tw: homophobia
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THERE IT WAS AGAIN.
Sero's stomach twisted as he stared at his phone. He had heard that ringtone so many times and seen the icon pop up constantly over the past few hours, but he never found himself being able to click the red 'end call' button. Instead, he would stare solemnly at his phone and wait for it to pass. He chewed the inside of his cheek, watching the icon disappear after a minute or so.
Letting out a breathy sigh of relief, he tilted his head back before moving forward to watch the group chat flood his notifications again. Sero truly didn't understand why his mom was bothering him now. Despite his quite obvious Asian roots, Sero was only half-Japanese. His father was from Puerto Rico and that side of the family was heavily religious.
He didn't blame his mom for using religion as her last string of sanity though. Sero was born and raised in America, California to be specific, so his mom lacked any nearby family. His dad, however, immigrated with a large part of his family when arriving to America, so he was given the upperhand.
All Mayumi had was her in-laws, and it wasn't any surprise to Sero when watching his mom adapt their behaviors, religion, and habits. It became so dangerous to be home when he started discovering his liking towards boys; the gay porn, little glances at other dudes in the hallway, and the innocent kiss he shared with some dude back in freshman year, it all correlated.
That's why he was so lucky to have Y/n and Denki by his side, and eventually Mina, Jiro, and (surprisingly) Bakugo. That's why it also didn't make sense that Mayumi was reaching out to him now. He had avoided her for so long and after graduating high school, seemingly dropped off the map when it came to his university whereabouts and eventual dropout of college.
His stomach did another weird motion, his mother's face popping up on the screen. Steeling his nerves, Sero picked up the phone and swiftly clicked the green button. "What do you want, Mom?" His voice came out colder than he thought it would and he even flinched at the sound of his tone.
A light gasp came out on the other end, "Hanta, is that you?"
He sharply inhaled. "Yeah. Why are you calling now?"
"Because I'm worried about you."
"You kicked me out."
"I didn't, Hanta. Honey, you know I didn't—"
"—that you didn't mean it?" He bitterly chuckled. "I saw those damn conversion therapy brochures on your dresser. I'm gay not stupid, Mom." Sero was never the type to be on sports teams, but if he had the chance to punt a football across a field right now, he would. "You know I love you either way," She said softly, sounding upset.
"You didn't say that seven years ago when I needed to hear that. I was fifteen and scared, Mom. And then the one family member that's supposed to protect and love me no matter what kicked me out at seventeen. Let's not even talk about the two times I tried to run away the year before. What? Should I expect a call from my tias and tios next?" He said, lashing out.
Mayumi let out a sigh, "No, Hanta. I'm not going to give them your number. They don't know I still have yours anyway. T-They wanted me to cut off all contact, but I couldn't, you're still my son." No matter how much Sero didn't want to believe her, there was some truth in her words and it hurt to hear.
"How was university?" She questioned innocently. Sero bit his bottom lip, "I dropped out and went viral. Patreons and side jobs keep me alive." He said quietly. It sounded weird to say outloud, but Sero loved his life. He loved the recklessness, unpredictability; he loved it all. "Your primo mentioned your video once. Were you okay?" Mayumi mumbled.
Sero glanced at his calendar, realizing that it'd been a few years since he went viral. "I went to the hospital a few hours later, but I got a manager and a few platforms out of it." He swallowed. His mom already found out about his Twitter, he didn't need her finding out about his Tik Tok and Twitch account too.
"I'm sorry," She suddenly said, making his breath hitch. "For everything. I was at a point in my life where all I had was you, mijo. I wanted to do what was best for you but they convinced me that it was best if I let you go. They said you were disgusting and that it was a 'disease'." Mayumi cried. "I'm sorry, Hanta. You deserved so much better."
Sero's voice cracked, the dam breaking. "How? How was it any better for me? The very person who was supposed to defend and love me gave up on me. Home was scary, Mom. I snuck out, I ran away, I avoided curfews because everyday I'd come home to see you praying or talking with tios and tias about 'shitty people' which in all honesty," He took in a breath.
Hanta wiped a tear, gritting his teeth. "Was really fucking hypocritical."
The line went silent, Sero quickly wiping away his tears and biting his bottom lip to prevent any noises from escaping him. "I'm sorry, Hanta." His mom said in a quiet voice, seemingly still crying. Hanta's heart twisted in his ribcage as he muttered, "I'm sorry too, Mom." As soon as the phone left his ear, he ended the call.
Tears glazed over his eyes as he stared at the dark screen, head suddenly turning up at the sound of a knock. "Yo, Hanta! You good, bro? I brought a bunch of oranges for you!" Kirishima's voice resounded on the other side of the door followed by the familiar rustling of a grocery bag. Sero dropped his phone, stumbling towards the door.
His hands fumbled to unlock it as it swung open, the boy collapsing into his friend's arms. "Hanta?" Kirishima dropped the oranges, holding his friend firmly to keep him from crumpling to the ground. Sero didn't say anything, the dam demolishing as fat tears rolled down his cheeks, his face buried in Kirishima's shoulder.
The mom friend frowned, sighing. Somehow managing to retrieve the dropped bag, he kept one arm secured around Hanta's waist, gently traipsing in before shutting the door.
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hi yes lu here! i know this was an especially sensitive chapter, but pls know that this does NOT show my perspective or have any negative reinforcement towards hispanic ppl :) out of all the cultures i've viewed, they just seem to have the largest tie to religion. ALSO this is solely based off of how i feel in my household. my dad do be homophobic doe 😳😳