In which Shouto finally has his own pov and Midoriya gets introduced... in a rather unorthodox manner.

Hi! Yes, I am alive! Yes, new chapter! Enjoy!
Also, just a heads-up, but you may want to listen to the Beautiful Blue Danube in the last part (I recommend the Andre Rieu version, but do as you wish~) My weird taste for music has gotten the better of me again, but with classical compsitors this time around!
Without further ado, I present you chapter 7!


Chapter 7: Smiles that Bend Science to Their Own Wills


Shouto neither likes nor hates crowded places. In fact, there aren't many things he cares for enough to "like" or "hate" them. Unless something or someone goes out of their way to step on his toes, he doesn't see any reason to make an effort to label them as "likeable" or "dislikeable". There are just better things he can do during that time, like focusing on his studies or calling his sister. Occasionally, he goes out with Midoriya- mostly when he has to buy a present for Uraraka, his girlfriend of almost three years now, and spends 3 to 4 hours freaking out before giving in and calling Shouto and Iida for help.

The cafe he goes to daily used to be neutral, too. One would argue that visiting it with the religious regularity Shouto does proves otherwise, but that wasn't the case. The place was quiet enough for him to study, but not so quiet that it would leave him time to dwell on the cold, dark apartment that he could never bring himself to call home. The people working there were nice, although Shouto sometimes thought they smiled too much (and he pitied them for the muscle pain in their cheeks), but not so nice that he'd bother learning their names.

As he crouches to the ground, pulling cat food out of one pocket, Shouto feels the weight of the other bag he's carrying- a brown paper bag, one that didn't use to hang from his hand merely a few days ago.

The cat Shouto feeds every day on his way to the cafe peeks shily from the bushes, recognises her benefactor and approaches. She sniffs at her food and pushes her head in Shouto's open palm before nibbling on the treat. He scratches her between her ears, and thinks that some things never change.

This cat, for example, is here every day, a constant in his life, an anchor that Shouto has tied himself to, afraid to lose himself otherwise. He doesn't know exactly where he'd lose himself- whether it be in life or just in the mix of threads that he doesn't dare separate called feelings- but he knows he can't let her go, no matter what.

But there are variables in his life, too- they are usually the ones Shouto at least despises, if not outright hates. There was having to move out, for instance, leaving the calm lifestyle he shared with his sister and being left to fend for himself. There's the fridge that can't refill itself and the convenience store that was only two blocks away that closed down last week, so now Shouto has to take a fifteen minute walk when he doesn't feel like falling asleep to the grumbles of his stomach.

And then there's her.

She's the one exception to every single one of the feeble rules that dictate Shouto's life. One day, she waltzed up to the bar instead of the man who drew smiles on his cup and started talking to him without any ulterior motive. She made him want to remember the names of the baristas in the cafe, and told him stories about them that gave them a background and made them feel real. She made him add a dessert to every cup of indifferent green tea he drank.

She forced A Cup of Magic off the "indifferent" list where Shouto had pinned it and put it on the very short list of things Shouto likes. His mother and sister. His older twin brothers, when they aren't teasing him. Midoriya and Iida. His cat. Green tea. Dancing. Classical music.

A Cup of Magic.

Momo.

He gets up and the weight of the brown bag tugs on his hand, but it somehow doesn't feel like a burden. It's quite the opposite, Shouto thinks, not without surprise: the changes that she brought in his life make him lighter, and he walks towards the cafe as if he grew wings. He spares the stray cat a last look, but she has already ducked her head and sprang in the narrow alleyway where she hides most of the day.

The path to the cafe is always the same, barely visible under the people rushing out of university to grab their daily caffeine supply, hopefully enough to last them until their evening classes are over. Shouto inwardly sighs relieved, thinking that being a third year brings several advantages, one of which is the loose program. His backpack, heavy with research material, reminds him what the price for his freedom is.

People rushing in and out of the cafe make the chimes jingle almost without pause, but it doesn't bother Shouto. Its chirp is actually one of his favourite sounds now, because whenever it pierces through the atmospheric music, it makes her lift her head, her eyes tracking the shop to him and her face breaking into a wide smile.

This smile is perhaps number 1 on Shouto's list of favourite things. When he was in highschool, he had to explain the passage "and when she smiled, the stars lit up and the world stopped moving all at once" in an exam. He remembers thinking that the sentence was quite pretentious, and that it was a clear exaggeration to emphasise the character's feelings.

Shouto regrets not remembering who wrote that passage, because he'd like to tell him that he now understands. He understands it's actually a simplification of the real feeling, or that the author hasn't seen her smile, in which case Shouto pities him, because he's certain that her smile is the single, most beautiful thing he has ever seen.

The night sky is nothing in comparison to her smiling face, and no star has anything on the way her eyes sparkle with genuine emotion. It reminds Shouto of his mother's face when she sees him enter her perfectly white room,but it's different from that, because it sets his heart racing and makes him feel something he didn't know he was capable of mustering.

As he sits in line, Shouto watches her serve everyone with a smile, and realises he may have gone crazy, because he's positive that the smile she gives him is different. For once, her lips part just barely when she sees him, revealing pearl-like teeth, and her honest onyx eyes glint with something unidentifiable. He wonders if that is the cause for the fuzzy feeling in his chest whose name he has googled more times that he can remember, but found only gibberish: he's either in love or dying.

"Hello," she greets him when it's finally his turn, and it rolls of her tongue naturally, as if she knew he would be there around now. She effortlessly drows a cup from the stack on the counter and starts writing his name, about to jot down the usual order when Shouto stops her.

"I want the Winter Wonderland today," he throws away one more constant in his life out of the window but regrets nothing, because after she blinks confused she smiles. Shouto wonders if it would be too weird to take a picture of it and make it his wallpaper.

Instead of drawing out his phone though, he puts the brown bag on the counter. "They had blueberry filling today," he says and watches her smile bloom into a grin. There's that surge of happiness in his chest again, the one Shouto would like to get checked at a hospital, but he does his best not to let it show on his face. She worried so much about his cold hand that he doesn't want her to have a heart attack when she hears his heart is beating too fast.

"Thank you," she nods and hands the cup over to Uravity. The name feels weird in Shouto's mind- he's only recently began referring to the round-faced, brown-haired girl like that.

He leaves the counter faster than he wants to. Uravity gives him a smile with a tilt of something daring to it, but he doesn't dwell on the meaning of her dimples when he notices that she looks more flushed than usual.

"Are you feeling alright?" he asks as he picks up his drink.

"Of course!" She nods less energetically than usual, and Shouto can't help but feel a pang of sharp pain through his chest. The last time he felt that was when Momo almost fell on Friday, and when Midoriya broke his arm last year. He gulps the fear back and lingers a moment longer than needed, deciding to retreat in the end.

Still worried about Uravity, Shouto has difficulty in focusing on his work, and contemplates the drawbacks of putting living beings on his "like" list- they make him concerned when they are feeling unwell. He catches himself staring at Momo and loosens a breath he didn't realise he was holding.

When he first chose this seat, it was because it felt secure, hidden in a corner of the cafe, protecting him from the buzz of the counter. He can now see another advantage to it: from here, he can watch the baristas work around the customers, swirling on their heels to deliver the orders. Sometimes, Shouto is sure they will collide and holds his breath, but the staff is so tightly knit together that it's like they know what path the others will take, and they dance by each other effortlessly.

He never used to watch the people, preferring the calming mahogany of the wooden furniture. The counter with its countless little drawers for herbal infusions, the jars of ground coffee and the general smell of the shop are exactly how Shouto imagined a witch's house in the stories his mother used to read to him. But the air smelling of melted chocolate and the music that lures him into a drowsy state are proof enough that whichever witch designed A Cup of Magic must have worked against the forces of evil.

In the middle of the buzz hour, from the counter where good witches (fairies, perhaps?) hide, Momo finds a smile for everyone, and Shouto loses track of time as he watches her. He wouldn't describe himself as a stalker, but he doesn't stare at her like she's a work of art either, though granted, she is beautiful. Watching her is more of a healing process for Shouto, as it inexplicably makes him feel at ease and brings him peace of mind, inducing that kind of mentality he needs to sort through his thermodynamics assignments.

Today is just another one of those calm days when he loses himself in the pace of the cafe and in his work, or at least that's what Shouto thinks. And until he empties half of his drink and finishes the bulk of his homework for All Might, nothing proves him wrong.

And then there's a thud.

It's so loud that Shouto looks up from his research immediately and almost jumps from his seat when he sees it. It all happens too quickly, but he's at the counter before he knows what willed his feet to move, elbowing his way through the growing crowd around the island.

"Uravity!" Momo raises her voice in the commotion, and Shouto hears it before he can see the scene. "Ochako!" she yells now, and Shouto freezes just as his eyes fall upon the scene, because he knows that name and how hasn't he made the connection before?

"Hey, Midoriya, what's with that bracelet you're always wearing?" Shouto asks as he watches Midoriya sigh in relief, clenching his fist around the bracelet that almost fell into the centrifugal wheel.

He looks up and smiles sheepishly, one finger absentmindedly tracing the symbol of infinity carved in metal and tied by two straps of green leather over his wrist, where it has been ever since Shouto met him. "It was a gift from my girlfriend," he admits and blushes at the use of the word.

Shouto isn't surprised that Midoriya has a girlfriend, despite him never bragging about her. He guesses it might be the "Uraraka" that keeps popping up in their discussions.

Still, Midoriya adds, "I bought her a pendant in the shape of infinity for her birthday, and she bought me this for Christmas. I guess we were thinking of the same thing."

The way Midoriya talks is nonchalant, but there's a serene look on his face and he keeps tracking the outline of his bracelet with a faraway look that tells Shouto there's more to it than just a present. He doesn't really get "love", but his sister has tortured him with enough cheesy romance movies to teach him that matching items are more than just a coincidence.

They're an unspoken promise.

The pendant hanging around Uravity's neck reflects the light of the cafe and it burns Shouto's retinas. He jumps over the counter before anyone can stop him.

"Uraraka, are you okay?" The words rip from his throat as if they're too big to get out and need to be pulled by force.

She flashes him a weak smile. "It's nothing, I'm just a bit dizzy."

"You fainted!" Momo says as she wipes Uraraka's brow and frowns. "Ah, as expected, you have a fever. This isn't nothing. You need to get home and rest."

"It's fine, I can at least finish my shift. The shop is crowded and-" she speaks softly, her eyelids half closed despite her efforts to seem okay. Shouto glances around the counter, where Sato is keeping the others at bay and assuring them their favourite Uravity is alright, but he doesn't look too convinced of the fact himself.

"I'll call Midoriya to pick you up," Shouto decides after giving Uraraka a pointed look and blaming himself for not pushing for details earlier.

"Deku?" Uraraka faintly menages, and flaps her hands weakly in front of her. "He'll get worried, don't-"

But it's too late. Midoriya picks up from the third ring and asks, "Todoroki? This is rare, is everything alright?"

He ignores Momo's flicker of curiosity amidst the worry for Uraraka that paints her face and breathes in. "I need you to come to the coffee shop next to the university. Uraraka has collapsed."

He hears Midoriya get up and there's rustling on the other end of the phone. "Is she awake? Wait, how do you- actually no, do I need to bring something?" There's the jingle of keys accompanying the urgency in his tone and then tensed silence.

"No. She has a fever and passed out earlier, but no other symptoms."

He looks at Momo for more details, but she only mumbles, "Probably from overworking herself."

There's rustling again, and then the thud of Midoriya's footsteps against cement. "Thank you for letting me know. Please look after her until I get there."

Shouto can read the modulations in Midoriya's voice, the confusion, the worry and the adrenaline rush, the fear caused by his attachment to Uraraka, and wonders if he ever was or will be so concerned about someone. His eyes flicker to Momo and he wonders how he would react if someone called to tell him she had fainted. He decides he doesn't want to know the answer.

"Will do," he assures Midoriya and hangs up. "He should be here in about 15 minutes," he informs the girls after he quickly calculates how far Midoriya's apartment is. Maybe 10, if he runs.

"Thank you," Momo says and doesn't ask why he knows Midoriya or that Uraraka is his girlfriend, but instead allows herself to look a bit relieved. Shouto glances down at Ochako, whose cheeks have grown even redder. She stops resisting Midoriya's arrival, using the energy she has left to inhale the mint Momo has placed under her nose to clear her nostrils. "We should carry her to the lockers," Momo says, not taking her eyes off Uraraka.

"I'll do it," he offers. Nobody complains as he scoops up Uraraka, trying to figure out how to carry her without making her uncomfortable. He tucks a hand under her knees and one rests on the small of her back, and she adjusts by circling his throat with one of her arms, weakly clinging to him.

She's surprisingly light, and Shouto suddenly feels like she's fragile, an object that can break as a result of his own carelessness, and he lightens his grip on her, just enough so he won't drop her. Is this what it means to be protective?

"I'm sorry," she mutters under her breath, so only Shouto can hear.

He doesn't know what she's apologising for, but he mutters back, "It's okay. He'll be here soon."

He feels her nod against his chest, and despite her state, a fond smile curls around her lips, one that Shouto think only people that have others to worry for them can show. It's new, seeing the bouncy Uravity show this side of her, and it only solidifies her place on the list of things Shouto cares for.

Momo jumbles with the keys, unlocking the space reserved to the staff members. As soon as they're in, she makes Uraraka sit down, and then she dips a cloth in freshwater and places it on Uraraka's forehead. The next five minutes are more of Momo running around the locker, searching her purse for pills and asking Sato to fix their friend a cup of chamomile tea, all while Uraraka declines the attention and care directed in her way.

"Listen," Momo eventually snaps, cutting through all that Uraraka has to say. "You are sick and we are your friends, so would you just shut up and let us help you?" She doesn't wait for an answer and hands the cloth she had just peeled off Uraraka's forehead to Shouto before leaving to get the tea and a blanket.

Left alone with Uraraka, Shouto finds himself saying "She's right." He doesn't know what prompted him to talk, but her curious look makes him continue, "People would naturally worry about you because they care. I think this is proof you're important to them," he tells her as he brushes her bangs apart and puts the now cold again cloth on her forehead. The image of his sister doing the same for him after he had fallen in a frozen pond when he was 6 flashes before his eyes and he smiles a little.

Uraraka mirrors the smile. "You're right. Thank you," she says weakly and lays on the bench she's resting on. "Momo's going to lecture me once I get better, isn't she?" she mumbles to herself.

"Probably," Shouto admits. Her having a cold doesn't mean he should lie to her.

Momo enters the room shortly thereafter, a fluffy blanket in her arms and a cup of tea fuming in her hand. "Here," she hands Shouto the drink and proceeds to wrap Uraraka like a baby, which elicits a small giggle out of the sick girl. Momo's eyebrows arch, but Shouto notices a fond smile nestling on her lips and feels himself relax. Somehow, it feels like, if Momo's here, nothing can go wrong.

Midoriya is escorted in by Sato only two minutes later, panting and cheeks red, and Shouto concludes he must have ran all the way here- he only needed 8 minutes, too.

"Ah, Deku!" Uraraka greets from her cocoon of blankets and warmth.

Nobody has a chance to explain what happened, because Midoriya closes the distance between him and Uraraka in an instant and presses a hand against her forehead, checking her temperature. His face darkens as he asks, "Does anything hurt? Throat? Head? Since when? Do you need medicine?"

He only stops when Uraraka muffles his mouth with her hand. "I won't die, Deku," she says lightly, but as he removes her hand from his face gently, her smile withers, because he looks dead serious.

"I know," he sighs, squeezing her hand tightly. "But I hate seeing you suffer."

Shouto can only watch silently, retreating in a corner to give the couple space. They look like they are already family, and Shouto notices the bracelet hanging from Deku's wrist again. He know finds the answer to his earlier question: this is being protective.

Something brushes against his arm and Shouto sees Momo has retreated next to him. "She'll be fine now," she says confidently and Shouto can only nod in return. She's in good hands.

After Midoriya is done with his interrogating Uraraka and thanking the staff for looking after her, he listens to Momo's instructions and picks Uraraka up, together with her blanket, piggyback style. He thanks Shouto for a tenth time and is about to leave when Uraraka yelps, "What about my shift? The cafe-"

"We can manage," Momo assures her. Shouto steals a glance outside the lockers and wonders if two people can really face that crowd. Momo is smiling confidently, but it's probably for Uraraka's sake.

"I can do it," Shouto says before he meaning of the words that have left his mouth sink in and feels everyone staring at him.

When Shouto suddenly offered to take over Uraraka's shift, Momo wasn't sure she heard him right. And yet here he is, blue apron tied around his waist, jotting down orders, taking his job as serious as he takes his studies. She had her doubts about suddenly dumping the job on him- the new baristas usually undergo a thorough training- but he caught the drift of taking orders fast.

He's handling the customers politely, but he's a bit rusty with his smiles and doesn't seem to be aware of the many first time female customers ogling him. When he was sitting in a corner of the cafe, he was safe from prying eyes, but here, in his uniform and in everyone's view, Momo can't deny he looks dashingly good. She shakes the pang of jealousy she feels- she has no right to feel that way, and it benefits their business so-

"-mo. Momo," someone calls her. When she whips her head around, she's met with mismatched eyes too close for comfort and feels the blood rising to her cheeks. "Did you catch a cold, as well?" Shouto asks and is about to press his palm to her forehead.

She takes a step back and smiles what she hopes to be a convincing smile. "No, I'm alright. Do you need help with something?"

He doesn't look persuaded, but only says, "It's almost closing time. Should I inform that group?" he asks, pointing towards the five or so teenager girls batting their eyelashes sweetly at him.

Momo's eyes shift from him to them and back to him. He hasn't even spared them a sideways glance. She feels stupid now, because it's obvious he has taken no interest in his fans, and she made him worry, too. "It's alright, I can tell them," she smiles, suddenly feeling pity for the girls.

"Okay. I'll start cleaning up then," he says as he picks a wiping cloth and make his way towards the back corner, but not as a customer this time.

The shop is mostly empty, save for the two people swiping the floor. Sato left early today, excusing himself to go pick up his parents from the train station- he has been excited about their visiting his new apartment and workplace for a while now- and Momo assured him she and Shouto could close up just fine.

She would like to thank him somehow, but she also has oh so many questions to ask: how does he know Midoriya? Did he know Ochako was Midoriya's girlfriend? Why did he offer to help? So many words bubble up inside her, racing to get out the fastest, that she can't decide what to say.

Because she can't speak, she supposes she'd let music do it for her, and fishes an old vinyl disc from the back room.

When the music fills the shop with its first violin accords, he raises his eyes from the wooden tiles on the floor. "Strauss-The Blue Danube," he immediately recognises the piece. "Switching back to classical music?" he asks, but it's more of an observation than an actual question.

She feels it would be too cheesy to admit that she's associated the piece with Shouto ever since she saw him, because of his blue eye and serene atmosphere surrounding him. Instead, she says, "It was the least I could do. After all, you've been a huge help today."

She doesn't know how she expected him to react, but it certainly wasn't like this, because after he stares at her for almost a whole minute, seemingly pondering something, he lets the broom rest against a table and stretches his hand out to her. Momo's eyes dart towards the old pickup, and then back to him, wondering if she's misunderstanding.

"Do you want to dance?" he voices her thoughts out loud.

She doesn't get a chance to answer more properly than with a nod: as soon as she approves, he takes her hand and leads the well known waltz, spinning her around the tables in the cafe. Momo quickly finds her pacing, and she also finds out that Shouto is a great dancer. She doesn't know many people that could whirl around the chairs and armchairs without skipping a beat.

"You're good at this," she eventually decides to tell him, after they've almost completed a tour of the entire shop.

It may be her imagination- as this whole evening could be, because what barista's normal shift culminates with waltzing in the closed shop with dim lights- but his lips crook into something akin to a smirk. "I may have not taken piano or violin lessons, but I didn't escape the dance classes. And apparently, neither did you."

Under normal circumstances, Momo would blush, but the song just got faster and she has already decided this is a dream, so she smirks back. Maybe it's because of the music, or the unrealistic situation, or just the timing, but the words finally reach her lips and fall off them with ease. "So you know Midoriya?"

He doesn't hesitate to answer either. "Yes, he is my friend. We've been having classes together ever since the start of the year."

"So you're a Physics major?" There's more spinning, more avoiding tables, more music, more talking. She doesn't know if he has pulled her closer or if her body moved on her own, but she is close enough to realise he is just a bit taller than her, and to look into his mismatched eyes. She decides that people who say that heterochromatic eyes are confusing are lying.

"Yes. Well, actually, I'm a Thermodynamics major, and Midoriya's a Quantum Mechanics major, so we only have a handful of classes together."

"Then I imagine you must be quite good friends if you knew Ochako."

"Actually, I've never seen them together. He did tell me a few things about her, though. I should have recognised her sooner." Something curtains his eyes and Momo can tell it's concern, so she changes the subject.

"I'm a Chemistry major. Food Chemistry, to be exact."

There's silence as their feet slow down with the music, and she wonders if she failed to distract him, but then he says, "It fits you."

"How so?"

He pinpoints her with his mismatched eyes, and spins her for the last encore. "You look like you want to break the world apart and rebuild it so that everybody will be happy," he says as the last notes of The Blue Danube echo in the shop, and then adds, "When it's you that says they believe in magic, I almost believe it, too."

They come to a halt as the melody dies out. For a moment, she stares at him blankly, too focused on his words to even wheeze after the waltz, still holding his hand- the hot one.

"Is something wrong?" he asks, not letting go of her either, and she wonders if she made him worry again.

"Nothing," she smiles, and the smile blooms into a giggle that escalates into a genuine laugh. He looks at her weirdly, but she just finds the situation too bizarre to react to in any other way. It's not long before she hears a deep chuckle, like a purr, mingle with her own and she laughs even louder.

Maybe Ochako was right after all. Maybe she does have a crush on him.


AN: Hello again!

Sorry for the late chapter, but this has to be my favourite so far! The last part is cheesy, I admit, but I've dropped hints as to Shouto's motives throughout the chapter and chapter 8 will open up with his pov, too, so more things will be explained then. Also, as promised, chapter 8 introduces Kaminari, unless...
If you want, I was thinking of writing a special chapter, a sort of 7.5, centered around IzuOcha and what happened to them after this night. If you don't want it and prefer that I follow along with the story, let me know in the reviews, but if you DO want it, please do tell!
Also, I don't know if this excuses my delay but chem nationals happened and I was somehow second so... yey? However, science natoinals are next week so that's why I don't know when I'll post again, ups?
Anyway, enough ranting! I hope you've enjoyed this chapter and till next time (with more coffee shop-related themes, I promise!)! Thanks for all your constant love and support!