’ actually worked on anyone. It was bad enough that they were trying it on Izuku of all people, but did anyone watch some idiot teenager flex in a mirror and decide ‘ah, yes, I want to date that one’? Did people really see someone dressed in borderline underwear and think ‘this one, this is the person I want to hang out with’? Katsuki couldn’t fathom it ever paying off, but considering the amount of casual sex he heard about – or just heard – in their dorms, he supposed something had to be going right.

“How about this one, Midoriya?” Sato asked, nudging the plate a little closer. “I got these new silicone moulds and they make these cute little flowery shapes, think this one is my favourite.”

“They’re very pretty!” Izuku agreed. “It must be so hard to get them out of the moulds cleanly so they don’t break, I don’t have nearly enough dexterity for that!”

“I can teach you, if you like. It’s not really that hard, it just takes technique and practice. By next White Day we’ll have you making perfect homemade chocolates for the people you like.”

Izuku laughed sheepishly, and Yaoyorozu and Sato both eagerly waited for a follow-up, but as usual, Izuku gave them nothing.

“That sounds like fun,” he said instead. “I always like to learn new skills! I’m a terrible cook, though, so don’t rely on me too much.”

“Don’t worry about that, we’re a team,” Sato assured him, placing a hand on Izuku’s shoulder. “Together we’ll be amazing, nothing can stop us.”

“Teamwork is great,” Izuku agreed. “I’m so glad I have such great classmates to work with.”

Katsuki had to turn and walk away before he could groan too audibly, giving away his eavesdropping. He wasn’t sure it really counted, since they were in a public space, but he knew his classmates would complain about it regardless, and he really wasn’t in the mood to deal with that kind of bullshit.

Gritting his teeth, Katsuki grabbed a glass container from the fridge, his meal thankfully pre-prepared. He shoved it in the microwave and tapped his foot impatiently as he waited, watching it turn and turn at a snail’s pace, the little light and the buzz slowly driving him insane. The moment the first beep sounded, he was slamming the door open, grabbing his hot container and a clean fork, and stomping off toward his room.

He could still hear the nerds giggling behind him over their tea and snacks, and if he stuck around much longer, he was gonna do something stupid.

[Part 4]