Work Text:
“Todoroki-senpai!”
“Hi, senpai! You are so cool!”
”Can you be my tutor? I’d learn anything from you!”
With the new school year came with new first year students. The excitement and nerves seemed to have finally left the second years as they returned to U.A.’s campus. They were all too familiar with what the new students were feeling, but there was one thing Momo couldn’t get used to…
The way girls practically threw themselves all over Shouto as he walked through the courtyard.
The way they called out to him, tried to strike up a conversation with him, or even dare to get too friendly with a look at him.
”They’re bold, I have to give them that,” Kyouka snickered as she sipped on a Mount Lady energy drink. “Look at her! She almost smacked her face into the wall looking at Todoroki.”
“Oh, Kyouka! Leave them alone!” Ochako scolded as they walked through the side gates of UA.
“I’m not doing anything wrong, they are!” Kyouka scoffed.
“I think she’s trying to get his number,” Mina added with a snicker and a shake of her head. “Want to bet he’ll actually give her his number?”
“You’re on,” Kyouka said. “He wouldn’t,” She gave a sideways glance to Momo who remained uncharacteristically quiet throughout the whole thing.
“Todoroki isn’t like that.” Tsuyu insisted.
“Of course he isn’t. But Todoroki is so dense he’d not get the girl’s intention—“ Mina started but interrupted herself with a gasp. “He actually gave her his number!”
The girl in question was pretty. Pink, shoulder length hair and bright orange eyes. She typed away on her phone as Shouto said something to her. The faintest of smiles was on his face. It made her laugh.
Even her laugh sounded pretty.
”Oh no!” Toru groaned from behind the girls. Her uniform sleeves waved in the air.
“She’s laughing?” Mina tilted her head in confusion. “Why is he smiling?”
“What did he say to her? Do you think he’s actually—” Kyouka said, a small frown in place.
“Now, now. We all know Todoroki isn’t like that!” Ochako said. “He has Momo—”
“—Todoroki-san has free will to get to know whomever he wants,” Momo finally said. The girls turned to face her in unison, eyes rounding and grimaces of surprise and genuine fear on their faces.
They weren’t met with a fiery expression of anger, instead Momo’s usually warm smile was replaced with a cold, blank glare. Her lips pressed together and twisted into a small frown.
“I’m sure it’s nothing, Yaomomo,” Kyouka tried.
“Y-yeah! We’re only joking,” Mina started as she gently rubbed Momo’s back in hopes of comfort. “We know Todoroki would never do that to you–”
Momo, surprisingly, shrugged her off. “It’s okay, I’m fine. Everything is fine.”
Without sparing another word, Momo clutched onto her bag’s straps and started forward leaving them behind.
The friends knew of Momo and Shouto’s relationship. It was clear to everyone in their year that the two definitely harbored deeper feelings for the other. By the time the day of the final battle ended, everyone knew about the embrace they shared on the battlefield.
Most of them let out a sigh of relief, others scoffed with a satisfied smirk. They knew—they always have known.
But for some reason, Momo and Shouto haven’t made it official?
As if the girls were thinking about the same thing, Kyouka sighed, tugging at her earphone jack. “Stubborn Yamomo is as dangerous as a dancing Iida.”
“I gotta know what that girl said to Todoroki,” Mina huffed, scanning the thinning crowd, hoping to spot the girl. “Do you know what year she is?”
“Third year,” Ochako replied, recalling the mysterious girl in question helping out during the first phase of war.
“Damn,” Hagakure sighed. “Suppose we corner him. Then what?”
”We gotta do it. For Momo at least,” Kyouka said, earning nods of agreement from the girls. When the school bell rang and Momo slipped into their classroom ahead of them, the girls hurried to the end of the hall.
When Shouto finally arrived at the classroom entrance, he stopped in mid-step when Kyouka, Mina, Ochako, Tsuyu, and Toru all slipped past him. Being a head or two taller than most of them made it easy for him to remain frozen in place—standing perfectly still enough to let them through.
It wasn’t odd for the girls of his class to travel in a group, but what was strange was how they gathered around Momo’s desk.
He couldn’t quite see her amongst their bodies all huddled around her, but he didn’t pry. Although he had a bad feeling about it. Why? Even he didn’t know the answer to that.
As he got to his seat and placed his bag down, he peered to his left. The girls spoke in quiet whispers. He could barely make out what they were saying.
“No, it’s okay. It’s really none of my business,” he heard Momo say.
“It is your business,” Mina insisted. “Nobody, and I mean nobody, especially a random girl, can touch your man!”
“He isn’t my man,” Momo mumbled, but Shouto caught it.
Quirking an eyebrow, he braved a glance at the girls only for his ounce of courage to falter. He frowned, feeling a blush rise when not one—but all the girls looked at him with arched eyebrows.
“Yes, Todoroki?” Kyouka drawled, twirling her earphone jack around her finger as she stood up, hand on Momo’s desk.
“Uh…” Shouto started trying to find his words. He never was one to get tongue tied, hell—he could face any villain with ease.
So why was the scrutinizing glare of his friends so…nerve wrecking?
“Did you need to talk to Momo, Todoroki-kun?” Ochako tried. She was the least intimidating at the moment, a nice smile on her face. No wonder she and Midoriya are meant for each other, Shouto innocently thought.
“Yes,” Shouto replied, straightening his back and looking over Tsuyu whose body was sandwiched between his and Momo’s desk. “If you guys don’t mind. “
The girls shrugged, nodded and started to disperse. He could finally see Momo—but she wasn’t looking at him. Slightly bent and diligently writing in her planner.
He knew it was her planner, not a notebook due to the type of pen she was using. She was meticulous like that.
“Yaoyorozu,” Shouto started. She slowly turned to look at him. The look in her eyes puzzled him, not only they weren’t the usual warmth he got from her—but they were cold.
“Yes, Todoroki?” Momo replied, the pen in her hand going limp.
Frowning, he started, “Are you—”
“Alright settle down,” Aizawa’s voice filled the room as the rest of the room gone quiet. “Keep voices to a minimum, my morning coffee unfortunately did nothing to prepare me for another day with you all.”
“Don’t worry, Aizawa-sensei, you have many more days for it to kick in,” Kaminari joked, causing the class to snicker. Their teacher only rolled his eyes and instantly started to order them to open their textbooks.
Momo did so, back straight and focused completely on them. Shouto knew once class started it’ll be difficult for him to get her to talk to him. Pouting, he slowly opened his textbook to the designated page, sideways glancing at Momo hoping it’ll warm her up to him.
But it didn’t.
xxx
Momo could feel the glances Shouto sent her way. It was hard to not look at him especially when the material they were learning was something she read about two weeks ago.
When she felt Shouto’s quick sideways glance at her turn away to talk to Fumikage in front of him, her eyes quickly darted to him. As expected, he was already done with his work—she supposed she could take pride in that granted they studied the topic a bit before their classmates.
“Alright, times up,” Aizawa yawned as he sat up at his desk. He clicked on his laptop and the overhead screen switched to another that simply read: Downtime. “The rest of the worksheet can be finished for homework. I want you all to start on the next portion…”
“Yaoyorozu…”
She sighed, turning her head slightly to ignore his voice.
“Momo…”
Unable to fight the flutter in her chest, she turned to him. Shouto’s puppy dog eyes and pout was the most adorable thing she’d seen. He quite rarely changed his expressions, yet the one pleading at her was one she had come accustomed with.
“Yes, Todoroki-san?” She whispered back, eyes darting to Aizawa. Luckily he was still instructing them about the assignment to work during their downtime, pointing at a few things on the board up front.
“You’re upset with me, aren’t you?” He asked.
Momo blinked, “No. What makes you think that?”
“A few reasons. You didn’t say anything to me since we’ve stepped in class. Second, you haven’t looked my way since class started—”
”I can’t believe I’m saying this…Todoroki! Eyes front,” Aizawa scolded from the front of the class. Everyone turned their heads towards them, causing Momo to blush.
Shouto’s expression changed to the usual stoic. He exhaled through his nose and leaned back into his chair. For the rest of Aizawa’s instructions, he didn’t spare her one glance.
She pouted. What the hell was she feeling? He’s supposed to be paying attention, Momo. Why are you disappointed he stopped trying? She thought to herself.
Swishing her long ponytail over her shoulder, she brushed that thought out of her mind. It wasn’t long until Aizawa concluded the criteria for the assignment and allowed the class to work together or individually.
Although Momo always welcomed helping her friends, she was relieved they didn’t approach her. However, she didn’t expect Shouto to give her his full attention again. He effortlessly pulled her desk towards his, causing her to let out a soft yelp in surprise.
”Todoroki, what are you doing? She squeaked.
“Tell me what’s wrong,” He replied, his face getting closer to hers, he left enough space in between to allow the cool AC to alleviate the flush in her cheeks. “I’m sorry for whatever I did.”
Momo pursed her lips, chewing the inside of her cheek to hold back the twitch of annoyance. “If you don’t know what you did then the apology doesn’t really count.”
“Then please tell me and I’ll make it right,” Shouto said, moving a bit closer. His hand was behind her chair, his long legs stretched under her seat and desk, the right limb slightly brushing against her calves. “I hate seeing you upset. It makes me feel worse when I know it’s because of me.”
“Or we can just forget and focus on our work,” Momo mumbled, swishing her hair and turning her head stubbornly away from him. This only caused Shouto to pull her desk closer to him. This time, he was close enough to rest his elbows on it.
Blinking with a small pout, his pretty heterochromatic eyes reminded her once again why she was able to fall for him. She was too distracted by the corresponding red and white eyelashes to notice Aizawa’s sharp warning. They seemed to be longer in length than the last time she looked at them.
“Todoroki and Yaoyorozu,” Aizwa said again, this time causing the pair to jump at the sternness in his voice. “Might I remind you we are all in the room with you two?”
A collective shuffle of their friends turned to face them followed by shushed snickers and . mutters
“I’m sorry, Sensei. Todoroki-san was just…”
“Is he making you feel uncomfortable?” Aizawa asked. Everyone in the classroom turned to look at them again. A few teasing looks from the girls and pointed looks from the guys made her cheeks burn.
“No,” Momo reassured him. “Todoroki-san was just asking me about the assignment.”
Aizawa huffs, “Well then please, continue. I’m sure the assignment requires you both to be in each other’s personal space. Or need I remind you about how inappropriate closeness will get you this close to detention?”
Shouto quickly straightened in his seat. “Sorry.”
”Aizawa-sensei! Tell them to not kiss! My innocent eyes can’t bear to see such indecent acts!” Kirishima teased, causing the class to snicker. Momo groaned, hiding her face behind her textbook as Shouto gently pushed her desk back into its right position.
xxx
When the bell rang, Momo had already packed up her things and hastily walked out of the door before Shouto could say anything to her. He threw his books into his bag, slipped through his classmates and almost stepped through the exit when a new group of girls he had never seen or met swarmed him.
“Hi, Todoroki-san. I’m a huuuge fan. Can I get a selfie with you?”
“—I don’t know how to take pictures—” Shouto muttered.
“If you don’t have anywhere to sit for lunch today, you can sit with me!”
“—I would rather sit with my friends—” Shouto replied.
“Are you alright? You don’t look well. Need a shoulder to cry on?”
Shouto didn’t hide the look of disdain on his face, frowning deeply as he looked over the heads of the girls. His little ounce of hope withered away when he caught the glimpse of Momo dark hair turning around the corner.
He sighed. He didn’t mean to glare at the girls gathered around him, they didn’t do anything to him. But they did prevent him from getting to Momo. Not wanting to hurt their feelings and in a tight squeeze, Shouto thought of something to say. Words falling silent on his lips when he looked at the hopeful looks on their faces.
He grimaced.
“Allllrighty girls! That’s enough!” A saving grace exclaimed from beside him. Familiar faces pushed through the crowd easing Shouto as Mina and Ochako stood at his sides. “Leave the poor dude alone.”
“Poor dude can’t stop to tie his shoes before you vultures come swarming in,” Kyouka muttered under her breath ignoring the pointed looks a few girls gave her.
“I think comparing them to vultures is giving them too much credit,” Toru said.
“Yeah, girls. Give it a rest,” Ochako added gently. She patted his arm. “Are you okay, Todoroki?”
“Telling us to go away so you two can have some alone time with him?” A random girl scoffed. The Class A girls and Shouto all turned to look at her in unison, arched eyebrows and a look that read ‘are you serious’.
Mina huffed, cheeks almost puffing up in annoyance as she placed her hands on her hips. “For your information, we are concerned friends. Just because you all have other intentions doesn’t mean we can help him.”
“Especially when he’s desperate to get away from you all,” Kyouka said, her eyebrow arch deepening as a few girls glared her way.
The loud random girl crossed her arms over her chest, jutting out her chin. “How can you say we have intentions? We can say the same thing about you two!” She pointed at Mina and Ochako. “For all we know, you two are trying to get a date with him!”
“Excuse me I am right here you know—” Shouto muttered but was shut up when Mina held a finger up at him.
“Not now, Todoroki!”
He sighed, longingly looking at the end of the hallway where Momo once was.
I hope she’s getting something to eat, he thought to himself, tuning out to the chatter. Momo forgets to eat sometimes and it really shows when she can’t use her quirk to her full potential…
“For your information, Miss Ma’am, if you haven’t been zoned in on trying to touch what’s obviously not yours, I am in a happy relationship with Kirishima,” Mina huffed, hands on her hips and eyes narrowing. She pointed at the spiky red haired teen chewing rather unpleasantly with the rest of the boys from their class. However, Mina sighed adoringly. “What a man.”
I think for lunch today there is a Korean theme…Maybe I should get Momo something before the next period starts. I know she loves samgyeosal, Shouto continued to think to himself, noting the grumble in his own stomach.
The loud random girl blushed with embarrassment, opening her mouth to say something about Ochako but Mina beat her to it.
“Girl, please don’t even try. Were you even there when she stood up for her man? In front of the whole school?” Mina said, crossing her arms over her chest as if to make a point. Ochako didn’t add to it, only blushing profusely and holding onto Tsuyu for support.
When Shouto finally came back to earth, the girls were pulling him down the stairs and onto the first floor. The group of random girls dispersed and the loud girl was stomping in the opposite direction.
“Where are we going?” Shouto asked.
”Somewhere we can talk privately,” Kyouka explained.
“I think the cafeteria is private enough,” Shouto tried.
“No,” The girls said in unison, causing him to sigh.
They pushed him into an empty alcove, eyes peering up at him with determination.
For some reason this was scarier than jumping off a plane.
“Um, yes?” Shouto gulped.
“Todoroki, why did you give that girl your number this morning?” Kyouka asked, straight to the point and eyes narrowing. Her right earjack threateningly pointed at him.
“Uh, what girl?”
“The girl you spoke to before class,” Ochako explained. “I think she had pink hair?”
Shouto pondered, searching his memories before he said, “Oh. That girl.”
When he didn’t continue, Mina sighed. “Yes, Todoroki. That girl. Why did you give her your number?”
“Because she asked me to.”
The girls sighed in exasperation.
“Yes, but why did you,” Kyouka repeated. “Are you going on a date with her? What about Momo?”
“Do you know how upset she is?” Mina said.
“We thought you two were going steady!” Toru wondered.
Shouto furrowed his red eyebrow, searching their faces as it finally dawned on him. “Is that why she’s upset? She thinks I gave that girl my number because I wanted to court her?”
“What an old fashioned way of saying it,” Tsuyu muttered.
“I think it’s sweet,” Toru added.
“Yes! She’s jealous, Todoroki. So you better have a good explanation for this,” Kyouka narrowed her eyes. The girls mirrored her anticipation.
Shouto frowned and dug into his bag for the piece of paper the girl gave him that morning. Before he could unfold it, the girls snatched it up and scanned the contents. Kyouka opened the small piece of paper with the others peering over her shoulders to get a glimpse.
“The girl’s name is Kimie Hodo. She is a Third Year student in the school’s newspaper club. She wanted to interview Momo, to get a better insight about how she helped formulate the final battle strategy.” A small proud smile ghosted his lips at the thought of his beloved and her brilliant mind. “She asked me to pass on her number to Momo to set up a meeting between the two.”
The girls looked up at him and let out a shared sigh, “Ohhhh!”
“I knew Todoroki-kun was loyal,” Tsuyu said.
“How silly of us for assuming,” Ochako mumbled. Her eyes widened. “We have to tell Momo!”
“Yes but how? She’s as stubborn as Bakugou when she wants to be,” Kyouka sighed, twirling her finger around her earjack.
“I tried talking to her, but she wouldn’t listen,” Shouto admitted with a frown.
“Don’t worry, Todoroki. This is all a misunderstanding! It’ll clear up as soon as we explain it to her,” Mina reassured him with a pat on the shoulder. “I think a yummy treat from Lunch Rush’s menu would help ease his way into her good graces, wouldn’t it girls?”
“We’ll help you think of what to say too,” Ochako said with a grin. “Before you know it, Momo will be back to her normal self.”
“We all can use the normal Yaomomo. Who would’ve known how scary she can be when she’s like this,” Toru commented, making the girls laugh.
For the first time that day, his heart felt lighter. He smiled softly. “I already know what to get her from the cafeteria. It’s one of her favorites.”
“Aww,” Mina gushed. “I knew Todoroki only had eyes for Momo. It’s so romantic!”
“With all those girls prowling around, I do hope we don’t have to go through this again,” Ochako pursed her lips. “I can only imagine how Momo feels.”
“I think the only solution we can use is to put Not Available signs on our boyfriend’s backs,” Kyouka suggested, making the girls giggle.
“Hey, guys?” Shouto asked, catching their attention.
“Yeah?” Ochako replied for them.
“Should I get Momo something similar to that?” He wondered.
”What are you talking about?” Mina asked, tilting her head to the side in question.
“Are you talking about…branding her?” Tsuyu copied Mina’s mannerism, finger at her chin like usual.
“Erm wouldn’t say it like that!”
“Oh god, don’t put it like that! Makes me sound horrible,” Kyouka groaned, scratching the back of her head.
“No, nothing like that. However it’s somewhat similar,” Shouto ran his fingers through his hair, a nervous habit of his. He wasn’t sure why he felt nervous about something that’s been on his mind ever since he realized his feelings for Momo. He was certain.
Call him dumb, stupid, young, naive or whatever headed his way.
Shouto knew he loves Momo.
“Do you think she’ll enjoy a ring? To let others know that she’s special to me?” Shouto asked, his voice even and a little flame erupting from his left side.
“A ring? But that’s usually for marriage,” Mina reminded him with an arch of her eyebrow.
Shouto blinked, “Well, yes. I care for Momo very much and I hope in time we both can learn to love each other.” He looked up at his friends. “I do want to marry her. I can see it.”
“AWWW!” The girls erupted into a gushing mess, startling Shouto when they started to pull him towards the cafeteria.
“It’s too early for marriage right now, Todoroki, but I think you’re heading in the right direction,” Ochako smiled.
“Why won’t we start with that yummy treat and an apology, eh?” Kyouka grinned, her earjack poking his cheek.
Shouto smiled, chuckling to himself as he followed his friends towards the cafeteria. He clutched onto the strap of his bag with one thought in mind: Making Momo happy.
”Hey, Todoroki. Have you heard about a promise ring?” Torou asked him as they rushed through the crowd of students. The girls looked at their friend’s floating uniform in approval, excited grins on their faces.
“A promise ring?”
Momo angrily took a bite out of her energy bar. Although the day’s cuisine was quite tempting, she was just not in the mood to be around anyone. Especially those girls who threw themselves at Shouto with every waking second—
“They’re just immature,” Momo muttered to herself, her mouth full as she chewed. She would’ve never let her mother see herself in such a state. Completely in disregard for the crumbs on the corner of her mouth or the slouch in her posture. But all she could focus on was the smile Shouto had for that pink haired girl—
“Why should I care anyway?” She sniffled, noticing her energy bar was gone in a few, big bites. She crumpled the empty wrapper in her, balling it in her fist and shoved it into her backpack, rather roughly.
Catching herself, she took a deep breath and closed her eyes. She straightened her shoulders, and exhaled. She leaned against the wall as the breeze blew against her cheeks. The cherry blossom petals above her, delicately landing around her.
The area she was in wasn’t all too popular with the students. Rather than the more visited places like the cafeteria, courtyard, or even the gyms and library, the hidden gems like this on the outskirts of the campus were a breath of fresh air.
She recalled discovering it when she and Shouto were looking for somewhere to study.
And since then, it’d been their special spot.
With her thoughts back to the root of her annoyance, she felt the pout forming on her lips again. She fished through her bag for her favorite book, hoping it’ll give her some distraction for the remainder of the lunch break. However, she reread the same sentence over and over, without retaining the text whatsoever.
“Then please tell me and I’ll make it right.”
Dropping her book beside her, she brought her knees up to her chest and wrapped her arms around them. She felt silly, stupid even. She stared at the petals swirling around the ground and felt her eyes start to water.
If you want to make it right, then why aren’t you here? She thought to herself, clearly aware of how absurd she must’ve sounded. Did he know where to find her? Or did he have better things to do? Like talk to that girl?
The questions that bombarded her mind were put on hold when she heard footsteps approaching. However, it wasn’t the sound of Shouto’s light, almost graceful footfalls. It was frantic, thudding, almost desperate as it came closer.
Suddenly, as if a blast of energy came rushing around the corner, a familiar unexpected flash of blond pressed himself against the wall.
Katsuki’s grimace of annoyance looked so deeply etched into his face Momo wondered who was having the worst day. However, she reminded herself, for Katsuki, it probably was a normal day for him.
Before Momo could let her presence be known a commotion of high pitched voices running past them.
“He probably went to the gym!”
“We can probably see him working out with Kirishima-senpai!”
“Let’s go before the lunch period ends!”
Momo rolled her eyes, silently watching Katsuki as he let out a loud sigh of relief. When he finally straightened up, he turned around, seemingly unaware of the little area himself. Though the little moment of awe was interrupted by the startled quirk of his eyebrow when his red eyes landed on her.
“Never thought I’d see the mighty Dynamight run away,” she muttered, not even thinking about it until the words left her lips.
“This is not running away,” he sneered as he walked closer. “—It’s strategic hiding!”
Momo didn’t reply, turning her head away to quickly wipe the tears from her eyes. He plumped on the bench beside her. He didn’t say anything right away, choosing to stretch his long legs in front of them,
The silence between them wasn’t entirely awkward, yet it was comfortable. Having known Katsuki as long as she did, she's come to find his rather brash personality enjoyable. Once he calmed down.
“What’s got you all pissed?” He asked, eyes forward, watching the petals rehearse another dance.
Momo arched her eyebrow. “I didn’t know you cared enough to notice.”
Katsuki rolled his eyes and scoffed, “I didn’t! Todoroki didn’t want to stop yapping about you when I ran into him! You think I voluntarily keep up with everyone’s thoughts and emotions?”
”Well, it wouldn’t help to work on improving your emotional intelligence—“ Momo started, a teasing grin on her face once she saw the sneer on Katsuki’s. She shook her head in surrender, leaning back against the bench, letting her frown break through again.
“He’s been annoyingly miserable the whole day,” Katsuki added.
The sneer on the blond’s face changed to match her frown. Genuine curiosity, annoyance mixed with a hint of concern in his gruff voice. “What happened? Don’t tell me that dumb bastard broke up with you?”
Momo sniffled. “We were never together to begin with.”
This time Katsuki arched an eyebrow and let out a colorless laugh. “Stop saying stupid shit. Save me the dramatics and out with it.”
She sighed, gathering her thick ponytail over one shoulder, picking at the ends of her strands. “It’s not what he did, he’s more of what he didn’t do.”
”Which was?”
“This morning when all those girls were swarming you guys, there was a Third Year girl who asked him for his number—”
“—and he gave it to her,” Katsuki finished her sentence with a deep irritated sigh, making her nod sadly. He rolled his eyes and let out a laugh, throwing his head back in amusement. “What a fucking dumbass!”
“Hey!” Momo pursed her lips, glaring at him. “Don’t call him that!”
“It’s true, Momo!” Katsuki tried. “You know damn well he did that not because he was interested in her—he’s just too dense to realize what was going on!” He ran his hand through his white blond hair. “IcyHot will definitely do some shit like that, you can’t be too mad at him.”
Momo’s lips pressed together into a thin line, she felt her cheeks start to heat up realizing how silly the whole ordeal was. Yet she didn’t want to forgive just yet. “The girls surrounding him every time he takes a step on campus are just so infuriating! It’s like—”
“Flies to a pile of shit?” Katsuki grinned, holding back a snicker making Momo roll her eyes in annoyance.
“No, not that comparison. But I can’t help but feel like…” Momo’s voice got softer, feeling more embarrassed that she was actually revealing her insecurities with Katsuki Bakugou out of all people. Yet he was surprisingly welcoming. “…there will be a prettier girl that will get Shouto’s attention…”
Katsuki blew a raspberry, quirked his eyebrow at her. “I doubt that. You’re worrying over nothing. Seriously, Yaoyorozu, I thought you were smarter than that.” Before Momo could retort, his red eyes lit up. “So what are you going to do? Apologize?”
“Honestly? I don’t know. It’s the right thing to do, but…”
“…you want him to sweat a bit, right?” Katsuki’s grin turned almost sinister.
“Yes?”
Katsuki chuckled, “I knew you were a strategist, but never a shit-stirrer.”
Momo gasped, whipping her head to look at her friend with a glare and pout on her lips. “I am not a—”
He leaned closer, the infamous glint of craze in his ruby red eyes twinkled rather dangerously. “Aren’t you tired of being a Princess all the time? Why not let Todoroki get a taste of his own medicine? Or, better yet, show those girls once and for all who not to mess with?”
A bit intrigued but still weary, Momo didn’t back down. Instead she asked, “How?”
“Simple,” Katsuki replied, punching his fist into his other open palm. “Beat their ass.”
Momo stared at him incredulously for a moment, before registering the completely ridiculous yet so Bakugou solution for her predicament. She laughed, shaking her head in disapproval causing the blond’s smirk to turn into a sneer. “That is absolutely absurd!”
“It’s the only way to show your dominance!” He argued.
“That’s violence, Bakugou!” Momo tried her hand, gripping his shoulder and shaking him, as if trying to get some sense into him.
Katsuki grimaced, but didn’t move her hand, still insistent on starting some shit. “Violence is violence. But this is the perfect opportunity to show them you’re not one to mess with!”
“Not in that way!”
“Then what way are you thinking, Princess? Throw a tea party for them? With a PowerPoint?”
“No! That’s not all I do, you know!”
Shouto knew where exactly to find her. After a quick trip to the cafeteria, with a new interest on how and what promise rings were thanks to the girls, he was feeling more confident with how he’ll make it up to Momo.
However, it will take one step at a time.
First step: Apologize.
With a takeout container in one hand with her favorite dishes from today’s menu and a small, confident smile on his lips, Shouto weaved through the campus and found himself heading towards the little seating area, or garden they found tucked away at the edge of the school.
However, as he’d come to realize, he couldn’t easily walk through the grounds without unwanted company. He was almost at their meeting spot when he heard a few sets of footsteps rushing to catch up with him. Shouto stopped in his tracks when a tall girl, blonde hair and long acrylic nails smiled at him.
“Hi, Todoroki-san! May I get a picture with you? I’m such a big fan and hope to become a Pro Hero as brave as you—”
“No, sorry. I’m actually in a hurry to meet someone,” Shouto politely said, dodging her and her group of friends. Their expressions faltered, but curiosity peaked as they followed him to the last stretch until he and Momo’s spot.
The blonde girl was surprisingly quick, falling in step with him. “You’re meeting someone? Who are you meeting with?”
My girlfriend. “A friend,” Shouto replied, knowing Momo wanted to keep their relationship a secret for now. Just until his popularity died down. Although he understood her reasoning, he didn’t mind letting everyone know they were committed to each other.
“A friend? What kind of friend?” Another girl asked, surprising him when she suddenly appeared on his other side.
“Is it a girlfriend?” The tall blonde girl pressed, her eyebrow arched.
“I think you all should mind your business,” Shouto deadpanned, staring at them with a cold expression that almost stopped them in their tracks. It would’ve sent the poor girls away if not for the sight in front of them.
Shouto didn’t realize they finally arrived at their spot. But, what he didn’t expect…she wasn’t alone. Out of all the people, sitting next to her, making her laugh, like music to Shouto’s ears. He gripped the container in his hand a little too tightly causing the half touching his skin ice over.
The smirk on his best friend’s face as Momo laughed at something he said. The way he let her hand linger on his shoulder, not sparing him or the girls a glance as he said something that made his girlfriend roll her eyes, the pretty smile on her lips evident.
“Whoa, is that Bakugou-san with…ah! Creati?” The tall blonde girl asked one of the other girls.
“Yes! I tink her name is Yaoyroozu-san,” Another replied. “Are they dating?”
“They look so cute together—!”
“—They’re not dating,” Shouto interrupted whatever bullshit was spewing out of the annoying girls’ mouths. He didn’t spare a glance at them as he strode forward. His eyes glanced at the closeness between Momo’s thigh and Katsuki’s.
It didn’t take long before Shouto—and begrudgingly— his company filled the space. Momo’s eyes immediately caught his, her face lit up, but the grin quickly disappeared as she narrowed them at the girls curiously peering around him.
Luckily, they had common sense to remain a few strides behind him.
Katsuki also caught on, quirking an eye at the girls behind Shouto. “They have common decency after all,” He sneered letting out a rather unfriendly growl at one of the First Year girls, causing her to yelp in terror.
Shouto paid him no mind, his eyes still focusing on how close Momo’s leg and Katsuki’s leg were touching. She caught his eyes. “What are you doing here, Todoroki-san?”
“It’s our spot,” Shouto replied matter-fact-ly, not acknowledging the little smirk Katsuki had on his face nor did he care about the gasps of realization from behind him. The girls’ minds were doing what they did best: assume.
“Are we just inviting anyone here now? Didn’t realize Bakugou was on that list.” Shouto crossed his arms, pouting slightly.
“I could ask you the same thing.” Momo scoffed, her eyes darting to the girls behind them. “I don’t want to interrupt anything so Katsuki and I were just leaving,” She added as she crossed her legs as her hand patted their blond friend on the arm.
“I’m not going anywhere with you, Princess!” Half-heartedly, Katsuki shrugged off her touch, grumbling under his breath, though it fell through. Shouto could only focus on how easily it was for her to touch him in such a casual way.
“Princess?” Shouto hissed, not intending it to be so loud that both his friends and the girls heard the bite in his voice. He didn’t account for the little embers whooshing out of his left side or the icy breath escaping his lips.
Momo’s frown grew from irritated to genuinely concerned. Her pretty eyebrows furrowed together as she scooted a little ways away from Katsuki, her hand reaching out for Shouto with his name gently on her lips. Yet, it wasn’t his given name, instead it was something sweeter. “My love—”
“Please do not call Todoroki that in front of me.”
“Bakugou—”
”How about we start with you not calling her Princess in front of me?” Shouto retorted.
“Shouto!”
However, Katsuki remained strangely calm, eyebrows arched and his mouth ready to say something when a voice behind Shouto interrupted.
“A love triangle, a love triangle happening right before my eyes!”
“I didn’t expect this!”
“Oh my god, it all makes sense!”
“No wonder Bakugou is always so cranky! His girl is already with Todoroki-senpai!”
“I’d personally chose Todoroki-senpai!”
“No, Bakugou-senpai all the way!”
Whatever serenity Katuski had was stripped away the moment the gossip filled their ears. He shot up to his feet, stomping past Shouto and literally growled at the girls who huddled together in fear.
“Shut up, all of you! Do you ever learn how to keep your dumbass comments to yourself?”
However, there is strength in numbers.
“Is it true, Bakugou-senpai?” A brave girl amongst the group asked. “Do you love Yaoyorozu-senpai?”
“NO! I don’t even like her!” Katsuki shouted.
“Do you like Todoroki?” Another had the audacity to ask.
“I DESPISE HIM!” Katsuki growled.
“Can we have a clear answer at least?”
“How is that not clear? Are you all so stupid to get it through your heads…”
Katsuki’s angry shouting faded in the background. Momo’s eyes looked for Shouto’s, feeling her heart thumping in her chest. It was the first time in a while where her whole body felt on fire. Not because of the embarrassment of getting caught with Katsuki, there was nothing to be accused of. Nor was it for the ridiculous claims the girls were saying.
It was for the way Shouto made her feel with how he, too, still wanted her just as much as she did.
When her eyes finally found him, the jealousy she felt earlier that took so long to calm bubbled back in full force. It was as if she had Shouto’s quirk herself. She didn’t have time to think, only felt her body moving as soon as she registered what was happening to her boyfriend.
One of the taller girls of the group with yellow blonde hair was using Katsuki’s outburst as a distraction. She was a step too close to Shouto, almost having her hand wrapped around his arm as he helplessly pressed himself against a tree, avoiding her bold advances.
Before she knew it, Momo was standing in front of Shouto. He was relieved to see her. “Momo—”
Momo didn’t care about what he had to say, having had enough of this bullshit. Her hands gently cupped his face, she stood on the tips of her toes and pressed her lips against his, kissing him sweetly. Almost instantly, Shouto melted into her. He kissed her back this time with more intensity, one hand wrapped around her waist to pull her close.
Katsuki’s shouting and the girls’ chattering silenced for a few moments only to be replaced with squeals mixed with scoffs of disgust. It was only then Momo’s brain reminded her she needed air.
Pulling back, Momo broke the kiss, hiding the rising blush on her cheeks behind Shouto’s chest. He only chuckled in response, kissing the top of her head while he held her close. “I think that sent them the right message.”
Momo giggled, shaking her head as she peered at him through her bangs. “You think? Not too sure it was quite clear,” She replied sarcastically, smiling slightly.
“You’ve been hanging around Bakugou too much.”
“You’ve been around those girls too much!” Momo playfully pouted.
“I didn’t know how to shake them off,” Shouto admitted, his arms around her swaying them slightly, realizing the commotion behind them was starting up again. “I’m sorry, Momo. For being so dense.”
Momo shook her head, smiling softly. “I should’ve told you what was bothering me instead of ignoring you.” She played with the lapels of his uniform. “But…” She trailed off, giggling when she felt him playfully tug at the end of her long ponytail. “…I forgive you.”
Katsuki was back to shooting down each and every one of the girls’ accusations.
“You’re an idiot!” The blond scoffed as he pointed to one girl. “You’re an idiot!” He repeated as he pointed to another. “And you’re an idiot!”
“I’m sorry, too,” Momo added. “For the record, Bakugou and I—”
“Yeah, I know,” Shouto sheepishly replied. “With the stress of the girls following me, everything just piled on. I know you guys are just friends.”
Momo sighed in relief then asked. “What about that girl who asked you for your number? What was that about?” She arched an eyebrow, eyes still glinting with caution.
Shouto chuckled as he rubbed the small of her back in reassurance. “Don’t worry. She’s in the school’s newspaper club. She wanted an interview with you.”
“So she asked you to get in touch with me?” Momo asked, a bit unconvinced.
Shouto shrugged. “She’s a Third Year. She probably has an inkling of what we are.”
“And what are we?” Momo playfully asked.
“You’re my girlfriend, aren’t you?” Shouto grinned, causing her to blush.
“Can I have another kiss?” Momo innocently asked.
He couldn’t resist. He kissed her again, smiling as he pressed a few extra pecks along her cheeks, making her giggle. “Shouto!”
“What?”
“Calm down,” Momo whispered, her fingers playing with his hair on the nape of his neck. “We’re still in public.”
“You’ve been depriving me the whole day,” Shouto reasoned.
“You have a lot more when we’re alone,” Momo softly replied, the cute rosy hue on her cheeks. She refused to look at him, already telling him all he needed to know.
“Momo,” Shouto said, cupping her chin, forcing her to look into his eyes. “All you have to do is ask…” Her dark gaze was always so mesmerizing, especially when they were deep with—
“What are you going to do now that Yaoyorozu-senpai is taken?”
“For fucks sake I am already seeing someone and it is not Yaoyorozu!” Katuski blew up, the smoke seeping out of his palms, sneering so deep Momo feared it would not leave his face for a few days. The girls’ naive curiosity finally seemed to leave their bodies as the flight or fight response took over.
It only took a few warning signs for them to have some common sense knocked into them. Shame it had to be the ticking time bomb which was Katsuki Bakugou’s patience. Not to mention dousing him with relationship questions as gasoline.
The girls zoomed out of the little space with lightning speed. Katsuki didn’t spare a goodbye to the couple behind him, stomping like a giant out away with a trail of smoke.
Momo blinked, curiosity getting the better of her as she peered up at Shouto. “Who is Bakugou—”
“—Camie,” Shouto replied.
Momo raised her eyebrows, nodding. “I can’t say I expected that.”
“To be honest, it was very obvious,” Shouto shrugged as he intertwined his hand into hers.
“What? How?” Momo asked as they started towards the campus. Shouto started to tell her about their blond’s relationship with the Shiketsu student. Momo, who was thankful their silly disagreement was over, listened intently, wrapping her arm around Shouto’s as he continued.
She realized now that even though the girls saw them publicly kiss their secret would definitely be the school’s top gossip. However, to most students, it wouldn’t be a surprise. Yet to both her and Shouto, they personally wanted to keep their relationship a secret until Third Year…
Despite that…
…it sure was nice being able to hold Shouto’s hand through the campus’ hallways.