A/N : Hope you guys like it. This will probably be a one shot unless I can actually figure out where I can go from here, figured I'd give my favorite pairing a try and see where it goes. As usual, leave your honest thoughts on it. Sorry ahead of time for the length.
The autumn day was cold and windy. Small scatterings of people young and old wandered along with their goals in mind, a pace as brisk as the day itself. Snuggled between two mildly successful businesses and flanked by a large mall, the All Might Café might not seem to be a place for quiet study to a regular person. The exterior had seen better days, and the interior's choice of decoration was a bit dated, the large number of posters strewn about the walls haphazardly often left visitors with the word tacky crossing their lips on the way out. Even with a softly crackling fire going, there was an almost constant draft blowing through. Even All Might's final victory wasn't enough to bring in more regulars to the place.
Momo, however was no regular person. The ability to create blankets negated any draft inside and All Might's smiling face looking down from everywhere actually added an additional expectation for her to meet and overcome. She may have had the top grades, but that didn't excuse slacking on researching new uses for her quirk!
The books she studied from were not scattered but lovingly organized by the subject's material composition and possible usage in heroics or general utility covering both a great range of topics and the table she read from. The lack of room also kept others from trying to invite themselves to sit with her, not that the shop was busy enough to have this happen more than once in a blue moon. Just enough room for the iced tea she chose on a whim despite the almost frigid weather. Thankfully today has been rather quiet, she thought. Though focused in her research, the jingle of the door's bells got her attention.
Momo took her eyes off her books to check if it was a regular, but this visitor was someone she recognized. Locking eyes with the raven haired beauty, the young man casually strolled over and sat down. Most of the time, Momo would politely inform a person of how busy she was, especially if someone hadn't the decency to at least ask if they could sit down. A familiar classmate, however, was thankfully a welcome break from the studying she was getting into. Having placed one book gently over another to make room for her new guest, Momo even offered part of the blanket to him as well.
"Thanks Momo, thought I was going to die of frostbite out there. It's nice to be away from everyone else for a bit." Mineta, cellphone in hand, lounged back in the warmth of a shared blanket.
"You know," Momo began to chastise, "You should probably order something. They might treat you as a loiterer otherwise". Although her voice took a temporarily parental tone, she laid off a bit as she felt the cold emanating from Mineta's body. It was clear his body didn't do too well on heat retention. Scarf or not, the school uniform wasn't helping the situation. That much was obvious even with the sizeable space he left between them. With this in mind, this she handed a bit more of the blanket over to him.
"I hear you, Momo, give me a bit to rest and I'll get something to order." Giving her a nod of graditude, he draped the blanket along his torso, and basked in comfort.
She noticed the quick glances over the admittedly large number of books she lain along the table as he slowly closed his eyes. Before long, his rhythmic inhales and exhales added to the peaceful ambience of the café. Momo was finally somewhat used to his abrupt change in behavior. It was almost 2 months prior when they had a heart to heart about a lot of personal things. And to think, it was all because you hesitated in one of your usual schemes. Looking back, there was plenty of yelling, some genuine tears, but it was a growing point for both of them. Oddly enough, Mineta urged that the positive change be kept quiet. His line of thinking was it would look suspicious if she was openly conversing with him of all people. He figured the others would assume it was something shady and it might cause a violent intervention. Momo agreed. Although she felt a simple explanation would suffice, his sudden change of heart might be a bit too off-putting to be believable, and if the backlash was too much, it may even force him to revert. Better safe than sorry is how she felt on the matter, but she didn't have the heart to explain her feelings.
Thanks to this newfound friendship they would meet every weekend in secret and converse. They made sure it was during everyone else's busy time, but Mineta took it a step further and suggested playing match maker with Denki and Jiro. Momo had reservations about the last bit, but Mineta pointed out if they were too busy making puppy dog eyes at one another they wouldn't be too worried about where two people with nothing in common were at. She hated to admit it, but watching Jiro soften up ever so slightly whenever she saw Denki was absolutely heartwarming. They had some close calls, but the only one close enough to really notice was Bakugo, and he merely scoffed, and walked off in some other direction. She could have sworn she heard, "not my damn business" before leaving, but she frankly wasn't sure. He certainly never said a thing to either of them afterwards.
Suddenly she felt a soft tug on her arm. Mineta, now wide awake, scanned the books laid around the table. "Momo, it looks like you're working pretty hard on improving your quirk. It's crazy to me how you're trying to find new things, even though you're already great with it. I wish mine was half as good as yours." He words at the end tapered off, as he fixated on no book in particular.
Momo was mildly flustered by his sudden compliment, but tried to divert it. "There's no need to sell yourself short, Mineta. Your quirk might be a bit more limited in scope now, sure, but there's no telling what you'll be able to accomplish with training and experience! You just need to keep trying."
Mineta paused for a moment as he brought up his cellphone, possibly to check if he had any new messages from Denki. "Keep trying huh?" She noticed a small, bitter smile, before he continued, "I'm not so sure about that. Compared to you, I can do some neat tricks, but I need people to make me useful. Actual heroes with powerful quirks. If I'm by myself and I don't surprise my opponent, I'm as good as dead. You and your quirk on the other hand are so useful that you'd need people only in certain situations."
"Well," she paused, briefly, "I mean we all need people in some way or another. For instance during the USJ Jiro an-"
"I'm not talking about the USJ." Mineta's suddenly serious voice interrupts her, but he's looking down into the blanket. "Momo, I was a detriment to your plan during that initial mock fight. I honestly think you had a chance to win if I hadn't been around. Heck I think you could have won on your own".
Even without eye contact, she could tell he was ashamed of himself. They've had a conversation or two like this before, this but this was different. Though she welcomed her shorter classmate's change in behavior, she didn't quite know how to respond when he would depreciate himself. She could unfortunately relate to undervaluing one's self, especially when snap decision makers like Bakugo or Shoto shone so brightly in their class. Even Mineta, she realized, not only persevered over the pro Midnight, someone with the... qualities to easily be considered his number one weakness, but defeated her soundly with his own ingenuity and a piece of Sero's tape. Technically solo. Just then a distasteful thought, especially for her, spoke up, there really shouldn't have been any hope of him winning that match before she snuffed it out. I don't have a leg to stand on there. In her eyes she had arguably the most powerful student in their grade and "her" victory was still almost sheer luck.
Caught speechless and with little else but her mistakes resurfaced to go on, she felt the self-degradation start as well. "Mineta, I think you are truly overestimating how good I am now and where I stood at the start of our class. It took me quite some time for me to reach even this point of competence. You might not see it, but I really am not as skilled or proficient as you think I am."
"If don't mind me saying it like this, then, I think you don't know how great you are, Momo. You're the smartest, kindest, and most beautiful girl in the whole class, heck I'd even say the whole school!" As soon as he finished, however, Mineta instantly clamped his hands over his mouth. Clearly he wasn't looking to go that far, and the apprehension in his eyes betrayed any attempt to hide what he just said. Yaoyorozu, however, was more curious than anything over how he was acting after his statement.
"I mean, it's certainly a surprise to hear you say that out loud, but you have said much worse in the past? Right?" She couldn't help but chuckle a bit at the thought of him worrying over his own words, but stopped as soon as she realized he was seriously troubled. "Is something the matter? You look absolutely frightened!"
Swallowing whatever fear he had, Mineta opened up. "Momo, I'm not going to lie. I was worried you were going to be mad. I thought you'd be so angry you'd leave here and never want to talk with me again. That all these meet ups, trying to avoid any attention, getting to actually know you and learn who you really are, would all be for nothing. That all of this would all end up in smoke. I'm sorry."
Momo was pretty taken aback by his honesty. It was odd seeing Mineta regret something he said, especially considering his old behavior when he would keep act up with Kaminari, but here he was in the flesh doing just that. Taking a closer look at him now, the trembling his body was doing may well have been the worry his thoughts were going to ruin everything. Feeling nothing but pity towards him she reached out and placed a hand on his small, thin shoulder. As she did, tears began to well in his eyes. "Mineta, that took a lot to admit. You may not think it's much, but the fact you were worried about how I felt and apologized shows how far you've grown!
"... Thank you." It was all he could do to fight back his tears. He had to steady himself before he uttered his quiet response.
Both of them sat in silence for a few moments but before long they began talking to one another. Going over Momo's personal progress, about new things she could use and even about possible quirk combos. Mineta pointed out that the support group might be have info on his hair composition and she could use that to create objects that wouldn't stick to his balls, like a modified cannon using his grapes as ammo, or a liquefied version of his hair to seal things up or hold things together. Their worries for the moment vanished, and this quiet, empty café was their world.
As they happily conversed, the sound of loud voices approaching the café could be easily heard. The cheerful babbling among the group outside sounded familiar to the two. There was an even more familiar voice above the din. "Shut the hell up, you nerds, I can hardly think!" Momo and Mineta both were looking out the window as a now angry Iida began to chastise Bakugo, who had already maneuvered past an also upset Uraraka to address Izuku directly. For the moment the group were at a standstill outside. A fight looked to be brewing, but there's no way they would choose right now off school grounds and in broad daylight. At least, that's what the two safely inside were hoping.
Mineta looked away from the commotion and stared down at the books for a moment or two, before nodding to himself. Without warning he wiped the last of his tears and focused on her. "Momo, I have to ask this now, can we talk about... us?"
"What's there to talk about? We've had our rough areas before, certainly, but I enjoy getting to know you. I mean, maybe start trying to tone down the occasional perverted act just a bit, but I would say you're doing well."
"That's only to keep up appearances!" Mineta started, voice already rising in pitch, before shaking his head, "Wait no, Momo, I mean, what you think of us?"
Shock would certainly have been the choice word. What he meant hit her and time stood still. What could she even say? His eyes looked almost pleading, with nothing but a want for an honest, if affirmative, answer. Why now? He certainly had a kind side, even treating her with his meager allowance if he made it to the meeting spots first, but a relationship? Like what Denki and Jiro now had? Mineta was asking for a bit too much, but she felt he had the right to an honest answer at least.
"Mineta this is all a bit sudden, don't you think? It is a bit too soon for me to say anything about us, but I enjoy just being able to talk with you and getting to kno-"
"What are you afraid of?" It was quiet and abrupt. His eyes were looking away from her, but it was the hurt in his voice that betrayed his thoughts. "Do you think I'm trying to trick you somehow?"
"No not at all! But it's like we both agreed, the change publicly might be too much for everyone else. And you... Well you might..." She trailed off, but was hoping he wouldn't understand her worry.
His eyes widened in shock as her message came loud and clear. "That's what you're worried about!? You think I'll just flip a switch and suddenly be the school's grand perverted shame again?" Tears were streaming down his face now. "Or is it that I am a poor nobody that your family wouldn't let you be caught dead on the same planet with if it was up to them? Which is it?"
"It's not like that at all! Where you and your family are is not what the issue is!" Even Momo was caught up in Mineta's emotions and was overreacting in kind. She had to stop the misunderstanding before it got much worse. "You're a good person, Mineta, you really, truly are. These past few weeks have really shown that and I would like to know you better, but I think a relationship is just too much at the moment."
Mineta looks like he is about ready to respond, but as he opens his mouth, he hears the arguments outside from the Bakugo-Midoriya interaction finally starting to subside. Wiping the tears away, he stands up and moves away from the table with a sigh, "I think I've caused enough trouble today. Momo, I'll keep up how I'm acting in public so you don't have to worry about anyone being suspicious. Sorry for wasting your time. Good luck with the rest of your research."
As he turns to leave, Momo attempts to reach out to him to try and say something, anything, but she is at a loss for words. In that same instance, he stops and turns to her. Apparently the group outside were about to head in. His eyes look apologetic, like he knows his next action would hurt their chances of keeping up these meetings. Looking into them, Momo knows he's worried about how the others would act seeing them conversing and tries her best to withstand whatever he has in mind for a plan.
Suddenly, he blinks away the last remnant of his tears. And with no fanfare, he brings up his camera at the same time the jingling of the bells string onto the door ring out. "Woah! A beauty? In this dump!? Talk about a real diamond in the rough!" The pervert has returned. The loud snapping of his camera phone, the drool. The largest difference Momo saw wasn't what he added to his act, but what he was missing. It was the lack of shame. He was going full force, all so the now shouting group rushing in to "aid" her would be none the wiser.
Midoriya was trying to calmly talk Mineta down. Uraraka was both greeting Momo and asking if she was okay, Iida was chopping the air fast enough to take off, his booming voice adding to the cacophony the guys were building up.
Although Momo was doing her best to be courteous with Ochaco given the circumstances, the person she was focusing on the most was Bakugo. He was staring straight at her, even though the noise he was complaining about before was now much louder. No emotion on his face, just blankly staring. She held his gaze for a moment or two, before it was too much to bear and looked back towards the scene before her.
Mineta, believing his job to be done, tossed his cellphone into his pocket and rushed out of the door as fast as his legs could carry him. Although the others attempted to run after him, it was Bakugo who casually blocked the way and started shouting now, "Can you losers finally shut up already? Hairballs is gone and you're still embarrassing me with all your yelling!"
The arguing started up again from outside, Iida now trying to maintain some semblance of an indoor voice but still chopping endlessly, Deku trying to disarm Bakugo, and Uraraka telling Bakugo he's shouting louder than everyone else was. The entire time Momo watched silently. There's no way he actually thinks there's something going on, right?
The dorms were relatively quiet that afternoon. Apparently most everyone had used their freedom from homework that weekend to head out and do things, but a certain shorter student was brooding as he paced. Damn it, can't you do something right for once? Of course she didn't want anything to do with you. She knows you're an awful person! You're barely at her knees! Your quirk isnt worth a damn, and worst of all... She probably won't ever want to talk with you again. At this point, he stopped and with a heavy sigh sat down on the couch. Realizing it was pretty much a lost cause to keep worrying about it, he closed his eyes and leaned back.
He was so lost in trying to forget about today, he didn't even acknowledge the quiet opening of the automatic doors. Nor the sound of a chair being set down in front of him. He did, however, react to the grabbing of his collar and quick shake. Eyes shooting open, he was ready to lay into whoever had the rudeness to kick a guy while he was down, but his mouth sealed itself on the instinct of self-preservation when he saw the familiar, but not so angry face of Bakugo looking straight at him.
Absolute dread filled Mineta's mind, especially considering that Bakugo witnessed his indecent behavior from earlier, struggling all the while it was time to create some excuses. "Wait, Bakugo, about earlier, I swear it w-"
"Your acting sucks." Bakugo said, tossing Mineta nonchalantly onto the couch. "You could have just as easily left before they walked in."
Mineta swore there was something he wasn't catching onto, but couldn't tell what the human grenade was getting at. "Wait, do you mean earlier? I think you have the wrong idea, I just happened to spot Momo, honest! I mean, you'd be the same way in my position, right?"
Bakugo's eyes narrowed for a moment, shooting down any further excuses. He locked eyes on the grape haired classmate, "Look, whatever the hell you and ponytail do isn't my business, but if you're going to try and be secretive about it, don't be idiots. Choose places the others won't go to. Aren't you two supposed to be eggheads or something?"
"Hold on, you know?" Mineta was shocked.
"It's not tough when you morons are being so damn obvious about it. If you're smart, you'll apologize to her about your shitty attempt at acting and salvage whatever you two had going." Bakugo looked away for a second, before simply saying, "It'd be the right thing to do, at least."
Of all the people to hand out relationshi- no friendship advice, Mineta would never have guessed Bakugo. Maybe he can say something to her and fix up his problem. Maybe she'll forgive him. Honestly, Mineta thought, she probably doesn't want a thing to do with me right now, but I can at least do the right thing.
Forgetting who he was talking to for a moment, Mineta looked back up to Bakugo. With a smile, he extended a hand. "I think you're right. Honestly, thanks man, I owe you one. If there's anything you need, feel free to ask!"
Bakugo stared for a moment, as Mineta stood up on the couch. It was surreal, watching as Bakugo grabbed Mineta's hand, a smile on his face as well. "Actually there is one thing."
Mineta began to shake the hand of the last person he'd ever think of as friendly, "Whatever you need me to do, just ask!" The words barely left his mouth as he felt his own spirit rising. Was this what it was like making new friends? Closing his eyes to bask in the moment, it was glorious. With someone so strong looking out for him, it felt like he was flying. He could accomplish anything. Apologizing to Momo will be a breeze!
Opening his eyes to a new world full of opportunities, Mineta noted two things. The first was the change in Bakugo's expression, as he sported his usual scowl now. The mood swap was incredible. The second was the understanding as to why he was feeling weightless, as Bakugo had him already in an over-the-shoulder throw.
"If you are going to be an embarrassment in public, don't do it wearing our fucking uniform!" and with that, the table in the dormitory was broken for reasons unknown to the rest of the class.
Despite relatively minor injuries following their talk, Mineta still followed the blonde's advice. It was a painful lesson, but a lesson nonetheless. It took him well into the evening to find the words he felt were right and write them out in a text. Try as he might, he just couldn't find the strength to talk to Momo face to face. Not after how I acted. Those words would creep up if he even thought about trying to do so. So a text message was what he went with. All he could hope for was that she didn't block his number and mull over how well his apology was.
Well, there was one other thought. Mineta couldn't help but wonder why Bakugo seemingly went out of his way to follow the Midoriya crew. If Bakugo already knew we were meeting up, did he actually distract the others so we could talk? If it isn't beating up villains or Midoriya, the guy is a tough read. I guess it doesn't matter too much. The day is over and she is probably laughing about my text with the other girls. Thanks for trying to be a bro anyway, Bakugo.
Closing his eyes, Mineta did his best to forget about the humiliation of today and drifted off into a troubled sleep. Although he wouldn't see it until the morning, a soft buzz signaled that there was one new notification on his cellphone.
A/N And that's that! I tried to cut down on words, but used up even more than I thought. I didn't know how I wanted their conversation to go and I ended up rewriting what I wanted a couple of times trying to figure out how Momo would act in such a situation. Needless to say, it was a lot tougher than I thought! Poor Mineta got roughed up here a few times, and I felt like a more hopeful ending is what the poor guy deserved. I honestly haven't had a chance to see more good fiction involving the two (hoping another author updates his work when they're not busy, it was just getting good!) so figured I may as well become a drop in a hopefully larger bucket. Again, leave all your thoughts, and have a great semester!