Dé à coudre

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Summary: Sero Hanta slides from the One-Sided Rivalry Zone and dives head first into the Pining Wasteland so fast he doesn't even notice until he's already half drowning under the feels. Sero/Todoroki.

For the trope: 'You beat and humiliated me once so I made it my life goal to defeat you and regain my honor except now that I'm aggressively staring at you all the time I'm seeing things I would have never noticed and I'm lowkey falling for you, kill me now'. Don't look at me, it's a real and valid trope.

Pairing: Sero Hanta/Todoroki Shouto. Yes for real.

Note: The title means thimble in french. It's a reference to Peter Pan, and I used that because I couldn't find a title I liked and a line in the fic made me think of it.

This work was betaed by the amazing ohmytheon!

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Sero Hanta would be the first to admit he has many flaws. He's lazy. He's forgetful. He's unobservant. He can be selfish. He's not mindful enough of people's feeling when he makes jokes. He doesn't take things seriously enough sometimes. He drinks milk straight from the bottle, blames Kaminari when he farts, and doesn't put the lid of toilet back down like a true heathen.

So yes, Hanta is far, far from perfect, but one flaw he does not have is pettiness. Hanta is not petty. He has never managed to hold a grudge for more than twelve hours. He has never plotted revenge in the darkness of the night. He hardly ever gets angry. Can't even remember if he ever yelled at someone.

His mother says he's such a scatterbrain that he forgets why he was supposed to be furious at someone after a few hours. She might have a point.

No matter the reason, the fact is that Hanta is not petty. He's a chill dude who would rather forget about the conflict and move on. It's just who he is as a person.

And then the UA tournament happened. And then Todoroki Shouto happened.

When he walked in that arena, Hanta knew he had no chance of winning in the first place. He really did. He had seen what Todoroki was capable of and was more than aware they didn't play in the same court. The most he could hope for was to make a decent showing of his skills before his opponent eventually beat him. He didn't begrudge Todoroki for defeating him. The dude had won fairly.

But did he have to humiliate him so thoroughly? Was it absolutely necessary?

For once in his life, Hanta can't stop thinking about something. His mind keeps on replaying the scene on a loop, over and over and over. The fearful shock when the ice swallowed him whole. The frost creeping on his limbs, on his torso, on his heart. The feeling of complete, debilitating, humiliating helplessness. The utter indifference in Todoroki's eyes, as if he hardly saw Hanta at all, neither as a worthy opponent, a comrade, or even as a person.

The worst part came after. People trying to comfort him, saying 'it was just bad luck he got Todoroki', 'nobody thought less of him', or 'it wasn't his fault'. Not his fault. Pff. Of course it's his own goddamn fault that he's so weak his opponent couldn't even be bothered to acknowledge him.

Fuck, but he hates that feeling. Hates it. He hates staying awake at night, ruminating about that fight, thinking about what he could have done instead of getting wrecked in one second like a hopeless fool. He hates the restlessness, the frustration, the self-loathing tugging on his nerves constantly and festering in his mind, like a infected wound throbbing on his self-esteem. He hates the beast nested in his chest, clawing against his ribs and roaring for revenge at the simple sight of red and white hair and stormy eyes.

Hanta doesn't know what to do with all this...this pettiness. He has never felt this way. He wishes he could squeeze his rage, his humiliation, his obsession, his loathing and throw it all away from him. He wants to move on from this – he really does – but can't.

After one month of wallowing in his misery, Hanta is finally ready to accept the fact that the problem is not going away on its own. He needs to do something about it.

He needs to defeat Todoroki in a fight.

Maybe not defeat. He's not that deluded yet. But at least have a serious fight. Prove to the world and to himself he's not a weak loser. Make Todoroki see him.

It's not a question of revenge, he tells himself. It's a question of honor. Hanta has to regain his pride as a fighter, as a UA student, as a future pro-hero. Otherwise, he will never move on. Hanta doesn't want to become that pathetic asshole unable to let go of his embarrassment. He has to do something. Anything. Gathering all that rage and shame and using it constructively seems like a good plan. Better than glaring at Todoroki at class, snapping at his friends without good reason all day, and brooding about his defeat at night.

It's decided. Hanta will make Todoroki Shouto acknowledge him – or he will die trying.

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Hanta thought he had taken his studies seriously before. Sure, he wasn't an overeager pushover like Midoriya or Yaoyorozu, but he put a decent amount of time in his homework. Sure, he didn't mind losing an entire afternoon playing video games or drawing idlelesslly, but he wasn't as bad as Kaminari or Mineta. Relaxing was important too, he told himself. He wanted to be a hero – has since his childhood. He had the time to hone his skills, he told himself.

And boy, what an idiot he had been. It's only now that he's actively working himself to the bone to improve that he realizes the difference between his past mindset and the dedication that some of his classmates put in their studies.

Drive changes everything. He's lowkey ashamed it took such a petty reason for him to get working seriously on his goals and dreams. Well. Better late than never.

He wonders if Bakugou feels like this all the time. Probably not. Hanta's motivation is but a teardrop compared to the endless ocean of Bakugou's determination to Be The Fucking Best. It's for the best. Hanta doubts he could handle the overwhelming amount of rage his classmate lives with, if one little grudge is enough to mess him up.

"Sero, bro." Kirishima leans over the couch Hanta is miserably curled on. "You sick or something?"

Hanta opens one eye without bothering to raise his head to greet his friend properly. "Nah. I went on a jog this morning and now I'm paying for my sins."

All his muscles are screaming in protest at the harsh treatment of his body. He wants nothing more than to nest in his bed in the fetal position and wait to die, but stairs seem too much of a trial right now. Damn, what an idiot he is. He knows Midoriya wakes up early every day to jog before class starts. He thought it couldn't be that hard. He thought wrong.

"Wow!" Kirishima whistles, but doesn't comment any further. "I'm gonna make myself some hot cocoa. Want some?"

Kirishima is a god among men, and Hanta doesn't deserve his kindness. Nobody does. "Please."

"I've got your back, fam." The red-haired teen chuckles, empathically clasping Hanta's shoulder once before skipping toward the kitchen.

The common room is practically empty, aside from Iida tapping energetically on his laptop on the other side of the room and Asui pouring herself tea in the kitchen. Unsurprising, for an early Sunday morning. Most of his comrades are still sleeping, as he would be if life was fair. Hanta doesn't know why he's doing such things to himself. Except he kinda does.

The mere thought of indifferent blue and grey eyes is enough to twist his belly with renewed determination.

"There you go!" Kirishima cheerfully puts two steaming cups on the coffee table in front of them and manages to squeeze his butt on the couch between Hanta's feet and the pile of cushion on the other end.

"You're a blessing, bro," Hanta declares, eagerly reaching out for his own beverage.

Kirishima laughs brightly. "No problem!"

They blow at the steam over their respective cup and take a sip. The warmth between Hanta's fingers is doing wonders to his sour mood. He feels marginally better already. Kirishima is such a good friend.

"It's really cold to go jogging though," the redhead adds carefully. "Don't catch a cold, Sero, 'kay?"

Oh yeah. Hanta noticed. Frost slipped underneath his gloves to bite the tip of his fingers mercilessly and dove inside his throat, completely ignoring the presence of his scarf around his neck. That really stupid and petty part of him gargles mockingly at his weakness. How is he supposed to even put a dent in Todoroki's armor if he can't handle a harmless winter breeze?

"Chill, Mother." He smirks. "I put my gloves and scarf and everything."

Kirishima nudges at him playfully in retaliation. "Oi, I'm just concerned! You've been working really hard lately."

Since the Tournament, his buddy tactfully doesn't say. Kirishima is so much more observant than people give him credit for. He definitely knows something is up with Hanta. He's just too nice to call his buddy out on his bullshit. "Yeah. Maybe."

Kirishima hums along without commenting, sipping on his drink. He doesn't ask why. There is a good chance he already knows. "Wake me up if you want company. I could use the training, to be honest. Ahaha!"

Hanta smiles behind his cup. They both know Kirishima certainly doesn't need more training, considering how often he follows Bakugou's insane workout regimen.

"Will do."

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Todoroki really is a mystery, Hanta has to admit after weeks of passive-aggressive observation. He has never met anyone who can fade into the background so well and command an entire room's attention a second later. Sero hasn't paid much attention to the dude before...before. But now that he spends a good part of his day glaring at him like a hawk, he can't help but notice...things.

Like the way Todoroki is quiet. Really quiet. Suspiciously so. There is something odd in how someone so magnetic in battle manages to settle so discreetly behind Midoriya's bright excitement, Yaomomo's polite charisma, or Iida's enthusiastic leadership. Todoroki walks without any noise, barely ever talks if not directly spoken to, and generally makes no effort to participate unless Midoriya or Uraraka probes him. He lets himself be tucked inside the warmth of the Deku Squad and seems perfectly content to linger there without anyone paying attention to him.

There is no way he's not doing it on purpose, Sero has to conclude. The question is why. There is nothing wrong with being introverted. Shouji is introverted. Kouda is introverted. Tokoyami is so introverted; it's practically an art. Nothing wrong with that, but the way Todoroki watches everything from the corners of his eyes and flinches at sudden noises bugs Hanta.

Why he is even overthinking this? Hanta wants to fight the dude, not pat his pretty head, hug him, and tell him everything will be alright.

Staring at Todoroki is like an addiction. Now that he's started doing it, he can't stop himself anymore. His eyes looks for red and white, blue and grey, crimson on cream without thinking. He's so attuned to the layers of Todoroki's blankness that he can actually catch the nuances now. Crow's feet of amusement flickering briefly at the angle of his eyes. Lines of tension on his jaw. Flutters of confusion on his forehead.

Devastating crumbs of mirth hidden at the corner of his mouth. One day he even saw a small dimple crooking wickedly on his cheek. He almost fainted with shock. He blinked in surprise and when he opened his eyes again, it was gone but still. Still.

For fuck's sake. Definitely not the kind of details about his rival Hanta was looking for in the first place, but now it's too late. He can't unsee them and it's the worst ever.

That's why he knows that from an external point of view, Todoroki might just look standoffish and lowkey annoyed by the upperclassman talking to him, but in reality he's dying of embarrassment inside and unconsciously sending Help Me signals.

Well then. Hanta can't let a fellow bro be stuck in a terrible situation, regardless of his personal feelings concerning Todoroki. That would be mean. Hanta might be reluctantly petty now, but he's not mean. Class 1-A has gotta stick together.

"...met your father, Endeavor, and let me tell you…" he overhears the older student say as he gets closer.

Oh oh. Oh no. Not the Forbidden Word. Even Kaminari knows better than to throw around the word Endeavor in Todoroki's vicinity. It's simply Not Done. Awful class 1-A Etiquette. Like touching Dark Shadow without asking for explicit consent first, or bad-mouthing All Might around Midoriya or Bakugou. Or anyone really. Saying bad things about the Great Guy is just a dick move in any context.

The point is, Todoroki looks like he's begging for someone to put him out of his misery and that's not okay. Very much not okay.

Todoroki and him might be rivals, but Hanta is so ready to stage an emergency extraction intervention nonetheless.

"Todoroki, my man." He grins widely as he slides an arm over his classmate's stiff shoulders, physically putting himself between them. Thank god, Todoroki seems too shocked to react and shrug Hanta away for daring to touch him so boldly. "Exactly the guy I was looking for!"

Todoroki blinks curiously, tilting his head to the side. His eyelashes are dark and long, instead of bi-toned like Hanta had theorized. He'd never got close enough to check. Damn, they're close. Very close. So close.

...Fuck. He might have not thought this through.

"Excuse me." Nosy Asshole grits his teeth, staring down at Hanta as if he has never seen such a trashbag before in his life. "Todoroki-san and I are in the middle of a conversation."

"Not anymore, you're not!" Hanta smiles with all his teeth. Ashido says he looks scary as fuck when he does that. Like a shark cheerfully beaming down before he eats you alive. "Todoroki is needed elsewhere. Unless you want to argue with Aizawa-sensei."

The simple mention of their teacher is enough to make the other student recoil in fear. Aizawa-sensei certainly has a reputation in the school. It can be very convenient, and Hanta is not afraid to use it if he needs to.

"It's gonna take a while. Sorry, dude." Hanta keeps on grinning threateningly, hoarding Todoroki closer. To his surprise, the other boy let himself be huddled without uttering a word of protest. "Might as well give up talking to our good man here for today."

Or ever, he attempts to convey with his eyes. Todoroki might be an awkward prick, but he's their awkward prick. No one else is allowed to make him uncomfortable.

"Goodbye," Todoroki automatically says before Hanta drags him away without further ado. It's hilarious how the guy can be simultaneously ruthlessly rude and unfailingly polite, sometimes in the same conversation. As soon as they turn on the corner, out of the Nose Asshole's eyesight, he adds, "What's going on?"

"What?" Hanta repeats confusedly, still fuming with annoyance. He'll have to inform Midoriya of the incident. It goes without saying the green-haired student is the de-facto leader of the Todoroki Protection Squad. "Oh! Nothing is going on man. I just thought you wanted to get rid of that assho...guy."

"Ah." Todoroki says tonelessly.

Hanta removes his arm from Todoroki's shoulders sheepishly. Perhaps he misjudged the situation after all. He managed to convince himself he could read the broody boy's mood, but at the end of the day, they aren't friends.

"Thank you." Todoroki eventually bows in head in gratitude. "I appreciate it."

Oh. Oh no. Hanta doesn't like this feeling. Not at all.

"It-It's fine. Don't worry about it."

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Some people enter quietly into your life, so quietly you don't even notice they're here until they've made their bed in your heart. Some people knock politely, ask for permission, invite you to their own home for tea. Some people break in by the window, raid your kitchen, settle on your couch, and simply refuse to ever leave. Some people have been there for long you can't even remember what it feels like not to have them around.

Bakugou is not like some people. He's in a category of his own. Bakugou is the type to cannonball through your door at 5 am and yell at you to just fucking get up already, wimp.

Literally.

"TAPE ELBOWS! WAKE THE FUCK UP!"

Hanta jumps off his bed and sends his tapes flying straight to the ceiling. One man doesn't survive multiple villain attacks without gaining a few healthy reflexes out of the experience. Some might call it trauma. Hanta prefers the expression coping mechanism.

"What" – he squints down at a fuming Bakugou from his position on the wall – "the hell are you doing, Bakugou!"

Bakugou crosses his arms in front of his chest and snorts. "Get down here, loser. We're going to train, you and I."

"Training?" Hanta skeptically repeats. He must be dreaming still. No way the Mighty Bakugou would ask him to train with him. No way.

"You heard me, dickhead. Now get the fuck down before I come get you."

Hanta gets the fuck down. Bakugou doesn't make threats he doesn't intend to realize.

"Bakugou, it's five am," he moans when he notices his alarm. "Five. A. M. You madman."

"Winners wake early." Bakugou grins widely as he grabs Hanta by the collar of his sweatshirt. "Get dressed already. I'll be waiting by the training ground. If you're not there in five, I'll fucking destroy you."

Which means Hanta will get destroyed in all cases. Seriously, where is this coming from? Bakugou has never manifested any interest in him at all, even less as potential victim...ahem, training partner. Maybe he noticed how much Hanta has been working to improve lately and wanted to...help? In his own way?

Nah. Not Bakugou. He probably just wants to pummel someone new into the ground.

Well. Not like Hanta has a choice in the first place. Might as well try to make the experience constructive. He's never going to scratch Todoroki if he can't even hold his ground against Bakugou.

It will be hell, but educative hell. At least that's what he tells himself when Bakugou makes him bite the dust. Again and again and again.

When Hanta lumps into class later, his body an autel to the God of Suffering and his eyes exhausted beyond belief, Kirishima and Ashido gasped in surprise.

"Dude, what happened?" Kaminari squeezes his shoulder with concern.

"Training with Bakugou." He tries to smile. "I think my bruises have bruises of their own. Ahaha! On the plus side, I learned a lot!"

How to dodge explosions, mostly. A useful skill to develop in this class. He almost landed a hit on Bakugou too. Lord Explosion Murder hissed in what sounded like approval in Bakugou speech.

On the other side of the room, he catches sight of Todoroki frowning at him. He doesn't look pleased at all. Hanta waves awkwardly at him. The gesture hurts, but at least Todoroki decides to direct his murderous glare to Bakugou instead of him, so it counts as a win.

Uh. Weird.

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Todoroki is staring back now. He never gave any sign he cared or even noticed Hanta trying to pry him open with his eyes before. Now he's glaring back, those blank grey and blue eyes regularly directed straight at Hanta's face, and it's freaking him out.

Is he trying to intimidate Hanta? There is no need for that. Hanta is already plenty intimidated. Pretty people are enough to make him small and stupid; pretty and strong people he had vowed to fight are even scarier. The simple idea of talking to Todoroki is enough to twist his belly with unease. He doesn't know how he's supposed to ask the man on a fight, even less to the fight itself. Where is that coming from? The sight of Todoroki used to wake waves of loathing, not self-consciousness.

Anyway. He probably noticed Hanta being creepy and is trying to make him understand his blatantly stalkerish tendencies are not acceptable behavior. Nothing Hanta doesn't agree with. He was bound to be called out on his bullshit at some point. It's a miracle no one caught on it before.

That being said, he didn't expect Midoriya to corner him on the subject.

"Hm, S-Sero-kun?" Midoriya catches his sleeve at the end of class. "D-do you mind if we take a minute to t-talk? Privately, I mean?"

Behind Midoriya smiling awkwardly, Uraraka beams at him. For some reason, her glowing smile looks really, really threatening. That smiles says clearly he has no room to refuse.

"Sure?" Hanta answers, rubbing the back of his head sheepishly, avoiding Uraraka's eyes. "What do you two want to talk about?"

"P-please forgive in advance for putting my nose where it doesn't belong," Midoriya stutters, blushing brightly and looking like he'd rather be doing anything but this. "But I– We couldn't help but notice you seemed to be watching Todoroki-kun. A lot."

Oh shit. Welp. "I do? Oh man, that's so embarrassing! I'll..try to stop? Damn, should I apologize or something? That's so rude." He tries to laugh, authentically mortified.

He can already imagine that conversation. 'Sorry for staring at you like a creep, bro. At first I was just trying to kill you with my eyes, since I'm a petty piece of shit. And now I just can't look away because you're so interesting to watch. How dare you be so pretty, uh?'

Uraraka giggles behind her fist, looking at him like she knows what kind of dirty thoughts lurks in Hanta's soul. Hanta dearly wishes someone had the mercy to put an end to his misery already.

"No! That's not what I meant at all!" Midoriya shakes his hands in front of him frantically. "I don't think Todoroki really...minds? I-I just think – and please forgive me for my boldness again – you should maybe...talk about it with him? Todoroki-kun is...very shy. He's probably never going to say anything if you don't."

Hanta blinks skeptically. Talk with Todoroki? About his wounded ego? He would rather not.

"What Deku-kun means," Uraraka chirps behind her green-haired friend's shoulder, "is that you should probably ask Todoroki-kun in person. Be very direct. He might not get the message otherwise."

Well, Hanta had planned to ask Todoroki for a rematch at some point. But like...not right now? Or anytime soon. Hanta had done a lot of progress – his friends and professors had said so themselves – but not that much. Todoroki hasn't been standing around idlelessly in the meantime either. "I...was going to? But I don't think I'm ready yet, to be honest."

"Oh!" Midoriya's huge eye glow with understanding. "Oh, yes, of course! That's very relatable! Take all the time you need!"

"Not too much time though," Uraraka adds innocently.

"Uraraka-san!"

"Sorry, sorry!"

Midoriya looks up at him again, smiling brightly. "Good luck, Sero-kun! Just know we're one hundred percent supporting you!"

Uraraka nodded fervently in agreement. "And if you need to talk, we're here for you too!"

Oh. Well that's...nice? Probably? "Thank you?"

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Ask him directly, huh? It might be time, after all. Hanta has spent the last months training for their rematch. He might as well get it over with. At least this time, he knows he has given his best. Even if he loses pathetically, it's still something. Maybe he will manage to get Todoroki and his goddamn accidental attractiveness out of his mind and move on for good.

Alright. Hanta is not a coward. He can do this. He totally can. He's definitely not losing all his composure and crumbling like a house of card in the middle of a tempest in front of Todoroki's frost-like stare.

Nope. Not at all. Hanata is a chill dude. He's got this.

"So uh, Todoroki," Hanta tries, ignoring the panic fluttering under his skin. "I wanted to know if you would...err...if you might consider…"

Welp. This is a true, amazing disaster.

Instead of telling him to get to the fucking point already, Todoroki nods as if he completely understand what Hanta means to say. Is that...a hint of blushing on his cheeks?

"I understand. I'd be honored."

Hanta has a moment of blurry unease. "You...would?"

"Yes. I accept." Todoroki smiles softly, and the blush intensifies.

Hanta's heart legit skips a beat, or three. That smile should be illegal. It's a goddamn weapon and Hanta wasn't prepared for that shit.

"Oh. Oh? O-okay? When would be convenient for you?" Hanta's mouth takes control of the situation, working well enough without the input of his uncapacitated brain.

"Tomorrow afternoon, I'm free."

"Cool! Amazing! It's a date!"

Holy shit. What is Hanta fucking saying? It's a serious rematch to regain his pride. Not a fucking date.

He manages to run away before he can embarrass himself any further. He really needs to find a ditch to die in.

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He doesn't find a ditch to die in. But he does find Ashido's bed to curl into, so that's something. To be more accurate, she finds him freaking out in the corner and proceeds to drag him to her room for an intervention.

"Sero, my dude." She laughs hysterically. "I love you, but you're really thick sometime. It is a date!"

Pff. What does she know? "No, it's not." He glares at her from underneath her pink blankets. "It's a fight. A manly fight. A manly fight to the death."

Instead of being properly chastised, Ashido bursts out laughing again. "Oh my god, Sero." She wipes a tear at the corner of her eye. "Okay. Tell me what happened again."

Hanta tells her again. She's crying with hilarity when he reaches the end of his sad tale for the second time. "You're not being very helpful, Ashido. You should be nicer to me. I'm gonna die tomorrow, after all."

"Dude. You're not going to die. What the hell." She shakes her head hopelessly. "It. Is. A. Date. And you need to prepare accordingly."

It's not a date. There is no way in hell it's a date. Todoroki would never, ever, go on a date with Sero Hanta. He's not saying that to depreciate himself. Hanta knows he's an okay-looking dude, he's funny, he's nice. He's decent datable material. He dated before actually. It never lasted more than a few months, but Hanta has faith in his capacities in that regard. Relatively.

But Todoroki Shouto is Todoroki Shouto. They belong to worlds so inherently incompatible they might as well live on different planets.

"Okay, hear me out." Ashido suddenly changes of tactic. "Todoroki has had a crush on you since what happened with Ashima. I thought you noticed, but didn't want to embarrass him."

"Who?" Hanta asks, confused.

"Ashima? Upperclassman, spiky blond hair, super rude?"

Ah. Right. Nosy Asshole. "Todoroki doesn't have a crush on me. It's preposterous."

"What's preposterous," she declares mockingly, "is the the fact you didn't notice. Like. It's obvious. He stares longingly at you all the time! I even heard that Midoriya and Uraraka talked to you about it!"

They did no such a thing... Oh. Oh. Well that explains a lot. Hanta feels really, really stupid right now. It's still not a date. Right? Right?

"Listen, bro." She claps his shoulder, looking more serious then he has ever seen her. "If it's a date, and you show up prepared for a 'fight to the death', you're going to crush the poor dude's heart. You don't want to crush Todoroki's heart, right?"

"No," Hanta answers without a hesitation. He's not a monster. Todoroki is sensible about those things. His innocence needs to be preserved.

"Then you need to prepare for both possibilities."

Well. That makes sense. It never hurts to be prepared anyway.

Even though it's totally not a date.

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It's totally a date. Even a fancy ponce like Todoroki wouldn't wear an outfit so nice for a fight to the death. He even has a snowflake clip tucked on his left sided hair that just screams Uraraka's intervention. He looks so cute and hopeful, waiting for Hanta to arrive at the entrance of the dorms. Hanta has to other choice but to silently thank Ashido for her insight.

Holy shit, he's going on a date with Todoroki Shouto.

Well. He made his bed, he might as well lie in it.

"Ready to go?" He beams brightly, slipping his arm underneath Todoroki's. "I know a super nice café! Or would you prefer a movie?"

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"You know," Kaminari muses out loud, "in a way, I guess it does count as defeating him, ehe..."

Hanta throws tape on his face. "You shut your filthy mouth about my boyfriend, you heathen."

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A/N: It's the second time I use the 'Save Todoroki From Awkward Social Situations' trope. I'm a weak, weak author.

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