Behind the Seams [Chapter 7]

Katsuki grunted as he let the bar land back on the stand, taking a moment to just let his arms fall to his sides and relax. With his headphones turned up loud, shutting out the rest of the world, he’d managed to just fall into his zone and forget about everything else, relishing the dull burn in his muscles. He’d been too static over the past few days, had spent too much time either sitting on a bus or hunched over a sewing machine – or both – and he’d gotten all stiff as a result. It felt good to just move.

As he sat up on the bench, reaching for his sweat towel, he caught a glimpse of a familiar shade of green. He turned his head slightly, trying his best to be subtle, and his eyes widened when they landed on bare, sweaty, thick arms.

Deku’s eyes lit up when their gazes met, and Katsuki felt his face grow warm, slipping his headphones down around his neck to give himself his hearing back.

“Morning Kacchan!” Deku said brightly, as he bent into another squat. “Did you sleep okay?”

“Yeah,” Katsuki grunted, eyes trailing down to Deku’s muscular thighs and back up again. “I didn’t know you... worked out.”

“Yeah!” Deku grinned, pushing his barbell back onto the racks before he moved closer. “I don’t feel right starting my day without a gym visit, it’s been weird being stuck on the bus!”

“Me too. The weirdness, I mean.”

“I’m gonna head up and shower after this set, are you wrapping up too?”

“I think so,” Katsuki agreed, rolling his shoulders lightly. “Should probably stretch.”

“Yeah, let’s stretch!”

He returned to his rack, pounding out his last set of squats, and Katsuki quickly turned to wiping down his bench to distract himself, to save himself the embarrassment of staring like an asshole. Deku re-racked his plates, grinning when Katsuki grabbed one to help out, and then they were both in a quiet little corner, laying out mats on the floor.

“Feeling okay about today?” Katsuki asked, staring at the ceiling to avoid watching Deku stretch. “Ready and shit?”

“I hope so!” Deku laughed. “I’m a bit nervous, I guess I’m trying not to think about it too much. You’ll be there, after all!”

“Yeah, I won’t let you look stupid,” Katsuki assured him. “You survived the last one.”

“Yeah! Ashido was super sweet, she made it all really fun and got me feeling a bit more relaxed than I started out. She got us doing all this silly stuff to make us laugh, and then got us to perform a bit, so that was a bit more familiar and comfortable than just standing there and all, you know?”

“I know,” Katsuki agreed quietly. “You did a good job, it turned out great.”

“Thanks, Kacchan! I wish you’d been there. I’m glad you’re here now, though!”

“Me too.”

When they made it back to their suite, they were met with a cluster of excited girls gushing over clothing, and Katsuki sighed to himself as he braced for the inevitable impact. Deku just smiled at him softly, nudging him toward the bathroom, and Katsuki nodded his thanks as he ducked into the shower first.

He wasn’t the one who needed to look good for photos, of course, but he did smell the worst, he was pretty sure. Besides, they still had heaps of time before the shoot – the crew hadn’t even arrived yet.

“The body scrub was amazing!” Ochako was exclaiming, when Katsuki emerged again with a towel around his waist. “I feel so much better.”

“And the facials!” Tsuyu added. “We’re gonna look amazing on camera now!”

Katsuki couldn’t help the smirk that twisted at his lips, but Mina glared at him before he could open his mouth.

“Don’t you dare,” she mouthed.

Even with the warning, he was sorely tempted. Mina refused to ever tell anyone that after makeup and editing, any skin imperfections and the like would be long gone. Katsuki always told people upfront, to stop them stressing out over shit and wasting his time, but Mina was determined to let them think they just naturally looked airbrushed and smooth, or whatever. At least it would make Mina and Momo’s jobs easier, getting the makeup and shit to stay on their skin.

Maybe.

Probably not.

Regardless, he kept his mouth obediently shut, leaving them to gush excitedly while Katsuki went to get dressed. Deku passed him with a smile, taking his own turn in the shower, and Katsuki glanced back for a moment to watch him go. Now that he looked more closely, he could see the outline of strong back muscles through Deku’s t-shirt; and his thighs had always been thick, but Katsuki had never really thought about why. He’d never expected Deku to be a gym rat, not with how cute and bubbly he was, it just didn’t feel right in his brain.

Mina would slap him if he said any of those things aloud, would tell him he was being stereotypical and prejudiced, so he kept his mouth firmly shut, but that didn’t mean he couldn’t think about it, right? Think about how he’d been missing out on such a killer view of the guy just because he’d never considered looking properly?

God, he was such an idiot.

A knock on the door broke him out of his stupor, and he stepped back into the living area, dried and dressed, to see Aizawa’s head poke in, scanning over the group to count heads.

“All Might is on the bus, are you all ready to go?”

“Ready!” Ochako said brightly, slinging a small bag over her shoulder and hurrying to the door. “Let’s get this show on the road!”

“We’re heading to the station first, to pick up the others, so don’t use up all your energy just yet.”

“I have plenty to spare!”

“Of course you do,” Aizawa sighed. “Go on, then.”

Quickly the group filed out into the hall, Deku hurrying behind them with his still-damp curls, each burdened only with tiny bags or bulging pockets. Only Mina and Katsuki were left inside, standing among racks of neatly-hung clothing.

“We’re good,” Katsuki assured Aizawa, before he could open his mouth. “We’ll meet you down there soon.”

“Are you sure?” he pushed. “You don’t want any help?”

“We’re good,” Mina parroted, grinning. “You just take care of the others, we’ll be right down.”

With a last nod Aizawa took his leave, and the moment the door clicked closed, the pair fell into a familiar routine. They no longer needed to discuss or plan, they just took up their steady rhythm, ticking off each outfit from a list and making a quick check for repairs that might be necessary before the idols wore them once more. Each one had been carefully cleaned, hand-washed in the bathtub and hung to dry while the idols slept soundly in the next room, and at least at first glance, they all looked pristine.

“Check,” Mina said, when she’d gone through her whole rack.

“Check,” Katsuki agreed, nudging his own toward the door slightly, rolling easily on the wooden floors.

“Let’s move.”

They each rolled a rack out into the hall, double-checking their own bags before the door clicked shut behind them, and then they were carefully arranging them in a thankfully-empty elevator, making their way down to the lobby. They got a few weird looks as they passed, but Katsuki didn’t even notice – he was too busy staring at the tiny smile waiting for him at the front door, a figure in baggy green sweatpants, shifting his weight from foot to foot as he waited for Mina and Katsuki to catch up.

“You guys okay?” he asked nervously, holding the door open wide to let them wheel through. “You took a little while.”

“All good,” Katsuki assured him, nodding gratefully as he passed. “Just needed a sec to make sure we had everything.”

“You should have told me, I could’ve helped!”

“S’fine, we’re used to it. Part of our job.”

“Oh,” Deku said knowingly, nodding. “I guess it takes more time to explain than to just do it, huh? Next time let me watch, then I can learn!”

“Sure,” Katsuki agreed, surprising even himself. “You can watch.”

“Yay! Thanks, Kacchan!”

Despite Katsuki’s objections, Deku stayed right at his side as they loaded the racks into the back of the bus. Mina didn’t seem to mind, content to let the guys do the heavy-lifting, instead climbing inside to secure everything on the other end. The luggage area was practically empty, with everyone else’s bags still in the hotel rooms – only Katsuki and Mina’s extra gear remained stowed inside. They’d carefully organised and labelled everything for different cities, to avoid rummaging endlessly through bags and boxes, and All Might had done a good job of securing everything in their little colour-coded sections to make it all easy to find. Considering how oblivious he seemed at times, he was actually pretty decent with his attention to detail, when it was needed.

As soon as the bus was loaded, and everyone was onboard, All Might pulled out smoothly from the hotel parking lot – Katsuki wondered if there would still be space for them to park it on their return.

While he’d never admit it, he couldn’t resist a smile when they pulled up outside the station, when he saw his father’s smiling face looking up at them, meeting his gaze through the window. He refused to hurry off, but he definitely didn’t dawdle for once, nodding in greeting when he met Masaru right at the bus door.

“I’ve missed you,” Masaru said quietly, thankfully not hugging him in front of the growing crowd staring at the bus. “It’s good to see you.”

“It’s only been a week,” Katsuki snorted.

“Doesn’t stop me missing you.”

“Sap,” Katsuki huffed. “Same, I guess.”

He picked up Masaru’s bags without waiting for an objection, carting them to the luggage compartment he felt like he’d just left, and settled them in neatly among the other gear. One of them was marked with a red tag, a companion to his own one in the corner, and the other with green, for further in the future. He knew they were loaded up with the next batch of outfits, dutifully assembled by the team back home, but they could wait until a later date to be inspected for any mistakes or imperfections.

Hanta slung an arm around his shoulders the moment he stepped back down, grinning, and Katsuki smiled despite himself as he shoved him off. Momo and Ojiro were introducing themselves to the group, but Hanta was far more interested in bugging Katsuki – as usual. Katsuki was in a surprisingly good mood, apparently, to be able to put up with his bullshit without complaint.

“Dude, it’s been so quiet without you,” he chuckled. “It’s so dull.”

Katsuki snorted, and Hanta grinned in return, glancing over at the group before he spoke again.

“Has it been pretty cool or are they all a massive pain in the ass behind the scenes? I bet they’re total divas, right?”

“No, they’re alright.” Katsuki shrugged evasively. “Mina is the diva here.”

“What?! Really?!”

“She’s too picky about her coffee.” Katsuki smirked.

“Ohhhh, so both of you are the divas, that makes more sense.”

“I fuckin’ miss my good coffee, I swear I’ve had one drinkable mug this whole damn week.”

“We’ll find you somewhere, bro, I’ll fall asleep behind the camera if we don’t.”

With everything loaded up, they climbed back onto the bus, and Katsuki sat down at the tiny table with Hanta and Masaru, pulling out his tablet with a collection of ridiculous test photos.

“I’ve asked All Might to take us to the castle first,” he began, pulling up a set of four photos from different spots in the park. “I was thinking we go with some iconic sights of the city, to make the most of being here, but also some chill vibes for the three more casual outfits, so customers don’t think they need a special occasion or whatever to wear the stuff on.”

“I like that spot on the water especially,” Sero agreed without hesitation. “We’ll get some cool lighting and reflections in it.”

“And the black-and-white clothing will stand out against the greenery,” Katsuki finished for him – god it was good to work with people on his wavelength. “We can have some group shots of them having fun, maybe having a picnic or some shit, and can get some good individual ones in different spots to get a better eye on the clothing.”

“At the first meet and greet, they talked about their hobbies,” Masaru pointed out, making Katsuki frown slightly in confusion. “Someone uploaded a video, I’m not completely technologically illiterate.”

“Momo helped him, it has millions of views.”

“Sero!” Masaru complained, laughing all the same. “At any rate, they talked about the things they like to do when they aren’t working. We could use those for some individual shots, I think.”

“Oh, yeah!” Hanta agreed, catching on quickly. “Shouto said he likes to read, so he could be reading under a tree with the castle in the background. Denki likes to skate, so he could be popping a trick. I’m sure I could get a good shot mid-trick.”

“Ochako just said she likes shopping,” Katsuki pointed out. “How do you plan to make that a photo?”

Masaru hummed quietly, thoughtful, broken only by a gentle voice chiming in from Katsuki’s back.

“We could use the reflection in the water as a mirror?” Momo suggested. “Like she’s trying on an outfit and seeing how it looks.”

“I like that,” Hanta said, nodding. “It would give us some cool angles too, to get shots of the front and the back. Her outfit had that silver embroidery on the back, right?”

Katsuki was a little surprised Hanta even remembered that, but he didn’t bother to voice his confusion – Hanta would just claim he was “an expert” or “the best at his job” or whatever, anyway. Katsuki had known him long enough to predict most of his responses.

“And Tsuyu said she likes to swim, so she could be kicking her feet in the water, showing off the details on those leggings she wore. And Kyouka can be playing her guitar on the water’s edge or something.”

“And Izuku?” Masaru asked, glancing at Katsuki knowingly.

“Having a tea party with his tiny toys and his comics?” Hanta grinned.

“Ugh, shit, that really was all he said,” Katsuki grumbled, thinking back. “Reading a comic is a bit boring if Shouto is already reading a book.”

“I think they’d have a different vibe. Shouto would be relaxed and peaceful reading under a tree, Izuku would be excitedly bouncing around with a new issue clutched in his arms.”

Katsuki hated to admit it, but that sounded fucking adorable.

“Sure,” he agreed finally. “That works, then. So a couple of individual shots each with their hobbies going on, then a few group poses to go with them. We can probably do some cheesy ones pointing at the castle behind them, maybe posing like they’re singing or dancing in front of it, and match those across the different settings so they share a common theme.”

“Yeah, I reckon we just get them to pick a song and do a little show for us, like at that first shoot. They looked way better on camera when they were doing what they do best.”

Masaru scribbled it all down as they talked, making a list of shots, and soon he was flipping to a new page, starting a new list for the second location.

“The shrine with the big lion head,” Katsuki suggested, pulling up some more dumb-looking shots of himself in front of it. “We could do some silly individual shots where they try to imitate the face or something.”

“That sounds cute,” Momo agreed, sitting down when Katsuki shuffled over to make room. “They have a lot of girls in their fandom, they’d probably love the fun, silly mood there.”

“Along with the classic group shots to tie in,” Masaru nodded. “We’ll have to check with the owners that they’re okay with it.”

“I asked when we were there, they said it would be fine. We talked about doing a shot, then moving aside for a bit and letting tourists through while we set up for the next one, but it’s not too busy during the day apparently.”

“Perfect. And the third meet and greet outfit?”

“I was thinking these little alleyways.” Katsuki swiped through to them, to where Izuku had spent so long and been so picky about how he wanted Katsuki to stand and sit. He’d pointedly left their selfie off the tablet, of course. “They’re not very specific, but they give off this atmosphere that I thought would be cool.”

“Woah, that’s awesome,” Hanta praised, leaning in closer to look. “Pretty narrow though, we might have some trouble getting our equipment in there.”

“Yeah, it would have to be minimal staff.”

“Maybe we do each one in a different alley,” Masaru suggested. “So we can minimise disturbances.”

“There are heaps to choose from,” Katsuki agreed. “We could get set up for the next shot while you’re working on the first, and so on. You’d just have to get the cameras in place and take some good shots, then move on.”

“Yeah, we can make it work. Ojiro can even make a start on lighting while I’m shooting, it’d be a pretty quick transfer that way.”

“We checked out these other places too, but those were my favourites for the casual shots,” Katsuki continued, pulling up a collage of other locations they’d tested out on that first night. “But if you’re not keen on any of them, we can take a look at the rest.”

“No, I like the mood,” Hanta said quickly. “Unless you’re in doubt, but you never are.”

Katsuki glanced up at Masaru, but he only shook his head, smiling fondly.

“You’ve worked hard on this, I’m very impressed and proud.”

“Don’t get sappy on me, Old Man.”

“You’ll survive it.”

Katsuki shook his head, not bothering to continue arguing, instead swiping across to the two pictures he was much more excited about.

“I think we should do these as night shots, for the stage outfits,” he explained. “I know the lighting will be a pain in the ass, but I feel like the atmosphere would work really well.”

“Got any more test shots?” Hanta asked, reaching for the tablet.

“Heaps, just swipe through.”

“I’m not gonna run into your nudes unexpectedly?”

“Like you’d care.”

Hanta grinned, but his gaze quickly turned laser-focused when he began to look through, nodding to himself as he examined all Izuku’s attempts at photography.

“The river’s not perfect, we’ll miss some of the finer details, but the actual sale products won’t be as detailed as the stage ones anyway, so that might work in our favour. Plus you’ve got all that reflective and holographic material on the jackets, it would work well under the colourful lights.”

“Depending which spot we use, the colour schemes vary a lot, too,” Katsuki pointed out. “The billboards all have their own neon palettes, so we could get a lot of variety in there with colour and signage.”

“I reckon we’d get some really cool shots on the bridge just here.” Hanta pointed at the screen, gesturing to a couple of different spots. “It might be hard to clear the space, though.”

“I think we’d be relying on the public to do us a solid,” Katsuki agreed. “And maybe a little on their awkwardness about intruding on a camera shot.”

“I could do some long exposure shots maybe, blur the people in the background so the focus stays on our models. It relies on them standing really still though, it might take a few attempts.”

“I could drug them.”

“Katsuki!” Masaru gasped, genuinely stunned. “We would never!”

“It was a joke.”

“I should hope so!”

Katsuki smirked to himself, satisfied at least with the way Hanta laughed so loudly at them, even Momo cracking a grin at Masaru’s shock.

“And the ferris wheel just seems like a classic,” Hanta moved on. “Again, lighting might be a pain, but we can make it work with exposure times and angles. And editing, if all else fails.”

“You sure?”

“Yeah, you know me!” Hanta grinned, sliding the tablet back across the table. “I don’t back down from a challenge!”

“I know,” Katsuki agreed, ignoring the way Hanta blinked at him in surprise. “You’ll make it work, as always.”

“High praise indeed. I’m honoured.”

“Shut your face.”

Katsuki glanced back at the rest of the group, Mina already handing out the first set of outfits to get everyone changed quickly when they arrived, and he smiled to himself faintly as he watched them joking and laughing together in their excitement.

“It’s gonna be a good day,” Masaru said knowingly. “I’m looking forward to seeing all the results.”

─

“I’m so sorry to interrupt,” the girl said, bowing low. “I was just hoping I could get your autograph!”

“Of course you can!” Deku smiled warmly, taking the notebook from her gently. “Thank you for your support!”

Katsuki sighed, glancing at his watch as the crowd continued to squeal and cheer – they were gonna run out of time for the shoot, if this kept up. They’d already had about fifty people squeeze their way through the crowd to ask Deku for a selfie or an autograph, while the others took their turns at posing, and that wasn’t even including the crowds the others had garnered.

“Excuse me!” Mina said sweetly, slinging an arm around Deku’s waist. “I just need to borrow Izuku for two minutes to take some photos, then he’ll be right back!”

To Katsuki’s surprise, the crowd parted easily, and Izuku smiled and waved sheepishly as she led him up to the bridge. With the crowds and the cameras, the general public had all but evacuated the area, leaving Hanta with a clear line of sight to get a good shot of him on the bridge.

Mina said something to him quietly, before she hurried down off the bridge again, and Deku smiled sweetly as he waved to the cluster of fans still screaming his name. Hanta’s camera flashed a few times, then he gave Deku a thumbs-up, watching him shift a little and take a deep breath as he relaxed. He leaned against the railing of the bridge, taking a second to rest before he had to hold another pose, but Hanta began snapping shots again, and Katsuki cracked a smile; he would have done the same. Deku blushed bright red when he saw the flash, but he held still all the same, leaning against the railing and looking up at the sky. He seemed so content, so comfortable, in such stark contrast against the bright lights and fans around them – it made Katsuki’s heart thump weirdly hard.

When the camera stopped, Deku glanced back awkwardly, getting another thumbs-up that made him breathe a sigh of relief.

He cycled through a few different pre-planned poses, each one simple enough to keep him from stressing too much, and Katsuki watched with rapt attention. Every pose, every smile, every cute little wave at his fans between shots, it all drove Katsuki insane – he just wanted to squeeze those chubby cheeks between his hands until they burst.

“Take a look at this one,” Hanta said quietly, when Deku’s shoot wrapped and he was absorbed back into the crowd. “You’ll like it.”

He leaned over, taking a look at the image on Hanta’s screen, and all he could do was stare in silence. The Deku in the frame had his arms folded on top of the bridge railing, his adorable smile peeking over the top as his fingers lifted in a little wave to his fans. The neon signs around them shone bright along the edges of the frame, bouncing off the reflective patches on his shirt just like the stage lights once had, highlighting the little bunnies and stars Katsuki had so painstakingly cut them into. Between the signs and the reflections, Deku stood haloed in green light, and everything about it filled Katsuki with warmth.

“He looks really good,” Hanta said knowingly. “I don’t think it’s the right vibe for the shoot, but I knew you needed to see it.”

Katsuki felt his face burn, but Hanta didn’t even look up, saving him that little bit of embarrassment and awkwardness.

“I’ll send you a copy,” he offered. “If you want.”

“Thanks,” Katsuki said softly. “So uh, did Mina tell you, then?”

Hanta laughed, shaking his head, and for the first time he glanced back at Katsuki’s glowing cheeks.

“It’s pretty obvious to anyone who looks twice,” he grinned. “Don’t worry, I’ve got your back.”

“Alright, are we ready for our final move?” All Might asked, over the excitement of the crowd as they got their last photos and autographs from the group members. “Back to the bus?”

“Yep!” Hanta agreed easily, already packing up his tripod. “That’s a wrap on the river shoot! They turned out great!”

Deku waved goodbye the entire way to the bus, calling his apologies to anyone who hadn’t gotten a photo yet – though Katsuki was pretty sure they all had – and thankfully once they were all on board, with the doors sealed shut, the crowd parted to let them through safely. For a moment he’d been worried they might have to threaten to run someone over to get out – or worse, actually run someone over when they darted out unexpectedly.

The bus trip was oddly quiet, everyone settling in with a weird sense of calm, and when Katsuki looked around he found soft, weary faces on all sides, bodies slumped in their seats with the weight of exhaustion sitting heavy on their shoulders. Considering they’d been on the go all day, not to mention the swarm of fans they’d just had to deal with, Katsuki really shouldn’t have been surprised by that.

The bus pulled to a stop outside a little block of shops, and Katsuki watched with confusion as Tenya stood up from his seat, opening up a little folder of documents and whatever other nerd stuff he liked to carry, and pulling out a small stack of cash.

“I looked up all the best coffee shops in the city,” he explained, when he caught Katsuki looking. “This one was on the list.”

Katsuki looked up to see a little store on the corner, dimly lit with a few people sitting at tables beyond the windows, and for a moment he thought he might kiss the asshole if Deku weren’t around to see it happen.

“I’ve got it,” Masaru offered. “What would everyone like?”

“These nerds aren’t picky,” Katsuki snorted, shoving his phone in his pocket to follow. “I’ll come with.”

Tenya tried to hand him the cash, but Masaru refused, smiling warmly as he adamantly shook his head. Katsuki ignored Tenya’s second attempt, when he himself passed by, and Masaru shot him a tiny smile as they levelled out beside each other on the footpath.

“So,” Masaru began quietly. “I brought something to show you, but I thought you might not appreciate the others seeing it.”

“Oh yeah?”

Masaru reached into his bag, while Katsuki gave their order at the counter, and as they sat down at a table to wait, Masaru slid over a magazine. It was a little worn at the edges, probably from being stuffed in a bag, but the headline on the front cover was plenty clear.

“Fashion Disaster to Fashion Icon Overnight?”

Beneath the headline was a face Katsuki had become intimately familiar with, all covered in freckles and flashing a big smile, like he was having the time of his damn life. Bright stage lights shone down on him, lighting up all the patches and buckles and silver stitching on his outfit, and Katsuki couldn’t help but be a little proud of himself.

“They talk a bit about how the other members of the group have always been spotted out and about in fashionable outfits, but Izuku has suddenly stepped up his game to match.”

“Only because we’re literally dressing him every day,” Katsuki snorted, flipping to the page of the article. “You should see him at night, in his old, hole-filled pyjamas. Gross.”

The page held a massive photo of Deku on-stage at their concert in Nagoya, and Katsuki felt his heart thump extra hard. It was a beautiful shot, even Hanta would have been proud to claim it, but all Katsuki could think about was all the readers who would see his nerd in his clothes, up on stage in front of so many people. It came with a weird sense of victory, like Katsuki had laid his claim and the world had backed him on it.

“You did a good job on that outfit,” Masaru said knowingly. “On all of them, but that one especially, I think.”

“Yeah,” Katsuki nodded faintly. “It turned out well.”

He took a quick photo on his phone, to show Deku later, then slid the magazine back to Masaru, pausing before he could hit the lock button on his phone.

“I’ve been working on the next ones,” he said. “Do you want to see?”

“I’d love to.”

He swiped across to the latest creations he’d set up in his hotel room, and Masaru’s eyes widened as he looked, tilting his head like it might get him a better angle. The design was a lot simpler than the last, without so many zips and buckles and patches, but he’d managed to find the perfect material for it, when he and Mina had gone digging through fabric stores in all the cities they’d visited. It looked pure white at first glance, just like most of what he put Deku in, but when it moved, it erupted in rainbows that he knew Deku would absolutely adore. He’d made the entire jacket out of it, just to see what would happen, and he didn’t have a single regret.

“It’s perfect,” Masaru said softly. “That was an amazing find.”

“Tell me about it,” Katsuki grinned. “I need to call the store and source more of it, I love this stuff.”

“It would work well as accents on other outfits, too,” Masaru mused, more to himself than Katsuki. “Seams, hems, cuffs. Logos, even. His whole line could have holographic bunny patches on it.”

“I knew you’d get it.”

“Text me the store name and the photos, I’ll do some digging.”

“That’d be awesome. Thanks.”

Their stack of coffees began to land on the counter, so Katsuki stood up, but when Masaru spoke again, he paused, glancing back at the soft eyes that always brought him so much comfort in his life.

“I’m sure you’re having a blast out here,” he began. “But I know you’re working hard, too, and it’ll get even harder the longer you go. So thank you, for the care and diligence you’re putting into this. I know it means a lot to you personally, but it means a lot to us all professionally, too, so I’m glad we have the right people on the job.”

“Thanks for trusting me,” Katsuki answered, swallowing hard. “I’ve got this.”

“I know you do.”