Behind the Seams [Chapter 10]

“You know,” Denki began, kicking his feet in the air from where he lay on his futon. “Since we can’t leave until the morning, we could do so

“You know,” Denki began, kicking his feet in the air from where he lay on his futon. “Since we can’t leave until the morning, we could do something fun tonight.”

“Like what?” Kyouka asked, sitting up a little to glance over at him. “Find a karaoke bar or something?”

“Oh, that does sound fun!” Denki said with a grin. “But no, I was thinking, like... another fan meet-up.”

“You just want to hit on girls again,” Ochako said flatly.

“Well yeah, but they appreciate it!”

“He’s not wrong,” Izuku said quietly. He’d been hanging out with Katsuki, leaning against a wall with their thighs pressed together, just talking quietly, peacefully, but the idea did kind of spark some excitement in him. “We could just post on social media saying where we’ll be, someone would show up.”

“Let me call Aizawa, before you get too deep in these plans,” Tenya said knowingly, reaching for his phone. “Don’t start getting excited just yet.”

Everyone fell silent, to let him talk, but there was still a weird buzz of excitement in the room, like a little bolt of electricity had passed through them all, had woken them up.

“They’re talking about an impromptu meet and greet,” Tenya explained, without even so much as a hello. “Do you want to come up here?”

“I’m on my way,” Izuku heard, and cracked a smile. “Keep them calm for three more minutes.”

Sure enough, Aizawa was at their door in record time, Tenya jumping up to let him in. He looked exhausted, but then again, he usually did when they all started planning things behind his back – oops. Izuku made a mental note to be better, though even he wasn’t convinced it would last.

“First of all, why?”

Izuku cringed, waiting for one of them to immediately blurt out to hit on fans, but to his surprise, Denki spoke up first.

“We aren’t doing anything in this city, which is kind of sad for the fans, when we’re literally here in a hotel room doing nothing,” Denki began. “I know Niigata wasn’t that far from here, and Miyagi isn’t terrible either, but I bet there are fans living here who couldn’t get tickets, or couldn’t get time off work and stuff. It seems mean to just leave them out.”

“Where would you even do it?” Aizawa followed up.

“There’s a park on the waterfront,” Tsuyu offered, holding up her phone with a map of the area. “Looks like a nice open, paved area where we could hang out pretty easily. The storm has passed, and the wind should take the edge off the heat.”

Izuku had to admit, his friends worked fast.

“And how would you advertise it?”

“Social media,” Izuku said again. “We can just do a typical synchronised post, and if not many people show up, that’s fine. It doesn’t cost us anything.”

“Are you all on board with this?”

Izuku glanced around the room, finding a bunch of nodding heads, not a single face looking even slightly reluctant – he knew he’d picked a good group of people to work with.

“Okay,” Aizawa said, with a sigh that was clearly a little forced – he was never as reluctant as he seemed, when it came to publicity events. “But if anything goes wrong or gets weird, you immediately get in a taxi and get out of there, since we won’t have security.”

“Nothing will go wrong!” Izuku assured him. “Our fans are good people.”

“Don’t jinx it, problem child.”

“I’ll go along,” Katsuki offered, and Izuku’s smile stretched a little wider. “If anyone starts shit, I’ll take care of ‘em.”

“I hope by ‘take care of them’ you mean ‘leave with the group and call the police if you need it’, Bakugou.”

“Sure, something like that.”

Katsuki stood up, yawning and stretching a little, and Izuku immediately missed the warmth that had come with him. He felt weirdly cold without that warm body leaning into him as they talked.

“Guess I’d better grab some shit for you to wear,” he said, heading for the pile of bags tucked away in a corner. “Can’t have you out there naked.”

“I’m sure we can get away with one event without something new,” Izuku said quietly – he was starting to feel guilty for all the extra work they kept loading on his and Ashido’s shoulders. “We have stuff from our last events, we can just mix and match stuff, right?”

“Nah,” Katsuki said, earning a giggle from Ashido. “We knew this would happen.”

Sure enough, he opened up a suitcase and produced six clear vacuum bags, the contents carefully folded and the air all squeezed out, to fit them in a smaller space. Each one had a name on it, one member of the group per bag, and between him and Ashido, they began opening them up and putting things on hangers.

“I hope reception has a steamer or something,” Katsuki mumbled, fingering the wrinkles in a t-shirt – honestly, Izuku didn’t think a couple of wrinkles were a big deal anyway. “Otherwise I’m gonna have to monopolise the shower for a while.”

“They’ll have one,” Ashido said firmly. “They always do.”

“I’ll go ask,” Aizawa said, and Izuku couldn’t help but think there was an odd fondness in his voice – it wasn’t often that he heard that tone directed at people outside their group.

“Thank you!” Ashido said brightly, shaking out a skirt covered in chains and grinning when it rattled. “Oh man, your mom’s stuff turned out great.”

“Don’t tell her that, her head is big enough already.”

“She deserves it!”

Soon, six brand-new outfits were hanging along the clothing rail on the wall, and Izuku could only watch with a fond smile on his face as the pair fussed over everything, inspecting every inch of every piece to make sure there was nothing to change or fix in the next couple of hours. Meanwhile, Tenya had finished writing up a post, sending it out to their group chat for everyone to copy and paste – he’d even made a quick little graphic to go with it; Izuku had such a talented best friend!

“Three,” Denki began, when everyone had finished setting up their post.

“Two,” Ochako agreed.

“One!” Izuku said excitedly.

They all hit send at once, and immediately Izuku’s phone began buzzing in his hand. He’d turned off alerts for likes and reposts, but there were a lot of comments coming in, and he was honestly a little impressed. Many of them were just people from out of town lamenting that they couldn’t be there with a bunch of crying emojis, but a bunch of them were excited replies from locals, too, or relatively-locals who were apparently jumping in the car immediately to make it on time. It looked like they were gonna get a decent turn out; it always surprised him that they actually had so many fans out there.

“Do you reckon I could find a way to make stars tessellate?” Katsuki asked quietly, as he and Ashido finished inspecting the new gear. “I feel like the wide ends and narrow tips should lend themselves to it, but the angles between the arms don’t work out as-is.”

“Not directly, I don’t think,” Ashido lamented. “Even if you add more arms, you just end up needing to cram in more stars that won’t fit beside each other.”

“Yeah. I just think this one would’ve looked cooler with more.”

Izuku glanced at the piece in his hand, grinning when he saw the shiny holographic material that he loved so much. It had been cut into the tiniest stars in the world, and each one had been stitched to the side of a shirt, as if they were cascading down into a pool of them at the bottom hem. It was beautiful – then again, all of Katsuki’s work was – and Izuku wondered if he could get away with sneaking it into his suitcase, instead of sending it home for further iterations to be made.

“If you staggered them, you could make, like, stars and pentagons or something, right?” Ashido mused. “Stars in one colour, pentagons in another.”

“I’ll do some sketching. My only other option was layering, but I think that’ll get uncomfortable to wear in a hurry.”

“Maybe a lower layer of as many solid stars as you can, then layer outlines over top to hide the fact that it’s plain underneath?”

“Now we’re talking,” Katsuki said, his smile oddly gleeful – he really did love his work, as much as he wouldn’t admit that enthusiasm if anyone asked him.

“That’s why they pay me the medium bucks.”

Izuku snorted, unable to quite contain his laughter, giving the pair an apologetic look when they both glanced his way – he hadn’t intended to eavesdrop, but it was hard not to, when he knew they were talking about his outfits.

“For that, I’m taking away your star privileges,” Katsuki told him, smirking. “You’re gonna have to wear cool-dude stuff, all chains and buckles, nothing fun or cute allowed.”

“Kacchaaaaan,” Izuku whined, jutting out his lower lip and hoping it came across as cute.

“Fine, you can have one star, as a treat.”

“Yay! Do I get more stars whenever I do something good?”

“How good are we talking?”

“I haven’t thought that far ahead yet.”

“Then sure, why not.”

Inspection complete, Katsuki returned to his spot at Izuku’s side, and Izuku grinned as he leaned in, pressing their thighs and biceps back together again. He was still so warm, so comforting; Izuku was pretty sure he could have just closed his eyes and taken a nap there, like a cat in a patch of sun.

“Tired?” Katsuki asked, when Izuku leaned in a little closer.

“A little,” Izuku admitted. “But I’m excited for tonight.”

“Me too.”

Izuku blinked at him. He wasn’t sure what there was to be excited about, from Katsuki’s end, in all honesty. It wasn’t like he was finally getting to meet the group in his hometown – he’d met them tons of times now, especially considering they had the same hometown.

“It’s always fun to see you guys just... do your thing,” Katsuki explained knowingly. “Being in your element, performing or talking to fans, it’s always a good time.”

“I’m glad it’s not too boring for you, seeing us do it all over and over again,” Izuku said fondly. “I’d hate for you to get bored of us.”

“I could never.”

He glanced over, eyes quickly darting away again, and with his cheeks tinted pink, he shifted his hand, letting it rest against Izuku’s. Izuku felt his own face getting warm, too, in response, but in a moment of boldness, he lifted his pinky finger, linking it with Katsuki’s.

“Hey, are we playing the new-new song in Sapporo?” Denki asked. “Or just the old-new song?”

“You mean, like, the new-new song?” Izuku clarified, watching Denki’s gaze move to him, then immediately dart down to his hand, eyes widening. “Is it gonna be ready? We have zero choreography or anything.”

Denki opened his mouth, still staring at their linked hands, but thankfully, Tenya cut him off – he added another mental tally to his list of favours he owed his best friend.

“If you feel good about it after your downtime, you could bring it out, but I wouldn’t rush it.”

“What about in sound check?” Kyouka suggested. “It might be a fun bonus for the people who paid extra.”

“Ooooh, I like that idea!” Denki agreed, the pinky fingers apparently forgotten – thank god. “It doesn’t even have to be the whole thing, that way. It can just be like ‘here’s what we’re working on right now’ or something!”

“I’m sure that would be fine,” Tenya agreed. “But double-check what All Might thinks of it.”

“We always do!” Denki assured him. “But in the meantime, what’s for lunch?”

The conversation quickly turned to food options in the area, debating the merits of getting something delivered rather than venture out into a city that now knew they were there, versus the fun of going out to explore and try something new in a new place. Izuku wasn’t picky either way, in all honesty, so he didn’t bother to weigh in – instead, he just shot Katsuki a quick smile, squeezing his finger a little tighter.

Katsuki squeezed back.

———

As much as Izuku loved to look on the bright side of everything he did in life – as much as he could, at least – he couldn’t help but think the outdoor meet-up had been a poorly thought-out idea. Admittedly, he now had hindsight on his side, but that was beside the point! Despite the summer heat and humidity, the wind coming in off the water was freezing, and Izuku couldn’t decide which was worse: the sweat or the shivering. He seemed to have a combination of both at all times, even with his favourite jacket pulled on over his new starry shirt. It was a real shame to cover up so much of the design, but he just couldn’t handle it without.

“We could always move this down the street,” one of the locals suggested, a hint of a laugh in his tone. “There’s a good local bar, first round’s on me.”

“Hell yeah,” Denki agreed, and Izuku inexplicably found himself on Denki’s side for once. “I vote for indoors with drinks! Wait, is everyone here over twenty?”

He glanced around the group, but no one admitted otherwise, so he shot a grin at Izuku next. With All Might, Aizawa, and Tenya all back at the hotel going over boring admin stuff, there was no one to tell them it was a terrible idea, which by default, Izuku was pretty sure, made it an excellent one.

“Deal,” Izuku agreed, rubbing his cold nose with his sleeve, hoping it might warm it up a little. “Do bars up here sell hot chocolate or something?”

“It’ll be warm inside,” another local promised him – a local wearing a t-shirt Izuku couldn’t help but notice. “It’s just the waterfront that gets cold like this.”

“You had me at warm.”

He looked over for Katsuki, surprised to find him not hovering near Izuku’s side, but off talking to a group of fans, a little smile on his face as they chatted. It was nice to see him make friends and all, but he kind of, sort of, felt a tiny bit... jealous, too. He was used to Katsuki’s eyes being on him, it was weird to find him distracted by something else.

The group began to move, and Izuku fell into step beside Shouto, exchanging tiny smiles with him as they walked. They didn’t get to spend enough time together, lately, with everything else going on, but sitting at a bar together sipping on a fun cocktail brought back a lot of memories. They’d certainly done their fair share of that, especially back when the only shows they could book were in tiny bars and clubs.

They’d come a long way.

“I’ll buy you a drink if you ask him on a date,” Shouto offered, turning Izuku’s face redder than his shoes.

“It’s not like that!” Izuku objected, more out of habit than actual truth. “We’re... I don’t know. Shut up.”

Shouto smirked, and Izuku whined quietly, shoving him just to make a point.

“He likes the stage me,” Izuku mumbled. “It’s not the same.”

“Izuku,” Shouto said, like he was a disappointed mother. “Come on.”

“I’m serious!”

“He clearly likes all of you.”

“He doesn’t know all of me!”

“Then let him learn.”

“I need a drink.”

“I told you, I’ll buy—”

“I can buy my own!” he cut in, clapping his hands over his burning face. “Not in front of the locals!”

“Okay,” Shouto agreed. “Later, then. When we’re all back at the hotel. Alone together.”

“Shouto!”

Shouto smiled, and Izuku couldn’t help but slump, sighing faintly. He didn’t often get those soft smiles out of Shouto – or any smile at all, to be honest – so he had to take his victories where he could get them, he supposed.

As it turned out, Izuku didn’t need to buy his own drink. Apparently, the idea of buying a drink for their favourite was incredibly enticing to their fans, and it wasn’t like they were gonna complain. Free drinks? Hell yeah. Every glass came straight from the bar, poured right in front of them, so it wasn’t like anyone could slip something in and try to cause trouble. And the bar, he quickly learned, had an extensive cocktail menu. He was starting to think he was gonna have to move to Aomori.

“That’s our song!” Ochako announced excitedly, words a little slurred. “Listen!”

Sure enough, playing over the bar speakers, barely audible over all the noise, was Ochako’s voice. The bartenders grinned at her, and Izuku couldn’t resist one of his own – clearly one of them had done it on purpose, and Izuku suspected it had taken them a while to actually notice.

Despite her slight tipsiness, and her words not all coming out right, Ochako began to sing along, and soon the whole bar was joining her, their drunken voices filling the entire room. Izuku was grateful it had been a slow night when they’d arrived, otherwise they’d have had some questions to answer in the morning.

“Tsuyu-chaaaan!” Ochako called over the noise. “Go!”

Someone turned up the volume, and Tsuyu’s voice filled the room next, quickly joined by the real thing – and, of course, their new squad of back-up singers. It was one of Izuku’s favourite songs, even though he didn’t really sing in it much. The girls had come up with it together, and it had only made sense to let them perform it together too, to give them a taste of the limelight back when the guys had been the big draw of the group. Occasionally the guys did a bit of background vocal work for it, like when they recorded stuff in studio, but when they were live – which they usually were – the three of them left the stage entirely, taking the chance to grab some water while the girls stood in the spotlight. Since the moment they’d first performed it on stage, they’d drawn just as many fans as anyone else, and Izuku was endlessly proud of them for it.

It also came with one of their most viral little dance combinations, and from the way the group was spreading out a little, Izuku knew what was about to happen. He fumbled his phone out of his pocket, framing as many of the locals as possible in the shot, and hit record.

“Oh man!” Denki said loudly, when the chorus hit and the room began to dance. “I knew I should’ve learned it when it went viral!”

“I never bothered either,” Shouto lamented. “Maybe these guys need to teach us.”

Izuku caught a glimpse of a little smile and a tapping foot from across the bar, and he put his phone back in his pocket, sliding off the stool to squeeze through the crowd. The room was still singing along, the entire building pulsing with the sound, but Izuku just wove between people, making his way over to the little table in the corner, where that familiar face had been sitting all night.

“I know you know it,” Izuku teased, holding out his hand. “Come dance with me, Kacchan.”

Izuku knew he wanted to protest, knew he wanted to refuse the hand and deny it all, but while Katsuki was the most stubborn, strong-willed person he’d ever met, Izuku also knew his weakness.

Admittedly, he only knew it because he was said weakness.

Katsuki’s hand gripped his, and Izuku dragged him to his feet, watching him stumble a little and end up chest-to-chest with Izuku for just a brief moment. Izuku knew he would normally have been embarrassed, but the cocktails had apparently taken care of that for him, for once. The chorus was coming up again, and Izuku had never actually done said dance before, at least not in front of anyone, but his silly, smitten brain didn’t even care.

In the middle of the crowd of fans, Izuku and Katsuki joined in, laughing like idiots as they matched the girls move for move. Izuku was honestly a little proud of himself, since it was the fastest combo any of them ever performed, and the only practice he’d had was in little half-hearted gestures in front of his phone screen as he scrolled through the videos, but he was even more proud of Katsuki. Who knew the guy could dance?

Well, actually, he was pretty much good at everything, especially when it came to fandom stuff, so it kind of tracked.

“You’re so good!” Izuku praised, slinging his arms around Katsuki’s waist with a giggle. “I knew you’d know it!”

“Yeah, yeah, I’m a big nerd, I know,” Katsuki said, though he grinned the whole way through. “It’s catchy, damn it.”

“I know! I love it!”

When the song finally drew to an end, Izuku whined, and everyone around him laughed at him for it. He was too busy pouting to notice the next track starting, but when Denki grabbed him by the hand, dragging him away from Katsuki, it rocketed him back to earth.

“Awww, Denki, it’s our song!” Izuku teased.

“It always reminds me of you, my love,” Denki played right along, winking at him. “We can’t let the girls have all the fun, right?”

“No, Sir, we cannot,” Izuku agreed, putting both hands on the long bar at the front of the room. “May I have this dance? Erm, song?”

“You may.”

Izuku did a little hop, lifting himself onto the edge of the bar, and Denki was right there with him, following him up, until they stood side by side above the fans, singing at the top of their lungs. It felt so good to just belt it all out, instead of worrying about mic levels and consistency, to just let loose and let the music take him, like it always had. It was the whole reason he’d started singing in the first place – those moments where the music just filled him to the brim, like he was gonna overflow with emotions if he didn’t get them all out in a hurry. He wasn’t sure how he’d survive if he couldn’t sing.

It was well after midnight by the time Aizawa showed up at the door of the bar, giving them unimpressed looks for their antics. Izuku was vaguely aware that Tenya had been in at least three times, trying to drag them back to the hotel, but he was much easier to wheedle another hour out of than Aizawa was.

“Aw man, dad’s home,” Denki whined, voicing Izuku’s thoughts perfectly.

“I’m so sorry about them all,” Aizawa said to a bartender, gesturing toward where Shouto and Ochako were taking their turn to dance – one a little more awkwardly than the other – across the bar, barely dodging glasses.

“Don’t be,” the bartender laughed. “It’s been a great time, and your crew have brought us plenty of business.”

Before Aizawa could inevitably drag them away, Izuku hauled himself, a little clumsily, onto the bar once again, ignoring the stern look he got for it. He reached a hand out to Tsuyu, hauling her up beside him, and then Denki and Kyouka were following without question, bringing their whole little group up on the makeshift stage. He leaned over to talk to the bartender nearest the radio, and she nodded in return, switching off the radio as the song ended and making the crowd whine.

“My name is Izuku and you’re here with Plus Ultra!” he yelled over the whines, quickly turning them into cheers and whoops. “You guys are the best!”

If he closed his eyes, for just a moment, the bar sounded just like the stage, just like his home.

“Do you guys wanna hear our newest song?” he called.

Shouto blinked at him, but the rest didn’t even hesitate, Denki already reaching for his phone with the instrumental track on it, Ochako already slinging an arm around Tsuyu’s shoulders to plan with her.

“But you have to- to promise me. One thing!” Izuku continued, lifting one finger to his lips. “It’s a secret!”

The crowd fell into a surprisingly quiet hush, and Izuku laughed, clapping his hands excitedly.

“I helped write this one,” he finished, when the music began to play. “Let me know what you all think.”

———

All his friends were below deck, lying on rented futon and groaning, trying not to be sick. Between the hangovers, the lack of sleep, and the choppy waters, it had been a rough morning to get on a boat, and Izuku knew they would be in for lectures later, once they’d all recovered a little. Izuku, though, had made his way up to the deck, to stare out at the waves, pelted by cold winds and hard droplets of lingering rain that quickly seeped through his pretty jacket. He waved back at the pier one last time, at the fans who had dragged themselves out to see them off at the crack of dawn, then finally headed to the front of the boat, to look at where they were heading next.

Warmth enveloped him, and Izuku looked down to see a dark coat draped around him, a little surprised to see himself in black. But the coat was super thick, and long enough to almost reach his knees, with leather straps studded with silver running down the front. It looked more like something he’d see Denki in, than himself, or maybe—

The figure took a step forward, leaning against the railing, and Izuku cracked a smile.

“Hey, Kacchan,” he said softly, his voice swallowed by the wind.

For a long time they just stood there, together, staring out at grey waves and grey skies, occasionally assaulted by drops of rain that Izuku was sure were just as dreary to look at.

“You inspire me,” Katsuki said, barely loud enough for Izuku to catch the words. “I want to keep designing clothes for as long as I can, make a name for myself beyond just my parents’ company.”

“You inspire me too,” Izuku said, reaching for Katsuki’s hand. “I can’t wait to see the things you do, and I hope you’ll let me keep working by your side.”

Katsuki didn’t answer.

Instead, he just twined their fingers together a little firmer, holding tighter than Izuku had been willing to push. He’d wanted to give Katsuki a chance to stop him, a chance to move away without it being a big deal, instead of forcing him to deal with it. But Katsuki did no such thing, nothing Izuku could have ever imagined; he lifted their linked hands, together, and pulled them a little closer to him, pressing a tiny kiss to the back of Izuku’s hand.

He supposed Katsuki had answered him after all.