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Hanta watches Katsuki tap his pencil against his lips, watches him huff in annoyance as he erases something on his math paper, frowning down at his paper. He smiles to himself when Katsuki grinds his pencil against the paper again, hard enough to squeak, but then his eyes go wide as he catches Eijirou’s eyes when turning back to his work. Hanta shakes his head at Eijirou’s grin, forcing his eyes back onto his math assignment as he tries to ignore that knowing look.
“Bakubro, you okay over there?” asks Eijirou after a moment, and Hanta whips his head up to stare at him in a panic.
“Fuckin’ fine, Shitty hair, fuck off.” grumbles Katsuki without looking up, free hand sparking as he raises it above his head.
“Relax, Blasty, he was just askin’ cause Hanta was lookin’ at you all funny.” says Denki without a care as he settles back on his hands.
Hanta turns to him with a dropped jaw, feeling offended that his best friend sold him out like that, and Denki just snorts at him.
“The fuck were you lookin’ at me funny for Soy Sauce? I’m doin’ my damn homework like you three dumbasses should be fuckin’ doin’!” sneers Katsuki as he turns around, hand sparking as the other hand clenches around the pencil, the smallest cracking sound echoing through the room as red meets onyx.
“I was only lookin’ when I looked up! Wasn’t looking at you funny, Bakugou, swear.” replies Hanta quickly, hands waving in front of him in a panic, hoping they can all stop ganging up on him.
“Lightning bug, let’s go. We’re supposed to go out for dinner with Mina, and she’s going to want to hear all about how Hanta was smiling as Bakubro angrily erased his mistakes.” Eijirou says it so confidently and carelessly like it’s not a goddamn grenade he’s throwing down in the room as he and Denki stand and head for the door. “Thanks for helpin’ us with the homework, see ya later, blasty and Hanta!”
“Later lovebirds!” calls Denki over his shoulder before the door shuts, and Hanta feels all the blood drain from his face.
Hanta squeezes his eyes shut as he looks down at his assignment, the only reason he even came in here was because of the last problem. He couldn’t figure out why the answer was right, even if he got the math itself, so he came in and asked Katsuki to explain just as Eiji and Denks came bursting through the door asking for help too. It takes him a moment, Hanta debating whether he could get up and leave since Katsuki’s still working, but after that moment… After that moment, Hanta realizes that the room is completely silent, no scratch of the pencil or the eraser, nothing.
“You wanna explain what the fuck they were talking about and why dunceface called us lovebirds?” Katsuki’s voice is low as he speaks, raspy through the room as he finally breaks the silence, sounding curious yet bored at the same time.
“Not really, but I do want to leave, so I’m gonna go ahead and do that.” mutters Hanta as he starts closing his assignment into his notebook and moves to get up off the floor.
“Hanta Sero, if you act like this shit didn’t happen, I’m going to call you a goddamn coward. I hate cowards, Hanta, so don’t fuckin’ be one.” Katsuki’s annoyed, but Hanta hears it. The undertone to his voice, the hope in his voice, the want in his voice, and Hanta stops moving when he catches it. “Explain it, and I’ll explain too.”
Hanta stares at his notebook, at his name on the assignment that’s peeking just past the cover, and then he sighs in defeat. He looks up and his eyes meet Katsuki’s, and Hanta says, “They were calling out my feelings for you despite me telling them more than once that I didn’t want to ruin our friendship or our group. I’m a coward, Katsuki, but for you, fine, I won’t be. I see you as more than a friend, and I’ve been dealing with it as silently as I can to avoid screwing anything up. That’s what all of that was about, and it’s why Denks called me out and called us lovebirds. Happy now?”
“I’ll be happier when you stop thinking that you’re going to be rejected, fuckin’ dumbass.” huffs Katsuki as he fully turns around, his elbows digging into his knees, legs spread as he looks at him. “I’m not going to reject you, and I was going to say something if you didn’t because you’re not the only one who feels shit that makes things hard as fuck to do. Those damn feelings have been making the stupid fuckin’ movie nights difficult when I end up right next to your ass every damn time. Fuckin’ fuzzy ass feelings making Pikachu and Shitty Hair stare at me out the side of their damn faces while Racoon Eyes giggles like a dumbass.”
“Hard not to think I’m gonna be rejected when you sound so mad about feeling anything for me.” replies Hanta evenly as the hope flutters through his chest, beating the fuck out of his ribs.
“I’m pissed that you managed to get under my skin and change my damn goals, but I’m not pissed that I feel these things for you. I’m not even surprised by it. I’d be more surprised if I didn’t fuckin’ feel these things for you because it’s you, Hanta.” Katsuki’s voice is soft as he speaks, but he stares Hanta in the eye unflinchingly. Hanta can’t even look away because those red eyes are compelling him to hold their gaze, to hear him while seeing him because Katsuki wants him to, and Hanta hasn’t been able to say no to him for a long time now. “You might act like a dumbass, but you’re so emotionally intelligent it still blows my mind. You make every single one of us feel seen because you’re willing to sit and listen to us, you notice when we’re off, and you know exactly how to fix it because you took the time to learn. Of course, Hanta, of course I feel this way about you. I’m more mad that this is how it’s coming out than anything because I actually had a damn plan.”
“You- really? You have feelings for me, and you’re not mad about them, just that your goals have changed and how it all came out? I- Are you being serious right now?” asks Hanta in disbelief.
This was not how he expected this to go at all.
“You know damn well that I don’t lie or say shit I don’t fuckin’ mean, Hanta. Of course, I’m being serious right now. This is fucking important.” replies Katsuki just as seriously as before, voice hardening a bit to show that he’s annoyed by Hanta’s disbelief, which is completely understandable.
Katsuki says what he wants and does what he wants, but he won’t say anything he doesn’t mean. He also hates liars, which is a whole situation that connects back to his past and Izuku along with some self-hate tendencies. Hanta looks at him, really looks at him as he processes everything, and he sees red tipped ears and a light flush. He sees red eyes darting across his face and away before coming back again, forced like Katsuki’s trying to fight the urge to look away, probably to avoid feeling like a coward if Hanta had to guess.
Hanta can see that he’s making Katsuki antsy as he adjusts his hands under his chin to hanging between his legs to under his chin again, and he can’t help the half-smile that curves his lips automatically.
“You know I’m not going to reject you, so what’s got you all antsy aside from how long it’s taking me to process that my feelings are reciprocated?” asks Hanta amusedly as he tilts his head and looks at Katsuki.
“If you know why, then what’s with the damn question? And where the fuck are we going from here? Do you want to try to be with me, be my boyfriend, or not?” asks Katsuki with a huff as he settles back and crosses his arms over his chest, glaring at Hanta.
“Of course I want to be with you, Katsuki, that was never a question… at least not to me. I’ll gladly be your boyfriend, sweetheart, it’ll make me the luckiest man on earth if you’ll have me.” replies Hanta almost breathlessly because yeah, they talked about their feelings, admitted them, but he still is somehow shocked that Katsuki wants to actually be with him.
“Good, then you and I are going on a date on Sunday because it’s our only day off from everything. I’ll plan it and pay for everything, and you’ll dress casually but nice. Once I can get it approved, I’ll have more for you, but I gotta talk to the hobo. Sound good?” replies Katsuki with a little bit of excitement ringing through his gruff voice as he looks at him, half-smirk already curving his lips.
“Sounds perfect… really perfect.” says Hanta quietly, in awe at this entire moment as he looks back at Katsuki, love swelling in his chest as butterflies flutter in his stomach. “I- uh- I should go, right? That- I should go, so you can focus on your homework…”
Hanta’s floundering, completely uncertain of what to do next as he starts pushing himself to stand, getting up with his things all gathered in his arms. Everything good is happening but the uncertainty now is spreading fear through him at lightning speeds.
“Or you could sit your ass on my bed and chill the fuck out while I finish the homework. We could chill together now since we have time, and it could ease whatever uncertainty your ass is dealing with…” Katsuki sounds grumbly but genuine, until his head drops, and his voice comes out almost like a whisper that Hanta wasn’t supposed to hear. “While also keeping you close to me because I want you here…”
“I-I can do that, Katsuki.” says Hanta softly, understanding soaring through him because he’s not the only one that isn’t sure, he’s not the only one who just wants to sit in the same space. “I’d really like it if we could just chill together, just you and me in the same space doing whatever… it’d be really nice as long as you’re okay with it being in your space.”
“I fucking’ said so didn’t I? Damn right I want it to be in my space cause I want your ass in my space all the fucking’ time.” grumbles Katsuki as his cheeks burn before he’s twisting back around and focusing on his homework again, tips of his ears burning a deep red.
Hanta chuckles softly, setting his things back on the floor before walking over to the desk and placing a hand against the wood beside Katsuki’s book. He leans down, almost pressing his lips to a red ear, and he whispers, “I wanna be in your space all the time too, sweetheart.”
He leans back, planning to turn around and go to the bed like Katsuki told him he could, but then Katsuki’s face turns and their noses brush, lips so close that Hanta swears he can feel Katsuki’s bottom lip where he’s bitten at it enough for the skin to be peeled up.
“Then be here.” whispers Katsuki as his eyes go lidded, and he softly brushes the ends of their noses together in a kiss. “Just be here, doll.”
Hanta can’t help the way his hand lifts to cup Katsuki’s face, the way his eyes close as he leans just a little bit further forward, their foreheads brushing. He can’t help the way he wants so viscerally there’s no way Katsuki doesn’t know how badly he wants to close this little bit of distance and kiss him.
He just wants.
“I’ll be here, whenever you want, when I want, until you’re tired of me.” whispers Hanta, eyes still closed before a force on his shirt tugs him forward.
The kiss is harsh, but sweet and chaste. A press of lips against chapped lips, harsh in the way they bump together, but sweet in the way it’s three quick pecks running together into one simple kiss. Then Hanta’s pushed away, and he just savors the feel of those lips against his, his fingers coming up to press lightly against his lips, fingertips brushing featherlight across them.
“Go sit your ass down, doll, I’m close to being done.” breathes Katsuki softly, sounding out of it in a way that has Hanta’s eyes flying open to look at him.
Hanta’s lips curve into a smile to match the soft and dreamy one curving Katsuki’s.
“Okay, sweetheart… thanks for the kiss, it was real nice.” replies Hanta a little teasingly, winking before he pulls back and makes his way over to Katsuki’s bed.
“So fuckin’ distracting.” grumbles Katsuki as Hanta lays on his, and Hanta chuckles as he tugs out his phone and starts to scroll.
“I’m not even doing anything.” snorts Hanta as he turns his head to look at Katsuki, wide eyed and amused.
“You’re fuckin’ you, that’s all ya need to be distractin’ as hell.” huffs Katsuki as he looks at him with soft red eyes before he turns himself around and focuses on his homework again.
“The feeling is mutual, sweetheart, but that was real cute.” replies Hanta amusedly, then he turns back to his phone as pencil scratching starts echoing around the room.
Hanta gets lost, scrolling through his saved books on the reading app on his phone, looking for a comfort book to read while he waits. He found one that was actually still unread, but when he saw that Katsuki was still writing away on his homework, he decided to check it out instead. Thus, he got lost in reading about a deaf pirate falling in love with a siren that he’d watched kill a member of his crew that he’d been planning to get rid of already. It’s a slow burn to say the least, but beautiful as Hanta reaches the twentieth chapter. He’s got tears in his eyes as he reads of the pirate diving into a storm to save the siren, in their human form, from a royal that had declared the siren the enemy of their kingdom solely because they’d realized who they were. It’s breaking his heart to read of the siren drowning in the sea they’d known all their life, their ability to transform snatched by said royal.
“You’re fuckin’ cryin’ over a goddamn book.”
Hanta jolts against the bed, phone dropping harshly against his throat as he searches for Katsuki only to find him lying on his side right next to him, smirking at him.
“You just scared the fuck outta me. How long have you been over here?” asks Hanta in a pained tone because he feels like his phone just throat-chopped him.
“Since chapter twelve, I fuckin’ think. You were so engrossed in the book that you didn’t even notice that I’d gotten ready for bed, or that I went down to get some pizza for us because the extras ordered food for dinner since Dunce Face and Shitty Hair were hungry. You wanna eat some before you get ready for bed?” replies Katsuki amusedly as he sits up and slips off his bed to head over to his desk where two plates are sitting with pizza and breadsticks on them, steam wafting into the air.
“Oh, sorry! You should’ve said something… I didn’t mean to take over your bed like this.” replies Hanta nervously as he sits up, hand coming up to rub at the back of his neck while he forces his phone into his pants pocket. “I’m definitely ready to eat, but I’m sorry I got so distracted.”
“Don’t apologize, was fuckin’ adorable to watch you get so engrossed in your book. Definitely had a lot of wild facial expressions while you were reading, though I don’t like the goddamn tears. Here, eat, I’ll grab you some Mt. Dew from Shitty Hair. He and Dunce Face are having a movie night/sleepover tonight apparently.” replies Katsuki as he brings over one of the plates and some marinara sauce for the breadsticks before he heads for the door, clearly intent on getting Hanta a drink despite having plenty of water bottles in his mini fridge.
“I can drink water- and he’s gone…” huffs Hanta as he watches Katsuki disappear from his room, leaving the door wide open as he goes.
He chuckles as he hears Katsuki pounding his fists on Eijirou’s door, hollering for him to open the goddamn door, though he winces when Denki screeches, “He’s still in your room?!”
“Leave him the fuck alone you fuckin’ idiot! He’s in my damn room because I want him there, now fuck off and stop trynna come outta Shitty Hair’s stupid room!” snaps Katsuki loudly before he suddenly appears in the doorway, slamming his door shut and locking it as soon as it clicks. “Fuckin’ nosy bastards.”
“You knew they were nosy in first year when they wouldn’t leave you alone, but even so, it’s not their fault that they wanna know what’s going on with us.” replies Hanta with a snort as Katsuki walks over to him, pouting (though Katsuki would absolutely deny it) as he hands over the Mt. Dew bottle. “Do you want to tell everyone about all of this, or do you wanna keep it a secret for a bit?”
“I’d rather wait to deal with them until after the first date just because they’ll be annoying as fuck about it, but I don’t want to hide this unless you’d prefer it. I don’t fuckin’ care who knows as long as you’re mine.” replies Katsuki in a grumble as he goes over to his desk and settles in his chair, black plaid pajama pants slung low on his drool-worthy waist.
Katsuki swivels the chair around, plate in his lap as he starts to eat, to face Hanta and continue their conversation.
“I definitely don’t want to hide this either, so I’m glad we’re on the same page there. But you know I get fashion help from Kami and Meens, so like… Can I at least tell them to help me pick out my clothes for a date without specifying that it’s with you?” asks Hanta curiously, tilting his head to the side after swallowing his bite of pizza. But then another thought pops in his head and he straightens up while staring at the slice of pizza in his hand, his voice dropping to a quiet mutter. “Or should I go and see if I can convince Yuga to help me instead? Yuga won’t tell anyone, so I will probably get away with asking him for fashion advice as long as I tell him that I went out with you, after the date and before we tell everyone else. I’ll ask Yuga to help me instead.”
“You can tell Twinkle Toes, but only because he won’t say anything until we do. We can tell everyone after the date though, even message them during it, if you want too. But if we do that, we have to turn off their notifications because I’m not letting them interrupt our plans.” replies Katsuki with a shrug before he takes a bite of pizza, ducking his head and hiding his red cheeks.
“I think they can wait until after we’re back at the dorms, so long as you know that they’re going to be all over us about it.” says Hanta with a chuckle as he opens his bottle of Mt. Dew before taking a big gulp. “Although, you’ll probably manage to ward them off and leave them to me. So, I guess the main thing is to ask you what you’re comfortable with them knowing and what you’d prefer I didn’t answer.”
“I won’t leave you to face those nosy idiots by yourself, but we can discuss what we want to share with them on the way back to the dorms. That way we both get to decide what to tell them and what to keep for ourselves. Though I’m sure we won’t have trouble with that part because I don’t really care what they know, long as they don’t start sticking their noses in our relationship.” replies Katsuki quietly as he twists around to grab a bottle of water that he’d never finished drinking despite getting it out during their study session.
“Don’t question that, I won’t let them get involved in our relationship, I promise. Our relationship will be ours, and nobody gets to decide anything outside of us. I’ve made that clear before, and I’ll re-state it when we tell them. I promise, Katsuki, this relationship will be ours and ours alone.” says Hanta seriously, slipping to the edge of the bed and dipping his head forward to meet Katsuki’s eyes and make sure he knows just how serious he is about this.
“That’s far more reassuring than I was expecting, to be completely fuckin’ honest. Should’ve known you wouldn’t forget about that shit.” sighs Katsuki with a half-smirk and a shake of his head before he looks at Hanta. “I won’t let them get involved either, but this relationship is ours and is happening now. No fuckin’ will be about this, Hanta Sero.”
“Yeah, yeah okay, Katsuki Bakugou. It’s ours.” says Hanta with a chuckle after he finishes his last bite of pizza.
“Damn right.” huffs Katsuki in between bites.
“I should head to bed, sweetheart, but before I go, I’m really excited about our date.” says Hanta amusedly as he stands, tucking his pop bottle in his pocket before grabbing his bag and folding his plate up for disposal. “I’ll see you for squad breakfast tomorrow.”
“Yeah, see you then, doll.” replies Katsuki softly as Hanta walks over to the door, but his voice is strained in a way that’s kind of worrying.
Hanta almost lets it go, almost walks out of the room without questioning it because he knows today has been a lot and he doesn’t want to push Katsuki any further than today already has.
He almost lets it go.
Almost.
Hand on the doorknob, twisting it to pull it open, Hanta lets go and listens to the click before turning around and putting his back against the door instead. He looks at Katsuki, tilting his head as he looks at him, trying to figure out the problem.
“The fuck is with the staring?” asks Katsuki with a huff as he meets his eye, finally looking back at him.
“Why did your voice sound all strained when you responded to me?” asks Hanta softly, curious as he arches a brow.
“It’s nothin’. Aren’t you supposed to be going to get ready for bed?” deflects Katsuki with an eye roll, but his shoulders lift to his ears as he swivels around and cuts off their direct eye contact.
“I am, but I’m not going to bed until you tell me what’s with the weirdness.” replies Hanta as he pushes off the door and walks over to the desk. He leans against it immediately, turning his head to look at Katsuki, but Katsuki avoids his gaze still. “Katsuki, what’s wrong?”
“Nothing’s wrong, I’m just being fuckin’ stupid, but that’s it. You need to get to sleep, and so do I.” says Katsuki tensely as he shakes his head and tilts his head to side-eye Hanta.
“Now, I know you don’t say anything you don’t mean, but I happen to know without a doubt that you do hold things back sometimes. Especially when it comes to emotions. I’m not trying to push you or make you uncomfortable, but I don’t want there to be any confusion or misunderstandings right now. I’ll drop it for now, but I hope you’ll tell me what’s up at some point.” replies Hanta softly, understanding in his voice even if he wishes Katsuki would just tell him what’s going on because now his mind is running over everything that’s happened tonight to figure out why the tense and strained tones have appeared.
Hanta gives Katsuki a half-smile before he stands upright again and heads for the door, this time tugging it open when the knob twists easily in his hand. He heads out of the room, lightly shutting the door behind him in the face of silence, and then he’s walking towards the elevator. Instead of pushing the button, when he reaches the metal doors, he turns and passes through to the stairwell instead, walking up the steep steps until he reaches the landing for his floor, the top floor of the dorms. It’s as he steps into the hall that his phone vibrates, and he carefully tugs it out to look at it and finds a message from Katsuki waiting.
“That looks like a long message.” murmurs Hanta as he heads down the hall, scrunching his brows as he stares at his phone before he focuses on walking and getting to his room.
He tugs his key out to let himself into his room, then he locks it behind him because he’s not planning to leave again tonight. After dropping his things on his desk and disposing of the plate in his bin, he flops onto his bed and looks at his phone again.
Blasty: I was being weird because I wanted something, but I didn’t want to ask for it because we’re still really fuckin’ new. I didn’t want to cross a line or push. It’s fuckin’ stupid because you’d already- we’d already done it, so I should’ve just fuckin’ asked. I just- I fuckin’ froze and went into the goddamn overthinking mode because of course I fuckin’ did. Been spending too much time with the stupid nerd apparently.
Blasty: I wanted a kiss, but I didn’t wanna fuckin’- I didn’t- What the fuck ever. You wanted to know what my shitty deal was and that’s it.
Blasty: Goodnight.
Hanta snorts, a stupid smile curving his lips as he realizes that Katsuki was just uncertain about asking for a kiss, not because he’d screwed something up without realizing it. He pushes himself off his bed, grabs his key, and hurries out of his room and down the hall. He slips into the elevator, nodding to Shouto after he steps off, and then he presses for the fourth floor.
He probably should’ve texted Katsuki back, but honestly, he wants a kiss too.
One stone, two birds, easy decision making.
Hanta slips out of the doors as they’re opening and jogs down the hall until he stops in front of Katsuki’s room. He knows Katsuki locks it when he’s getting ready for bed, so he doesn’t bother trying the doorknob, knocking three times instead.
“The fuck-” Katsuki’s grumbling as he unlocks the door and tugs it open, but then he’s gaping in surprise as he stares at Hanta.
“Hi, sweetheart.” says Hanta with a grin as he waves.
“Fuckin’ dork. What’re you doin’ back down here already? You didn’t leave anything behind.” huffs Katsuki, a light red rising on his cheeks as he rolls his eyes at Hanta.
“You wanted a kiss, and I want a kiss too. Figured I’d come down and see if you still want one.” replies Hanta with a shrug as he tilts his head, a light challenge in his tone as he smirks at Katsuki.
“You- I- yeah, I still want a fuckin’ kiss.” grumbles Katsuki, but Hanta cups his face as he stops talking.
“I’m really, really glad you do.” murmurs Hanta as he steps forward and leans in.
Katsuki’s the one that closes the distance, brushing their lips together as he reaches up and tangles his fingers in the collar of Hanta’s shirt, tugging him forward with his grip. It’s a soft brushing of lips, but Hanta’s heart soars in his chest as Katsuki pecks his lips twice before pressing a bit harder for a few moments.
Hanta doesn’t want the chaste kiss to end, but Katsuki pulls away anyway.
“Alright, no makin’ out doll. Much as I’d fuckin’ like that, we gotta go on a date first.” mutters Katsuki as Hanta’s eyes finally flutter open again to look into soft, ruby eyes.
“Mmm, waiting for the date, huh? You’re such a gentleman, sweetheart.” replies Hanta softly, feeling far too giddy to be staring into Katsuki’s eyes like he is.
“Damn right, and this shit is gonna be done right. Now, you need to get ready for bed. I’ll see you in the morning for the fuckin’ squad breakfast. But if you’re late, I’m not saving you any of the stupid ass chocolate pancakes that you idiots requested for tomorrow.” Katsuki’s huffing, but the tips of his ears are burning red as he looks into Hanta’s eyes.
“I won’t be late, sweetheart, gotta get in my Katsuki Cooking watch time. See you in the morning!” replies Hanta in a song-song voice, pressing a kiss to Katsuki’s nose before twisting on his toes and heading back down the hall like nothing happened.
“You’re an ass, a cute one, but still a goddamn ass!” hollers Katsuki as Hanta slips into the stairwell chuckling.
Hanta walks up the stairs with a goofy smile curving his lips that he just can’t seem to stop. He’s got a date this weekend with his crush, and he’s certain that nothing can ruin his mood now.
The only annoyance is that he’s gonna have to tell Denki and Eijirou “thank you” for this. He knows they’re going to hold it over his head for the rest of their lives, well Denki definitely is.
At this very moment though, as Hanta finally gets back into his room, pressing his back against the closed door, he can’t find it in himself to care about anything other than his date, his boyfriend, and the sheer excitement he feels about it all.