Chapter Text
Ashido had eyes like a hawk. "Who's that?" she asked shrewdly, mouth curving into a smile around the lip of her soda. "Don't think I didn't see that, Sero."
He would never accuse her of that, that was for sure. Hanta had just forgotten for a minute, when his cell buzzed in his pocket and he slipped it out enough to glance at the screen. Todoroki's name lit above the text notification.
Normally, Hanta would consider it rude to check his texts during Kaminari's weekly karaoke parties—and since everybody in the dorm dropped by at some point during the night, who else would be texting him?—but since Ashido had outed him anyway, he figured he could swipe away his lock screen.
"Todoroki," he said.
"What?"
What does "lit" mean?
With a grin, Hanta tapped out a cheeky, *ur* asking *me*? Todoroki would frown at that answer—Hanta could picture the little line appearing between his brows—so he followed it up with, it means hella good.
Thank you, Todoroki replied. Your assistance in this matter is lit.
nice try
"Earth to Sero!" Oh. Ashido had come around to his side of the couch, and both hands were on her hips. Her cheeks puffed. "Did you hear me?"
"Uhh...I did not." Midway through their second year, Kaminari had told Hanta that his sheepish smile made it impossible to stay mad at him ("Tell me your secrets, like, how do you do that thing with your teeth?" "I floss." "See, dude, right there! I should kick your ass right now, and I can't. How?"). He hoped that was working in his favor now. "Sorry, Ashido, what did you say?"
"Why is Todoroki texting you past his bedtime, ask him if he wants to come down for karaoke, and—and I want this to be your top priority when you answer—what's with that smile reading a text from Todoroki? Is it really him, or is he your cover?" Ashido pushed up to her tip-toes and craned her neck to get a look at Hanta's cell, and he tipped the screen away from her and slipped it back into his pocket.
"Of course it's really him! Who else—anyway, he had an important question to ask, I can invite him but I bet he's going to bed now, and what smile?" Hanta widened his lips to flash her a toothy grin. "This old thing?"
"No, it was different." Ashido leaned back and tilted her head in appraisal. Even though he had a good foot on her in height, Hanta felt as if he were under her microscope. She put a hand to her chin and hummed thoughtfully.
"Nice Midoriya impression," he said.
Ashido perked up. "Thanks! I've been working on it! But you're not weaseling out of this. What did Todoroki say to you to make you go all gooey?"
Gooey? "He asked me what 'lit' means. Somebody probably sent him a meme he didn't get." Even after three years at UA, Todoroki had never quite gotten a handle on trendy lingo. Hanta had been translating internet-speak for him pretty much since they first moved into the dorms.
"So pretty, and yet, so out-of-touch," Mina said. "Hmm, that wasn't very goo-worthy, though. Is that really all he said?"
Resigned, Hanta handed over his phone. Ashido read the exchange, her eyes flickering up to Hanta's face, and then started scrolling up. And scrolling, and scrolling.
"I think you've got your evidence," Hanta said dryly, plucking his cell from her hands. Curiosity still hovered in her expression, but there was a twinkle in her eye that Hanta didn't like.
"Oh, yes," she said. "You guys text a lot, huh?"
"Uh, I guess?" Daily, but Hanta texted all of his friends regularly. In fact, Ashido was the text queen, so he wasn't sure why she was on his case about it. Todoroki would ask about memes and then try using them a few times. Occasionally he got it right.
If it were anyone else, Hanta would tease mercilessly, but, well. He had kind of a soft spot for Todoroki. He'd invite Hanta over when he bought new manga, or sometimes to wander off-campus and try a restaurant none of their friends wanted to go to (which had led to a lot of noodle spots and the best seitan in Tokyo). Once they went to an art exhibit and ran into Midnight, who was so excited that they'd gone to a museum on their own that she offered them extra credit on a test. Hanta supposed he still owed Todoroki for that, because it saved his grade.
Ashido's smile had spread right across her face. "Invite him," she said, jerking her chin at his cell. "Tell him you'd like it if he came down."
That was. Weird phrasing. But Hanta had learned the hard way not to question Ashido, so he dutifully typed out an invitation.
Karaoke in the common room if u want 2 hang??
Todoroki read the text immediately but didn't reply. Hanta looked at the little check mark for a few seconds, but when the typing notification didn't follow, he put his phone away.
"Well?"
"He saw it." Karaoke wasn't really Todoroki's thing. He had gotten better about joining the group over the years, but Hanta could always tell when Todoroki's energy was flagging. He fell asleep almost every movie night and would often steal away once the game of Uno or Monopoly got too loud. Todoroki was an introvert. Hanta totally got that sometimes he needed to go to his room and recharge his battery.
Still. Todoroki didn't usually leave him on read. Hanta shifted his weight to his other foot, the rectangle of his cell heavy at his hip.
Ashido's eyes drifted past Hanta, and devilish glee crossed her face. Realizing a second too late that he was probably falling for the old 'made-you-look,' Hanta glanced over his shoulder. Todoroki stepped down from the bottom of the staircase in his sweatpants and a tee-shirt, blinking like a cat disturbed from its nap.
"You came." Hanta wasn't sure if his voice came out more accusatory or surprised, but it didn't really matter in the face of the fondness he felt watching Todoroki yawn as he padded over.
"Yes. I thought it would be lit."
Hanta elbowed him, and Todoroki's eyes crinkled in the corners the way they did when he was on the cusp of a smile. Ashido flitted back to the couch and plopped down next to Kaminari, who was killing himself laughing as Bakugo barked something about, "I said I didn't want to sing!" At the karaoke machine, Kirishima was belting out whatever pop song he'd accidentally turned into death metal. Todoroki yawned again, swaying a little on his feet.
"It's pretty lit," Hanta agreed.