Ok, like I said, I'm going to try and get these chapters out much faster than before, while hopefully keeping up the quality and length. Now we're reaching the Todoroki arc, and hopefully I can successfully write what I have bouncing around in my head like a windows screen saver. Fingers Crossed it hits a lot of corners, anyways enjoy the set up.
"Have you made any progress on making new friends, Todo?" Momo and Todoroki sat on the top of their U.A. building's rooftops, enjoying a nice autumn afternoon and their home packed lunches. It's been two and a half weeks since the start of their high school lives, and for Momo it has gone almost perfectly. She was at the top of all her classes and was looking to join one of the many critically acclaimed U.A. clubs. She had made many friends in her classes, especially in their homeroom, where most of the girl's grouped together almost instantly. She found Mina's bubbly and very friendly personality enduring in the best way possible, Jirou's love of music and laidback attitude to be a relaxing balance to the stress she often felt with schoolwork, and Tohru was just such a nice and friendly person she couldn't help but love her.
If there was one problem with U.A. so far, it was that Todoroki was still his same withdrawn self, sticking silently by her side whenever he could and choosing to be alone when he couldn't. She had hoped that the small amount of freedom going to a school his father didn't want would make him open up just a little bit, enough to make one friend.
"I haven't, and honestly I'm not sure I would be able to tolerate anyone in my classes." Came the simple reply from Todoroki, slipping up some of his soba.
"That's just because you're too stubborn to even attempt to. Come on, Todo, what about Ojiro?"
"No common interests, he's so into martial arts and teaching that I'm not sure he even has any other hobbies."
Momo let out a light groan, hating how perfect Todoroki's memory was sometimes. He had always had this strange ability to recall every detail of someone, even when he doesn't directly interact with them. "Ok then, what about Iida? He's about the same level of wealth as us, not that's a big factor, and he seems to be a nice guy, if a bit overbearing."
"His love and respect for his family would constantly remind me of… what I don't have." Todo set his chopsticks down, looking out towards the school grounds. The New Alderaan gave an excellent view of the school, which just distracted Todoroki often during lunch. "Besides, he's getting close with that group that surround Midoriya."
If there was new thing about her best friend since coming to U.A., it was his strange fixation on Izuku Midoriya. Ever since the first day of school, Todoroki would often bring him up, most the times talking about how Mr. Yagi picked Midoriya piece of whatever literature their creative writing class was focusing on or how he used Midoriya's work as an example of how his other students could improve. There was never irritation in his voice, maybe a light jealously but that was to be expected.
"You seem to be awfully curious about Midoriya, Shoto. Should I start telling the girls that my best friend is gay?" Momo's voice had a teasing edge to it, clearly knowing that her friend didn't go that way. 'At least, I hope not. That would make things really awkward for me.'
Todoroki rolled his eyes at the teasing, taking a drink of his Jasmine tea. "Even if my curiosity with Midoriya was like that, he's too in love with that Uraraka girl to ever go after."
"I swear everyone knows those two are dating besides those two, it's kinda cute, don't you think?" Momo absentmindedly brushed a stray piece of hair behind her ear, a nervous twitch she had developed whenever she talked about romantic stuff with Todoroki.
"I have no basis to say what's cute or not, especially when dealing with people." That response made Momo sigh in slight defeat. "Though, if what I think is true happens to be correct…"
Momo chuckled at how deep in thought her friend got, the warning bell for lunch ringing across the hall. "Come on, Todo, the bell rang." Momo packed up her empty lunch box, neatly wrapping it back up in its cloth carrier. Shoto quickly slurped up his remaining Soba and shut his box, standing up and following the waiting Momo towards the door.
As the two walked down the stairs, they happened to overhear a group of students gossiping. "No, seriously, those two are always together. It's obvious that they're dating."
"You're just saying that because she rejected you, man. There's no way they're dating."
"You're both ideas, why are you so invested in their personal shit?"
"Because it's two of the people who got in without doing that entrance exam, and because she's one of the hottest chicks in school yet she spends all her time with that quiet guy. It makes less sense if they weren't dating!"
Momo sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose, annoyed that she was once again the center of gossip. 'Still', she thought as they turned the corner of the stairwell and into the sight of the 3 first year boys. 'This is always a great sight' The three boys paled immediately when they noticed the pair walking down the stairs.
Momo simply gave a wave and an overly sweet smile, while Todoroki ignored their existence entirely while they walked past. It was just like middle school, the two of them being the center of one of the school's gossip trails despite their best attempts to stay out of it.
"Does it bother you, Yaomomo?" the sudden question from Todoroki startled Momo slightly, turning to look at her friend curiously. "I told you before, I'll be fine if you want to eat with your new friends. I don't want to drag you down to another gossiping to- "
A soft flick on his nose interrupted his words, an annoyed looking friend staring him in the eyes. "Todo, I swear to whatever gods or goddesses that exist that if you complete that sentence, I will grab the handcuffs again."
Todoroki shivered at the memory, grabbing his left wrist and rubbing it softly. "Fine, message received. I still can't believe you actually lock us together."
"It's was your fault, trying to separate us because 'you didn't want to drag me down.'" Momo sighed and pulled Todoroki into a one arm hug, the pair now close to their homeroom. "Seriously, I like spending time with you, Shoto, and I don't care what other people think. If I wanted to get away from you, I wouldn't have tried so hard to become your friend again in middle school. Now, no more of this self-doubt and self-sacrificing stuff about this, got it?"
Todoroki sighed softly before a small smile crossed his face, returning the one-armed hug. "Fine, I'll stop trying to do that. I promise."
"Good, I don't need another thing to worry about." Momo broke from the hug with a grin, walking towards the classroom door and ignoring the confused look on the boy's face.
"Another thing? What are you talking about?" It couldn't be about his night terrors, he hadn't had one of those since the night before school started, and he was eating normally too.
"That's something for you to figure out yourself, Mr. Detective." A very coy grin was shot his way before she walked into the classroom, greeting her friends in class while a deep in thought Todoroki made his way to his desk, still wondering what his friend was talking about.
And that's another chapter down. Yeah, I know it's not as long as the last couple, but honestly for me it's easier and faster to write these in shorter chunks like this. The plus side is that the updates will come much faster so that's more story more often! Anyways, next chapter will focus solely on our little half n half boy confronting our broccoli boy about his hunch.