"There is no point in using the word 'impossible' to describe something that has clearly happened."
― Douglas Adams, Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency
He thinks that maybe, just maybe, he might have an inkling about his growing attachment to a certain black-haired, ponytailed girl.
Shouto trudges through the path of grass he and Momo took to reach the center of town, recalling the sight of her back and the radiant smile she had sent his way. He kicks a rock off towards the side in frustration, because he really shouldn't be dwelling on that of all things.
The troubled teen inhales a deep breath of air to collect his thoughts. Getting frustrated on things that he has no control over is useless, that much he can say for sure, so it is better to find the root of the problem and address it.
Using his limited knowledge on the subject of love, he follows the thought process that intellectuals use in order to answer onerous questions: the scientific method.
Firstly, his hypothesis on why he is feeling a whole new array of emotions towards Momo is because, dare he say, he might be developing feelings that go past platonic. Which is ludicrous because 'love' and 'Shouto' do not belong in the same sentence, but given his newfound awareness of the tricky emotion, it might not exactly be as impossible as he once thought it was.
(The revelation makes his body itch, which he blames solely on the blasted blades brushing against his sensitive skin.)
Predictions: he needs testable predictions. Shouto purses his lips together, thinking long and hard. A cloud passes over the sun, causing shadows to cover him as he ponders. What did the girls say again?
For Tooru, it had been because the test subject noticed something different. Curiosity lead to awareness before eventually settling on attraction. But how could he possibly test that in a short amount of time? Even Shouto is stumped, so he quickly crosses that option from his list.
In Ochako's case, well… Shouto isn't quite sure what to make out of it. Frankly put, the girl is about as lovesick as they get, and Shouto is sure that he can never successfully emulate that in a testable and replicable algorithm.
Tsuyu… Yes, Tsuyu's will do quite nicely. Comfort and trust. Momo's presence is as comforting as they come, given her tendency to dote on her friends like a mother. And he wouldn't have even dared sharing his deepest and most vulnerable secrets if he didn't trust her.
Just that alone is enough to make Shouto conclude that, yes, the Todoroki heir is in love with the daughter of his mother's past lover (or hopeless suitor; he doesn't know yet).
BUT, he shouldn't be hasty with his conclusions. That is what the scientific method is used for: to prevent Shouto from doing exactly that. How embarrassing would it have been to recklessly conclude that he developed feelings for the first person that he spent a consistent, considerable amount of time with? Shameful, just shameful.
(At this point, the white-and-red-haired male is doing everything in his power to deny the truth.)
Now, he just needed a few test subjects for his little experiment…
"Oh, Shouto!" a voice calls out. Hearing his name, the teen whips his head around to find the source of the noise. His heterochromatic eyes fall on a blonde and red-haired duo sitting off towards the side, bundled sunflowers carefully set on the ground beside them.
"Kirishima." The red-haired boy grins at the acknowledgement, revealing a set of sharp, pointed teeth. "And… Kaminari."
"Ding, ding, ding!" the loud-mouthed blonde sings aloud. He sends Shouto finger guns. "Nice job, city boy!"
Shouto has a very, very hard time understanding why someone as easily annoyed as Kyouka likes someone as energetic as Denki.
"What're you doing out here?" Eijirou wonders. Hardly anyone knew this road. It is a secret shortcut kept within Class 3-A, but strangely enough, the new face in town is worming himself in, as if he belonged in the group all along.
It takes him a while to come up with an answer, because he knows that if he tells the full-story, it'll no doubt raise a few questions he isn't willing to answer just yet. Instead, Shouto merely shrugs and says, "I was taking a walk."
"…Uh-huh. 'A walk'," Denki repeats incredulously and uses his fingers to make air-quotes. The dual-haired boy is an oddity to them all, but that may just be because he came from the city and things operated differently there.
Denki doesn't know; he barely passed geography and social politics.
(He also didn't know that Shizuoka, Shouto's hometown, is a mere hour away and therefore didn't differ too much from Kannami.)
Shouto wished for some test subjects. And two appeared right before him. It's funny and somewhat concerning how almost everything fell onto his lap, but he isn't about to complain. If bad luck is going to come his way as a means to balance all the good fortune he's been having lately, he only requests for it to come after he's done discovering the mystery of love and his mother's past.
"Are you two busy right now?" Shouto asks. He finds himself sitting beside the two well before they answer, because it feels natural to. Before, he'd have been waiting long until he got confirmation from both parties before feeling comfortable enough to take space he wasn't originally invited to.
Eijirou shakes his head. "Well, we're supposed to be delivering these, but Denki—"
"Hey, you agreed to take a break, too!" the blonde protests. The red-haired boy rolls his eyes at the childish interruption.
"Yeah, anyways, we got time now," Eijirou shrugs. He runs a hand through his unruly hair before collapsing onto the grass, arms tucked under his head for support. As the sun's rays filtered through passing clouds, he turns to Shouto with squinted eyes. "What's up? You need help with something?"
He doesn't know either of the two well enough, so his willingness to inquire for their assistance comes as a surprise to Shouto as well. His father had always told him to ensure that his resources were safe and secure before using them, but Enji isn't right here right now to dictate his actions.
Shouto stares at a patch of dandelions by his feet.
"How do you feel about someone who puts you at ease?" he hesitantly starts off. Eijirou and Denki share a look of confusion at the unexpected inquiry, but nevertheless, they offer their own answers to the awkward teen.
"Well, uh, good I guess? I mean, I wouldn't want to keep hanging around someone I don't feel comfortable around, you know?" Denki explains while wildly gesticulating. He rubs his temples. "Gah, is this supposed to be a riddle or something?!"
"You're so unmanly," Eijirou scoffs. Denki gives him a glare that's repelled by the easy smile on the red-haired male's face. "I'd say that I end up liking the person!"
There it is again, the word 'like' which doesn't mean having the same or similar characteristics as another object.
"What do you mean by 'like'?" Shouto prods.
Eijirou tilts his head. "Uh… I'd want them to be my friend?"
"But what if you don't want to be just friends. What if it's deeper?"
"…Best friends, then?"
"No," Shouto asserts firmly. He's dancing around the subject, and it's not helping that neither Denki nor Eijirou has a clue as to where he's heading with this. A part of him wishes that it's Momo who he's talking to, but another yells that it's because it's her that he can't consult the black-haired girl about this.
"Dude, can you like, just explain it in plain and simple words?" Denki begs. Eijirou and he were the type of people to barely make passing grades, and they, on more than one occasion, had to attend a couple supplementary lessons after school.
Shouto exhales loudly through his nose. "Do you feel attraction to that person?"
Eijirou visibly stiffens at his probing. Is Shouto being too pushy with them? They by no means have any obligations to answer his questions, and Shouto's aware that he's clueless on personal boundaries. Perhaps he overstepped one.
Denki begins rubbing his chin contemplatively. "Sounds to me like you're asking who we're crushing on."
Maybe he has. But before Shouto can apologize for doing something rude, Denki flashes him a wolfish grin.
"Because you know what? I totally love gossiping about this. So, how about we strike a deal?"
Blue and gray eyes narrow suspiciously, and suddenly, his business senses kick in. "What are the provisions of this negotiation?"
Denki holds his hands up protectively. "Woah, woah, woah, it's not like I'm asking you to exchange your life savings for this or anything. Just a fair trade, okay?"
Stiffly, Shouto nods his head. Denki lets out a loud whoop, and suddenly, Shouto wants to retract his earlier agreement.
"Alright! So, the deal is that I'll tell you who I'm crushing on if you tell me yours," Denki proposes. It is certainly fair, because both sides gain a piece of information, but something wedges inside Shouto's heart that makes every beat painful.
If other scientists risked working amidst a lab full of dangerous chemicals and conducted dangerous, mind-breaking studies on themselves for the sake of science, he can ignore a little ache from his traitorous heart.
Slowly, Shouto murmurs, "Fine."
Denki turns to his silent friend. "You in, Eijirou?"
"…Nah, I'm good," Eijirou declines. He wouldn't look either male in the eye as he gives his answer, turning his back towards them. "I'll just like, plug my ears or something so I don't hear."
The blonde purses his lips pensively before shrugging his shoulders. "'Kay. Suit yourself."
Warily, Shouto eyes the sullen male, suddenly reminded that not all love is exciting and that not everyone wants to discover the depths of their emotion. However, unlike the red-haired boy who is covering his ears behind Denki's back, the gamer is practically bouncing in his seat.
"Kyouka Jirou," he answers confidently, as if he's used to telling this to everyone. Shouto admires his daringness. Denki doesn't even give the other boy time to gather his bearings. "What about you?"
Shouto frowns. "I haven't confirmed it myself, but…"
"Yada, yada, yada—you don't love with your head but your heart, my man," Denki interjects, pointing to the left side of his chest with a thumb. "'Little by little the door to love opens. True love is packed with thrills~'"
"A song?" Shouto asks, quirking an eyebrow up. Denki's cheeks flush red.
"Hey, Ouran High School Host Club is a good anime, okay?"
Shouto has never heard of it, so he believes the blonde's words.
Denki crosses his arms and huffs. "Anyways, quit stalling! Just tell me already."
Right, he should just get this over with. Rip the bandage cleanly off. It's not like he is telling Denki a secret that can potentially destroy his future or make him question his existence. This…this is merely a fleeting feeling that's a result of a hormonal imbalance deep within his brain. Liking, as Momo had put it, didn't necessarily equate to loving.
He takes a deep breath, counting down from 100 by 10's because Denki's patience is wearing thin, and whispers,
"Yaoyorozu... Mo... M-Momo."
So much for ripping the bandage cleanly off.
To his credit, Denki doesn't take notice of his blunder—and if he did, he makes no snide comment about it. No, the dual-colored-haired boy's person of interest is much too fascinating for the blonde to pay attention to anything else.
"Yaomomo?!" Denki practically screeches out. Shouto winces, shoving his hand over at the loudmouth's lips and frantically surveying the area. Luckily, it is a rather barren space, and no one other than the trio of teenaged males is there.
Eijirou does not budge from his spot on the ground.
"Yes. But there's no need for you to announce it for the entire world," Shouto hisses. Denki's laugh is muffled, and he shakes away from the other boy's hands.
"Dude, sorry. I just… Wow, you really have high standards, huh?"
Shouto frowns. He'd always equated high standards to his father. Enji is the type of man to fuss over every single little detail of things to a fault. If there is even one minute feature that's out of place, the man would have demanded for it to be replaced with a more adequate product of his liking.
Therefore, he takes offense to Denki insinuation.
"I don't have high standards," Shouto denies vehemently. He crosses his arms together to glower at the other boy. Denki nervously rubs the back of his head.
"It's not like that's supposed to be taken in a bad way or anything. Just that, well, come on, everyone's had a crush on Yaomomo at some point in their life," Denki tries to explain to ease the tension. It has the opposite effect: Shouto's glare is heated enough to melt him right there on the spot.
Eijirou snorts and finally turns around, hands nowhere even close to his ears. Shouto feels a smidge betrayed and angry at himself for failing to hold the red-haired teen accountable for going back on his promise.
"Not everyone," the rugged boy argues. Denki sputters.
"It's a matter of speech! Y'know, like those hype…hyper…hyperbowling?"
"Hyperbole," Shouto corrects. The blond snaps his fingers together.
"Right, that's it!"
Arms folded behind his head, Eijirou sits up and formally joins their conversation. "I don't really remember Yaomomo being all that popular with the guys…"
There is something unattainable about the Yaoyorozu's only daughter. Though she is certainly nice, sometimes she acted more like their mother than a potential romantic partner. Also, being ranked number one and possessing an air of high-class elegance scared away more than a few suitors. Guys at their school preferred approachable girls like Ochako or Itsuka.
Denki snorts. His hands come up to his chest. "Well, I mean, she's number one in class, but she's also number one in another area."
The blonde finds himself face down on the floor, mouth full of grass, courtesy of a singular push from Shouto. The latter isn't quite sure what possessed him to do so, but seeing Denki whimper pathetically makes him feel satisfied.
"That's so manly," Eijirou gapes. He pats Denki's head comfortingly. "Anyways, what made you like her in the first place?"
Somehow, the word 'like' doesn't even register in Shouto's mind. Just the opportunity to list out all of Momo's great qualities is enough to get his engine revved up, and soon enough, Shouto's spouting at a list of things he enjoys about a certain black-haired girl.
Denki and Eijirou don't have the heart to interrupt him when he goes well beyond the five-minute mark.
"—And, she's incredibly perceptive and understanding," Shouto finally finishes. For one reason or another, his throat is feeling rather parched. Had he really been talking that long? He glances over and notices the sympathetic looks that the other two teens send him. "…What?"
Eijirou is the first to put a hand on Shouto's shoulder. "Bro, that was totally manly of you. Not everyone has the courage to admit all that."
The Todoroki heir doesn't like where this is going.
Denki places his own hand on Shouto's other, unoccupied shoulder. "Dude, you have it worse than me, and I've known Jirou about five—no, ten times longer than you know Momo."
Shouto bristles and roughly swats them away. "I don't like her—"
"Uh-uh. No take backsies!" Denki retorts. The white-and-red-haired teen scowls.
"…That much."
"Yeah, and I'm a genius in Calculus," the blonde sarcastically replies. Eijirou blinks.
"Did you even pass our last midterm?"
Denki brings a finger to Eiirou's lips. "Hush, child. You're in the same sinking boat as I."
Meanwhile, the youngest Todoroki is battling with the emotional turmoil he's suddenly faced with. The experiment is, suffice to say, a success. (What was it even about again?) However, Shouto is not at all satisfied nor pleased with the results he receives.
He had severely underestimated the tricky feeling until it has wormed its way deep into the crevices of both his mind and heart. It is a parasite that will eventually break him down, so he needs to rid of it all before he becomes completely weakened by it.
Shouto fumbles. "What should I do about it?"
The pair exchange a look before shrugging their shoulders. Denki is the first to offer his opinion, "Well, what do you want to do about it?"
A teeny, tiny voice in the back of his head warns him about taking romantic advice from boys with the same amount of experience as him (which is less than or equal to nil), but then again, Shouto isn't prone to listening to tiny voices, showcased by his audacity to follow a suspicious rope that lead him to his current predicament.
"I don't know," Shouto confesses. He used to be able to count the amount of times he's been truly stumped throughout his eighteen years of existence on one hand.
Once, when his economics tutor explained to him that all the theories Shouto's devoted himself to learning don't necessarily translate well into practice.
Twice, when his English tutor tried explaining the rules of adjective order when preceding a noun.
Thrice, when his mother gave him a cryptic letter that contained an ambiguous request to find a man he knew next to nothing about.
Now, it seems that love has added much more than he can keep track of with his mere phalanges.
The group falls silent as the answer remains uncaptured, floating around somewhere. Odd how Shouto has grown to rely on others for help instead of quietly bearing the burden by himself. It's even more mystifying when he has the fortitude to ask Denki what he's done about his little crush on Kyouka.
"Me?" the blonde gasps. Shouto is throwing curve balls left and right today. "Nothing yet. I'm a pretty secretive guy, you know."
Eijirou is not the type of boy to rain on others' parade, so if Denki believes that his crush is unknown to others in class 3-A—no, their entire year—then Eijirou will continue to let his friend delude himself.
Shouto furrows his eyebrows together.
"Why not?"
Inaction breeds complacency, allowing doubt and fear to take over where confidence and courage should be instead. That is another principle Enji has beaten into him, and begrudgingly, is one motto that Shouto holds himself to.
For a moment, Denki is silent.
For a moment, Shouto is afraid that he has offended him with his lack of tact.
That is, until the blonde gamer opens his mouth and starts singing, "Don't let yourself be brokenhearted, from here on out I will be watching over you."
When asked what creative medium he prefers, Shouto will undoubtedly answer poetry. But even he has to acknowledge that song lyrics have their flash of brilliance, where melody matches meaning and adds a layer of complexity that words on paper cannot.
"Isn't that Sachi's song from Sword Art Online…?" Eijirou wonders. He's seen Denki's playlist, and it's filled to the brim with video game music and anime songs.
"Just cause it's from a mainstream show doesn't make it lesser," Denki counters. Eijirou doesn't retaliate because he doesn't criticize others' tastes in music and definitely isn't the kind of person to put them down for it. "Anyways, I don't think I'll ever tell her about my feelings."
"Why don't you?" Shouto asks, elbows propped on his knees as he rests his head in his hands. Denki shifts his gaze up to the skies above.
"Have you ever watched Sword Art?"
The sheltered boy answers, "No."
Denki lets out an exasperated chuckle. "Figures. Anyways, let's just say that the person singing this song doesn't end up with the main character."
"Doesn't she d—" Eijirou attempts to comment, but Denki quickly brings his hands to cover his friend's mouth.
"SHHHHH! Spoilers dude!"
Eijirou breaks free from Denki's hold, eyeing Shouto warily before shaking his head. "Right, sure, whatever."
"So like Paris in Romeo and Juliet," Shouto deduces. Unfamiliar with the English tragedy, Denki just nods his head, trying not to seem like an uncultured fool.
"Yeah, yeah! I mean, you know what Kyouka wants to do, right? But you probably don't know that she's a killer on the bass, and she's going to go places. Picture it now: Kyouka Jirou, the worldwide sensation! And because she always has her earphones with her, her nickname in the music world would be 'Earphone Jack'!"
Now it's Denki's turn to drown in his pool of affection for the short, purple-haired girl with a prickly attitude to boot. He brings his arm up, hands reaching out to the blue skies above for something distant and elusive.
"…And me? I'll probably just be a deadbeat working at my folks' place. She'd be better off dating a music producer or someone more impressive," Denki quietly mutters. Shouto thinks that the blonde is severely underestimating himself, but he's also read somewhere that long-distance relationships have a lower chance of success, so if Denki's plan is to stay in Kannami while Kyouka's is to leave, then perhaps he shouldn't be encouraging a doomed pursuit.
"You've put a lot of thought into this, bro," Eijirou murmurs. For someone as easy-going as Denki, it is rare to see him so solemn and serious. The blonde rubs his nose sheepishly.
Shouto agrees. "Surprisingly so for someone who has failing grades."
"Can't you let me have this moment?" Denki whines. It makes the Todoroki heir feel regretful for his words.
"Sorry…"
The white-and-red-haired pretty boy is frustratingly sincere at times.
A sudden ring interrupts their heart-to-heart. Denki looks at the text message that pops up on his cellphone's screen and unleashes a flurry of curses that would have put Katsuki to shame. "I gotta go. My mom's pissed that I'm not home yet."
"Bro, being flaky isn't manly," Eijirou reprimands. He gestures over to the bundled flowers that they have yet to deliver. Denki clasps his hands together and bows apologetically.
"I know, dude, I'm sorry! I'll make it up to you tomorrow night, I swear!" Denki wails remorsefully before scampering off to the direction of his house to beg for forgiveness. His mom had wanted him to record the finale of her drama, and he had failed her. He can only hope that his death is quick and painless.
Shouto and Eijirou watch the blonde leave. After a few seconds, Eijirou turns to Shouto. "Sorry about eavesdropping. That…wasn't very manly of me at all."
"…I don't think you're the type of guy to take advantage of people, so you must have your reasons not to tell me," Shouto concludes. Eijirou stays silent until a grateful grin works its way onto his face. The boy's smiles are pure and are akin to the sun's rays.
"Yeah, thanks," Eijirou says. Shouto thinks that it's about time he lets Eijirou go to make his deliveries because he's taken up too much of Denki's and his time, but the red-haired boy surprises him by adding, "Can I ask you a question this time?"
It's only fair, so Shouto complies to do the simple request.
Eijirou releases a shaky breath. From his point of view, Shouto has proven himself to be a man of a few words but infinite knowledge (at least, in comparison to his friend group minus Katsuki, but he can't rely on the volatile blonde on this matter). And, because he's from the city, he's bound to have met more people than Eijirou.
"Is it weird to like a guy?" the red-haired male hesitantly inquires. When Shouto doesn't answer right away, Eijirou quickly adds, "Asking for a friend."
Shouto purses his lips together. "I've read somewhere that the chemical phenylethylamine is released when you're attracted to someone. It's a releasing agent of norepinephrine and dopamine."
"…You lost me," Eijirou blankly admits. Shouto gives him a warm smile that immediately fills the other boy with relief.
"Chemicals don't discriminate based on gender," the half-half teen conveys in simpler terms. "I won't discriminate your friend based on their sexuality, either."
It's near impossible to doubt Shouto when his words are brimming full of veracity. Thus, Eijirou finds himself trusting a boy he's hardly known with a secret he hasn't told others that he's been acquainted with for longer.
"Okay, the friend is actually…me," he meekly discloses. He feels guilty for having lied to his conversation partner two times in a row, but Shouto doesn't mind. In fact, the aloof boy seems understanding. "It's not weird or disgusting, is it?"
"There are over twenty-five countries that allow for same-sex marriage," Shouto asserts. He folds his hands together. "Whether or not an individual considers their union negatively, fact of the matter is that governments acknowledge the existence of homosexual relationships and approve of their existence."
Eijirou is wide-eyed at this revelation. All his life, he's been raised in an environment where only heterosexual couples exist, and after reading some comments and articles online about liking people of the same gender, convinced himself that his attraction towards males is an oddity that should be kept quiet and unaddressed.
But here is a person who is accepting and reassuring him that any negative connotation he's internalized should be overturned.
"That's… Wow, I never knew," Eijirou reveals. It's been a struggle to accept that he may never feel the same attraction towards girls in the way that Denki is attracted to Kyouka or that Izuku is attracted to Ochako, but maybe now his struggle can finally be resolved. "Have you ever met one?"
Shouto nods his head. "Yes, my father's business partner from Germany. A very capable businessman."
Eijirou nervously swallows. "And he's not treated any differently because of…you know."
"Perhaps he is," Shouto admits. He'd be lying if he said he wasn't, but to what extent, Shouto doesn't know. Eijirou deflates upon hearing his answer, but the other teen continues, "His sexual orientation doesn't detract from his business sense. He's very capable at his job and well-respected internationally. What your preferences are shouldn't define your character, no matter what society or biased media tell you."
Silence overtakes the duo, and Shouto allows it to settle in. Coming to terms with something so monumental requires a lot of reflection and self-introspection. He knows he shouldn't rush Eijirou, so he doesn't.
Instead, the boy watches the sun dip below the horizon line and paint the sky a myriad of colors. Shouto is amazed at all the forms of trouble love can bring to a person and inwardly wonders if it is worth every single one, Mina's words ringing faintly in the back of his mind.
"…Shouto, you're a good person," Eijirou quietly whispers. Shouto blinks, because that's the second time he's heard it. "You're like, the best awkward pep-talker."
Was that a compliment? An insult? A little of both? Maybe he should learn to take that with stride.
"…Thanks?"
Eijirou laughs at the uncertainness in Shouto's voice. He's surprised that he can, when he feels both heavy and light simultaneously, but it's natural. This conversation is natural. His feelings are natural.
"What other fun fact do you have about homosexuality?" Eijirou jokingly asks. Shouto blinks before wracking his brain for one.
"It was known as shudo or nanshoku, where older men and younger men engaged in emotional relationships," Shouto recites. "It was practiced in samurai culture."
Eijirou's eyes practically sparkle. "Samurais? That's so manly!"
He gets home late that night, because he and Eijirou pass the time talking about samurais and feelings and acceptance, and sluggishly eats his dinner for the events of the day have him tuckered out. When Baba asks concernedly if he's sure that he should go out in his condition, Shouto still forces himself to trudge through the path up towards the Yaoyorozu's area to meet with Momo.
And, to keep bay the onslaught of feelings she evokes from him.
(He doesn't love her. He doesn't love her. He doesn't love her—If he repeats it enough times, he's convinced that the mantra will become a self-fulfilling prophecy.)
He catches her just when she's folding the checkered blanket.
"Ah…"
Shouto whispers out a quick but wholehearted apology for his tardiness. Momo answers with a non-confrontational smile, where she won't ask why he's late or what's the reasoning for his exhaustion. Instead, she just unfolds the blanket, smooths it over the grass, finds a comfortable seating position, and opens the book on her lap.
The boy takes in the sight, her form the picturesque embodiment of patience, and plops himself down onto the earth and leans his head against the metal railing, closing his eyes to better relax and take in her words as she reads sentence after sentence of her father's first love story.
She takes this as a signal to begin their session.
"'Our first, real conversation opened a new world, like waking up to the first fall of snow.'"
The time they spent as friends, as companions, had been short. He was in his third year of middle school, in the same class as Fubuki (assuming that 'her younger brother' referred to the capricious old coot), and she was in her third year of high school. While she was worrying over college exams, he was worrying about closing the distance between them.
It's on her last year, on the last Valentine's before she was to graduate, that Nobuyuki received the cookies from her. The gift was unconventional to say the least, and poor Nobuyuki was thoroughly confused on what it meant. But, he treasured it nonetheless, and the box found in his study is a testament to his everlasting devotion.
The segment ends with Setsumi leaving Kannami.
"So, she did leave," Shouto comments once Momo closes the book. The story of his mother and father's meeting is a mystery to him because he never bothered to ask. Not until now, at this very moment when he's met with the cliffhanger of a story that he should know more about.
Momo tilts her head. "Considering your father has no ties to Kannami, shouldn't that have been a given?"
That is certainly a logical conclusion, and Shouto nearly beats himself up for failing to see it himself. He blames his enervation.
"Your father's tenacity is admirable," Shouto compliments. Had it been him, he most definitely would have moved on instead of holding onto the small things. Momo shakes her head with a tiny laugh, not meant to make fun of Shouto but more as a way to ease her own nerves.
"First loves are always…" Momo begins. Her eyes glaze over a bit, contemplatively bites her lip, and finishes with, "Special. Unforgettable, more so."
It's like someone took a pack of tiny needles and stabbed his heart with them, because it's such a tiny little thing that causes more discomfort than pain. He doesn't enjoy this part of liking someone. Or anything about this, really.
Momo quirks her lips. "Then again, it's not something the great Shouto Yukimura is familiar with yet, is it?"
He knows she's saying it without any malicious content, a little jab at his stubbornness against falling in love, but now that he's grown conscious of her, he can no longer feel amusement or annoyance, just a stinging sensation of bleakness.
"You're right," he says after a lengthy pause so he doesn't arouse any suspicion. It works, because she giggles and brushes her bangs out of her face. Shouto has to look away so he doesn't become entranced with her face.
Although she doesn't verbalize the question, he knows it's there, so he begins to address the elephant in the room.
"I was with Kaminari and Kirishima earlier," he starts off slowly. Momo's mouth flies open to form a small 'o', and she brings a hand to cover it. "We…talked."
"That's unexpected," Momo straightforwardly says. Shouto gives her a small smile, and she coughs to hide her embarrassment over saying something so rude aloud. "Not that it's wrong for you to. Those two seem to be the opposite of what you're comfortable with."
It's funny how she already knows him better 80% of the people in his life.
"Yeah, they aren't. But it was nice." He curses his inability to use other adjectives to describe happy things. Thirteen years of warped abused tend to put limitations on properly articulating his feelings and thoughts.
Yet, Momo seems to understand the weight of 'nice', seems to understand a lot of things about him actually. Frighteningly so, and he's afraid that if she looks too much at him, his feelings-that-go-past-platonic-but-definitely-aren't-love will be discovered.
Fear is unknown to Shouto Todoroki, but here it is, shaking and squeezing his heart uninvited over the prospect of her reaction.
She pensively suggests, "You should come to the test of courage tomorrow night. Though we'll have to double the reading the next night after, I think it'll be more beneficial to deepen your friendships with the others." Momo shyly peeks up at him, batting her long lashes together. "Is that all right?"
The invitation is abrupt, but what's even more abrupt is how quickly he agrees.
Her eyes twinkle brighter than Cygnus. "Wonderful! The event shall take place in the outskirts towards the forest and shall be chaperoned by some teachers, though everyone will meet up at the school first."
Suddenly, a wave of doubt washes over him. "Is it okay for me to come?"
"Why wouldn't it be?" Momo asks, genuinely concerned. Was there anyone, bar Katsuki and Minoru, that makes the dual-haired boy uncomfortable? She didn't want to force him into attending an event that causes him unease out of obligation.
Hands grip onto the bars of the fence tightly. "It's a class event, isn't it? Wouldn't I be intruding?"
"It's fine. You have no need to be worry. Although it's school-sponsored, it's not very restrictive on the participants," Momo reassures gently. "You're more than welcome to come, Shouto-san."
Welcome—he is welcomed.
His grasp on the metal loosens and flies off when he feels her finger brushing against his knuckle. Momo holds a ladybug on her forefinger, dumbly looking at him after his wild reaction to physical contact.
"I'm—Oh, I apologize. But there was a ladybug—"
Her words don't register. His ears are ringing. His skin felt hot. Although her fingers were cooled by the summer night, her touch had burned him, leaving a searing sensation that spread across his body like a wildfire.
"I—I should go," Shouto hastily declares. He practically staggers down the road, shakily holding onto the rope as he kicks himself mentally for being so damn clumsy and ungraceful. Why was he feeling so bashful over something so simple as an accidental touch?
The questions are drowned out by the sound of his heart hammering loudly against his rib cage.
(The flower has bloomed, and Shouto despises how beautiful it appears.)
Momo watches his hurried escape with pursed lips, until her attention is diverted to the ladybug on her finger. A symbol of lady-luck. She watches it fly away, quietly thinks of a wish, and begins to fold the blanket to head back inside.
A small flush is on her cheeks, and the pad of her forefinger still tingling.
Author's Notes:
I am so excited for todomomo week y'all have no idea.