Chapter Text
It really didn’t take a genius to see that Todoroki Shoto was not a people person—he wasn’t blatantly rude to people, but he had an inability to read social cues on top of a hint of denseness to him, and Hanta couldn’t help but wonder if Shoto’s naiveté was the reason for people to approach him with inflated egos. It was pretty uncomfortable to watch: Shoto standing there, not a singular thought behind his eyes, as yet another random person tried to (unsuccessfully) make conversation with him in hopes of the conversation leading somewhere romantic.
At some point, Shoto caught Hanta’s eye from across the library and Hanta knew it was his time to intervene. He got up with a heavy, irritated sigh in order to get into character before making his way over. He fumbled around with his expression, wondering which level of discontent would be best, standing directly behind the guy currently trying to pick Shoto up and testing each of them out in front of Shoto so the other could approve of one. It made Shoto snicker in the light and airy, almost missable, way he usually does and Hanta can’t help the smile that spreads across his face.
Hanta definitely wouldn’t say he was in love, he wouldn’t even say he had a crush, but he would admit that he was at least… interested in Shoto—someone who looked like he came straight out of a shoujo manga, someone who upheld every standard his father held for him despite having clear disdain for the man, someone who will occasionally say the rudest things about people so nonchalantly. Not many people would look at Todoroki Shoto and think he was more than a pretty face that came from good money, but that’s exactly what fascinated Hanta about him the most, and maybe what inspired him to extend his hand out to Shoto in the first place.
“Oh, Hanta , you’re here,” Shoto finally addressed Hanta’s presence. Hanta had to keep down a chuckle at the slightly awkward way Shoto uttered his name; trying to sound familiar with someone you’ve only gotten to know over the course of the two years you’ve known them in University was hard, especially for Shoto, but the random guy was so focused on Hanta pulling Shoto towards him that he didn’t even notice.
Hanta grinned, holding Shoto close to him with a casual and familiar grip. “I’ve been here for a little while, actually. It’s fun watching you pretend to be polite with desperate guys like this.” He teased, hardly sparing a glance to the guy who scoffed and prepared to argue, but Hanta waved him off. “Yeah, yeah, I know you’re all bark, but no bite, bro. I’ve seen types like you before. All chumps compared to someone like Bakugou Katsuki , and not even he scares me.”
‘Well, not anymore, but not like this guy needs to know that,’ Hanta though to himself.
The guy stared Hanta down for an uncomfortably long time, to the point where Shoto felt compelled to put the final nail in the coffin. “It’s true. I’ve seen him insult Bakugou a number of times and he hasn’t been beaten up once . If you can’t handle the likes of Bakugou Katsuki , then you certainly can’t be with me. Now leave,” The guy clicked his tongue at Shoto and Hanta before storming off, Shoto immediately relaxing and turning back towards the shelves he was inspecting before he was interrupted.
“You’re such a natural at provocation, Sero,” Shoto said, turning to give Hanta a small smile; however, the smile slowly started to fade as he turned back around and continued to scan the shelves.
Despite excelling at academics, Shoto wasn’t particularly enthused about studying and schoolwork, and it showed on his face as he pulled out book after dusty book. Apparently he had a paper due by Friday—it was currently Thursday—and his Psych professor was insistent on “preserving the art of physical information and highlighting the importance of books” or something to that effect. Shoto had told Hanta that he had checked out of the lecture at that point, unable to recall anything they had discussed in class that day when Hanta had asked him.
These were the little things that Hanta treasured about Shoto; he was always perceived as someone so perfect and unreachable, that sometimes it was so easy to get lost in other people’s perceptions of him. But seeing Todoroki Shoto as he actually was: just a normal guy floating about through life just like anyone else. Shoto wasn’t some God; he was awkward, he was imperfect—he was human .
“Do you think Bakugou would kick my ass if I thanked him for it?” Hanta responded with a laugh.
“Probably not since he’s mellowed out a bit, but please, spare us all the headache. He might’ve stopped trying to physically fight everyone, but he certainly hasn’t stopped yelling .” Shoto’s comment caught Hanta off guard, and he ended up making an unidentifiable sound that might’ve been laughter had he not been drinking some water at that moment. “Can you hold these for me? And do you mind if I have some water? My throat is starting to get scratchy from all of this dust,” Shoto asked, but he didn’t even wait for an answer before holding out the books to Hanta, who took them without complaint and exchanged them for his water bottle.
“Speaking of fighting, one of these days, I think one of your suitors is actually going to want to fight me.” Hanta worried. “I don’t know how to fight. I barely even exercise!” Hanta exclaimed in a whisper as he followed Shoto through the rows of bookshelves.
“I don’t think you have anything to worry about, honestly. Most of the guys that ask me out look like losers anyways,” Shoto said with a roll of his eyes. He didn’t have any particular standards or a “type”, and yet, none of the guys—or people in general—that tried to flirt with him ever met whatever criteria Shoto seemed to have.
“You’re not wrong there. I’m at least a Soy Sauce Face according to our Almighty Bakugou.” This comment got another chuckle out of Shoto, but unfortunately, that small chuckle turned into a small coughing fit.
“I’m sick of this, let’s go.” Shoto wheezed, taking big gulps out of Hanta’s water bottle as Hanta guides them back to the ground floor of the library.
Despite the fact that Shoto looked positively Done™ with this whole outing—furrowed brows, death glare at nothing in particular, and upset grumbling—as they made their way back down to the ground floor, he slowly started to morph back into the Todoroki Shoto everyone was obsessed with. He straightened his posture, evened out his expression, calmed down his breathing, and assumed an air of nonchalance. It was a fascinating shift that happened in such a way that if Hanta was unaware of how Shoto usually was, he’d miss all the little intricacies.
The two of them left the front desk with quiet and polite ‘Thank You’s’ and then they were out of the library and into fresher air. Shoto brought Hanta along with him to a building over where he could refill Hanta’s water bottle before they headed off to the cafeteria so they could grab something to eat while Shoto started writing his paper.
✰✰✰
“Ah, I’m screwed.” Hanta looked up at Shoto, suppressing a smile. Shoto looked nothing less than discontented, and unfortunately for him, he spent more time slurping his soba than working on his paper that he no longer had a distraction. “I have no idea what any of these concepts mean…”
“You’ve been in that class for like half a semester, why didn’t you drop it?”
Shoto didn’t answer immediately, but that was enough for Hanta to already have an inkling of what he was about to say. “My dad wanted me to take Economics or Political Science because he said all the other open classes were useless…So I took Psych. I thought I could just get help from Miya, but I forgot she went to study abroad,”
“Well, maybe I can help?” Hanta said, hoping Shoto didn’t notice his slight cringe after he spoke. He doesn’t think Shoto did, though, because the other looked up at him with widened eyes that almost appeared to be shining with hope. ‘Ah, I’m screwed, indeed…’
“Really?”
“Really.” Hanta reassured, figuring it was worth the extra workload seeing Shoto relax. Hanta hadn’t even noticed how wound up Shoto had gotten because of this paper, but after agreeing to help, he watched as Shoto’s shoulders dropped significantly as his expression softened in relief. There was even a small, satisfied smile playing on his lips.
There it was again: infallible evidence that Shoto was more than his stoic face and cool exterior; more than just a perfect son and a model student. He was a disrespectful (with reason) son and an average student who struggled with his classes like anyone else and just barely made it all work out in time in the end. All the most normal things in the world seemed to much more interesting when it came to Shoto, and that’s precisely what Hanta love—
Hm.
Hanta could admit that maybe he was a bit more than just interested in Todoroki Shoto, but love was a bit of a stretch.
“Hey, look, I gotta run to my next class soon. I’ll take these books with me and you can just send me all the info—personal email, not the school one, I only commit perfect crimes—and I’ll have this paper done in no time,” Hanta explained as he started cleaning up his and Shoto’s lunch mess before shoving Shoto’s books into his empty bag.
Just before heading off, Hanta was going to spare him a final goodbye but then he saw the unreadable expression on Shoto’s face. “You know, Sero, you really don’t have to do this for me…”
Hanta smiled, and he reached over the table to take Shoto’s hand in his. “I know, I just want to. It’s not only what good friends do, but great boyfriends , too,” Hanta said with a grin, perfectly satisfied by the sigh that Shoto immediately released.
“You’re really great at provocation.” Shoto said with a smile. Hanta winked at Shoto, the two of them saying a quick goodbye to each other before Hanta was off to his next class.