hiiiii i'm back after a much-needed hiatus from my writing! if you're still reading this, thank you! so! much! hopefully y'all are not too mad at me buutttt here's the next chapter! please enjoy and be sure to tell me what you think!

Bakugou was acting weird.

He stopped grumbling whenever Momo and Kyouka went over to his and Shouto's place for dinner, which happened to be every other day. The girls would go over for sushi one day, and the boys would come over to their place for macaroni and cheese the next. It was just expected at this point; there wasn't any questioning it. At the beginning, Bakugou seemed a little… triggered, but now, he looked genuinely okay with taking part in the routine.

Secondly, he had started bringing his textbooks to the table during dinner. They ranged in topics, from mixtures and compounds to calculating measurements of chemicals.

When Momo had asked, he had just responded with a simple, "I actually want to study and graduate, unlike you losers."

That was the next point. He had cut down with swearing in every sentence that came out of his mouth. Shouto was the first one to notice this, of course, and when he had told Momo, she practically spit out her hazelnut coffee. It wasn't every day that the Katsuki Bakugou didn't spout vulgar things just because he felt like it.

"Personally, I think something happened to him," Shouto had said one day when he, Momo, and Midoriya were out for ice cream between classes. "Like, something big. He'd never act like this if it didn't mean something."

"Aren't you his roommate?" Momo responded, raising a brow. "If anything, you should know what's happening to him."

"Kurieiti-san is right, Shouto-kun," Midoriya piped up, licking at his cone with a small frown. "I think you should talk to Kacchan and resolve your issues."

"Issues?" Shouto blinked. "There are no issues."

"Did you do something," Momo deadpanned, eliciting a laugh from Midoriya. When Shouto just stared at her, she sighed. "No, really. Knowing you, you probably did something."

"I didn't do anything," Shouto replied. "I'm actually kind of offended that you think so little of me."

Midoriya's expression suddenly turned thoughtful, his index finger lifting to scratch the bottom of his chin. "You know," he started, "he has been on his phone a lot more recently."

"He's been texting someone," Shouto agreed. "I've been trying to find out who it is, but he refuses to tell me."

"Force it out of him," Momo instantly said. Shouto shot her a bewildered look, to which she shrugged. "It really isn't that hard. Just threaten him a bit and put some harmless blackmail on his name. He's bound to crack." The two boys just stared at her. "Jokes."

"Honestly, Kurieiti-san," Midoriya said, smiling now, "that wasn't funny. No one- not even Kacchan- deserves something like that."

Shouto grunted, taking a small bite out of his ice cream.

"You bite it?" Momo asked, sticking out her tongue and swiping it across the cool surface of the sweet treat. Her eyebrows furrowed when his teeth reached towards the cone again, taking another mouthful.

"Yeah? Doesn't everybody?" he said.

She shook her head. "No. You're supposed to lick it."

"I disagree," he said, his eyes narrowing. "You get more ice cream if you bite."

"You get more flavor if you lick," Momo countered immediately. "Plus, it lasts longer since you're ingesting less at one time."

"Izuku," Shouto said, turning to face said boy. Midoriya jumped up when he was addressed, startled. "Do you lick the ice cream, or do you bite it?"

Momo waited anxiously for his answer, wanting to show up Shouto as she had seen Midoriya lick his ice cream mere minutes earlier. She smirked, her victory practically claimed in her eyes.

"W-well, it depends," Midoriya started. "Sometimes I prefer licking it, like when I want to eat it for longer and it's a really hot day, but other times I bite it since I want to finish it quickly, or if I want to freeze my teeth…" He was going to start rambling any second now, and as if Shouto realized this, he quickly spoke up.

"Uh… ah," he said, breaking into whatever Midoriya was going to say. "Um. Anyway. I will continue to stand by my superior knowledge, and I will keep biting my ice cream."

"Crazy, that's what you are," Momo muttered, unwrapping the plastic protecting the waffle cone. "I will continue to stand by my more superior knowledge, and I will keep licking my ice cream."

"You're insatiable."

"Maybe so."

"Guys," Midoriya groaned, "I think this conversation just took a completely different turn." He paused for their wide eyes to sink in. "Can we go back to Kacchan?"

"Right," Shouto nodded before Momo could say anything. "Katsuki. I have no idea."

"I think," Momo started, "it's because of the person he's been texting." She stopped, considering her own logic. "Maybe he's gotten himself a girlfriend or something?"

Shouto and Midoriya both exchanged a glance. She quirked her eyebrows at them, knowing they were hiding something from her. Midoriya bit his lip nervously, as Shouto just let out a cool sigh.

"Katsuki's into guys," he said, shrugging, "at least, that's what we've concluded."

Midoriya nodded. "Kacchan hasn't really told us about what he prefers. We just all kind of… picked up on it over the years. We could be wrong, though."

Momo made sure her breath didn't halt once as she responded with ease, "a boyfriend, then?"

Nah. She didn't have anything against that. People could like who they wanted to like. It wasn't Momo's problem. If Bakugou was into guys, she'd respect that.

"But you may be right, Kurieiti-san," Midoriya said slowly, "I wouldn't be too surprised if he likes someone."

"Hm, it would definitely explain his recent behavior," Shouto agreed. "Damn. I really need to get into his phone and take a look."

"Then why don't you?" Momo suggested, shooting him a curious look. "You live with him. I cannot stress this enough, but if there's anyone who can figure this out, it's you."

Midoriya just nodded. "I mean, it isn't really the nicest way you could be going about all of this," he said quickly, "but it's still worth a try! I personally don't think Kacchan will even come close to letting you near his phone, but we can still give it our best shot! Like our old high school professor used to say-"

Shouto suddenly let a small smile leak, as if he was realizing what the green haired boy was going to say.

"Plus ultra!" the two boys exclaimed simultaneously.

"What does that even mean," Momo deadpanned in response. Midoriya and Shouto exchanged a weird glance, resulting in Shouto coughing into his fist awkwardly.

"See, some things you just can't possibly understand," he started in an awfully fake attempt at a sincere voice, "and that's okay." He placed a hand on her shoulder for emphasis. "We can't all be amazingly smart individuals, you know?"

Momo blinked. "Uh. Right." She smirked. "Now who was it that needed help in remembering what the Anatomy homework was again?"

His lips parted slightly, delivering a shaken look towards her.

She nodded, satisfied. "Exactly."

"Guys, we're getting off-topic again," Midoriya cut in, waving his right hand in both of their faces. "Remember? We need to figure out how to get Kacchan to spill."

"Oh," Momo nodded. "Right. Any brilliant ideas in that empty head of yours?" She gently flicked Shouto's head, smiling when he carefully pried her fingers away.

"Well, we definitely need more than just three people," he said.

"Who said I was helping?" Momo asked, crossing her arms. When the two boys gave her bewildered looks (again), she shrugged. "Jokes. I'll help."

"Great," Midoriya said. "Maybe Uraraka-san would like to lend us a hand?"

"Ochako should be able to help," Momo agreed. "I can ask her later."

"Yeah… um…" Midoriya faltered nervously, "it's… uh… yeah, it's probably better if… um… you were to ask her… ask her instead… instead of me."

"What?" Shouto said, raising an eyebrow. "Afraid of Katsuki ripping out your skull?"

"He… Kacchan would n-never!"

"What's up with you two anyway?" Momo asked as the three of them found seats at a nearby bench on campus. "Like, what's with the whole 'Kacchan' and 'Deku'? And why is he more rude to you than the rest of us?"

Midoriya almost groaned. It was like he expected this question coming from Momo sooner or later. "Kacchan and I knew each other back when we were kids. We were neighbors as children and we grew up in the same neighborhood."

Momo bit her lip. "I see. Continue."

"We didn't really get along very well, though," Midoriya said, further proving this by shrugging. "He seemed to not like me very much." He stopped, considering his last words. "We were actually okay with each other before Kacchan found his whole chemistry hobby. He said my want to help people was 'stupid', or something. We kind of disconnected after that."

"You're a psychology major," Momo supplied, "couldn't you two have worked things out? Didn't you work some of that therapy magic on him?"

"Therapy magic?" Midoriya laughed. "No, I don't have any magic. It's just something I like to do and I have a knack for. Kind of. I don't know. You tell me." He glanced over to Shouto, who was looking insanely thoughtful. He reached up to scratch his chin.

"Yeah," he said. "Yeah, you definitely have a knack for it." Shouto turned to Momo. "Thing is, if you ever feel down or something, Izuku is guaranteed to make you feel better, no matter what situation you're in." He paused. "Not only that, but he actually helps you. I would recommend him to anyone."

"High praise," Momo commented, curling her bottom lip outwards and tugging her upper lip in. "Especially coming from Fukasu Shouto."

Midoriya grinned, letting the freckled dotting his cheeks bunch up and the dimples underneath them popping out. "Thank you, Shouto-kun, Kurieiti-san."

"Though that still doesn't really explain why he's still so hostile towards you, even now," Momo said pointedly, taking the rest of her cone into her mouth and swallowing roughly. "Especially when you two are around Ochako."

"Kacchan is…" he stalled for a few seconds, searching for the right words, "a little protective over Uraraka-san. I… they started working out together a few years ago, and one thing led to another."

"They're best friends," Shouto explained, "to put it simply. When we got the apartment together, Katsuki made it very clear to me that he'd much rather be living with Uraraka, but since she had already secured herself a girls-only dorm on campus, he couldn't."

"Pfft," Momo snickered, "so you were the second choice?"

He shot her a measly glare. "I don't like you." He glanced over at Midoriya, who was currently surfing on his cell phone. "Anyway, I was hoping to get an apartment with Izuku, but he apparently had already made other plans."

Midoriya sheepishly scratched the back of his neck. "Ahh, I'm still so sorry about that, Shouto-kun, but you know it wasn't my choice."

To this, Momo cocked her head to the side. "What do you mean?"

Midoriya turned to look at her. "My mom put me in the dorm program, so I got assigned a roommate."

"I didn't really want to live on campus," Shouto added, "so I had asked Izuku if he was interested in renting something out with me, but he said he had already applied for a dorm room."

"Well, I hope your roommate's nice, at least," Momo said to Midoriya. "I mean, everything beats Bakugou, right?"

"Funny," Shouto grumbled.

"My roommate's pretty cool," Midoriya nodded. "He's super friendly and nice. He's a biology major and has a chemistry minor."

"What's his name?" Momo questioned, already impressed by the compatible (and difficult) course selections.

Just as Midoriya was about to reply, the clock tower started ringing, effectively silencing anything he was going to say. Midorya shook his head, giving them both a small smile and waving out to them as he began to back away.

"Wait," Shouto said, catching them both mid-walk. "Once you ask Uraraka, tell her to come to my apartment after class. I'll make Katsuki go take a shower or something. He doesn't usually take his phone in the bathroom."

Momo nodded. "Sounds good," she said. "I may have to bring Kyo with me, but if I'm lucky, it won't happen." She glanced at his eyes, connecting them in a brief moment of perfect contact. "We're still on for dinner, right?"

Shouto just nodded. "You come over."

"Okay."

Midoriya shot them both curious looks. "You guys made dinner plans?" There was something about the way he was looking at the two of them that sent an unsettling feeling coursing through Momo's body. She gulped, looking over to Shouto who suddenly seemed much more qualified to answer the harmless question.

"Kurieiti and Jirou switch off with Katsuki and I daily for dinner," he answered, making Momo sigh in relief. She wasn't sure if she wanted to know what kind of rumor would spread if Shouto hadn't answered the question at all. He then shrugged. "Not a big deal, really."

"Ah," Midoriya nodded, shooting them both uncertain grins before turning and running towards his next class.

Momo made brief eye contact with Shouto, but said nothing as she too started making her way to her next class. They'd be seeing each other later on anyways, but she did manage a meek smile as she passed him, not noticing his adam's apple bobbing up and down slowly.

…

Unknown: Kurieiti-san! Shouto-kun gave me your number!

Unknown: Shouto-kun just made Kacchan go take a shower!

-You have added Unknown to your contacts-

Midoriya: If you're ready, come with Uraraka-san and Jirou-san! Kaminari-kun is here too!

Midoriya: Only if you're ready, though! Don't rush yourself!

Midoriya: Oh, by the way, this is Midoriya!

Momo was beginning to think Midoriya didn't have the button for a period on his phone.

…

Turns out, Momo was not able to shake off Kyouka from coming with her. Apparently, looking through Bakugou's texts was a 'scandalous' feat, that she absolutely could not miss 'even if her life depended on it'. So, she, Kyouka, and Ochako made their way to Shouto and Bakugou's apartment, only to find Kaminari waiting for them outside.

"Well hello, ladies," he said, shooting them all sauve winks. Momo smiled, while Ochako giggled and Kyouka rolled her eyes. Kaminari grinned, before gesturing to the door. "Midoriya and Shouto are already in there." He paused to fiddle through his pockets. "I have the spare key that- wait, where's the key?!"

"You're such an idiot," Kyouka muttered, before pointing to Kaminari's shoe. Kaminari's eyes darted down, landing on the silver key tucked safely inside his shoe. He gasped, quickly bending down to take it into his hands.

"Forgot I kept it there," he said, smiling sheepishly. He then proceeded to hook the key through the front door, popping it open and stepping aside for the girls to get through. "After you, my ladies."

Kyouka gently slapped him while she slid inside, while Momo and Ochako shot each other sideways smirks.

Upon entering the apartment, Momo's eyes were instantly drawn to the couch, where Shouto was sitting, a phone in his hands and Midoriya sitting flush against his side, intently looking at the screen and saying something to Shouto.

She walked up to them, the others following closely behind, before they all stopped dead in their tracks. All except Shouto.

"SOME LEGENDS ARE FUCKING TOLD, AND SOME TURN TO FUCKING DUST OR TO FUCKING GOLD!"

Momo froze, mid-step.

"BUT YOU WILL FUCKING REMEMBER MEEEEE!"

She turned her head to the bathroom door.

"REMEMBER ME FOR FUCKING CENTURIES!"

Shouto took a sip of his coffee.

Momo's jaw dropped.

Ever so calmly, Shouto set Bakugou's cell phone down, stood up, and walked to the bathroom door. A passive expression remained still on his face, and he didn't say a word till he got to the door, lifting his knuckles to knock- hard.

"YOU ARE AN EMBARRASSMENT! SHUT UP KATSUKI!"

"FUCK OFF HALFIE!"

Shouto sighed, rubbing his temples before turning on his heel to face everyone else.

"Ignore him. He won't be able to hear us anyway."

The others exchanged sheepish glances, and Kaminari snickered. He held up his phone, tapping the screen with the nail of his index finger.

"Good thing I got it all on tape," he grinned, before pressing a 'play' button and allowing Bakugou's screeching to fill the room once again.

As Kyouka stomped over to the blonde, Momo glanced back at Shouto, who was now sitting back down on the couch besides Midoriya. She stepped closer to them, eager to hear what they were talking about.

"There's a girl in my psychology course," Midoriya said, voice hushed. "Yaomemi. Do you think maybe…?"

"No," Shouto shook his head. "That would be too obvious."

Midoriya quieted down, his eyes darting up to meet Momo's and settled back into his seat.

When Momo coughed awkwardly, Shouto looked up, his hands tightening around the phone as the others also filled in around them.

"Well, Shouto?" Kaminari grinned, crossing his arms. "Open it up!"

Shouto nodded, pressing the home button on Bakugou's phone and typing in '3825' when prompted for a passcode. There was a ripple of confusion throughout the room for a short second, ultimately ending with a snort from Kyouka.

"Three-eight-two-five," she snickered, "The letters f-u-c-k are on those keys."

Momo blinked back her laugh as the others openly giggled about it, and instead, she leaned down to better look at the phone's screen, watching intently as Shouto clicked into Bakugou's messaging platform.

Where, inevitably, there were three new messages all from the same person.

Kirishima: bakuNO

Kirishima: bakuGO

Kirishima: bakuBRO

Momo faintly saw Midoriya's eyes go wide upon the unfamiliar name, and in her mind, she tasted the way it sounded. Shouto's lips pursed in confusion.

"Kirishima?" he tested slowly, "that name sounds strangely familiar for some reason."
"My roommate," Midoriya supplied quickly, the tips of his ears tainted with a faint red glimmer. "Kirishima Eijrou. Kurieiti-san, I told you about my roommate earlier today, right?"

Momo gulped. So this was the biology major with a chemistry minor.

"What's he like?" Kaminari started, looking genuinely curious.

"Kirishima-kun is a great person!" Midoriya quickly said. "Don't take my reluctance lightly, of course. I'm just a little surprised. He never mentioned being friends with Kacchan, that's all."

"Midoriya's salty," Kyouka snickered.

"Ah, I'm sure he had a good reason, Deku-kun!" Ochako supplied, tapping her fingers together and shooting him a nervous smile. "Bakugou-kun didn't tell me anything about this either, if it makes any difference."

"I feel like Bakugou generally doesn't tell people stuff anyway," Momo muttered, looking away, knowing it wasn't exactly her place to speak.

Thankfully, Shouto saved her. "She's right. Katsuki isn't one to delve deep into his personal life."

"Personal life?" Kyouka grinned, finding strange amusement in his words.

Midoriya then began to fumble around with his pockets, slipping his cell phone into his hands and dialing a number. Everyone's eyes were on him as he held the phone delicately to his ear, muttering something inaudible under his breath whilst doing so.

"Ah, Kirishima-kun," he said suddenly, and everyone in the room exchanged awkward glances with each other. "You didn't tell me you knew Kacchan! Who's Ka- Bakugou Katsuki? Yes. Yes that's him. Oh. That's nice. Sorry I just didn't know you two were friends. No no, that's okay. Y-yes I know that was manly of him- what? Oh. Okay. I see. Okay bye, Kirishima-kun. Yes I'll be home. No. Okay. See you." The phone clicked shut, and Midoriya sighed.

"What was that about?" Kaminari asked, plopping into one of the other couches. Momo faintly heard the water shut off from the bathroom, but she didn't say anything about it, much more interested in Midoriya's antics to be confused.

"We're ordering in tonight so I can talk to him," he shrugged. "I want to… warn him."

"About what?" Shouto said, the smallest hint of amusement laced in his voice.

"Kacchan, of course!" Midoriya said, a smile also surfacing on his features. "We all know how he can be!"

"Well I think it's sweet," Momo cut in, giving Shouto a look. "I think it's nice how Midoriya's concerned about Kirishima."

"I wanna meet him," Kaminari said, a sleezy smile playing at his lips. "I'm interested to see who's caught Bakugou's eye."

"His eye?" Midoriya said, looking close to choking on his saliva. "What are you implying?!"

"Ohhh nothing," Kaminari said, winking.

It was then when the bathroom door clicked, creaking open to reveal a half-naked Bakugou, a towel wrapped around his wet lower body. It was the second time Momo was seeing him like this, the first time being when they had first met each other, of course.

"Three…" Shouto said softly under his breath, catching Momo's attention, "two…"

"WHAT THE FUCK IS GOING ON IN HERE?"

"One."

It was kind of funny, really, in Momo's opinion. Bakugou's usual scowl immediately formed on his face, and everyone's eyes twitched almost simultaneously. The ash-blonde boy growled unhappily, anger clear and evident. The others slowly backed away as Bakugou made eye contact with his exasperated roommate, and Momo had to hold back her snort.

"And why the fuck do you have my phone, Half-Face?"

"Relax, Katsuki," Shouto shrugged, tossing it lightly to the other boy. "We were just exploring."
"What are you shitballs doing here?" Bakugou said sharply, turning to look at everyone else.

Kyouka snorted evenly, waltzing back to the front door, and Momo immediately took this as a sign of 'I'm about to run.'

"Looking through your phone and finding out about your boyfriend, that's all," she said, shooting him a sauve wink. Bakugou's jaw dropped, his face turning into a dark crimson, and Ochako quickly ran up to him, putting her palms on his shoulder blades and shaking her head.

"Bakugou-kun, no!" she exclaimed, just as Kyouka opened the door and sprinted.

"WHO THE FUCK'RE YOU CALLING BOYFRIEND YOU BASIC-"

"I think I'm going to take my leave now too," Momo said slowly, stopping to wave at Shouto. "Thanks for this, Shouto."
"Uh… wait," Shouto said, getting up from his seat and walking up to her. "I don't wanna be around him any longer, so would you mind if I walked you to your place?"
"Eh?" Momo said, her eyes widening. "But it's literally-"

"Good," he nodded, grabbing his phone and slipping his flip-flops on. "See you guys later."
"Aa- wait! Shouto-kun! Don't leave me here with-"

"DEKUUUU!"

"Kacchan!"

"Bye," Shouto said, before tugging Momo out the door.

…

"Momo," Yaoyorou Yemima's unnerving voice sounded through Momo's cell phone. Momo twisted her lips into a frown. When her mother had called her, she had picked up out of politeness, not because she actually wanted to talk to the older woman.

"Hello Mother," she greeted curtly, already knowing how the conversation was going to play out. "What's with the call? Is something the matter?"

"I just wanted to check up on you, that's all," her mother responded, and Momo could hear the faint ripple of papers in the background of the call. "I'm sorting through the papers of the investigation now and preparing a new file for you."

"A new file?" Momo questioned, playing with the small silver spoon she was holding in her hands. A forgotten bowl of mangos and rice laid in front of her, reminding her that it was still lunch time and she was mighty hungry. She didn't have time to deal with this woman. She and Kyouka were going out with Shouto and Bakugou soon anyway.

"Yes. You told me the old one didn't have enough information on it, correct?" Yemima said. "We managed to look a little deeper into the boy's family history. A Todoroki can't hide much, after all."

"What are you even talking about," Momo groaned. "Listen, Mom, I'm looking, okay? But my studies come first and I've been overloaded with a lot of new assignments as of late."

"Then as soon as you're done with those, go on a few hunts."

"That's not suspicious at all."

"Suspicious to who?"

Momo sighed. "My friends? I have met people here, Mother. It's a school, not a prison house."

"Then tell them you're going man-scouting or something. Pretend you're looking for a boyfriend? Or something to-"

"M-Mother?" Momo gasped, not daring to believe her ears. "What are you talking about?"

"I'm merely telling you that there are many options. You cannot afford to quit your search or take unnecessary breaks."

Momo almost gagged at the implication of what her mother was telling her, though she wouldn't have expected any less.

"I'm hanging up-"

"Momo! Don't talk to me like that."

"I'm hanging up."

Momo let the silence settle in for a few moments, her thumb itching to press the red circle on the bottom of her screen to end the call.

"Fine then. Hang up on me," her mother said, and Momo could almost taste the annoyance in her voice, "I suppose you won't be interested in the news I have for you."

"What news?" Momo said through gritted teeth.

"Honestly," her mother muttered, before sighing. "We found out today that the Todorokis are looking for you too. You're a target, Momo."

Momo's hand slipped, and her phone fell to the ground, chips of the glass screen breaking and spreading out across the floor.

"Oh no."

next chapter: study sessions featuring shouto and momo