Behind the Seams [Chapter 9]

Tenya was on the phone, when Katsuki trudged downstairs, with the rest of the group clustered on the couches as usual

Tenya was on the phone, when Katsuki trudged downstairs, with the rest of the group clustered on the couches as usual, whispering to keep from disturbing him. The exasperation in Tenya’s face was all Katsuki needed, to understand that things had gotten fucked up, and he braced himself for the impact.

“Good morning Kacchan,” Izuku whispered, when Katsuki got close enough. “Did you sleep okay?”

“I slept well,” he agreed, seeing relief pass through Izuku’s expression in response. “You?”

“So well,” Izuku said, cheeks turning a little pink. “We just found out all the ferries are cancelled because of the weather, so we’re looking for a hotel to stay in while we wait it out. Thank goodness we have some free days!”

“Good planning,” Katsuki acknowledged, glancing at where Aizawa and All Might leaned over a bunch of paperwork together, Tenya pacing while he waited on hold. “My phone thinks it’ll pass entirely by tomorrow night.”

“Yeah! So worst case scenario, we lose one rest day later, and have it now instead,” Izuku said, clearly trying to reassure everyone involved. “Tenya is just looking for somewhere with enough rooms for us all, or maybe two hotels on the same street or something if we can’t manage it.”

Katsuki opened up the fridge, grabbing out one of his salad containers, pointedly ignoring the faces Denki pulled at him for it – he was munching on cold, leftover chicken nuggets that he hadn’t even microwaved, so it wasn’t like he got an opinion.

“Alright,” Tenya began, when he’d set the phone down. “It’ll be a bit of a squeeze, but this place has a couple of tatami rooms available and said they can bring in extra futon for us. Their parking space is underground and the bus is going to be too tall, but there’s a public parking space just a few doors down, and they’ve said it’s okay to get the bus in there and just park across a few spots, since it’s only for one day. The ferry isn’t expected to run until the morning, though, so we’ll have to shift some plans at the other end.”

“We’ve got it,” Aizawa assured him “Yagi has changed our hotel booking, we’ve still got a few hours on the bus on the other side anyway. We’ll have to go straight into Wednesday’s photoshoot without a rest day prior, so please do your best to relax for a while in the hotel and on the bus instead. On Thursday, you should, if all goes to plan, get your rest day in, and then you’ve got your back-to-back shows on Friday and Saturday.”

“And we were thinking,” All Might added, when Aizawa got the nods of understanding that he wanted. “You’ve had so much success so far on this tour. After we leave Sapporo, we’ll be heading back down toward Sendai, where we have a sold out show – apparently there were three times as many people in the lottery as the capacity of the venue.”

Izuku perked up, apparently understanding something that the rest of them didn’t, and Aizawa cracked the tiniest of smiles. Despite his occasional complaints, he clearly had such a soft spot for Izuku.

“We kept that week slow because of all the travel time, but...”

“Yes!” Izuku blurted out, before All Might could actually ask his question. “We should do it!”

“We were thinking we could add another night,” Aizawa clarified, when the others seemed just as lost as Katsuki. “We have a Saturday night show, but I think we could manage a Sunday too, and apparently the venue is available. We’d have to start a little later, no proper rehearsal time prior, but we should have most things on lock from the night prior.”

“I’m game,” Denki said with a shrug. “We’re gonna be there anyway.”

“If that many fans missed out, I feel like we owe it to them,” Kyouka added. “Is there a way to make sure the people who missed out can get in first?”

“If they have a lottery number from the previous round, they can get priority. I checked with the ticketing company and they said it’s possible. I can get on the phone today and arrange it, once we’re in our hotel rooms.”

Katsuki finally met Mina’s eyes, the gaze he’d been refusing to match until he’d figured out his own thoughts, seeing the concern and determination warring in her expression. Just like him, she was always up for a challenge.

What’s the ETA on Tokyo outfits?

He hit the send button, shooting the message off to his dad, admittedly a little amused by the thought of how he would scramble. They hadn’t even received the Sapporo outfits, or talked about the Sendai ones. Tokyo probably didn’t even have staff assigned to them yet.

“I think we have to go for variations,” Katsuki suggested, not noticing the way everyone’s eyes went to him, rather than just Mina’s. “Do some minor alterations morning-of, maybe add some pieces we can remove easily or replace. It won’t be the same, but we can at least make them look a little different.”

“Take a jacket off or put one on,” Mina offered, nodding her head. “We’ll go for city-unique instead of show-unique.”

“Yeah,” Katsuki agreed, reaching for his tablet. “I’ll use the new jacket, but keep the pants for Sendai – no one will notice the difference. Reckon we can get away with some of the meet and greet stuff?”

“For base layers? Easily, no one will be able to tell. It’s a bit cheap for the post-tour lines, but we could always do something to the backs later and hope no one realises the backs were covered the first time.”

“We could add something for real,” Katsuki suggested, grimacing. “It would take what, three hours?”

“Could work,” Mina acknowledged. “We’ve got gear meeting us in Sapporo, right?”

“Yeah, at the store we work with a lot. I could pick up some extra supplies there, give us some easy patchwork or add some more buckles and chains, simple stuff.”

“I like that. I’ll start sketching.”

“I’ll call my dad.”

They finally noticed the stares, when Katsuki stood up to excuse himself, and he just stared back at them, confused by their obvious confusion.

“It’s the same city,” Tenya said slowly, carefully. “They can wear the same thing.”

“They really can’t,” Mina said, smiling awkwardly. “Not identical, anyway.”

“People will notice,” Katsuki explained. “We’ve set a precedent. Fans will complain they were at the one show that didn’t get a new outfit reveal.”

“It’s fine, we’ve got this!” Mina promised. “We have the simple pieces for meet and greets and interviews, we can do some work on them and get them stage ready instead – it’ll only take a couple of hours to whip up something new for the smaller events, so we can get that done later, maybe with some help from back home.”

“Definitely with,” Katsuki snorted, gesturing with his phone. “Gonna go talk to Dad.”

He had nervous texts waiting for him, when he got to his room, and he smiled to himself as he hit the call button, his dad picking up before he’d even gotten it to his ear.

“We’re adding another show,” he explained, before Masaru could ask. “In Sendai.”

“Oh. Wow. Okay.”

“Mina and I reckon we can alter some of the simple stuff, get it ready for the second show. If we hold back a few of the fancier pieces in Sapporo, we can use those for Sendai, just kind of shuffle things around to make some more unique combos instead of completely different outfits.”

Masaru didn’t answer right away, but Katsuki let it sit, giving him time to think.

“Use the outfits,” Masaru said firmly, making Katsuki raise an eyebrow even though he couldn’t see it. “We can get you the Tokyo designs by the time you get to Sendai, to use for the second show.”

“You reckon?”

“Yeah. I’ll grab a few more people, we’ll accelerate the deadlines, and your mother and I can start working on new Shizuoka designs while everyone gets the current ones done. I was thinking the other day that it’s a shame we didn’t do more of a homecoming theme for Shizuoka anyway, this is a good chance to come up with something new.”

“Your funeral, old man.”

“I’m more concerned about you,” Masaru said with a chuckle. “Are you finished for Sapporo?”

“First night is done,” Katsuki assured him. “I finished off the rainbow jacket, it’s looking great. I just need to do the pants for night two, then I’m caught up.”

“Will you let me handle the base pieces for later on?”

“Think I can’t hack it?” Katsuki huffed. “I’ve got this.”

“I know you do,” Masaru assured him. “But you’re adding a whole extra outfit in mid-tour, you’re gonna be pressed for time. Let me do the simple structure, you can do the details and fun bits.”

“How do I know your nerds won’t fuck it up?”

“Me, Katsuki. Not the staff.”

“Oh.” Katsuki paused, then let out a little sigh. “Okay. Thank you. And uh, you’ve got all my back-up designs, right? Maybe find something in there that works with your homecoming theme, let me know which one and I’ll figure out a grocery list for you.”

“Got it,” Masaru confirmed. “So proceed as normal for Sapporo, work like hell for Sendai, let Mina help you, and trust us to have everything else covered.”

“You really are my father,” Katsuki said, chuckling to himself. “We never back down from a challenge, right?”

“Damn right, son.”

He felt oddly teary as he hung up the phone, smiling to himself and glancing over at the half-finished pants still waiting for him at his little desk. The room was looking a little lighter, with the sun finally peeking through some of the storm clouds, and he knew he should just sit down and get to work, but he owed it to Mina, at least, if not the others, to let them know what was going on, first.

“He didn’t,” Mina groaned, the moment she saw Katsuki’s face. “He is so your father.”

“I know,” Katsuki admitted, a little fondly. “He says they can handle it, I have to believe him.”

“God damn it,” Mina said with a sigh. “Alright, I guess it’s appropriate. Go Plus Ultra, right?”

Katsuki laughed, though it came out a little choked, and Izuku seemed to finally catch on, his eyes widening.

“He told us not to change our outfit plans,” Katsuki clarified, a smile refusing to leave his face. “You’ve got two brilliant new outfits for the Sapporo shows, and you’re gonna have more of them for Sendai too.”

“You all have a death wish,” Aizawa sighed, though Katsuki was pretty sure he saw a flash of a grin in there. “And Shizuoka?”

“My parents are going to put together new designs and get the team working as soon as possible, he thinks they can push up all the deadlines by a little. He’ll just put every other project on hold for a few days and use all of our staff.”

“Your family never do anything half-assed, do they?”

“Why do you think I still work there?”

———

By the time they reached the hotel, breakfast hours were long-since over. Katsuki’s stomach was growling, despite his earlier salads, and he knew the others were feeling it too – Denki had been whining for a solid hour, Tsuyu had been pink in the face as she tried to cover her stomach grumbles, and even Tenya had been looking up dozens of restaurant and cafe options nearby that they might be able to all squeeze into – or, failing that, which convenience stores looked big enough to hit up without buying out the store.

When they walked into the lobby, though, Katsuki immediately caught the smell of bacon in the air, his stomach growling extra hard just to embarrass him. He didn’t even eat bacon, most of the time, so why did his stomach feel the need to embarrass him in front of—

“Welcome,” a lady in a business suit spoke up, hurrying out from behind the desk to greet them. “Is this all of your luggage for today?”

“Yes, that’s all,” Aizawa assured her. “I hope we can fit everything in the rooms.”

“I’m sure there will be no problem, Sir. If it’s too tight, we can always store your bags down here for the night, too. One of our staff will take them upstairs for you, would you mind letting us know which rooms they belong to?”

Ochako, Kyouka, Tsuyu and Mina all grouped their bags together silently, and All Might shoved his up beside Aizawa’s. The guys began to shift theirs, too, but Katsuki hesitated, touching the case with his sewing machine in it reverently. He didn’t like to let it out of his sight, but he was so damn hungry, he didn’t really want to make the detour to drop it in the room, especially when everyone else was happy to go straight out again.

“Fragile?” she asked him knowingly, making Katsuki blush a little. “I’ll make sure it goes in a safe place.”

“Thank you,” he conceded, shoving it toward her, and the rest of the cluster.

“My pleasure. Now, if you’d all follow me?”

Katsuki expected her to lead them to the check-in desk to sign forms and get their cards, but instead she opened the door to the restaurant, and Katsuki’s eyes widened.

“I know so many stores closed during the storm,” she explained. “So we wanted to make sure you could get some breakfast.”

“Are you serious?” Ochako blurted out.

“I hope it’s to your liking!”

The idols practically ran through the door to get a look, but Katsuki hung back a little, watching in disbelief. There was an entire buffet of hot food waiting for them, exclusively for them, and he found himself glancing at the lady again, silently begging for confirmation that he was allowed in.

“Our manager is a fan,” she whispered knowingly. “She’s going to be so jealous. She has a Shouto poster on her office wall.”

“Thank her for us,” he whispered back, feeling a little dumb for it despite the smile he got.

He finally stepped in, finding Izuku waiting at the end of the line with two plates, holding one out to him with that stupid cheesy grin as soon as he got close enough.

“It all looks so good,” Izuku said, bouncing off down the line to take his pick. “I’m gonna eat so many sausages, why do hotel breakfasts always have the best sausages? Where do they buy them from?!”

Katsuki couldn’t resist a fond little smile at his enthusiasm, unable to completely tear his eyes away even as he dished out a mound of bacon and eggs for himself – no one from work was around, who was gonna judge him? Mina?

Speaking of Mina, she looked a little sheepish when Katsuki sat down next to her, and he chuckled when he caught on. She had a bowl of potato salad that rivalled even Denki’s. Katsuki offered her a fist, and she laughed as she bumped it, the nerves immediately vanishing. They deserved a decent meal once in a while without stressing, right?

“Are you gonna do some work today?” Mina asked. “You’ve got a whole new design to start, now.”

“I probably will,” he agreed. “Dad is gonna do some base work for me though, to speed up the next ones. Can’t really say no when he promises to do it personally.”

“Izuku is a lucky man, getting your dad’s work.”

“Oi.”

“And your work,” Mina assured him, chuckling. “But yours is a lot more common, these days!”

“True,” Katsuki admitted. “Probably no point sightseeing in this weather, so I may as well work.”

“I’ll come give you a hand, if the guys don’t mind me invading your room.”

“Ours is the biggest,” Tenya informed her. “I’m sure everyone will congregate there anyway, as long as no one wants to sleep right away.”

“They can always sleep in our room,” Ochako suggested. “We can go loud-room quiet-room until tonight, then go back to boys-room girls-room.”

“That could work,” Tenya agreed. “As long as no one is made uncomfortable by it, then we need to respect that.”

“We always respect each other, bro,” Denki assured him. “We respect the hell out of each other.”

“I’m not sure he knows what that word means,” Shouto said quietly, making Katsuki snort.

“But none of that shit ‘til I’ve eaten my bacon,” Katsuki said firmly, shoving a loaded fork into his mouth and getting a grin out of Izuku, not that that was hard.

“Oh,” he said, after a few minutes of munching and listening to the others chat. “Do you guys have any merch on hand? I know most of it is with the venues already.”

“You’re asking for free stuff now?” Kyouka asked, a little teasingly. “Weird time to choose but hell yeah I guess.”

“For the hotel,” Katsuki explained, ignoring the tone. “Apparently the manager is a fan, so she sorted out the food for us.”

“Oh!” Izuku gasped. “We should sign a poster! Maybe two posters, one for the hotel and one for the manager.”

“Apparently she has a Shouto poster on her office wall already,” Katsuki told them, shooting Shouto a pointed look that he clearly didn’t understand. It was always the middle-aged women, with him. “Maybe we just break him in to autograph it.”

“Or ask for the key,” Tenya said pointedly. “I’m sure we can find something on the bus.”

“Do you still have that shirt from the last concert?” Mina asked, glancing at Katsuki despite talking to Shouto. “You know, the shirt.”

“The torn one?” Shouto asked. “I gave it to Bakugou, he said he’d fix it.”

“I have it,” Katsuki agreed, pulling a face. “I’m sure someone back home is replacing it already for the design team anyway, I told them it had ripped.”

The shirt still smelled of sweat from being under the stage lights, Katsuki refused to put it in the same bag as any of his clean things, but he didn’t think that would be a problem. If anything, it might get them another breakfast.

“I’ll go grab it after breakfast,” he added.

“I’ll come with you!” Izuku offered immediately. “I think there’s some merch in the back, I’ll help you find something good!”

“Sure,” Katsuki agreed, flashing him a tiny smile. “Sounds good.”

Most of the group went back for seconds at the buffet, and Katsuki was no exception – now that his bacon craving was sated, he needed to try some of the other stuff, see what the big fuss was about. Like the potato salad Mina had devoured, and the sausages Izuku adored – he had to see what all the fuss was about, that was all.

They walked in silence for the first few minutes, when they split from the group, and Katsuki wished he was a better conversationalist. He didn’t often care about that kind of thing, but when he was with Izuku, it suddenly mattered to him.

He wasn’t sure why he cared.

“Are we um...” Izuku began hesitantly. “Okay?”

“Okay?” Katsuki asked, eyes widening. “About what?”

“Just... after last night, you know? I hope it didn’t make things weird.”

“Fuck no,” Katsuki answered immediately, cheeks warming. “I uh, I... enjoyed it.”

“Yeah?”

“Think I’d say it otherwise?” Katsuki snorted, tilting their hotel umbrella a little to make sure Izuku’s arm wasn’t getting wet. “You’re... always welcome. To visit my room and stuff. If you want to.”

“I want to,” Izuku said, beaming at him with that stupid smile that always made Katsuki want to bite his dumb face. “I like watching you work, too. And keeping you company, if it won’t distract you.”

Of course it would fucking distract him, it was Deku.

“Think I can’t multi-task?” Katsuki asked, elbowing him a little. “Underestimating me again, you damn nerd. I can work and talk.”

Maybe.

“Okay!” Izuku grinned back. “But first we need to finish our mission! Find cool stuff to give to the nice hotel ladies!”

“Mission,” Katsuki teased. “What are you, some kind of superhero?”

“Merch Man!” Izuku laughed along. “Bringing only the best of merch to the great city of Shizuoka!”

“The whole of Japan, now,” Katsuki reminded him. “The world, soon enough.”

“I wouldn’t go that far,” Izuku argued, his freckles disappearing entirely with how brightly he blushed. “It’s still kinda surreal, getting to tour like this. I mean, we’ve performed in a couple of cities before, but never beyond, like, Nagoya. I can’t believe we’re heading to Hokkaido.”

“You deserve it.”

“Oh shush.”

“And so do the fans. It’s not fair that I keep getting to hog your shows.”

Izuku laughed at that one, thankfully, and Katsuki shoved him again lightly, though he still tilted the umbrella to keep him dry the whole way through.

“First quest complete: locating the bus!” Izuku grinned, as they approached the massive vehicle, spread across almost half of the public parking area. “Second quest—”

“Unlocking it so we can get out of the rain?”

“Yeah! Go ahead!”

Katsuki blinked at him, and Izuku just stared back, waiting.

“You have the keys, nerd.”

“What? No, Aizawa gave them to you!”

“He did not. Are you seriously telling me we walked out here in the rain and we don’t have—”

“Just kidding!” Izuku grinned, producing them from his pocket. “I had you going!”

Katsuki sighed, though a little smile twitched at his lips too, which he adamantly refused to let Izuku see.

“Quest three!” Izuku announced, when he’d shoved Katsuki up the stairs and gotten them both undercover. “Cool stuff!”

“Lead the way, nerd.”