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1
“HANTA!” from the kitchen, Sero heard an urgent holler calling the man’s name. The yell made him jump out of his skin, almost making him drop the mug of hot chocolate that rested in his left hand. ‘I'll drink it later’ he decided, sighing, placing his favorite cup down and heading towards the location where the call came from. The dark-haired man trudged down the hall cautiously, hoping that he wasn’t going to get scolded by his housemate; especially since he hadn't responded and Katsuki hated it when they didn’t answer him when they were called. The blonde really was the mom of the group.
Hanta ended up outside Bakugou and Kirishima’s shared room, the door was wide open so he got a full view of a scowling Katsuki impatiently sitting upon the made bed.
“Yo yo!”
“Get in here would ya.” he sneered. Following orders, Hanta (silently fearing for his life) entered the room, not breaking eye contact with Katsuki. Beside the ash blonde, he saw a few clothes laid out, nice and ironed, set out in different outfits. “I’m meeting up with Camie and the rest in a few and she just got promoted…” Bakugou elaborated.
“And you want my fashion input? Dude, it’s an honor.” Hanta smirked, glad to know that Katsuki valued his opinion.
“You’re my last option, idiot. Denki’s not home and frankly, I wouldn't trust Mina with dressing me if she was the only person alive.”
“Oi! I heard that meanie!” a whine came from the doorway, Ashido held her chin sadly while the woman shook her head.
“Fuck me if I’m wrong Pinky! Close the damn door and stop poking your nose everywhere!” Bakugou swore at her. Hanta, in the middle, whipped his head back and forth between the two, looking at each one.
“Fine! You still need to give me that girl’s number though!”
“Jesus Christ, stop thirsting over my friend!” Katsuki groaned, shooing Ashido away. The pink-haired girl quickly walked away, without closing the door resulting in Bakugou kissing his teeth.
“Okay, but what about Eijirou?” Sero tried to bring the conversation focus back.
“Are you kidding me?”
On cue, out of the ensuite, Kirishima came out wearing - to put it lightly - clown clothing. Where the hell did he even get some of this stuff from? He had a piss-yellow and blue striped shirt on, buttoned up with a pair of orange jean shorts.
Sero bottled up his disappointment, “Heh, where are you going?”
“Um… nowhere? Just had my bath, bro.” the red-head blinked at him questioningly. Bakugou didn’t look fazed at all, somewhat used to this. “You two okay? I’m gonna go make breakfast, want some babe?”
“Yeah, thanks. Don’t burn it.”
Eijirou went to lightly peck his boyfriend lightly on his forehead, “No problem.”, the man waved at Hanta before exiting the room and closing the door halfway.
“Whipped.” Sero snickered.
Bakugou rolled his eyes (Sero catching a glimpse of a light blush across his cheeks) “Shut it. So, which one?” he brought his attention back to the clothes on the bed. Hanta, deep down, knew that Katsuki did actually respect his fashion advice but refused to confess it. The taller dude inspected each set of clothes and made his decision on the second one.
”Thanks Hanta.”
“No prob, dawg. Better take some pictures.”
“Already promised Mina I would.” he scoffed, “Hey look, I’ve been thinking about something.”
At the change of tone, Sero’s attention was pulled back in. The man was just about to leave however; hearing Bakugou’s voice become more thoughtful and serious, Hanta stayed put.
“I might move out with Eijirou soon.” the blonde finally said.
Even though Hanta’s eyes widened, the man wasn’t all that surprised. The squad (except Jirou who went her own way - they were still really close with her, but she didn’t live with them) had decided to live together soon after graduating so that they could get stable jobs and share rent; each one of them also living their own separate lives: dating, making more friends, visiting family and going abroad. Most of them, by now, were financially stable and could easily get their own place. It made perfect sense that Katsuki (who was probably the richest out of the bunch) wanted to move out and live with his boyfriend in their own separate place. It worked so far, but every single one of them knew that five young adults in one house could only work for so long.
“Have you decided on the details?” He kept his cool.
“Nah, you’re the first one I’ve told - haven’t even spoken to Ei. It was something on my mind, that’s all.” Bakugou replied, staring at his palm.
“I’ve got your back then Katsuki. Tell me when you’ve got most of it planned out. I can help you decide.” Sero shone his signature smile at the man hunched over, still resting on top of his bed. Katsuki’s shoulders fell, claiming down.
“Cool,” he said simply, getting up and slugging Sero over his shoulders.
“How much do you bet it's burnt?” Hanta had to bend down a bit to match the second tallest in the house’s height. Katsuki wore that title like a badge, unfortunately knowing that none of them would ever outgrow Hanta.
“Eijirou isn’t that bad at cooking. He isn’t Dunce Face.”
“True. I was talking about his atrocious outfit.”
“Fuck yes, burn that shit. Get it off him.”
“You’d like that, wouldn't you. Getting Ejirou’s clothes off.”
“Shut it.” Katsuki grumbled.
“But am I wrong?”
2
Denki came home buzzing like a bee. The electric blonde jumped all over the place and bounced off the walls before Mina and Hanta eventually calmed him down and made him take a seat in the living room. Kaminari found his favorite spot on the couch and bopped up and down.
“Denki, I’m glad to see that you’re happy hun but what is this all about?” Ashido began to talk, her attention was split between checking her phone and speaking to Denki who wasn’t showing any signs of calming down anytime soon. Hanta had, meanwhile, poured a cup of water for him, neatly getting a coaster and placing it on the brown coffee table the man had bought with his own money.
Denki barked, “So! So! So! So! S-”
“So what?” Hanta stopped him, trying to get to the point.
“I was at Kyouka’s today like I told you guys, and she was whining about how we don’t get to see each other that often with her job making her travel so far out and the journey from there to her house to ours. And I was like ‘Baby, relax it’s okay, we can do this. We’ll find a way for you to see your handsome prince - me - more often’, then we kinda did make out for a bit and it w-”
“Dude where is this going?” Hanta butted in again before his friend went on another tangent about how great of a kisser he was. Ashido wasn’t even listening to him anymore - fixated on texting Camie who she was ‘trying to woo over’ (Mina’s words not his).
“Oops, sorry. Okay, long story short: she asked me to move in with her!” he beamed.
‘Another one?’ Sero thought, recalling a couple of weeks back when Bakugou had suggested the idea of him and Kirishima leaving the house. The blonde hadn't made any big moves yet but Hanta was fairly certain that their time was coming soon.
“I’m guessing you said yes?” Ashido - who had turned off her phone - spoke, fully participating in the conversation now.
“Fuck yeah! It’s just that…” Denki slowed down, biting his lip, “...are you okay with it?”
Hanta blinked.
“When do you leave?” Mina asked, wanting more information as expected. The woman began to fiddle around with her candyfloss hair, trying to braid it and style it.
“Two to three days. Really soon since she already has most of my stuff at her place… I’ve already organized all the stuff with work and how I’ll get there.”
THAT WAS SO SOON!
“Welp, Kamiden, you have my vote. Why would I stop you from having more makeout sessions with Kyouka? I’m proud of you.”
“Mina. Wow, I knew you were a true g.” Denki thumped his chest in pride. The boy turned to Sero, his face expectedly gleaming at Hanta.
“It’s obviously a yes. Go for it!” Sero did his signature smile being a good supportive friend. Kaminari 100% deserved to be happy, and if moving out was one of the steps it took - so be it. “Just don’t forget to clean up your underwear or else Kyouka will send you right back to us.” he teased making Ashido giggle like crazy (and making it harder for the girl to style her hair)
“Aha aha aha, very funny. I’m gonna visit a ton, don’t worry!” Denki perked up, getting up off his seat, “Where’s Eijirou and Katsuki?”
“Eijirou said that he’s staying with Tetsutetsu tonight because he had a meeting far out and his place is closer and pretty sure it’s past Katsuki’s bedtime.”
Kaminari stroked his chin, the dude was trying to grow a goatee despite Ashido’s best efforts to stop him, wanting him to remain a babyface. “How about a selfie then guys?” he recommended pulling out his phone and learning across the coffee table to get his other two housemates in the frame.
“AAAAHH! No Denks! I’m not ready! Nope, nope nope.” Mina violently yanked herself out of the camera's view, still fidgeting about with her hair; she kept it pink and short so it was way more difficult to style compared to Hanta who had his natural hair grown out a bit longer than when he was a teenager. So many of them had suggested that he’d get an undercut but Sero didn’t have the time to fuss over that stuff.
“Okay drama queen. Hanta, CHEESE!” Denki took the photo at lightning speed, snatching it away so he didn’t even get to see how it turned out. Hopefully, he was smiling.
“Bwahahaha! Oh god, Mina look!” Out of the blue, Kaminari burst out laughing, clenching his stomach and passing his phone to Ashido who paused her hairstyling task to glance at the picture. The woman had a small white hairband in her mouth as she attempted to pack up her hair - an unbelievably laborious job.
“Denki, what did you do?” Sero chuckled nervously. He didn’t even want to see it.
Ashido spat out her hairband when her eyes laid on the photo, spraying spit all over Denki’s phone.
“MINA!” the boy whined through his laughs.
“H-Hanta! Your face is so cute and squished and y-your mouth is so big, ohmigosh it looks EXACTLY like that portrait Denki did in art class of you!” Mina tried to catch her breath and Sero already began to howl along with them because just recalling that event at school was hilarious: after that one drawing, Jirou, Kirishima and Ashido had lined up for their own portraits to be drawn, it ended with Kaminari only drawing Bakugou (who unfairly wasn’t even inline) and the squad photocopying the picture and sticking them everywhere for Katsuki to see. After two weeks was when the last picture was finally found.
One of the main reasons they were still so close after all those years was because they lived together - if Denki left, then Eijirou and Katsuki, sooner or later so would Mina. They’d lose touch and moments like this would never happen again.
“Sero Hanta! Earth to HANTA!?” Ashido waved her dark-skinned hand over his face, “Can you drive me to Camie’s place?”
Hanta was brought back to reality. Denki had gone off to his room to get changed into his pajamas and pack while Ashido - after eventually getting her hair in a ponytail - sat next to him, putting on her shoes.
“Camie’s? It’s past ten, what the hell are you two gonna do?”
“It’s woman’s business, hun. Can you?” Ashido insisted, pulling a face to which Hanta couldn’t say no. “I will be back in the morning, I promise!”
“Okay, jeez. Lemme just get the helmets.” he scoffed, making way to the closet under the stairs.
“YAY! Love ya Hanta.”
3
Hanta was surrounded by moving boxes. Not Denki’s moving boxes, no he’d left a while ago and moved in with Kyouka. These were Eijirou and Katsuki’s boxes. Unlike last time, since the two had bought a completely new house and both of them were moving, there were a ton more boxes (most of them belonging to Kirishima due to Katsuki being an efficient and decisive packer).
Deciding to visit her friend for the week, Mina had already said her tearful goodbyes to the men and was picked up by Hagakure early that morning. On the other hand, Denki and Kyouka were round (their or his?) house helping to send off Eijirou and Katsuki - both of them were pretty emotional (one more expressive than the other but they were both definitely mushy)
Hanta carried the last box past what used to be Kirishima and Bakugou’s room and carefully went down the stairs to meet everyone else. Bakugou was fully dressed with his coat and shoes on, in the kitchen checking through the drawers and shelves for anything that he might have forgotten while Kaminari and Jirou sat by the kitchen island. They were talking about something but Hanta’s focus was on Eijirou by the dining table looking through the scrapbook Hanta had given him.
To no one’s surprise, he was tearing up.
“I remember that time,” Hanta commented, past the box in his hands, the lanky dude looked over Eijirou’s shoulder to peek at the photo.
It was their first week of living in the house and their first fire. Sero had been out of the house during that time so what he came back to was a complete shock: from what he had heard Kirishima had tried to put out the fire by himself by using a couple of towels to fan it out nevertheless; one of the towels he used was dipped in oil courtesy of Ashido experimenting with ways to moisturize her hair easier. Said towel caught flames immediately and in surprise, Kirishima had dropped it on the floor. By then, Bakugou and Kaminari had hastily made their way to the kitchen to aid the failed firefighter: Bakugou shouting a bunch of commands while Kaminari jumped around like a Sim being no help at all. Finally, like icing on the cake, Ashido came in singing This Girl is on Fire and helping Katsuki and Eijirou extinguish the fire. Later that day, Sero had come home to the mess and took a selfie of the charred kitchen, a singing Mina, apologetic Eijirou, and Katsuki having a go at Denki for doing absolutely shit.
“Still so shocked how nobody was mad at me.” Eijioru sighed, closing the scrapbook - a very sentimental gift for Hanta to give.
“Don’t mind it, one of you guys were eventually going to start one. Besides, you’re too nice to be mad at for very long.” Hanta handed the box to Eijirou, beaming his signature smile.
“Thanks a bunch, Hanta. Seriously, you’ve been a big help to me and Katsuki.”
“I know, you’ve told me that ten times today. You’ve planned how you’re gonna get to work right?”
“Yeah totally, it’s near the train station as well, so if I have to go far again I’ll be prepared.” Kirishima and Sero wandered to the doorway where the red-head stacked the box in his hands on top of the others.
“How’s Katsuki?”
“He says he can’t wait to leave you ‘idiots’, but I know he doesn't mean it. He might even miss you guys more than me, haha.” the tears came back to Eijirou’s eyes, as the corners of his eyes watered. As somebody who was so big and muscly, you wouldn’t expect him to be such a softy.
“Eijibro, as an experienced mover, it’s okay to be sad,” emerging from the dining room, Kaminari had followed them, “w-when I first left I was on cloud 9, couldn't wait to move in with Kyouka. But like, after a day or two I cried a bunch and totally ruined her towel with my snot-”
“Okay, bro TMI.” Eijirou backtracked.
Denki rubbed the back of his neck feeling guilty, “The point is, it’s better to let it out now than hold it in. We’re gonna visit you a bunch and you can visit us a bunch.” he finished his speech.
Kirishima was fully crying now, big fat tears rolling down his cheeks. Feeling like it was the only thing they could do, Sero and Kaminari engulfed the big man in a tight hug.
Hanta was glad that Eijirou was crying so that he didn’t have to. The man couldn't even think about how empty the house was gonna be without them, Denki enough had made the house significantly quieter without the dude’s excessively loud phone calls but without Katsuki or Eijirou, who would Hanta tease? Who would help him clean up the cookie crumbs after movie night? Who would he walk into making out on the coffee table? And how on earth would they play Monopoly, UNO or Mario Party with only two people?
“Hey, who the fuck made my boyfriend cry!?” The one and only Bakugou boomed, and damn Hanta wasn’t sure if it was the fact that he meant so much to him or the fact that Bakugou yelled a ton, but Katsuki’s voice would forever echo in his head - how the hell would Sero live without hearing this man scream over a prank every week? Behind him was Kyouka who had a carrier bag of Katsuki’s cups and utensils he wanted to keep.
“K-Katsuki-” Eijirou mumbled in between hiccups before Denki made the decision to yank both of them in the hug. Kaminari’s impulsiveness was something Hanta missed, the dude had already moved out but Hanta hadn't fully accepted his disappearance. Last week, Sero had the idea of pranking Bakugou by doing the old ‘Mentos in Coke’ trick but when the time came, he didn’t know how to get Bakugou to actually open the bottle; at that moment he thought ‘Man, where’s Kaminari when you need him? He should be home by now.’ then the realization came. It wasn’t very pleasant - the electric blonde would've easily backed him up.
The hug was nice and what Hanta needed, only if…
Discreetly, Hanta pulled out his phone with one hand and managed to unlock it and open up Snapchat. The boy took a tilted selfie of the group hug and sent it to Mina with the caption: ‘Look at what you’re missing out on! 😁😁 Have fun at Hagakure’s’ knowing she’d be jealous and getting a serious case of FOMO.
“How long is this hug going to last, cause we have to move all these boxes to the van, yanno?” Jirou asked nonchalantly, not moving an inch. Kaminari leaned down to get closer to her and kissed his girlfriend’s cheek.
“Just a little longer, and I know you’re loving it, Kyo.”
“Fuck, I needed this,” Katsuki muttered.
Everyone simultaneously awed.
“Shut the fuck up.”
Eijioru rubbed circles on his back, “But babe it’s cute.”
“Yeah babe it’s cute,” Hanta repeated Eijirou, in a mocking manner.
“I’ll kill ya, Soy Sauce.”
4
Mina was sat on the kitchen floor. A place where Hanta had never expected her to be, especially since she was dressed up head to toe. ‘Maybe she tripped on her high heels again’ Hanta wondered. After three months of living alone with Mina, Hanta had seen her steady progression as a hairstylist - the woman still refused to grow out her unruly pink hair, but despite this, she learned how to do small braids, ponytails and space buns.
That day she had done space buns, and put on her high-waisted jeans along with a loose yellow silk top with white flowers still; one thing was missing and it was extremely clear to Hanta who’s known her since forever…
“My make-up bag!” he whined, her ass still on the floor, “He put it up there knowing I can’t reach it! That despicable schemer!” she had her finger pointed to the top of the fridge where (as she had said) sat her leopard pink make-up bag.
“Who’s ‘he’?”
“Katsuki, duh! Have you not seen my stories for the past few days? My posts? What I sent to the chat!?”, the girl shrieked in their empty house. To be frank, Sero had put most of Ashido’s social media on mute - she posted A FUCK TON and Sero wasn’t really the most avid device user. The boy scratched the back of his head in guilt with Ashido staring at him, “Well… I’m waiting. Check your phone!”
“Can you not just tell me?”
“Mmmh, fine! You know when I stayed round Katsuki and Ei’s place? Yeah well, I saw Katsuki sleeping and I thought I’d give him a little makeover.”
“Oh god, Mina.”
“So when he and Denki came to visit yesterday, he must’ve taken revenge and put it up there! I tried to use the stool, and my heels and stacked books: nothing worked!”, she cried, “It’s Camie and my first date! Why would he do this? Does he not love me? Am I not loved, how will I ever get it down!?”
Ashido was really bad at emotional blackmail.
“Fine, fine I got it, chill your tits.” Sero tutted, getting on his tiptoes and pulling the bag down, trying not to spill anything inside, “Are you two dating now or what?”
Ashido’s whole demeanor did a 180°, she was bubbling and chirpy again, “Yippity yep yep! She’s my gf, my girl, my babe, my honey, my main gal.”
“Epic, congrats my dude. Also, neither of us have swept the kitchen in days, so you should probably get off.” Sero advised and Mina instantaneously hopped up from there and snagged her make-up bag from Hanta’s grasp.
“Aw gosh, darn you and your wisdom. I need to go change, check the chat history for the picture.” The pink-haired lady used the oven as a mirror, checking her butt which was in fact dusty and speckled with crumbs. Ambitiously, she took off to her bedroom to get ready again.
Intending to draw out the conversation (and not wanting to be alone right then), Hanta followed her but respectfully waited outside her room.
“How’s work?”
“Amazing, actually. Ochako and Aoyama are THE BEST co-workers a gal could have! Don’t even test me, they glitterfied my binder out of the kindness of their hearts, they are superior.” she yelled back, “Hanta, true question, why haven’t you started dating yet? It’s your choice and all but like is there a reason?”
Sero bit the inside of his cheek. They rarely have this conversation, like once every full moon. “Remember in high school and all those times I got rejected. I’ve kinda gotten over all of that jazz and I don’t really want to make the first move anymore.” He opened his phone and went to go check the chat history like Mina had said he should.
“C’mon you’re a total catch! All those kids at school were assholes and didn't deserve you. If you like someone, make a move. You see me: look how long it took for me to ask out the absolute sassy angel that is Camie. Not to mention you have all the options! Asexuality or not.”
Scrolling through the chat, Hanta skimmed through all the unnecessary memes and banter he’d missed, only looking at the pictures, “Maybe… besides, no one’s really caught my eye right now.” He thought about all of his colleagues and friends; if he felt any romance with them or sparks. Some of them were kinda attractive nonetheless; Tokoyami, Awase, and Komori were deep in the platonic zone for Hanta.
“Hanta, have you seen the Bakubeau pic yet? That’s what I’m calling it: Bakubeau. Got the idea from Aoyama and it’s magnificent.”
He flicked down to the said picture with ‘Bakubeau’ having a full face of make-up with the caption: ‘SMASH OR PASS’ and of course they all smashed (Eijioru’s response, in particular, being ‘Would smash and am currently smashing :P), “Yep, I’m losing it! How are you still alive?” he chuckled.
“Oh, puh-lease. Do you not remember that one time Denki painted him bright yellow!? You had to help buy all of the paint as well! He hated y’all for days!”
Finally, Sero scrolled down to the earliest texts and saw one snap Ashido had sent that made his hairs stand on end. It was a simple pic of her manicured hand holding a key with the caption: ‘😍girl gave me the key to her heart ❤💖💕 allowed in anytime😍’
The hell?
“M-Mina?”
She jumped out of her room in a loose blue dress that swayed around her hips, her hair still styled in the exact same way as before but she had added a few blue hair clips to complement the dress. Ashido had also done her make-up, laying down her foundation to match her dark skin tone and adding some lip gloss, black mascara, and eyeliner.
“Can you believe Bakubeau thinks I’m unfashionable!? Wassup?” he balanced on her heels and grinned at Hanta whose heart was beating fast. Too fast.
“Camie gave you a key to her’s?” he tried to seem unfazed.
“Yep, I thought I… oh gosh you didn’t see the text before! I’m sorry you had to find out this way!” she covered her mouth in shock, guilt washing over her, “Yeah, I was thinking of staying there for a while then coming back and alternating for a while. She stays with a few of her close friends as well. Katsuki knows them so it’s not like they’re complete strangers.”
MINA WAS LEAVING TOO?
To be fair, it had been a month since Kirishima and Bakugou left but to Hanta it felt like one after the other. They were all with their partners living in the same house, either being invited or buying a new house altogether. While Hanta was left with the crappy remains which was the squad’s place.
“Do you think your relationship is serious?” he continued to ask while not changing his face.
“Compared to my other’s? I guess. Camie’s different from all of them, ya know. My last boyfriend wasn’t who I thought he was. And before that, they had serious issues they had to take care of before thinking about dating. Camie is well rounded and... capable of keeping me safe, and I want to do the same for her. I don’t know what I’ll do if I lost her…”
“From the bazillion times she’s visited, I think I got it.” Sero did his signature smile. “I fully support you, Mina. There’s no doubt you’ll be happy together. When you feel like it’s time to properly move out, I got you.”
The woman’s lip trembled, holding in her sobs, ever so committed to keeping her make-up on and not ruining it. She fell on top of Hanta, consuming him in a tight hug. “That means so much to me. Thank you Hanta.”
“That’s me. You should get going, or you’ll be late.”
“Aha, I was actually exaggerating. Camie said she’ll pick me up in two hours. So we have time for...”
“Mario Party?”
“Took the words right outta my mouth.”
5
“Yo Hanta, can I discuss something real quick… with you?” Sero felt a light tap on his shoulder. Turning around he saw Jirou with her hands dug deep into both of her flannel pockets. His raven-haired friend led him to a room away from the chaos that was Sero’s house. Yes, Sero’s house - no longer Sero and Ashido’s. The bubbly girl leaving definitely didn’t take Sero by surprise, when the day came the woman somehow managed to have the calmest send-off, probably because Sero was the only one sending her off.
Another couple of months went by and now, it was Mina’s birthday and everyone and their mothers have met up at Sero’s. Their final destination for the birthday was the restaurant down his street, so making a pit stop at his was ideal for everyone. The black-haired man was silently glad that so many people were in his house… it was kinda like the old days.
“Sorry, this is totally not the time to be saying this but I’ve gotta get it off my chest.” The smaller girl began, “You’re Denki’s closest friend right?”
Flattered, Hanta smiled, “Probably, you could say. I’ve known him the longest and he was my first friend in high school. I’m pretty sure he feels the same way but him and Eiji-”
“No, don’t doubt yourself, you’re definitely his favorite.” Kyouka stopped him second-guessing himself. To be honest, out of all of the squad, Denki did visit Hanta the most: not to mention their endless messages to one another. It’s a freaking miracle that the two of them were still so close. “I hate to say it, but you probably know him better than I do,” Kyouka confessed and in such a confined space Hanta could see the fear in her eyes.
“Kyouka? Is something wrong with Denki?” Hanta questioned, Kyouka’s fear becoming his own.
“Oh god no, Hanta. Denki’s as fine as a Denki can be. It’s me or rather something I want to do.”
“Warning you now, if it’s anything kinky Denks would probably be into it but I’m NOT the one you should have th-”
Kyouka’s ears burned bright red as she covered Hanta’s mouth, stopping him from speaking, “Can you not- it has nothing to do with sex. God.” she hissed, removing her hand, “Do you know if he’s the type to want to settle down, and like tie the knot? Denki’s pretty, I dunno, carefree and loose so he might not be into the whole marriage thing with a ceremony and dressing up and planning and-”
NO FREAKING WAY! HOLY SHIT!
“KYOUKA!” he stopped her, quietly yelling (which wasn’t really needed because the ruckus outside was roaring), “Are you saying that you want to…”
“Propose? Yeah, I am.”
“Hahaha!” Sero laughed, his eyes welling up with tears of joy, he held his stomach. The man quickly realized that his laugh could be interpreted as him thinking Jirou was silly so he stopped immediately and stared her dead in the eyes, “DO. IT.”
“Really?” her eyes lit up slightly and Sero had to put his hands on her shoulders.
“Dude, sure Denki is wild and all over the place sometimes but fucking come on, he’d love a wedding and all that crap! Getting gussied up, inviting tons of guests, a BACHELOR’S PARTY, and dude it’s you! Kyouka! He freaking loves you! He’d totally be ready if you are!”, Hanta slowed down his rant, “You are ready, right?”
Kyouka took a deep breath in and out, “When we were back in school and were teens, we used to joke around about how bad Denki’s grades were and how he’d p-probably end up fucked over or in a rough place or not g-getting as far as he wanted to. We were- I WAS an idiot for underestimating him. I know we didn't mean it and weren’t too serious but damn do I feel so guilty. I feel like I’ve shown him how much he means to me and how wrong I was time and time again but shit- HE’S AMAZING, HANTA!”
“Yeah, I know.” Hanta glowed, smiling his signature smile.
“Like, I could go on and on about how much I love his friendliness and how dedicated he is and his smile… the best way to express all of that love is to marry him. So to answer your question, yes.”
Hanta smiled softly, “Man, you are head over heels.” he shook his head, wiping away his tears. Everyone was going forward so quickly. Two years ago, Hanta remembered the guys on his living room couch spread out and singing along to I’ll Make a Man Out of You, Kirishima and Kaminari trying to show off their singing skills, Mina busting some moves, Bakugou and Kyouka making a beat and Hanta cackling along knowing he had no sense of musicality and couldn’t sing for his life. “I’m guessing I’m the first one you’ve told.”
“You wish, you’re second.” she scoffed, punching Hanta on the shoulder, “Let’s just say that, me and someone else are racing to propose to our blonde boyfriends.” was what the punk lady last said before opening the door and returning to the outside world of hustling and bustling.
‘Blonde boyfriends, huh’ Hanta followed her out. The person she was racing had to be someone he knew, right? On the other hand, Kyouka worked in an entirely different field as Hanta, so she could easily be talking about one of her colleagues who Hanta would have no clue about.
“Utsushimi, Katsuki texted to say Mina’s wearing something green and orange. You wanted to correlate outfits right?” was the first voice Sero heard. Eijirou had put on an acceptable suit and was helping sort out everyone else who wasn’t ready. Sero glanced at Jirou who glanced right back at him.
‘I got it’ he confirmed to himself. COOL. GREAT. FANTASTIC.
“You got dat right, main mans. Sparkle boy Aoyama, you’ll hold my gems yee yee?” After hearing her name called, Utusushimi left the hallway, dropping her necklace in Yuuga’s hands.
“Of course, mademoiselle.” The man was wearing a sparkly (but not too sparkly) suit and had sprinkled some glitter on his and Ochako’s hair, the brunette had started a conversation with Kyouka in the time Hanta had taken to leave the room. It seems like everyone had calmed down a lot more during their discussion.
“Uraraka, I like your suit.” Hanta walked up to the three at his door.
“Yeah, super classy.” Kyouka agreed.
“Aha, thanks, you guys! It’s pretty new as well. You two look good too!” Uraraka’s face sparkled at their nice words.
“I sorta threw on whatever I saw first, feel bad for not putting as much effort.”, her flannel dress wasn’t as fancy as everyone else’s clothes, but it indeed suited her and wasn’t too out of place. Regardless, Kyouka’s knee-high boots rounded it all out.
“Same. Not prepared squad?” Hanta held out his first, disappointed in his own simplistic shirt and pants combo.
“Not prepared squad.” Kyouka bumped his fist.
“ Excuse moi, but where is la star du jour?” Yuuga asked after checking his make-up for the third time that day.
“Katsuki and Denki volunteered to keep her busy for a while until we meet at the place. Which should be soon considering the time.”
“Bang on, ladybro. Ashimi has a ton of distractions to keep her busy busy busy!” Camie blew kisses at them, showing off her new outfit: an off the shoulder tight orange dress.
“All ready to rumble guys. Hagakure and the others said they’d be there later rather than sooner. But hey check it out - Team Kamibaku on their way!” Eijirou was behind her, waving his phone in the air. The red-head put his phone in the middle so everyone could see the selfie Denki had taken with Katsuki (who threw a violent peace sign at the camera) and Mina (pretty baffled at the sudden selfie attack) captioned: ‘sHe haS No FUCking clUe 😉😉 - we such good undercover cops TEAM ⚡KAMIBAKU💥 FTW’
“He/She’s so cute.“ Camie, Eijirou, and Kyouka hummed, all talking about their retrospective partners
“I feel out of place.” Hanta puffed out, unlocking his door.
“Let’s go singles, let’s go.” Uraraka clapped.
“Are you really as single as you think, Uraraka?” Aoyama asked her, fluttering his eyelashes.
“W-What do y-you- Aoyama! Not now!” she blushed, all flustered.
“Yare, yare daze.” Hanta tutted, knowing well that he was going to miss this noise. He’d get over it soon, the man will just have to savor the moment. “Are we going to the restaurant or not?”
+1
July 28th was Sero Hanta’s birthday and the dark-haired man could not fathom how many things have happened in the past two weeks (thirteen days to be exact). Despite Jirou’s best efforts, Kirishima proposed to Bakugou three days after Ashido’s birthday. Supposedly Kirishima took his blonde boyfriend to the exact tree at their high school where they had their first kiss and started dating: Katsuki sent a very passive-aggressive message to the squad chat with both of their hands in front of the camera to show their matching rings engraved with the words ‘It Has To Be You’ and captioned: ‘Wow, would ya look at the motherfuckers!’ to which everyone replied with congratulations.
Pretty much the next day, another message was sent to the chat in a similar vein, this time Denki was the one to post a selfie with him and his fiancée both pulling the ugliest duck faces they could while flashing their own rings as well captioned: ‘@B00MB💥Y how ya like dem apples!’ after which they all Skyped, Mina in full-blown tears meanwhile Hanta flexed his prior knowledge of the events.
The next couple of days was when shit really hit the fan. To start off the train, Kirishima decided to switch jobs due to the heavy homophobia in his workplace and frankly just his shitty colleagues being total dicks (of course apart from Tetsutestu who was one of the main reasons Kirishima managed to last that long in such a negative work atmosphere) after that Ashido sprained her ankle in one of her dance group practices and had to take some time off work, and to finish everything off Jirou and Kaminari’s house had a serious leak that they didn’t know was there until the ceiling started to drip - there were quite a lot of damages. This meant that for the past eight days, Sero had been out of the house longer than he was in it: visiting all of his friends and helping out however he could - drying damp surfaces, making meals and signing casts, and just comforting overall.
All the same, July 28th was Hanta’s birthday and he hasn't heard so much as a peep from anyone other than his work friends. The guys threw a mini-party for him yesterday, buying him more tape to decorate his desk with - it was great and he thanked all of them (Tokoyami even said that Kokage (his younger sister) wished Hanta a happy birthday which made his day).
After consuming two slices of cake for breakfast and dancing around the house in his underwear to his favorite songs, Hanta’s sugar rush evidently came to an end resulting in him taking a very thoughtful shower.
The man 100% didn’t blame any of them for forgetting or not being able to talk to Sero on his birthday. Every single one of them had some important issues they needed to take care of. Hanta wouldn’t even know what to do if he suddenly found all of his work vandalized with horrible messages like ‘GO SUCK A DICK FAGGOT’, and, ‘YOU AND YOUR FIANCÉ ARE GOING TO HELL’.
Hanta squirted a glop of shampoo into his palm and began to massage his scalp.
I wasn't as if he really liked his birthday anyway, it was more of the fact that at least one and a half years ago, this house he was in would have been packed with laughing and screaming and music. Not gonna lie, Hanta had gotten somewhat used to being home alone and liked having more room for himself - but the whole dating, moving away, and now MARRYING thing felt so sudden, even though it really wasn’t.
Covered in bubbly soap, Hanta sponged down the rest of his body and let the water spraying from the showerhead above cascade down his face.
He tried it for himself. Dating. Sero took a break from going to the library to read comics and actually went to meet up with someone. When he went to visit Mina, she and Utsushimi had given him some tips on how to date efficiently. They suggested he should try Tinder, but the idea of online dating scared the life out of Hanta so he spent the next day hanging out in a coffee shop waiting for someone to catch his eye. The person that ‘caught Hanta’s eye’ was a guy called Juzo Honenuki, the man came into the shop with his shaggy light hair and simple clothes - she seemed like the kind of guy that Hanta could like...AND he was already dating someone AND he was straight AND his girlfriend was the fucking barista. At 10 pm Sero sent his depressing story to the group chat and they all paid their respects (apart from Bakugou who sent a voice message of him cackling - like a true friend would).
Escaping the humidity, Hanta grabbed his towel and tied it around his waist. God, did showers feel nice when you were alone and getting things off your chest. The man with the soggy hair opened the door out of the main bathroom and made his way downstairs to the main room where he usually got changed nowadays. Why get changed in the living room? Because he could, that's why.
Hanta couldn’t pull himself to sell the house - sure it had way too many rooms now but it held many of their firsts. Their first house, their first fire, their first movie night, and most importantly Sero had won UNO for the first time there.
PZZT-PZZT-PZZT
On the table his phone buzzed, calling for Hanta’s attention. He’d put it on vibrate so his iconic ringtone didn’t play. Racing to the phone, Hanta checked the caller ID, groaned, and answered the phone.
“Wow, look how old you are, Office Supplies.” he heard his older sister’s voice mock him. Ever since Hanta had gotten an office job, his sister never failed to tease him about how boring it must be for him; herself being a firefighter and having a more hands-on job.
“Thank you, Hana.”
“Bring your ugly mug to Mom & Dad’s you idiot, your nieces miss you to bits.”
“Oh sure, apologize to them won’t ya, I’ve been really busy this year. Also, we pretty much have the same face so you can’t call me ugly.”
“Have YOU really been busy? Or have you been busy helping others who are busy?”
“Ah-How-”
“Just get over here already, then we can talk about your sad, depressing, lonely, single life. M’kay?”
“Thanks, see you soon, and tell Ichika to practice our secret handshake cause I’ll be damned if she’s forgotten.”
Then Hana hung upon him. He and his sister’s calls were always short and not-so-sweet. Like most families, their parents insisted to keep them away from electronics and devices for a large part of their lives and only gave them flip-phones for school and emergencies - this kinda stuck with them to that day and neither of them were too keen on spending hours checking through social media. This led to Hanta’s hobby of reading comics to really surge and on the flip side, Hana was hella sporty.
“Guess I’m going home.”, he smiled to himself, checking one last time on his phone for any ‘Happy Birthday’ texts from his friends… nope. It’s fine. They had other stuff to deal with.
Hanta put on his favorite poncho and a pair of black jeans, grabbed his helmet off the coat rack, and headed out.
Pulling up to his parent’s bungalow at 1:03 pm, Sero hopped off his motorbike to greet his sister who was standing outside on the front porch, jogging up and down her daughter. When Hana caught sight of Sero she kissed her teeth, “I see your bohemian aesthetic phase hasn’t blown over yet.”
“Nice to see you too, Hana.” Hanta self-consciously patted down his poncho, checking for any creases. He took off his helmet to let his hair loose.
“Oh god, your hair still sucks ass. You are definitely getting a haircut for your birthday.”
“It’s helmet hair, dude.” he walked up to her and went to tickle his six-month-old niece.
“Mhm...Happy Birthday, Office Supplies.” she patted his back with her spare hand.
“Thanks. On the phone, how did you know about me helping a ton of people?” The man with the messy hair got straight to the point, sorting out his hair in the process.
“Oh-That! I-I’m still friends with Eijirou’s older sister, ya know, she told me what happened and that you’ve been a huge help to him and all your other friends.”
Oh right, Eijirou had an older sister and five younger sisters. Hanta has met them on several occasions but forgot that both of their sisters were close.
“I guess. I did what had to be done.” Sero shrugged off the compliment, “Where’s Ichika and my brother-in-law?”
“Inside.” Hana looked down at the baby.
“And why are you outside?”
“Asagao needed fresh air, are you done interrogating me? Mom and Dad are waiting.” Hana hissed at him, getting impatient for no real reason. They had all day, to be honest.
Being petty, Sero didn’t even properly say goodbye, he just walked past her and opened the unlocked door, “I’m home, it’s me Hanta-”...
“HAPPY BIRTHDAY!”
“WHAT THE FUCK!?” Hanta screeched blown away by the number of people that he was looking at. There were five extra people who really shouldn’t be here.
“Oi, Soy Sauce, there are children here. Watch your mouth!” A certain ash-blonde snarled at him. Katsuki was covering Ichika’s ears while her father, Ryota, shook his head at Sero.
“I expected better from you,” he said sarcastically.
Sero still hadn't moved from his position in the doorway, his mouth wide open because he was ever so confused. Like mind-fuckingly confused.
“UNCLE!” Ichika removed Bakugou’s hands from her ears and ran towards Sero, initiating their handshake. While swapping hands with his niece, Sero still scanned the room. In his parents' living room were Kirishima, Jirou, and Ashido on the main couch while Kaminari was chatting with Sero’s dad by the love seat. They all had cups of coffee, tea, and hot chocolate with some biscuits (Ashido’s plate being extra full).
“Hey kiddo,” he briefly looked back at his niece, the twelve-year-old had perfectly remembered their handshake. Hanta whipped his head back to everyone else, “W-What?” The lanky man started by bringing his attention to Ashido’s casted foot that rested on the coffee table, “Mina! Your foot!”
The candyfloss haired girl shoved another cookie in her mouth before answering, “C’mon Hanta. You really think some sprain can stop me? My crutches are behind the sofa, you worrywart.”
He next focused on Kaminari and Jirou, “Didn’t you guys have to replace the wallpaper?” he pointed at them, his finger swaying from the man to the woman.
“Yes, we got it off already, dude,” Kyouka reassured him.
“JOB HUNTING!” Both of his fingers were now aimed at Kirishima.
“All sorted out bro, I actually have an interview soon! Thanks for remembering.”
“ARE WE FORGETTING THAT FOUR OF YOU GUYS SHOULD LITERALLY BE PLANNING YOUR WEDDINGS!?”
“Hanta, honey, could stop questioning your nice friends and have some Earl-Grey tea?” His mother exited the kitchen with a full plate of cups and a teapot.
“No, I mean- hi Mom, hi Dad,” Hanta bowed at his parents, feeling bad that he hadn't greeted them first, “but you guys shouldn’t be here!? I was expecting a text! A text!”
Everyone, and by everyone he meant EVERYONE (even Ichika), looked at Sero like he was out of his mind. Was Sero being stupid in this situation? HE WASN’T WRONG WAS HE?
“Are you freakin’ kidding, Hanta? A text!? Who are we, the worst group of friends on the planet? We owe you a fuc-freaking ton!” Denki laughed. Hanta’s niece had returned back to Katsuki and Ryota who were sitting on the carpet, waiting for her with a deck of cards. It seemed like they were playing Go Fish.
Denki and his goatee took the floor, “Do I even need to go on about the cool stuff you do for us? You were the most supportive human ever about us leaving the house, helping us move the boxes, giving us rides to places when we needed to get there quickly, reaching high places, giving advice and encouraging us to take risks that we didn’t know we could do; and Hanta, in the past month you have been the everywhere at the same time ALL WHILE BALANCING YOUR OWN JOB AND LIFE! Why would we not take at least one day to celebrate you?”
“You could do that any other day. Not RIGHT NOW when so much is going on!” Hanta shouted, and darn it was he crying?
“FOR FUCK’S SAKE, IT’S SERO HANTA DAY!” Eijirou swore and Hanta suddenly felt very very stupid.
“Good thing we sent Hana and Asagao outside.” Ryota exhaled, him and Katuski were now both covering his daughter's ears.
“Eijirou.” the blonde hissed at his fiancé who was extremely apologetic and snapped his own hands over his mouth and murmured a muffled ‘ I’m so sorry ’.
“Look at these rowdy rough men, Kyouka and Mrs. Sero.” Mina shook her head, after gulping down the cookies and tea.
Hanta removed his shoes by the entrance and placed them neatly beside everyone else’s. He took a deep breath in and out. This noise and mess and ruckus was what he needed.
“Thanks. I missed you guys a lot.”
Sero Hanta smiled his signature smile.