Chapter Text
It was a well known fact to Shouto by now that downstairs in the townhouse apartment was usually deserted in the middle of the night.
It didn't used to be of course. Tokoyami was arguably more of an insomniac than he was, and even Shoji had trouble sleeping from time to time. They all did, really. It was hard not to after the high school experience from hell.
A brief pang of bittersweet nostalgia ebbed at his consciousness as he began his descent of the stairs. He could at least admit to himself by then that he kind of missed standing around in the kitchen with the other two, silently sipping the sleepy time tea that all of them knew wouldn't work, coming up with increasingly outlandish hypotheticals to kill the time.
Unfortunately for him, they moved out three years ago.
Shoji left first. Him and Hagakure had picked up where they left off in high school and moved in together two years after they graduated, and Tokoyami finally got enough of a raise to afford an apartment all on his own shortly after that. By then, Shouto was making more than enough to afford rent on the two story house by himself, but the thought of living there alone was almost as unbearable as the thought of moving back in with his father.
The possibility still haunted him, which was why Shouto was eternally grateful that Sero agreed to stay and split rent 50/50 with him when they moved out.
Ah, Hanta Sero. Shouto was honestly surprised they got along as well as they did. Prior to becoming roommates Shouto doubted he ever interacted with him much beyond training exercises or asking him for a pen in class. Living with him had honestly been a dream thus far. He cleaned up after himself, made sure they paid rent on time, and even watered Shouto's potted plants, when he asked him to. Shouto would even consider him a friend, if he knew a little more about him.
He wanted to know more.
The problem was, he had no idea how to really talk to people besides Midoriya, and though he'd come out of his shell a little more since he started therapy after graduation he was still absolutely terrible at communicating effectively. Which was why he was glad he usually had the entire first floor, minus Sero's bedroom, to himself when he couldn't sleep in the middle of the night.
Usually.
As Shouto got to the bottom of the steps, he noticed a faint tune coming from the kitchen of their home. That was... strange. Usually Sero was asleep at this hour. Shouto glanced at his phone. Half past two in the morning.
Slowly, he quietly made his way across the house. The closer he got, the clearer the music became. The song was also off. Sero usually played music when he was cooking, but it was generally more fast paced than what was currently winding its way down the hall. Shouto was unfamiliar with the slower, softer kind of song.
As the kitchen came into view, he caught sight of Sero swaying slowly in the kitchen, holding a whisk like a microphone as he sang along to the music. Shouto snorted, stifling his laughter as one of their cats stared at the raven haired man seemingly serenading her.
The song came to an end and Sero turned back to the sink, scrubbing dirty dishes as another song with a happy tune began to play quietly from the Bluetooth speaker sitting on the island.
"I didn't know you knew Spanish." Shouto said quietly, causing Sero to jump and look up at the doorway. "Sorry. Didn't mean to scare you." He mumbled, resisting the urge to fidget anxiously. Sero stared at him for a moment and then allowed a soft, crooked smile to make its way onto his face.
"'S fine." He said quietly, shutting off the water and drying his hands on a towel. "Sorry if I woke you up. I tried to be quieter but sometimes the music just hits ya right in the feels, y'know?" Shouto did not know, so he ignored that and instead waved off the concern.
"I couldn't hear you." He said. Speaking loudly felt like a sin at that hour, so Shouto kept up the quiet tone of voice even though nobody was around anymore to bother. "Just couldn't sleep." He made his way to the cupboard in the corner, digging through it, looking for some kind of tea he could drink and pretend would work. He set a box of chamomile down on the counter and eyed the stove, noticing the timer on the clock panel reading just over five minutes.
"What are you doing awake this late?" Sero shrugged and began toweling off dishes to put away. Shouto didn't know why he bothered doing that, but he couldn't complain.
"Makin' brownies, dude. What else is there to do at two in the morning?" He said, setting a large mixing bowl in the dish drainer.
"You say that like it's normal to do anything this late at night." It wasn't normal for other people, is what he meant. Shouto was usually more productive at night time. It was how he managed to keep up with all his damn paperwork.
Sero shrugged again and turned the volume up on the song playing. And again, it was in Spanish, so he couldn't really recognize anything the woman was saying. It was still easy enough to listen to, though, so he didn't mind it all that much.
"When did you learn Spanish?" He asked, switching topics so they didn't have to dwell on the rarity of the interaction. Their real conversations were few and far between, and Shouto was somewhat determined to hold onto what little he knew about his roommate.
"I have family in Mexico and Spain." He said with a small smile. "And most of them don't speak Japanese, so it was either learn Spanish or don't talk to em. My mom kinda just raised me on it." He gestured to the speaker on the counter as he turned to put the mixing bowl away.
"This is her favorite song, actually." Shouto turned to grab the kettle from one of the lower shelves, even though he didn't need to. Normally he'd just use his quirk for this, but being around Sero made him feel awkward about it. Sero didn't typically use his quirk around the house unless it was to stop one of the cats from shattering something. It felt out of place for Shouto to use his for simple convenience.
"What's it called?" He asked, glancing over at the speaker. Sero paused and thought it over for a moment before smiling over at Shouto.
"'Amor de mis Amores', I think." He said as the song ended.
"What does it mean?" Shouto asked, filling the kettle with water and sticking it on the front burner. Maybe he should buy another electric one.
"Love of my Loves." Sero smiled. Shouto shook his head, a confused look on his face.
"That doesn't make sense." It was grammatically incorrect unless they were talking about Shakespearean English, which, given the song was in Spanish, it was definitely not. Sero chuckled softly and shook his head, leaning against the counter and tilting his head at Shouto.
"It doesn't have to. It just has to feel good. Y'know?" He said. "And it makes more sense in Spanish."
Only, that didn't make any sense either. But Sero had a habit of saying things that didn't make sense to Shouto anyways, so he disregarded it. The timer on the oven beeped, and Sero pushed off the counter to turn it off. Shouto moved out of the way so he could grab the oven mitts from the drawer next to the sink and pull the hot pan out, setting it on top of the stove.
It was always interesting to watch Sero move, like a current shifting seamlessly through a stream. Fascinating, even. Shouto had always wondered how he managed to make every movement so fluid, even when they were mid fight and he was badly injured.
"So what prompted the decision to make brownies at two in the morning?" Shouto was horrible at small talk by all measures, but he figured he should probably say something before his staring tipped into some semblance of rudeness. Sero moved the pan onto a wire rack on the counter and slid the oven mitts off his hands, chuckling a little like he did when something should be obvious to Shouto but wasn't.
"I was almost outta gummies and I figured I should switch it up a little. Been a while since I've made brownies." He said. Shouto furrowed his brow as he began counting the tea bags in the box. He'd have to go out for more soon.
"So you're... switching sweets?" He really had no idea what was wrong with just sticking to gummies. If anything, they were a lot less filling than brownies. Sero snickered and shook his head.
"Dude, it's pot." He said, deadpan. Shouto's confusion only grew at this.
"What?" Sero blinked at him.
"Y'know, I knew you grew up sheltered, but this is a whole new level of living under a rock." He chuckled. "I'm talkin' about Mary Jane, Todoroki."
"Who's that?" Sero rolled his eyes and tried again.
"Weed?"
"Like dandelions?"
"For fucks sake-" Sero sighed, running a hand through his hair. "Jeez, dude, you really gotta get out more." He said, and the amusement in his voice was so tangible that Shouto actually noticed it that time. When he looked over, Sero was staring at him expectantly.
"Marijuana?"
It took Shouto a moment to register the word, but the moment he did he whipped his head toward the amused looking man next to him.
"Oh." He said softly, clearing his throat as he looked down at the rack. "Uh... that's... okay then." Illegal is what he meant to say, but he couldn't exactly do that anymore. Marijuana was legalized in Japan three years prior. Maybe irresponsible was the right word? He'd have to figure it out later. "Don't you work in the morning?" He asked, looking back at Sero. He shook his head, curly hair bouncing with the movement. Shouto couldn't remember the last time Sero gelled it back like he used to in school. He'd been shocked when he first saw it naturally.
"Nah. And even if I did," He paused to cut the tray into squares as the kettle began to whistle. Shouto took it off the stove and poured himself a mug of tea, searching through the cupboard for honey. "It's not like I'm not some level of high all the time anyway." When Shouto banged his head on the cabinet door spinning around to look at him, Sero laughed at his pointed glare.
"What? It makes me better at my job, man." He said, pushing off the counter once again to grab an ice pack from the freezer and hand it to Shouto. And Shouto, trying his best not to be judgmental, simply shook his head and tried to be a little more logical with his approach.
"Isn't that unsafe, though?" He asked, thinking back to all the risky stuff Sero had done when they were on patrol or missions together. Sure it paid off in the end, but it was still very unnecessary and could've gone very wrong. "What if someone gets seriously injured because you're high on the job?" Sero shook his head, picking up one of the neat squares and yelping slightly when he found the sides of the pan to be too hot.
"Case in point." He said, gesturing to the finger in Sero's mouth. Sero glared at him, though there was no heat behind it.
"Hey, I never said I get high at work. I get high after work." He clarified, shaking his head. "Helps take the edge off, y'know? Like how some people like to have a drink after they get home." He said, breaking off a piece of the already crumbling treat and popping it into his mouth.
"Mine just lasts longer."
"Does the agency allow this?" Shouto asked, stirring a spoonful of honey into his mug. He briefly considered adding milk to it, then decided against it. He liked his tea better when it was too hot anyway.
Sero snorted and rolled his eyes.
"'Roki, dude, if they didn't don't you think they woulda kicked me to the curb by now?" He asked, one eyebrow raised as he broke off another piece. "We do drug tests, like, once a month. There's been weed in my system since I was fourteen."
Shouto took a moment to think about that, then laughed abruptly at the idea of it.
"We should've been friends in high school." He said quietly, sipping from his mug. The drink coated his tongue, stinging slightly as he swallowed. He always liked the subtle sweet aftertaste honey left. "My father would've had an aneurysm." Hanta chuckled at that, rolling his eyes so far back Shouto almost snorted at the sight of it. This was a topic they could always agree on.
"Didn't he blow a fuse when he found out you and Midoriya were dating in second year?" He said, thinking back to the major public freakout Endeavor had had when he ran into them on a date. It had made national news, resulting in Endeavor plummeting in the rankings to damn near eleventh and Hawks taking his place nearly overnight.
"Completely lost it." Todoroki said, rolling his eyes. Not to mention he only came to 'accept' the relationship the day before they broke up. Then he paused, recalling one particular incident, and tilted his head at Hanta in a way that reminded the other man of a very tall cat.
"Didn't you get up in the middle of class to go buy Hawks merch as soon as Ashido told you?" He asked, sipping his tea. "What was the punishment for that stunt?" Hanta grimaced, chuckling under his breath.
"Two weeks detention, extra homework, and dish duty for a month." He said, ticking each individual punishment off on his fingers. "Totally worth it to see his face when he came in as a guest speaker though." Todoroki made a face akin to surprise and laughed, choking on his drink.
"That was you?" He asked, smacking himself in the chest a few times to clear his throat. "You were so covered in it I didn't even recognize you." He chuckled, forcing himself not to think too much about how weird he probably looked. He wasn't used to expressing himself so freely, even after spending years in therapy that hadn't changed.
He shook his head to rid himself of the thoughts, instead looking over at an amused Sero.
Hanta stared at him for a moment, thoroughly taking into account how Todoroki looked when he expressed his joy. In all the five years they'd lived together, Hanta had only ever seen Todoroki laugh once before then, and even then it was just a little chuckle. It was pretty, he regarded with idle curiosity. Todoroki was pretty when he laughed.
And yeah, Todoroki was pretty all the time. He was the pretty boy of their class, and he was the pretty boy at their agency too. It was a miracle he managed to get anything done, considering the amount of people wanting photos and autographs from him. Not to mention the amount of people who threw themselves at him. Come to think of it, it was kind of surprising he'd only dated one other person since high school. Surely he'd been attracted to people other than Midoriya and that guy Setsuko, right?
Hanta shook his head, attempting to get through the haze in his brain.
"Sorry, what?" He asked, chuckling a little. "Sorry this stuff is stronger than I thought it was." He said. Todoroki looked at him for a moment and sighed.
"I said you should've told me. I would've bought you something." He said, a hint of teasing in his voice. That was new too, Hanta noted with a small grin. He liked how much more expressive Todoroki had gotten. It was nice to be able to read the guy every once in a while. He glanced at the mug of tea on the counter and looked back at the dual toned man.
"Y'know weed helps with anxiety too, right?" He asked, gesturing to the pan of brownies rapidly cooling on the counter. "And insomnia." He added. "You ever tried it?" Todoroki looked at him for a moment, seemingly surprised by the question as he shook his head resolutely.
"We are both aware of how my father behaved for most of my adolescence, yes?" He asked, fingers tapping against the mug in his hands. "He grounded me for eight months because I took aspirin once without asking. I wasn't exactly a rule-breaker." Hanta raised his brows at him, an incredulous smile playing on his lips.
"Seriously?" He nodded. "What the hell?" He turned back to the pan and reached into the cupboard next to him to grab a container to put the treats in. He noticed Todoroki staring and looking back at him, holding the container out toward him invitingly.
"Wanna try one?"
Shouto shook his head immediately, looking like Sero just accused him of murder, and put his hand up in polite refusal.
"No thanks." He said, anxiety spiking at the very idea of it. "I'll stick to my vices." He held up his mug, tapping the edge against the Tupperware in a make-believe toast. Sero shrugged and popped a lid on the brownies, sticking the dirty tray in the sink to wash later.
"Offers open whenever." He said, then turned and made his way back to his room. As Shouto watched his gray sleep shirt retreat down the hallway, he couldn't help but think about taking him up on the offer. He really could use the rest.
Then he shook his head to clear it of the ludicrous idea, set his mug in the sink, and headed back to his room.
He didn't sleep.