Chapter 16

They walked into the Cat Cafe, hand in hand for the Couple's discount advertised out front.

Getting into line, they waited quietly. Shoto closed his eyes in silent rest and Katsuki scrolled through his phone.

While they waited an employee approached them hurriedly, a wide smile on her face and a tablet propped in the nook of her elbow.

"Are you two No. 1 and No. 2 of this year's UA Sports Festival?" She asked, silver eyes gleaming with much zeal.

Shoto decided to ignore her, as he was currently holding the hand of the person he liked and he wanted to enjoy that for as long as he could, knowing it would probably never happen again.

Katsuki, on the other hand, looked at the pink-haired girl with obvious annoyance, "Is there something you need from us?"

She straightened her posture, noticeably quite anxious as she fiddled with one of her braids, "Well, as you probably guessed, there's a couple's discount this week. When I saw two really strong people holding hands, I got a little excited." She fixated her gaze away from the two in an avoidant manner.

Shoto finally opened his eyes, glancing quickly at the name tag adjourning her chest, "Etsuko, is it?" he asked, meanwhile adjusting his grip in Katsuki's hand to ensure he doesn't accidentally drop it.

"Ah- yes!" She widened her eyes slightly at being acknowledged by name.

The bicolored boy's expression softened, "Thank you for your concern. Yes, we are here for the couple's discount."

Shoto heard Katsuki grumble slightly at his politeness, though he questioned if it was because he referred to them as a couple in public.

The small girl, Etsuko, smiled widely, "Good to know! I can take your order now, if you'd like."

Shoto nodded, "That would be nice."

The girl moved her tablet to get a view of it, tapping quickly before closing her eyes, "Okay." She said less to them and more to herself, now re-opening her eyes, "Hi, my name is Etsuko, I'll be taking your order today. Do you have an idea of what you want?"

"I'd like a large peppermint chocolate swirl latte- a dash of matcha, two chocolate Alexandertorte, and one carac." Shoto said with absolute certainty, while Katsuki wondered why somebody with abysmal cooking skills was so cultured in the world of pastries.

Etsuko paused briefly, processing what he said, before filling his order out on her tablet. When she finished, she turned her soft gaze to Katsuki, "And you, sir?"

Katsuki stared for a moment, he didn't like sweets so it took him a moment to process what he'd want.

Shoto watched Katsuki, his eyebrows furrowed in deep thought, "Katsuki."

The blonde didn't acknowledge him, though, so he proceeded talking anyway, "Would you like me to order something for you to try?"

"Go for it, Sho. If it sucks ass, I'm leaving this date early." Katsuki gave him a slight side smirk, which Shoto couldn't comprehend as he wasn't sure how that would affect a relationship that was entirely satire to begin with.

Shoto turned back to the pinkette, who was patiently waiting, "He'll have a medium robusta bean red eye with one pump of caramel and two dashes of cinnamon. No whipped cream. Add in a Dabby-Dough, too."

Etsuko entered that into her tablet, "Can I put Todoroki down for the order?" Shoto nodded his assent before she scurried away.

Katsuki glared at Shoto momentarily, "What witches brew shit did you just order me?"

The ladder merely shrugged, "It'll be bitter due to the brewing style and bean choice, figured you'd like that. Caramel and Cinnamon are known for bordering on the spicy side despite being sweet, and I know you like spicy things."

The blonde was at a loss for words and simply left to sit down in a booth facing one of the cat trees, Shoto following shortly behind, taking a seat across from him.

The cats quickly gathered around Shoto, as if summoned by his presence, while a fluffy calico Katsuki tried to pet instantly hissed at him. Immaturely, he mumbled 'Well, fuck you, too.'

The bicolored boy was swamped by at least five cats, and the blonde snorted as Shoto tried and failed to give them equal attention.

"I bet those cats are thinking 'One of us, one of us,' right now," Katsuki smiled and Shoto just gave him a confused look.

"I'm obviously not one of them, though?" It came out more like a question. He wasn't a cat? Unless… he'd been told some people look different to others. Did he look like a cat? He hoped not. Cats were cute but he didn't want to look like that one police officer with the cat head. He imagined it was impractical- plus, would Katsuki even be attracted to a cat? That would be weird, right?

The boy in question hung his head in soft laugher, "You behave like one, that's for sure,"

He blinked, "I do?"

Katsuki sighed, "I don't feel like explaining how cat-like you are."

He was still confused but he didn't ask. Eventually, a different server called their order name at the counter and the blonde stood to retrieve it as… Shoto was rather occupied at the moment. When Katsuki returned, he slid Shoto's order towards him and cast a skeptical glance at his own drink.

Shoto sipped his own coffee without a second thought. It was good. Not too sweet thanks to the matcha but not inherently bitter, either. The peppermint was a nice touch.

The blonde finally stopped staring at his drink like it'd personally offended him with a shrug, taking a hesitant sip. His eyes widened in pleasant surprise at the taste.

"I'll admit, it's not bad."

He smiled, preening at the praise, "I thought you'd like it."

"Yeah, yeah. Whatever, half 'n half. Don't expect further compliments, I'm not that nice." He rolled his eyes with a loud sip of his drink.

A warmth pooled in Shoto's gut that he couldn't begin to understand or explain, but he was content with that. Just being able to pretend the boy across from him liked him half as much as he did tugged at something in his heart. He had a purring cat in his lap and the boy he liked acknowledging him for something unrelated to school. It was nice.

It made it easier to forget the things that happened barely a week ago.

Once they'd finished their drinks and pastries, they left for the anti-Endeavor protest. Katsuki came quite close to being arrested but they'd managed to escape all while laughing without a care in the world.

Hand in hand.

Pushing it all to the back of his mind. Being disowned, outed, the murder of a classmate…

The relationship he treasured in the moment being a ruse.

He liked being able to forget, for once.