The Proximation of Hello and Goodbye

3

Izuku sits up, raking his hands through his hair. He looks to his left to see Masashi's side of the bed already empty. His shoulders fall as he sighs, so much for a lazy day in. I guess he got called into work. He swings his feet over the edge of the bed and wills himself to stand up. Last night was a rough night. Masashi was in a bad mood when he got home. Izuku doesn't know much about the details, because Masashi doesn't really like to discuss work when he's off, but from what he can gather tensions seem to be high for the time being. All I can do is be there for him . He sighs trying to think of the things he could do for Masashi to alleviate some of his tension. I haven't cooked in a while. Maybe I can do that and we could watch a movie when he gets home. His phone begins to buzz on the nightstand beside him. He looks down to see Ena calling. He swipes to answer and places the phone beside his ear. "Hey, E. What's going on?" he asks.

Ena's voice is loud and panicked as she answers, "Hey, I know it's your day off, but would you mind coming in? Things are a little chaotic."

He groans, "I'm not so sure, E. We had another rough night, and I was going to try and do something special for him when he got home."

Ena yells at Akasuki about the status of a drink before redirecting her attention to their conversation. "Please? I promise it'll only be a couple of hours. You'll be home in time to pull off your grand gesture, guaranteed."

Izuku shuffles on his feet, glancing at the empty bed and then the clock. A couple of hours won't kill me. "I'll be there in twenty minutes," he mutters.

"I could give you the fattest platonic smooch right now, thank you!" she exclaims, hanging up.

"Don't mention it," Izuku mutters to himself, tossing the phone onto the bed. He drags his feet along and toward the bathroom where he brushes his teeth and washes his face. He frowns as he moves on to his closet, pulling his uniform pieces from their hangers before begrudgingly clothing himself with them. Before he knows it, he finds himself walking toward the cafe. He sighs upon seeing the sign that reads "Blends with Benefits." It's only a few hours. Get in and get out. He pulls the door open, prepared for utter chaos to ensue only to find a near-empty building and comfortable silence. He frowns as he catches sight of Ena, "Did the rush die down that quickly?"

Ena smiles, softly a sigh of relief escaping her. "It's been hell all morning, but it started to settle down about ten minutes ago. Sorry about that, but would you mind staying anyway? Suki hired someone new and we were hoping you could stay to help train them."

"Only a few hours, right?"

"I swear."

"Deal," Izuku replies, making his way behind the counter. "So, when is the new person coming in?"

Akasuki looks at the clock and back to Izuku, "Any minute now. I hired them to help me with running errands for the store, which you've helped with before. So, I was hoping you'd ride around town with them and show them how to get the job done."

Izuku freezes at the thought of getting into the car with another stranger. Masashi would be furious if he happened to see me riding around with another stranger. I'm not sure I'd hear the end of it this time, especially with it being so close to the last run-in. "I don't think that's a good idea, Su," he frowns. "What if you rode with them and I just handled the store?"

"I would, but I have four interviews today," she answers. "And, I think it's already obvious why Ena can't," she continues, her eyes cutting across to their friend.

Ena's mouth falls open in feign shock and hurt. She throws her arms up, "You hit one customer service rep for saying something underhanded, and suddenly you can't be trusted with store errands anymore."