Momo

Momo finger-combs the fringe of her scarf nervously. She keeps looking back to the staircase hoping Uraraka will come downstairs.

Shouto's sitting beside her on the couch, drowsing. She gently brushes his bangs back, prompting his eyelids to flutter.

"Morning," she murmurs as she watches his mismatched gaze blink into consciousness.

She gets a good look of just how blue his right eye is when he looks over at her.

They hold eye contact for a moment before he rests his head on her shoulder.

"Night." he says back.

Momo checks the time on his watch. It's ten a.m.

"Shouto," she says. "Wake up."

"I'm up."

She sighs and looks over at the staircase again.

"Would you like to join me for a cup of tea?"

"No, thank you."

Momo bites her lip. "Well, could you go upstairs and ask if anyone there would like to join me for a cup of tea?"

He nestles himself further into her shoulder. "No, I think I'm good."

She frowns. If she were any less mannerly, she'd pout, maybe even flick his nose the way Kyouka does to Denki.

"I'm worried about Uraraka," she confesses.

Shouto sighs against her hair but doesn't respond.

"What did you say to Bakugou yesterday?"

He opens his eyes slightly to stare at the blank screen of the television. "Told him he was being immature."

"And what did he say?"

He sighs again. "What do you think he said?"

Momo shakes her head.

Shouto turns his head to look up at her. His cheek brushes against her side-boob. "He basically told me to mind my own business. I think he's right."

"Yesterday was a disaster." she reminds him, "We can't just go about our days like it didn't happen."

He's quiet for a moment, then his head dips further down as he snuggles into her again.

"They'll figure it out. They always do." he mutters. If she weren't wearing two sweaters, it would almost feel like he was speaking against her nipple.

Momo gently nudges him off of her and rises from the couch. She's going to go check on the kettle, then she's going to call Uraraka downstairs.

That was the plan at least. She walks into the kitchen to see Uraraka already there, sitting by herself on the table. She's eating a snack cake miserably.

"Uraraka," Momo blinks, slightly startled but mostly glad.

Uraraka looks up at her. "Oh, hey, Momo."

"I..." she trails off, forgetting what she was going to say before the kettle whistles. "Would you like to join me for a cup of tea?"

"Love to."

Momo nods and reaches for two teacups. She serves Uraraka's first.

"There you are," she says, setting it before her.

"Thank you," Uraraka leans in to inhale the steam. "What is this?"

Momo reads off the tag on the counter. "Peppermint, cinnamon, and nutmeg."

"Festive." she says with a little smile.

She smiles back. "I thought so too."

Uraraka finishes her cake and crumples the cellophane in her left hand. She reaches for her tea with the right and raises it.

"Cheers,"

Momo raises hers as well. They both have their pinkies up. "Cheers."

They clink teacups before each taking a small sip. Uraraka hums pleasantly. "So good."

She nods. "Yes, it is."

They continue drinking in silence. When Momo reaches midway down her cup, she clears her throat.

"So," she says as lightly as she can, "How have you been?"

Uraraka looks at her reflection in the tea and shrugs. "Alright. How about you?"

"I've been well, thank you."

She nods and takes another sip of tea.

Momo licks her lips. "I just wanted to check in on you—"

"Yeah, no, I appreciate it. Real nice of you, Momo."

Momo stares down at the woodgrain of the table, unsure of how to interpret her tone. "Of course."

"No, seriously. Even though you're like the last person who should be comforting me, it really means a lot." Uraraka mumbles without looking up from her tea.

She reaches out for her hand on the cup. "Uraraka," she croons, "How could I just let you eat your Oreo Cakester with no tea?"

Uraraka sprays her with spit when she finally looks up. Momo's glad she's at least laughing.

"Sorry," she giggles and reaches for a napkin to dab both their chins. "If I knew you were here, I would've saved you the other one."

"That's fine." Momo shakes her head. "I only like the Double Stuf cookies."

"Oh, those are good too," she nods, "This is all Iida had in his pantry though."

She raises her eyebrows, unimpressed. "Well, at my parents' winter home, they have all types of Oreos."

Uraraka smiles around another sip of tea. "I bet they also have a stay-in therapist."

Momo's smile falls at that. She was happy to not bring it up and just let Uraraka laugh for today, but it seems like it's bothering her.

"No, actually, our therapist has a separate home." she says gently. "We like to sort our issues out ourselves."

Uraraka doesn't say anything.

"Do you want to talk about what happened yesterday?"

She shrugs. "You already saw what happened out there."

"Yes," Momo tries to hide her cringe behind her teacup. "I'm afraid I did."

"Sorry you had to see all that." she covers her eyes with her hand. "So embarrassing."

"Well, yes, I can't say I wasn't suffering secondhand humiliation, but," she frowns, "It was painful to watch mostly because of how hurt you both seemed."

Uraraka shakes her head. "Oh, no, I'm fine. It's him—"

"It's both of you." she corrects gently.

"But... it's," Uraraka looks away, "Mostly him."

Momo nods. "Fair point. Still."

Uraraka nods back.

"Yeah," she says after a long pause, "I was literally about to go up to him and ask how he's been. Maybe tell him that I'm willing put this behind us if he could just go apologize to Deku, but," she shrugs. "You know him."

Momo sighs. "Yes, we're all well-acquainted with his behavior towards Midoriya."

Uraraka shakes her head silently.

"But this is how they've always been." Momo says, and sincerely hopes it doesn't come off as an excuse. "For your sake, I think you should just let them be."

"That's what everyone's saying, and I've tried," she huffs, "Like I've put up with it for so long that I'm finally sick. I don't know what Katsuki could still be so insecure about that he constantly has to bully Deku."

"Did you... try asking?" Bakugou had seemed desperate to talk to her yesterday. She was hoping they'd work things out by a percentage at least, not make it substantially worse.

Uraraka presses her lips together. "No," she confesses. "But I don't think he'd tell me anyway. Plus, I said I wasn't talking to him until he apologized, so."

"Have you tried speaking to Midoriya?"

"He keeps saying it's fine and that it doesn't bother him. But it should."

"I suppose." Momo says, sipping on her tea. "Does it bother you when Bakugou taunts you?"

"He doesn't tease me," she says, then, "Well, I mean he teases me, but he doesn't bully me. Not like that."

Their cups are dangerously low, so Momo refills them both. "Right. I'd hope not."

"That's what Tsu said."

Momo blinks in surprise. Of all their peers, Asui has been the most vocal about her dislike of Bakugou. "I'm surprised that's all she said."

"No, yeah, when we went back to our room she started going off again. She said he was lucky it was snowing."

Momo still remembers the bus ride where Asui insulted him and Bakugou had threatened to fight her. It was the first time she'd ever heard a boy say that to a girl. That, among the other obscenities he was throwing at Denki, gave her an overall bad impression of her whole class. But Uraraka had laughed it off back then, so Momo's confused as to why his mouth still bothers her.

"That would have been... interesting." she decides, "But, Uraraka, have you considered that this might just be his way of communicating?"

"Yes." she says. "And he's told me that, but there's a line—"

"And you get to decide when it's crossed?"

Uraraka looks down again.

"I'm not siding with him, but if Midoriya isn't bothered, I don't think you should be either."

"I know, but," her lip curls down into a tiny frown. "I guess I'm bothered for him 'cause... I don't know. I love them both."

Momo reaches out to rub her hand again. "Aw, Uraraka."

She puts her face in her palm. "But I hate them."

Momo nods, completely empathetic on the subject. Shouto has made her want to tear her hair out on more than one occasion. "That's usually how it is."

Uraraka removes her hand and sighs up at the ceiling. Her situation is understandably frustrating but Momo's happy to help her through it.

"Would you like some more tea?" she offers.

"Yes, please," Uraraka nods, extending her cup eagerly. At least she doesn't look miserable anymore. "And a whole pack of Double Stuf Oreos."