Hidden Potential

XII : I'm Not Jealous

For the rest of the day, Hanta behaved in a perfectly normal way (well, in your eyes at least). Things went fine during the afternoon classes and although he was a bit embarrassed during your tutoring session with him, nothing else was out of character. Even the shyness he was expressing was normal, considering his little outburst during lunch.

You had a chat with the girls about his unusual behaviour when you all arrived at the dorms (behind closed doors, of course). As if she became a completely different person, Mina had suggested you break things off with your boyfriend.

"Over one slip up?" You had skeptically questioned. "He might just be having a bad day, we don't know!" You defended. It seems Mina's opinion was more popular amongst the girls, though.

"It might also show that Sero's not who he looks like behind closed doors. You can't see an abuser at first glance, (Y/N)." Momo tried to rationalize.

"You guys think Sero's violent? As in, an abusive relationship?!" You whisper-yelled. "You guys are crazy! Are we even talking about the same person here?"

"I'm just saying that he got scary today." Mina raised her hands in the air. "Even if it was just a second, maybe it was a second where his true colours showed!"

"You guys saying Hanta may be an abuser is like saying All Might's the world's worst villain." You muttered, getting up. "Look, I'll go talk about it with him, okay? I'm sure he was just having a bad day."

"Be careful, (Y/N)!" Uraraka shot back. You barely repressed the urge to roll her eyes. Not her too! "Don't be afraid to fight back, okay? Help is really close if you need it."

These girls' imagination was really active, wasn't it? There's no way your boyfriend could be what they made him out to be. You've been with him for well over a month now. You would have seen the signs way earlier, no? That couldn't be it. Hanta loves you and you love him.

Arriving at his room, your body stopped a few steps away from his door, as if it was doubting your own thoughts. It seems your friends can really get to you if they tried, can't they?

He's not a bad person.

Hanta is not a bad person.

Hanta can't be a bad person.

Taking a deep breath and shrugging off your irrational fears, you knocked on his door and waited for the familiar pitter-patter of his feet on the floor as he walked over to let you in.

Opening the door, you noticed his face shift from confused and curious to surprised and happy before settling on a slightly guilty expression.

"Hey-" You cut yourself off as your eyes shifted down to the shirt he was wearing. "Is that... my junior high hoodie?" You asked him, glancing at the left shoulder where your last name was distinctly written. It sure was your hoodie. It's fine, dark purple sort of suited him, which was impressive. Your school's horrible choice of a purple hoodie with bright yellow writing didn't suit a lot of people, but it sure did a number on him.

Your boyfriend reddened and bashfully looked down at his clothes. "Aha, I guess so. I happen to be a clothes thief? I wasn't aware until now, sorry..." He then stood aside as you walked into his room and closed the door behind you. "Are you okay? It's relatively late, you know..."

"It's Friday." You reminded. "We don't have school tomorrow." You then sat on his bed and watched as Hanta awkwardly stood by the door, avoiding direct eye contact with you. "Hanta, can you tell me what's wrong? You've been acting weird today."

The boy slid your hoodie's sleeves over his hands and started playing with them, not answering your question. Although it was incredibly cute, now was not the time to fawn over your boyfriend and how adorable he was. "You can't just leave me in ignorance, Hanta. I'm worried for you. And you know I'm here to help, right? If you need to, I'll be glad to accompany you to get help."

"I don't need help, I swear!" He finally muttered. "I just... I got scared today."

You quickly recalled what could have frightened him so, until something in your mind clicked. He was jealous. "Scared of Kirishima?"

"No, not that! I wasn't jealous!" Sero assured. Any other boy would get incredibly defensive over something like that. Some might even get a little loud, but not Sero. His tone was still as soft as ever and he held pure honesty in his eyes as he gained the courage to look at you. You knew he was saying the truth. "I was scared of myself."

"Wanna talk about it?" You asked, getting up from your spot on his bed. You instead settled on his hammock, thinking he might want to have some space for himself. To your great surprise, the boy only walked over to you and managed to maneuver the two of you into a cuddling position where he was resting his head on your shoulder. You didn't know he was this insecure about himself.

"I just don't know what came over me." He muttered. When you reached up to pass a hand through his black hair, you were amazed by the amount of tension that seemed to leave his body. How was he this cramped up? "It's like for one moment, I was watching myself yell at Kirishima in third person. It was so scary, and it wasn't me, and... For a moment, I was afraid I'd hurt someone."

"Hey, it's alright, slip ups happen to the best of us." You sweetly muttered, holding the teenage boy close to you. "There's nothing to worry about."

"There is something to worry about." He regretfully muttered. "I saw the way Ashido was looking at me for the rest of the day. She thinks I'm some kind of lowkey monster. I ruined it."

"Mina tends to be overdramatic," You sighed. "You ruined nothing. No one has anything against you and if they do, we can't do anything about it. We can only prove that they have the wrong image of you, which is pretty easy to prove. I mean, look at you. You're a living, walking meme, you dork. How could someone not love you?"

That seemed to do the trick. You felt the muscles in Sero's cheeks contract as a smile adorned his beautiful features. His hands slid over your waist and settled under you, flattened out over your back. "Thanks." He muttered, making himself cozy against you. That's when you knew you weren't leaving this dorm room tonight. "You mean so much to me. I hope you never forget that."

"I won't." You assured before placing a loving peck on the crown of his head.

"And I hope I won't make you doubt that." Before you could scold him for thinking so negatively of himself, he continued on a better note. "I love you."

You had read all the romance novels that made a big deal of this moment. Of the first time lovers exchange those three words. You thought it'd feel like a ground breaking moment in your life, but right now... It did nothing more than warm your heart. But that's alright, because it's all you needed and wanted. You didn't want that heart-dropping feeling described in novels. All you wanted was a concrete confirmation that you felt the same way, and you got it.

"I love you too, Hanta. God, do I love you." You answered, hearing him let out a sigh of content.

With those words said, the weight of Sero's body over yours and the feeling of his slowing breaths on your collarbone, drifting to sleep had never been easier in your life.