Word Count: 1,183

It was rare to catch Momo Yaoyorozu unprepared. Her planning was always meticulous and always accounted for dozens of potential deviations, so the idea of her forgetting something was practically unheard of (and if she ever did forget anything, she would simply make it with her quirk).

However, Yaoyorozu's plans always were geared more towards the bigger picture. Shoto had noticed in their years of knowing each other that for all her perpetual preparation, she would sometimes take the details for granted, resulting in circumstances that all but fell apart due to a tiny shift in the initial conditions. (Obviously, that never stopped her from saving the day with something new thrown together on the fly, but the fact still stood that this was a thing that happened sometimes.)

Weather was a classic model of this concept.

For example, today it was raining. It hadn't exactly been the day's expected weather, but with all the variables that went into its determination, meteorology walked a fine line between art and science. When the first the first few drops fell outside at the end of Shoto's shift, he simply sighed, brought out his tiny, spare umbrella, and resigned himself to a fate of damp socks and cold hands.

Yaoyorozu's agency was on the way to the train station, and Shoto often liked to stop and chat with her if they happened to meet. It was nice to keep in contact with his high school friends, even if it was usually just small talk. He'd actually become a little proud of his ability to small talk these days, since he was disastrously bad at it in high school.

Today, he found her standing in the doorway with one hand stuck out so as to catch the raindrops as they fell. She looked tired, washed-out even, and he wondered what was wrong. She didn't even seem to notice him approaching until he verbally greeted her.

She quickly withdrew her hand, blinking rapidly as she registered his presence. "Oh, hello, Todoroki-san," she said, just a little bit of life returning to her eyes. "How are you today?"

Shoto stared at her. He'd used her for practice in reading people and their moods back in high school, and as a result, he could tell within seconds what had happened. "Do you need an umbrella?" he asked.

Immediately, Yaoyorozu deflated into a mix of sheepishness and the resignation from before. "Yeah," she admitted. "It was a long day today, and I gave my backup to one of my coworkers. I was just waiting for the snacks to kick in and get me to a position where I could make a new one."

Shoto sighed, walked right up to the door frame, and held out the only thing he had. "Come here," he said.

Yaoyorozu's eyes widened, and she took a step back, into the building. "Oh no, you don't have to. I don't want you to get sick because you walked around in the rain. I'll be fine. I'll just be home a little later, that's all."

"We'll just share it."

Yaoyorozu looked away and said nothing, suddenly and strangely timid. Shoto sighed and took another step forward, holding out the umbrella again. He was lucky there was a roof over the agency's doorsteps, otherwise he would have been letting himself get drenched in the rain. "The number of creepers on the train goes up the later it gets."

Yaoyorozu looked away again, more pointedly this time.

Shoto lowered the umbrella and looked off to the side himself. "Look, just… let me see you home today. At least a part of the way. I don't want you to risk a bad encounter because you got on a later train." He kept his eyes on the ground for a few more seconds, then brought them back to Yaoyorozu. He held out his hand with the umbrella one last time.

Yaoyorozu's expression loosened. She stepped forward and stood straight again. "Okay," she said, her voice as soft as the smile on her face.

"It's a bit small, so you're going to have to stick close to me," warned Shoto.

"That's fine," said Yaoyorozu, slipping her arm through his so as to keep them close. "I think I like it this way."

(Then why did you hesitate for so long? Shoto wondered.)

Shoto hummed, buying himself a few seconds to get used to her sudden warmth. "Well, let's go then," he said, and they started off.

Sharing an umbrella was clumsier than he expected. They had to learn to walk in time with one another, bodies pressed together so as to minimize the amount of shoulder that got wet. Puddles in particular posed the unique challenge of synchronizing short jumps when they were too large for two people to comfortably go around, which was often.

It was actually a lot of fun. It felt like there was never a dull moment on the way to the train station, and Shoto felt himself becoming drawn in by Yaoyorozu's excitability as her liveliness returned. It was easy to smile, hanging out with her like this.

The train station was before them sooner than what felt normal, and before Shoto knew it, they were sitting together on the train, heading home.

Yaoyorozu yawned and rested her head upon his shoulder. It seemed that the day's exhaustion was catching up to her again. Shoto said nothing and remained still for her, moving only when they reached her station (and to occasionally glance down at her sleeping).

She yawned as they stepped onto the platform. "I'll be okay from here," she said as she formed an umbrella for herself. "Thank you, Shoto. I had a lot of fun."

"It was nothing," replied Shoto, already kind of missing her warmth and also wondering why she chose to call him by his hero name now of all times.

"I'm off this Thursday. Let me take you somewhere so I can pay you back."

Shoto shifted off to the side, looking at the ceiling. "You don't have to do that."

"Please? I want to."

With a sigh, Shoto faced her again. "All right, if it's important to you."

Yaoyorozu's face lit up. "I had my number changed recently, but I'll text you the details," taking his hand and writing on it with a newly-made pen. When she let go, Shoto felt his hand drop down to his side, feeling bizarrely dumbfounded.

"It's a date, then!" she said as she capped the pen. She flashed him one more giddy grin. "I'll see you Thursday, Todoroki-san~!"

Shoto watched her run off as though they were teenagers again. Was she speaking literally? He wouldn't have minded if that were the case, but she played the whole thing off so casually that he wasn't sure.

He pulled out his phone to update her number but paused when he noticed she had signed off with an obvious heart at the end. (There went the question of her intent.) He laughed to himself as he updated her contact information.

He'd fallen for her hook, line, and sinker.

Author's Note xxvi. it's another one of those shorts that's juuuust shy of my personal arbitrary threshhold between drabble and oneshot that gets published as its own story. i wrote this all today, can you believe it? ? ? i was just thinking about how umbrella sharing is such a good trope and that i've never written it despite having more than enough experience doing it myself in real life, and then this happened. did momo actually plan all that out beforehand, or did she make it up on the fly? that's up to you to decide lol.

i'm actually really happy with this chapter, which hasn't happened in a long time! it's probably a sign my sudden ability to write again after 2019's year-long struggle. i actually wrote this as a break from a different tdmm story i finally started writing. i don't know when that one's gonna come out, but i definitely want it to be done before i publish it bc even if i say it's going to be not THAAAAAT long, i don't want another fic up that's like "i have a few more parts in mind" and then basically never getting to it. i'm back in the habit of finishing a couple chapters before starting publishing, how about that! who knows; maybe i'll start responding to reviews again lol.

anyway, check out my tumblr a-piece-of-shipping-trash! send asks or requests or anything to keep me company or something. c: thank you for reading! please review, and as always, have a greaaaaaat daaaaayyyy~~~~~