It started with an innocent enough question.
"What are you doing Friday night?"
Momo looked up from the essay she was outlining, craning her head towards the origin of the voice. She picked up the discarded cap of her bright yellow highlighter, sheathing the utensil and setting it and an annotated article down on the table.
The voice belonged to none other than Shouto Todoroki, pre-law student in the top ranks of their class, UA Honors Program participant, National Honors inductee, a stoic, her longtime and closest friend from university... the list of descriptors could simply go on.
He waited patiently in place, unwinding the navy blue scarf that was pulled loosely around his neck and bundling it up in his arms. Despite how cold it was outside, the only acknowledgement Shouto gave the weather was the scarf (a gift from his mother, Momo recalled) and a light jacket. Somehow, extreme weather never seemed to bother him, and Momo couldn't quite put her finger on how it always seemed like he could regulate his body temperature on a whim.
Oh, right. His question. She was stalling.
"Wait, why don't you sit down?" the business student offered to the newcomer, gesturing at the empty seat beside her. The person in question hesitated before accepting her offer, carefully adjusting his weight in the wooden chair. It groaned in response. His heterochromatic eyes bored into hers.
"What are you doing on Friday night?" Shouto repeated once again.
Momo pursed her lips. She had planned on studying for an upcoming exam and working on the first draft of a research paper, and yes those were both over three weeks away, thank you very much - but what else was new? She liked to be prepared and remain on top of her schoolwork, which was the most practical and manageable way to maintain her schedule. Something gave her the impression that this answer was not going to fly with him, however.
"I didn't have any plans to go out," she started slowly, quirking an eyebrow, "What is it that we are going to be doing, Shouto?"
He averted his eyes briefly, as if he couldn't figure out how to let the words roll off his tongue.
"There's a house show. I think we should both attend." The synapses stopped firing off in Momo's brain as she looked at him quizzically.
"A house show?"
"Yes. Live music at a house," Todoroki responded simply, offering no other explanation. His eyes shifted towards the countertop in the corner of the cafe, a piping hot black coffee sounding increasingly tempting. And, maybe, if I go get a drink... she'll stop asking questions and just agree to come along, he mused.
No way that would ever happen, however.
Momo studied him, dark eyes squinting at the corners. She reached towards him, allowing the back of her head to brush past red and white two-toned hair and rest against his forehead. No fever. He didn't look pale. Shouto's gaze flitted back to meet the other woman's eyes, no distinct emotion present on his face.
"So a show… live music… at a house," she said slowly.
"That's what I said."
The silence stretched between them. Momo blinked again. She only had one question.
"...Why?"
He was silent.
Shouto Todoroki was not someone who went out of his way to interact with others socially if he did not have to or did not want to, save for a select few (Momo prided herself on being one of these individuals). More specifically, he knew what he wanted out of life and that was what he would do; no more and no less. An exceptional student, Shouto was one of those at the top of their class in university. She understood his level of engagement with his schoolwork within his program, being equally as involved in her own studies and research as he was with his. This sort of quiet, mutual understanding and feelings of respect had really drawn out feelings of comradery, and later, close friendship, between the two of them.
For appearing to be curt, concise, and poised at all hours of the day, Momo knew that he could and would get to talking and gossiping with her, given the situation. In fact, he would always approach her first if he ever needed advice, and the black-haired girl was always more than happy to oblige and aid her best friend in any way he needed. Hopefully he would remember this right about now and simply cut to the chase-
"Tenya invited us," he said flatly. Now Momo was even more confused - why would Iida and Todoroki, two people not particularly fond of long periods of socialization, rowdiness, or music for that matter, have any interest in such a thing?
"It's at his house," he explained. "One of his roommates is hosting it, but apparently all of them are friends with a lot of musicians around here. I think Iida is mostly damage control, but he wanted to extend the invitation to us regardless." He paused thoughtfully, glancing back at the countertop and towards the source of coffee once again. "I suppose it could be enjoyable."
Ah. His place.
"So," she responded casually, reaching for her iced coffee, "Izuku Midoriya will be there then, yes?" She used a thin wooden stirrer to swirl the ice around, the liquid quietly sloshing against the sides of the reusable metal bottle. Momo glanced back at her friend. He was still looking elsewhere, but he couldn't hide the fact that his ears were tinged pink.
Bingo.
"Yes," he responded slowly. They had met the green-haired boy a handful of times when spending time with Tenya, and Momo could tell that Shouto had been smitten since laying eyes on him. The friendly, albeit sputtering and nervous, green-haired student really had made an impression if he was causing Shouto to consider an event so outside of his comfort zone.
"Why didn't you just say so?" Momo giggled softly behind her hand at the other man's exasperated huff. "Of course I'll come with. It's a great opportunity for you to initiate a conversation with him, you know. He's very friendly." His shoulders slumped slightly with relief, a subtle difference in posture Momo did not fail to notice.
"Thank you," he replied, mouth dry. "I'm just… not sure what to say. I'll be in his home and I've hardly ever spoken a word to him. Is that weird? Or… creepy?" Shouto seemed to internally flinch at the prospect.
"No, of course not! Tenya invited you to his house to listen to live music with your best friend," she gestured to herself with a flourish and a grin, "Nothing weird about that. It wouldn't be unusual if you happened to bump into one of his roommates while you're there, you know."
Shouto nodded, slowly exhaling breath he probably hadn't realized he had been holding. Satisfied with this answer, he excused himself to go order a drink at the counter - Momo stifled a giggle when the over-enthusiastic, curly-haired clerk greeted him with a very vocal, very bold, "Hey there, handsome! You've left me here wondering I would get to see you again!" that had heads turning throughout the shop. Her skin was tinged pink - whether from the cold or from making such a bold advance, Momo couldn't say. At one time, she was sure the man would have flinched or reacted with distaste, but interactions with this student worker seemed to have become second nature for him.
Yaoyorozu Momo couldn't help but smile at her friend's hesitant behavior in terms of social… advancement. She liked to think of herself as perceptive, and in fact, she had been there most of the times Midoriya had skidded into one of her, Tenya, and Shouto's study sessions on campus so he could ask for his roommate.
The first thing she had noticed was his nervousness. Midoriya seemed ...twitchy, but in an endearing way, somehow. Momo and Shouto certainly were not to judge someone for not being assertive in a social situation. He stumbled over his apologies haphazardly as he hastily tried to make amends for his interruption, shyly rubbing the back of his neck or wringing his hands together. He had introduced himself after a conversation with Tenya as Izuku Midoriya, and the bashful demeanor instantly replaced with pride and determination in his bright green eyes as he declared that he was a double major in Journalism and Conflict Resolution, with a concentration in Leadership, Ethics, and Values. He rambled on for a while about what he hoped to achieve and how strongly he felt about making a positive difference, becoming some kind of a symbol for those who needed it, or something in that vein... Momo Yaoyorozu could remember this easily by how impressed she had been with this shift in attitude. It was as if he was looking forward, beyond them, to something much bigger than any of them could even comprehend. Midoriya didn't come across as cocky or arrogant, but as passionate, heartfelt, and self-assured.
The second aspect about the interaction overall Momo had taken note of had been a fascinated, thinly-veiled gawk at Shouto that lasted a little bit longer than what she deemed as necessary. Momo insisted that it was positive evidence that Midoriya would certainly remember him and be receptive if he attempted to initiate conversation, even in passing, but Shouto had brushed it off as the typical run-of-the-mill reaction from strangers to the combination of his hair, eyes, and scar and deemed it nothing to write home about.
Momo had to say she disagreed, but if he was too stubborn to listen to her, then she would have to help… facilitate this process. Of course she wanted to see Shouto happy, and even if he wouldn't say it out loud, the black-haired girl knew that while she had been impressed with Midoriya's bold declaration about his future path in the middle of the Business and Engineering Building, then Shouto had to have been absolutely floored by his performance.
She watched as he returned to their small table with his black coffee. He popped the lid off of the cup, and, instead of letting the very-visibly steaming drink cool like anyone else might reasonably do, the law student knocked it back without a second thought. She silently observed him, used to his weird temperature immunity.
Alright. We're doing this. I don't know what to expect or what to do with myself at a … house show… but we will make it worth it.
Momo honestly could not relate to falling head over heels for someone she hardly knew or someone she just met, or having the experience of being so forward as to make moves on anyone at all, but this was unexpected behavior from Todoroki, and most definitely strange, new waters for him to traverse on his own. He was smitten by and intrigued in the journalism student, and of course, Momo would move mountains to help her best friend in any way she could. Without hesitation. Of course.
But proving him wrong, just as a tiny little bonus and nothing more, even a quiet, internal "I told you so" for her satisfaction that Shouto may never even hear her proclaim… well, if everything turned out well, then there couldn't possibly be anything wrong with that. ...Right?