36

Sakura Nagashi

The cherry blossom petals were scattering away.

It was the day after Izuku and Mina became a couple at the park and the class found out about them. Momo had asked to talk to Izuku, using the excuse of needing help with a question in class.

They had walked all the way back to their classroom. The two were the only ones there.

"Uh, Momo did we really have to come all the way back to class?" Izuku asked with a confused freckled smile. "Haha, don't tell me, you're going to put the question on the board?"

Momo fixed her loose strand of hair, rolling her eyes but also growing a smile. How was he so analytical but this dense at the same time, it was adorable to her. "I'm not having any trouble with schoolwork, Izuku."

"Oh really, then why did we come here?" His lips straightened out.

She crossed her arms over her bust, leaning slightly on a desk. "Uraraka was crying last night..."

"Oh..." Izuku hadn't thought about her since before the second-year started. Actually, he hadn't thought much about his first-year. His eyes shadowed. "Momo, why are you telling me this?" Even though in his gut he knew.

She let out her beloved sigh, "Because Izuku, I feel like I owe it to her. Wouldn't you do the same for Todoroki?"

He bit back before admitting it. "Yeah."

"I'm not saying you shouldn't date Ashido but Uraraka is also our friend right? Can you at least consider her feelings as well?"

"Momo, you... you've known how I felt about her. I can't just talk to her and make it so we're friends again, it's not that easy."

"That's true, it won't be a quick fix, but I wouldn't be here if I wasn't willing to help, ne?" She clasped her hands together with a tilt of her head and that elegant smile.

His eyes widened with parted lips, he gulped down his dry throat as he looked away, ruffling his hair, and avoided looking at her. "Um, yeah thanks, Momo."

"Good, now that, that's settled we should be heading back." She was starting to make her way past him, heading for the door.

But before she could leave, Izuku blurted it out as he spun on the heels of his shoes and stared at her back, "What-, what about us..?... And what happened." He strained out the last part because it was something that they told themselves never happened. That it was pretend.

Momo let her shoulders sag for a bit before she straightened out again. She turned her head slightly to him, but he couldn't see her eyes as that loose strand of hair kept them obscured, but he could see her lips move. "Don't worry, Winter was here, but now, it's far away, right?" Was all she said before looking ahead again and exiting the classroom.

Leaving Izuku by himself.

Momo and Izuku were alone in the classroom again. For a moment, neither of them spoke, the weight of the silence was smothering them, both trying to breathe out a word. Yaoyorozu was standing in front of the window, facing it, she couldn't look at Izuku, it would be too hard. He was staring at the spiral ponytail that always seemed to flutter along with the wind like petals.

He finally let out a heavy sigh, talking.

"Momo, what happened?"

She turned her head slightly away from the window and he could only partially see her face like last time. "What happened?" She repeated as if trying to understand it herself. "I... I don't know."

Izuku rubbed his face with one of his hands. "What does that mean, what was that at the party? You were egging Mina on."

Momo turned more so to Izuku but still not enough to see the side of her face. "I told you, I don't know." But it was trying too hard to be stern and her voice sounded like it could break at any moment.

"But you and Mina were getting along when I got there, then suddenly out of nowhere-,"

"It wasn't out of nowhere! You and Todoroki both just suddenly disappeared." She interrupted, fully turning to face him as she lashed out a bit of her bottled-up emotions. She inhaled and exhaled, recomposing herself. She fixed her loose strand of hair, tucking it behind her ear. She had her eyes closed in careful thought before opening them. "Look, I understand, neither you nor Todoroki have any obligation towards me, I get that Izuku I do, but I was upset and got carried away, I swear I didn't mean for it."

His eyes winced as he looked away. "Momo, I'm with Mina now. You can't-, we can't be like that, you know we can't."

Momo's eyes grew before settling. "I know that, but..." She was walking towards him. "Ne, Izuku," As she reached him, she cupped his cheek with her delicate slender fingers, her kitten onyx eyes staring directly into him as she purred, "Don't you miss it?"

He didn't respond.

She used the silence of the moment, wanting to capture his lips.

But he had turned his head and she only kissed his cheek, her eyes opened and she had to hear him whisper it.

"Mina's my girlfriend." As if saying that was enough to tell her that he wasn't going to do anything to betray her.

Momo was stunned before she began to pull away. "But why?" She broke apart from him completely. Her eyes were still wide, refusing to look away from him. "Why her?"

"Momo, don't do this..." He let out softly.

"No, I want to know why, Izuku." The emotions she had tried so hard to bottle up were finally pouring out. "Tell me how Ashido, seemingly out of nowhere, suddenly became a big part of your life!"

Izuku's jaw clenched as his eyes narrowed. "That's none of your business."

Momo scoffed, crossing her arms under her bust, leaning towards him. "Really? Then why did you keep me a secret from her."

"You're the one who wanted to keep what happened between us quiet! All because you were still holding out for Todoroki, weren't you?!" Izuku finally admitted how he felt about the way things ended between.

Momo's lips parted before her eyebrows furrowed. "How dare you..! Is that what you really think happened?" Her voice was harsh trying to keep it together.

Izuku's face was hard as he pointed down with his finger, resolute in his actions and words, "Tell me, I'm wrong."

Momo uncrossed her arms to wipe her eyes and nose quickly before anything came out. "It doesn't matter anymore, does it?" But her voice was trembling, threatening to fall apart.

He gasped, being hit with a wave of regret, "W-Wait, you're telling the truth? It, it wasn't about Todoroki anymore." Then that means...

"Of course it wasn't."

"Then what was it? Why did you-"

"Because I was scared!.. I was scared, alright... How could I not be..?"

The wind reverberated against the window as the sun began to set, the tranquil day coming to an end for everyone except them.

"Momo..."

She was looking down with a sad expression recalling their winter. She had clasped one hand over the other with her thumb rubbing into her palm as if pretending it was his, "Remember that night? It was raining... You... You held my hand and told me you loved me..." Her voice reluctantly breaking near the end.

His shoulders sagged as he dropped his head. "Of course I remember, Momo."

"Ne Izuku, it wasn't pretend, was it?"

He squeezed his eyes shut before focusing them on Momo. "I don't know anymore..."

"I was scared you wouldn't stay and I thought if we stayed friends then maybe you wouldn't go anywhere...I know I made a mistake but I didn't-, I don't want to lose you, Izuku." And she strained out his name desperately.

"Momo, I don't even know if we can be friends at this point." He couldn't look at her as he said that because that was the last thing he wanted but she wasn't giving him a choice, he could tell she wanted more than friendship and he couldn't let himself be tempted.

Momo's chest was heaving as she took a shaky breath, She glanced to the side before looking back at him, her eyes puffy and bloodshot. "Then I at least deserve to know why her, Izuku? Why Ashido?"

Izuku ruffled his hair. He was frustrated and didn't know if it was because of the question or his lack of answer. "Momo, what happened between us is over, so why is this that important to you?"

Momo ran her hand through her hair, just as frustrated as he was. "Because, it's like you just decided to ignore everything that happened to you during our first-year! And now you're perfectly content going off to live this one-note romance with someone you barely ever interacted with until now! How does any of that make sense?.. The Izuku I know deserves better than that... Doesn't he?"

She was pleading with her eyes, hoping for something, anything.

"Momo... It's too late..."

Her eyes widened as they hollowed out. She gathered her schoolbag and supplies before heading to the door, her movements were perfectly normal but empty. She finally spoke right before she made her exit, leaving Izuku alone again.

"I guess you're right, I was too late, ne?"

It was that lazy weekend. Izuku and Ashido were hanging out in the living quarters while Momo and Tsuyu were walking back from grocery shopping. Momo was trying to suppress a giddy giggle but couldn't and Tsuyu asked what was the cause of it.

"Oh, nothing." She sighed out as she hugged the paper bag close to her bosom. 'Tonight I'm gonna make Izuku's favorite meal and then when we're all alone and studying like usual I'll tell him how horrible I felt, that what I did was a mistake and that I miss him!' She couldn't stop her cheeks from becoming rosy, thinking about the confession she had planned.

At dinner she began to serve out the food but didn't see him, "Oh dear, has anyone seen Izuku," And then she noticed that Mina wasn't there, "And Ashido?"

They didn't show up for dinner that night.

Momo was left sitting alone at the dining table all night in silence as her feelings went unheard. The night after, when everyone found out about their relationship and she helped console Uraraka, Momo cried herself to sleep without anyone ever aware of how she felt about Izuku.

I never got to tell him, "I love you too..."