Chapter 5
Hanta stirs, and floats back to consciousness in nearly the same position he fell asleep in. Todoroki's arms are still wrapped around him, and with every even exhale, warm breath dances across Hanta's cheek. It's dark, and the sun hasn't even bothered to say hello yet. Something creaks outside the door, and Mina peeks her head in when Hanta cranes his neck up to look.
"It's go time, Hanta."
"Haa, alright. Gimme a s'c."
Mina closes the door, and Hanta pulls himself up on his elbows over Todoroki. The boy has stirred a bit, but blearily opens his eyes when Hanta runs a hand through his hair. It's messy down the middle, creating almost a pink out of the two colors. Todoroki blinks at him, and turns his head away to yawn. "Is it time to go already?"
"Sure is, menta. Let's get going." Hanta groans as he pulls himself out of bed, immediately missing the large hands that slip out from under his shirt. He yawns, and twists so his spine lets out a crack. Then, he turns back to Todoroki, who's sitting up and running a hand through his hair. Todoroki catches his eye, and despite the looming trip over their heads, they share a small smile.
The mint on Hanta's tongue feels like it's burning him when they finally make it downstairs. Hanta's bag is sitting on the counter, packed and ready to go, and his stomach is buzzing with nerves. Mina is leaning against the island with her hip, and Midoriya is sitting on a stool, holding a small flashlight. The map is spread out, and Mina is carefully copying down a charcoal version of it on a napkin. Her fingers are stained with it, but she just wipes them off on her brown corduroy pants when she's finished. "Ready?"
Hanta glances at Todoroki, who is standing close in his blind spot. Hanta can almost feel the ghost of his hand on the small of his back. Todoroki nods, all tiredness gone from his eyes. He's staring at the map with a full seriousness that somehow depletes some of the anxiety broiling in Hanta's chest. He trusts Todoroki to keep him safe, just like he trusts Mina and is slowly learning to trust Midoriya. "I think so. We got food, jackets, batteries, space blankets, medical stuff... weapons."
Iida had given Midoriya his gun. Some of the bullets in that metal case fit, so now a baggie of them sit in the breast pocket of Midoriya's shirt. A few of them fit the gun in the van. Hanta feels the weight on his hipbone, where the firearm sits in it's own personal sheath. Only emergencies. Please, just be emergencies.
"Alright. Let's go."
They cut through the living room, where three bodies lay sprawled on their respective couches. Mina makes a face at the sleeping forms of Bakugou and Kirishima and Hanta gently smacks her in the shoulder. He gently slides the patio door open, and is the last one out so he can close it. Denki had volunteered for morning watch, which was odd, but he just looks up from his spot on th bench and offers a nervous smile when the four of them pass. Hanta waves at him, and turns back towards the yard.
Just looking past the fence, there's a few lurkers around. The sun hasn't shown it's face yet, but there's just enough light for them to not need flashlights. The dew has frozen, and the ice on the grass crunches under Hanta's boots as he walks. Something in the air smells like his dream.
Todoroki hops the fence effortlessly, carefully avoiding the can line. There's nothing on the line right now, so he just reaches out and Hanta takes his hand to get over it. His boots hit the ground next to him, and Hanta turns to help Mina over. Midoriya's feet thud beside Hanta, and with a napkin map pinched in her fingers, Mina sets off in front. They have to dodge a few lurkers, and Todoroki takes one out when it stumbles too close; there was even one that got stuck in one of Hanta's traps, which they quickly dispose of before it gets too noisy and reset the pan. They reach the tree line just fine. Hanta stares out untrusting into the woodsy dark.
"If we walk along the tree line, we should be fine until we reach the river. Then we just need to find a way across." Mina carefully folds the map over another napkin, so it has minimal smudging, and tucks it in her pocket. Hanta notices a streak of charcoal on her cheek.
Hanta shudders, and ducks under a low branch. "I hope we find a bridge, I like these boots."
It's mostly quiet as they walk next to the forest; there's the occasional bird cry or crack of sticks to their left, which make them pause, but nothing comes teeth out at them yet. The sun makes an appearance just over half an hour in, the golden and red light casting a shadow into the forest. The house behind Hanta slowly gets smaller with every step, but he finds himself not worrying as he normally would; he feels secure, confident that the people in front and behind him will work together as a team. Midoriya is a few inches taller than Mina, but Hanta can still see her hair bouncing every so often. Todoroki is behind Hanta, footsteps quiet and breathes even quieter, but now that Hanta knows what they sound like in the silence of a bedroom, he won't forget them.
Movement flashes in the corner of his eye, and Hanta pulls his knife at the same time as Midoriya. They don't have to wait; an emaciated lurker curves around a tree, a crude bow sticking out of the side of its neck. It's broken, so it doesn't get in the way when it staggers closer, and Midoriya quickly takes it down. The knife squelches, and the body drops, and they continue on.
It's quiet; it just feels right this early in the morning. Hanta remembers walking into the coffee shop his grandmother frequented, and recalls the soft crooning of Spanish music that was lower than background noise, almost just a whisper through the air. The morning doesn't belong to us, mariposa, she would sigh, her breath moving the steam over her tea, We would do good to remember, and respect. The idea carried through Hanta's life, even after she passed, and from then on, he prefers mornings that are quiet and serene. The best kind of serene you can get in a situation like this, anyways.
Mina stumbles over a rock, nearly falling, and it jerks Hanta from his thoughts. The sun is warming against his skin, but it's not yet warm in the air enough to take the jacket off. His gloves are on; he was glad that he remembered them before they left this morning. Mina is already aware, but he would rather keep the funky trauma to himself for a little longer.
It feels like countless hours pass, but at the most it could have only been two. By now, the sun is warm on Hanta's shoulders and the house is long gone. Good thing he's used to walking long distances, because this is brutal. The landscape hasn't changed, but they've come to the part where the river curves right and across their path. Mina is comparing the map and the ground in front of them. Todoroki is standing closer to the water, kicking at the frost that was hidden in shadows. He leans down sometimes, eyeing the taller grass stalks that have ice clinging to the stems. Hanta comes up next to him and looks down the length of the river; there's nothing to suggest a bridge, but even through this grassland and forest there must have been people exploring?
"Do you think we can get across?" Todoroki motions at the water. It doesn't look terribly deep, but the ice melting away and the fact that it looks a bit faster at this part isn't very inviting. Not to mention that it's decently wide, at least fifteen feet, and the steeper banks look smoothened out. Maybe it's a flood risk. Whatever the case, that water is definitely cold, and they don't need to get turned around because someone fell in the water while crossing as it at risk of hypothermia.
"I hope so. We might have to track down a bit until we find something to cross it with." Hanta crosses his arms, and glances back at Mina, who's looking towards the forest, and shares a wicked grin with Todoroki. "I'm thinking that the chief has the same idea. Let's go climb a tree."
Hanta walks away, reveling in the small huff of laughter he pulls from Todoroki. Midoriya falls in behind Hanta, and they follow Mina down the bank of the river. There's been a surprising absence of lurkers around, and Hanta can't help the twinge of anxiety; why? Is there something stopping them? Is there someone killing them? He pushes the thought to the back of his head as they split off a little, looking for fallen trees sturdy enough to hold them across the water. The smell of water is headier in the trees, and Hanta grunts as he wraps his fingers around a moss-soft trunk. He pulls it up, bracing on the soft ground, and makes a face at the variety of insects that twist upon being exposed.
"Sorry, guys, but I need this." Hanta grunts again, and drags the trunk closer to the river. It's not terribly heavy; he's thinking that an impromptu bridge is going to have to be made until they find a better solution. It looks like the part that runs through the forest is smaller, through, and less of a rush risk. If Hanta was feeling real adventurous, he's sure he could wade through it but again, he really likes these boots.
Midoriya has dragged his own trunk over, a surprising amount of strength in such a small body, and pats his hands clean of moss and debris. Hanta's tree is a little shorter, but they should be able to layer them into a strange looking bridge. It takes some time, but soon they've collected about ten or eleven logs, and are ready to slide them across the water. Todoroki spies a rock that sits somewhat in the middle, a few feet to the right of where he was crouching, so the first log is carefully braced beside it against the rushing water. The next log goes beside that one, and Hanta slides down the two foot drop to tie them together with thick twine. Todoroki watches him from the bank, hands twitching as though he would snatch Hanta up if he fell. Honestly, the guy would probably jump in after him and then they'd probably be screwed.
Hanta loops the logs together at their end, water licking at his toes, and motions for the next log. Midoriya and Mina slide it down, and he repeats the process. It wobbles, but holds against the rock. Hanta frowns; they're going to have to tie it to something or else they're gonna lose the entire thing. Hanta tosses the twine up, and pulls out a thicker coil of rope from one of the side pockets. Well, rope is going too far; the cord is more like a stretchy nylon, the kind you can tie your bike down with or something. He holds one end, and tosses the other end up to Todoroki.
"See if you can get it around that tree," Hanta nods at the thicker truck that's pushing the edge of the shoulder bank. Some of the roots are exposed, but it seems sturdy enough to hold some dead logs. Hanta holds his end, and Todoroki wraps the cord around a thick branch, before hooking it on itself. Hanta does the same, reaching over as far as he can to the middle of the logs and feed it through the cracks in them. The water is freezing against his fingers, and he gasps and swears as he hooks the line on the side. "Holy shit...!"
Hanta wobbles, and looses his grip on the wet log. He crashes forward, a cry exploding from behind him, and catches himself at the last moment on his elbow. His head falls between two logs that separated under the influence of the current. The water rushes inches from his face, and he cannot believe how close he was to taking a dive. It chills his nose and he takes just a second to collect his thoughts.
"Hanta!" Hanta blows out a breath and pushes himself back up carefully. Todoroki is glaring at him, and Hanta offers a small grin.
"Sorry, sorry. I'm good. Come on down, guys, let's see if we can get across." Hanta tests his weight on the log, now four of them tied together and two sitting down on the bank. They rattle as Hanta steps further on, but he keeps a brave face and quickly hops across. Sand crunches under his feet, and he sighs in relief. "Alright, go fast, but not too fast."
Todoroki grumbles something, too quiet to make out over the rush of water, but Hanta grins all the same. The boy lands next to him, and a hand lands on his forearm. Todoroki continues his glare, but it's softened a little since then. "Please be careful. I don't want to be the one hauling you back in our 'worst case scenario' plan." Todoroki makes air quotations as he speaks, and Hanta can't resist a laugh as Mina jumps next to him. Hanta bends down to give her a lift up onto the other side, and then does the same for Midoriya. Then, it's a toss up between him and Todoroki. The boy simply raises an eyebrow at him, and laces his fingers together and Hanta loses.
Todoroki's hand is warm against his very cold fingers when Hanta pulls him up a moment later, and then they're across the river.
---
The rest stop is... not much to be desired, actually.
They reach it around the middle of the day, and Midoriya is pumped that they made good time getting here. The stop itself isn't more than an angular looking building on the side of the highway, surrounded by a massive parking lot and a one way entrance/exit system that Hanta can only think was used for bigger vehicles. Anyways, looking around the parking lot, it seems like there's been a bunch of vehicles abandoned. And, with those vehicles, lurkers stumble around. There's a lot of them, and the only reason Hanta has that they've stayed in the area is the broken side mirror on the side of a truck that clatters randomly in the wind.
There's an overturned bus that's sitting just by the sidewalk to the entrance. It looks like a few lurkers were crushed underneath; Hanta can see the glass scattered across the concrete from here. All four of them are standing on the edge of the tree line, just before it thins out and turns into a grassy ditch area before the highway. There's a few bodies in the grass, splotches of dark decomposition that have obviously been there for some time. Hanta hopes that they're really dead.
"Let's call over a few. Behind us should be clear, Mina, but keep watch in case," Midoriya whispers, and four blades are drawn nearly simultaneously. Hanta blows out a soft breath, nerves dancing up and down his arms, but he steadies himself when Midoriya glances back to see if they're all ready.
The greenette lets out a low whistle, and draws the attention of two lurkers that toe the line of the ditch. The method here is slow and steady; hopefully they can clear the entire area before nightfall.
Hanta watches as Todoroki grabs the shoulder of a lurker and stabs it, and follows closely behind Midoriya for backup. The lurker is bigger in height, but obviously lacks in the physical strength the boy has. It falls with a dull thud, and Hanta feels fingers wrap around his boot. He jerks, and lifts his foot to bring it down on the soft skull of a lurker in an action that's almost instinct now. It squishes, and he grimaces, but doesn't have long to worry about it as a few more rotting figures come their way. Hanta takes one down, and Todoroki does the same to his right, grunting as it falls forward onto him. He directs it down, though, and they continue moving. Mina mutters that she'll take care of the ones on the ground, and Hanta spares her less than a nod.
Hanta grunts under his breath as he takes down another, and doesn't watch where the body falls. He ducks under a wildly swinging arm, and kicks the back of the knee of the lurker in. It's always easier to get them on their knees: they're less mobile, down one or two legs, and have way less of a reach. Hanta stabs it, the side of his hand brushing the spiderweb hair on top, and he quickly pulls it out.
They've got the attention of some of the lurkers; some are still trying to get into the building, and some are trapped inside various vehicles. Mina finishes with her grounders, and joins the front line force to sweep them out. Hanta's forearms are splattered with brown blood, and he can feel something sliding down his temple but he can't tell what bodily fluid it is.
He gasps as he draws back from a fast moving lurker, tripping over a downed body and falling back onto a gross cushion. The lurker snarls, and dives down to converge on him. Hanta is reaching up, reaching to put his arm across the path of the teeth, and it opens its mouth-
-Squelch!
A knife thrusts down into the open cavity of the mouth. The lurker stops moving, and there's old blood soaking into the back of Hanta's thigh. Todoroki is standing above him, long knife buried deep into the skull of the lurker, and his chest is heaving. He kicks the lurker to the side of Hanta, and Hanta reaches up with the arm he had been so ready to sacrifice and claps his hand into Todoroki's. he's hauled up and doesn't even have a word of thanks before they both turn back to the fray. It seems like every body that they drop, another one joins and Hanta is ready for this to be over.
He steadies himself before reaching past grabbing hands and nailing a poor lurker straight between the eyes. Mina yelps as she slips in blood on the concrete, but Todoroki catches her before she hits the ground. He seems to be everywhere, and Hanta wants to help like that too; Midoriya takes out two more lurkers quickly, Hanta is right there to help with the third that comes at his side. Midoriya gives him a grateful look, and Hanta and him tag team an unsuspecting lurker. They get at least ten feet closer to the door, and Hanta and Todoroki take out the ones mulling around on the sidewalk. Hanta notices that one lurker is handcuffed to the railing on the sidewalk, as it's a slight incline, and quickly disposes of it despite the restraint. Rotting muscle is a slippery thing.
Mina pants to Hanta's side, her dark arms stained with darker blood and dripping from the end of her knife. She barely takes a break before she lunges at a new lurker, and downs it with a solid strike to the head. With a fast inspection, it looks like everyone is still standing, and Hanta deals with a small bodied lurker. He refuses to think of it as a child, can't think of it as a child as he stabs it in a fast motion.
The head is always the key. It won't die without critically damaging the head, and will pretty much 'survive' through anything else. It's disgusting, and Hanta's only promise is that he saves a bullet for himself because no fucking way is he ending up like that. You can't keep promises now, there's barely a chance to make sure anything goes right, but he swore to himself that that is the last thing he would do.
A body thuds, and Hanta looks around. There's numerous figures scattered across the parking lot; they haven't even touched the ones inside the vehicles yet, but at least the parking area is clear. Most of the cars rock on their tires, the lurkers inside agitated with the movement and sounds. Fingers claw at the windows, and Hanta's heart sinks as he sees the sheer number of them that are trapped. Hanta pants, flicking his wrist and spraying a sharp line of blood from his knife on the ground. He feels sweaty and gross, and he just knows that there's blood under his gloves. The other three don't look any better.
"Are we alright?" Hanta asks, checking his arms and hands despite himself, "No bites, scratches, nicks, nothing?"
They check down their bodies; nothing appears, and the breeze picks up, grossly drying Hanta's sweat against his skin and shirt. They're standing in a defensive group away from the door; the bodies piled in front will have to get dragged before they can get in, so the ones in the cars are next.
"Do we want to clear out the entire area, and then scavenge? It could be safer, and reduces the risk," Hanta offers, and Todoroki nods.
"That might be best, and then we don't have to do it in the dark. Also, we have the option to stay overnight, and I don't want extra people in my bed," Todoroki finishes drily, and Midoriya snorts. Hanta's cheeks feel warm, simply at the mention of 'extra', and he scratches the back of his neck. He regrets it immediately, when something cool and wet smears under his ponytail. Nasty.
"Um, pick a car, I guess?" Hanta turns towards the parking lot. "I'll take the grey Pontiac. It looks like there's one or two in there."
Mina stretches her arms above her head, and cracks her neck. "If you need help, just holler!"
They split off, and Hanta approaches the car door. The windows are yellowed and dusty, but the vehicle rocks on it's wheels when Hanta taps his fingers on the glass. There's a dead driver in the front; the steering wheel must have been the last thing they saw, because there's no sign of an airbag that might have protected the crushed face. There isn't anything blocking the car, but the front end is beaten up and crunched. In a panic, perhaps, Hanta is sure that there would have been multiple car crashes. The state of the rest of the vehicles tell the same story. Hanta peers in the backseat directly behind the driver, and comes face to face with a dead face. He startles, but just watches as the lurker tries to chew at the glass, blackened teeth scraping horribly.
Hanta sighs, and walks around to the passenger side. There's a smaller lurker, and he prays to some god that it isn't a kid. He leans closer, and eyes the general body shape of the lurker. He sighs.
It's not a child, but it doesn't change the fact that it's still a lurker. Hanta readies his knife, and gets ready to jump back at a moments notice. He taps at the glass, catching the full attention of the smaller lurker, and flings the door open.
The lurker falls headfirst onto the concrete below, snarling all the way down, and rasps when Hanta crushes the back of it's neck with his boot. He steps down hard, and hears a crack under his foot just as the other lurker gets closer. Keeping his foot carefully on the other monster, Hanta stabs the long haired lurker and watches it hit the seat, motionless. The other one, under his boot, is feebly snarling and moving one arm to futilely reach Hanta, but he just readjusts his footing. His heel is now over the soft part of the head, at the back of the skull, and he stamps down one last time.
---
The inside of the rest stop isn't what Hanta was expecting, but then again, he's never been inside one. it lives up to its exterior, if he's honest. There's a long wall of vending machines right inside, and Mina immediately gets to work picking the locks on them when they clear the main area out. The door is this thick glass, and Todoroki slides a metal bar over the clasps to keep it closed. Maybe it'll hold, but Hanta isn't sleeping in the main area, no sir. The vending machine area splits off into four separate bathrooms, and what looks like a little office full of old papers and file folders.
The boys all take a bathroom, and Todoroki clears the last one. Mina has just picked the first machine - half full of trail mixes and chips - when he calls for Hanta to open the door. Hanta doesn't watch as Todoroki lifts the emaciated frame of a small child out of the door. It's to be expected, he knows this; children have even less of a chance of surviving, even if they're with a group. He's never come across a child that wasn't already dead, and refuses to count her as a child.
The bathrooms are dusty and the faded blue-grey theme is less to be desired, but all of the rooms lock and have a little round skylight in the ceiling. Each bathroom is typical and identical: toilet, sink, paper towel dispenser, and a change table and garbage. All of the garbage's get thrown outside immediately. Technically, they could all have their own bathroom. Technically, Hanta could sleep in a room by himself, all alone and without a blanket hog, he tells himself, but...
Hanta sits by the glass doors, watching the sun reflect against the car windows. It glimmers on the shattered glass by the bus, and Hanta picks idly at the flecking blood on his hands, not really regretting his decision to take first watch, but wishing it wasn't so boring. Then, he takes the thought back. Boring is better, for sure.
A pile of food and fast gathered supplies sits in the far corners, away from the door and Hanta. They can do a better sweep in the morning, since it's too late to head back now. Bakugou is probably worrying his mother hen ass off right now. Hanta grins to himself, and turns back around to check the interior of the rest stop, thoughts running wild. They should account for lurker-clearance next time, not to mention geographical issues like building bridges and backtracking if needed. Hanta looks towards the window again. He wonders if the road would lead to one closer to the house, or how long it would take to build a decent bridge on top of-
A hand brushes his ponytail, and Hanta is jerked from thought. Wood smoke dances through his senses, and Todoroki settles next to him. He doesn't say anything; Midoriya has already settled by the door of his bathroom with a thick journal and pencil and Hanta is sure Mina is already asleep. She volunteered to take morning watch, which she prefers like some heathen, so she's sleeping now. Hanta spies movement in the trees, and a lurker trips over a log. It doesn't get back up.
"You can go to bed, you know," Hanta murmurs, and shifts closer so his thigh brushes Todoroki's. "You're not on watch tonight."
"I know," Todoroki says back, just as soft. He rummages through his bag next to him and Hanta sees the reflective flash of a space blanket. "I'm not tired. I can keep you company for a while, unless you want me to go...?"
The sentence is finished as a question, but Hanta can see the tease running through Todoroki's eyes. He huffs out a smile, and presses his side up against Todoroki's as the other boy wraps the blanket around their shoulders. Hanta grabs one end, his right side nearly burning where it touches Todoroki's left. His scar is on this side, and Hanta finds himself attempting to memorize it. He just stares, and barely registers his hand reach up towards Todoroki's face. Todoroki watches his out of the corner of his eye. He doesn't stop him.
He nearly touches his cheekbone when a soft slam from behind makes them jump; a quick look tells them that it was just Midoriya, who fell asleep and the journal slipped out of his hand. Hanta chuckles lowly, and goes to lower his hand but Todoroki catches it, so much like the previous night. Hanta watches him, watches as Todoroki carefully slips off the glove and drops it between them. Hanta's hands aren't clean; there's dried blood spots and dirt under his nails, but as Todoroki lifts it back towards his face, he hopes he doesn't care.
"You can touch, it doesn't hurt." Todoroki leaves his hand there, a whisper from his face, and Hanta's fingers quiver.
"How old is it?" Hanta brushes the healthy skin underneath, smiling at the leftover softness in his jaw. He's not that brave just yet.
Todoroki blinks. "It happened when I was eight. My mom wasn't healthy, not mentally at least. I think I reminded her of my father." Hanta smooths his fingers featherlight over the bottom edge of the scar. Todoroki's face is tilted towards him but his gaze is cast out of the window; Hanta doesn't think he's actually seeing what's out there, though. "He used to hit us, my siblings and her. We were all young and couldn't protect her. Remember my brother I mentioned? He was the oldest and looked out for all of us. I don't know what happened exactly, but I remember going to his funeral."
Todoroki inhales on a shudder and Hanta cups the other side of his face just as gentle. The blanket falls around his waist and he pulls Todoroki's forehead against his. "It's okay, Shou, you don't have to say anything if you don't want to. I'm sorry for prying."
"No, I want to. I want to tell you," Todoroki murmurs, grabbing Hanta's wrists. His eyes are closed and Hanta can feel his words against his lips. His forehead is warm, and Hanta prays that it'll never be fever warm. "It was before Touya went missing. She was making tea, I think, and it was one of the bad days. We never got an exact diagnosis from the doctors. I remember grabbing her skirt, tugging and talking to her, and suddenly I couldn't see. It hurt so bad, and all I remember is Touya holding me as I cried and my father storming in. That was the last time I saw her outside of a hospital."
Hanta caresses the sides of Todoroki's face. There's no tears escaping from the boy, but his shoulders shake with every other breath. "She poured the boiling water on my face, and after realizing what she had done, tried to cool it with ice. That's why it's so badly scarred. But, I really don't remember a lot."
Todoroki trails off, and Hanta continues his soft petting. The scar is an odd texture, something between bumpy and just shy of soft, and twitches every so often under Hanta's ministrations. "Can you feel anything here?" he asks, and Todoroki shrugs a shoulder.
"Sometimes. I can feel more closer to my eye and just on the outside corner. The doctors said it was because the ice didn't touch that far in."
Hanta hums, and pulls his forehead away from Todoroki just enough that he can lean forward and press his lips to the scar. Just to the outside of his face, level with his eye, Hanta can feel the boy gasp softly and tighten his grip on Hanta's wrists. Hanta breathes against his skin; sweat and that sweet, smoked wood that he's quickly falling in love with. Hanta always knew that he fell fast, and hell, sometimes he enjoyed it; he just didn't think that this time, it would be so much like a free fall.
Hanta readjusts his grip, and presses a steady kiss to between Todoroki's brow. It scrunches cutely under his mouth, but then relaxes as the boy slumps into him more. Todoroki sighs, and Hanta pulls back to see reddened cheeks and bleary eyes. He knows his face probably matches.
"Thank you for telling me," Hanta whispers, and the words fall between them to land on the growing tension. Todoroki nods, and Hanta drinks in the serenity of his face. Then, it crumples as he stifles a yawn. Hanta grins at him, and uses the hands he has on his face to pull him closer. Todoroki goes willingly, and Hanta maneuvers him to lay his head on his thigh. The blanket has mostly fallen off his shoulder and he's not cold, not with this boy on his lap, so Hanta grabs it and lays it fully over Todoroki. "Now, go to sleep, and when watch changes, I'll wake you up and we can go to bed."
"Okay... goodnight, Hanta."
Hanta smiles down at him and places a gentle hand on his head. He pets between the white strands, and goes back to watching the parking lot.
"Goodnight, Shouto."