moving up

Chapter 30

Spending time with Momo outside of work is nice. Shoto has always enjoyed talking to her during their shifts, but when they aren't at work, and when they don't have to worry about professionalism, it becomes easier to open up and get to know each other. He already thought he knew her fairly well, but that's because he let her get closer to him than most people.

Even so, there was still a distance between them because of their positions, but as a couple, they spend time getting to know each other. And as they do, he becomes more and more sure of his choice to let himself get close to her.

There isn't much change in their work life, and as soon as he can manage, he takes down the amount of shifts they work together, until they are barely working together at all, and even then, it's usually a brief overlap, as one comes in and the other goes home. It isn't difficult to keep their relationship to themselves, and he is happy to see where this goes.

~X~

"Hey, Kacchan!" Ochako says, approaching Katsuki while he is working on reorganizing a department towards the back of the store. A bold decision, she just grins at him when he turns around, scowling.

"What do you think you're doing?" he asks.

"We don't really talk much, do we? I feel like we should, all things considered," she says.

"You know it's not a good idea to talk about here," he mutters, turning his attention back to the shelves. He seems determined to ignore her, but she doesn't give up.

"There's no one around, the store is completely dead right now and I'm on break, so Minoru is covering the register and stuck up there," she says. "I just felt like I should take some time to thank you for being so accommodating!"

"Would you just shut the hell up?"

"You don't have to act so aggressive when it's just the two of us. You know you at least have to be a little nice to me, right?"

"I don't see why that is," Katsuki replies. "I'm not nice to anyone."

"You're nice to Tenya, right? And Deku?" She gives him another grin, even though he still hasn't turned to face her again.

"Like hell I am. Obviously they've talked to you about me, so you should know that by now."

"No need to sound so jealous!" she teases, and sees him stiffen. "Actually, there's no need to be jealous of anything anymore. Now that everything is worked out..."

"Who says I was jealous?!" Now, he does turn around, giving her a sharp glare that says it all, and it's hard not to laugh in his face. "I couldn't care less about any of that, so there."

"I think you might have been just a tiny bit jealous of me before. You know, before I came up with that great idea," she continues, pressing him just to see the way his face flushes. Though there is a big part of her that wonders what Izuku and Tenya are doing with him, she has to admit that there's some appeal in seeing how easy he is to fluster and rile up. Things could really get fun with the four of them.

"That's none of your damn business!" he snaps, and she laughs.

"That's all the confession I need!" she replies, and when he tries to protest, she cuts him off with, "I really do need to get back from my break now!"

~X~

Katsuki is in the manager's office, getting ready to head up front to clock out and go home, when Aizawa says something weird to him.

"We have a district manager visit next week. I haven't look at the schedule, so I don't know who works when, but just make sure if anyone works with someone they shouldn't be, that they don't make it too obvious," he he says, not looking up from the computer.

"Huh? What's that about?" asks Katsuki.

"You know, if Izuku or Ochako's there when you or Tenya's on duty," he says, and Katsuki stiffens, hearing those names mentioned alongside each other. "Shoto has done a good job making sure he doesn't work with Momo, so that's fine, but whatever if Toru's on with Mashirao or Rikido, she might make it too obvious."

"I...what are you talking about, exactly?" He doesn't know what any of the other employees have to do with each other- in fact, he can barely remember who the last three are- but he knows exactly what connection he has to the first three.

"You know exactly what I'm talking about, Katsuki. You don't need to play dumb," Aizawa says. "Sure, I've been playing dumb, but it hasn't caused any problems yet. Even with Kyoka and Denki had their little fight, it wasn't that big of a deal, so it's fine as long as things stay like that."

Realization dawns on Katsuki, and he can't believe what Aizawa is saying to him. He's really known about all of this, and simply kept it to himself. And now, he's revealing that to Katsuki like it's nothing, and Katsuki realizes that even his secret arrangement with Tenya was probably not much of a secret to his boss at all. Without any idea what to say to this, all he can do is nod and say, "Alright, I'll...make sure nothing happens."

With that, he leaves the office and makes his way for the time clock. He has quite a bit to think about now, and to talk about with the others, but, all in all, it could have been worse. All in all, a lot of things could have gone worse lately, and, if he were the sentimental sort, he might think about how lucky he is for things to have played out as they have.

But, because he isn't, he shrugs it off.

~X~

Aizawa sighs as he gets back to work. He had almost expected Katsuki to blow up at him upon being accused, but he managed to keep his cool as he left the office. It's hard to pretend not to notice everything going on around the store, especially when everyone thinks they're being so subtle about it.

But he's been in this for a while, and when the majority of his employees end up dating each other, and sometimes more than one person, it's impossible not to notice. He just hopes that they keep trying to keep things subtle, because as long as they stay out of trouble, he at least doesn't have to get involved.