The two of them headed out into the night, leaving the chaotic common room behind. Ahead of them, the limousine was waiting.
Momo felt an odd thrill in her chest while intertwining her arm with Katayama's. Her heart seemed to flutter, and air caught in her throat. She quickly swallowed it down, slightly embarrassed. He was just doing the proper thing and escorting her, that was all. There was no reason to get worked up about it. I'm not a little girl anymore.
"So," she said lightly as they closed in on the vehicle, "have you ever ridden in a limousine before?"
Katayama shook his head. He was staring at the sleek black machine, but more specifically at the driver, who was dressed in a suit and was holding the back door open for them.
"Good evening, Miss Yaoyorozu," he said smoothly. "And you must be Mr. Katayama."
"That's me," said Doko, in a somewhat breathy voice. Momo wondered if he was nervous. When she tried to meet his eyes, he averted them. There was a dusting of red across his cheeks.
We're the same height with me in these heels, she noticed.
"Good evening, Nakano-san," Momo greeted, turning back to the driver.
"You both look excellent," Nakano told them, gesturing for them to climb in.
Katayama halted and slid his arm down Momo's until their hands met, and then he took her hand, helping her into the seat without messing up her dress. Momo's eyebrows shot upward; she had not told or taught him to do that. When she gave him another look, he simply seemed neutral, like it was second nature.
In any case, he went round to the other side and climbed in himself, and Nakano returned to the driver's seat, closing the doors behind them with finality. Momo's eyes danced back up toward the Heights Alliance, and she thought she saw silhouettes peeking out the windows, watching them leave.
Katayama laughed lightly. "Never a dull moment with all of them, is there? I figured it'd be best if I just came down and got you on out of there. And…it was kinda funny, too."
Momo nodded, feeling a smile spread across her face. As embarrassed as she'd been by Mina and the other's antics, she couldn't help but feel a little…good under all the attention? Like, maybe she was a little happy that she and Katayama looked good together and that people were assuming certain things…?
She gave him another look. He was currently running his fingers over the leather seat they sat on, as if mesmerized. His violet eyes were wide open.
Momo couldn't help it. She smiled again. It was like watching a child.
Katayama looked up, his eyes twinkling. "What?"
"I was just thinking that you seemed quite in your element until right then. You were doing so well with the facade."
He pouted. "It wasn't a facade. I just felt like making a show of it in front of our classmates, and that carried over a little. I'm new to all of this, truly." He turned to look out the window. They were descending down the UA hill, seeing the city spread out beneath. Evening light streaked across the sky like an orange scar. Up high, the sky was blue-going-on-black. Momo wondered if he was looking for the first stars of the evening.
"How far is it to your place?" he asked her, like it was as simple as if they were going there to pick up something.
"Not far," said Momo. She was getting a little frustrated, but she didn't know why. She didn't like that he was looking out the window.
"Hey, Katayama?" She decided to try and get his attention, although she still didn't know why she felt like she needed to.
"Hmm?" He turned, and blinked at her. For a moment, they stared at each other, and then he blushed. "Man, it's hard to look at you for more than a second. I'll go blind."
Momo tried to pout, but couldn't fight the grin. "Please don't refrain from laying on the compliments. It might carry me all the way through the evening."
"Okay, but you have to compliment me, too. It's only fair."
"Alright, well…" she turned her smile coy, looking up at his hair. "Katayama, your hair looks really nice. I wonder who cut it?"
"That does NOT count."
They both shared laughter, without noticing Nakano looking at them through the rear-view mirror and smiling to himself. I hope her parents like the boy, for his sake, the driver thought.
"So," said Katayama when their laughter had died down, "what do you think they're all going to do while we're gone?"
"Hold a meeting, probably," Momo giggled. "Actually, two meetings. Kaminari will call an emergency meeting for the boys, and Mina will call one for the girls. They'll do that separately, without realizing the others are doing the same thing."
"And the subject of this meeting will be us, I assume?"
"But of course."
Doko shook his head darkly. "You're more right than you know. I've been to one of Kaminari's guy meetings before. The topic in question? Uraraka had given Midoriya a fist bump after training. A fist bump. That was enough to drive him over the edge."
Momo made an O with her mouth, raising one eyebrow. "How did that go?"
"About how you'd expect. Bakugo got instantly angry at us for wasting his time and stormed from the room, at Kirishima's protest. Midoriya kept stuttering it's not what you think! over and over again. Koda seemed terrified. Aoyama kept making faces at me. Todoroki and Tokoyami did not show up."
"Why is everyone so…in character," she mumbled, grinning.
Katayama shrugged. "You'd think they'd see the benefit of being unpredictable on occasion. Say, what about the girls' meetings? Have they happened before?"
"Oh, yes. It's always Mina and Toru, as you'd might expect. And we ALWAYS have perfect attendance."
"Alright, alright, no need to turn into a competition. We've got enough of those," he chuckled.
Momo wrinkled her brow. "I suppose the closest thing we have to a Bakugo is Jiro. She's been the only one to storm out early before."
"Ah." Katayama's mouth snapped shut, as if all humor had drained from him. "That…checks out."
She gave him a look. She'd sort of suspected it for a while, but now she kind of wanted to confirm…
"Katayama, do you have a problem with Jiro?" Momo tried to make the question sound purely curious, because she didn't want to interrogate him.
He coughed. "Well, uhh…I know she's your friend…"
"No, it's okay. Be honest."
"Right. Honesty." He seemed to collect himself, and then looked right into her eyes. "I think Jiro can be unnecessarily rude sometimes. Only sometimes. She gets on my nerves just a little. It's not a big deal, and it doesn't prevent me from working with her or anything…but, you know…"
Momo nodded to show she understood. "I know what you mean, I suppose." It was silly to assume that everyone in their class liked each other all the time. Just because everyone seemed to be on friendly terms, with the exception of the very loud hatred between Bakugo and Midoriya, didn't mean that everyone was actually on friendly terms.
But she also couldn't shake the fact that Katayama acted the same way as Jiro sometimes. He had a similar dry sense of humor, and…maybe he saw too much of himself in Jiro? And that's why she got on his nerves? Momo didn't know what to make of that. If she brought it up, it'd probably just make things awkward.
"Do you know what kind of food will be served at this?" he asked, changing the subject.
Momo was happy to explain.
…
Doko saw glimpses of the mansion through the trees, yellow light streaming out of the squares of a hundred windows. He gulped as he realized how massive it was. A different world. He was slowly beginning to panic at the thought of interacting with all the people here. What if he said the wrong thing? What if he…
He felt something cover his hand, which had been laying flat on the leather of the seat. When he looked over, he saw that it was Momo's…hand. Holding his steady.
"You were shaking," she explained, meeting his eyes. "I'm aware that it can be a bit…much." Beyond the window, the mansion was coming more into view. The wooded road they were driving up had lines of cars on both sides.
"It's fine," he mumbled. "Just…try not to leave me alone with anyone, if you can help it."
She smiled reassuringly. "Of course not."
They passed through the grand black gate that marked the edge of the property. All along the private road that led up to the mansion, there were more cars densely packed and parked. Nakano went all the way to the front, and swung around the roundabout that wrapped the fountain in the center of the front yard. The front doors of the mansion were flung open, and more yellow light was streaming out from within. Doko could see people heading up the steps.
"A benefit of being me," said Momo. "We don't have to park all the way out on the road."
Nakano smirked. "I'll be taking this thing to the private garage. You kids have fun now."
They got out of the car, Doko taking her arm again. The instant they were connected to each other, he felt himself sigh in relief. As long as he was anchored to Momo, nothing bad would happen. She knew what she was doing.
Why did I sign up for this again?
Because she asked you, and you have a great big crush on her, you dolt.
That is not making me feel better. I should have stayed away.
He bit his lip as they walked up the steps. "Is it weird to be escorted into your own house?"
Momo giggled. "Well…it's happened before."
His eyebrows went up. "By who?" Wow, could I have sounded any more jealous?
"My father," she replied in stride.
"Oh. Right." He felt stupid. Heat rushed to his ears.
They entered the front doors, and Doko gasped.
The entranceway of the mansion had been cleared to reveal a massive space, as if a wall had been removed between two huge rooms. The high, sloped ceiling was marked with three impressive golden chandeliers that bathed the place in that yellow glow. The floors were impeccably shiny, and marking the walls were beautiful red draperies as well as the occasional painting.
One half of the floor was open space, marked with a stage at the end, complete with a line of chairs, podium, and purple curtains behind it. On the other side of the room was an assortment of round, clothed tables, with full dinner places set up for all who would sit there. Across the floor, a variety of well-dressed and important-looking people milled about, drinks in hand as they chatted to each other. The women were in dresses of all colors, while the men were uniform in their black suits.
Doko straightened his red tie with one free hand, and eyed the servant who was holding a tray of alcohol glasses in one open palm.
May need some of that before all's said and done.
"Oh, Momo dear, you've arrived!"
Doko felt Momo's grip on him loosen as she turned to greet someone. He turned with her, and found himself face-to-face with an older Momo.
Her dress was cream-colored instead of red, and her pale, heart-shaped face displayed only a hint of lining. Other than that, there were no hints that this was actually Mrs. Yaoyorozu, Momo's mother. Great. I should probably apologize for the fiasco with my folks.
"Evening, Mother," Momo greeted, giving her older doppelganger a light, polite hug. "And this is…" she gestured to Doko, who blinked, straightening his shoulders a bit.
Mrs. Yaoyorozu blinked her pretty grey eyes back at him, and smiled dazzlingly. "Doko Katayama, of course! Momo has told me that you're quite the impressive student." She extended a manicured hand toward him.
He beamed and returned the handshake. "Well, you've got to try your best around the likes of her, or risk getting stuck in the shadow."
That had been a good thing to say, apparently, because Momo's mother laughed in a singsong way, her chest bouncing ever so slightly. Nope. Don't look at that. "I confess that Momo has been stubborn about giving me details about you, however." The woman made a show of pouting at her daughter. "I called your house, but…"
"Oh, that." Doko tilted his head forward respectively. "If my mother gave you a hard time, I apologize on her behalf. She…isn't herself, these days."
"Oh, I see." Mrs. Yaoyorozu waved her hand dismissively. "Then it's no problem at all. Well, I've got to go greet more guests. You two have fun!"
"Understood, ma'am."
"See you later, Mother."
As the woman stepped away, she looked pointedly at Momo and mouthed something, her eyes twinkling with mirth. Momo blushed in response and looked down at the floor.
Doko wondered what that had been. He wasn't very good at reading lips.
"Shall we find a place to sit?" he suggested. Momo nodded, and took his arm once again.
The "isn't herself these days" lie had worked on Mrs. Yaoyorozu, thankfully. Doko had operated under the assumption that, like most rich people, she probably had the right mix of ignorance and discretion to not want to pry about the meaning of "isn't herself these days". It was a perfect excuse.
Except my mother is more herself than ever these days. He could almost laugh at the bitter irony of it, but then Momo would probably ask what he was thinking about.
…
Katayama led them to one of the circular tables near the back corner, by the windows. Does he plan on sneaking peeks at the night sky? The table, like all the others, was covered by a white tablecloth and had six places set up, with Western silverware, a tall glass, and an ornate plate decorated by a little salad.
This table in particular had two people sitting at it already. A husband and wife, who Momo recognized.
"Ah, Miss Yaoyorozu!" the man, whose name was Satou, said.
"These taken?" she asked pleasantly.
"No, no, please sit, by all means!"
His wife had been turned toward the setup activity on the stage, but she turned back now. "Yaoyorozu? His wife?"
"No, his daughter. Yaoyorozu the younger." Satou gestured toward her as they sat. His eyes moved from Momo to Katayama. "And you'll be…?"
"I'm Doko Katayama," he said, standing up slightly and extending his hand to the man. "I attend UA High with Yao-m…with Yaoyorozu-san."
"Ah. I see." Satou winked at her. Momo felt heat go to her cheeks for what must have been the tenth time that evening. First Mom decides to mouth "he's handsome" at me, and now this?!
Outwardly, she told Doko, "Satou-san works for my father."
The man puffed his chest out proudly. "Ten years. Served him well, I have."
"We're proud," echoed his wife.
"Nothing wrong with a bit of pride," said Katayama with a nod of his head. "What do you do for the company, if I might ask?"
Momo's hair hit her in the side of the face from how fast she whipped to look at him. Did he just ask Satou about his job? He's a natural at this! Inwardly, she'd been a little worried that she'd have to hold his hand (figuratively) through a lot of the more uppity-socialite stuff. She'd just assumed that would come with the territory. If she'd been uncomfortable with doing that, she could have invited Todoroki or Iida, but she'd been prepared to do it even for one of the girls if she'd ended up bringing them. But with Katayama…it was proving itself to be unnecessary.
"I'm in the overseas sector," Satou explained. "Handle a lot of transactions with the foreign investors. I speak French, Hebrew, and Russian along with English and Japanese, you see."
"Wow, so you must travel a lot!" Doko exclaimed, leaning in, appearing to be very interested.
Satou laughed. "Well, yes…" he rubbed his wife's hand, as she appeared a little sullen. "It does get hard, being away from home that often. But I think seeing the world is an important part of living, even these days."
"I'll keep that in mind," said Katayama with a grin.
"But enough about me. I'm the one with the boring job at the table. You! And Yaoyorozu, you too! You're both at UA! What's that like? The hero life?"
"Well…" Momo exchanged a glance with Katayama. "It's a lot of hard work…"
Doko nodded in agreement. "That it is. But we get to learn under the very best, you know."
"Oh, that reminds me!" Satou snapped his fingers. "Is All Might still teaching? I mean, after the…battle, that happened, and everything…"
The two students looked at each other again. "He still teaches, yes," said Momo. "All that experience is still in his head, after all."
"Shame about what happened," Satou said, shaking his head. "Must be an immense amount of pressure you're under…"
"Hard for a couple of kids," his wife echoed.
"Now, hold on, Iyumie," Satou admonished her. "Do they look like kids to you? I…look, Yaoyorozu, how old are you two?"
"Sixteen," she answered.
"Goodness!" he chuckled. "Could have fooled me! The way you two have freshened up, I thought you were in your twenties!" As he chuckled, his eyes danced up and down what was visible of Momo.
A cold shiver went up her spine. She looked toward Katayama, who was suddenly eyeing Satou with a very strange glance.
Was that…anger, flashing across his purple eyes? Did he…did he notice that?!
"It is a lot of pressure, yes," said Doko more quietly, "but that's what we signed up for."
"Have you seen villains before?" his wife asked. "I mean, I know I saw a little bit on the news, but…"
"Yes, we have," said Momo.
More people came to sit down at their table and filled in the remaining seats. Momo took a deep breath, briefly freed from conversation as Satou engaged the newcomers. She scooted her chair a little closer to Doko's.
She'd intended to be the one leading him around tonight, but somehow he'd flipped the script on her, taking effortless control of the conversation with that…piece of slime. She remembered how his eyes had moved over her, and had to fight to keep from shuddering.
She'd noticed Doko look at her chest before, but he was always very…nonchalant about it, like he either didn't notice he was doing it at all, or didn't care. And he did it significantly less than the other boys in class, except for maybe Todoroki and Aoyama.
Right now, she felt safer with him than she did with anyone else in the room, that was for sure.
Soon, the food arrived, and they were able to distract themselves with that. The adults at the table continued to chat happily, enjoying themselves.
"Sorry," Momo murmured to him between bites. "I realize…you're not enjoying yourself."
"'s okay," he mumbled, swallowing his food. "This chicken is good, at least."
She looked up at him in surprise. He was grinning, his purple eyes twinkling with humor.
Servants swept through and cleaned up the plates. Then…the room quieted down. All eyes went to the stage.
"This is the boring part," she whispered to him out of the corner of her mouth, watching her father go up on stage, a long line of associates trailing him.
…
After the "formalities" of the gala had been completed, a small band began to play some tunes. Almost immediately, many pairs of people got up to dance.
Doko was unsure what to do. He definitely didn't know how to dance, and…no, don't glance at Momo. Don't do that.
She seemed to be avoiding his gaze as well, for her part. "I, uhh…" Momo stuttered. "I need to use the restroom."
And then she got up and swept off, leaving Doko alone at the table. Satou and the others had gotten up to dance.
Sighing, Doko decided he'd go wait by the front doors. It was getting kind of late, anyway. Maybe Momo wanted to leave.
This didn't really turn out like I expected it to, he thought to himself as he walked toward the doors. But what HAD he expected? For her to be laughing at everything he said? For them to hit it off like they'd known each other for years? For her to gladly accept his hand and dance until the wee hours of the morning?
Doko had figured it out by now; he was pretty much a hopeless romantic. That was probably the reason he'd ended up accepting the invite to this gala. But what good was it if he didn't act upon his feelings?
Now's just not a good time…but back at school isn't really a good time, either. Maybe I'm doomed.
And besides…he still wasn't one hundred percent sure of his feelings, anyway. Were they enough to where it was worth acting, or would it subside, and he'd be able to go on with his normal life without embarrassing himself?
If I ask her out and she says no, and then my feelings fade away anyway, then it was all pointless. I hurt myself for no reason.
As he mulled these things over by the door, he noticed someone approaching out of the corner of his eye. His blood ran cold.
It was Mr. Yaoyorozu. Momo's father.
…
The speech had gone well, he thought. Despite a few bumps in the road while finalizing the deal, it seemed like the merger would go through smoothly. People would have to be laid off, of course, and there'd be a minor controversy, but that always blew over in a few days at most. Hiroyuki Yaoyorozu had very, very little to worry about.
Which is why, after all was said and done, he decided he had enough time to do something he'd been meaning to do. Tara wanted to dance, of course, but that could wait. Wives…always so impatient with those sorts of things.
Hiroyuki saw his target. He'd been sneaking glances at him during the speech, sitting next to his daughter…but they'd been practically joined at the hip for the whole evening. But now, Momo had gone to the restroom, and the boy was alone. It was the perfect chance.
Hiroyuki had two main goals in this conversation. One: find out what was really going on at UA from a view that wasn't his biased daughter's. He wanted to ensure that letting her become a heroine was the right path, when she could just as easily inherit his company. The second goal was the more obvious one: figure out the boy's intentions with his daughter. He would not ask this outright, of course. The boy would never answer such a question truthfully. He had to be sneakier.
As the boy turned, Hiroyuki noticed his eyes: a deep lavender. A flash of…something went across them as he approached, and Hiroyuki knew the boy recognized him.
"Hello," Hiroyuki greeted, extending a hand.
"Evening," the boy responded, blinking those purple eyes, and returning the handshake. His hands were firm and dry, that was good. And he was well composed…his face gave nothing away. And quite handsome as well, although the suit is pulling some of that weight. The boy had a well-defined jaw, finely cut dark grey hair, and sinewy arms. Obviously, any male training to be a hero was going to be well-built, but that didn't give Hiroyuki much pause.
"You must be my daughter's partner. Doko Katayama, was it?" Hiroyuki asked, pretending to not already be one hundred percent sure.
"Yes, sir. Congratulations on the merger, by the way. Your speech was very good."
Hiroyuki chuckled. The boy knew his way around socializing, although he personally doubted that Katayama had really been paying attention during his speech. He'd noticed the boy sneaking glances at his daughter.
"Well, thank you, Katayama. To tell the truth, I've been wanting to get down here and meet you. It's not often I get a chance to see my daughter's classmates."
The boy scratched the back of his neck. "Well, we're quite the quirky bunch, if you'll pardon the pun."
Hiroyuki laughed politely, and then said, "Speaking of which, what is your Quirk, if I might ask? I realize you must need a fairly strong one, to get into that school…"
The boy blinked again. Something about his violet eyes was unnerving. "My Quirk is Teleport. I maintain a passive field about ten to twenty meters around me at all times. I can displace objects within that field by flexing my Quirk through my arms. I can also teleport myself, using my legs." As he explained, a slight purple glow moved through his limbs, and Hiroyuki swore he saw the glow extend to the boy's eyes as well.
Hiroyuki swallowed. "Impressive." And unlike the Todoroki or Iida boy, this one is not from a major hero family. And yet, this Quirk…if paired with Momo's, what kind of incredible child could it produce? He couldn't help but fantasize about the possibilities. Momo's Quirk had been lucky enough, a perfect combination of his and Tara's. Maybe hero school was the right idea. My daughter is meeting all kinds of boys that would make perfect children…
Doko waved a hand almost dismissively. "Ah, I'm nothing special, sir. Most of the class has Quirks that are just as good if not better. Your daughter's is quite something. She's by far the most versatile of the class."
"Mmhmm. And what about…off the battlefield? My daughter behaves herself, doesn't she?" he winked and twinkled his eyes, to make sure Katayama believed it was all in good nature.
The boy nodded. "She's top of the class with grades, and she's class president. Although I'm certain you knew that already, sir. On top of her own studies, she even finds time to tutor the struggling students with their work as well. She's probably singlehandedly responsible for getting everyone through final exams."
"I see. And…are you? One of those struggling students?"
The boy shrugged. "I have trouble with math and English. My Quirk alters my brain chemistry, and makes it harder for me to learn numbers and other languages. Still, I suppose you could call me average."
"And has my daughter been helping you?"
For the first time, the boy seemed to slip for a moment. "We…were planning on working together on it."
Ah. I see. But she decided to invite him to this, first.
"Let me ask you one more thing, Doko Katayama. Are you close with my daughter?"
The boy gulped. "To be honest, sir…" He looked right into Hiroyuki's eyes. "Not really. I was very surprised when she invited me to this."
I see. Perhaps Momo had an unrequited crush on him, and he is just beginning to notice her? In any case, Hiroyuki could definitely work with this.
"Would you like to be closer with her?"
Doko's face twitched. "I…"
"Oh, I see you've met Father." In that moment, Momo returned, slipping her arm through the boy's. Hiroyuki felt a twinge of annoyance, but kept his smile on his face.
Katayama looked infuriatingly relieved. "Hello again," he said to her.
Momo gave Hiroyuki a glare. "Dad, you weren't giving Katayama a hard time, were you?"
"No, I was just…" Hiroyuki crossed his arms. "I was just asking him about your school. You never tell me anything about it, after all."
"Dad, you're one of the main investors in the school. If you wanted to know more about it, it would be very easy."
"Yes, but that's different from getting the student perspective…"
"What is your Quirk, sir?" the boy asked. "If you don't mind…"
Hiroyuki was happy to explain. "My Quirk is called Configure. I can turn raw materials into a desirable final product by touching them in turn. My wife can convert her body fat into shields of metal armor. You can see how those combined to give Momo her great gift. What about your parents, son?"
A faint smirk danced across the boy's lips. "Why, my parents are Quirkless."
Hiroyuki's eyes widened. He heard Momo gasp, as well: she had not known. What kind of game is he…
"Hiro!" his wife's annoying voice cut in, and suddenly she was tugging on his arm. "Let's dance already!"
"Yes, yes, alright." He turned, following Tara onto the ballroom floor, leaving his daughter behind with the mysterious boy.
…
Why didn't he tell me that? Actually, well…did anyone know? Anyone in the class? Why would he just say that to my dad?
Momo looked toward him, confused. "Katayama…"
"I wasn't lying," he said quietly, and he pulled his arm closer to himself, having the side effect of bringing her closer as well. "They really are Quirkless. I probably shouldn't have just spilled that out, but did you see the look on his face?"
Momo managed to laugh nervously. "I did, but…goodness, Katayama, you really do not want to mess with my father. He already looked like he was plotting to kill you."
"Whatever would he want to do that for?"
"Umm, I don't know. Maybe the fact that you've practically got your arm around me?"
"Point taken. Anyway, let's dance."
Momo's eyebrows shot up; she was surprised at the proposition. "Do you even know how?"
"Nope. Teach me."
She looked into his eyes. They were burning with a lilac fire…something had gotten Doko worked up, and he was in a daring mood.
Well, she wasn't about to let that go to waste. She took his hand and led him out. "Come on."
They went out into a world of swirling skirts and soft music. Shoes squeaked across the floor. Momo put her hands on his shoulders. "Hand on my waist…there, you know that at least." He'd already been doing it as she told him. "And then, yes…well, you seem to know the position." She tried not to think about how close they were now. "And then, we just…"
They began to step in time.
…
Doko felt a curious buzzing feeling hover over his brain. He'd fallen into a rhythm…even if he was new to this, Momo was a very skilled, graceful dancer, and she was helping him along. They were at the same height with her in those heels, putting them face-to-face. At first, he'd averted his eyes toward the ground, focusing on not tripping up, but once they'd gotten comfortable…he slowly began looking back up at her.
Her dark wavy hair seemed to flow along with her as they moved. Her earrings danced about, twinkling and golden under the light of the chandeliers. She smelled like fresh flowers.
They were closer than they'd ever been before. Her waist fit perfectly under the curve of his hand, and his other hand held hers tightly and warmly. Their chests were nearly touching, hers bouncing ever so slightly as they stepped.
He'd gotten the courage to look in her in the eye, and now that he'd done it, he couldn't seem to tear his gaze away. Onyx stared into violet, and violet stared into onyx. They'd been making eye contact for what felt like an eternity.
"What are you thinking about?" Momo muttered, not breaking her gaze either.
"I think…" Doko muttered back, barely registering his own voice, feeling dreamy and warm and floaty. "I think I must be the luckiest person in the whole world right now."
A deep red spread over her cheeks, but she didn't look away. Was her face getting closer? Why was it so hot in here? He could feel her breath tickle his nose. Her eyes had finally angled down toward his mouth, and then…
The song stopped. The spell was broken, and with a smattering of applause, most of the couples and pairs were evacuating the dance floor, breaking apart from each other.
Momo and Doko stood there for a moment, lost and confused. They were both deeply embarrassed, and could no longer meet the gaze of the other.
And with that, it was getting late…the night ended in a storm of chattering as large groups of people began to make their way out of the mansion. Momo's parents said their goodbyes to the guests from the front. The band packed up to leave. The two of them briefly separated, to freshen up in separate restrooms. And then Momo got the call from Nakano. If they stayed much longer, Aizawa would have their heads.
They intertwined their arms again as they headed outside to the roundabout, waiting for Nakano to come around with the vehicle.
The ride back to the Heights Alliance was completely silent. It was not a bad silence, though. Awkward, yes...a bit frustrated, perhaps...but a certainty had landed within both of them.
And so, in that way, the night had been quite a productive one.