Behind the Seams [Chapter 5]

“Be on your best behaviour, stick to the plans, don’t go off-script, and-”

“I know, you old hag,” Katsuki scowled. “I know how to do my damn job.”

“I’m serious, brat. If you screw this up, we might never get to work with them again. Or anyone else, for that matter.”

Katsuki bristled, but it was surprisingly difficult to keep his scowl in place – as much as he hated to admit it, he knew his mother was right. If he gave in and let himself fanboy instead of working, his reputation – and the company’s by extension – would be ruined.

He swallowed hard, and conceded a single, uncomfortable nod.

“Kacchan!” Deku called, hurrying down the steps to meet him. “You’re gonna love the bus, it’s super cool! Come and see!”

He snatched Katsuki’s hand, dragging him up the steps, and Katsuki found himself too stunned to speak, his face burning bright red. He wasn’t used to people just grabbing him, let alone when it was Deku.

“This is our little kitchen, for snacks and late nights!” Deku explained, waving to a narrow counter and a microwave. “The toilet is through that door there, but we’ve all agreed, there’s no pooping unless it’s an emergency! It’ll stink out the bus.”

Katsuki opened his mouth to respond, but Deku was already off again, dragging him over to sit on the longest couch Katsuki had ever seen.

“It’s pretty comfy!” Deku assured him, as Katsuki fell heavily onto a cushion beside him. “That little door there goes to the driver’s area. All Might is gonna do most of the driving, but Aizawa is more than capable too, if he needs a break or anything. And look how big this TV is!”

The TV in question was, honestly, not that big, but Katsuki could only nod stupidly when Deku looked at him with such big, shiny eyes.

“Okay, upstairs!” Deku continued, jumping back to his feet and dragging Katsuki up a narrow flight of curving stairs. “These are our bunk beds! I already called dibs on a top bunk, but if you really want one and the others won’t share, we can take turns some nights. Down the end is another little lounge, that’s gonna be Quiet Lounge, in case anyone is sleeping up here. There’s more bunks through this door here, just a couple, see? And right down the end here is Aizawa’s room, isn’t it so cool that they can fit a double bed on a bus?”

“Leave the poor guy alone,” Denki laughed, stepping out of the Quiet Lounge and offering him a fist. “Hey, Bakugou. Welcome to the Cool Kidz Bus. With a Z, of course.”

“Hey,” Katsuki croaked out, Deku finally releasing his hand for long enough to let him breathe. “Um, how’s it going?”

“Pretty good! We had an early start this morning, for All Might to pick us all up, so I’ve already taken my first nap up here. It’s actually pretty comfortable, other than all the stopping and starting.”

“There won’t be as much of that in the middle of the night,” Tenya assured him, joining them in the tiny corridor between beds. “Good to see you, Bakugou.”

“Yeah, uh, you too.”

“I believe Aizawa wants to see us all before we leave. Shall we?”

They all filed down the stairs obediently, back to where Mitsuki wore a smug little smirk, despite the concern that still sat in her eyes.

“Don’t start,” Katsuki muttered, as he stomped past her, only to run into an extra-gleeful Mina. “Oh shut up.”

“Love you too, Blasty,” Mina teased. “Are all your bags in the pile?”

She gestured toward where a couple of interns were already loading their suitcases into the back of the bus, and Katsuki nodded.

“Yeah, all sorted.”

“And you colour-coded them all?”

“Fucking obviously.”

“Just checking!” Mina grinned. “I thought maybe you just wanted to be nosy and know what was in my bags.”

“Like I give a shit what you bring.”

One of the interns held a list in hand, directing the others, and Katsuki was relieved to see they were apparently following his directions carefully.

“I believe you’ve all met Bakugou and Ashido,” Aizawa began, gesturing toward them both. “The two of them will be accompanying us on the trip, to help with wardrobe and such. I expect you all to treat them well, not like you treat each other.”

“It’s gonna be so good to have you!” Ochako said brightly, throwing her arms around Mina’s waist. “I was so excited when Aizawa told us!”

“Aww! I’m excited too! This is gonna be so much fun!”

“Please make sure everything you all need for the next few hours is in your hand, the rest of the bags will be locked in the back shortly, and I don’t want to pull over because someone forgot to keep their snacks out. Other than that, we should be ready to go.”

With grins that Katsuki didn’t think he’d ever matched in his life, Ochako and Mina headed off together to hop on the bus, apparently now Mina’s turn to get a little tour. Katsuki watched the interns another minute, then the little procession of people filing onto the bus, and finally he joined his parents near the bus doors, stuffing his hands in his pockets as he waited awkwardly for them to notice him.

“Have a good time,” Masaru said with a soft smile. “I know you’re gonna do a great job, take some time to have fun, too.”

“Whatever,” Katsuki shrugged, a little relieved all the same – at least one parent had faith in him. “It’ll be fine.”

“I know it will. I’ll be in Osaka for the shoot next week, so let me know if you need anything. Other than the list you’ve already given me, that is.”

“I will.”

“And be good!” Mitsuki added, hugging him despite the way he squirmed and complained in return. “Don’t go yelling at people and shit, you hear me?”

“Like I would,” Katsuki huffed. “Whatever, go work.”

“Not until we’ve waved goodbye, brat!”

“Like I need that!”

“Too bad! Suffer!”

Katsuki grumbled, but he gave up arguing, and even allowed his dad a reluctant hug before he stepped onto the bus to join the others. Sure enough, even when all the doors were closed and the bus was starting to move, they still stood there on the footpath, waving goodbye right up until they rounded a corner out of sight.

Embarrassing assholes.

“Alright, come take a seat,” Aizawa instructed, waving toward the massive couch and the smaller counterpart opposite. “We need to cover some ground rules before we get too deep into this trip.”

“Come onnn,” Denki whined. “We’re all adults here!”

“If this was the first time we’d met, I might actually believe that. Unfortunately, I know you.”

“Fine,” Denki sighed dramatically, flopping onto a couch cushion. “Spoilsport.”

The rest of the idols joined him on the bigger couch, settling in for a lecture, but Katsuki opted to take the one opposite, to give himself a little more space – and maybe a view of Deku’s face, too. Mina sat down beside him, but she didn’t breach his little personal bubble, and he was silently grateful for that fact. Tenya, on the other hand, opted to remain standing next to Aizawa – Katsuki wondered if the stick up his butt even allowed him to sit down.

“I know I talked about some of this earlier, with some of you, so I don’t want to hear the whining about repeating myself. First things first – you do not disturb All Might or myself while we’re driving unless it’s an emergency. That door remains closed at all times. If we are both up there, and you need something, you may knock, but do not just barge in as you feel like it. I don’t want to swerve off the road because one of you children decided to burst in and scare the daylights out of him. Does everyone understand?”

“Yeeeees,” the others chorused, Katsuki and Mina nodding along awkwardly – it felt like being back in high school or something.

“This downstairs area is your place to watch movies, play video games, cook and eat, and anything else of that nature. The entire upstairs is a quiet zone, so people can get their rest. The smaller bunk room is for the girls only.”

“Joke’s on you,” Denki began, grinning. “We’re all-”

“I do not care in the slightest about your sexual orientation,” Aizawa cut him off, exasperated. “We’ve already had this conversation. The girls have the right to a space with a little privacy, and for that matter, so do you. This is public-changing-room rules, not no-sleeping-together-on-a-bus rules. However-”

“We know,” Deku laughed awkwardly, cheeks flushed pink. “No one is going to sleep together on the bus, we know!”

Katsuki raised an eyebrow, glancing over at Mina, who looked equally perplexed and curious. Was that a discussion they had frequently? Were they particularly prone to sleeping with each other? Katsuki had never considered that idea, and now that he was, he didn’t like it. Not one bit.

“If you’re changing clothes, close the doors to your rooms. If you need to enter or pass through a room with closed doors, knock first. Respect each other’s privacy. Especially when we have guests with us. I know you lot-” he looked pointedly at the idols, “have no sense of personal space sometimes, but that doesn’t mean everyone else is the same.”

“If you’re asleep, I assume we can pass through the girls’ room to retrieve you, in an emergency?” Tenya asked. “Of course I’d prefer not to wake them up while they’re resting, but-”

“I’ll be sleeping down here,” Aizawa stopped him quickly. “There’s a bunk in the driver’s room which All Might and I will use if either of us needs a nap, so that is the only time you can knock on that door – if you need us and we’re sleeping.”

The room fell silent, everyone looking toward the stairs in confusion, and finally it was Tsuyu who dared to ask the question.

“Does that mean the double bed is up for grabs?” she asked. “Because dibs.”

“That room is for Bakugou,” Aizawa said quickly, before the arguments could begin.

“It’s what?” Katsuki asked dumbly, staring at him. “I know I’m an asshole, but I don’t need a whole room to be an asshole in.”

He realised his words too late, when Mina shook her head at him fondly, a bunch of giggles being quickly stifled on the couch opposite them.

“There’s a small table in there,” Aizawa explained, apparently not at all surprised by Katsuki’s bluntness. “And a little extra space. I know you plan on working a lot, while we’re travelling, so hopefully that should make it easier to set up your equipment and have some quiet time to work on it when you want it.”

“Oh. Um, thank you. That’s really... considerate of you.” He paused, glancing at Mina beside him. “Uh, so people are... allowed in my room, right? I’m not gonna get thrown off the tour for that?”

“As long as you allow it,” Aizawa nodded. “And they aren’t getting in your way.”

“Okay. Um, thank you. I appreciate it.”

“The rest of the beds I’ll let you all pick out for yourselves,” Aizawa continued. “But if you are sleeping, you need to sleep with your feet toward the front of the bus. If we stop in a hurry, you don’t need to smash your heads open on the edge of the bunk.”

Katsuki hadn’t even thought of that possibility. What had he gotten himself into? Maybe he’d just wait until their hotel nights to sleep, and suffer in between.

“For now, you can get settled in and pick your spots. We should be there around one o’clock, to grab some lunch before we start load-in and soundcheck. I’ll be up front with All Might unless you need anything.”

“And no pooping on the bus!” Ochako announced. “It’s a tiny little room and it’ll stink! So no poop unless you absolutely can’t hold it!”

Aizawa sighed again, pinching at the bridge of his nose, and Katsuki just tucked his legs in closer to the couch, giving him room to pass by silently and lock himself up front with All Might.

Honestly, Katsuki couldn’t blame him in the slightest.

The moment the door closed, the bus erupted with noise – namely, excitement about Mina being there, of course, and even about Katsuki being there – apparently they needed new challengers in whatever video game they were currently competing in, and Deku had volunteered Katsuki as tribute. Typical.

“This is gonna be so much fun!” Deku beamed, throwing himself onto the couch between Mina and Katsuki. “I’m so glad you’re here! Both of you! You’re gonna make this tour so great!”

“Have you guys been drinking or something?”

“It’s ten in the morning, Kacchan!”

“Answer the question, Nerd.”

“No! I mean- No, we haven’t been drinking! At least, I don’t think so? I haven’t been drinking, I guess I can’t speak for the others, Ochako and Tsuyu do like to get mimosas with brunch sometimes, so I guess they could have been? But they didn’t tell me they had been, so-”

“I was kidding, Deku.”

“Oh!”

Katsuki smiled faintly, and Deku returned it with a thousand times the force, leaning in a little closer to be heard under the madness of the rest of the group.

“If you need some alone time or anything, let me know, okay? I’ll keep the others off your back.”

“Thanks.”

“Any time! We really are happy to have you. The girls all adore Ashido, I’ve never seen them as excited as when Aizawa said she was coming. Even Kyouka was excited, and she’s not a very excitable person! I mean, who can blame them, right? You two are so cool, with the hair and the clothes and the personalities. You’re both so... larger than life. I really admire that.”

“Stop being cheesy,” Katsuki huffed, blushing a little. “Mina is cool, I get it. I sure as hell wouldn’t trust anyone else with my designs.”

“That’s why we’re besties,” Mina grinned, reaching over to ruffle Katsuki’s hair despite the glare it earned her – as always. “He has his stubborn little visions, I make them come to life without him noticing the changes I have to make occasionally for practicality.”

“She gets me,” Katsuki shrugged, ignoring the obvious bait. “She used to be a designer with me, before she decided she liked being a stylist better, so I know she gets what I want out of shit.”

He paused a moment, glancing up at the girls who listened with rapt attention, then back to Mina again.

“She designed some of the tour outfits,” he said, watching Mina blink at him in surprise – that hadn’t exactly been public knowledge, now that design was no longer her department. “She does better with the girly shit than me.”

“Oh my gosh, did you really?” Ochako gushed. “Can I see them?”

“Um, most of them aren’t ready yet?” she said sheepishly, reaching into her purse for a tablet that was always close at hand. “Do you want to see the sketches?”

“Yes! Absolutely!”

She moved across to the other couch, pulling up her image gallery for them to see, and Katsuki managed a tiny smile as he watched. He still maintained the belief that she’d have been a great designer if she’d had a little more confidence in her work, but it wasn’t like he’d ever admit that. Well, not outside of the one moment they’d had in his office, behind closed doors, in hushed voices to keep anyone from knowing what was going on inside. The fashion industry was too fast-paced and cut-throat for anyone to catch wind of them having doubts about themselves, they’d have been run out the door in minutes if anyone overheard them having an actual, serious conversation about their futures.

When he saw Shouto leaning over curiously, he sighed to himself. The group had been so busy planning and rehearsing, all the design approvals had been ultimately left to All Might and Aizawa – he supposed it was only fair that they wanted some hints on what was to come.

“Here,” he said finally, pulling his own tablet out to match. “I’ve got your shit on this one.”

Shouto blinked at him, apparently not entirely sure that Katsuki was even talking to him, but Denki had no such hesitation – he dove onto Katsuki’s armrest before the sentence was even finished, leaning against the back of the couch to get a closer look at the screen.

“I suppose you wanna see yours, too,” Katsuki mumbled, glancing at Izuku.

“Nope,” Izuku grinned. “I wanna be surprised with Kacchan’s finished products!”

“Really?”

“Really!”

To prove his point, he moved over to the other couch, leaving him sitting opposite Katsuki again. It was honestly insanely distracting, having those doe eyes staring at him all the time, that dopey smile aimed his way, but Katsuki couldn’t even be mad. After all, how many people could say their favourite idol was being a sappy, cheesy, adorable idiot in their presence?

Fuck, he really was the luckiest dude in the world.

─

Katsuki slipped into the crowd with the normal attendees, finding a seat near the front to watch, and soon the familiar faces were stepping out onto the stage, grinning and waving as the audience cheered and screamed for them. It was only a small group, an exclusive set of badge holders who had forked out extra cash just to watch the soundcheck and ask questions of the idols. It was a ridiculous sum to pay for very little, honestly, but Katsuki absolutely would have done it too.

In fact, he had done it too, he’d just gotten them all refunded when he got offered the free tour option instead. He felt pretty rich, having that money back – he’d have to find something fun to spend it on, like maybe a fancy dinner date with-

“Thank you all for coming!” Deku said brightly, beaming out at the crowd. “This is actually the first time we’ve done this with an audience, so I hope it’s not too boring! We need to test microphone levels and lighting and all that boring technical stuff, so you can listen to us be terrible at singing with no warm up, then when we’re all sorted out, we’ll take some questions from you guys! That should be super fun, so just bear with us until then!”

They got into it quickly, and the audience watched with rapt attention as they talked and hummed and sang a little, the techs figuring out all the best levels to make them sound good. Katsuki was sure it was a boring process to the idols, who had done it a hundred times, but it was weirdly fascinating to him, as someone who’d never seen it before.

Soon they were all ready to go, the lighting and sound people giving them a bunch of thumbs-ups from the booth, and then the group was sitting on the front of the stage, feet dangling, while tech people in dark t-shirts ran out into the audience with a couple of microphones.

“If you have a question, please raise your hand and one of our amazing PAs will come help you!” Ochako instructed with a grin. “We should have enough time to get to everybody, since we’ve limited the numbers for these events, so please be patient with us if we don’t get to you right away!”

Katsuki found it oddly surreal, sitting back and watching as people threw their hands up frantically. In another life, he’d have been right there with them, a list of questions in hand that he hoped would get fun or insightful answers, and maybe a ‘Wow! What a good question!’ for good measure. Instead, though, he sat there with his mind entirely blank – there were probably a million things he’d love to ask, but knowing that there was no urgency, that he could ask them any time, left him completely devoid of questions.

“What are your hobbies when you’re not being an idol?”

Katsuki wrinkled his nose. They’d been asked that in at least a dozen interviews online and in magazines, did they really need to ask it again?

“I love anything fashion and shopping related,” Ochako grinned, glancing over at Kyouka. “The two of us love visiting cool local clothing stores in every city we visit, seeing what we can find. If you have any recommendations for places to visit during the tour, send them to me on social media! I’d love to hear them!”

“I usually tag along too,” Tsuyu added. “And I like to swim, when I have the chance.”

“I play a lot of other instruments,” Kyouka offered. “So even when I’m not working, music is usually involved.”

“And I like to read,” said Shouto. “I spent most of the ride here with a book in my hands.”

“What are you reading right now?” Deku prompted.

“An old book called The Honjin Murders, it’s a mystery novel my mother loved as a child, so I wanted to give it a try.”

“Is it good?”

“I’m enjoying it so far,” he nodded solemnly. “No spoilers please.”

“You need to lend me that last one your mom recommended, the dragon sword one.”

“I brought it with me for you.”

“Yes! I’m excited!”

Katsuki couldn’t help but smile fondly, but Deku turned to his other side, rather than continue rambling.

“Denki?” he asked.

“I like anything active,” Denki shrugged. “I spend a lot of time sitting still to play music, so it’s nice to get out and move.”

“Denki runs every morning.” Deku added. “I’m still sound asleep and he’s already been on a long run and made himself breakfast! People always think he’s the lazy one, but he’s so dedicated, I admire him!”

“He’s an awesome skater, too,” Ochako piped up. “He does all sorts of cool tricks!”

“I’m not that great,” Denki chuckled. “You guys are easily impressed!”

“And what about you, Izuku?” Tsuyu asked. “You haven’t told them your own hobbies, yet.”

“Oh! Me? I’m boring,” Deku laughed sheepishly. “I like comic books? That’s all I can think of, to be honest.”

“He collects tiny stuffed animals,” Shouto offered. “Like, tiny teddy bears and stuff.”

“That’s not a hobby, they’re just cute!”

“Collecting things is a hobby.”

“I guess so,” Deku hummed thoughtfully. “I have a lot of comic merch, too, if you want to count collecting that.”

Katsuki couldn’t help but imagine Deku clutching a handful of tiny toys, giggling to himself, and the thought made him smile faintly. Maybe he’d find a little green bunny along their tour path and add it to Deku’s collection.

“Who writes all your songs and choreographs the dances?” the next fan asked. “Do you have people hired for it? Or work with a lot of different people?”

“Mostly us,” Shouto shrugged. “Denki writes most of our music, and Kyouka is always ready to back him up and figure out all the different parts.”

“Yeah!” Deku grinned. “We can go up to them and be like ‘hey, how about this?’ and hum like one line of a tune and they’ll figure out how to make it into something!”

“Izuku writes a lot of the lyrics,” Denki added quickly. “And the girls do all of the choreography. But everyone contributes to everything at some point. And yeah, sometimes we work with outside people too, but I feel like it’s more fun when we do it together.”

The others nodded their agreement, and the microphone moved on, heading to the next excited fan.

“What are you all looking forward to the most on this tour?”

“The bus!” Denki laughed. “It’s already super fun just hanging out together on a tour bus, I think it’s gonna be a blast!”

“The food,” Shouto contributed. “I want to try good food in every city we visit.”

“Oh man, that’s a good answer,” Ochako sighed. “The food is gonna be so good. I was gonna say shopping, even though it’s a boring answer now!”

“I’m looking forward to playing our new songs,” said Kyouka. “We have some cool new stuff to debut, we’ve been working really hard on it.”

“And I’m excited for the tour outfits,” Tsuyu said with a little smile. “We have some really cool designers working with us.”

“Oh! Yes! I want to wear the outfits!” Ochako agreed readily. “You guys are gonna love them, oh my gosh.”

Katsuki felt his cheeks growing warm, and Deku flashed him a smile, turning it quickly into a full-blown blush.

“We have a couple of the designers from the Bakugou agency working with us,” Ochako continued. “I’m sure you all saw the shoot we did with them before, we used those photos for our recent tour posters too! They’re such a cool company, and the people are so amazing, I wish I could be half as cool as any of them!”

“Not advertising anything,” Shouto smirked. “Ochako is just passionate.”

“Yeah! Sorry! I wasn’t paid to plug them!” Ochako laughed. “I’m just genuinely so excited for you guys to see all the outfits. They made this one, too!”

She pointed down at herself, at the somewhat understated outfit she’d put on for the event – the flashy ones would be saved for the proper show, but Mina and Katsuki had still been sure to find them all something cool for each event along the way, too.

“I’m looking forward to meeting all the fans,” Deku smiled warmly. “I know that’s a cheesy answer, but I always love interacting with everyone and meeting all the different people who come to see us perform! I’m really grateful for everyone who comes, and doing stuff like this is so new and exciting. Thank you, all of you!”

The questions went on for the better part of an hour, and then the group was saying their goodbyes, the PAs ushering everyone out the doors in as nice a way as possible. Katsuki waited until the room was just about empty before he headed backstage with one of the security guards, meeting the idols in the dressing room as they fell into various chairs and beanbags to rest.

“It takes a lot out of you,” Shouto said quietly. “I didn’t expect it.”

“Yeah!” Denki agreed. “I guess at a signing they’re all super quick interactions, and at a show we have everything planned and ready, but it’s unusual for us to do a long event with all the same people? I felt like I was gonna run out of things to say!”

“At least the rest should be easier, now,” Ochako said. “We’ll probably get a lot of the same questions in other cities, so we can kind of prepare ourselves for that. I wish I’d spent more time looking up suggested questions online and stuff, to plan out my answers!”

“Just ask Bakugou,” Denki grinned. “He’s at all our events, right?”

Every eye in the room turned to Katsuki, and he felt himself burn red again.

“Make us a list,” Tsuyu suggested, thankfully taking Katsuki back off the spot. “If you can think of anything you think they might ask.”

“The terms and conditions of the ticket say it can’t be inappropriate,” Shouto added. “They’ll not be allowed at the concert if they violate it.”

“I know,” Katsuki mumbled, ignoring the way everyone eyed him curiously for it – well, except Deku. “I had one, idiot.”

“You had a soundcheck ticket?” Denki clarified. “Dude, that’s cool.”

“He had multiple,” Mina grinned, apparently sensing the opportunity to embarrass him and showing up immediately to take it. “Every show, right?”

“Not every show,” Katsuki huffed.

“Oh, right, we’re only doing them at the Saturday shows.”

“Shut up.”

“Kacchan is a dedicated fan,” Deku smiled fondly. “I’m lucky to have such an amazing fan!”

“Don’t be embarrassing,” Katsuki cringed. “It’s whatever.”

“He’s turned down some of the biggest fashion shows just to be at your concerts,” Mina continued – damn her and her lack of fear of him. “He could have his own label by now if he didn’t constantly arrange his hours and jobs around being at your shows.”

“Gross, I don’t want my own label,” Katsuki objected. “Do you know how much admin that would involve?”

“You hire people for that, Blasty.”

“Ew, hiring people.”

“It wouldn’t be that hard!”

“No point, I’ll get the whole thing when they retire,” Katsuki shrugged. “My name is literally on the sign already.”

“What if they decide to hand it over to someone else? Or sell it?”

“Now who’s being an idiot?”

Mina snorted at him, shaking her head fondly, but at least she seemed to have sufficiently distracted them from Katsuki’s ticket purchases.

“I know you’re in downtime,” she began again, moving on quickly. “But can we quickly clarify timelines and stuff? When do you start officially prepping for stage?”

“Whenever you want us to!” Ochako assured her. “Just let us know!”

“Iida usually gets us to eat about two hours before the show,” Shouto added. “So about five we’ll have a snack, we can get dressed and stuff after that?”

“An hour would be more than enough for us! All our stuff is set up, the crew did it for us so that’s cool. We can all have dinner together, then get into wardrobe after that!”

“That sounds good.”

“If you, god forbid, have any wardrobe emergencies on stage, I’ll be in the wings to help out. Make an excuse, rush off, and I’ll fix it up for you real quick. But there shouldn’t be any trouble. Blasty’ll be busy screaming his ass off, so I’ll handle anything backstage.”

Katsuki blinked at her, but she only smiled knowingly, shaking her head slightly when he opened his mouth to offer.

“I’ve got it,” she assured him. “You can go have fun, it’s all good.”

“Just... call me if you need me, right? I’ll keep my phone on.”

“You know I will! But we won’t need you!”

“Alright. Um, thank you.”

“No problem!” she grinned, clapping Deku on the shoulder. “God forbid we take you away from your Deku, right? He might not cope without you in the front row screaming at him!”

“Shut up,” Katsuki huffed, despite the way Deku laughed happily. “He’d be fine.”

“But I like having you,” Deku smiled. “I’m happy you’ll be there.”

“Yeah,” Katsuki agreed quietly, looking away in a hurry. “I’ll be there.”

─

Katsuki rubbed at his hair with a towel as he walked to the bus, mopping up any drips that still threatened to cascade down his clean t-shirt, only to find it practically empty on board. All Might waited in the driver’s area, and Katsuki shot him an awkward smile as he climbed the short flight of stairs into the bus, apparently invitation enough for the massive man to move to join him on the couch.

“It’s nice to meet you properly, young Bakugou,” he said, in his incredibly deep voice. “We didn’t get a chance to talk, last time. Young Midoriya talks about you all the time, though, I feel like I’ve known you forever.”

“It’s cool to meet you, too,” Katsuki mumbled. “I grew up listening to your music, it’s pretty surreal that you’re now working with... these guys.”

All Might smiled knowingly, and Katsuki wanted to kick himself for being so obvious.

“I’m glad you enjoyed my work. I think a lot of yours, too. Everything you make is impeccable, and those outfits tonight looked fantastic on stage. You really put a lot of thought into them.”

“I like designing stuff based on the people who inspire me,” Katsuki shrugged. “It’s easy to make stuff for people you admire, or whatever.”

“It may seem easy to you now, but you’ve clearly put a lot of time and effort into learning things the rest of us couldn’t begin to understand or do. So thank you for being here. I know you’ll have a great time anyway, but we appreciate you working with us along the way. If there’s anything I can do to help you out, please don’t hesitate to ask.”

“Thank you, I’ll keep it in mind. I already feel awful for taking up so much space; it can’t be comfortable for you, sleeping on a bunk.”

“It’s not as bad as it seems!” All Might assured him. “Besides, we’ll be in hotels most nights, anyway. I’m going to drive us tonight, then have a good sleep in the hotel before the show tomorrow while Aizawa supervises backstage. That’s the great part of having two of us here!”

“I’m glad it’s not too hard on you,” Katsuki nodded faintly. “It’s... cool, seeing how much you do for these guys. I’m sure they really appreciate it.”

“I’m just happy I can still be involved in the industry, after retiring. It’s been a very rewarding experience.”

Any further discussion was quickly cut off by hurried footsteps, a whirlwind of green hair and rumpled pyjamas jumping up the stairs to join them.

“Kacchan! All Might!” he bleated, beaming. “What did you think?! I had so much fun!”

Every trace of the glitter and dark eyeliner he’d been wearing only half an hour ago was washed away, his carefully-styled hair now a mess of soaked curls, and Katsuki couldn’t help but smile faintly. He looked like such a different person on stage, all cool and confident and talented – but like this? He was just a ball of energy and adorable-ness, and Katsuki loved it.

“I’ve got my cozy clothes back on,” Deku grinned knowingly, when he caught Katsuki looking. “But that outfit was amazing! I’m so sad that I only got to wear it once, even though I’m sure the next one will be awesome too! I felt so cool up there!”

“You looked cool,” Katsuki admitted, getting an even wider smile in return. “It worked out.”

“I’m so glad you were happy with it!”

“Spent a long time looking at shit under stage lights, would be worried if I wasn’t happy with it.”

“You did?”

Katsuki shrugged, and All Might smiled knowingly.

“The Bakugous said they rented out a theatre one night,” he explained, making Katsuki blush all over again. “They had a bunch of people run around on stage holding different fabrics to see which ones would translate best.”

“You’re so committed!” Deku gushed. “That’s amazing!”

“No big deal.”

“You always say that!”

“It’s always true.”

“Just admit that you’re amazing!”

“Well duh, I’m fucking perfect, but not for that.”

Deku laughed brightly, and Katsuki softened a little, relaxing again as he watched the joy pour out of him.

“Oh, here they come,” All Might said, glancing out the window. “Looks like everyone’s finished with their showers.”

Sure enough, the rest of the group began climbing the stairs, and Katsuki couldn’t help but notice that all of the idols were in pyjamas or sweats for the end of the night. Aizawa and All Might still looked mostly respectable, in button-up shirts and pants with no holes in them, but even Tenya was in a baggy old t-shirt and sweatpants. Katsuki almost felt like an idiot for wearing jeans, even though he thought he’d been casual by picking them, but he relaxed a little again when he saw Mina in one of her usual crop tops and a short skirt. At least he wasn’t the only one who had missed the pyjama party memo.

“All Might!” Deku piped up, before anyone else could get in first. “Can we get chicken nuggets?”

“I suppose we could.”

“Can we take the bus through the drive-thru?”

“I doubt it will fit, young Midoriya.”

“What?! Of course it will! It’s a bus!”

“It’s a double-decker bus,” Aizawa sighed. “We talked about this already.”

“Surely we can try.”

All Might excused himself while they continued their debate, getting the bus started up, and soon they were out on the road, heading through the dark streets toward the edge of town. They were still arguing when they pulled into a parking lot, a big neon sign above them proclaiming hey Deku this is where we make your nuggets, but Deku only pouted when All Might parked across a number of empty bays rather than brave the clearly-too-short road that ran around the building.

“I’ll go,” Katsuki said quickly, when Deku looked down at himself. “I’m less recognisable than you guys, I won’t get stopped for autographs.”

“I’ll come too!” Mina jumped up, still wearing her ever-present little smile. “What would you guys like?”

Katsuki made a list on his phone, when people began calling out their orders, and Aizawa insisted on shoving a credit card in Katsuki’s hand to cover it, refusing to take no for an answer. He wasn’t entirely sure how he and Mina were going to carry it all, looking at the length of the list, but he supposed they might just have to make an extra trip or two.

“My heroes!” Denki fawned, when the pair began their walk down the bus stairway. “We love you both!”

“I swear they didn’t touch any alcohol,” Katsuki mumbled, when the door was safely closed behind them. “I’m starting to think they carry hip flasks or something.”

“They’re sweet!” Mina laughed, and actually seemed to mean it. “It’s different from our career, for sure, but it’s a lot of fun, too. And if we get tired of the noise and the antics, we can always just hide out in your little private bedroom.”

“Sorry.”

“I didn’t mean it like that,” Mina assured him, holding the door open to let Katsuki head for the counter. “I love the girls, we’ll be fine, and I know you’ll be right there if I do need a break.”

“Yeah, just walk in, I don’t care.”

“What, and see your naked little butt hanging out?”

“Like you haven’t seen me change before,” he snorted. “I don’t care, you know that.”

“I know.”

She paused, looking over at the list of food as Katsuki handed it to the cashier, and he glanced back at her questioningly.

“Need to add something else?”

“I’m good,” she assured him. “They just... eat.”

Katsuki barked a short laugh, covering it quickly with a little cough, but Mina smiled knowingly.

“Not used to it,” she finished needlessly. “People getting excited about burgers and stuff, it’s kind of nice.”

“You won’t say that anymore when you see their coffee orders.”

“Oh god no, spare me the pain.”

“Suffer with me.”

She shot him a grin, and together they found a small table to sit at, waiting while the kitchen scrambled to put together their insane late-night order.

“I’m sure it’s so hard,” she said quietly, glancing out the window as if the bus might have crept closer to listen in. “God forbid your cute little nerd drinks shitty coffee, right?”

“Shut up.”

“Honestly, you’re so damn soft around him, I’ve never seen anything like it.”

“Don’t start this shit.”

“You can’t expect me to put up with weeks of this oblivious, ridiculous flirting and not tease you about your little crush on this ball of sunshine. Honestly, could he be any more your opposite?”

“I swear to God, Pinky-”

“I would never,” she cut him off. “You know I wouldn’t tell him, or anyone else for that matter. Not that we don’t all know already, you are not subtle.”

“I am not flirting.”

“Sure, buddy, keep telling yourself that.”

Katsuki fell silent, and Mina just shook her head at him, giving him a moment to sort out his raging mess of thoughts.

“Don’t say anything,” he reiterated, regardless. “I don’t wanna screw all of this up because of my stupid feelings and shit.”

“I won’t,” she promised. “But you know, he seems pretty smitten with you, too. Maybe when the tour is over, when it’ll be a bit less awkward if it doesn’t work out, or whatever, you should... You know, say something?”

“Like he’d ever like me,” Katsuki scoffed. “I know I’m hot, but next to him? No way. He could have anyone he wanted.”

“What if he wanted you?”

“Yeah right.”

The cashier waved them over, their order apparently thrown together in record time, and Mina thanked him a dozen times as they loaded their arms up with food. He’d even arranged the bags in two cardboard boxes, leftovers from some stock-intake or other, so with one each held carefully in their arms, they hurried back out to the bus.

The moment the doors opened again, the group cheered, and Katsuki snorted at them for it as he set the box down carefully. He reached for Mina’s after, and helped her navigate it onto the table, starting the strangely daunting task of hunting down everyone’s individual orders and tossing them the right direction to their owners.

“Nuggets!” Katsuki called, holding them out toward Deku. “Come get ‘em, Nerd!”

Deku squeaked with delight, hurrying over to take the massive box of nuggets, and with a cheeky grin on his face, he leaned in closer.

“Thanks, Kacchan!” he said, planting a tiny kiss on Katsuki’s cheek. “You’re the best!”

Mina gave Katsuki a pointed look as Deku scurried away again, raising an eyebrow, but Katsuki couldn’t even find the presence of mind to argue with her – his heart was too busy thundering in his chest to let his body focus on anything else, his brain too busy echoing a high-pitched whine through his brain to let it remember how to make words.

He half-expected an alarm to start sounding in his body, counting down to an imminent self-destruction.

“Cute,” Mina teased, as she sat down at the table, picking up her bowl of fast food salad.

Katsuki grabbed his own, sitting down opposite her, and put every ounce of brain power he had into producing some sort of words to come out of his mouth.

“Shut up,” he finally settled on, his voice pathetic and squeaky. “That doesn’t mean shit.”

“Sure, buddy,” Mina chuckled to herself. “Keep telling yourself that.”