moving up

Chapter 24

Naturally, he and Katsuki don't really accomplish much in terms of resolving their problems, but Tenya can't expect too much from him. He didn't expect this much to begin with, which he knows is sad, but he's given up on trying to convince himself to look at this relationship, if it can even be called that, as what it is.

While he waits, not sure if he should say something himself or continue to wait for Katsuki, knowing full well that that outcome probably won't be good, he is approached by somebody he does not expect. When Ochako asks if they can talk outside of work, he has no idea what she wants from him, but there is a part of him that suspects it has something to do with the whole mess regarding Katsuki and Izuku.

Still, what she does say to him is something he never would have expected.

"Would you be mad if you were dating Katsuki but he was still dating Izuku?" she asks him rather bluntly, and he is not able to respond for quite some time, as he struggles to make any sense out of those words. As far as he's concerned, she might as well be speaking a foreign language, and he has to attempt to translate it into something he can understand.

Who told her about Katsuki? How did anyone know to tell her about Katsuki? Did Katsuki do it? Did Izuku find out and tell her? Why does someone at work know the secret he's fought so hard to keep to himself? And what kind of question is that, anyway? To not only imply that he and Katsuki have a relationship like that, but to suggest that he and Izuku do as well, and that they could somehow coexist...she asks one question, but it is a lot for Tenya to wrap his head around, and causes him to internally ask several more.

"Th-that's...that is...I don't know what it is you're talking about," he quickly lies, trying to brush off her accusation, "but I think you might be a little bit confused. Or...or maybe that's just a hypothetical? Is it a scenario question? Even if it is, it doesn't make sense why you would choose me and...and Katsuki for something like that, so maybe you shouldn't have been so oddly specific."

He thinks that he's done a good job deterring suspicion, but then, Ochako says, "Wow, you're a really terrible liar! Even if I didn't already know, I would definitely know now!"

"Th-there's nothing to know !" he protests, albeit a little weakly, knowing already that it's too late for that.

"Listen, just answer the question, alright? We don't have all day for you to play dumb."

"I..." She says it as if the question is an easy one to answer, but he doesn't even know where to begin. "I don't know how to answer it. Katsuki and I aren't dating, to begin with, so..."

"Do you want to date him?" she asks, undeterred.

"I-I-!" He can feel himself blushing now, and curses himself for wearing his feelings on his face like that. This isn't something that he's ever talked about with anyone before, and it's hard to imagine confiding in Ochako of all people, someone that shouldn't know anything about it and someone that he has never talked about his personal life with. But, when he thinks about it, he realizes that he doesn't have anyone that he talks about his personal life with.

"Dating a coworker is a big enough risk without even considering our positions as managers," he finally replies, knowing that this isn't a real answer. "And...the other thing...if he were dating Izuku..."

"At the same time as you, yeah," she finishes, after he trails off.

"Dating Izuku would be a big risk for Katsuki all on its own," he says. "Just like it is for you. But if Katsuki were dating Izuku a-and...me...could you imagine the kind of risk that would come with something like that?"

"So I bet it would be even riskier if I was still dating Izuku, on top of all that. Wouldn't it?"

"Absolutely," he agrees, still thrown that they are having a conversation like this to begin with. "Even talking about this...I don't...why are you even saying all of this?"

"You do wish you could date Katsuki, don't you?"

Tenya does not respond. How can he? It would be a lie to say no, to say that he's never thought about it and never wished for it, but how can he come out and say it to Ochako? To anyone? He can barely even admit it to himself, and the situation that she's describing is ridiculous, and he knows that Katsuki is still tangled up with Izuku, and he doesn't know what to say or do.

"You don't have to hide it from me. The thing is, my hypothetical is definitely not just hypothetical," she says with a sheepish smile. "Me and Izuku have been talking about it, and I told him I would be fine with it if he was dating Katsuki too, so he said he would talk to him about it, and that's when he told me about you, and how he wondered if Katsuki would be up for it if it meant he could be with you too."

"B-be with me?"

"Izuku thinks that he really likes you, Tenya," she says, and he blushes even harder. Could she really be telling the truth? Does Izuku really think that, and is it true? "You care about him, don't you?"

After trying, and failing, to dodge the subject, and having no one to talk to about it for so long, Tenya decides that he can at least confide in her. "Do you think I would have let things go this far if I didn't?" he asks. "Don't ask me to explain why, but I...I do care about Katsuki, and if I could be with him, I would. Even though that makes me a terrible manager, and would risk my entire job."

"What the boss doesn't know won't hurt him," she teases.

"You say that, but with all four of us involved...if we were to actually try something like that, that's that much more to be exposed, and that many more chances for it to be exposed." Even as he says it, he's already thinking about how nice it could be, if they were able to keep it from being exposed. As much as he hates to admit it, Tenya really, really wants this, if it offers a way for him to be with Katsuki and simply ignore the other complications.

"It might work," he finally says, and Ochako cheers. "At least, if everyone else is on board, then I'm willing to give it a try as well."