Chapter Text
Sero’s alarm blared in his ears. He snoozed it unwillingly and fell asleep yet again. Next door, Todoroki’s alarm blared in synchronization with Sero’s as he shot out of bed. It was such a normal occurrence, going somewhere together with Sero, but despite the normalcy, Todoroki could feel the anxiety coursing through his veins, but unlike the normal anxiety he faced, the kind that twisted his gut into knots and made him wish for a way out, this anxiety was tinged with euphoria, he smiled as he readied himself for his date, tossing aside a UA uniform for something more casual, but snazzy. He wanted to make an impression, after all.
Sero’s alarm went off again. Bleary eyed, he reached for his phone and looked at the time, face half shoved into his pillow, hair standing up on all ends. He eyed the phone with disdain and suspicion, only to find he had much less time to get ready than he had initially hoped. With a start and a loud
“SHIT!” he hopped out of bed and started readying himself for the day to come. He tried desperately to fix his hair, which while normally straight as all hell, had decided to stick out from all angles. He debated going with it but decided against it when he realized how much he would look like Kirishima. The thought made him chuckle slightly.
Todoroki was fixing his hair when he heard an audible
“SHIT!” from the room next to him. He snickered to himself for a moment and considered finishing up quicker just to catch Sero in the midst of getting ready. He quickened his pace, they only had 30 minutes before they were going to meet downstairs, and despite being almost ready, Todoroki was motivated to the desire to see a half-ready Sero caught in the act of waking up late. He finished up his routine and headed for the door.
Sero was still fixing his hair when he heard a knock. He couldn’t help but curse under his breath. His shirt was untucked, his hair was half-finished, and he wasn’t even wearing pants.
“Just a minute!” He called, throwing on the first pair of pants he could find, a pair of holey sweatpants that definitely were NOT what he wanted to wear for this date, and opened the door, brush still halfway stuck in his hair. Todoroki smiled at the sight when the door opened. He wasn’t going to ever admit his plan to Sero, but seeing him caught unawares was definitely worth it, especially when Sero’s own smile settled onto his face.
“Hey,” Todoroki said quietly. In an unusual fashion, Sero seemed almost embarrassed as he choked out his own.
“uh-hah…hey” He was all eyes as he looked Todoroki up and down. Todoroki reveled in that as well, feeling a level of confidence he hadn’t expected as he held his date’s attention completely…so much so that Sero had forgotten he was getting ready for a full 30 seconds before inviting Todoroki in. He tried to fill the silence by apologizing and making excuses for why he wasn’t ready yet, but he kept finding his eyes darting back to Todoroki. What he was wearing wasn’t even all that impressive, just a t-shirt and jeans, the only difference was his hair. It was slicked back, and the white and red pieces were overlapping in the center just a bit, creating a small pink section in among what Sero was used to seeing. Something about that kept drawing Sero back in.
Todoroki was glad he had rushed.
“Do you want me to leave and come back in about 20 minutes? I can get us breakfast downstairs” Todoroki asked, keeping up an unassuming air. Sero fumbled with a shirt and huffed under his breath, craning his neck a bit to side-eye Todoroki.
“Yeah, that’d be great. Don’t worry about coming back up though, I’ll meet you down there in 10-” Sero eyed himself in the mirror for a moment, and changed his mind quickly “no, 15 minutes.” Todoroki nodded, uttering a small,
“See you then” and a smirk that Sero caught as the other boy closed the door behind him. Todoroki couldn’t help but keep the dumb smirk off his face as he left the room and went all the way down to the kitchen, only dropping it as he caught another student’s eye in the common room. He quickly prepared something easy and waited for Sero, who came shuffling in not even 5 minutes later. Todoroki glanced up and his breath caught in his throat, nearly making him choke on the cereal he was eating. Sero, who had initially been spiriting a nervous smile, burst out laughing as Todoroki hacked his lungs out.
“Can’t believe I managed to literally take your breath away” Sero quipped.
“You did not.” Todoroki shot back between coughing, “I simply enjoy choking on my food now and then.” Sero rolled his eyes, easy smile returning. They ate breakfast together in mostly silence, discussing the trip details, what busses they’d need to take and how long they’d have to make curfew, but nothing substantial. It didn’t take long for their bus to reach the closest stop to their destination, and stepping off the bus, Todoroki noticed some return to the tension that had been absent since they spoke about their feelings. Because now it was real, and now they were in public. Sero bumped his shoulder against Todoroki’s
“You okay?” He asked, giving Todoroki a sideways glance. The other boy took a deep breath in, releasing the tension in his shoulders when he breathed out.
“Yeah, I’m okay.” He said, “thank you.” Sero nodded, and they started their walk to the manga shop. Todoroki wished he could Hold Sero’s hand as they walked, but he couldn’t will himself to do it. In public, it felt like all eyes were on him, and all he wanted to do was reach for the other boy. Sero brushed their hands together, shooting Todoroki out of his thoughts.
“It’s alright if you want to hold my hand” He said, nonchalantly “but if you can’t, that’s alright too…but id like to, if you’re alright with it.” Sero was extending the invitation, but also expressing his wants. He knew it was unlikely that Todoroki would actually do it, but he didn’t want to be roundabout anymore. Todoroki linked a finger with Sero’s, and they walked shoulder to shoulder. It was small, but Sero couldn’t help feeling like it was a win. They made it to the manga shop and looked around for a long time, showing each other books from series they hadn’t even read yet, despite needing to finish the one they were on already. Todoroki kept bringing that up, and Sero would laugh and show him something else. They went to the check out counter right as an explosion happened nearby. Adrenaline kicked in instantly and the two of them dropped what they were doing and ran out the door.
In front of the two boys stood a building rapidly being engulfed in flame and a villain shoving his way through people on the street, trying to flee the scene. Sero and Todoroki didn’t think, they both took off towards the scene. Other heroes had showed up as well, 2 who had already sprung off after the villain, so that left the civilians inside. Todoroki watched, usure of how to help without his provisional license, but Sero ran forward, citing that he was going in to help. Todoroki followed quickly, knowing he’d get in serious trouble if anyone caught him using his powers, but he could still help as a civilian…he hoped. They kept close to one another as they entered the building, Todoroki putting out fires as Sero led the charge.
Entering the first floor, an open office space, Sero shot his tape straight down the center of the room with Todoroki cooling it slightly so it would keep from catching fire. He shot one more line straight across the office horizontally, and spoke loud over the fire surrounding them
“If anyone is still here, please, crawl as low as possible to the center of the room and reach up! I will pull you towards the entrance!” Multiple people called out and followed Sero’s instructions, Todoroki watched as hands rose out of the smoke, grabbing on to Sero’s tape. He carefully cooled down each of the lines to keep their hands from catching fire, and when everyone was accounted for, Sero pulled the rope back. They started to leave the building, Todoroki in front and Sero leading the rear this time, keeping the civilians as safe as possible. Todoroki could hear cracking in the foundations of the building and picked up the pace. As they exited the building, Todoroki heard the foundations crumble and turned back to see all the civilians safe, but Sero was missing. Another hero started moving the civilians out as Todoroki turned back to the entrance door, where he saw the person he was looking for.
Sero was alive and breathing, he knew that much, but he couldn’t open his eyes, or maybe they were open and it was just really dark underneath the rubble of the building. He could still hear everything that was happening, and he could feel the temperature around him dropping as a hand pulled more and more rocks off of him. When Todoroki lifted the main piece that was blocking his view, Sero realized how fucking cold he was.
“Hey north wind” he coughed out. Todoroki looked as panicked as he felt as he called for help and lifted Sero out of the rubble.
“Are you alright?” he asked, trying to fight back the fear in his voice
“Yeah…I think so?” Sero said. He was lying, everything hurt.
“Can you walk?” Todoroki asked
“Only one way to find out, put me down let’s see.” Sero said weakly. He knew it was a bad idea and Todoroki hesitated before gently letting him down. The minute Sero’s feet touched the ground he shook his head. “Nope, no, I definitely cannot. Bad idea on my part.” He grimaced as Todoroki lifted him once again.
“We need to get you help” Todoroki said, surveying the scene to find where they took the civilians, but it was hard to see through the dust. Sero could feel the adrenaline he had moments before fading, and he knew what was likely to come next once that happened.
“Babe, I don’t want to alarm you, but I am going to pass out.” He laughed weakly.
“I know” Todoroki said, still cradling the other boy in his arms he looked down at Sero, his face was flushed, and multiple bones were broken for sure, he could barely keep his eyes open even as they spoke. Todoroki started to move, trying to keep Sero awake at least until they got to the medical tent. “Hey Sero…” He started
“Yea...?” Sero’s eyes were closed, but he was still trying to stay awake
“What was the best part about today, if you had to pick anything?” Todoroki asked, he navigated through the dust carefully, trying to move towards where he heard the most noise, praying that was a solid guiding point.
“Hm…” Sero Thought for a moment before reaching up and touching Todoroki’s face, this made the other boy pause, just for a moment before moving again. “Spending time with you. I love doing things with you. You make me happy.” He smiled and Todoroki looked down at him again, just as they made it to the medical tent he said
“You make me happy too.” Sero smiled as wide as he could at that and dropped his hand from Todoroki’s face as he was handed off to medical staff. Todoroki stayed by his side as he was cared for there and held his hand until they loaded him into the ambulance. The staff with healing quirks did what they could for him, but he needed to be examined, at least, that’s what he was told. He didn’t end up getting chewed out for using his quirk because no one could actually prove that he did, so instead he was released to return to the school…and then he didn’t.
Instead, Todoroki waited at the hospital. He waited until he saw Sero’s name pop up in the patient directory. He waited until the story came on the news. He waited until he was allowed to be the first person by Sero’s side, then, he waited until Sero woke up.
Sero opened his eyes in the middle of the night. It hadn’t been too long; he knew that much.
If I had gone into a coma, there’d be more flowers here…and I’d feel like garbage. He thought to himself, then he realized he definitely still felt like garbage, but there was another reason he knew it hadn’t been that long. Todoroki had sprawled himself across multiple chairs in Sero’s room…and to the best of Sero’s knowledge, he didn’t look like he’d aged too much. Sero watched him sleep for a few more minutes, realizing he’d never seen the other boy look so calm. He decided to avoid any awkward explanations later, he’d try to go back to sleep and wake up during the day next time so they could talk properly.
Todoroki woke up to news channels replaying the building collapse once again, and he sighed before realizing Sero’s head was turned towards the screen. Todoroki shifted in his chair and Sero instinctively turned towards the noise. They met eyes and Todoroki let out a breath he hadn’t realized he’d been holding.
“you’re awake.” He breathed, trying to keep tears at bay, but his voice still wavered. Of course, Sero being himself only said
“Are you alright?”
He’d been watching the news story to get an idea of what all had happened. After the building collapsed on him his memory was blurred at the edges, likely from the last of his adrenaline wearing out. He watched the story and noticed something that cameras had captured, Todoroki carrying him out, Sero’s hand rested on his face, and Todoroki keeping Sero’s hand locked in a death grip until the medics took him away to the hospital. There was no way that went unnoticed. There was no way he was okay. But he asked…regardless, because he had to. Todoroki shook his head and scoffed
“The one in the hospital bed is asking if I’m alright?” Todoroki wasn’t going to tell him what was going on, wasn’t going to mention his phone, which had been ringing off the hook with calls from Endeavor, Midoriya, the school wondering where he was, everyone. He had turned it off the minute he got in the hospital, but he knew it was still happening. It didn’t take long for Midoriya to figure out where he was and track him down, and they both made a plan to cover for him at school. But Endeavor? He wasn’t touching that right now. He wanted to focus on Sero. He had to focus on Sero.
“Yes. I’m asking if you’re alright.” Sero pressed, trying to pull any information out of Todoroki, but the other boy shook his head
“We can talk about that when you aren’t in a hospital bed.” Todoroki said. “Do you need anything?” He asked, trying once again to divert the conversation away from him.
“Nothing in particular but…sit next to me?” Sero decided to drop it for now. If Todoroki didn’t want to talk, then they wouldn’t talk, at least not about the repercussions of the media coverage. Todoroki nodded, pulling a chair next to Sero’s bed and taking his hand.
“I was scared you wouldn’t wake up.” Todoroki admitted as he gripped Sero’s hand.
“Well…” Sero looked at Todoroki, meeting his eyes “I did.” He smiled. Sero shifted in his bed for a moment, trying to come to a conclusion. He was still in some pain, but he shifted slightly, making room for Todoroki to sit next to him on the bed. Todoroki took the invitation wordlessly, and Sero curled carefully into his lap. He looked up at Todoroki, who kept chewing his lip. Sero reached up and touched his face, almost mimicking the way he did it when Todoroki carried him to safety. “Hey…” he said, hushed.
“What?” Todoroki asked, now fully captivated by Sero’s gaze.
“Got any plans for our next date?” Sero grinned. Todoroki burst out laughing.