#oopsy late for the holidays bc i was physically and mentally unwell 🤘

[blushinggray]

change of plans: part 8

sero hanta x fem!reader

part 8/? (part 7 | part 1)

The holiday party

cw // fluff, partying, slight shenanigans, exes popping up, a lil drama, lots of mistletoe

—

Yaoyorozu's house is massive.

Like, not just a big three story with four full size bathrooms and twice as many bedrooms. Her family's estate takes up the entire block and then some because of that long ass driveway to the actual mansion from the front gate. Anyone who didn't have a car to drive her probably had to take a taxi from the nearest station.

And while only the ground floor is being used for the party, it's still big enough to host a ton of festivities. You had assumed there'd be a bunch of people, but not a third of the student population...

Most of the partygoers are scattered about the huge dining hall, where the long dining table has a ton of food and desserts laid out on one side of the room to make room for people to dance. Jirou is atop an elevated platform with her turntable on one end of the hall, DJing for the night. And there's a bar for drinks set up on the other end.

But just outside of the dining hall, the main foyer is just as bustling, decked out with a huge Christmas tree for newcomers to gawk at when they enter the building. And for loiterers to just hang about before they switch around to the other rooms. Yaoyorozu has taken it upon herself to set up a ton of different recreation centers within the different available rooms.

So far, you've seen typical bar and party games like pool tables, dart boards, beer pong, and board games. You've also seen rooms with DDR mats, video game consoles, and VR headsets set up for use. You could also hear people belting out to karaoke from a couple different rooms. One room had a photo area setup with a bunch of holiday accessories and props for friends to take pictures together. There was even a room just covered up in chalkboard walls for people to play picture/word games or let out their inner artist.

The whole house is decked out in winter holiday decor, and at least half of the attendees are dressed for the occasion as well. Jirou is spinning a few Christmas remixes into her set, some of the drinks are decorated with mini candy canes, and there's mistletoe hung in so many strategic places. You've already seen a dozen mistletoe kisses exchanged in good spirits.

Someone has actually taken it upon themselves to walk around with a mistletoe dangling from a stick and string, feeding people shots and playing Christmas cupid. Apparently his name is Tetsutetsu, from the engineering department or something. And he shows up out of nowhere with his mistletoe fishing rod, cheering to announce his presence around the chosen couple before he pours shots straight from a liquor bottle (with a pour spout, at least) into their mouths and waits for them to exchange a kiss.

It's all in good fun though, and he certainly livens up the room whenever he shows up. A few of your friends have already gotten caught by the Tetsutetsu mistletoe and ended up kissing friends and strangers alike.

Everything is beyond your imagination and fathomability for a college party. You suppose you should consider yourself lucky to be some part of one of Yaoyorozu's extended friend groups. The girl herself has been busy hosting, talking to newcomers and acquaintances, letting everyone know what they're free to enjoy, and managing the manor staff to keep everything running smoothly.

You've been enjoying yourself, talking to close friends and running into old ones, as well as acquaintances and meeting new ones, dancing for a few songs, drinking a few cocktails, participating in a game or activity every so often, and getting caught for a mistletoe kiss yourself once or twice (which you usually oblige with a kiss on the cheek). But you've been keeping an eye out for someone most of the evening so far. Someone that you've been waiting to talk to almost two weeks now.

While you haven't run into Sero in person since that surprise call where he confessed that he liked you ("like, a lot"), you've kept up some contact through texting and the occasional call at night. Both of you had been rather busy with your finals, much like everyone else, so maybe it was only a couple times a day, but you both agreed you'd talk more in person. Which, on top of finishing finals, has made this party that much more worth waiting for.

Every time he'd be on the phone with you or you sent him a cute photo to help "motivate" him (per his request), he'd groan about how he couldn't wait to see you at this party. So you're kind of wondering what's keeping him. You haven't seen him around yet, though you've run into one or two of his main buddies.

But you figure the night is still young. The two of you are sure to run into one another at some point tonight, right? You're still free to enjoy yourself without him for now. You've got plenty of things to celebrate, after all.

You and your friends are all free from the torture of the semester and you all look cute as heck tonight, so you bring them over to get some photos taken. Then you spend some time playing pictionary in the chalkboard room. People shuffle around groups as you get drinks, migrate through rooms, get new drinks, revisit the dance floor, refill your drinks, take bathroom breaks, and cheer whenever Tetsutetsu and his mistletoe show up into the room.

By the time you stumble into one of the karaoke rooms to find Ashido and a few other familiar faces, you are pretty sloshed. You squeal when you see her and open your arms out for a hug, which she squeals and returns in equal excitement.

"Girl! Oh my god, you look so cute!" she gushes, "I love the beret!!"

"Thank you!" You chuckle, offering a pose.

Your outfit is pretty simple, but perfectly festive for the holiday theme, you'd say. You tucked a loose, slightly fuzzy, white sweater into a red pleated skirt, with some black tights and lace up boots to protect yourself from the cold outside. And you added a long necklace and a white beret just to do it up a bit, tying it all together with a small red bag that you've been carrying on one shoulder.

You compliment Ashido's and the other girls' outfits too, everyone exchanging store names and tips as someone belts out to Mariah Carey in the background. All of you chat for a few minutes before the song some of the girls had queued up starts playing on the machine, so you all run up to crowd the TV and starting singing and dancing along, whether you grabbed a mic or not.

Soon after, you're going up with your friends to choose another song from the menu tablet when you feel a tap on your shoulder, "[Name]?"

Your heart immediately spikes in your chest in excitement, hope, and nervousness at the sound of the male voice. But it's only when you turn around that you realize that it wasn't the voice of the person you were expecting (waiting for all night).

It is, however, a familiar and friendly face. One that you recognize from high school, actually.

"Kosei!" you shriek, immediately coming forward to give him a hug, "Hey! How's it going?"

"Good, good. Really good now that finals are over." Tsuburaba chuckles as he gives you a few friendly pats before letting you go, "How about you?"

The two of you go back and forth for a bit, but there's a small ball of nerves starting to form in your stomach. Tsuburaba is a friend; not a particularly close one, but a friend nonetheless. But... if he's here, then there's a pretty high chance that someone else is nearby...

"Oh yeah, and uh..." he transitions sheepishly, pointing to his friends behind him who are chatting with your crowd of friends, "Actually, Sen's here tonight, too. I hope that's not... too weird, or whatever."

Dammit. Just as you thought.

Among the other engineering guys who've appeared in the room, you recognize Awase, Shoda, Bondo, and... of course, Tsuburaba's best friend and the source of all your trust issues, Kaibara.

The start of your fuckboy allergy and the very guy you were so hung up on freshman year. A guy whom you haven't heard from since, actually. But you've since gotten over the whole thing. So the time away should have left no residual feelings to stir up.

None.

"No, it shouldn't be too weird." You say to reassure your friend, as well as yourself, "It's a party. Everyone should be celebrating."

"Okay." Tsuburaba gives you a thoughtful look, but nods anyway. Then he turns over to look at his friend, as if giving him some sort of signal, because Kaibara excuses himself from the group and starts walking up to you two.

Which is fine. Because there are no residual feelings.

"Hey, [Name]." He smiles.

But fuck, does he look good tonight.

You want to hit yourself across the face for letting your eyes linger on how tightly his shirt clings to his waist beneath his open jacket. And his face... fuck, you hate how he has a face that's so hard to turn away from or say no to.

"Hey." You try to politely smile back, pointedly ignoring how fucking awkward this is.

"You look great, by the way." He compliments, giving you a quick once over, "Really like the beret."

"Thanks..." You try not to look too into anything he says, "How's uh... How's everything going? How's Spiral?"

God, why. Why are you bringing up his fucking cat like it's any of your business?? Or exposing the fact that you remember his cat at all??

"He's good. As demanding as ever. He misses you though." He chuckles.

"Yeah, I bet. Since I would actually bother to pet him." You find yourself joking.

"Hey, I pet him!" Kaibara defends, "Everyone pets him. Even Tsubu here. He just doesn't like us as much."

"I wonder why." You tease.

You banter back and forth like this for a bit more, until Ashido appears at your side, wrapping and arm around your waist and speaking rather loudly, "Heyyyy, guys. [Name], what're ya doing? Weren't cha gonna pick a song with us?"

"Oh, right." You recall, following her as she excuses the two of you from the guys on your behalf.

"What the heck are doing, talking to your ex like that??" She whispers aggressively as she leads you both towards the touch pad attached to a holder on the wall.

"He's not technically my ex." You whisper back huffily, rolling your eyes, "We were never 'officially' together."

"Which is exactly why you shouldn't be letting him sweet talk you with that pretty face of his!" She reminds you, "I don't wanna hear you singing 'Last Christmas' for three months after the holidays again!"

"I'm not!" You defend, scrolling through your options and trying to read them with your slightly blurred vision. You and Ashido go off tangent for a bit to actually pick a song and queue it up before you get back to the subject at hand, "And for the record, I was just trying to be civil. I’m still friends with Kosei."

"Fine. But I'm gonna keep my eye out for the two of you tonight." She declares, which you kind of appreciate. "Plus, don't you and Sero have something going on anyway?"

You let out of a deep sigh after you both step away from the tablet and refill your cups with some lemon water from the dispenser in the room, "Yeah... I uh... We were gonna have a talk about that tonight. But I still haven't seen him yet, and he hasn't texted me all night, so I don't know when it's actually happening."

"Are you serious?" Ashido's eyes widen, immediately pulling out her phone, "Where is that idiot?! I'm going to call his ass right the fuck now."

"No— Mina! Stop that." You push her phone and hands down to intercept her, "If he really wants to, then he'll find me himself. I need... I need to know if he really means it when he tells me something."

You must be thinking out loud now, because you hadn't actually processed that thought before it was already out of your mouth. Your filter isn't working so well at the moment. But you do need to know if he's really serious about all this.

You've been waiting all night to see him, and he still hasn't showed. You'd be disappointed if you found out he wasn't as excited to talk to you as he let on, but you would be devastated if you found out he spent the whole evening having fun with or flirting with someone else. Even if he was busy with friends, you had hoped that he would make some time for you this evening. But you haven't gotten so much as a 'where you at?' text. You don't really enjoy this feeling.

Luckily, Ashido relents with a sigh and leads you back to the TV to help distract you through a few rambunctious renditions of pop and Christmas songs with the others. And it works for the most part, even as you begin to sober up with all the singing and dancing.

However, you're suddenly face to face with a curveball when you see that Kaibara is still here and appears next to you when you're choosing another song.

"Can I sing one with you?" He asks, giving you that smile that you can't say no to.

"With me?" You chuckle, "I don't recall you being much of a singer."

"Ouch." He says jokingly.

"No— I meant, like, you're not usually one to pick up the mic at karaoke." You rephrase, though you don't know why you feel the need to spare his feelings.

"That's true, I'm usually not." he admits, "But you guys looked like you were having so much fun, so I figured I'd give it a go, too."

"Then why didn't you ask Kosei or one of the others? I'm sure their music taste is probably closer to yours than mine."

"I don't think our collective music taste really fits the vibe for a party like this," he chuckles as he steps a little closer to you, tapping through the tablet to browse through the music options. Suddenly, you're reminded of how tall he is, yet still the perfect height to leave a kiss on the forehe—

"You still like Hawks, don't you?" He asks, bringing you out of your intrusive thoughts and memories.

You immediately groan at the mention of one of your favorite producers/artists, looking up at Kaibara with a helpless expression, "You know I do..."

He chuckles with that pretty smile of his before looking up Hawks in the artists catalogue, "Let's sing one of his songs together then."

So that's how you find yourself standing beside Kaibara in front of the TV ten minutes later, singing a rather smooth duet and getting caught up in the fun of the song. While Kaibara doesn't go all out like you and your other drunk friends do, he easily takes your hand to spin you around and rock to your rhythm. Enough to get a little closer than necessary for two people with clear history between them.

And you're reluctant to admit it, but you're having a pretty good time.

While his trap is pretty clear to see — the flirty banter, choosing one of your favorite artists and songs, the smoky eyes he's been giving you as he sings with you — and you are still a bit tipsy to be in your right mind, you're enjoying yourself. It's easy to guess what he wants, but it's not so bad feeling wanted. Even if it's not seriously, or by the person you had been hoping for most of the evening.

It kind of reminds you of all the fun times you had with him before shit started to crumble. He's still the same hot, fun, charismatic guy he once was. He still even wants the exact same things — a good time without any pressures. But all that just goes to show how good of a time he's always given you.

All of the excitement and fun and drunkenness kind of build up like a snowball rolling down a mountain, and lead to a bit of a lapse in judgement when you see and hear Tetsutetsu — the Mistletoe Man — bounce into the room, cheering and stirring up a commotion until he hangs his mistletoe fishing line over you and Kaibara in the middle of your song.

"Oh my god." Your voice is drowned out as Tetsutetsu hypes everyone up in the room and holds his liquor bottle out to you both.

Kaibara happily leans down and opens his mouth for the shot, and Tetsutetsu pours in a generous amount, clapping his back heartily and shouting with a big smile, "Kaibara! My man!"

It only just occurs to you that they're both in the engineering department, which must be how they know each other. And possibly why you were targeted. But the loud newcomer is already turning to you so you don't have time to dwell on it, "How 'bout a shot for you, sweetie?" He holds up the bottle for you.

You shake your head with a roll of your eyes before graciously bending your knees and opening your mouth for the shot. There are cheers as you taste the harsh flavor of tequila and struggle to swallow it down without making a face.

And when you stand upright again, you're met with your next task/obstacle. Meeting Kaibara's eyes is like looking down an ocean cliff, filled with thrill and nerves and fear of consequences. But then he gives you that pretty smile and a cute shrug and you suddenly see a short window where the tide will help cushion your fall.

You kind of want to. You admit, you do kind of want to dive back in, just to see if you can still swim in those warm eyes and big hands. But at the same time, you know better than that. You know better than to dive into shallow waters. Even wading through a tipsy fog, you still know that.

But all the same, you can't escape the pressure of your peers and a good party. So with a deep breath and a shrug of acceptance, you tilt your head to the side to show your cheek to him.

Your heart is racing as you feel his hand beneath your chin to hold you in place as he obligingly kisses your cheek. You hear some cheers from the room, but when Kaibara turns your chin back to face him and goes in for a more full frontal kiss on the mouth, they get even louder.

You're wide-eyed, but your eyelids are fluttering in surprise. Surprise at the kiss itself, as well as how familiar and warm Kaibara's lips are. Yet somehow different. Maybe it's just been a while since you last kissed him, but there's something new that you can't quite pinpoint.

Different or not, though, you're not so down bad that you'd be willing to let things go his way. So after you pull away, you give him a punch in the arm. Playfully, but also half serious.

He laughs as he rubs at the new sore spot and Tetsutetsu gives his last hurrahs to the room before leaving to torture some other poor souls with his mistletoe shots. The karaoke song is over by then, so you return the mic to the stand on the cupboard for the next person.

Kaibara comes up beside you to do the same, putting a hand on your lower back. And he whispers to you, "That was really nice."

"Yeah, well," you adjust your beret and necklace, limbs tingling with adrenaline, "Consider it a holiday gift, I guess."

Before you can walk off, Kaibara grabs your wrist and comes close to your ear again, "Maybe I'll see you later?"

You inhale a deep breath through your nose before you turn to face him, studying that stupidly pretty face of his.

And you even consider it for a second. A very short second. Because drunk as you are, you know that there are so many better choices for you to make than this tonight.

But you only manage a vague reply, "Maybe."

Then you pull your wrist back and round the karaoke floor area to return to the water dispenser, where you left your bag with Ashido.

And to your surprise, you find her there with none other than the one guy you had been hoping to see all night. She's speaking in aggressive whispers to Sero, even shaking his shoulders a bit, until he turns and meets your eyes. Then they both freeze when they see you.

"Hey." He greets.

"Hey." You reply, walking up to them when Ashido pulls hands away from Sero and gives him a lecturing look. "I was, uh... I was looking for you."

"Yeah, me too." He says, kind of breathlessly, "Sorry I didn't text you. I was out all day and my phone died on me."

"Oh." you nod, awkwardly.

You're drunk and spiraling. When did he get here? How long has he been here? Did he see that kiss just now?? Does he— Does he think that— that... you enjoyed it? Or that you aren't serious about him?

But at the same time he and you aren't even a thing yet? So it's not like you owe him anything? And it's not like you haven't caught him with someone else before. Though you did feel kinda shitty after that. If he feels anything like you did at that time, you have no idea if it would work in your favor or not.

"Want some water?" Ashido interrupts your thoughts, holding out a cup to you, which you thankfully take.

"That was a pretty eventful song." Sero says with a chuckle, though you can't tell if there's any actual humor in it because you're still a little fogged up.

But damn. So he did see it.

Awesome.

"Yeah, I'll say." You sigh as you put your emptied cup down.

"Are you okay?" Ashido asks you, with genuine concern, her eyes flashing quickly towards Sero.

"I'll be fine." You answer decidedly, then look carefully up at Sero, "But I could use some air."

"I'll take you," Sero jumps on your cue immediately, "Vamos afuera."

Ashido hands you back your bag with a quiet whisper of "good luck" before you follow Sero out of the room, wishing the very same thing for myself.

—

tbc

part 9