''O-Oh right, for my work!'' He chuckled nervously, blushing a bit when he realized he had completely misinterpreted Aiko. How embarrassing!! And to make matters worse, when Aiko explained why his last name was Avetia he started feeling bad too. Here he was making assumptions about him just because of his last name. So much for being bad at small talk. ''My condolences, I shouldn't have brought it up, I think it's a great name.'' He offered with a smile, hoping that Aiko saw the meaning behind his innocuous question and didn't feel hurt by it.

His face felt warm again when he called him Yasu. ''..Aiko it is then!'' He couldn't help but smile. If it was this easy talking to everyone, Yasu would have made tons of friends by now. Not many people were as approachable as Aiko, though. ''Eh? My choice?'' He looked a little sheepish. ''Well, you're the rider, what's the most convenient for you? I don't want to get in your way.'' He forgot about his own anxieties momentarily as Aiko introduced the bike. ''It's beautiful!'' He gushed, turning to look up at Aiko. ''How long have you had it?'' He quickly caught the helmet but stumbled back a couple of steps, letting out a small. ''Wah!'' Just as he managed to catch himself to keep from slipping. When he was asked where he wanted to go Yasu paused for a moment. ''Do you like the sea, Aiko-kun? I find that the sound of the waves is really relaxing.''

When it finally came time to get going, Yasu would try to insist to sit in the back, his face turning red as he reluctantly wrapped his arms around Aiko and held on like he was instructed to.

Aiko

''Really? Wouldn't you get bored?'' Yeah, that really was convenient... It almost felt like fate had aligned so that things would fall into place just like this. He just so happened to be working his shift today, and Aiko just so happened to walk in before he finished, and it just so happened that he was the one to greet Aiko and not one of his coworkers. ''I-I see.. Then, I'm really happy you think I'm doing a good job.'' He smiled, bowing his head politely. Usually Yume got all the compliments because she was much more of a show-off than he was. Aiko was the first person besides his boss who had really taken note of the work he was putting into this job.

''I suppose it is, but some people really don't want to talk at all.'' He laughed casually to try and feel a little less tensed up around Aiko. ''They just come in for their coffee and that's that.'' He held a hand up to his mouth and leaned in to whisper something to Aiko. ''Some of them are also total creeps, but don't tell anyone I said that.'' He leaned back away and quickly held his hands up in front of him. ''Wait, but you're not! I would be honored to have you as a repeat customer, sincerely honored!''

He gave Aiko a look, both a bit overwhelmed that such an icon would take a liking to him, and shocked that he would make such a gracious offer. ''Are you sure? I mean you don't know me, what if I'm a total weirdo.'' He chuckled nervously, rubbing the back of his own neck with his hand. Aiko's wink made him blush a bit. ''..All I'm saying is, we need to be careful, right? I didn't mean to turn down the offer...'' Man, he was being a total weirdo after all, hopefully Aiko didn't hate him. ''So, um, a magazine would be great!'' He wanted to say yes to the shoot too, but he couldn't imagine himself in that environment. Aiko and all his cool model friends, and then this short nerd sitting in the same room. Aiko was in a totally different league than him! He needed to make sure he didn't come across as some overeager fan.

''Right? My sister is into jewelry too.'' He just smiled cluelessly.

''Idiot. He said he thinks you're pretty!'' Yume shouted inside of his head, chastising him for being dense.

''Huh, really?'' Yasu asked out loud. Feeling his whole body burn up in this stuffy maid costume as he looked over at Aiko. ''Wait, did you say me? As in I'm...'' At this rate he was going to faint. ''Okamoto-chan! Could you help out at table 7?'' One of his coworkers who was working the counter asked him, making Yasu stand up. ''Y-Yes!'' He replied, turning to face Aiko one more time. ''Sorry I'll be just a moment!'' He bowed his head again before walking over to table 7, his heart pounding like crazy.

Looking at Aiko... It was like staring directly into the Sun. He was too powerful for his frail nerves!

Eventually his shift would come to a close, and finally he would find Aiko waiting outside as he stepped out, no longer dressed up in his costume. ''Hey, hope waiting wasn't too boring.'' He smirked, ''I didn't introduce myself. I'm Yasu Okamoto.''

Aiko

He's so polite... And that big smile too, he wasn't acting at all like how Yasu pictured the stereotypical delinquent would. ''When I'm off?'' He blinked his eyes, caught by surprise at the offer. The horns weren't actually going to hurt him or something, were they? Part of him told him to be cautious, but he sincerely wasn't catching any bad vibes off of this guy. Yume also hadn't said anything about him being an agent of darkness working for the Dark Lord, so he was probably just a friendly dude. ''S-Sure. If you don't mind.'' He added shyly. Was it weird of him to be interested in Aiko's horns?

Despite getting a quirk recently, nothing physically changed about Yasu. Sure, when Yume took control her mannerisms came out, but strictly speaking his appearance was the same as always... Except he was talking to a buff tall guy while wearing a cat maid outfit. ''Is that so?'' He smiled, ''word of mouth can be a deceptively powerful way to market a business these days, don't you think? Everyone is always talking about posting on social media, but there is merit to other methods too.'' He put his hands together gently, looking a bit anxious at what Aiko asked next. ''A special touch? O-Of course! Enchanted with the finest...'' He blushed as he twirled his fingers, as if he was casting a magic spell. ''...Yummy tasty spell.'' He laughed nervously, he still couldn't say it with a straight face. ''I'm glad that it's to Master's liking.'' His reason for being here? ''Sure.'' He leaned back in his seat. ''My reason for being here is pretty simple.''

My quirk signed me up for this job because she wanted it.

''I'm still figuring out what to do with my life, so earning a little extra money on the side while I figure that out isn't a bad idea. Also, the owner here treats her staff very well, it's a great place to work despite... The costumes.'' He said sheepishly, looking down at what he was wearing. ''Ah! Sorry, I got to talking all about myself. Do you have hobbies, Master, are you pursuing a career?''

Aiko

''Sweet, warm drink and rice.'' He repeated, nodding his head as he wrote the order down. He couldn't let distractions get in the way of his job, he wanted to make the owner Jingjing proud that she hired him after all. Not to mention, earning some extra money on the side was always nice, especially if this hero career stuff didn't end up panning out. He should be realistic after all! He was hardly top of his class and he didn't work as hard as most of his peers. In fact, he still wasn't sure how Yume had cleared that entrance exam all on her own.

''Um...'' He blinked his eyes at Aiko as he looked at his horns again, then his smirk. ''Part of your quirk too, then?'' He felt his face turn red when Aiko leaned forward and called him a cutie. ''C-Cutie?!'' The worst part was he was totally going to do it too, but he couldn't let Aiko distract him! Touching someone's horns on the job, it felt too private somehow! He had to resist the urge. Rather than touch his horns, Yasu rubbed the back of his neck. ''Sorry... They're pretty, and you're really nice, master, but I'm at work so...'' He looked off to the side, not only was his face beet red, but his brain was working overtime trying to think of a way to end his sentence. This guy was so unexpectedly nice, he wished he could have accepted. ''I-I need to act with a certain degree of professionalism.'' He insisted with an apologetic smile before scurrying out to prepare Aiko's order. ''I'll be right back, master!''

He took a deep breath when he finally got out back and relayed the rice order while he got a cup of hot chocolate ready. ''Ooooh, your horns are so pretty, kiss me master!'' Yume teased Yasu, making kissing noises inside of his head causing his face to turn red all over again. ''Shut it, Yume!'' He called out, but not too loudly because he knew no one else could hear her.

''Do you like him, Yasu? Do you like tall guys? ~''

''I don't know...''

''You don't know? How do you not know who you like?''

''I don't know, I've never...'' He sunk down behind the counter as he waited for Aiko's order to be ready and muttered to himself. ''No one has ever called me 'cutie' before.'' He covered his face with his hands. Yume just laughed. ''You're a total loser, it's adorable! Do you want me to rizz him up for you?'' Yume was still just teasing, but Yasu quickly snapped back. ''Don't you dare, you'll just scare him away.''

Finally Yasu emerged with Aiko's order, putting his bowl of rice and his drink in front of him. ''Here you go, master.'' He bowed his head politely, before reluctantly taking a seat across from Aiko. ''If I may... What brings you here today? Do you live here in Tokyo?''

Aiko

Yasu stared back at his reflection in the mirror blankly as he finished putting on the cat ears to his maid outfit. No matter how many times he saw himself dress up like this, he couldn’t quite get used to it. If it wasn’t for Yume, the thought of taking on a job like this would have never even crossed his mind.

Even the thought of others seeing him dressed like this made his heart race and his nerves go berserk. How did his coworkers make it look so natural? He took a deep breath before walking out from the back, just in time to greet the next customer. A guy with horns who seemed to have a very smart fashion sense. Seeing the ponytail, he couldn’t help but wonder how much work went into maintaining long hair. “How can I help you, Nyaa?” He asked sheepishly, immediately realizing he had messed up. “I mean, right this way, master, we’ve got a great window seat open for you- nya.” He motioned for Aiko to follow him and handed him a menu once he got seated.

Aiko

''I-I-I see.'' Yasu struggled to get up into a sitting position due to the lag and the way his body was glitching between being human and pixels, but eventually he managed to sit up, facing Kikurage. ''I guess every qui-rkkkkkkk has its draw...backs.'' Something that should be obvious to everyone else, but having a quirk was still new to him. He thought back to the race and how much Kiku must have been pushing herself this entire time, conjuring up that many mushrooms. He couldn't help but feel a little bad at the fact that Yume had made her conjure up more mushrooms to protect herself too. ''This is just- just- just- my quirk.'' He shrugged, his body still lagging several seconds behind his actions.

Slowly but surely the lag dissipated, but the exhaustion sure didn't. He managed a weak smile in response to her smug question. ''Better for sure, can't say it's something I'm used to. I've never been much of an athlete.'' He rubbed the back of his neck, feeling embarrassed at how he had first introduced himself to her. ''I was playing down my own skills before the test because I didn't want to disappoint you when I sucked, but when I did that I was assuming what you were thinking before we had even talked, and that's not cool.'' He looked down at the ground, his head still spinning a bit from how fast they had been going.

''I'll get Yume to apologize too. She's stubborn because she has some kind of main character complex, but she'll come around.'' He looked back up at Kiku with a smile. ''But... I'm being serious, if there's ever anything I can do to make up for you having to use your quirk so much, just let me know.'' Even if Kiku never called on him for a favor, he felt better at least making the offer rather than having her think he was selfish or wasn't feeling remorse for it. Wait, wasn't he basically assuming what she was thinking again?

Kikurage Shimeiji