Momo Yaoyurozu became friends with Shoto Todoroki just after their final exam fight against their homeroom teacher, Aizawa. They grew closer in battle, and even more so when Momo sheepishly asked him for his phone number afterward. They didn't text a lot at first but gradually the three messages a day turned into a hundred. They sent each other videos and had random conversations if one of them was bored or couldn't sleep, the latter plagued Todoroki the most. Momo had dipped her toes into the first name basis pool unsuccessfully but she had gotten verbal permission to call her friend 'Todo'. She tried very hard not to giggle when she said it. Todoroki was a very cool person, quite literally. He was level-headed and probably the most handsome boy in the class. He barely ever smiled, but when he did, it was radiant. The number of times the other girls talked about him could break records.
It had been about two weeks since Eijiro Kirishima had rallied Izuku Midoriya, Tenya Iida, Todoroki, and Momo herself to rescue their classmate after he was kidnapped by villains. It was a risky mission and a terrifying one, though they had succeeded in recapturing the stolen classmate. A teacher and number one hero, All Might, fought the villain's leader and won, but not without consequence. Momo found herself lying awake in bed at night, unable to sleep after the ordeal. Like the adrenaline from that night hadn't quite shaken off. Her legs felt in constant motion, her ears pricked at any small sound. When she tried to close her eyes all she saw was that horrible and disgusting villain. She rolled around on her enormous bed, occasionally falling off and bruising her side. She would find peace at around four in the morning and be able to rest for a few hours. The day following a restless night felt too long, the sun felt too bright, the students, too loud. She didn't mention this to anyone, except Todoroki. He would stay up and talk to her on the phone until she nodded off. Momo found his voice calming. It was smooth and low, it made her think of waves crashing into a cliff after a storm.
One night, while Momo wrestled with her insomnia, a knock on her door scared her straight off of the side of her bed. She fell with a thump, entangled in the comforter. She groaned and fussed with it on the floor. Another knock came as she pulled the comforter off of herself and piled it on the floor. She glanced at the clock on her desk which she was unable to get to due to the bed. It read 14: 38 AM. Who could be up at this hour, other than Momo herself? She unlatched the room's door and slowly opened it a sliver. She nearly jumped out of the grey fuzzy pants and lavender infused socks she had worn to bed.
"Todo?! What are you doing here?" Momo exclaimed in a harsh whisper. Todoroki was standing outside the door in black pants and a hoodie. He was staring down the hallway, probably keep watch for any activity. Momo went on.
"This is the girl side! If one of the other girls saw you here, or even one of the boys! I mean… "
Todoroki looked at her in the eyes. She fell silent.
"Sorry, I thought you would still be up and I have something we could do," He said quietly. Todoroki slid his hand into the hoodie's pocket and pulled out a small rectangle with rounded edges. Was that a..?
"Whose credit card is that?" Momo breathed as her eyes widened with interest.
"My dad's. I took it from him a while ago and I've been buying small, useless things with it for about a month. He hasn't noticed and it keeps getting replenished so I thought, why not go out and test the limits?" Momo nearly said yes as soon as he started his explanation. But thinking logically, there was a flaw in his plan.
"What stores would be open at this time?" Momo asked. Todoroki pushed the card back into his pocket and shrugged.
"I might know a place,"
Momo thought for a moment. Of course, she didn't have anything else to do and what he was offering sounded pretty fun. Plus, extra hang-out time with Todoroki. Momo smiled.
"Okay, let's go,"
"Maybe put on a shirt first,"
Momo blushed and looked down. She indeed was not wearing a shirt, but a blue sports bra. Momo wrapped her arms around her stomach and closed the door with her foot. As the door shut, she could've sworn that Todoroki was smiling, just a little.
After putting on an outfit worthy of early morning shenanigans Momo reopened her door. Todoroki was leaning on the opposite wall with his eyes closed. Momo thought he had fallen asleep at first, but when she shut the door behind her he kicked off the wall and stepped forward.
"We'll have to sneak off campus I think," Todoroki said as he and Momo walked through the rec area moments later. Momo nodded.
"I figured that," She sighed. Sneaking out wouldn't be her favorite thing to do but she could deal with it. Todoroki pushed the main door open and allowed Momo through first. She smiled to herself. The wind was cool and it rustled the leaves in a comforting way. Crickets chirped in a gentle harmony. They walked in silence for the most part, both not wanting to somehow trigger an alarm. A lot of precautionary measures were taken ever since the… kidnapping. The school didn't want anyone getting in or out. Momo didn't think about it too much. She wasn't sure what kind of measures they had in place so she'd try to figure something else when they got to the wall. What Momo did know was that there was a large wall on the borders of the campus with only one main entrance. She was fairly certain it would be locked at a time like this. Perhaps they could just climb over it.
"At least we can see," Todoroki commented when they reached the wall. Lights were attached to the top of the wall. Most likely used to spot intruders. They were by the main entrance but not too close. Todoroki stared up at the wall for a few seconds before turning to Momo.
"Can you make a ladder?" he asked. Momo nodded. She could remember making a ladder once before when she was younger for a neighboring child whose cat climbed into a tree and wouldn't come down. It was a small ladder but she could make a bigger one. Momo turned away from her companion and took off the jacket she put on beforehand, and dropped it to the ground. She lifted her t-shirt to expose her stomach. Making a ladder wasn't too hard.
"How long?" Momo asked as she continued to create the ladder.
"That should be good," Todoroki replied. Momo closed off the ladder and let it fall. The ground softened its landing but it still made a loud enough clang to make Momo cringe and look up at the school. There were no signs of life from the building. It lay dormant. Todoroki positioned the ladder while Momo put her jacket back on. The ladder was a good twenty-feet high and just barely reached the top. Todoroki went up first. Momo watched nervously. If he was planning on jumping down from up there he might break his legs. She called for him to be careful at least three times. Todoroki sat on top of the wall and looked down. Hopefully, he would be smart about it. Of course, he would. Momo watched as he raised his right hand. She didn't see what he did exactly but he hopped down and slid out of sight. Momo heard him hit the ground. Momo waited for him to say something. He did not. Taking this as a sign that he was fine, Momo began to climb the ladder. She looked behind her as she reached the top. This was a very tall wall. Really tall.
"Are you coming Yaoyurozu?" Todoroki's voice came from far below. Momo looked over. On the opposite side of the wall stood Todoroki, at the base of an ice slide. The slide attached to the top of the wall. Momo smiled. Amazing. She shifted her legs so that they were inclined on the slide's surface. She pushed off of the wall gently so she didn't go flying and slid down. She felt like a child on a rollercoaster. Her stomach turned upside-down and her heart raced. She almost shouted. At the bottom, the slide curled smoothly into the pavement. Momo found herself in a sitting position on the sidewalk in a matter of seconds. She stayed there for a moment, processing what had just happened before hopping up and brushing herself off.
"I have to say, that was pretty impressive," Momo gushed as she and Todoroki began to walk away from the school. Todoroki shrugged.
"It wasn't that impressive. Just an ice slide,"
"Don't be so modest! I bet you could make all kinds of ice things if you can make a slide like that!"
Todoroki shrugged again. "Maybe,"
Momo nudged him playfully.
"So where are we headed?" She asked.
"It's a smaller place, but it has some interesting items. My mother took me there once, when I was young. I don't remember it much but it came up in a recent visit," Todoroki answered.
"Ah right, your mom. How is she?"
"She tells me she's fine, but I don't know for sure,"
"Do you still visit often?"
"Not as much as I want to but yeah,"
"I know I've asked before but can I come sometime?"
"I told you I don't think they allow anyone but family members,"
"Darn,"
"But I can ask, if you really want to go,"
"Absolutely!"
"You're persistent, you know that?"
"Huh?"
"I'm not meaning it as an insult, being persistent is good in certain situations,"
"Certain situations… "
"Yes,"
"You aren't going to elaborate?"
"I can,"
"No, it's fine,"
"So, Midoriya is having me listen to this playlist he made… and it might be a long walk… Do you want to… "
"Yes," Momo watched Todoroki take out a pair of headphones from his pocket as well as his phone. He plugged in the headphones and quickly unlocked the phone. He opened the music app and handed Momo and earbud she put it in the ear closest to him, he did the same. Then he clicked play.
It wasn't at all what Momo expected for Midoriya. It was a slow piano with a drifting melody in the background. Soothing. Momo half expected All Might fan songs. This was a surprise. She would question him about it, but then he'd probably figure out that Todoroki shared this with her. At some point, Momo fell asleep. Not fully though, she continued walking, but she felt numb and slow. She was startled by Todoroki poking her shoulder.
"Are you alright?" He asked, "we can go back…" Momo shook her head.
"No, no, I'm fine. How far away is this place anyway?"
"We're almost there,"
Momo tried to keep her eyes open as they trudged on for a horrible five more minutes. The abrupt stop in music told Momo they were there before Todoroki did. Where they were was standing in front of a set of five little shops, crammed to the windows with what seemed like junk from where Momo was standing. They all had light blazing from within them. Momo was very glad they were open or else she would've snuck out of school and walked all this way for nothing.
"I didn't think you'd be into this kind of stuff, Todo," Momo remarked with a small laugh. She was recalling the best dorm room contest.
"I don't really, I just thought it might be interesting," Todoroki replied casually. Momo sighed a little.
"Let's go then," she pointed to the first of the little shops, "we should start there, at the beginning."
Todoroki agreed and the two of them marched off to the store.
It was warm inside and smelled like old. The old woman at the counter was practically beneath a mountain of old miscellaneous items. She greeted them with a smile.
"What's a young couple like you doing down here at a time like this! You should be at a fancy restaurant or a hotel room!"
she declared. Todoroki didn't say anything. Momo felt her face grow warm. The old lady chuckled at they passed her. When browsing a shelf of statues of strange men in pointed hats, Todoroki asked,
"Are you sure that you're alright?"
"Yes, of course! Why do you ask?" Momo replied hastily.
"Your face is red,"
This made Momo blush harder. She ducked into another row of shelves to hide it.
At that shop Momo found a few things that interested her. One was a plastic star that glowed and played a song when you clicked a button. Another was a small porcelain dragon that turned into a woman at the waist. Todoroki offered to buy these for her, pulling out the credit card. Momo laughed and allowed him to do so. On their way out, the old woman at the counter whispered something to Momo.
"That one's a keeper deary, be sure to marry him for me,"
Momo blushed and rushed out after Todoroki. The next store was just as pulled full of junk as the last but Momo was starting to get into it. At this store she and Todoroki each bought four things, large ones. Todoroki even went as far as to buy a shopping cart. They'd spent over a hundred dollars so far. It was already three-fifteen. Todoroki suggested getting back before five and Momo agreed. The last three stores were the most fun though. Momo felt like staying in the fourth store forever. There were fiber glass dolls and silver cups, ceramic teapots and golden trays, and one aile filled with precious stone jewelry. A jade locket necklace with a silver chain caught her eye, but she moved to a different aile with Todoroki behind her. When she went back to look at it before they moved on, the necklace was gone. She had a sneaking suspicion about where it went. After the fifth store, they started up to U.A. once more. It was four. Todoroki loaded their bags of items into the shopping cart with a, "That's why I bought it," comment. Momo laughed at that. He probably just bought it to drain the credit card.
"Hey, Todo?" Momo said at one point during their ascent.
"Yeah?"
"Thanks for bringing me,"
"Well, of course I brought you. We're friends, right?"
"Y-yes,"
Friends. They were friends, after all.
Getting back into campus was a trick. They bantered back and forth as to how to get the cart up and over, eventually deciding that Todoroki could do some kind of ice lift. That idea worked well. He melted that after the were up, along with the slide. Then there was getting themselves and the cart down. Todoroki just sighed and made another ice slide, this one had a very gradual fall. Neither of them wanted their prizes to break. He melted that when they were done too. They walked back to the dorms in a peaceful quiet, other than a squeaky wheel on the shopping cart. Momo felt just about ready to fall asleep right there. At the dorms the separated their items and parted ways, leaving the shopping cart in the rec room as a nice surprise for the other students. Momo set her bags down at the foot of her bed and flopped onto it. Too tired to change clothes, she instantly fell asleep. Her alarm went off three hours later and she begrudgingly woke. Before getting ready for school she arranged her things neatly on the desk. She had to sit on the edge of the bed to do so.
Weeks later, after the licensing exams, Momo was in her room with her classmates, Mina Ashido and Ochaco Uraraka, helping them with some particularly difficult homework they had received, when there was a knock on the door. Before Momo could react, Mina jumped up, scattering papers and yelling, "I got it!". When she opened the door, no one was there. Mina suddenly gasped regardless of a person's nonexistent. She kneeled down and picked something up. She closed the door, still on her knees, and crawled over to Momo. She held something up with a wide grin. Momo's heart pulsed.
"Yaomomo's got an admirer!" The pink girl chanted. Ochaco giggled. Mina was holding a silver chain with a jade pendant hanging off the bottom. The locket. Momo gently took it while the two other girls launched into a gossip session. Turning away from them, Momo opened the locket. A note fell into her palm. She quietly opened it, and she read,
'To Momo Yaoyurozu,
I saw you looking at this in the fourth shop so I got it for you. I was planning on delivering it on your birthday, but I didn't know when that was, sorry. So, as I was heading out to my extra classes I took the opportunity. I hope you still like it, even after all this time.
-Love,
Todo.'
Momo felt her cheeks warm up. He signed it with love. She was so distracted that she didn't notice Mina looking over her shoulder.
"Todo, eh?" Momo jumped and crumpled the note. Mina wore a devious grin.
"Could that, mayhaps, be… Todoroki?"
Momo shook her head violently and denied it. That just egged Mina on.
"So it is! How long have you been going out? Has he kissed you yet? Have you kissed him??" Mina bounced up and down.
"No!" Momo yelled over her friends brainless babble. "No, it's not like that!"
"Then what is it like?" Ochaco inquired. Momo looked down.
"We're just friends, that's all,"
Mina frowned.
"Poor Momo, you love him don't you?" she pouted. Ochaco nodded with this.
"What? No!"
"You love him!"
"I do not!"
"Yes, you do Momo!"
"Oh, hush! We have to fix your grades before focusing on my lovelife,"
"So it is love!"
"What?"
Mina and Ochaco laughed and rolled around on the bed. Momo smiled. Maybe she did love him. So what? They were friends and that was that.
--Twenty Years Later--
"Mom, will we get to meet her?"
"No idiot, she's probably dead by now,"
"Kids, behave,"
"And don't call your brother an idiot, that's not nice,"
"Sorry mom,"
Momo pushed open the shop door. It was surprising to know that it was still open after so long. Her two children shoved passed her and burst into the small junk-filled shop. Their father warned them not to break anything. Momo wandered to the front counter, leaving her husband to chase after the kids. A young woman sat behind it. Momo greeted her.
"Can I help you?" The young woman asked.
"Not particularly, just wondering something. I came here when I was in high school and was greeted by an older woman, I know she is probably gone by now but, could you tell me her name?"
The young woman straightened up.
"So, you're the girl grandma used to go on about. The one who came in with her boyfriend at two in the morning!"
Momo laughed.
"Well, we weren't actually dating,"
"Oh?"
"Yeah. Anyway, I just wanted to know if there was anyway you could somehow tell her that I did it,"
"Did wha- wait… "
"Hi, my name is Todoroki. Momo Todoroki,"
Momo smiled at the young woman's shock.
"Hey, Momo! The kids broke a vase!"
"Coming!" Momo turned and ran off into the shelves.
