songs they canonically would send you if they were interested (horikoshi approved)
izuku midoriya— be your man; H 3 F
he’s such a cutie, such a sweetheart. he says it reminds him of you, and then proceeds to send about fifty texts following before you can even respond (“i mean not romantic!! as friends!!” “unless you’d mean romantic” “but i’m not saying that!” “blech icky” “NOT SAYING YOUR EHICKY” “NO” “OKAY SORRY JUST IGNORE THIS HAHA(´⊙ω⊙`)”). he absolutely clearly means it in a romantic way, for someone who’s keeping the secret of the number one hero he is a bad mf liar.
runner up: japanese denim. he likes love songs, he thinks they’re kind and anything he hears that’s the slightest bit about love he’s gonna associate w you
katsuki bakugo— bitches; mindless self indulgence
he wants you to be bitches? he wants u to love him cos u know that he can rock?!!!!?!!!?!?! that he can rhyme?! that he can fuck?!!!! THAT HES ON TIME?! plain and simple. he does not say this reminds you of him, he does not link it with you in any way. he just randomly sends it (if even).
if you were really lucky he’d send you love me dead by ludo.
denki kaminari— natalie; HUNNY
he tells you to ignore the name, of course, (unless your name is natalie lol) but the whole rest of it is absolutely applicable. he’s very upfront about it. is acting a lot more reassured than he is but he’s literally about to shit himself he wants you so bad bro. he practiced ways to tell you it wasn’t for you / “he didn’t mean it like that, man” before he sent it to you just incase you rejected him lol.
right after you two confess he sends you teenage dirtbag by wheatus and says “fr felt it when they said whatever it was they said, anyway u free tmrw?!”
eijiro kirishima— someone to you; banners
ew this is so cliche. this man would be so cheesy, especially in the preemptive stages of a relationship. if he wants you, you know (i mean maybe not, he’s nice to a lot of people, but he clearly cares about you). he’s on brand fr, but he really, genuinely blares this shit at full volume in his earbuds and headbangs. this is fr how he feels…. he probably wouldn’t panic sending it, he doesn’t think it’s a big confession, he just thinks about you when he hears it so he wants to share.
a kiss; THE DRIVER ERA. his main reason for this one is “just the vibes man!!” he selectively pays attention to lyrics
hanta sero— love is only a feeling; joey bada$$
he’s corny and very transparent about it. he sends it to you like three days before he asks you out. he’s pretty confident, but he types and deletes ‘i’ve got a song that makes me think of you’ about five times before he sends it. i think he listens to a lot of music, but rnb and rnb rap are probably his romantic go to’s in my mind.
alternatively: me and your mama; childish gambino
shoto todoroki— on an evening in roma (sott’er celo de roma)- remastered; dean martin
idk i feel like he listens to a lot of really old pretentious shit. he likes the music, it helps him stay calm, it makes him feel warm. he thinks the instruments are nice when they swell just right, and he wants to share that with you. he has also definitely offered to take you on a trip w his dads money (i hate fanon characters but i absolutely thrive off the idea that shoto buys his s/o shit w his dads money)
also a high chance hed send scene one— james dean & audrey hepburn; sleeping with sirens and that makes me sick to my stomach it’s so cheesy. he’s not like a coward and once he figured out he had feelings for you, he’d be pretty blunt about it.
neito monoma— star killer; bear ghost
if you ask why it makes him think about you he’s gonna say some arrogant shit about how you want him. but actually this is a really good song and he for sure sings it in his bathroom mirror and checks himself out. how humiliating. idk what to say other than listen to it
alternatively: the ballad of big poppa and diamond girl; cobra starship. this song screams neito to me, if i could dance w him to this song life would actually be okay? the only reason i didn’t put it as the main is because i didn’t know if it was projecting, anyway THIS.
hitoshi shinsou— k; cigarettes after sex
this would lowkey be embarrassing for him tbh. this song feels so personal and intimate, if someone you weren’t dating said this reminded you of them, youd have to be really into them for it to not weird you out. however luckily you are really into him. he knows his point is gonna come across, and he’s confident behind it. he sent it as a way to say hey mf im into you, i know you’re into me
compass; the neighbourhood. he kinda listens to teenage girl music, he’s going through that phase. this song is so cute tho!! he’s kinda doting in a weird way, it’s sweet.
synopsis: y/n has no intention of making friends in high school. their plan is quickly ruined by a boy with the cutest smile they’ve ever seen (plus his yellow haired friend, and a purple emo kid) and they find themselves willing to be dragged along in this new dynamic, entranced by his smile.
content: quiet y/n, besties denki & hitoshi, friends to lovers, sero hanta is jacked and hot horikoshi himself told me, pro hero au, swearing, not canon compliant
word count:3.2k
a/n: im back!!!! i loved writing this!!! i wrote it in one sitting ahaha. sero is one of my favorite characters and i was outraged to see i haven’t written that much for him :0 so if you see me spam writing sero content its bc i adore him <33 also i graduated from hs a month ago so the graduation scene in this made me a bit sad ;,)
It’s hard not to notice the fact that he’s wearing the same uniform. Y/N had settled on this specific route to school, content with themselves at having figured it out on only the third day, and was under the impression that no one else from UA lived near them.
They realized they were staring way too hard at the back of this guy’s head and they chose to look outside the train’s window instead, intent on distracting themselves. They hadn’t seen him the past two days, since they’d been taking an altered route before settling on this one. Maybe he was switching it up, too? Or was Y/N the only nerd to actually study the train and bus schedules and routes to determine the one that took less time?
They reach their last train stop and are careful not to walk in front of the other UA student. It’s too early in the morning to make small talk, Y/N grumbles to themselves as they follow behind him, heading to the bus stop a block from here that takes them directly to school. The guy hasn’t noticed them yet, and Y/N would prefer to keep it that way. They’ve come to the realization that everyone at UA is a little weird, no matter how you look at it (themselves included) and they really don’t want to talk about the specificities of hero support items this early in the morning if he turns out to be a support student. Or worse, the intricacies of the hero agency world with someone from the management course—
“Hey, you go to UA too?”
Y/N jolts to a stop, a foot away from the bus stop they’ve both stopped near.
He’s staring at them, an easy smile on his face, hand resting on his bag at his side. He looks so aloof Y/N has the irrational urge to become his friend right then and there.
“Yes. I’m Y/N. General Studies.” The crisp introduction is one that’s already been drilled into their heads, since it’s how every student introduces themselves to one another this early in the school year.
“Sero Hanta, Hero Department.” Y/N’s eyes must’ve unconsciously widened at that, because Sero’s smile grows a bit bigger. “Nice to meet you! You must live near me.”
Y/N nods, shuffling in place. They’re saved from saying anything, because thankfully the bus arrives them at that instant.
“Wanna sit next to me?” Sero asks before they both board, still smiling.
Y/N finds themselves nodding before they’re initial goal of being left alone can catch up with them.
Almost begrudgingly, Y/N makes friends. They weren’t like their new friend Shinso, who’d actually voiced the fact that he wasn’t here to make friends. They were quiet about their small goal. Graduate with good grades, go to college or straight into a hero-related field, whichever opportunity made the most sense at the time of graduation. Little to no distractions, which included making friends with people they’d likely never see after graduation.
Their plan was ruined within a month of school.
First came the unlikely friendship with Shinso, who they sat next to in class. They’d been paired up for their first project, and although Y/N had originally thought Shinso was a bit cold and unapproachable, he seemed to have taken a liking to Y/N. He’d sit with them at lunch, sparing them the loneliness and slight embarrassment that came with being “the loner,” and Y/N took it as a sign that they’d be friendless together. They paired up for everything from then on, and Y/N could confidently say they’d already broken their rule, since Shinso was clearly a friend. He’d even admitted it later in the school year, when he’d told Y/N his plan to transfer to the hero course.
At first Y/N was heartbroken. It quickly vanished at the bright light in Shinso’s eyes, at the reminder of the sports festival, and at everything Sero had told Y/N about the hero course at UA.
Y/N’s second proof of negligence to their own rules: Sero Hanta.
They sat together on the train and bus every morning and afternoon until they’d moved into the dorms on campus. After they’d settled into dorm life, Y/N figured they’d never see Sero again, and found themselves gloomy at the thought. They’d enjoyed their commute chats. Sero was very easy to talk to, and he always looked so genuinely interested in what Y/N had to say, it was impossible not to like him.
Sero managed to stay in Y/N’s life, though. Almost too easily. He’d eat with them at lunch sometimes, especially when Shinso was mysteriously absent (Y/N pretended not to know he was off training with Aizawa.) He’d either sit himself down at Y/N’s regular table, or invite them to sit with some of his own friends, which Y/N found overwhelming, to say the least. They were so loud sometimes, but again, hard to hate.
It was lunch time now, after Shinso had been missing half the day because he was testing to become a part of the hero course. Y/N anxiously waited outside of the cafeteria, scanning heads for his purple hair with so much concentration they didn’t even notice someone walking up to them.
“Hey Y/N!”
They jumped, taking a step backward and refraining from activating their quirk. They’d been sparring with Shinso sometimes in PE, something they weren’t quite used to, so using their quirk on instinct was now something they were adjusting to.
But it was just Sero, with that bright smile on his face. The smile directed at Y/N, who always had to refrain from melting at the sight.
“Hi Sero.”
“Looking for Shinso?”
Y/N nodded, standing up straighter to continue looking. “How’d he do?’
“He did great!” Sero said enthusiastically. “I think he went to talk to Aizawa, though. Wanna sit with me for a bit?”
Y/N nodded, tearing their eyes away from the crowd of incoming students to follow Sero inside. He led them to his table of friends, and Y/N braced themselves for the reception they always received.
“Y/N!” Kaminari all but squealed, abandoning his lunch to quickly set down Y/N’s and then engulfing them in a hug. Y/N had quickly learned Kaminari was a very touchy person. And even after Sero had told him to calm down a bit when Y/N had sent him a panicked look the first time he’d done this, the “pikachu-looking-ass” as Bakugo called him continued to pester Y/N with his physical affection until Y/N caved and admitted they didn’t mind. Kaminari had also become attached to Y/N rather quickly, and he considered them their third proof of negligence.
“Hi, Kaminari,” Y/N replied, patting him awkwardly on the back. Sero’s smile faltered a bit as he sat down opposite the two. “Bro, give them some space.”
“Sorry!” Kaminari detached himself and quickly sat down, Y/N doing the same and taking the space beside him. It was just the three of them right now, meaning the others either hadn’t arrived yet or had ditched lunch to do something else.
They fell into easy conversation, Kaminari and Sero doing much of the talking. They were used to Y/N’s quiet behavior and didn’t pry, letting them eat their lunch peacefully. And it was in those moments that Y/N was glad they were lax in following their own rules. Surrounded by friends who understood them and getting to eat delicious food, working towards their own dream. It couldn’t get much better than that.
“Are you sure I won’t get into trouble?” Y/N whispered again, looking around nervously.
“I already said you wouldn’t!” Kaminari insisted, tugging them along with one hand, the other occupied with a fistful of Shinso’s shirt. “Aizawa won’t mind, especially when he sees his favorite student.” Y/N looked over at Shinso, being pulled along by an over enthusiastic Kaminari, looking as though he regretted all of his life decisions that had led to this moment.
Kamainari had come to personally fetch them from their dorms (just Y/N, since Shinso had moved into the hero dorms at the start of their second year at UA. Shinso had been dragged along, since Kaminari didn’t know where Y/N’s room was). It was movie night in the 2-A dorm room, and Kaminari had put it upon himself to invite Y/N, who he had taken to calling “an honorary 2-A kid.”
They were walking up to the dorm entrance now, and Shinso tore away from Kaminari, doing his best to unwrinkle his shirt as he walked beside him. Y/N was still resisting a bit at thisi “blatant display of kidnapping” as the 2-C class rep had called it when Kaminari had shown up to their dorm unannounced, so he was still tugging them along by their wrist.
They made it two steps into the dorm before they were spotted.
“Y/N?”
“Sero!”
Sero ignored Kaminari’s loud outburst of his own name and pulled Y/N away from him, grinning broadly at them as he loosely held their hands in his. Y/N quietly greeted him, fighting hard not to stare.
Of course he would be wearing casual clothes. This was a movie night Kaminari had dragged them too, of course Sero would be dressed comfortably. But did he have to be showing off his toned arms in that ridiculously cut sleeveless shirt? Y/N was pleased he was no longer self conscious about his elbows, but dear god—
“Stop staring into each other’s eyes and let’s watch this fucking movie!” Y/N jumped, tearing their gaze away from Sero to see Bakugo sitting next to Kirishima on a couch, a bowl of popcorn in his lap. Y/N hurriedly moved to sit next to them, anything to hide the embarrassed look on their face and get as far away from Sero as possible. But of course he settled down next to them on the floor, still smiling over at them. Was he blushing? Y/N swiveled their head away to greet the others who had gathered in the room to watch the movie, suddenly grateful for their small talk conversations and how curious they were about how their classes were going.
It was graduation, and Y/N was standing on top of their chair, searching again for the purple haired boy they’d been calling their best friend for the past three years. But they were also searching for two more hair colors who’d wiggled into their life, refusing to leave. And Y/N was not going to leave the UA campus without saying goodbye.
“Y/N!”
They whirled around, almost falling off of their chair. Kaminari had found them first.
Y/N quickly jumped off their chair and squished Kaminari into a hug, laughing at his “oof!” of surprise. It was usually him who initiated their hugs.
“You’re going to make me cry!” he wailed, hugging them back just as tight. Y/N felt tears prick at the corner of their eyes as they squeezed him harder.
“I’ll miss you lots,” Y/N told him when they finally pulled away. It was hard to move with so many other students saying their goodbyes all around them, and soon Kaminari was letting himself get pulled into the crowd to search for his other friends and then his family. He waved at Y/N until he disappeared, shouting promises to keep in touch, and Y/N did too, their arm sore by the time they lost sight of them.
They said goodbye to other classmates and even a few of the hero course kids they’d grown close to over the years before Shinso found them.
Y/N had been accepted into the university only a bus ride away from the agency Shinso would be working at, so the two were mainly congratulating each other for that moment, . Soon Shinso was pulled away by Iida, who Y/N quickly said goodbye too before they both disappeared into the crowd to search for their other friends.
Only one person left to say goodbye too, and for once Y/N was dreading to see his face. They knew they’d burst into tears at the sight of his smile the second they saw him.
They stood back up onto their chair nonetheless, laughing at other graduates who were doing the same. People were starting to trickle out of the auditorium, choosing to head outside instead, which was a good idea. Y/N hopped down and followed the crowd leaving, still keeping an eye out for Sero.
They made it a step outside of the auditorium before they saw him.
He was holding two flower bouquets two feet away from the exit, looking around in the crowd anxiously. Y/N almost didn’t recognize him—he was always so smiley around them it was hard to picture him looking anything but happy.
His face broke out into a grin when he spotted Y/N. “These are for you, my mom got you some!” He thrust the bouquet towards Y/N, his smile never wavering.
Y/N burst into tears as they took their bouquet, startling Sero. They’d never cried in front of him—at least, not like this. He quickly drew them into his side with his arm, resting his forehead against theirs briefly before pulling them off to the side, where there weren’t as many people. Y/N kept crying, not even trying to stop at this point, tears sliding down their face as they stared hard at Sero, determined to memorize every detail of his gorgeous face.
He turned to face them again, a soft smile on his face as he reached up to wipe away some of their tears with his free hand, and then let it fall to rest against their cheek. “I’ll miss you, too.” Y/N only cried harder, burying their face into his chest and wrapping their arms around him. Sero did the same, his shoulders shaking slightly as he cried into Y/N’s shoulder.
“Why did you invite me to this again?”
“Because I didn’t want to go alone,” Shinso replied, tugging at his tie with an annoyed expression on his face. “And it’s free food, which I knew you’d appreciate.”
Y/N grinned at a waiter passing by, plucking an hors d’oeuvre off the plate as they disappeared around the corner. “Maybe you are my best friend.”
Shinso only scoffed at that, going back to scanning the room with seemingly bored eyes. But Y/N knew him enough to know he was up to something, which was surprising for Shinso.
“Is Denki coming?” Y/N asked, suddenly brightening. “Is that why you invited me?”
“No, Denki’s on a mission right now,” Shinso replied, taking a sip of his drink before turning back to face Y/N again. “He says hi, as usual.”
Y/N slouched back against the bar’s counter, stuffing their hors d’oeuvre into their mouth to mask their disappointment. It had been almost a year since they’d last seen Denki—he was always so busy, and it didn’t help that he lived across the country. He’d kept his promise of keeping in touch; they both texted each other quite regularly.
“Turn around, don’t freak out,” Shinso said quietly to Y/N before taking another sip of his drink. Naturally Y/N whirled around and was suddenly very glad they’d finished their snack, otherwise they would’ve comically choked on it because of the sight before them.
Sero Hanta had just walked in, and Y/N was unabashedly gawking at him, grateful he couldn’t see them from this angle. He looked hot to say the least. His suit was perfectly tailored, and despite the fact that he was fully covered Y/N could see how he’d somehow gotten even more muscular and lean, and oh god were those earrings? Shinso snickered quietly from his place beside them, apparently entertained by Y/N’s shock.
They quickly composed themselves, turning around to face the bar again. “Oh god oh god oh god oh god! Hitoshi you asshat!” They smacked his arm, harder than they usually did, and he looked as though he was going to return the smack before his eyes trailed to something behind Y/N and he dropped his hand, choosing to pat Y/N’s arm instead. “I’ll be over there.”
He greeted whoever was behind Y/N before going off to chat with someone, and before Y/N could let their nerves get the best of them, they turned around to greet their old friend with a smile.
Sero was already smiling before he even properly greeted Y/N, and his eyes sparkled when he saw them smiling back just as wide.
“Hey.”
“C’mere you dweeb.”
Sero laughed but accepted the hug, wrapping his arms around Y/N’s waist and hugging them the same way they’d been hugging at graduation—so close they could feel their breaths on each other’s cheeks and practically feel one another’s heartbeats.
“Missed you,” Y/N mumbled from his shoulder.
“Missed you, too,” Sero replied, not making any move to break apart their hug.
“God you’re so jacked,” Y/N blurted, making Sero laugh and pull away so he could look at them. His arms didn’t leave their waist, Y/N gleefully took notice of. They didn’t let go of his shoulders either.
“I told Shinso to bring you,” Sero admitted, looking away from them briefly, his cheeks gaining color. “I needed to see you.”
Y/N could only stare at him. Huh? HUH?
They’d both been texting consistently, too. Sero sometimes conversed with them daily, sometimes disappearing for a few weeks before sending a meme out of nowhere to let them know he was okay. Y/N thought they’d been doing a good job of keeping their friendship alive, but if he didn’t agree—
“I’ve been meaning to ask you out since high school,” Sero continued quickly, and now Y/N was truly speechless. “And I think I’ve been putting it off for too long now, so here I am.” He laughed nervously, his grip around Y/N’s waist slipping.
Without thinking, Y/N lunged forward, pulling Sero toward them. He let out a small noise of surprise before Y/N’s lips collided with his own. It was almost painful, but Y/N truly did not care. After years of daydreaming about this, about Sero’s impossibly soft lips against their own, about his arms wrapped around them, about finally letting him know how they felt, they weren’t going to wait even a few seconds before making it happen.
Y/N broke away first, breathing heavily from both the kiss and the sudden adrenaline rush. Sero’s eyes fluttered open, and Y/N almost cried over how beautiful he looked standing there in front of them, his lips bright red from the kissing, his cheeks dusted pink, and his eyes half open as though he was just waking up from a nap.
It was Y/N’s turn to smile at him cheekily, like he’d done so many times before. “I’ve wanted to do that since you asked me to sit with you on the bus.”
Sero grinned, a smug expression on his face as he leaned in again, smiling into the kiss and pulling Y/N even closer to him.
synopsis: a little sleep deprived and susceptible to spilling secrets as a result, y/n lets it slip to hanta that they want to fall in love. want to know what it feels like for your heart to hurt when you’re not around someone, what it feels like to slow dance in the rain with someone, to stay up for hours just to spend time with them. what it feels like to get heartbroken, to hurt so badly because the love runs so deeply. hanta wants to be the one to do all of those things with y/n—so he creates a plan to accomplish everything they listed off when they were truthful in their sleepy state.
content: college au, friends to lovers, sweet boy hanta, just a whole lot of fluff
word count: 4.2k
SERO HANTA’S LIST OF FALLING IN LOVE ACTIVITIES:
1. Romantically plot in secret
It had started as most chaotic things to: at a sleepover.
To begin with, the sleepover had not started out as an actual sleepover. Y/N had invited Sero over because they were both busy cramming for upcoming finals, and Sero’s apartment was not the best place to cram. He loved his roommates—truly, he did. Just not as much during finals season. Y/N always offered him refuge in their apartment, because somehow they had gotten lucky enough to snag the studio apartments before everyone else and had the pleasure of having relatively nice, quiet neighbors. Sero hid from the noise that was his apartment complex here more often than he should, but Y/N never seemed to mind too much.
They sat at Y/N’s kitchen table in comfortable silence, their laptops and various notes spread out around them. They had not moved from their spot in a while, and finally Sero felt his eyes start to tear up from staring at his laptop screen for too long, so he decided he had had enough for the night. He closed down all of his tabs and failed to hold back a strangled noise of surprise when he noticed the time.
“It’s one in the morning.”
Y/N’s reaction was delayed, only eliciting a small noise of acknowledgement that Sero had spoken at first. Then they snapped their head up from their work, eyes wide. “One?”
Normally, staying up this late was a normal occurrence—especially when it was the two of them together, and they were hyper-focused on studying. But it was the last day of dead week, meaning that they had to be ready to take their first exams in roughly ten hours.
“Shit,” Sero cursed, quickly putting away his notes. “Sleep. Now.”
Y/N laughed a little as they also hurried to put away their notes and shut down their laptop. They both scurried around the apartment; Y/N to their room to file things away, and Sero into the living room area to find his backpack. His apartment should have quieted down by now, since it was quite literally the day of finals.
“You can stay here!” Y/N called from their room. “I already pulled out your futon.”
Sero wilted with relief, nearly dropping his backpack at the door. He set it back against the couch and walked over to Y/N’s room, yawning with sleep he had not been aware of ten minutes ago.
Y/N was already snuggled under the warm comfort of their covers, and right beside their bed was the spare futon that was basically Sero’s at this point. He had arrived to the study session in his pajamas and had done his nightly routine a few hours ago (shamelessly borrowing Y/N’s face wash) so he quickly snuggled under his own covers and turned to face Y/N, like he always did when he slept over.
They were already drifting off, but were also facing him and smiled when he turned to stare. “Your exam is at 10, right?”
Sero nodded. “Yours at 11?”
Y/N nodded and yawned again. “Good luck.”
“Good luck,” he echoed, moving the covers up to hide his smile of endearment. Y/N was always cute, but sleepy Y/N was on a different level.
Yes, Sero had a massive crush on his friend. He had come to terms with it a few months ago, when they both started hanging out more and getting closer. Sero did not mind the unrequited feelings too much, and was currently in the process of dealing with it. Sleeping over was not a big help, but he did not want to ruin the friendship they had, so he decided it was a worthy sacrifice to his efforts.
“Can I tell you something?” Y/N asked, blinking at him. Sero stifled a small laugh. He knew Y/N always had the tendency to get honest moments before they drifted off to sleep. The first time it had happened, they had shared that they had been the ones to accidentally drop Bakugo’s bamboo toothbrush onto the floor and then quickly wash it with soap (which Bakugo tasted later that day and was very mad about). Kaminari had taken the blame, and Y/N had never come clean as a form of revenge for all of the times Kaminari had eaten the last of the cookie stash and never replacing it.
“Of course you can,” Sero replied, adjusting so his head was propped up in his chin and he could see Y/N better.
“Have you ever been in love?”
Sero almost dropped back down onto his pillow. “You said you were going to tell me something, not ask me something,” Sero said, successfully recovering. Stay cool, Hanta.
Y/N blinked at him again, apparently now more awake and willing to engage in a conversation.
“I’ve never been in love,” they said. “What’s it like?”
Sero gave up on trying to maintain eye level and snuggled back under his covers, leaving his eyes uncovered to hide his blushing cheeks. This really was not helping him with ending his crush.
“Dunno. I don’t think I’ve ever been in love, either.”
“Really?” Y/N seemed surprised. “Haven’t you dated anyone, like before I met you?”
They had only met last year, in their second year of university. Y/N had never asked him about these things. Sleep deprivation must have made them more curious, and maybe a tad bit more blunt and daring.
“No,” Sero answered, still hiding under his blanket.
“You were supposed to be, like, the wise one in this,” Y/N said, rolling around in their bed as they said it. Sero laughed at their reaction.
“Sorry to disappoint.”
“No! Never apologize,” Y/N whirled around to face him again, eyes considerably more drowsy than before. Sleep was overtaking them. Sero wondered how long they would keep talking before Y/N passed out.
“It’s just,” Y/N sighed, now turning to face the ceiling. “I want to fall in love. I want to know what it feels like for your heart to hurt when you’re not around someone, what it feels like to slow dance in the rain with someone, to stay up for hours just to spend time with them. You know?” They turned to face Sero again.
He did not know what to say to that. This must have been the most honest Y/N had ever been with him, about this topic, anyway. They had never really spoken about this before.
“Yeah,” he said quietly. “I do.”
“Even heartbreak sounds just so full of love, because that just means the love was so deep and real that it hurts when the person causing it isn’t there anymore,” Y/N’s blinks were slowing down now, signaling they were very close to sleep. “Dunno, it just seems…nice.”
And with that, they were asleep.
Leaving Sero wide awake, staring up at them. Peacefully sleeping and blissfully unaware of what they had just done to him, of the plan he was now making.
He spent the next hour making a list on his phone. Specifics would come later, when the sun was up and he was not driven by nerves and adrenaline like was now.
One point done, more to go.
2. Spend lots of quality time together (basically done?)
Finals disrupted much of Sero’s next point that he had written down, but not as much as he would have previously thought. Now that he had decided to let his crush take hold of him and do his best to woo Y/N, he was realizing how much their friendship had evolved, and how much he had neglected to notice the things that made it more special. He had ignored this in favor of trying to squash his crush, but after embracing it, he now understood why it had formed in the first place.
He and Y/N just fit. They understood each other, probably better than anyone else. And Sero had been downplaying their relationship for weeks—Y/N was easily his best friend (something Kaminari would be devastated to learn, seeing as he was the one who always proclaimed himself as Sero’s BFF).
His second point on his list was spending lots of time together, which was relatively easy, because they already did it so much in the first place. Their friends overlapped, which was the reason they even met in the first place, and the reason they grew to be so close and spend so much time together. Even final exams didn’t keep them apart for very long.
Y/N often realized they had sleepily confessed something, and confronted Sero about it the next morning. This had not been the case this time, because Y/N had gone off to their exam before Sero had even woken up. He had been nervous about how they would react, but he hoped for the best, trying to stay optimistic.
He had not expected Y/N to be there after his exam, with his current obsession (an iced matcha latte) and a hesitant smile on their face as they waved at him from the bench just outside the building.
It was impossible to keep the smile off his face. “Hey, didn’t expect to see you here.”
“My exam ended a little while ago, so I decided to stick around and wait for you,” Y/N replied, handing him his drink. “How’d it go?”
They both walked idly through campus in the general direction back to Y/N’s apartment, probably a bit subconsciously. This was their routine every Thursday, when they had a class that ended at the same time in the same vicinity of one another. Still, Sero knew why Y/N had come to find him. But the addition of the matcha latte was a very nice touch that left him jittery with happiness and butterflies.
“So,” Y/N started as they left campus and began the walk through the residential areas, back to Y/N’s apartment. “The latte is an apology drink, since I remember I overshared last night.”
“No need to apologize,” Sero quickly replied, nudging them with his shoulder as they walked. “I basically overshared too. Anyway, what are besties for?”
Y/N nudged him back. “Have I replaced Kaminari?” They were smiling at him, and it made Sero’s own grin widen.
“Don’t tell him I said that. Anyway, I’ll take you up on that.” He took a sip from his drink, nervous of where this would leave him. Had he planned this? Absolutely not. But he decided to be a little daring. Maybe it was the matcha giving him bravery.
“On what?” Y/N asked, turning to look at him.
“Fall in love. With me, I mean.”
Y/N stopped walking, and Sero turned to face them.
His plan would never work if Y/N wasn’t aware of it. It would have been a bit odd if he started doing all of these romantic things with no explanation, and it would have ultimately led to a failed plan. Sero had decided last night he did not want to try and hide his feelings anymore—and he had, for once, decided to listen to the constant teasing of his friends. They had been saying he and Y/N were practically an old married couple for weeks now, but he’d waved them off because he thought they were poking fun at his crush.
Seeing Y/N after his exam had made him decide maybe they were right, and had convinced him that the plan he’d made last night was worth a shot.
“What? Are you messing with me?” Y/N asked, an accusatory tone surfacing. “Not funny, Sero.”
“I’m not!” Sero quickly replied. “I promise.”
They stared him down, narrowing their eyes in thought.
Despite knowing each other for only a year, they knew each other. Sero wasn’t lying, and he knew Y/N could tell. And some realization came into their eyes, followed by embarrassment as they hid their face in their hands.
“Oh my fuck,” Y/N practially shouted, laughing up at the sky. “How did you know before I did?”
Sero smiled again, cheerily linking his arm through Y/N’s when they continued to walk. “I did say we were besties, didn’t I?”
3. Go on some dates
“Why are you here?”
Sero pouted before walking past Y/N into their apartment. “Rude, much?
Y/N closed their door and followed Sero, sitting beside him on the couch. “It’s summer now. Weren’t you heading back for a week?”
Most of his friends stayed on campus for the summer, either to work or to take classes. Sero was no exception, though he usually went back home for a week.
“I’ll be going back home in a few months,” Sero explained. “My family has a long list of weddings and events to attend, and you know I’d much rather avoid nosy relatives asking when I’ll start dating and instead actively get you to start dating me.”
Y/N threw a pillow at his face at that, which Sero easily dodged as he laughed. His mom had freed him of the obligation of attending the family events since he wasn’t very close to any of the relatives hosting them, and his room was currently occupied by visiting cousins. That said, he was expected to call her twice as much (she knew he had more free time now) and to visit before the fall semester started.
Sero planned to take advantage of this summer as much as he could. It was shaping up to be much better than the last one. This time he wasn’t buried in classwork—his schedule was much more manageable, and he had a part time job he liked. The best part was Y/N, though.
Since the acknowledgement of the feelings they both had for each other, their relationship had taken a small, almost unnoticeable turn. They noticed, of course. The thin layer of caution they had acted with earlier was gone. Now Sero unabashedly stared at Y/N when they were doing simple tasks, replying to their questioning stares with “You’re just so pretty.” And Y/N was no better—constantly sneaking glances at Sero when he changed into his pajamas in their apartment and telling him he had very nice hands whenever they laid down to fall asleep (holding hands).
Slow, tiny steps. Toward his next thing on the list: dates.
“I thought we could spend the day together,” Sero said, turning to look at Y/N on the couch. They were already looking at him and smiled when their eyes met.
“Okay. What should we do?”
“I’m so glad you asked,” he replied, still not looking away from them. “The first activity of the day is of course watching a movie.”
After some discussion, Y/N quickly got dressed to head out for the movie theater downtown. It was a sequel to another action movie that they had seen years ago, and Sero had been waiting for finals to be over before watching it. He slipped his hand into theirs on the walk over and smiled when they glanced over at him. They’d held hands before—just last night they had, right before falling asleep. But they both knew this time was different. Y/N lightly squeezed his hand and swung their arms back and forth as they walked, laughing quietly enough for only the two of them to hear.
The movie was very action filled, which kept them so energized they decided to head to a nearby arcade afterwards. Sero was excellent at arcade games, Y/N quickly realized. He won them both a lot of prizes, and they left the arcade with two bags full of miscellaneous items and matching plushies.
From there, they wandered around the shops downtown, stopping to get ice cream and then finally sitting down at a bench. Only then did Sero realize how tired he was. He turned his head to ask Y/N if they were also tired, only to find them already facing him.
“Yeah, let’s go back,” Sero laughed, intertwining their fingers and pulling Y/N off of the bench.
When they reached Y/N’s apartment, they moved to walk in and pull Sero inside along with them. But he gently slid his out of theirs. The reaction was immediate—Y/N turned to glance behind them, a questioning look in his eyes and the slightest frown on their lips.
“I can’t sleep here every night,” he teased. “I still pay rent for my real apartment, you know.”
Y/N narrowed his eyes at him in mock hurt. “Yeah, yeah.” They mumbled something else before waving and moving to close the door.
“What was that?” Sero asked, a smile growing on his face as he stuck his foot out just before the door closed. He was having too much fun, but he couldn’t help it.
Y/N avoided his gaze. “Hmm? Nothing.”
“No, I heard you say something,” he said, unable to keep the teasing tone out of his voice.
“I said I’ll miss you,” Y/N snapped, before successfully slamming the door shut to avoid looking at him.
“See you tomorrow!” Sero cheerfully called, laughing at Y/N’s embarrassed knocks to let him know they had heard him.
4. Dance in the rain
Sero patiently waited for summer rain, knowing it would come.
His patience was wearing pretty thin until it finally started to rain while he was walking back from his shift. Letting out a small yell of excitement, he changed course and ran back to campus, where he knew Y/N was currently in class.
They had not had the chance to see each other all week, resorting to texting instead. Classes had started, so things got a bit more hectic and they had not found out the best way to balance everything just yet. After this week it would even out, he was sure of this. Still, he had missed Y/N more than he realized. The rain reminded him of that.
He waited outside of Y/N’s classroom, watching the rain steadily get heavier. Soon students started filing out, a few actually pulling out umbrellas. Y/N was the last to leave, and Sero didn’t miss the soft look in their eyes when they saw the rain, and how the look seemed to only grow fonder when they realized he was outside, waiting for them.
“Hi,” they said, taking his outstretched hand. “What’re you doing here?”
“It’s raining,” Sero said, as though that would make everything clear. Y/N smiled at him.
“Yes.”
Sero tugged their hand in protest of their teasing, earning a laugh. “Your backpack is waterproof, right?” It wasn’t pouring, thankfully, which made Sero’s plan much easier.
“Yes,” Y/N said again, realizing what he was saying. “Hanta, wait—”
He was already pulling them along, out from underneath the protection of the overhead roof and into the rain. Y/N laughed and didn’t pull away, instead pulling him further out until they were running hand in hand in the direction of Y/N’s apartment.
Not exactly dancing, but not exactly not dancing. They leapt over bigger puddles and stopped sometimes to catch their breath before tugging each other along, clothes and skin damp from the sprinkling rain and laughing the entire way.
Sero had always loved the rain, but this made him love it even more.
When they made it to Y/N’s apartment the rain had stopped and the sun had started to peak out from behind the clouds. They both quickly changed out of their wet clothes and collapsed onto Y/N’s couch, leaning onto each other and still laughing a little.
“That was on your list?” Y/N asked, leaning their head against his shoulder. He wrapped an arm around them and pulled them in closer, hoping they did not notice the way his heart was pouding.
“Of course,” he said. “You mentioned it, remember?”
Y/N slipped their hand into his. “Yeah. I also mentioned staying up late, didn’t I? Are you crossing that one off today, too?”
“Anything for you,” Sero replied, kissing the top of their head. “Except, not the heartbreak part. I physically cannot do that to you.”
Y/N made a noise of surprise before burying their face in his neck, moving so they were practically sitting in his lap. “You’re so sappy.”
Sero laughed, wrapping both his arms around their waist and sitting them fully in his lap. “I know.”
5. Stay up together and cuddle
Sero did end up sleeping over that day. He also decided to share the rest of his list with Y/N.
He got ready for bed in their bathroom, smiling to himself as he looked around and saw how present he was in Y/N’s life. They had a toothbrush for him there, the hair ties he used sometimes, and his damp clothes had been hung to dry.
He walked back to Y/N’s room, ready to get comfortable on his futon. Only to realize it was not there, and Y/N was already in bed.
They patted the spot next to them, and Sero needed no further instruction. He snuggled up beside them, reaching out to wrap his arms around them and press his cold feet against their warm legs. Y/N laughed and playfully shoved him away.
He’d always been a very touchy person, but he knew boundaries. When he realized he had a crush on Y/N all those months ago, he had been even more careful about physical contact with them, mainly for his own sake. Now, holding hands was so common for them Sero reached for Y/N’s the second he saw them, and whenever they sat near each other they were always pressed against one another. They were always touching in some way.
Cuddling was his last straw—he could not stop blushing and trying to hide his face in the crook of Y/N’s face, which they noticed immediately.
“You’re so cute when you’re embarrassed,” Y/N gushed in a teasing tone, knowing this only made Sero more flustered.
“Shut up,” he mumbled, poking their side to make them ticklish. Y/N just laughed more and ran their fingers through his hair, tugging in the way they knew he liked. He sighed against them, melting further into their embrace and feeling sleep already creeping into him.
“Want to hear the rest of my list?” Sero asked. He moved a bit so he was on his side and facing Y/N, and they turned on their side to face him.
“Of course,” they replied. “I want to know what your steps are to completely woo me.”
Sero breathed out a short laugh.
“Well, obviously I won’t share all of it, because that ruins some things, but we are currently on point five.”
“Five?” Y/N asked. “I thought we were basically done.”
“Howdare you,” Sero gasped in mock offense. “We haven’t even said the L-word yet.”
“What, love?” Y/N asked incredulously. “I have to have said it by now.”
That shut Sero up. Said it by now? As in they were in love with him? As in his love was being reciprocated?
He realized he was in love with them when they had sleepily told him they had never been in love. Sero was sure he had actually been in love for months, but in that moment he had finally realized it. He realized that he did not want Y/N to experience any of the things they listed with anyone else but him, and that now he needed to tell them how he felt, otherwise he would never forgive himself. He realized he missed them whenever they were not together, that he wanted to go on cheesy dates with them, dance in the rain with them, stay up late just to spend time with them.
“You—what? What?” Sero practically squeaked in shock.
Y/N smiled at him. “I thought I’d said it already! I feel bad now. I love you.”
Sero turned to bury his face in the pillow they were sharing, Y/N laughing at him and running their fingers through his hair. “I love you,” they repeated, earning another strangled groan from him.
“I love you, too,” he replied. He turned to face them again. “I think I have for a while, but I only realized it when you told me you’d never been in love.”
It was Y/N’s turn to hide in the pillow. “God, I’m embarrassing.”
“When did you know?” Sero asked, unable to help himself. Y/N quickly turned back to face him.
“When I brought you matcha after your final,” Y/N said immediately, still playing with his hair idly as they talked. “You just… looked so happy to see me. No one’s ever looked at me like that before. And I realized that’s probably how I looked at you every day.”
Sero reached up to take Y/N’s hand in his and intertwine their fingers together.
“Who’s the sappy one now,” he said triumphantly, not letting go when Y/N tried to pull their fingers away and laughing at their embarrassed expression.
“The list is long, by the way,” Sero said. “Hope you’re up for it.”
“I am,” Y/N replied instantly. “Pinky promise.”
They both fell asleep after that, pinkies intertwined and symbolizing a promise they both knew the other would never break.
WHEN HE SUDDENLY GETS SERIOUS. izuku is so sweet and inviting to everyone that when a challenge presents itself and izuku’s demeanor completely shifts, it has you dumbfounded. especially when he demonstrates just how far he’s come with his quirk and is practically oozing confidence as he blows through his obstacles. wow. just wow. and when he turns to you to ask for something or tell you to do a task? you deadass have to snap yourself of the trance before you start fucking drooling.
WHEN HE’S QUIET. okay listen, you love bakugou and his,,,loudness. there’s just something about how his face relaxes when he’s doing something as simple as studying or cooking himself food. he’d be focusing on a task and you’ll be sitting intently beside him, watching him until he notices and tells you to get back to work. or if you’re on call with him after a long day and he’s just speaking softly, the exhaustion evident in his voice. the whole thing just has you smiling like a doofus for a while.
WHEN HIS HAIR IS DOWN. kirishima with his hair down has you in a literal chokehold. the way it just frames his face is just ugh, delicious. the first time you see it is when you’re in the elevator, the last cup of microwaveable noodles in your hand, trying to make it to your room before you were ambushed. when the elevator doors slid open and revealed kirishima without his signature hairstyle, your jaw just dropped. kirishima had asked you if you were okay and you simply pressed the button to close the elevator doors. you eventually apologized for that, but in the moment you were too flustered to even form a proper sentence.
THE WAY HE SITS. you have to mentally prepare yourself to sit next to sero, especially if you’re not dating, because my goodness. he does that thing where he man spreads, but like, not in a douchebag kind of way. you’ll be sitting comfortably on the couch and he’ll just fall onto the space beside you, legs spread out just enough that his thigh is pressed against yours and his arm resting on the back of the couch, just a hair away from resting on your shoulders instead. you’d tense up at the sudden proximity but then he’d greet you with a charming smile and you’re put almost instantly at ease. and the way he leans his head in to speak into your ear when everyone starts being loud makes your heart skip a couple beats every time.
CONTENT! — no quirks au; how they act with the reader at a “project x” type party
A/N! — yeah idk what’s going on, i’ve just been shitting out hella content for the past three days. anyway this was wholeheartedly inspired by the song drunk and nasty, sorry asf
BAKUGOU is pretty lowkey. probably isn’t drinking, but even if he is, he’s not going batshit crazy. he mostly tagged along to make sure you or his group of idiots didn’t do anything illegal (definitely the designated driver). please be prepared to be practically attached to bakugou’s hip. while bakugou isn’t the type for pda, there’s no way he’s gonna risk losing you in that big ass crowd. besides, everyone is too shit faced to care that he’s got his arm wrapped around your waist. watches over your drink if you need to pee and literally fucking growls at any guy that tries to hit on you.
KIRISHIMA is having a blast. definitely drinking and definitely taking off his shirt. his energy is infectious, so you find yourself getting really hyped with him. you really have to keep an eye on him though because he will try to jump off the roof and into the pool. hell, he might even convince you to jump off the roof with him. initiates a beer pong game between the two of you that has tension building.
KAMINARI is acting a fool. this buffoon is, in fact, going batshit crazy alongside kirishima. you need to put him on a leash because there’s no way you can watch over him while also being pretty intoxicated yourself. takes you on the trampoline and the two of you jump like morons for half an hour until you’re both left out of breath. at point one, the two of you are just laying on the littered grass and admiring the sky while being absolutely shit-faced (and being occasionally stepped on by fellow drunks)
SERO is flirty. yes, he may or not be high, but that’s completely irrelevant. you look way too good tonight and he’s in the mood to dance. so he pulls you close against him and just relishes in the way your body moves against his for a couple minutes. very touchy; he’ll grip your hips while you’re swaying, move the pieces of hair stuck to your face with sweat, run his large hands up and down your sides. when the two of you are tired, sero would get a drink for the two of you to share and he’ll hold the cup for you, bringing it up to your lips whenever you ask. his eyes would watch your throat intently as you swallowed, knowing you’re completely clueless as to how crazy you’ve been making him all night.
MINA let’s loose. while she’s already so free-spirited, drunk mina is on an entirely different level. somehow manages to convince you to get into the pool. although you weren’t all too hard to convince. once mina started stripping down into her undergarments, you were pretty much diving after her. mina pulls you in for a kiss, and you can’t help but think she looks so gorgeous even if her makeup is now smudged. the two of you hang in the pool, dancing and singing until the amount of bodies becomes unbearable. and once the music becomes headache inducing, you took take to hiding away in a bathroom. mina has the genius idea of filling up the tub with warm water and the two of you spend a hour or so in the tub, just talking to one another.
“Can I get an ETA on the quarterly?” Iida asked, flipping through the paperwork.
“Um, from what I heard, probably by the end of this week. Accounting has been overwhelmed lately-” you explained.
“I don’t need an explanation. Just get those into me ASAP,” he sighed, waving a hand to dismiss you.
You nodded and quietly slipped out of his office. It’s been a hectic month. After a meeting, the company made an executive decision to close down two branches and merge them into the two largest ones of the Tokyo area: your own and the Ibaraki branch.
This meant a huge addition of clients as well as inventory that needs to be covered. When the news broke out, you remembered watching Iida and Midoriya from your desk, one exchanging heated words at the phone while the latter anxiously watched.
“How’d it go?” Kirishima asked, leaning onto the counter.
“Not good. Iida is so stressed. He’s wound tighter then he already is,” you answered, swiveling in your chair to face him. “Are you anywhere near done with the forms?”
“Jirou and I are doing our best. We’re completely swamped,” he shook his head.
“I could offer some help,” you suggested, giving a small smile. “Overtime?”
“That would be great, not the overtime though,” he laughed. “Alright, I’ll get back to the grindstone before Iida has my head.”
You both said goodbye before you turned back to your work. Just then, the phone rang. “Hello, Musutafu branch, this is (Y/N) speaking,” you answered.
“Ah, hello (Y/N), could you patch me through to Midoriya?”
“Oh, Mr. Todoroki, yes of course. I’ll do that right now,” you said.
“And please, just call me Todoroki. I don’t need you getting all formal with me,” Todoroki chuckled.
“Sir, I don’t think-”
“Todoroki.”
“Right…Todoroki. I’ll um, patch you through right now.”
Once you did that, you took a moment to sit there. In all of your time working for Might Papers, Todoroki has never been so…casual. He usually didn’t bat an eyelash and just looked the other way.
And you’ve met him a handful of times, most of them being here at the office. And that couple of times where he ran into you and Midoriya outside of work. Oh well, can’t dwell too long on this.
━━━━━━━°❀•°: :°•❀°━━━━━━━
Bakugo tapped his pen, a beat quite indistinguishable but one could feel the annoyance radiating off of him. He stared at his computer screen, seeing his inbox blaring unread emails. “If that bastard doesn’t get us help any time soon, I’ll kill him myself,” he muttered.
“That’s not a nice thing to say, Bakugo,” Sero remarked, also staring at his inbox which was in a similar state to his desk mate.
He whipped his head to Sero, red eyes glaring. “So how do you feel about the fact that we’re swamped here?” he snapped.
“I know. I’m not saying this is entirely a good thing,” Sero replied, looking at him. “I already sent in an email to corporate about it, so hopefully we get in another person.”
“Like that is going to get through his secretary,” Bakugo rolled his eyes.
“Hey! I worded it just for Mr. Todoroki. If it doesn’t get through, I’ll drive to Tokyo myself,” Sero remarked. Bakugo just gave a deadpanned stare.
Bakugo turned back to his screen and clicked on an email. Might as well get started on these while he had the chance.
As he began to reply to them, he felt his phone buzz. Taking it out, he took a quick glance at the home screen. A brief smile appeared on his face and just as quickly as it appeared, it went away. However, this did not go unnoticed by a certain pest.
“What’s got you smiling, Bakubro?”
“Nothing.”
“Are you sure about that?”
“Why are you questioning me?”
“Nothing, why aren’t you answering me?”
Sero yelped as Bakugo threw a paperclip at him, his face red with anger. “Boys, I thought I told you to keep your hinky stuff in the bedroom,” a voice scolded. Sero and Bakugo both looked to see Mina Ashido, their resident customer relations.
“Sorry, we’ll do better next time,” Sero winked, to which Bakugo growled at him.
“Anyways, I came up here to get away from the stifling annex. Y’all got anything interesting going on?” she asked, perching herself on the edge of Bakugo’s desk.
“Besides what Corporate dropped on us? Nothing,” Bakugo chided.
Mina sighed, picking up an action figure Bakugo kept at his desk. “Besides that. I’m already having a shit show organizing new clients and calling them. I mean your personal lives. C’mon! Give me juicy details.”
Sero chuckled, making both of them look at him. “Mina, aren’t you in the Work Wives? You should get enough gossip as it already is,” he noted, raising an eyebrow at her.
“Yeah and? You know I can’t get enough of this stuff,” she scoffed. “Well, if you boys have nothing, I’ll go back to my miserable corner~”
“Good, stay there,” Bakugo huffed. Mina quickly slapped him upside the head before leaving for the annex.
Sero hid his laughter behind a fist before resuming his work.
━━━━━━━°❀•°: :°•❀°━━━━━━━
Sitting in for a meeting has always been nerve-racking. As a receptionist, you’re also the personal secretary for the whole office. This would mean taking notes of conferences, client meetings, arranging out-of-office lunches/dinners, and directing personal calls if they accidentally call your line instead of the intended office member.
So sitting in the conference room with Todoroki, Midoriya, Iida, and…
“Shinsou Hitoshi, nice to meet you all,” the man greeted, shaking hands with the rest of the men.
“Thanks for joining us, Mr. Shinsou. We just have a few preliminary questions before you get started here,” Iida nodded. He turned back to you and gestured for you to start note taking.
“Before you applied for a position here, what was your previous occupation?” Midoriya asked.
“I was a Project Manager for Fujiya Supplies for 3 years,” Shinsou answered. “I was uh, hoping to get promoted but it didn’t seem like a possibility there. So I needed to look elsewhere.”
“Project manager…that’s a little different than a salesman don’t you think?” Iida pointed out. Shinsou’s lips curved up into a smile, one that seemed a bit…different than a friendly smile.
“I guess so. But I also believe that both jobs have similar traits necessary to carry out the task. Both require a background in business and marketing, as well as training in sales.”
“And it says here you graduated from Tokyo University with a Masters in Management, which is an admirable feat,” Iida mentioned. “So what makes you stand out from other candidates?”
Shinsou hummed in thought. “As I mentioned earlier, I was a Project Manager and that meant I was in charge of large-scale projects, overlooking large parties and keeping track of the schedule and itineraries. I’m good at keeping cool under pressure and staying focused when things get messy.”
“That is something we are looking for, especially at this time. One more question, uh Shinsou, the Tokyo headquarters did put in a request for a Special Projects manager so why did you choose us?”
“I started off as a salesman before Fujia so I’m ready to go back to my roots,” Shinsou grinned.
The three men exchanged looks before Todoroki cleared his throat as he stood up. “Well, us three will step into the other room to discuss some matters so if (y/n) here can take you the break room for some refreshments?” he said, looking back at you.
“Uh yeah, sure,” you nodded, standing up as well. As Midoriya, Iida, and Todoroki leave the room and into Iida’s office, that left you and Shinsou alone. “If you could follow me please…”
You guided Shinsou to the break room and offered him a cup of coffee while making one for yourself. “So, do you think I’ll get the job?” he asked, stirring in a packet of sugar.
“Well, you were Todoroki’s recommendation so I think you have a pretty good chance,” you smiled politely.
He chuckled. “Thanks…So tell me a little about your office here? What’s it like?” he asked.
“We’re a pretty nice bunch. We have parties for birthdays, overtime, holidays, you know, all that stuff,” you rattled off. “Oh! And since you’ll be in sales, you get to be with Sero and Bakugo!”
“Sero?” Shinsou asked, taking a sip. His reaction looked like something close to recognition.
“He’s the nice one in the sales department. Bakugo will take some time warming up to you but he’s secretly mushy,” you winked.
“Ah, good to know. Thanks for telling me,” he nodded. Just then, the break room door opened and Denki stepped in.
“Hey (y/n) and…strange man I don’t know,” Denki greeted, giving the two of you a quizzical look.
“The name is Shinsou Hitoshi,” Shinsou greeted, standing up to walk over. He held out a hand to Denki, who was hesitant to take it. “I don’t bite,” he teased.
You couldn’t help but watch the two of them interact, eyeing Denki’s now red face to Shinsou’s cool demeanor. Damn, he does keep cool under pressure.
“Denki…Denki Kaminari,” he answered after some time. Denki took Shinsou’s hand gently and gave it a shake. “I’ll uh…I’ll be going now.”
“Didn’t you need anything? Or are you going to be leaving empty-handed?” you teased. Denki shot a glare towards you but turned back to Shinsou with a small grin.
“Nice to meet you. I’ll see you around,” he said quickly before leaving just as quickly. Shinsou turned to you once Denki left, raising an eyebrow to which you only shrugged.
“Is he always like that?” Shinsou asked you, sitting back down.
“Only to people he finds pretty.”
━━━━━━━°❀•°: :°•❀°━━━━━━━
“You can get started next week. That way, you can get enough time to get all situated here in Musutafu,” Iida said, handing Shinsou a packet of papers. “These are some paperwork to fill out in regards to health benefits and company policies. You can hand them in when you start your first day.”
“Thank you, again. I won’t disappoint,” Shisnou grinned, shaking hands with Iida. The men bid each other goodbye, with Todoroki walking with Shinsou out of the office. Before he left, he stopped by your desk.
“Hey, congrats on the job,” you beamed.
“Thanks, (y/n). Hey, could you do something for me?” he asked.
“Of course, name it,” you said, grabbing a pen.
“I want to make a good impression with everyone, you know, as the new guy so how about…we do a party? It’ll be on me,” he offered, smiling.
“Oh, you don’t have to do that. Really, I’ll run this by the party planning committee. I’m sure we have funds for one,” you waved off.
“No, I insist. It’s the least I could do as a new guy,” he shrugged. “I’ll see you next week.”
“See you!” you bid, waving goodbye. You made a note to tell Mina and Jirou about the party before resuming work.
Down at the parking lot, Todoroki and Shinou walked to their respective cars. “I think you’ll be a good addition to the sales team. With your background and extra manpower, it would be a huge help to Iida,” Todoroki mentioned.
Shinsou nodded, listening. “Yeah, I’m excited to get a fresh start.”
Todoroki reached out an arm to stop Shinsou, making him turn so they could be face to face. “I know it’s been a rough couple of months for you. This could be a good start,” he said quietly.
Shinsou just chuckled and clasped him on the shoulder. “You didn’t have to get me this job. But thank you.”
“I’m just looking out for you. I hate seeing someone go through that kind of crap. You deserve better,” Todoroki grimly noted.
“Thanks. I’ll be fine,” Shinsou reassured. “I don’t deserve a friend like you.”
“Shut it,” Todoroki smiled. “Anything you need, I’m here.”
The two men exchanged a brief hug before parting ways. Not going unnoticed by Sero who watched from afar at the elevators.
“Shinsou Hitoshi…didn’t think I’d see you again.”
Denki and I be the same: nervous wrecks in front of pretty people
pairing: sero hanta x fem! reader (appearance of midoriya x todoroki)
warning: language!
word count: 1,600
a/n: fic and taglist continue below!! <33
“I think you’re missing the point here…”
“I’m not, you’re just not getting me. If we do this, it’ll be overwhelming for not only us but the branches as well, ” Todoroki sighed, rubbing his temple.
“Sir, it would be beneficial. As you can see here in this chart, Musutafu and Ibaraki are the highest performing branches for the last 2 years.”
“And we could expand the area covered and save costs. Relocating the staff will be easy considering Ishihara is retiring and Murasaki is near the end of her contract.”
“I’ll think about it. Please leave my office now,” he sternly directed, pointing to the door. Once the door closed behind the last person, Todoroki leaned back into his chair, staring at the beige tiled ceiling.
Being the CEO of an office supplies company was easy with competent employees but when it came down to technicalities, it always got muddled. He was the youngest company owner in the area compared to the other major companies.
While this could be seen as a perk, he wasn’t always taken seriously at the major meet-ups. For a 20-year-old to be at the table full of old “wise” men, what could he possibly offer to the table? He graduated at the top of his class, traveled the world to study under successful mentors, all in preparation to take over the family company…
Yet he still felt incomplete coming home, seeking a different chase. Todoroki knew that starting his own company was a big middle finger to his family, especially his father, Enji Todoroki, the CEO of the largest shipping company, Endeavor Co.
But there was no turning back now, especially when he was already cast out of his family house the day he announced his decision.
“No son of mine will stay under this roof if he chooses to disrespect his father so blatantly. You are not welcomed here no more, even if you bleed on these steps.”
Todoroki heard a gentle knock at the door, disrupting his thoughts. “Come on in,” he called out. A figure slipped through and he stood up quickly at seeing Midoriya standing there. “Oh, I wasn’t expecting you.”
“Partially my fault. I called your secretary an hour ago that I would be stopping by but you were in a meeting so she didn’t tell you,” he shrugged, smiling at Todoroki gently. “I assume it was about the…you know.”
“I’m conflicted with disrupting the harmony,” Todoroki grimaced, looking down at the various papers on his desk. Charts, numbers, and proposals scattered like leaves in the wind, yet none made any sense at the moment.
“Well, I came to drop off the monthly evaluations but I wanted to stop by and see how you’re doing,” Midoriya quietly said. This made Todoroki smile. “Besides, I didn’t catch you the last time you came to us.”
“Well I’m sorry you came in at such a bad time…”
He was quick to wave a hand. “It’s understandable. I know how much you have to get done,” Midoriya sympathized.
“How about you stay for dinner? I get off in 45 minutes,” the CEO offered, eyes twinkled with hope. How could Midoriya say no?
“Sure. Let me help you out with these real quick…”
━━━━━━━°❀•°: :°•❀°━━━━━━━
The dinner was just as he expected. The restaurant was supposedly one of the hottest spots in the city, with sights to die for. The rooftop establishment twinkled in soft yellow light, with a jazz band at the stage.
Midoriya nervously fiddled with his cloth napkin, glancing down at his shaky hands instead of the young CEO in front of him. “Should we go somewhere else? I know these places are a bit intimidating,” Todoroki frowned.
“No! It’s a lovely place. I’m just nervous about…” Midoriya began before suddenly pausing. He bit back the words he wanted to say. Tonight should be about Todoroki. It’ll be rude of you to jump in with your feelings now.
“Nervous about?” Todoroki asked, urging Midoriya to continue. He just simply shook his head and gave him a smile.
“Nothing. Let’s look at the menu shall we?” Midoriya gestured, taking one menu for himself. Todoroki wanted to ask but he decided to drop the topic, not wanting to make it any more uncomfortable.
After a few minutes of perusing the menu, the two of them placed their orders before resuming to silence. It was Midoriya who started speaking once more.
“So how has it been going for you? I heard the recent shareholder’s meeting went well,” he mentioned, sipping at his water.
Todoroki had a smile of relief at the question, his shoulder’s losing its tensed curve. “Thankfully, our performance this year was beyond expectations. Your branch and the Ibaraki branch have exceeded the quota,” he rattled off, swirling his drink absentmindedly.
Midoriya nodded, watching the young man carefully. “And how are you? Without all the work and all,” he asked.
He chuckled and leaned forward toward Midoriya. “I’m better now that you’re here,” he said quietly, eyes mirthful.
Midoriya flushed and turned away quickly from his stare. “That was a low move, Todoroki,” he mumbled.
“I’m sorry. I couldn’t help it, not when the person I like is right across from me.”
At that, Midoriya felt his stomach drop. He looked back at Todoroki and saw nothing but pure adoration, a gaze he wished wasn’t directed towards him.
“Excuse me, sirs, I have your food ready,” the waitress stated, plates ready in her hands. The two of them thanked her quietly and tucked into the food.
Being the person of affection of Todoroki Shouto was definitely a blessing. Fancy dinners, weekend getaways, gifts to no end in sight…Yet Midoriya Izuku was the one person who did not seem to be charmed by this.
Todoroki watched him carefully, poking at the food on his plate. He has asked him to dates with all of them ending with….
“I’m sorry. I don’t think I can date you.”
“It’s not that I don’t like you. Cause you’re a great guy. I just don’t see myself being a part of your life like this,”
The moment Midoriya said that to him, he felt more confused than ever. He was sure of his feelings but the night he sent him home, Todoroki pondered for hours over that last thought.
“Is it not good?” Midoriya asked, bringing Todoroki back from his musing.
“It’s good. I guess I’m not that hungry,” he shrugged.
“Oh. Then I’ll get us a box?” Midoriya offered, smiling. Todoroki just smiled back.
“That would be great.”
━━━━━━━°❀•°: :°•❀°━━━━━━━
“Thanks for dinner again. Next time you come to Musutafu, it’ll be my treat!” Midoriya promised, walking beside him. Todoroki nodded wordlessly.
“I should be coming next month to follow up with the new client,” he said.
The two of them come to a stop in front of their respective cars. Midoriya noticed that Todoroki seemed antsy as if he wanted to say something. “Is there something you needed?”
The other man took a deep breath, his exhale a fog in the crisp night air. “Is there any chance that I could change your mind, Izuku?” he asked after a moment of silence.
Midoriya looked up in surprise at the use of his first name. What he saw almost took his breath away. Standing before him was a young man of vigor and unwavering attention. Eyes like two different gemstones glowed in the dim parking lot.
He’s beautiful. Almost intimidatingly beautiful.
“What is there to change my mind about?” Midoriya asked, looking back. His palms felt sweatier now then during their meal.
“I like you. I still do.”
He gave a resigned sigh, leaning against the trunk of his car. Todoroki stood his ground firmly. “As much as I enjoy our time together, I want to know how you feel about me. I’ve been honest this whole time and I feel that I deserve a clear answer…” Todoroki explained.
“I don’t know.”
This time it was Todoroki’s turn to be shocked. “What do you mean?”
“I need more time, Shouto. You are dear to me, that is true. There is much I want to say but I don’t know the words to express them,” Midoriya voiced.
Todoroki gently approached him, a hand hovering Midoriya’s clasped one’s. “You don’t need to think. Just say it,” he quietly urged.
“Please give me more time,” Midoriya declared, his tone sharp. This made Todoroki take a step back. “You may be sure of yourself and how you feel. But I can’t just make a decision so soon. There is so much at stake, I need time.”
“Of course…I’m sorry,” he mumbled, eyes downcast. The sight made Midoriya’s heart clench.
“I didn’t want to be mean, I’m sorry for lashing out,” he apologized, taking a step towards Todoroki. He took a deep breath. “It’s just that…I cherish you. So much. But I can’t return the feelings you feel…at the moment.”
“I understand, Izuku,” Todoroki nodded. Despite saying that, he still felt lost. “I’ll make sure to give you the space you need.”
“I don’t want us to be strangers. You are an important person in my life,” Midoriya noted, smiling gently at him. “We were friends first. And I still want to be around you…even if I can’t return these feelings right now.”
“Are you saying I still have a chance?” Todoroki teased, smiling back as well. Midoriya simply pushed him away, yet the smile he had on his face didn’t go away.
“Try asking me again later. Maybe something will change,” he shrugged.
The weekends are the time to relax and get away from the typical week day shenanigans. Sero usually went to the gym and then lazed around for the rest of time, catching up on shows or hanging out with friends if plans were made.
However, this weekend was his weekend. No friends, family, or outsiders. Just a nice time to smoke and listen to music.
This was his wind-down routine since college and it works. The pressures at the office with the potential client was weighing heavy, then the talks of maybe expanding the sales department was also up there.
So he decided to cancel his outings, lock the doors, and chill. A lazy exhale released a plume of smoke from his lips, head hung on the back of his couch.
Music was softly playing on his record player by the window as the hazy afternoon hits 5PM. Before he could truly escape it all, he heard a familiar ring-tone, the one he set specifically for you.
He sighed and sat up, grabbing the phone. “Hello?” he answered, taking another puff of his joint.
“Hey, I wondering if you were doing anything tonight,” your voice filtered through. He heard the sound of your shopping cart, knowing that you were probably on your weekly grocery trip.
“Hmm, no not really. It’s a self-care day as you call it,” he chuckled.
You blushed hearing his throaty voice, clutching the phone tightly. The other shoppers must’ve thought you were crazy or something. “Well, my work wives hangout was cancelled because Mina had a date. And I have this cheese and wine with me so I need someone to help me finish it.”
The weekends are the time to relax and get away from the typical week day shenanigans. Sero usually went to the gym and then lazed around for the rest of time, catching up on shows or hanging out with friends if plans were made.
However, this weekend was his weekend. No friends, family, or outsiders. Just a nice time to smoke and listen to music.
This was his wind-down routine since college and it works. The pressures at the office with the potential client was weighing heavy, then the talks of maybe expanding the sales department was also up there.
So he decided to cancel his outings, lock the doors, and chill. A lazy exhale released a plume of smoke from his lips, head hung on the back of his couch.
Music was softly playing on his record player by the window as the hazy afternoon hits 5PM. Before he could truly escape it all, he heard a familiar ring-tone, the one he set specifically for you.
He sighed and sat up, grabbing the phone. “Hello?” he answered, taking another puff of his joint.
“Hey, I wondering if you were doing anything tonight,” your voice filtered through. He heard the sound of your shopping cart, knowing that you were probably on your weekly grocery trip.
“Hmm, no not really. It’s a self-care day as you call it,” he chuckled.
You blushed hearing his throaty voice, clutching the phone tightly. The other shoppers must’ve thought you were crazy or something. “Well, my work wives hangout was cancelled because Mina had a date. And I have this cheese and wine with me so I need someone to help me finish it.”
“I don’t like cheese or wine.”
“I know. But your stomach is my garbage chute so yes or no, Sero?” you smiled. No matter how much he protested or tried to reason with you, the answer will always be the same.
“Fine. I’m toasted right now so you’ll need to come here.”
“No problem! I’ll pick up some of your favorites before coming over,” you said. You hung up and walked briskly down the aisle. It’s normal to look forward to seeing your co-worker, right?
━━━━━━━°❀•°: :°•❀°━━━━━━━
Sero heard the expected knock at his door and reluctantly stood up to answer it. He opened it to see your frame in view, holding a basket of what he assumed to be the assortment of cheeses and fruits and in your other hand, a bottle of wine.
He gestured for you to come inside, helping you with the stuff. “Geez, just how much shit is in this basket?” he huffed, eyeing the offending item.
“It’s barely anything, quit complaining!” you scolded. He rolled his eyes but smiled nonetheless.
As the two of you settled down, he watched you assemble the set-up. You walked around the apartment with such familiarity that his heart felt a tug. He chalked it up to his drug-addled mind but knew better.
This wasn’t the first time you came over, probably too many times to count. Sero had a policy that his door is always open if the moment was dire. Meaning drunken nights out, new shows to binge, food to share, or vulnerable chats were all valid reasons to come over.
As you grabbed the wine glasses and plates, familiar with the layout, he quietly observed you through it all.
He hated that you always came over when he needed time alone. He despised that you were over enough times to know where he kept his cutlery and dishes, which glass to use for everyday, and that no matter what you did, he’ll still welcome you in.
You plopped down next to him, handing him a glass. “Here you go. Pour yourself a generous amount, it was only $5,” you said, getting comfortable.
He hummed in response and did as you told. He’s too high to object anyways.
“Are you…high?” you asked, sniffing the air.
“Yeah. I was smoking when you called,” he explained, wafting the glass. “You know I smoke on Saturdays.”
“I know, it’s just you normally don’t start so early,” you noted, eyes watching him warily as he took a sip. You held back a snort as he grimaced at the taste. “What? Too cheap for you?”
“No, it’s really acidic. Kinda gross,” he said, putting down the glass gingerly. “I have a bottle of Riesling on the shelf, hand me it.” You spotted the bottle and went to grab it.
“I thought you didn’t like wine,” you muttered, pouring some in your glass and switching it with his.
“I only keep it for cooking. Otherwise, no wine for me,” he clarified.
As you settled back into the couch, he immediately swung an arm behind you, gripping the back of the couch. It didn’t surprise you as this was the assumed position whenever you came over.
He slowly sipped his wine, savoring the taste while you helped yourself to the cheese. “So, who was Mina seeing today?” Sero asked after a moment of silence.
“Oh some guy Denki’s friends with. He was okay in the pictures but I’ll wait for the texts later for his personality,” you replied, mouth full.
“Knowing Denki’s crowd, he must be another musician,” Sero said thoughtfully, staring wistfully at the wall behind you.
“Aren’t you in his crowd? You two were roommates at one point right?” you pointed out.
“Yeah but I didn’t really play anything,” he mumbled. Sero placed his empty glass onto the table and turned to face you.
“Then how do you qualify to run in his crowd?” you teased.
“I sang.”
This made you pause. You looked at him, making sure that he wasn’t too far gone and was trolling you. While there still was a haze in his eyes, Sero looked serious.
“If you’re not lying then sing for me.”
He laughed, throwing his head back to do so. Your eyes trailed over the skin, noting mentally how a thin sheen of sweat was covering it. “That’s a special privilege that no one gets to witness,” he smirked, cocking his head at you.
You pouted, flicking a stray crumb at him. “Am I not special enough to count?” you asked, attempting to persuade him.
Sero took a careful look at you, sending shivers up your arms. You should be used to it. There’s been many nights where you have been a witness to his drunken or high antics. And one thing you notice in all those times where how intensely he looks at a person, eyes steely and intimidating.
You didn’t think of him as scary or mean. But you’ve seen glimpses of where he was at those stages, wondering what would happen if you were at the end of that gaze. This is the closest you’ve gotten.
“You are special. You know that. I don’t just say yes to any girl to disrupt my weekends,” he said quietly, eyes searching your own.
You wanted to punch him and tell him “Of course! I’m the only girl in your life” but that would be a lie. You know you’re not the only girl yet that shouldn’t upset you. Right?
“Are you insinuating you’ve had other girls here for wine and cheese?” you nervously laughed, avoiding his gaze. Sero sighed and leaned onto the couch.
“I don’t. And I’m not joking either.”
“What’s gotten into you? Is high you always this serious?” you asked, raising on eyebrow at him.
Sero looked away this time, leaving a lingering disappointment in your chest. “Maybe I’m tired.”
His statement made you feel a bit of guilt. “Sorry, should I go?”
“You had wine. You can stay over tonight. I’ll grab the spare bedding,” he sighed, reaching over to grab an orange slice.
Silence settled over the two of you once more. You knew it was best not to push him so you settled into his side, sipping your wine contently.
All that was heard was the music playing and city noise.
━━━━━━━°❀•°: :°•❀°━━━━━━━
You woke up with a groan, feeling the impending hangover sink in. You only have half a bottle last night but the effects were still the same.
After the wine was drunk and the food eaten, Sero pulled out his spare blanket and pillows for you. The two of you stumbled around as you both cleaned up, the wine’s effects sinking in.
Both of you promptly went to bed around 10PM, too drunk and tired to stay up. Which was probably why you were awake at 8AM right now.
You winced at the light pouring in from the window, hiding under the blanket. Soft footsteps puttered around while you hid underneath. They stopped right next to you and suddenly your safe haven was disrupted by light once more.
“Gah!” you scowled, cowering before Sero’s towering figure.
“Good morning to you too. I’m going for a jog so you need to clean up and get going,” he said, holding out an arm for you.
“Ew, you jog with a hangover?” you asked, taking the arm gratefully. He hoisted you up with ease, steadying your swaying frame.
“I’m not that hungover. I didn’t drink as much as you, that’s why. Breakfast is on the counter so help yourself. Leave whenever you’re ready, “ he pointed, before walking to the door.
You waved sluggishly at his leaving frame. Once you heard the door click shut, you trudged your way to the bathroom.
And just like routine, you found the spare toothbrush he kept for you and began to freshen up. Once you were done, you began to eat. As you dug into your breakfast, you checked your phone.
Scrolling through some messages, you noticed that you had sent a couple of photos to the Work Wives groupchat.
━━━━━━━°❀•°: :°•❀°━━━━━━━
“Your usual, sir?” the barista asked as Sero walked up to the counter.
“Yeah, thanks,” he nodded, handing the money before going taking a seat nearby.
The park nearby his place was the perfect jogging route. It was a good 30 minute route if he was going at a moderate pace, with the finish line being a quaint coffee shop that serves the best maple scones.
He looks down at his phone, wondering if you had left a message while he was gone.
I locked the door and left the spare key at the usual place. See you Monday! - (y/n)
Thanks, I’ll see you then - Sero
“Order for Sero?”
He looked up and saw his drink finished. “Thanks,” he smiled at the barista.
“Oh it’s no problem!” she blushed, staring up at him. “Um, I’ve seen you around for a while…do you live around here?”
He paused mid-sip, looking at her. He’s familiar with faces, a perk he needs as a salesman, and he could definitely say this barista was a regular face. And coincidentally enough, she always made his drink.
“I live in those apartments over there,” he answered, gesturing to his building at the edge of the park. “And you happen to always be on the Sunday morning shift?”
She smiled at that. “Yeah! This is just a part time job though. I’m finishing up a thesis for my doctorate right now.”
“Oh? So you’re a smart cookie then,” he joked. The two of them laughed before she suddenly handed him a slip of paper.
“My number! I mean…that’s if you want it,” she stuttered, face red as a tomato.
Sero folded the paper neatly and pushed it into his pocket. “I’ll think about it,” he smiled before turning to leave. The barista waved goodbye and watched him leave.
As he walked home, Sero thought back to the girl. He was never too bad with dating, in fact, he could charm a date pretty easily with his wittiness. And it’s been too long since he’s gone out with someone so what could hurt?
Just as he was about to add her number to his contacts, his thoughts wandered back to a certain receptionist. “She would be happy for me…” he sighed.
He left the park and sitting in the trashcan was an empty coffee cup with the slip of paper neatly tucked inside.
Dang, Sero got moves ahaha pls put tht salesman charm to use on me jk
“Ew don’t pick your cuticles with the coffee stirrers,” you scolded, slapping the offending item from Sero’s hands.
“What? They were bothering me,” he defended, rubbing his hand. You rolled your eyes at his childish antics.
“If they were bothering you, then come with me to the nail salon next week,” you sighed, biting into a carrot.
Right now, it was 12:15, which meant lunch break. The rest of the office takes their lunch in the break room but you and Sero had a special spot.
It was on the 13th floor, just 2 floors below the top of the building. It was empty and was sometimes rented out for conferences. Despite it not being in use, there were chairs and tables left behind. The glass surrounding the entire floor displayed the city below, a sight to behold. Especially at night.
“Nah, I can just ask Bakugo for that nail kit of his. The one he keeps at his desk?” Sero said, snagging a chip from your lunch.
“I doubt you’ll be able to do it on your own,” you scoffed. Seeing that Sero took a chip, you grabbed a pretzel from his.
“Ew don’t pick your cuticles with the coffee stirrers,” you scolded, slapping the offending item from Sero’s hands.
“What? They were bothering me,” he defended, rubbing his hand. You rolled your eyes at his childish antics.
“If they were bothering you, then come with me to the nail salon next week,” you sighed, biting into a carrot.
Right now, it was 12:15, which meant lunch break. The rest of the office takes their lunch in the break room but you and Sero had a special spot.
It was on the 13th floor, just 2 floors below the top of the building. It was empty and was sometimes rented out for conferences. Despite it not being in use, there were chairs and tables left behind. The glass surrounding the entire floor displayed the city below, a sight to behold. Especially at night.
“Nah, I can just ask Bakugo for that nail kit of his. The one he keeps at his desk?” Sero said, snagging a chip from your lunch.
“I doubt you’ll be able to do it on your own,” you scoffed. Seeing that Sero took a chip, you grabbed a pretzel from his.
“I never told anyone this but…I used to work as a nail technician. So sweetie, I think I know my way around nails,” Sero pointed out. You stopped and looked at him.
“…”
“…”
“Don’t fuck with me, Hanta.”
“I would never, ow!” he yelped, laughing as you playfully pinched his arm. “Ok I wasn’t a nail technician but I do trim my own nails quite well.”
“Huh, never noticed.” At that moment, you heard Sero’s phone go off, to which he gave you an apologetic look.
“Sorry, it’s a work call,” he said, getting up. “You can take the rest of my lunch.”
“Oh! Ok…” you nodded, watching him head for the elevators. “I’ll talk to you later?”
He smiled and gave you a thumbs up before turning his attention back to his phone, talking animatedly at what you assumed to be a client.
You glanced down at the food but yet…you’re not that hungry anymore.
━━━━━━━°❀•°: :°•❀°━━━━━━━
“Might Papers Musutafu HR, Midoriya speaking.”
HR was nestled close towards the back of the office, filled with filing cabinets, a copier, and a handful of desks. 3 of them were occupied by the HR/Customer Team. One of them being Midoriya Izuku.
“Midoriya, it’s me, Iida.”
“Oh hey. Did Bakugo do something again?” Midoriya sighed.
Iida chuckled. “If he did, you wouldn’t have gotten a call from me. It’s about Todoroki…”
Midoriya stiffened. “Oh, is he still dropping off gifts? I told him not to do that anymore,” he sputtered.
“Well, he dropped off a new tie for you last week but other than that, he’s been calling me, wondering if you’ve been getting the gifts.”
“Thank you for holding onto them but you’re right. I should meet up with him and talk.”
Iida hummed in thought. “Well, if you want to meet up with him, Todoroki is supposed to stop by our office for a quarterly meeting.”
“Oh great! I’ll uh, I’ll ask him then,” Midoriya answered.
As the phone call concluded, he collapsed onto his desk. “If you don’t get honest with him, he’ll never know how you feel,” a voice piped.
He heard the roller chair and turned to look at Mina Ashido, the branch’s customer relation.
“Exactly! Communication is supposed to be our expertise! So use it!” another voice spoke. To his right, another rolling chair emerged. In its seat was Ochako Uraraka, customer service.
“Thats easy to say,” Midoriya groaned. “He’s not the easiest guy to get a point across.”
Mina and Ochako both nodded sympathetically. “I mean you’ve been on like a couple dates right? He really likes you, Izuku,” Ochako noted, patting his back. “Just talk to him. I’m sure he’ll understand.”
Midoriya just sighed once more before turning back to his work.
━━━━━━━°❀•°: :°•❀°━━━━━━━
“(y/n), is the printer ready yet?” Denki cautiously asked, peering down at you.
“No, I’ll tell you when it’s ready,” you said through gritted teeth. You flipped through the manual with vigor, eyes scouring each page intensely. Sensing the anger rolling off of you, Denki backed away.
“Ahaha, I guess I’ll just let Iida know that these invoices will be on hold,” he smiled warily before running off.
You groaned and slumped against the machine. It shouldn’t be too hard since this isn’t the first printer you’ve took apart to fix. Before this one, it was this dingy EPSON WF-7840. It was slow and didn’t have all the amenities the office needed.
With some convincing and a hefty luncheon, the office convinced Iida to put in a request form for a new office printer. One that could staple, hole-punch, and stack.
And the beauty arrived 3 weeks later, a hulking WF-C21000. It was a giant compared to the WF-7840 and a daunting task to take on to assemble. Being the receptionist, managing office supplies kind of fell under your duties.
Sure you enjoyed finding the best pens for the office, ones that didn’t bleed through the papers and had a smooth flow of ink, or waking up early on a Thursday to go bargain hunting for staples and manila folders.
But assembling the new printer was definitely not a highlight of your career. “Need any help?” someone asked.
You looked up and saw Bakugo standing there. You were a bit shocked to hear the office grump offer help that he took your silence as a yes.
He bent down and took the manual from your hands. “Let me see it.”
You bit back a grin, savoring the rare bonding moment Bakugo was initiating. “What’s this?” he asked, holding up the ink cartridges.
“The ink. I found the spot where to put them in but I couldn’t really get them to fit,” you explained, pointing to the section.
“Maybe you’re putting it in the wrong way,” he mumbled.
“That’s what she said.”
“…”
“Sorry, Sero’s rubbing off on me,” you nervously laughed, holding up your hands as a gesture of peace. Bakugo glared but didn’t say anything else.
He fiddled with the ink while you looked back the manual, hoping that maybe it’ll make more sense the 5th time around.
“Got it, you didn’t take out the plastic lining here,” he grunted, showing you the problem. “It was a sneaky piece of shit.”
“Oh! Thank you so much, Bakugo!” you smiled. He blushed and got up abruptly.
“A kid could’ve figured that shit out. Maybe you’re just stupid,” he huffed, walking away quickly.
Disregarding his insult, you just hummed happily as you continued to assemble the printer, glad that at least one part is done.
━━━━━━━°❀•°: :°•❀°━━━━━━━
Midoriya stood pensively in front of the coffee machine, rubbing his chin in thought. He heard the door open and turned to see you walking in.
“Hey, how’s it going?” you greeted, holding your own mug in your hand. “Getting a lil’ pick-me-up?”
“Yeah, just a few more hours left for the work day but I’ve been a bit tired, you feel?” he answered.
“Is it because of Mr. Todoroki?” you hesitantly asked, having a pitiful smile aimed towards him.
He chuckled and shrugged. “Part of it, yeah…I’m just not sure what to do exactly. I’m thinking about talking to him the next time he comes over.”
You hummed. It was odd enough that Todoroki was pursuing Midoriya when he could’ve gotten…well anyone. He was a successful CEO with millions of dollars to his name. He was the youngest son of one the wealthiest families alive yet he decided to leave and pursue his own line of business.
You could remember the day he came in and stopped in his tracks, eyes zeroed in on Midoriya who was standing at your desk, oblivious to the staring.
And immediately, Todoroki straightened up and walked right towards him, a charming smile on his face as he introduced himself. Midoriya shook his hand and then it was history.
“Just be honest. I’m sure you’ve been hearing that advice all day,” you offered, smiling sympathetically. He nodded, smiling back.
“Yeah. I know he’ll listen but I don’t want to hurt him, you know? I’m not the guy meant for the life he’s offering,” he said.
“Well, if you have any unwanted gifts, you could always donate to your work wives~” you teased, bumping his shoulder gently. The both of you laughed.
“Thanks, (y/n). I could always count on you to make me feel better,” he thanked, pouring coffee into your mug.
“Hey! I’m always coming to you too, so it’s an equal exchange,” you pointed, gesturing between the two of you. “You and the work wives always listen to me talk about the stupidest things.”
“So I’m assuming he is a stupid thing?” Midoriya asked, an eyebrow raised. You gasped, slapping his arm.
“Don’t you dare!” you scolded. “That was a work wife secret, you’re not allowed to discuss it during work.”
He grinned mischievously. “Don’t worry, I’m a good work husband,” he assured. He grabbed his mug and headed back to his office. “Oh, but his tie did make him look dorky.”
“You…!” Before you could say anything, Midoriya was already gone. You sighed, turning back to your coffee.
“Oh fuck, it’s cold now.”
Aww Bakugo maybe he’s secretly the office’s sweetheart and not the grump <//3
a/n: ahhh chapter one is here! i hope yall enjoy it :3 fic and taglist continues beneath the cut <3
A typical office day starts around 9AM. Usually one would come in 20 minutes early for a good parking spot before heading up the building.
Then they would press the floor button at the elevator and take the daily commute upwards. The jazzy elevator music fills the container, either you like it or not.
When one reaches their floor, bodies file out and head to their designated offices. Today will be a pit stop at the Musutafu branch of Might Papers, your local office and paper supplier in the area.
It’s located right on the 10th floor, to the right of the elevator. Its doors are frosted glass with MIGHT PAPERS embossed on the front in black.
The office always smells like fresh linen, thanks to the receptionist’s personal air freshener. Each department was settled in each respective corner of the office, with about 2-3 persons in each one.
Towards the back would be a communal kitchen adorned with a sick, fridge, and microwave. Even further back would be the break room where gossip is shared in hushed whispers.
And seated there at the moment is a lone salesman, enjoying a cup of what seems like coffee. He breathes in the aroma, savoring the quietness before he goes back to work. Yet someone breaks the silence.
I missed making fake texts so I just had to do one for my loml ♡ and if I were to have a pet, I’d give them a realistic name so it would confuse the hell out of ppl
Conference meetings are either a bore or the highlight of the day. Sometimes, if the office was lucky, the meeting ends up running late, so no one has to do actual work for the remainder of the day. While that could potentially be a setback any opportunity to escape the dreadful computers for a couple of hours is worth it in the long run in the long run.
On that note, you mentally reminded yourself to look into a new chair since the current one you had was no longer any good. It was initially Iida’s old one, and he got the brand, spanking new one (you know, the one that can go up and down with a woosh and outstanding lumbar support).
Sero joked that you should invest in gamer chairs for the rest of the office since A. you all spend time in front of the computer (like gamers do) and B. those chairs “supposedly” could work for office employees as well.
You couldn’t believe that you were bookmarking some decent ones while on the search for new chairs—Damn, Sero for having such influence over you.
“Alright, everyone, simmer down,” Iida announced, walking into the room. The rest of your co-workers begin to hush down, paying attention to what your boss had to say. “We have some news to go over, and I don’t want to take any more time from work, so let’s just get through this without any unnecessary interruptions, okay?”
Sero, who sat beside you, raised his hand. Iida sighed, visibly sunken, and nodded. “It’s not an interruption because I have a client call in an hour,” he said, smiling brightly. You couldn’t help rolling your eyes since you knew he did have a client call; he just likes to keep Iida on his toes.
“Oh, of course. I’ll have (y/n) keep check of time,” Iida sighed in relief. He made eye contact with you, a signal that it’s now your job to make sure Sero gets that call. “Now, let’s get started.”
As Iida lectured, your mind slipped off to little thoughts like “what will you cook for dinner tonight?” or “did you remember to turn off the stove this morning?” to “if this meeting ends on time, I’ll be able to snatch that new coffee grinder that will be a great addition to the office.”
Just as you were about to think further on the coffee grinder, you felt a nudge. You turned to look at Sero, who was still facing Iida, yet you knew that he too wasn’t thinking about effectively using Excel for time management. “What?” you whispered.
He opened up his hand resting on the armrest between you two, and in his palms was a piece of your favorite candy. You smiled and took it, feeling a bit more present as you savored it.
“Psst, can I get some of that? Or whatever y’all are eating?” Denki hissed from across you, leaning forward. Sero glanced at Iida, making sure his back was turned to the room, and tossed a piece to him. “Thank you,” he mouthed, plopping it into his mouth quickly.
Shinsou, who sat next to Denki, watched the exchange with disinterest before turning to whisper something to him, to which Sero physically tensed up. Yet another reaction you mentally note.
You watched his face, observing how his furrowed eyes kept a laser focus on Shinsou from across the room, who didn’t even mind the gaze. Denki snickered at whatever he whispered, to which Iida scolded him,
“Is something wrong?” you whispered to him. Shaking his head, Sero tried to reassure you by smiling but you saw right through it.
“Yup, everything is peachy,” he stated, turning back to the front. Your gut feeling wanted you to pry further but you stopped yourself.
So you also turned your focus back to the presentation, mind wandering back elsewhere.
━━━━━━━°❀•°: :°•❀°━━━━━━━
“We have a deal? Thank you so much, sir. I promise you won’t regret doing business with us,” Sero spoke to the phone. “Of course, I look forward to working with you.”
He sighed in relief as he hung up the phone, mentally punching the air in victory. Another client in the bag! While he wasn’t too keen on constantly garnering sales like a certain blonde, sometimes he’ll put in the effort for that sweet paycheck.
Hearing the ding of the elevator made him turn around. Just before he could ask who it was, out stepped Shinsou, who looked equally surprised as to how he felt inside.
“I didn’t think anyone else goes on this floor,” Shinsou stated, blankly looking at him.
“Yeah, neither did I,” Sero replied, hands gripping his phone tightly.
The two men stood, facing one another as if it was a showdown. “How have you been?” Shinsou asked after some time. Sero raised an eyebrow at the question. “Please, can’t we just be civil for once?”
He scoffed at him, crossing his arms. “That’s surprising coming from you. I was the one that overlooked what you did for so long. I shouldn’t have been so stupid to believe in you,” Sero grimaced.
Shinsou took a step forward, eyes swirling like a violent storm. “I did what I had to do. But things are different now. If you had given me the chance to explain…”
“What chance? You pushed me away when I tried to help!” Sero snapped, jabbing a finger at his chest. “We were supposed to have each other’s backs.”
Shinsou looked away. Sero stopped himself, seeing that Shinsou was no longer putting up a fight. He backed away, putting more space between the two of them. “I’m sorry,” Shinsou quietly said. At this, he whipped his head back to him.
“I know what I did was wrong. And I know you tried to help. I was just a cocky, dumb 20-year old,” he explained. “And you’re right, I pushed you away but it’s only because I knew that if you got involved, it wouldn’t have been right.”
Sero hummed in thought. “I’m just surprised that you managed to get clean off of it,” he pointed out. To that, Shinsou wryly chuckled.
“It wasn’t easy but I had some help. Which is why I left sometime after you did,” he sighed. “Can’t we let bygones be bygones?”
Sero stepped toward him, clasping a hand on his shoulder. “I can’t forget about what you did. And I hope you understand why…That also means I can’t trust you just yet,” he said. “But I will stand down. If Todoroki believes in you, I have no choice to but trust his decision in this company.”
“He took a chance on me. Why can’t you?” Shinsou challenged. Sero backed away and walked back to the elevator.
He pressed the down button, looking down at his feet. With Shinsou’s words ringing around in his head, he sighed and turned around. “I already took that chance, Shinsou.” With that, he stepped into the elevator and closed the doors.
Shinsou watched the doors shut and was left to his thoughts. It wasn’t entirely his fault for the past. He’s learned his mistakes…he’s better now. Shinsou stepped towards the edge of the room, looking out of the windows.
At that moment, he felt like he was 20 something all over again. Lost and confused.
━━━━━━━°❀•°: :°•❀°━━━━━━━
When you came back from lunch, you saw a note left on your computer monitor. You recognized the drawl that was on the sticky note belonging to a shaggy-haired salesman.
Let’s go gamer chair shopping. I’ll drive.
You snorted as you read it, looking towards the author of the note. Coincidently, he was already looking at you, meeting your eyes. You just rolled your eyes and smiled, a gesture that confirmed your answer.
He smiled back and returned to his work. You sat down at your computer, feeling motivated to get back to work. You heard a light tapping on the counter and looked up to see Denki. He shyly met your eyes and motioned towards the break room.
Wordlessly, you agreed to meet back there, holding up a hand, an indication you will meet there in 5 minutes. He brightly nodded and walked back to his desk.
Just as you promised, 5 minutes later you found yourself sitting in the break room with Denki, both pretending to have a snack (Note that it is now forbidden to eat at the desks since Iida was tired of seeing crumbs which is not your fault!). “So why did you call me back here?” you asked, scooping some granola onto your spoon.
“I need your advice on something and since you’re like the second most rational person,”
“Hey!”
“Don’t disrupt me. Just hear me out, “ Denki continued. You rolled your eyes but indicated for him to continue. “So it’s about Shinsou.”
This you perked up at. It’s obvious that the two of them have taken a liking towards one another, the whole office was talking about it! Well, everyone but Sero is talking about them. While Shinsou was easygoing, he seemed to have only opened to Denki.
“You sly dog, making the first move paid off, huh?” you teased. He flushed and waved a hand at your comment. “So what do you need from me? Cover-ups? I know when Iida takes his daily 15 minutes bathroom break, which mind you, is an excessive time considering that guy is so anal about wasting company time…”
“Thank you, (y/n), but it is not what I’m coming to you for today. Actually, tell me about this bathroom break story later,” Denki interjected. “Shinsou and I are just friends right now. Going at it slow since he doesn’t seem like the type to date someone after a month of knowing them.”
You nodded in agreement. Now that you think about it, Shinsou has only shared surface-level information with the office and barely any secrets or deep facts. Considering that half of the office is a nosy gossip group, you couldn’t blame him for being elusive that way.
“So he hasn’t shared anything beyond like the weather, coffee?” you asked.
“I mean I know about his family, his love for cats, but remember what happened during the meeting?” he explained. “Sero was like gazing daggers at us so I asked Shinsou if he did anything to him.”
“And? I know they have some sort of history,” you noted. Denki shook his head.
“He didn’t say anything besides that Sero and him do go way back. But he’s not interested in digging all of that up.” The two of you pondered for a bit, letting the information sink in. “I was hoping you would know why Sero is so iffy with him.”
“I wish I had an answer but I don’t. This is probably the only thing I don’t know about him,” you sighed. Sero is your best friend and there is nothing of the sort that you have yet to share with him (sort of). He wasn’t a closed book either and you did respect his privacy when it came to certain topics.
But the day Shinsou came, Sero did put a bit of distance between the two of you. He opted for client meetings during your lunches, leaving you to budge into Midoriya’s table. And if you ever had an inkling to ask about Shinsou, he would find an excuse to leave. So you’ve been walking on eggshells and the fact that Sero offered to go shopping with you was a step.
“Darn,” Denki pouted, leaning back into his chair. “I would pry more with Shinsou but I don’t want him to be uncomfortable any more than he already is. I guess we’ll have to be patient or whatever.”
You got up and threw your trash away. “They’ll tell us when they’re ready,” you reassured, patting his shoulder. “And don’t worry yourself. Shinsou likes you, whether it be as a friend or something more, trust me,” you winked.
He snorted and stood up as well. “Thanks for the boost. But even if things don’t exactly work out, at least he’s a decent friend,” Denki shrugged.
━━━━━━━°❀•°: :°•❀°━━━━━━━
Sero hated keeping things from you. Especially if it was something that he knew was going to keep him being present with you. Even as he was walking down the aisles of office chairs, his mind was on the exchange with Shinsou.
“Ooo, what about this one? It is Italian leather, soft cushions, and the lever thingy!” you pointed,
“It’s not the worst one we’ve seen today,” he teased, peering over you to glance at the price tag. When he got a glimpse, he grimaced. “$300 is too much. C’mon, let’s look for better ones.”
You sighed and trudged behind him. Despite being the one who was supposed to be looking for new chairs, Sero was the more active one in this search.
“We’ve been at this for 2 hours. I’m hungry and sleepy,” you whined, hitting him with your purse weakly.
He stopped and took a glance at his watch which you…finally noticed as it was never there before. Sure, he has had a watch before but it was one of those FitBits or just a sports watch that she mainly used for running.
“Hey when did you get that?” you asked, leaning over to take a closer look. It was definitely a lot fancier than what you were used to seeing on him.
“Oh, this? I recently got it as a gift,” he answered, giving you his wrist. You held it closer to your face, examining the details.
“So who gave it to you?” you questioned, handing him back his hand. He shrugged and turned to walk once more. “Um, sir, that was not an answer.”
“Does it matter who it is from?” he countered. Okay, he’s got you there.
“I guess not…” you grumbled, embarrassed that he was right. At the thought of his mysterious gift-giver, you still felt an odd feeling inside. Another puzzle piece.
Well, you don’t really have a right to question as to whom he was getting these gifts from but your heart clenched at the thought of him possibly having someone…Not that you cared though.
“C’mon, let’s write the ones you liked best and I’ll buy dinner,” he offered. You couldn’t turn down a free meal. You sighed and gave him a smile.
a/n: fic and taglist continue below! Also sorry for the late post! The scheduling went iffy :// but enjoy ❤️
The Work Wives is not an exclusive club at all. Well, it’s only open to the women of the office, minus Midoriya, who is the honorary wife. You remembered starting at the office, being a moon-faced newbie with nothing but a new power suit on and a cup of chai in one hand. You were glad that Jirou immediately warmed up to you and took you under her wing.
You eventually grew to know Midoriya, Mina, and Ochako and formed the Work Wives. It originally started as a small hangout to know one another until it grew into a gossip column. Not that you minded the gossiping, you enjoyed it. There’s so much a receptionist can hear from their desk.
And here you are now, having brunch with your “ladies” at Midoriya’s place on a Sunday. The spread he prepared was a decadent array of savory to sweet crepes, fruit salad with a side of creme fraiche, and towers of mini finger sandwiches accompanied with mimosas or earl grey tea.
a/n: fic and taglist continue below! Also sorry for the late post! The scheduling went iffy :// but enjoy ❤️
The Work Wives is not an exclusive club at all. Well, it’s only open to the women of the office, minus Midoriya, who is the honorary wife. You remembered starting at the office, being a moon-faced newbie with nothing but a new power suit on and a cup of chai in one hand. You were glad that Jirou immediately warmed up to you and took you under her wing.
You eventually grew to know Midoriya, Mina, and Ochako and formed the Work Wives. It originally started as a small hangout to know one another until it grew into a gossip column. Not that you minded the gossiping, you enjoyed it. There’s so much a receptionist can hear from their desk.
And here you are now, having brunch with your “ladies” at Midoriya’s place on a Sunday. The spread he prepared was a decadent array of savory to sweet crepes, fruit salad with a side of creme fraiche, and towers of mini finger sandwiches accompanied with mimosas or earl grey tea.
“Wow, you prepared us a tea party instead of a boozy brunch, but I’m into it!” Mina said in awe, drooling at the display of food.
You patted Midoriya’s back in approval, also drooling at sight. “Well done, husband! You have outdone yourself once again.”
“Hehe, thank you, ladies. I am just a mere househusband after all,” he teased, shrugging nonchalantly. He then ushered you and the rest of the party to sit down. “To Work Wives,” he cheered, holding up his flute of champagne.
The rest of you followed suit, clinking glasses together before digging into the plates. As you tucked into the food, the conversation trickled in like water, flowing in and out seamlessly.
“So, wives, I want to hear your opinions on Shinsou,” Ochako said after some time.
“Where to start?” Jirou laughed. “He’s so broody. Like those dark circles add to his emo vibes.”
“I think he’s got secrets under all that hair,” Midoriya added thoughtfully, rubbing his chin pensively. “And considering his work history, I was surprised he would come here instead of corporate.”
The rest of the group nodded in agreement. It was strange to know that Shinsou was such a well-accomplished man who was on the track of such success. The pay he was offered here was a good deal but nothing compared to a corporate salary.
“I also noticed how tense he is at the mention of Sero. Vice versa,” you noted.
“Yes! Like I was grabbing coffee in the breakroom, and Shinsou was in there. We struck up a conversation, you know, and it’s going swell until Sero walks in. And the guy just ups and walks out!” Ochako gasped. “Sero just shrugged at me, but he kept like…glaring? I’m not sure if that’s even possible on his face.”
You snorted at her. “Sero glaring? That’s hard to believe. He most likely was doing that squinty thing, like that look he has when he’s inputting data on the computer? Yeah, that one,” you suggested, imitating the expression.
“No, seriously. He seemed so angry, which I know is rare, but the guy was, whew,” she said, shuddering at the thought. “I never thought I would see the day where Sero has beef with an actual person.”
“He’s so calm and collected. Like he wouldn’t hurt a fly,” Jirou commented.
You continued to sit and listen, pondering in thought. True, Sero rarely gets upset at anyone. Even if the barista got his order wrong, he would simply tell them and wave off the mistake, even though it could make him late to work. And he doesn’t even get road rage at all! The times he’s driven you to buy supplies during rush hour, you have not seen him express an ounce of frustration.
You also knew that your friends would never lie about anything. They were all honest and too trusting to ever try and lie to you. You wanted to deny the idea of Ochako witnessing Sero’s rare look, but you remembered the few encounters of Sero’s and Shinsou’s interactions in the office.
“Listen, if Sero one day just ups and punches the guy, I wouldn’t be surprised,” Mina shrugged.
“He wouldn’t! You know he isn’t like that,” you protested. The party turned to one another and smirked. “What? Why are you all being like that?”
“Of course you would know, (y/n). He is your best friend after all,” Ochako cooed, causing your cheeks to heat up.
As you tried to defend yourself, a phone rang, making the whole group come to a pause. “Oh, it’s Todoroki. Do you guys mind if I take this call?” Midoriya noted, surprise evident on his face.
The group assured him that it was okay after one too many apologies from the HR rep. He took his phone and stepped into another room.
“Man, when will they get together?” Mina sighed, sipping her mimosa. The rest of you all hummed in agreement.
“They would be cute. Like the bubbly, friendly boyfriend with a silent, intimidating partner,” Ochako offered. “The dynamic is perfect. They balance each other out!”
“It’s too bad Midoriya doesn’t want to date him. Like, please, if I got the chance to hop on the CEO train, I’d never look back,” Mina said, leaning back in her chair. “The guy is rich, handsome, and a great listener. The bar has never been any lower.”
You all burst out laughing just as Midoriya had walked back in. “What’s got you gals laughing? It better not be about me,” he warned lightheartedly.
“No, we just agree on how low the standard has been,” Jirou sighed.
“I mean, out of all the guys in the office, there’s only one I’d date,” Mina pointed out.
“Ooh, tell us!” you urged. The mischievous glint in her eye was supposed to be a warning for you, yet you didn’t expect the name that came out of her mouth.
“I’d date Sero,” she proudly answered, turning to the rest of the group. While they all agreed and made comments of approval, you felt your stomach sink for a moment. You tried to play off your silence as pondering in thought but that was to no avail.
“He is the office sweetheart. I totally see it,” Ochako agreed. “Too bad he’s not interested in anyone in the office~”
“I mean I see him with a certain person all the time,” Midoriya commented, nudging you playfully. You rolled your eyes and pouted to yourself.
“(Y/n), you better share with us! Remember our sister wives’ promise?” Jirou laughed, leading the whole group in boisterous cheers.
“Yeah (y/n) don’t be greedy!”
“Spare some of him for the rest of us!”
The laughter simmers down just as the food and drinks have slowly decreased. The afternoon sun lazily shines rays into Midoriya’s living room as the party relocated to the couches. “Well, it’s been lovely but it’s time for me to head home,” you sighed, standing up.
The group exchanges goodbyes and helps clean up. As you put on your coat, Midoriya offers to walk you down to your car. The two of you head down to the parking garage, walking in comfortable silence.
“This is me. Thank you again for hosting brunch. I hope it wasn’t too much,” you said, turning to him. He waved a hand, giving you a smile.
“It wasn’t a big deal. Besides I love hosting you guys. It gives my hoards of dishware a purpose,” he chuckled. “Anyways, drive safe. Text me when you get home.”
“Of course,” you hugged him. “Oh, what was the call about?”
“He just asked me to stop by tomorrow to talk about Shinsou’s performance this past month,” he said. “It’s a routine thing for new employees.”
“Ahh, of course. Nothing else, I presume,” you smirked. He rolled his eyes and shoved you away, making you laugh. “I’m kidding, please.”
“Sure sure. Anyways, about Sero earlier…” he started. You held a hand up to stop him.
“I’m not upset. I mean, I shouldn’t even have the right to be upset anyway,” you shrugged, hoping he would buy your act of nonchalance. Midoriya raised an eyebrow to which you avoided his gaze.
“(Y/n), how long are you going to keep it quiet. I know you’re going to tell everyone eventually but–”
“I’m fine,” you sternly interjected. You watched his green eyes look at you with pity, making the sinking feeling in your stomach amplify even more. “I promise. I’m just not ready yet but when the time comes, I’ll do it.”
“You know it’s not fair to keep him holding on. He’s going to need an answer,” Midoriya sighed. You felt like a child getting scolded by a parent.
“He knows my answer. We just need…time,” you said hesitantly. As much as you wanted to persuade Midoriya that you were okay, he could easily read you. “I’ll be fine.”
“Alright,” he nodded. He hugged you one last time before allowing you to step into the car. As you watch his retreating figure in the rearview mirror, the feeling in the stomach never went away.
ngl I’m not a fan of breakfast but I love brunch how about you guys
Weeks have flown past since Shinsou’s arrival. He became acclimated quite quickly and was welcomed by the other members. You were glad that he wasn’t feeling out of place, making your job a bit easier in reporting back to Iida.
You breathe a sigh of relief as you pulled up to the parking lot, seeing that the coffee shop you were heading to had a relatively small line. The morning rush was always a bitch to deal with, so you decided that you’d rather deal with the decentcoffee in the office than run late with greatcoffee.
As you walked inside, already listing the orders in your head mentally, you caught a flash of red hair. And there was only one redhead you could think of. “Kirishima!”
Weeks have flown past since Shinsou’s arrival. He became acclimated quite quickly and was welcomed by the other members. You were glad that he wasn’t feeling out of place, making your job a bit easier in reporting back to Iida.
You breathe a sigh of relief as you pulled up to the parking lot, seeing that the coffee shop you were heading to had a relatively small line. The morning rush was always a bitch to deal with, so you decided that you’d rather deal with the decentcoffee in the office than run late with greatcoffee.
As you walked inside, already listing the orders in your head mentally, you caught a flash of red hair. And there was only one redhead you could think of. “Kirishima!”
Kirishima’s back suddenly tensed up, and his body whipped around so quick, you thought he snapped his spine in half. “Hey, (y/n)!” he quickly greeted, speed-walking towards you.
How suspicious of him, you thought. “Did someone have too much caffeine this morning?” you interrogated. He just laughed loudly, a sign of nervousness that you were all too familiar with.
“Me? No, not me. I’m just so happy you’re here! I usually get coffee alone, you know, with no one…at all,” he dismissed. Kirishima placed an arm around your shoulder, and you noticed how tense his body was.
He even went as far as to walk you up to the cashier and paid for your order. While you could go along with the free coffee, knowing what he was hiding would be much juicer.
“You feel as if you’re about to snap. Seriously, out with it,” you demanded, removing yourself from his embrace. “You say you’re not with anyone, which if you’re trying to lie, you never mention the one thing you’re actually trying to hide.”
He bit his lip, looking over his shoulder often. When you tried to glance around him, he quickly blocked your view. “What is it? You know you could tell me,” you sighed. “When have I betrayed you?”
“Um, when I asked you to save me the last everything bagel, and you gave it to Midoriya? What was that, hm?” he argued.
“Okay, okay, so I had my moments. But seriously, you can trust me. I know you have someone, whether it be a secret boyfriend or girlfriend or partner, you can tell me!” you urged.
Kirishima seemed conflicted in himself, looking between you and the direction of the presumed mystery person. Finally, he sighed, “I can’t. Even if I wanted to tell you, I can’t.”
Watching the thoughts swirl around on his face, you decided not to pressure him any further. “It’s fine. I shouldn’t have pressured you in the first place, sorry.”
“No, it’s fine. I’m just not ready to share this with everyone just yet, you know? It’s like there’s some stuff you want to keep private from the office since everyone has to know everybody’s business,” he said, giving you a grin.
You nodded in agreement. “Yeah, I get what you mean. We are a nosy bunch,” you noted. “I keep stuff to myself too, especially stuff that I don’t want the Work Wives knowing.”
You turned to see Kirishima’s lips turned up to a smug grin, a sight you did not like. “What?” you asked, glaring.
“Nothing, I didn’t say anything,” he shrugged, turning away from you. You smacked his shoulder, making him yelp in surprise.
“I’ve had it with your secrecy! Tell me, or I’ll punch you,” you threatened. You even put up a fist to show how serious you were.
“Alright! I was just thinking about you, and…” Kirishima mumbled. The last part was so jumbled you leaned forward to catch it, yet Kirishima quickly stopped, looking away in embarrassment.
“You were so smug, and now you’re withholding,” you scolded.
“I was saying that I thought of you and Sero when you mentioned understanding me!” he exclaimed, avoiding your gaze.
You felt your cheeks heat up, and your stomach dropped at what he said. “That doesn’t! You’re making assumptions! We’re friends, dummy!” you objected.
“Am I wrong, though? I mean, you two are always together and going off on secret dates during lunch. Oh! You even ordered coffee for him. I know that man’s drink when I see it,” he protested, pushing back.
“I’m leaving. Thanks for the coffee, and DON’T mention anything. I’ll do the same,” you said quickly, grabbing your stuff. You sprinted out of the store with the drinks, collapsing in the car.
Kirishima was left at the table, watching your car hightail out of the parking lot. As he watched your car leave, he heard the chair next to him slid out. “Was I too mean? I mean, everyone knows they have something going on.”
He turned to face Bakugo, who merely shrugged. “I wouldn’t know and I don’t care, dumbass.” He sipped his coffee and returned back to his phone.
Kirishima sidled up to his side, leaning his head onto his shoulder. “Did you wait long? We should get to work soon,” he pointed out, giving his boyfriend a wide grin.
“Mm. Not that long. I managed to get in another sale while waiting for you though,” Bakugo grinned back. He finished the last of the drink and stood up. “Time to go.”
Kirishima reluctantly stood up, and the two men head to their cars. And just like that, the workday begins.
━━━━━━━°❀•°: :°•❀°━━━━━━━
Bakugo Katsuki was a formidable salesmen. His record was to beat and his impeccable rapport with his clients was tough to crack. Funny enough, he was quite disliked amongst peers as he always seemed closed off and well, rude.
It wasn’t like he was being mean on purpose. He just doesn’t have any means or purpose to interact with all these “extras”. What do they have to contribute to his success? Nothing. His boyfriend says that’s a mean thing to say but what can people do? Did any of them get Salesman of the Year 4 years in a row?
When he first joined Might Papers, Todoroki got a recommendation from Bakugo’s previous boss in Tokyo. He initially asked for a position at the corporate office but the CEO placed him in the fairly new Musutafu branch.
“You’re a good salesman and they need a front runner in the sales department there. If you can bring the branch profit within one year, you can move back to Tokyo and be a part of the corporate team,” is what Todoroki said.
So he took the wager and did indeed exceed the expectations. Yet while he was there, he met the incomparable red-headed accountant. And now here he is, 5 years later as the sales department head and (happily) dating his boyfriend of 3 years.
After he was hired by Iida, it was up to him to manage the sales section so that meant hiring another salesman. While he tried to convince Iida that he was more than capable to handle all of their clients, Sero Hanta arrived months later.
He was a good salesman with adequate communication skills, flair, and charm. That was something Bakugo couldn’t deny. He was a good asset, able to follow instructions, could handle tasks independently but his problem was…
“By the way, your mom called, a lovely woman by the way, and she said that she’ll be coming over next to see the office. What should I wear? Casual? Tux? I really want to make a good impression,” Sero said as Bakugo arrived at his desk.
“Don’t talk to my mom, you creep. And why did she call you?” Bakugo snarled, dumping his work bag on the floor.
Sero chuckled, shaking his head. “She never told you?”
Bakugo narrowed his eyes at his deskmate. “No. What did you do?”
He quickly put up his hands and backed away slightly. “She called my extension on accident one day and then she liked me so much, you know, we started regularly chatting about you. And she keeps asking me to come over for dinner so maybe I’ll accept her offer,” he shrugged, grinning.
Before Bakugo could vault over his desk to strangle him, Iida popped his head out of his office calling for Bakugo. “We’re not finished here,” he threatened, walking towards Iida.
“Oh, I can’t wait!” Sero teased, cackling as he turned back to his computer.
Bakugo closed the office door and realized he was not the only one Iida called in. “Shinsou,” he acknowledged.
The purple-haired salesman just nodded as a greeting, just the right gesture Bakugo likes. “Is there something you need from us?” Shinsou asked.
“I need you two to head over to a potential new client. They’re roughly an hour away and here is all the background you’ll need,” Iida explained, handing Bakugo a folder. “I hope you two are okay with this task.”
“Is Sero too busy to take this one?” Bakugo gruffly asked, flipping through the papers.
“I need him here to assist me in another job. I trust you can handle this accordingly,” Iida remarked, raising an eyebrow. “I hope I don’t get another scathing phone call from corporate.”
Bakugo just scoffed and stood up, gesturing Shinsou to stand up as well. “Alright, alright. We’ll get going.”
“And please don’t get sidetracked, we don’t need another…”
“Incident! I know!”
━━━━━━━°❀•°: :°•❀°━━━━━━━
Shinsou stepped into Bakugo’s car, not really expecting much but it surprisingly shocked him. Approaching it, Shinsou thought that the grouchy deskmate would drive something muscle-like or intimidating. Yet what he sat in was a modest Hyundai Ionic, furnished with a red wheel cover and a skull air freshener hanging.
“Smells like…a caramel latte, “ Shinsou noted, looking around the vehicle.
“Probably from the one I got this morning,” Bakugo huffed, getting himself situated. “If you don’t like the smell, you can put the window down a smidge.”
“To be honest, I thought you’d be the type to get a muscle car or maybe even a truck. I don’t know, something big,” he commented. Bakugo glanced at him and chuckled.
“This baby here is an all-electric vehicle. She barely costs me a dime cause there’s no need to pay gas and rides smooth like butter. I don’t need anything else. Also, I know that the day comes when Sero pushes my last button, he won’t hear me coming,” Bakugo smirked.
“…”
“…”
“Anyways, I heard you and Sero know each other,” Bakugo coughed, quickly shifting the attention.
In the corner of his eye, he saw Shinsou tense up. When Kirishima told him over dinner one night of how Sero and Shinsou both tense up when they hear the other’s name, Bakugo (who is definitely not nosy at all) knew that something was up. Especially after that elevator ride, it piqued his attention event more.
“Yeah. We uh, started at the same company together out of college,” Shinsou answered tentatively. “He and I were salesmen together before I left.”
“Wow, you got to see him at his dorky phase,” Bakugo smirked. “He must’ve been so lanky and nerdy looking.”
Shinsou could only politely laugh along, although the conversation was clearly making him feel uncomfortable. Bakugo decided he might just try to push his luck. “Well, the two of you, I guess, got to work together often huh? How was he?”
The question made him hesitate for some time before he answered. “He wasn’t the easiest to work with.” Now, this caught Bakugo’s attention.
Everyone knew that Sero was the chill guy, the one who you could go clubbing with or have a smoke session and know that he’ll have the good stuff (Not that Bakugo would know). He would give you a hug and a shoulder to cry on and was the one that made the whole room laugh.
“That’s a shocker to hear,” Bakugo remarked. “Granted, I’m the last person to even like an ounce of that guy but with the rest of our office, he’s the easygoing one.”
Shinsou chuckled. “I guess so. Maybe it was just young Sero that was difficult to bear with.”
Bakugo just hummed in thought. The rest of the drive continued in silence. Yet Bakugo couldn’t shake the feeling in his gut that there had to be something more. And he was going to find out even if that meant he would have to endure a conversation with a shaggy-haired salesman.
You’re not the one who usually goes to bars as the after-work wind down. On the occasion (that is if he will be there), you might go and grab and few drinks and vent about the hard day of work. Otherwise, you prefer to have your drinks in-house in the case that you may end up doing something quite embarrassing.
Sure you could go for a casual drink, nursing may be a single beer or cocktail, sometimes a glass of wine if you’re eating a steak or pasta. But if you could, you would avoid something heavy. You couldn’t give your work wives any more fuel for their growing collection of mortifying photos and videos.
“(Y/n) dear, could I get you something to drink?”
You were brought back from your musings and looked up to see Nemuri Kayama, the bartender, and owner of Midnights. “I’ll just have a coke, thanks.”
“You’re not drinking tonight, my dear?” she asked, surprise written all over her face. You merely shrugged and smiled. “Designated driver?”
“I’m just not in the mood to drink tonight. And besides, I want to be sober to make a decent impression on the newbie,” you snorted. She laughed at that and handed you your drink.
“Okay, okay. Have fun tonight~” she said, walking away to tend to other customers.
As you turned back to face the room, you watched your co-workers go on about. Everyone was mingling, talking about their days and about themselves. You could hear Mina’s boisterous laughter for the bar music, Iida’s stern voice about how to properly care for a snake plant…
“Whatcha doing, wallflower?” Sero asked, coming up beside you. He leaned onto the bar top, giving you a smile.
“People watching,” you replied, smiling back. He looked down at your hand, noting that you won’t be drinking tonight. “Aren’t you interested in getting to know the new guy?”
“No, not really. I’ll get to know him eventually,” he dismissed. Sero’s eyes avoided your stare, sipping his drink quickly.
“Are you…okay?” you questioned, trying to a glimpse of his reaction. “You’re not usually this tense.” You gestured to his overall stance.
He chuckled and gave your shoulder a bump, something he does when he didn’t want to give you a clear answer. You felt like if you pried further, he might just clam up and get angry. Sero rarely gets angry and never have you been on the receiving end of his fury.
He’s talked about times where someone or something pissed him off before but those were all stories he’s shared. You have yet to see it for your own eyes. The closest you’ve gotten to witness it was when he socked an old IT guy for looking up your skirt you wore one day. He just stormed over and put a nasty one right in the guy’s jaw.
It was a PR nightmare for corporate, trying to get the IT guy to keep it under wraps and accept money instead. Yet you could clearly remember the words Sero spoke to you after he got chewed out by Iida.
“I would do anything to keep you ladies safe,” he chuckled. Your worried gaze showed him that you had yet to be convinced of his words. He gently held your hand, giving you a genuine smile.
“If he had gotten the chance to do something worse, I wouldn’t forgive myself.”
“I’m gonna go talk to Kirishima for a bit. You gonna be okay?” he asked. He waited for you to look back and give him a confirmation.
You just gave him a beam and nodded. “I’ll be fine,” you answered. He raised an eyebrow to which you shoved him away. “Go! You don’t need to watch over me all the time1”
“Alright, alright. If you need me, just holler,” he rolled his eyes, flashing a toothy grin. As he walked towards where Kirishima and Bakugo were sitting, you were left to your own devices once again.
━━━━━━━°❀•°: :°•❀°━━━━━━━
“Besides, Midnight, we have a couple of other bars in our area but of course, the best places for partying and drinking is in Tokyo,” Denki rattled off.
Shinsou walked beside him, nodding here and there, and made idle comments or questions as they walked to Midnight’s. When Denki asked Shinsou if he would like a small tour before they headed to meet everyone, he was pleasantly surprised.
Shinsou knew that he wasn’t the…approachable type. He knew that he often came off as intimidating and cold at times, especially if someone were to just meet him. So for Denki, who left an interesting first impression, who seemed like the type who would simper away from people like him…
“Any questions? I know I kinda went off a tangent a bit,” Denki nervously laughed. Shinsou gave him a small smirk.
“No, I actually think you’ve answered them all already,” he answered. Denki smiled back.
“I just wanted to make you feel welcomed. We’re a tight-knit group and it’s not easy for some of us to bring in new people into our social circles,” Denki explained.
“Yeah, I get that vibe. I hope I’m not stepping on anyone’s toes,” Shinsou commented. Denki laughed loudly, catching the eyes of passerby’s.
“The only toes you would maybe step on are Bakugo’s. He holds the highest and consistent sales record in the office. He’s not your department head for nothing,” he snorted. They come to the front of the bar, the neon blue sign flashing Midnight’s into the night sky. “Well, here we are!”
As Denki made a move to grab the door handle, Shinsou quickly reached for his jacket sleeve. He paused and turned back to the purple-haired man, a gaze so open and naive. “Thanks. You didn’t have to take me on a tour,” Shinsou said, rubbing the back of his awkwardly.
“It’s no problem! Maybe I just wanted my hands on you first,” Denki teased, giving him a sly wink. Shinsou grinned and shook his head.
“If you keep that up, I’m going to start taking your offers seriously,” Shinsou warned, winking back. Denki just meekly nodded. Despite the night being dark, Shinsou could see the pink flush across his cheeks, glowing as if he was a stoplight.
Interesting.
━━━━━━━°❀•°: :°•❀°━━━━━━━
“What’s your poison tonight?” Kirishima egged Denki, taking him aside once he arrived.
“I’m actually designated driver tonight so none for me,” Denki turned down, sighing. Thank goodness he was staying sober. Otherwise, he might’ve done much worse to Shinsou than just flirtation.
“Booo. Is everyone staying sober tonight? I thought you had my back bro,” Kirishima wailed, throwing himself onto Denki.
“I wish I could bro! You know I always have your back,” Denki comforted. He turned to the bartender and asked for a virgin mojito. “I’ll just drink in spirit.”
When the bartender gave him his drink, he turned back to Kirishima who was on what he believed was his third beer. “Cheers, bro.”
“Cheers!” The two took their respective sips from their cups before falling into a leisurely conversation.
Across the room, Midoriya was sitting with Iida and Ochako. “I think the best plan is to see how Shinou handles the personal call before we give him his assignments,” Iida noted, nodding pensively at his messy scrawlings on a spare napkin.
“We could put Sero with him. Sero is pretty good at analyzing these types of situations,” Midoriya perked, taking the pen from Iida.
“Ugh!” Ocahko moaned, allowing herself to fall onto the table, surprising the two men. “As much as I love miserable company, I don’t know how you two can still talk about work,” she grumbled.
“It’s important, Ochako. If one thing goes even a hair wrong–”
“Shhhh, I don’t wanna hear it,” she interrupted. “Waiter! Waiter, yes over here. We’ll have a round of shots for the table.”
The two men nervously exchanged glances. “Ochako, we’re not drinking tonight,” Midoriya reminded, unsure if he would make her feel upset for turning down the shots.
She turned to them and burst out in laughter. “Please! Those shots are all for me!” she wheezed.
“On second thought, I’ll have one,” Iida quickly jumped, taking a shot glass when the waiter dropped off the platter. “Midoriya?” he coughed, eyes threatening him silently.
He could only give a half-smile before accepting a shot glass. One couldn’t hurt, Midoriya thought.
━━━━━━━°❀•°: :°•❀°━━━━━━━
“Ochako, I’m going to kill you.” Before your eyes were Ochako with what remains of your boss and Midoriya, all three slumped on the table with limes and shot glasses littered around.
“Nooo, you love me~ You can’t kill me,” she slurred, cheeks pressed against the cool faux marble. You could only sigh.
You begin to try and get their belongings together so you could get them home. The only designated drivers for tonight were Denki, you, and Jirou. So that didn’t leave many options on who would take who home.
Jirou had already left for the night earlier, under the assumption that Midoriya and Iida would not drink (surprise surprise) so that you would only drive Ochako home. Denki already promised to take care of Kirishima and Shinsou while Sero already signed up for a cab home.
Shinsou didn’t seem to have that much to drink so he decided to walk home, despite Denki’s insistent offers for a ride home. He just bid him goodnight and then walked out of the bar, not before slipping a slip of paper that you managed to catch a glance of.
“Come one you oaf!” you huffed, hauling Ochako up while simultaneously holding Midoriya on your free arm.
“I’m delicate, don’t treat me so roughly,” Midoriya murmured in his drunken haze, head rolling about like a bowling ball.
“Me too, me too!” Ochako agreed in a childlike manner. You groaned and threw them both halfheartedly on an open booth.
“How the hell am I supposed to get the three of you to my car?” you asked, more so to yourself.
“I could take one of them in the cab with me,” Sero offered. You jumped, surprised by his sudden appearance. “Did I scare you?” he chuckled.
“No. You’re just so quiet,” you huffed. He shrugged but let you off on that half-assed response. “I mean, I don’t want you to go out of your way. Especially when you didn’t sign up for anyone.”
He shook his head and merely smiled. “I only had a beer but I didn’t want to risk it. Aren’t I responsible?” he asked, leaning closer.
“Yes, yes you are. What a good boy,” you sighed, patting his head as if he was a dog. He closed his eye at the contact, leaning into it even more. “But seriously, I just need to lug these deadweights to my car.”
“I can watch over them while you pull your car up the front,” Sero offered.
“Could you? Oh thank god, you are my life savior,” you thanked, dashing out of the bar to get your car.
As Sero sat with the three drunkards, he called his cab. “You’re too sweet to her,” Midoriya mumbled from where he slumped. Sero turned to him and snorted.
“Yeah, but I can’t help it. It’s hard to say no to her,” he replied. Midoriya blearily looked in his direction, most likely assuming he was facing Sero.
“At some point, you’re going to have to do something,” Midoriya said. Sero straightened up at the statement.
“And what do you mean by that?” he asked, eyes narrowed.
Midoriya exhaled as if the task of merely responding was already tough enough. “I mean…you can’t do this game forever. Like…cat and mouse ya know? It’s either you say what you have to say or…you wallow in pitiful silence forever,” he responded, taking small hiccups in between.
Sero stood up, towering over him. “I can make my own choices thank you very much,” he noted. “Besides, you’re drunk. What do you know?”
Midoriya only gave him drunken giggles. “As her work husband, I’m supposed to know everything that pertains to my wife~” he grinned, flopping over.
“Hey! Everything okay?” Sero heard you asking. He turned and saw you jogging towards him. Under the bar light, he swore you were an angel bounding towards him. He coughed and turned away.
“(Y/n)~, take me hooome~” Ochako chirped, yawning loudly.
“To a place, I belooong~” Iida sang from his spot, muffled by the table.
“I didn’t know he knew that song,” Sero commented, earning a slap from you. “Ouch. You wound your supposed savior.”
“Shut up, help me get these two in the car,” you gestured to Midoriya and Ochako. Sero did as you instructed and lugged them into your car. As you were dragging Iida, you saw Sero’s cab pull up.
“That’s the last of ‘em,” Sero nodded. “Are you sure you’re going to be okay? I can take one of the guys home.”
You shook your head, sighing at the sight of three drunks. “I’ll be okay. I hope Iida doesn’t mind sleeping at Midoriya’s because I’m too lazy to drive across town for that.”
You felt a breeze, shivering to yourself. Just then, you felt a welcoming warmth envelop you and realized that Sero had draped his suit jacket over you. “Thanks,” you whispered.
“No problem. Just give it back to me on Monday,” he smiled. He looked pensive for a moment, maybe it was the weather or the late-night hour you presumed. But before he could say something, the cab driver gave a honk. “I’ll get going.”
“See you,” you waved, going back into the car. As you watched the yellow car slip out of the parking lot, you hugged the jacket just a tiny bit closer.
warning: sexual commentary, mention of alcohol, language!
word count: 2060
a/n: taglist and fic continue underneath!
A party planning committee is a serious group. They are the ones who plan and organize the office parties, which are held only on special occasions (except for that one time where they tricked Iida into having one for Denki and Jirou’s fake engagement). It’s led by the two most responsible members of the office…
“Jirou, Mina, we should make the party purple-themed. It’s Shinsou’s color. How smart am I?” Denki suggested.
Jirou smacked him upside, not looking up from the catalog that was in front of her. “Not. And besides, we can host a party, just not in the office. Iida’s orders,” she replied.
He pouted and whined, which Mina cooed gently at him. “There, there, you baby. I’ll make sure we have some purple decor,” she reassured.
“We have to make this perfect! He’s the new guy, and we gotta make him feel welcomed,” Denki pointed out, giving Jirou a half-hearted glare. She merely rolled her eyes.
“What do you think, (y/n)? You met the guy. What do you feel?” Mina asked.
warning: sexual commentary, mention of alcohol, language!
word count: 2060
a/n: taglist and fic continue underneath!
A party planning committee is a serious group. They are the ones who plan and organize the office parties, which are held only on special occasions (except for that one time where they tricked Iida into having one for Denki and Jirou’s fake engagement). It’s led by the two most responsible members of the office…
“Jirou, Mina, we should make the party purple-themed. It’s Shinsou’s color. How smart am I?” Denki suggested.
Jirou smacked him upside, not looking up from the catalog that was in front of her. “Not. And besides, we can host a party, just not in the office. Iida’s orders,” she replied.
He pouted and whined, which Mina cooed gently at him. “There, there, you baby. I’ll make sure we have some purple decor,” she reassured.
“We have to make this perfect! He’s the new guy, and we gotta make him feel welcomed,” Denki pointed out, giving Jirou a half-hearted glare. She merely rolled her eyes.
“What do you think, (y/n)? You met the guy. What do you feel?” Mina asked.
You were occupied with your lunch, which consisted of a sad chicken salad with oranges on the side. “Huh? Sorry I wasn’t listening.”
The three of your coworkers glanced at one another. Usually, Sero would have lunch with you, but lately, he’s been so busy with the new clients that he’s been skipping out. “It’ll be a temporary thing,” he told you, giving a tired smile back. You made sure to leave a small snack on his desk when you pass by, making sure he was taking breaks as well. And being apart from him indeed took a toll on you, as your office mates have noticed but have yet to point out.
“We asked what do you feel about Shinsou’s Welcome party,” Denki repeated.
“Oh…well, he seems like a pretty chill guy. I think he’ll like whatever we have for him,” you shrugged. Denki sighed loudly at your response.
“(Y/n), we have to make this perfect!” he wailed, flopping onto the table. You watched the wilted lettuce shake in your container. “He’s going to think we’re so lame if we don’t do anything cool!”
You and the girls laughed, making Denki pout even harder. “I’m pretty sure he’ll think you’re cool, Denki,” you chided, patting his head like a mother would do to a child.
“Well, since we can’t have it in the office, we should go to Midnight’s,” Mina suggested. “It’s local, and it’ll give Shinsou the perfect introduction to Musutafu!”
“Ooh, Midnight’s would be the perfect place,” you agreed. The both of you looked at Denki for his approval.
He turned away petulantly. “How are we supposed to be cool at a bar? Nonetheless, the same bar we go to like every other week after work?” he asked.
“As they said, it’s local, and it’s right in the center of the hub. So you can show him around beforehand or whatever and meet the rest of us at the bar,” Jirou remarked, still reading. At that suggestion, Denki lit up like a Christmas tree.
“Yes! You’re so right, I mean! I surely can’t take him around on my own. Maybe I’ll get Kirishima to go with me,” Denki quickly said. He got up and kissed the three of you on the cheek.
You giggled when he got to you, smacking his arm. “Don’t thank us. You can do that later when you get laid!” you teased. He blushed and protested loudly as he left.
Jirou sighed and closed her magazine. “He hasn’t shut up about Shinsou ever since they met eyes,” she voiced. Mina nodded, leaning back in her chair.
“I mean, I caught a glimpse of the whole exchange. They only said…what? Fifteen words?” she cackled.
“Be nice! He hasn’t had much luck with dating, and y’all know that,” you scolded lightly. They both sympathetically agreed. “Who knows? It might just work out in his favor.”
“Do we even know what type of person Shinsou is into?” Mina asked.
“Good question. The answer is no. But give Denki some time to scope the guy out. We’ll find out in no time,” you remarked.
“That’s true. Denki’s gaydar has never been wrong…” Jirou supposed.
━━━━━━━°❀•°: :°•❀°━━━━━━━
In preparation for Shinsou’s arrival, the office needed a little rearrangement. The sales department had a spare desk initially used for spare documents or extra storage of supplies the office required. Now it will be Shinsou’s new desk, so the two salesmen were tasked to clean it out before he came.
“Do you need Hizashi’s files?” Bakugo asked, holding a stack of invoice files.
“Uh no, I had them transferred over digitally a while ago,” Sero answered, looking through another stack himself. “Ask (y/n) what we do with the old invoices. I have a few more over here.”
Bakugo grunted, but it was still an answer. The desk was mainly finished, already furnished with a desktop, a phone, and some supplies. As if on cue, the office door opened, and in walked the man of the hour.
“Shinsou! We weren’t expecting you until tomorrow,” Sero heard you say.
“I finished moving into my new place already. Thought I might stop by and arrange my desk,” he shrugged.
“Oh, then let me show you to your desk,” you offered, getting up from the receptionist’s desk. You led to where the two salesmen were on the floor with mounds of papers around. “Oh god, what did you guys do?”
“Cleaning, that’s what we did!” Bakugo huffed. “Is this the guy who we’re cleaning the desk for?”
“Mhm. Meet Shinsou Hitoshi, your new fellow salesman,” you introduced warmly. “I’ll leave you three to be acquainted.” As you turn to leave, you caught Sero’s look, giving a small smile. He smiled back before turning back his task at hand.
“The name is Bakugo Katsuki, lead salesman,” Bakugo said, holding out a hand to the man. The two shook hands. He waited for Sero to bounce over and make a stupid joke, but…
“Shinsou. Sero Hanta.”
“Mmm.”
Am I hallucinating, or is Sero not being himself? Bakugo thought to himself. He looked between the two of them, trying to catch any clues as to why Sero behaved that way.
Sero was the most easy-going guy around. Even Bakugo himself could admit that (begrudgingly, of course). So when Sero arrived at the Musutafu branch, he made friends with every immediately, cracking jokes and getting initiated in secret pacts on day 1.
And it was rare to see Sero so tense, mainly because he said that it takes a lot to piss him off. The last time Sero butted heads with someone was their last IT guy who hit on all of the women in the office. After a swift punch to the face, everyone saw Sero in a different light that day.
“So, what is your experience with sales?” Bakugo asked, casting a wary glance at Sero and Shinsou.
Shinsou seemed relieved to be directed elsewhere. “I was a project manager before coming here. And when I started working out of college, I was a salesman for a firm,” he answered cooly.
“So do you think you’re rusty or are you ready to start off the bat? I have to ask as the department head, in the case I need to assign you a partner,” Bakugo questioned.
“I should be okay but if I’m unsure, I’ll let you know,” Shinsou nodded.
“Well, today isn’t your official start, but tomorrow, Midoriya, the HR rep here, and Iida will go over with you the company policies and give you some small assignments. They’re just performative tasks to gauge your skills before they let you out on the field,” Bakugo explained.
As Bakugo gave Shinsou the rundown, Sero tried to keep himself busy with organizing. He cast small glances every now and then towards Shinsou, his shoulders tense and teeth gritted. “That’s all you need to know for tomorrow,” Sero heard Bakugo say.
“Cool. So when do you think my desk will be ready?” Shinsou gestured, setting the box he carried in down on the desk.
“We’re about done here,” Sero answered, getting up. He stacked the papers and took the invoice pile off of Bakugo’s desk. “I’m going to go ask (y/n) where these go.” And just like that, Sero was gone.
Bakugo cleared his throat, resuming his task at hand. “Let me help you clear this out.”
Shinsou watched Sero’s back before turning back to him. “Thanks.”
━━━━━━━°❀•°: :°•❀°━━━━━━━
Midoriya slowly peeled his banana, mindful of the fiber that was getting onto his fingers. Then, as he was about to take a bit, Denki bursts into the breakroom, his mouth running a mile.
“Midoriya, thank god you’re here! I need your advice on something and since you’re like a therapist for the office, you can’t tell anyone shit because then I’ll have someone come find you and kill you—”
“Denki, please slow down so I could actually hear a word you’re saying,” Midoriya reprimanded, all too familiar with this scene.
Not that he didn’t mind, but a service/duty an HR rep had would be to listen to the employees of the office and listen to their needs. Maybe venting about a particular coworker or critiques about the breakroom snacks, whatever it may be, Midoriya was all ears.
Even if that meant he had to advise a lovesick fool.
“Okay, you know Shinsou, the new guy?” Denki started, sitting down across him. “I think he’s cute, like super, duper cute.”
Midoriya gave him a look. “And? Do you want his number or something?”
“That would be the goal. See, Midoriya, you get me,” Denki smiled.
“Denki, you know the rules,” Midoriya reminded. “It’s against company policy to fraternize with your co-workers.”
He sighed and looked down at the table. “I mean, I know but I just want to be friends…not like date him or anything…”
Midoriya sighed and gave him a tired smile. “If you promise just to be friends, I’ll allow it.”
“I promise! I won’t try a thing, I swear!” Denki quickly promised.
“He’s the type of guy that won’t be easy to know. So just give him some time and space. And most of all, be patient,” Midoriya advised. “And you’re the type to be quick and overwhelming at first glance.”
Denki deflated a bit. “Oh okay…Thanks, Midoriya! I’ll keep those in mind for tomorrow!” he thanked, getting up to leave.
“Wait, Denki…”
“Nope! If you tell me any more, I’m just going to wallow in pity and drown myself in a bottle of tequila this weekend,” Denki quickly warned, giving Midoriya a wry smile. “But thank you. I’ll keep your advice in mind.”
“I don’t want you to end up in disappointment…that’s all,” he sighed.
Denki snorted and waved a hand.
“I’m more resilient than that. So I’m sure I’ll be okay.”
━━━━━━━°❀•°: :°•❀°━━━━━━━
“Alright, I hope you have everything ready for tomorrow,” Bakugo pointed, gesturing to the files sitting on Sero’s desk.
“Yup, all ready to be processed digitally and logged booked,” he nodded. Sero sighed and stretched his tired limbs. A whole day’s worth of organizing old files deserves take-out tonight.
“Good. I don’t need to watch over you when Shinsou comes,” he grumbled. Then, again, he watched Sero freeze up before returning to normal. “Hey, dumbass, let me ask you something.”
“Wow, that is something you never do, but what’s up?” Sero answered, getting up.
Bakugo hesitantly followed Sero out of the office, both men heading for the elevators. As they stepped into the metal tin, he turned to the shaggy-haired salesman. “Why do you hate Shinsou?”
Sero choked at the question, nervously coughing at his bluntness. “I don’t know what you’re talking about,” he chuckled lightly.
“Don’t lie, Sero. You’ve been weird around that guy since he arrived. So out with it. I don’t want to deal with your drama,” Bakugo barked.
Sero sighed, rubbing the back of his neck anxiously. The ride down to the parking garage never felt so long. “He and I have…history. We used to work at the same office, and now that’s in the past,” he tentatively answered.
“And?” Bakugo asked. There had to be more than just history, he thought to himself.
“We were young kids then. I’ve grown past it since then.”
The elevator pings and the doors open. The two men walk to their cars in silence. Before Bakugo got inside, he heard Sero clear his throat.
“I would tell you why, Bakugo. But maybe not now. Some day,” Sero offered, a tight smile on his lips.
Bakugo scoffed. “Yeah. Keep your secrets, dumbass,” he waved, getting inside the car. As he pulled out of the building and sped away into the night, Sero’s words rattled in his brain.
Whatever the two had going on, it was enough to stick with Sero since then. Bakugo’s hand gripped the wheel tightly. And whatever it was, probably wasn’t good.
Bakubro cares <33 or he doesn’t want to deal with the drama in his department who knows
