I'll Have a Blue Christmas (As Long As You're Here With Me)

Finding More Than Anticipated

Sero wouldn't describe himself as a detective. He liked watching mystery shows and could figure out the entire plot before the title sequence even finished, but he wouldn't consider that detective work. Rather, a mix of luck and a predictable choice of entertainment.

Still, he started to get a bit worried when Todoroki didn't show up to the mall. And then Bakugo and Midoriya are quiet the whole time, looking guilty and knowing. Sero knew those two had a childhood past and secrets together but his brain automatically connected Todoroki's absence and the weird behavior of his friends together.

And he wanted to ask, if only that wouldn't worry so many people. And what if it was nothing? What if he stuck his nose into something completely unrelated and caught a whiff of something he shouldn't have?

Sero: Hey! I have your manga! It was really good and I can't believe that cliffhanger! Can I get the next volume tomorrow? I can come by your place or whatever

He sent that the Saturday he had gotten to his house. No response from Todoroki still.

Now, he wasn't stupid. Everyone knew Todoroki had just about no knowledge on texting and sometimes forgot to respond to things. So most of the time they opted to speak to him in person or over the phone because then he couldn't forget, and he seemed more comfortable with it anyway.

But he usually got to it at some point. Even if it was replying to a text from the day before or even weeks before, he responded when he noticed.

So Sero was just a bit concerned when he saw Todoroki hadn't even read the text. Skiing with some old friends and Kirishima was definitely something that took his mind off of it, but when he went to bed that night he couldn't get the thought that something might've happened out of his brain. It was possible. They'd been our before and Midoriya had been targeted. And no offense to Midoriya, but he was just a UA student.

Todoroki was a UA student, and the son of the top hero. And while you'd think that was good protection, the top hero was busy, probably too busy to spend time protecting his son, as bad as that sounds.

"You gonna come in or what?"

Sero looked up. Oh, his mom had already walked into the house, Kaminari was standing at the door waiting.

"Yea, sorry."

Sero's family and Kaminari's family got along great. They'd gone to some sort of parent-teacher meeting and ran into each other, and loved each other. So now they were practically forced to spend time with each other, not that either minded.

He took off his gloves and shoes, followed by his coat. Slipping on the slippers provided by Kaminari, he followed said boy into the back of the house.

"Just wait till the turkey is done. My mom makes it perfectly you're gonna die of like overwhelmed tastebuds or something." Kaminari boasted, pulling out two controllers and fixing his pillows.

"Hm. My family isn't very big on cooking so I'm sure it'll be pretty good."

Kaminari gave him an odd look, but exchanged it for a smile and tossed a controller his way. "Okay, player 2. Mario Kart or Minecraft?"

They played until Sero's mom came and announced that dinner was finished. Both boys blinked their strained eyes, minds slowly returning to the non-blocky world.

They made their plates and dispersed around the house, both boys already used to the fact that Kaminari's family couldn't sit still and had to occupy themselves with TV instead of plain talking.

Kaminari and Sero walked shoulder to shoulder into Kaminari's room, opening the window and climbing onto the roof. Sero pulled Kaminari up a ledge and they both sat down. Kaminari's neighborhood wasn't nearly as snowy as Sero's, so his roof wasn't slippery as much as it was damp. Their pants soaked up the water some but it was just cold.