(A/N) More foreshadowing for an incident that Momo's mother dropped in my lap and left me to deal with. (So rude) Also where some of the 'Momo needs a hug' tag comes in. Have a merry Christmas to those who celebrate it, and to those who don't, have a wonderful December 25th! I started two new stories as well that'll join the roster, one only on , and the other only on Ao3. I'm vaguely trying to transition to only Ao3, but the one for is part of a series and I can't really just post it on Ao3. From Naruto and Haikyuu, if anyone's curious. Not MHA.
Momo hadn't meant to overhear the phone call. She had just been passing by the primary living room in order to get to her room, but had overheard her mom.
"Are you sure that it won't affect anything? The scar is hideous, and in such a visible place too. It could reflect badly on your family." Her mother sounded almost worried about something, but Momo just felt sick to her stomach, clutching her shirt over where the scar was. It had healed up fine after the attack, Recovery Girl's quirk making it so she barely spent a day in the hospital, but it had left a scar, twisted and raised in odd places.
Her mother hadn't quite stated she didn't like the scar, but Momo could tell. It was in a somewhat conspicuous place, being on her stomach and in clear view any time she wore anything that showed it. It wasn't exactly discreet.
While her mother hadn't outright stated her hatred of the scar, she was doing so now.
"I wouldn't dare take her out if I was him, but I suppose you are heroes, so you're used to scars." Her mother continued pacing around, the worried tone still in her voice.
Momo bit her lip. What was going on? Who was her mother calling, and what did it have to do with the scar she got protecting a classmate.
After a moment where her mother hung up, Momo shook off the train of thought. She couldn't be bothered right now, she had homework to do.
Thirty minutes later, Momo admitted defeat, and went to look up the forms to change her costume as a distraction. She was caught up and had her homework done for the next three days anyway.
She found the forms quickly through the UA website, and was left too restless to do her homework, and with little else to do.
In the end, she called Toru, desperate for human contact that didn't have strict opinions on what she should look like and be.
"Hey Momo!" Toru replied immediately. "Finish your homework?"
Momo shrugged, then realized Toru couldn't see her do that. "Yeah, have it done for the next three days. Can't concentrate to do any more."
"Oh cool," Toru said cheerily. "I have two days done, and working on the third."
"Sounds interesting?" Momo offered, entirely unsure what to talk about.
Toru laughed somewhat bitterly. "It's never fun. So! How've you been in the two hours since I saw you?"
Momo shrugged again, and remembered they weren't face to face. "Alright I guess. Overheard Mother calling someone about my scar. Who knows what she's doing as usual."
"You alright?" Toru asked carefully.
"Why wouldn't I be?" Momo asked rhetorically, a bitter laugh tearing its way from her chest. "It's not like I just overheard my Mother asking some mystery person if my scar, that I got defending one of my classmates, was a freaking problem!"
"I'm going to commit a murder," Toru told her solemnly.
"Don't," Momo said immediately. "You're going to be a hero. No murder."
Toru just grunted. "Fine, well Mom has overheard me and wants to know your favorite color and favorite dessert."
Momo giggled wetly. "Red and you probably wouldn't know it."
"Then mom says she'll find it," Toru replied.
Momo giggled again. "It's pavlova. It's an Australian dish. Really sugary, so I don't usually get it very often."
Toru hummed thoughtfully. "Mom says she's tried it before, and is going to make it. You'll have to come over tomorrow."
"I'll see what I can do," Momo allowed, eyes falling on a chest in the corner of her room. Toru was really kind, and kept doing things without prompting, maybe she could recompense her in a way. "See you tomorrow?"
"Sure! Hope you feel better!"
"Already do," Momo admitted before hanging up. She put her phone aside, moving across her room to open the chest, revealing a fairly substantial pile of containers with wire wrapped gemstones in them. Sorted neatly by gemstone type and durability.
A hobby of hers, something easy to do with her hands and make something beautiful. Her mother knew that she could do it, had taken some of the gemstones she was most proud of, but otherwise left her to it.
Momo sorted through the containers, finding the opal one. She picked one of the prettier gemstones, and produced a necklace chain. She threaded the wire containing the gemstone through the chain, making sure it was a good length, and ending the chain.
She tucked the end result into her bag. She would give it to Toru tomorrow. Shinso was going to be at school tomorrow as well, only if he felt up to it, of course. Maybe she should grab one for each of them, it wasn't like she was using any of them. And she could always make more. She pulled out different containers, looking for good gemstones for her other two friends. Amythest was purple, so she grabbed a fairly flat and unobtrusive one for Shinso, and topaz for Ojiro, for its yellow color and high durability.
Now she just had to sleep. Fun.
"No offense Momo, but you look like you need a nap," Toru said, sitting down next to Momo. "I can see the makeup."
Momo sighed, putting her head down on her arms. "Didn't get much sleep last night." She yawned. "Just couldn't get to sleep."
"You can come over after school, right?" Toru asked. "You could try and grab a nap then."
Momo shrugged. "I told my mom we were training together, so she'll at least expect me to tell her what we did."
"We can say we practiced our quirks," Toru suggested. "You learned how to make a few thing or two?"
"I could learn a new type of wire," Momo mused quietly. That reminded her of the necklaces in her bag. "Oh, I have something for you."
At Toru's curious glance, she dug around in her bag, finding the necklaces after a moment. She grabbed Toru's, and offered it to the other girl. "It's a necklace. The stone is opal."
Toru grabbed it, happily putting it on and examining the pendant. "It's super pretty! Did you make it?"
Momo was grateful she didn't immediately think Momo had bought it for her. "Yes, I did that myself."
"The wire is so cool!" Toru agreed enthusiastically. "It's super pretty! Could you show me how you do it some time?"
Momo blushed under the comments. "Y-yeah, I can show you."
Toru beamed. "Thanks!"
"No problem," Momo said, being saved from her embarrassment by Ojiro walking in. Or maybe it was just prolonging it, since she had a necklace for him too.
"Hey," Ojiro said, raising a hand. "Do you think Shinso'll be in today?"
"Honestly," Momo admitted. "I'm not sure I want him to be? It means he went home from the hospital, and we all know what that means."
"Well, I got permission from my parents to bring friends home just in case," Ojiro agreed. "If he comes in hurt you cannot stop me from taking him to my house."
"We won't," Toru laughed. "Unless you want to come to my house instead. Mom made Momo's favorite desert!"
Momo blushed lightly. "She didn't have to."
Toru sent her a very unimpressed look, and Momo's blush darkened. She rummaged in her bag for Ojiro's necklace, drawing it out. "I, ah, made this for you. There's one for Shinso too, when we see him next."
Ojiro took it curiously, running his fingers over the wires holding them gem in place. "Thanks Yaoyorozu! It's really pretty." He put it around his neck, leaving it out over his shirt.
"I can make a different kind of chain or whatever if that's uncomfortable," Momo said quickly, realizing she hadn't told either that. "I just used chains because they're less prone to fraying and breaking." She took a breath, steadying herself. "And call me Momo." There. Right now she didn't need to be reminded of her mother.
"Then call me Mashirao. Or Mash, if you want to shorten it. It's what my little sister calls me."
Toru cooed. "Aww, that's sweet."
Oj-Mash's ears went red. "She couldn't pronounce my entire name as a baby, and it ended up shortened to Mash. It kind of stuck."
Momo giggled, almost sort of glad she wasn't the only one ending up horribly embarrassed in this conversation.
She realized Toru had fallen silent, and glanced at her. She was staring at the door, so Momo glanced that way. Ah. Shinso had come to school.
He looked about ready to fall over, and was favoring one leg slightly, leaning against the door frame to keep the pressure off of it. Momo was instantly suspicious when she couldn't see the injury across his nose. She quickly dug through her mind to find the makeup remover she'd memorized. That makeup was coming off as soon as possible.
They seemed to be in agreement that they wouldn't mention the leg yet, and let him come to them.
"Good to see you up and moving around," Mash said, smiling at him. "How are you feeling?"
Shinso just blinked wordlessly at him. Momo was even more concerned now, but didn't show it aside from a concerned glance at Toru, locking eyes with the other girl.
"That's good," Mash finally settled on, nodding as if Shinso had replied. "Momo, were you going to give it to him?"
Momo took it. "Yep! Shinso, I had a thing for you…" She paused, riffling through her bag to find it. She found it after a moment, pulling it out. She offered it to him. "I made it for you! Mash and Toru both have one as well."
"Shouldn't you have one?" Toru asked, looking rather amused.
"I have a lot at home," Momo admitted. "You can call me Momo too, Shinso," she added quickly. "We're friends, and we just nearly died, I think it's warranted." Momo chuckled awkwardly.
"She has a point," Toru agreed, giggling. "Although I really hope that is not a signal for how the rest of this year will be going. That sounds like a nightmare. You can call me Toru too!"
Shinso nodded agreement, looking all the world like he wanted to just sit down and stay there.
Momo stood up. "We can stand around your desk Shinso, we'll let you sit down."
He shook his head, but Momo could see the relief in his eyes, even as he put up a fight.
"No, go sit down," Mash agreed, sliding off the desk he'd been sitting on, and moving to sit on the desk next to Shinso's.
Shinso gave up, moving and sitting down in his seat. His hands formed hesitant signs, followed by fingerspelling.
There was a pause while Mash tried to work out what he'd fingerspelled. "Oh! He's saying we can call him Hitoshi, right?" He tilted his head at Shinso, tail wagging slightly.
Shin-Hitoshi, nodded. Momo smiled at him. A good step hopefully. She offered a snack to him, figuring he could probably use it.
"I think he's trying to refuse it," Mash said, tilting his head. "Something like that."
"Don't refuse it," Momo said, pushing it at him again. "I have plenty, trust me. I don't even mlike those. Beats me why mother packed them." Well, Momo had packed the bag with some snacks she didn't like in hope of using them to convince Shinso to eat them.
He reluctantly took it, setting it on the desk. Momo offered the open bag to Toru and Mash. "I have plenty."
"Aizawa-sensei's coming," Shoji warned, and everyone scrambled for their seats.
Momo quickly tucked her bag under her chair, which was better than having it out in the open for someone to trip over.
For now, she just had to wait for after school and hope they could ask Shinso about his leg and hopefully convince him to take off the makeup after school. After school.
(A/N) Long chapter, but they didn't want to stop talking. Have a merry Christmas or December 25th! And if you're in Naruto or Haikyuu check out the other fics!