Here's chapter 3! Thank you EmberStork for correcting and everyone who gave kudos or reviewed. I'm on a day lag but promise I will respond.
Standard disclaimer applies.
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Operation turn Yaoyorozu back had started off as a complete failure. Hagakure had Yaoyorozu draw pictures, hoping her memories would be triggered by her subconscious. Instead Yaoyorozu had drawn a family portrait of him and herself. Ashido hung it up on the fridge.
Kaminari and Mineta's contribution was even less helpful. With the excuse that Yaoyorozu liked to read, they went into her room and pulled out her favorite encyclopedia. Except, the three year old could only make out the basic words and no one else understood the thick text either.
Bakugo even had tried his hand at helping by tying her hair up into its usual high ponytail – but that could have been because he was annoyed with the length more than any intention of truly helping.
Jirou had the most realistic idea, she had Yaoyorozu listen to music and when that didn't work, had the three year old sit down at her keyboard to see if muscle memory kicked in.
It didn't.
Shouto leaned back against the couch, his eyes unintentionally drifting to find the three year old on the opposite side of the room. Koda had brought down his pet rabbit and Yaoyorozu and the rest of the class 1-A girls were currently preoccupied with it as the remaining guys sat around the couches exhausted.
Uraraka was holding Yaoyorozu's tiny hand teaching her how to properly pet the animal. At some point Ashido or Hagakure had pulled the hood up on the All Might onesie and were busy taking pictures of Yaoyorozu.
As if feeling his heterochromatic stare, Yaoyorozu's black eyes glanced up for the hundredth time that day. Scanning the room, her face began to scrunch in worry until they landed on him and her shoulders visibly relaxed allowing Asui and Uraraka to pull her attention back to the rabbit.
Shouto swallowed over a dry lump in his throat. The tear stains from earlier were still visible on her cheeks and the guilt from it tore into his stomach like a knife. They had been taking a break and playing hide and seek. Everything had been fine until he had been 'it.' When the rest of the class had tried to lead Yaoyorozu away she had broken down, crying and begging for him not to leave her. The knife in his stomach twisted painfully at the memory of her tears soaking his shirt.
The worst part was that at that moment all he had felt was anger. Anger at seeing Yaoyorozu so desperate and scared and anger at himself for being the cause of her breakdown. Anger at just the whole situation.
Why him?
He knew it was just the quirk and the whole accident had been a coincidence but he had wanted to scream at her that this wasn't her. Yaoyorozu was brave and level headed. She wasn't driven by her emotions like him. She'd never get so upset over someone like him if she was back to her normal self. Would she?
"Well what's next?" Sero asked, breaking Shouto out of his thoughts. Half of the class had migrated away after the incident as it became more and more apparent that Yaoyorozu was stuck until the quirk wore off.
"I don't know, let's take a break," Kamanari said, leaning back against the couch and looking up at the ceiling absently. "When is Aizawa coming back?"
As if on cue, Shouto's stomach rumbled. He looked at the clock on the wall and discovered that it was already late afternoon. He felt famished.
His last full meal had been at breakfast and with everything that had happened he hadn't thought to eat since. He'd just make something quick for himself. He stood up. Immediately Yaoyorozu's dark eyes darted to him. Watching as he walked into the kitchen before she allowed Jirou and Ashido to talk her back into returning to the rabbit.
Shouto sighed. It was disconcerting being the center of another's life.
He grabbed a pot from the drying rack and filled it up with water, placing it on the stove. He hoped she was okay with soba. He only knew how to make noodles and protein shakes but he doubted she would want the latter.
Shouto looked over at the girls. "Yao -Momo-chan want food?" He asked. He felt heat crawl up his neck but used his right side to counterbalance it. He had already been scolded by Ashido once for still calling Yaoyorozu by her last name. He didn't get it but sometimes it was better to choose your battles.
Yaoyorozu looked up and bobbed her head, the All Might hoodie sliding off, leaving her hair frizzy.
Shouto held back a smirk. Of course she'd want food. When was Yaoyorozu not hungry?
He opened the cabinet. Each student had their unspoken section for just their items. Shouto looked at his designated section. It was bare except for whey protein powder and a few noodle boxes. Grabbing a box of the soba noodles, Shouto paused. Yaoyorozu usually ate quite a bit, would one box be good enough? He hesitated before grabbing a second just in case.
Light footfalls stopped at the edge of the kitchen. Shouto glanced over at Midoriya.
The green haired boy shifted. He seemed nervous again, his eyes falling to the floor. "Todoroki-kun, are you okay?" he finally asked.
Shouto paused. Was he okay? He guessed he was, but he didn't know. This all felt like a test that he was failing miserably. Even before the quirk incident, he and Yaoyorozu were on opposite sides of a coin, so to speak. He'd like to think they were friends but they didn't have that much in common and hardly ever spoke outside of school.
Most of their interactions over the last three years had been Yaoyorozu sharing her textbooks with him, but that was something she would do for any of her classmates. And the few times she had invited him to study sessions, it was due to his quiet personality and the fact that they worked well together on homework.
Admittedly, they had been hanging out more frequently ever since he had asked for her help refining his quirk. She had agreed, of course, and without hesitation because "heroes have to cheer each other on," but outside of those training sessions, the only real time they had ever hung out was at the Ennichi festival back in first year. Still, he'd like to think they had grown closer as friends since then, but they certainly were not close enough that she would forgive him for making her cry.
Shouto looked away. It felt like an anvil had lodged itself in his stomach, holding him back from...something he couldn't name.
"Fine…" he finally said, pouring the noodles into the water. Whatever he was grasping for wasn't clear and, as he did every time he didn't understand his own feelings, he shoved the emotion away. Compartmentalizing it to be dragged up and examined later when he was alone.
Shouto turned his attention back to his friend. Midoriya hadn't moved from the edge of the kitchen. He wrung his hands together. "It just seems like you've been on edge."
"On edge?"
"Yeah, on edge. Or not yourself." He explained hurriedly.
Shouto hummed. Perhaps he had been a bit colder since that morning?
"That's because he likes her idiot."
Shouto tensed. He hadn't heard Bakugo approach and by Midoriya's shocked and red face clearly he hadn't either. Shouto frowned. "Of course I like her, we're friends…" Shouto said, not looking at Bakugo. The statement made him feel suddenly uncomfortable. As if the word didn't fully explain the amount he trusted and relied upon Yaoyorozu.
"Eh! Todoroki likes someone?" Kaminari said, overhearing the end of the conversation. He put his arm on Bakugo's shoulder and gave Shouto an assessing look. "How can you tell? His face never changes?"
"Mind your own damn business, sparky," Bakugo snapped. Swiping a fist at Kaminari who danced away, obviously used to Bakugo's antics.
Bakugo sneered at Todoroki. "Are you really that dense?"
Shouto didn't answer as he brought the pot over to the sink and poured the noodles into a strainer. Bakugo scoffed and walked away. Shouto could still feel Midoriya's green eyes on his back, most likely analyzing and picking apart Bakugo's words, but he ignored him as he turned on the cold water to cool down the noodles.
Shouto exhaled through his nose. "Foods ready," he said, scooping noodles into two bowels and bringing them over to the table.
As if those words were a summoning spell, Mineta appeared out of thin air to sit down in front of the first bowel. "Oh boy I'm hungry!" He said, picking up a set of chopsticks.
Shouto swiped the bowel out from under him. "Not for you."
"What?" Mineta asked, his face screwed up in mock hurt.
Shouto glared, unperturbed as he sat down. "Make your own."
"Isn't Aizawa bringing food over later?" Jirou chimed in as she led Yaoyorozu over to the kitchen to wash her hands.
"Yeah, you just have to wait," Krishima added grabbing his bag from one of the chairs. "Anyways, I got to get some studying done. I really don't want to fail another one of Present Mic Sensei's pop quizzes."
"You think he's going to give us another one so soon? We just had one." Ashido asked, her face looked pale at the thought as she walked over.
"That was three weeks ago," Midoriya replied, sitting down opposite of Shouto. "And since half the class failed, I can't see why he wouldn't."
Kaminari and Ashido moaned in unison.
"Spiky hair! Let's go! I don't got all night to cram that head of yours with English," Bakugo's eyes narrowed dangerously as he walked towards the front door.
"My hairs no more spiky then yours," Krishima sighed, rubbing the back of his head.
"What was that?"
"Nothing," Krishima turned to the rest of the group, "Well, I'll see you when Aizawa-sensei arrives. Todoroki," Krishima said, giving his usual sharp toothed smile.
Shouto nodded in understanding.
"Ugh...what will I do now that Yaomomo can't help,"Ashido said, flopping over a chair.
"I can tutor you if you are willing to pay for my services," Mineta's eyes gleamed suggestively.
"No! Gross!" Ashido snorted, kicking at the grape haired boy. "I'd rather fail!"
Sometime during the conversation, Iida's mind had short circuited. "What a dilemma! I should be a good friend and stay with Todoroki-kun and Yaoyorozu-san but my duty as class president calls for me to help my classmates in the stead of Yaoyorozu-san! What do I do? What do I do?" He finally broke with a cry.
"Calm down Iida-kun," Midoriya patted Iida's back. "It doesn't look like Yaoyorozu-san will change back anytime soon. I'm sure it's okay if you help."
"Oh Iida please tutor me!" Ashido pleaded, pressing her hands together.
"Yes! Tutor me too!" Sero said, getting up from the couch.
"Oh, I could use some help too," Uraraka said, rubbing the back of her head. "Todoroki-kun, will you be okay?"
Iida and Uraraka looked at Todoroki.
"Its fine," Shouto said, as the other students still hanging around the common area began to beg Iida for assistance as well. Iida's concerned expression evaporated, replaced with a big grin. And with an Iida type proclamation he promised to do his best to teach them in Yaoyorozu's place.
This left just four people in the common room. Todoroki, Midoriya, Jirou, and Kaminari (who Shouto wondered why didn't leave with the rest of the study group).
"What's this Todoroki," Jirou asked helping Yaoyorozu up into the seat next to him.
"Soba. Cold," he replied around a mouthful of noodles.
Jirou picked up the chopsticks and Yaoyorozu frowned. "I can do it myself."
Jirou looked down. "You sure? Can you use the big kid chopsticks?"
Yaoyorozu nodded. "Okay, let me know if you need help." Jirou said, moving to sit next to Kaminari.
Yaoyorozu picked up the chopsticks and after two tries was able to pick up the noodles. She took a tentative bite.
Shouto looked over and almost choked on his noodles. Yaoyorozu's eyes had grown to gigantic proportions. Slowly she chewed and Shouto could see the wheels begin to turn in her tiny head before a huge grin spread across her face and she shoveled more noodles into her mouth.
"Hey, don't eat so fast Momo-chan. You don't want to get sick," Jirou chided, leaning across the table to pat Yaoyorozu on the back as she inhaled her food too fast. Shouto hid a smirk behind his dipping bowl.
"She's so cute. Did Yaomomo always like soba noodles this much?" Kaminari asked.
Jirou paused, twirling her ear jack around her fingers. "I don't think she's ever had them before."
"Really?" Kaminari asked shocked. Shouto paused to watch as Yaoyorozu recovered to proceed and shovel more noodles into her mouth. All proper manners seemed to have disappeared as she chewed happily. He had always thought she preferred European food. Her impeccable manners and high class lifestyle seemed to lead him to believe that. It had never occurred to him that maybe she had just never had some common Japanese dishes he had grown up with.
Well if she liked his soba, which was barely edible, he should take her to his favorite soba house. Todoroki's heart faltered. What was he thinking? They weren't that close.
"Anyways, did you like the bunny Momo-chan?" Kaminari asked.
"Yeah."
Kaminari's eyes glittered. "So who do you like more Todoroki oniisan or the bunny?"
"Oniisan," Yaoyorozu said, without hesitation as she looked up, her face flashing in indignation at the question. Shouto contented himself with a deadpan expression as Kaminari looked across the table and winked. Jirou elbowed him in the side and Kaminari crumpled.
"Don't ask stupid questions," Jirou hissed.
"Okay. Okay," Kaminari said holding his hands up in a placating gesture. "Sorry, what else am I supposed to ask?"
"I dunno, why not what she wants to be when she grows up?"
"Fine," Kaminari turned to look at Yaoyorozu again and smiled. "Momo-chan what do you want to be when you grow up?"
"I'm going to be oniisan's wife."
Shouto choked on his noodles.
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Thanks for reading!
