Coefficients of Thermal Expansion

"We've got to be quick," Futaba said. "We'll wash up in the kitchen so we can speak with your father before the boys get back." The balls of her feet slammed down in the way a woman who always wore high heels did.

"All right," Momo said, her stride more comfortable on the even floor. "It's frustrating we couldn't plan this out better, so there would be a time the three of us could talk."

"Well, Steve's leaving this weekend, so there wasn't another way to do this." She opened the door to the kitchen and ushered Momo inside, running their hands under water as she hurriedly poured soap over them.

"Mother," Momo asked hesitantly, "Do you agree with Dad's… assessment of the situation?"

"No, I don't," Futaba said, yanking the towel off of its rack and rolling hers and Momo's hands in it to dry them before pushing Momo back out into the dining hall.

Tsukasa was setting the teacups on the table, awkwardly sorting them around the plates that had been set out by the chef. On the table was his cell phone, open to a conversation he was trying to run with one hand. His head snapped up when Momo entered the room.

"Dad, we have to talk."

"Yes, we do, honey. I'm arranging to talk with Mark after the two of you leave tonight. It'll be a long phone call, but it needs to happen. We'll take care of it, don't worry."

Momo sighed with relief. "Oh, Dad, thank you so much. I really, really appreciate it." She moved to the table and started pushing the teacups so that they looked more thoughtfully placed.

"Of course. Your mother is right, we always treated you moving to America as an assumption. If we can get Mark to agree to let Steve live here, that would almost certainly work out for the better."

Momo's hand stopped over the cup she was holding. She'd assumed too quickly. Of course her father hadn't been convinced in the minutes since leaving the tea room.

"Now, there was something you wanted to say?" Tsukasa asked, moving his cell phone closer to her end of the table.

"Yes! I mean, yes. The topic of moving is… not what I meant at all," Momo said frustratedly, trying to keep her voice even. "Todoroki brought it up, but that's not what I have a problem with. This week was supposed to be about figuring out whether the engagement with Steve could go forward. I've met Steve, we've talked, and it's not going to work out. So, the answer as to whether it can go forward is no."

Tsukasa put the last of the teacups down and stood closer to her to face her. "Peaches, sweetheart, it's only Monday. You've barely given him a chance."

Momo paused as a dozen possible responses spun through her head. You've known Todoroki for twenty minutes, that's barely a chance. There won't be another opportunity to spend time with Steve. You're not thinking this through logically. But as she struggled to find a response that was suitably respectful and would suffice to get her point across, her mother began talking, causing Momo to jump.

"The Todoroki boy is well-spoken, well-mannered, he seems intelligent, and from what I can tell, he clearly has Momo's best interest at heart. We said we'd hold out judgement until we met him. We've met him and that's my judgement."

Momo looked up at her mother's stubborn face, set towards her father's in what was almost a challenge. She was relieved to have a voice on her side in the discussion, but resisted the urge to be optimistic. With her parents split, the situation could go either way. Either they'd wait things out in a battle of wills, or they'd find some compromise that may or may not be an effective solution to the problem.

"So he's charismatic?" Tsukasa asked. "That's not what we said we were looking for."

Just then, Steve and Todoroki returned from the bathroom. They weren't looking at each other as they silently made their way to their seats at the table.

Momo thought they looked a bit downtrodden, but the thought evaporated quickly as she kept her eyes on her father. Slowly, deliberately, she slid out the chair between her father and Todoroki and sat in it, folding her hands politely but sitting up straight and breathing evenly, determined to keep the conversation from derailing. Steve gave a discouraged glance at her choice of seating and took a place next to Futaba.

"Then what is?" She asked after both of her parents were seated. "If charisma isn't what you're looking for, what is?"

"Think about what we need, Momo," Tsukasa said, his overly patient demeanor matching hers. "Someone whom we can trust to help you have a safe household, physically and financially. Someone who can run the company since you're sticking with heroism. Someone with business skills."

Todoroki winced at the last one, masking it by passing the serving spoon to Steve.

"I actually went to work with your dad today, saw some of the labs," Steve supplied, trying to catch Momo's eye. He seemed nervous.

"How'd that go," Todoroki said flatly.

"Pretty well, right?" Steve said, looking at Tsukasa, who smiled mildly and nodded.

Momo stabbed her pork cutlet with her fork, spearing several pieces at once and chewing them slowly. She really wasn't sure where to go from here.

Even after a few short weeks of living away from home, the amount of control her parents had over her every decision suddenly felt far more restricting than it ever had. She'd gotten used to deciding what she wanted to eat for breakfast rather than whatever her mother deemed healthiest. She'd gotten used to following the new study schedule she'd made that took into account her new life over the old one she'd followed for years in this house. Despite truly loving her family and wanting to do what was best for them, the desire to please them curbed at every turn. It had been easier when she was away, but now that she was home, their insistence on managing her life was beginning to drive her up the wall. Particularly since the decision in question had such profound effects on the rest of her life.

Beside her, Todoroki was similarly tense. He'd used up his usual strategy of calmly explaining the situation from his perspective and it hadn't been as effective as he'd hoped. "Well, speaking of business sense, my father offered Yaoyorozu an internship at his agency earlier today."

At this, both of Momo's parents frowned. "Endeavor was… a concern for us," Futaba said, looking at her husband and folding her hands under her chin.

Crap.

"No, it's not like that, Mother," Momo explained, spinning her pasta with her fork to calm down. "I'll work with a sidekick and the management department. I won't be seeing Endeavor. We talked it through. He wants me to be able to run the agency at some point."

"So you wouldn't see him because you're an intern?" Tsukasa asked rhetorically. "How will that work when you're no longer just an intern? I can't imagine you can avoid an entire person who works in the same office for more than a few months even if you're working very hard to, and once you rise in rankings after graduation you'd have to work with him on a regular basis."

"No, we wouldn't," Todoroki said. "I have no intention of returning there, and Yaoyorozu wouldn't, either. She can use her experiences to get a job somewhere else."

"Yeah, but Momo doesn't even really need this job, does she?" Steve said, looking like he wasn't sure whether to contribute to the conversation at this point. "She's famous already, a little, right?"

"Do you know anything about how the world works?" Todoroki asked exasperatedly.

"Now, now, there is no need for this-" Tsukasa waved his fork at Steve and Todoroki- "To turn ugly. This is still a discussion and it needs to remain productive."

Despite being on opposing sides of this argument, Momo took her father's advice. She put her fork down and closed her eyes a moment, breathing. Between most of the five people sitting at this table, they could come to a rational decision. If they stayed on track and continued to share points until all had been addressed, the discussion could follow through until its logical termination. Being calm was the key here.

She reached down with her fork to grab another piece of meat when she heard a clink and opened her eyes.

Todoroki frowned at her plate. "Have you been… making forks?"

On her dish were an array of three forks, not counting the one in her hand. She must have been putting forks down and making new ones every time she stopped to participate in the discussion.

"Yeah. I… do that sometimes," she said, rubbing the bridge of her nose. She began collecting the surplus forks on the side of her plate, reaching back into the pot to get food to replace what she'd made.

"Momo, honey, I wish you wouldn't do that. You know how much matter it takes to make those things. The food we eat is for nutrition and survival. You're fifteen now, almost sixteen, it's high time you were able to control your quirk at the dinner table," Futaba said, shaking her head.

Momo said nothing.

"Now, Todoroki," Futaba continued, "You said you weren't going back to your father's agency. What is your intention with the estate? Do you intend to live there after leaving UA?"

"Oh, no, definitely not," Todoroki said. "When it comes to inheritances, it's a toss-up between me and my siblings, but as for now, no."

Futaba nodded, considering.

Tsukasa huffed, listening to Todoroki but not looking happy about it. "Steve, how long is it until you graduate?"

"This May, sir."

"We'd have to talk to Mark about this, but if you came back here after graduating, you could come to work with me. I could train you personally. In that time, we could try this again with you and Momo. If the two of you find that you're getting along better, we could finalize that engagement agreement. How does that sound?"

Steve opened his mouth to say something, but noticed Todoroki glaring at him intently and closed it again. Tsukasa looked at Momo for her input.

Momo made one last attempt to come up with a response that would nudge the conversation gently towards her goals, but the words that came unbidden from her mouth were far from a gentle nudge.

"I'm not going to do that."

The motion at the table slowed to a stop. Even Todoroki looked up in surprise. Compliant, dutiful Momo wasn't one to talk about what she wanted, let alone stand up to her parents over it.

Tsukasa set his fork down, his expression turning serious. "Momo, this is a decision that affects all of us, for a very long time. We can't base it on one person's feelings over the course of a few days."

Momo wanted to say something back. Anything. She wanted to stand her ground, show that the decision she'd made was final. But she was finding it difficult to look her father in the eye. He was making doubt nag at the back of her mind. Maybe he was right. Maybe she was being selfish. She knew she looked uncertain.

Under the table, a cold foot nudged up against hers. Its pinky sort of rested on and looped around her pinky, pulling it in a strange direction that at least sent its intended message, that someone was there supporting her.

Maybe, sometimes, it was all right to be a little bit selfish.

"On Thursday, I turn sixteen. Legally, I can make my own marriage decisions. It is only my name on any of the paperwork. I told you I don't want to marry Steve. I was serious. I'm saying it now- find another solution or I'll go ahead with the one I brought to the table."

There was a beat of silence at the table as everyone digested what had just happened.

"Yeah, you know what? I'm out," Steve said. "I tried, but I don't want to spend the rest of my life with someone who was trying to marry somebody else and couldn't. That would suck. It's not fair to me." He reached across and started scooping himself more rice in a gesture of finality.

Tsukasa looked back at Momo in mild shock as he realized how the list of potential outcomes had shifted. His eyes slid to Todoroki, who might have looked a little bit pleased that Momo had used the argument he'd given her. Maybe that was just her imagination.

Futaba eyed the two of them, as if recognizing them as a unit. She frowned at Momo, signalling that she didn't approve of her outburst, but said nothing. They were past that now.

"All right, then. I still don't like this, but this is where we are. What, exactly, is the proposition you're making?" Tsukasa asked Todoroki.

"We get married. My father arranges to have your company considered more carefully for future grants from the Hero Network," Todoroki answered neutrally, his face showing only the slightest hint of irritation.

As her father asked more questions, Momo realized that her mother's assessment of Todoroki had been a little bit off. It wasn't that he was particularly respectful- he was just responding to the situation. When the conversation got tough, he wasn't disheartened. He wasn't intimidated by authority because he respected only those he deemed worthy of respect. He wasn't afraid to place himself above others if the situation called for it.

It was exactly what she'd just done. Momo realized that she had been influenced by their earlier conversation more than she'd thought. Maybe there was more to how much he might have rubbed off on her.

She wasn't sure how she felt about that.

"Three weeks?!" Futaba exclaimed, yanking Momo out of her thoughts. "That is nowhere near enough time. That is completely absurd."

"That's Endeavor's condition," Momo cut in, recognizing where Todoroki might get blamed. Again. "Besides, it would just be paperwork. We'd take a weekend morning and run to the city hall. We don't need any preparation time."

"Does Endeavor not know what a marriage ceremony is?" Futaba said exasperatedly, rubbing her forehead with her napkin.

"Probably not," Todoroki said, as Momo mumbled something about "We can always do that later." They didn't look at each other.

"I see," Tsukasa said, nodding. "So what you're saying is that you two would be married in name only for the next little while, so that each family gets what it needs earlier, but you don't make anything official for…. what? A few years?"

Todoroki and Momo shrugged and nodded noncommittally.

Tsukasa sighed, looking intently at the wall as he thought.

"Alright, kids. Everyone out. Futaba and I need to talk for a few minutes. Unless you have anything else to ask them?"

Futaba shook her head.

"Ok. Go back to the tea room, or the hallway. I'll send someone to come get you when we're done."

Silently, Steve, Todoroki, and Momo stood and filed out of the dining hall, Steve swallowing the last of his meal on the way. When they arrived at the tea room, they took three individual seats and sat in an uncomfortable silence. Momo considered what she could even say and came up blank. Asking Steve how he was enjoying his time in Japan would just be rubbing salt in the wound, as would anything she could say to Todoroki. She was grateful when Steve's phone finally went off, uncomfortably loud in the stiff room, breaking the standard of inactivity they'd established. She pulled out her own cell phone, reading through the girls' 1-A group chat conversation she'd missed in the last few hours, and Todoroki skimmed some articles she couldn't make out.

At one point, Steve got a phone call and excused himself from the room. His father, presumably. Momo watched him leave, feeling a little guilty for his situation but knowing there wasn't much she could do about it. After he'd gone, she noticed Todoroki looking at her.

He hesitated before he spoke. "Yaoyorozu, you actually… want to do this, right?"

She blinked at him. "Of course. Yes. It was a good idea. Why? Is something wrong?"

He shook his head. "No. Nothing." He began to go back to reading.

"Do you still want to do this?" She looked at him quizzically.

"Yeah, I was just asking."

She nodded in acknowledgement and went back to what she was doing. Todoroki looked up when her phone went off, but they continued to wait in silence.

Mina Ashido: yaomomo we saved u leftovers 4 when u wake up. they are in fridge

Me: Thank you so much, guys. I'm not asleep, I'm at my parents'. I'll be back later.

Mina Ashido: oh ok

Kyouka Jirou: Oh, right. Steve. We're all rooting for you, babe.

Ochaco Uraraka: ^

Tsuyu Asui: I am also.

When Steve peeked back in and told them it was time to go back, Todoroki and Momo stood and filed out, the uncomfortable atmosphere taking its place back over the group.

Tsukasa and Futaba were still at their places, but they looked more unified. Their hands were folded in front of them, mirroring each other. When Todoroki and Momo sat down, Steve kept walking back out of the room to continue his phone conversation. Somehow, it made the atmosphere seem more genuine. What they were now doing was a real marriage negotiation.

"We're going to let you go through with this on a few conditions," Tsukasa said. "First, I want to speak with Endeavor on the phone before the week is out. I want confirmation of everything we've discussed here."

"I'll let him know," said Todoroki after a moment of consideration.

"Secondly, this is in no way a binding agreement. If I sense anything fishy going on, or if we don't like something we see in the next three weeks, I will do what is necessary to stop this from happening. I know Momo is the one with the legal power, but I am her father and I will find a way. Are we clear?"

The two teenagers nodded.

"And third," Tsukasa said, slowing down and leaning forward to look directly at Todoroki, "I am agreeing to this absolutely absurd situation because you two said the legal marriage in three weeks was paperwork only. You're not under any actual, spiritual binding. That means, in my eyes, this is simply an engagement and you will treat it as such. You might be married in the future, but you aren't married now, and you will behave accordingly. You two are fifteen. Do you understand?"

The two teenagers nodded again. Momo's face burned, and while she was sure Todoroki had a similar expression, she couldn't bring herself to look.

"I need a verbal agreement, especially from you."

"We understand."

"Um. Yes."

Momo was suddenly very glad neither of them had mentioned they'd come to this plan in the dark of her bedroom in the wee hours of the morning. Todoroki would have been mincemeat.

"All right. It's getting late. I want the two of you out of here so you can catch a bus before the wrong type of people start taking it."

They made their way back to the front of the house, picking up shoes and jackets. Momo hugged her parents, Todoroki thanked them for the food, and Steve shook both of their hands before they walked out. When they were safely outside, Momo exhaled deeply.

"Let's go home."

XXXXX

"I just want to thank you again, Mother. I know this was very sudden but I think this is going to work. I'm just grateful that you were able to get Dad to listen." Momo was alone in her room, talking to her mother as she usually did before bed.

"I wasn't sure, either, to be completely honest. I almost said no. Your father had some very good reasons for objecting."

"I know. He's trying to do the right thing."

"He loves you."

"Yeah, I know he does." Momo sighed and pulled her bare feet under her on the bed. "So what changed your mind? You said you liked Todoroki, but you just said you almost said no."

"I don't like how little control we have over the situation," Futaba said. "Just yesterday everything about this plan was completely different, and it's hard to think things all the way through so quickly. Your father wanted you to stay engaged to Steve for several years so you could have options, change your plans, back out if you needed to. Endeavor is deciding when and how this wedding is supposed to happen, and he doesn't even show up to talk to us. And on top of all of this, it's a boy we've never even met. But… I trusted him. Because of your sweater."

Momo furrowed her brow, looking at the plum sweater she'd just taken off and hung in her closet. "What about my sweater?"

There was a pause at the other end of the line. Futaba spoke carefully.

"I'm not even sure if I should tell you this. It's just something you do. Most girls your age, if they are trying to put a boy off or aren't comfortable with their presence, will wear something like a baggy sweater or a long shirt that covers most of their skin. It's a defense mechanism intrinsic to humans- the less exposed you are, the more safe you are, or at least feel. But you don't do this, Momo. Your skin is your weapon. You're used to being at your most powerful when you are most exposed. Covering yourself makes you vulnerable."

"I mean, I've gotten used to it-" Momo began.

"I watched you go out with Steve three times this weekend. Each time, your clothes became a little more revealing. It's probably part of why he thought you might one day be interested. But I saw how uncomfortable you were, to feel as if you had to be ready to defend yourself."

Momo's fidgeting stopped as she began to understand where her mother was going with this. She sat back slowly against her headboard.

"You're not used to boys actually having a conflict over you," Futaba continued. "Yes, there have been a few who tried to take you out on dates and some of them at the same time, but having two potential suitors argue over you with your father isn't something you're used to and I'm glad. But of all the things I expected my daughter to wear to such an occasion, the very last was a turtleneck and leggings.

"I was surprised. And that's why I said yes. Because despite two difficult, stressful situations today, you still felt completely safe."

Momo didn't know what to say to this.

"Ah, thank you so much for your input, Mother. Good night. Sweet dreams. I love you." She hung up the phone.

It was the truth. She tried to make excuses, tried to explain it away. Could a judgement really be made based on what she had worn on a single day, when she had intended to dress nicely anyway? She had to admit to herself that the answer was yes. The question was what to do with that information.

She decided to do nothing with it. She already knew she trusted Todoroki. If other people knew that, so be it. They'd be married in a week and a half. Now was not the time to be getting worked up over little things like this.

XXXXX

"So there's not an actual problem with the Mark VIs, it's just that the new color schemes look too much like the Mark IIIs and people are thinking, consciously or subconsciously, that they're a step back," Midoriya finished explaining, stuffing his clothes in his locker and ruffling his hair a few more times in the mirror to help it dry. "I'd still go with the Vs, though, if you're looking to buy one. They're cheaper and the specs are close enough that it doesn't really matter."

Physical training was over for the day and the boys were getting ready to return to the classroom for final announcements and cleanup.

Iida crossed his arms. "I believe you that the performance hasn't gone down, but the competitors have improved enough that I think just going to a different seller would be a good investment in the long run."

Todoroki watched Sero exit one of the shower stalls and started to get up to take his place, but stopped when Rikidou beat him to it. He sat back down, plopping his towel in his lap and turning back to the conversation Midoriya and Iida were having.

"Hey Todoroki," Kaminari called from across the aisle. "It's Tuesday. I thought you and Yaomomo were hitting each other with sticks after school. Why are you trying to shower now?"

"Your fairly creepy attention to my schedule aside, I fell into the mud pit," Todoroki replied, shaking yet more dirt and leaves out of his hair. "It's uncomfortable and it's hard to hide when your hair is white."

"Oh. Got it. Sorry for the creeping, man, just that Mineta mentioned you guys' practice earlier and it was fresh in my mind. Hey, how's that going, anyway?"

Todoroki blinked, the events since he and Momo had started bojutsu practice flashing through his mind. "Fine."

"'Fine' as in…. What kind of fine?" Mineta asked, waddling in and sitting uncomfortably close to Todoroki on the bench. "Details."

"She shows me how to do something. I do it. She shows me how to do something else. I do that," Todoroki said, getting up and rearranging things in his bag to help resist the urge to pick up Mineta by his collar and place him elsewhere. "Exactly what you'd expect from bojutsu lessons."

"Oh you can't be serious, Todoroki!" Mineta whined. "No offense, but you're the worst person to have gotten this opportunity. You're not using it for anything useful." Mineta paused, thinking. "Hold on, how did you get this opportunity?"

Todoroki sighed, not making eye contact with the smaller boy. "I approached her one morning before class and said 'Yaoyorozu, will you show me how to fight with a bo staff?' and she said something along the lines of 'Sure, I'm free Tuesdays and Fridays' and since then she's been showing me how to fight with a bo staff on Tuesdays and Fridays."

He looked down at Mineta, worse face was comically screwed into a look of intense focus. "Is that exactly how you said it? Where were you?"

At this point, Iida stepped in between the two, his bag already over his shoulder as he prepared to head out. "Mineta, Todoroki has been trying to get a turn at the showers for fifteen minutes. Please leave him alone so he can prepare for the end of class." He peered sternly at Mineta.

"Oh, come on, class rep. Don't tell us you don't think about it. Doesn't it get a little old knowing none of the girls will throw any of us a bite?" Kaminari said, not looking at Iida as he spun the combination on his own locker.

"Don't worry about Iida, Kaminari," Mineta said, looking defeated. "He's a rich kid. His parents probably already chose him a wife and he doesn't have to worry about trying to impress anyone like the rest of us."

If it weren't for the fact that doing so would have revealed his personal connection to the topic, Todoroki would have facepalmed. It couldn't not follow him for one single day. He prayed Mineta dropped it after this, but he knew it was probably too much to ask for.

"No, my parents are not arranging a marriage for me. I simply choose not to discuss these things in school. I'm sure at some point I'll have a girlfriend, and I know, at least, that that time is not now." Iida began packing his things into his bag.

Todoroki saw Kirishima leave the shower and took the opportunity to leave the conversation, balling up his towel in his hands and walking briskly towards the open stall. Mineta noticed him moving.

"What about you, Todoroki? You're loaded. Did your parents set you up?"

All he had asked was to be left alone. Alas, fate would not allow it.

"That certainly sounds like something that is absolutely none of your business, Mineta." He continued walking towards the showers, not making eye contact with the smaller boy.

"Oh. My. God. Do you have pictures?" Crocodile tears were beginning to form in Mineta's eyes.

Todoroki turned halfway to face him, planting himself in front of the door to the showers to ensure he didn't lose his place in line. "They didn't arrange anything, and if they did, I wouldn't tell you," he said, grateful that by a few small technicalities he was telling the truth. He noticed Midoriya staring at him from the corner of his eye, and realized that his own nostrils were flaring slightly.

"Oh come on, I'm just asking!" Mineta said as Todoroki shut the door of the shower stall in his face with more force than was necessary.

"All right, well, don't," he said back, turning his back to the door and trying to wash off the conversation on the other side.

When he got out of the shower, the other boys had already left for class, one or two stragglers tying shoes or running back to retrieve lost items. Todoroki dried himself frantically, and when he pulled the towel away from his eyes he saw that Midoriya was sitting waiting for him, both of their bags packed.

"Um. Hey," Todoroki said, the other boy not unwelcome but certainly not expected.

"Dude, is everything okay? Is your dad trying to put you in some kind of quirk marriage? I can't believe I didn't think of this earlier." He looked fearful for his friend.

"Everything's fine. Thanks for your concern." He didn't outright deny it this time.

"I'm so sorry. I didn't notice anything was up until today. I've had this internship and I haven't really been paying attention and-"

"Midoriya, it's fine. I know you're busy, and besides, everything's under control. I don't expect you to pay attention to every detail of my life," Todoroki said gently.

"Oh, that means it's happening. I was right. Oh no. I knew your dad was into this sort of thing but it never even occurred to me that he might try to do it to you. That's heavy. Do you need anything?"

Todoroki sighed and closed his eyes for a moment. "You know how much I hate, hate quirk marriages. So you know how angry I would be if everything wasn't under control." He paused for emphasis. "Everything's under control."

Midoriya looked relieved at this. "Okay. I don't mean to butt in, I just wanted to make sure everything was alright."

"It is."

"Do you want to… talk about it?"

"Not really. Focus on school, don't get behind. I'll worry about me."

"Ok. I'll admit now I'm a little curious, but I won't pry."

"Please don't. Worry about yourself for once."

"You're probably right."

XXXXX

On Thursday, Momo did not go to the town hall to officialize her marriage agreement with Steve.

There were too many kids in the dormitory to make a big deal out of everyone's birthday, but it was acknowledged. Rikidou made cupcakes, and there was singing. Steve texted her well-wishes and she responded telling him she hoped he had a safe trip back to America.

That night, the girls sat at the kitchen counter after their normal bedtime eating cupcakes. The lights were low and the smells from the oven still hung in the air. It wasn't particularly special or different from the hangout sessions they usually had on the weekends, but Momo appreciated the fact that she'd had some kind of celebration for her birthday, however informal.

"So what'd you get?" Hagakure asked from her seat on the adjacent counter.

"Kaminari and Kirishima got me a card thanking me for tutoring them this year, Jirou got me some vouchers for ice cream, thanks again by the way, Todoroki gave me this variety box of exotic tea, and Iida gave me one of those baggies of candy he gives to everyone on their birthday. And I didn't open the box from Mineta." Momo cautiously waved the purple box in front of her. "Anyone interested?"

A chorus of 'no's took over the kitchen.

"I got one of those boxes from Mineta on my birthday, too," Mina said. "I didn't open it, either, but after a couple of weeks it started smelling really strange and I'd suggest throwing it away. I don't think it was food."

The girls laughed and made faces of disgust at each other.

"Don't let him know you're single now," Jirou laughed. "It'll only get worse."

"Yeah, how did that go?" Tsuyu asked. "The way you described it, the guy seemed pretty insistent if I remember correctly. How'd you get him to back down?"

Momo laughed nervously. "I… talked to him. I guess he understood that it didn't make sense and it wouldn't end well."

"Was that the thing you had up your sleeve?" Jirou asked. "Usually your 'plans' don't involve just talking people down."

"Yeah, well, it was a fairly involved conversation, you could say." Momo cleared her throat. "It's over now." She made a motion like she wanted to move on from the conversation.

This wasn't enough for a good half of the girls, however.

"So that's it? Your parents just dropped it?" Hagakure asked skeptically. "Or are they making you get married to somebody else?"

Momo surveyed the room. She wanted to talk to someone, really talk it out. But they trusted Todoroki, so if they knew, the conversation would turn to gossip and meaningless chatter. If she were in any danger, the girls would be supportive and want to know about her feelings, but she wasn't, and she wouldn't want them to think that she was.

She knew what she was going to do. The best thing to tell them was the truth, at least part of it. There were certain things that it was all right for them to know, and she wanted to be at least a little bit candid. Besides, it was her birthday, and meaningless chatter with her friends was alright once in awhile.

"Well, yeah. They are. It's just the way these things work."

The shifting of chairs was not even silent. Every member of the conversation slid at least a foot closer to her, expressions ranging to amusement, to concern, to invisible.

"That seems odd," said Tsuyu, the concerned one. "Will you be taking extra precautions to ensure this doesn't end like the last one? Seems there's an equal chance he'll be just as unviable."

"Ah… yes. It'll be fine," she said, scooting her chair back a little.

"So you've met him?" Mina asked, her face uncomfortably close. "Is he cute?"

"Is he at least nice?"

"Have you seen his abs?"

"Wait, did you meet him or not?"

Momo shrunk a little, bewildered. "Slow down. One at a time, at least," she said.

The girls paused, collecting themselves.

"First, have you actually met the guy?" Jirou asked, serious.

"Yes."

"In person? Did you talk?"

"Yes and yes."

"Okay, what's his name?"

Momo froze. "I can't tell you that." It was the first thing that came to mind.

The girls looked at each other, the story now far more interesting.

"So is he, like, famous?" Mina asked.

"Haven't you been paying attention?" Hagakure said to Mina. "Momo's rich. She can only marry rich people unless she runs off. If he isn't famous, his family is." Hagakure's shoulders turned to Momo for confirmation. "Right?"

"Right," Momo said uncertainly. Yes, Endeavor was famous, but that wasn't why she wasn't telling them.

"What's he look like?" Mina asked.

"Not answering that one, either," Momo said.

"Fine. How's this: is he cute?"

"I'm not sure how to answer that," Momo said carefully. "You and I have different definitions of what qualifies as 'cute'."

"Augh, this is so frustrating. But also exciting!" Mina insisted. "Umm, would you say he's better or worse looking than, say, Todoroki?"

Momo struggled to keep a straight face and coughed to cover it up. "I'd say… about the same."

"Nice," Mina said.

"Do you know what his quirk is?" Tsuyu asked. "I know sometimes that's a factor for some people's parents."

"Well, yes, actually. I do know what it is. It is very strong, but my parents didn't think that was important." Momo felt better hiding some things since the rest of the girls knew she wasn't telling everything anyway.

"Do you like him?"

Uraraka had asked the question.

Momo looked back at her. She didn't know how to answer. If one of them had asked her outright, in another situation, whether she liked Todoroki, she probably would have said no, or at least "he's a great classmate." But they weren't asking that. Uraraka wanted to know something that very importantly needed to have an answer of yes. As much fun as they were having, they still wanted her to be all right. If she said no, they would think she was in some kind of bad situation. And, on some level, 'no' wasn't really her answer anyway.

"It's too soon. We only arranged this Monday."

"That's understandable, I guess. Does he at least seem trustworthy?"

"Definitely." She said, suddenly remembering the conversation with her mother, and then regretting how quickly she'd answered.

Mina started laughing. "Yaomomo, you're blushing!"

"Wait, really?" She reached up to feel her cheeks, and found under her folded arms a tiny sprocket, two bolts, and a lock washer. "It's probably nothing."

"No, no this is good!" Hagakure urged. "This means you like him!"

"Like I said, too soon to tell," Momo insisted, picking up the pieces and sticking them in the drawer next to the sink where she kept all of her extra parts while her cheeks burned redder still. The girls were laughing.

"Guys, calm down," Tsuyu said. "Momo, we don't have to talk about this if you don't want to. It is your birthday after all."

Momo smiled back at her gratefully. "Sorry, guys. It's just a little weird. If you've got something you want to ask, I can try to answer, but-"

"No, that's fine!" Mina exclaimed. "We don't wanna make you feel uncomfortable. That much. New topic! Tsuyu, how's your love life going?"

"Oh, that is not what I meant at all," Tsuyu sighed.

XXXXX

"Kyouka, are you turning in for the night?" Momo asked when the other girls had gone upstairs. It was almost midnight. They'd stayed up talking about everything- current events, school, the B class, what they would do if they had a different quirk. They'd be tired in the morning, but it wouldn't be too bad.

"Probably not. The sugar's got me wired, I guess. I'm thinking of watching something for a little while when I get upstairs to wind down."

"Can I talk to you? In your room, I mean. Or mine, I just want to talk." Momo helped Jirou load the last of the dishes into the dishwasher, trying to speed the conversation along.

"Uh, sure. I'm all ears." Jirou looked at her friend quizzically. "Is this about… the thing?"

"Yeah. I can't really tell everybody, but I want you to know what's really going on." Momo wasn't nervous. She knew she wanted Jirou in on it.

"Okay," Jirou agreed, her interest piqued by the choice of words. "My lips are tight."

"Thank you."

The two girls made their way up the girls' elevator and into Jirou's suite. Jirou turned some light rock music on the speakers closest to the hall and pulled Momo towards the back of the room, where they sat on her bed, socks thrown haphazardly into the middle of the floor.

"So," said Jirou. "Please tell me what's happening. Because at this point I agree with Tsuyu- I don't like the sound of this situation. I'm not the one who grew up in an arranged marriage, but still."

Momo nodded. "Yeah, I'm not really sure what to tell everyone and what not to. I'm sorry if I made it seem like I'm in some kind of dire circumstances, but I'm really not." She inhaled, thinking about how to go about telling the story. "Tsuyu is right. I could have turned down Steve and the next one could easily have been just as bad or worse. So I made sure that wouldn't be the case."

Jirou leaned forward, resting her elbows on her knees. "So this was your plan."

"Yes."

"Your parents let you choose?"

"I… found someone else who was in a similar situation, someone who could help my parents get the funding they needed. It took some convincing, but they let me just swap the engagement out."

Jirou frowned. "So you meet some other guy and just decide you're gonna promise to marry him?" She looked more than doubtful.

"No, no, no. I already knew him. In fact, that's sort of where I was going with this. You know him, too."

Jirou blinked. "Um. Okay. Is this... someone we went to middle school with?" She gasped. "Don't tell me it's that guy with the sparkly hair."

"No!" Momo said. "I said I liked his hair once and you never let me live it down! It's Todoroki!"

The tension in the room evaporated as Jirou processed what she'd just said. Her face turned red and she put her hand over her mouth.

"It's… okay," Momo said. "You can laugh."

Jirou's laughter shrilled above the level the music had any hope of masking. Her small frame shook, and it took her a few moments to regain her composure.

"You're serious?"

"I'm serious."

"How did that happen?" She asked, blinking back tears.

"He happened to meet Steve last week at bojutsu. Turned out his dad was trying to marry him off to a girl who was secretly a lesbian. We talked about it Sunday, and Monday afternoon we talked to Endeavor. After that it was just a matter of getting Steve to drop it. He'd already seen Todoroki as competition, so he pretty much took it as a defeat."

"Okay, you're right, that was slick," Jirou said. "That's a pretty fast turnaround."

"Yeah, but I have to give credit to Todoroki. It was really his idea."

"Seems like you guys pulled it off." Jirou raised an eyebrow. "You two make a pretty good team."

Momo pursed her lips. "Oh, stop. I mean, you're right, we do, but that expression just changes the connotation too much."

Jirou put her eyebrow back down, but kept a small, sly smile. "So when's the wedding? Fall after senior year?"

"Next weekend."

The smile dropped. "Next weekend? Holy shit!" She coughed, realizing what she'd said in front of Momo. "Sorry."

"It's fine. That's essentially the reaction I was expecting."

"Dude. That's ridiculous! I mean, yeah, Todoroki is a better choice than the other dickwad, but it's been like three days! The rest of us aren't even going on dates and you're getting married? Aren't you supposed to have, like, time to get comfortable with the other person? Last week he was just the guy who sat next to you in class."

"Yeah, well, it was Endeavor's condition. Besides, it's not like this is some permanent commitment. We're just going down to the town hall."

Jirou furrowed her brow at Momo. "Yaomomo. That's what a marriage is."

Momo shook her head. "We're splitting up after graduation. We're just doing this to get our parents off our back." Her stomach sank. "Did you think I meant otherwise?"

Jirou paused, her expression softening. "Oh. Yeah, actually. I did. Ever since we met you've been, among other things of course, one of those girls who gets married for some good it will do for the family. I'm sorry, I guess it didn't occur to me you were taking advantage of the situation that way. I was just thinking this was a pretty good match for you."

Momo didn't know what to say.

"Well, wow," she said. "I didn't think you'd see it that way, but I guess it makes sense that you would." She paused again, her mind going in several directions at once. Jirou was a perceptive person and Momo valued her opinion, but this was uncharted territory. A pretty good match? By social standards, of course, but that didn't seem to be what she meant.

"Still, I mean, that's pretty sweet," Jirou said. "To do that for you. Whatever happens, he's a good friend."

"Well, yeah, I'm glad he came to me about this," Momo said. "But it's not like the other girl was a good choice, either."

"Really?" Jirou asked. "If she was trying to hide the fact that she was gay, couldn't Todoroki just as easily have fake-married her so she could get her folks off her back? He didn't have to do this."

"You're right," Momo said. "I didn't think of that." She was caught between a swell of gratitude and a burst of shame that she'd had to rely on Todoroki yet again.

"Hey. Don't look all down like that. It just means he cares." A thought occurred to Jirou. "Not to beat an apparently dead horse, but he could actually like you."

"I know," Momo said. "I think it's possible, but not probable. I don't really know what an interested Todoroki would look like."

"He visited you in the hospital, he voted for you for class president, he picks you as a teammate pretty consistently," Jirou said. "I think it's a fair chance. Has he ever said anything about how you look?"

"Once he complimented the yukata I was wearing at a festival. I made it, so I'm not sure if that counts towards my appearance or my craftsmanship." A small part of the back of her mind pointed out how well she seemed to remember that part of the occasion. She brushed it aside. Forcefully.

"That means he at least knows that you're female," Jirou said. "What would you do if he did?"

Momo leaned forward and put her head in her hands. "I don't know."

"Jeez, that's a dramatic 'I don't know.'"

"I don't know," Momo groaned again. "I have literally never had a choice. Every single time I have ever thought 'hey, that guy's cute,' the next thought has immediately been 'but he's not Steve!' and that was the end of it. When Todoroki and I went to that festival, I went home and said to myself, 'Wow, that was fun and I can never do that again.'"

"So now you're like everybody else," Jirou said.

"I guess I am."

"Well, now you've got plenty of time to figure it out." Jirou paused. "Are you at least glad you get to make the decision?"

Momo breathed. If it hadn't been Steve, or if he'd been a better person, would she have been happy with her situation? Maybe. She didn't know. It just was the way it was. "I'm glad things turned out the way they did, that's for certain."

"Then, for now, that's what matters."

XXXXX

Todoroki had a problem.

"You're rushing," Momo said at bojutsu practice on one particular Friday. "You're hesitating, and then you're rushing. It's like you're… figuring out the move, and then you get distracted, and then you try to make up for it by doing the motion really fast. Is there something on your mind today?"

She hadn't noticed until they'd started sparring, but then it had been painfully obvious.

"Didn't sleep well," he said, as if that had anything to do with it.

Momo straightened, her forehead relaxing from its accusatory posture. Her dark eyes softened. "That's unfortunate. Do you want to cut practice short today? There are other things left to accomplish today after all."

The problem wasn't that he was spending any more time or attention looking at her more closely. He'd realized it had always been there, the way his eyes followed her just a second too long when she left the room, the way he remembered the things she said a bit more clearly than he did for others. He wasn't aware of it every day; most of the time it was little more than a tug at the left of his vision when they were sitting in class, but some days there was more to it. This was one such day.

"It's fine. We can stop early to get things done, but we don't need to stop now. We have plenty of time." Part of this had to do with nerves surrounding the activities they had planned for later, part of him didn't want to cut the time they had to practice together short. Shamefully little of his consideration had to do with actual improvement of his bojutsu skills.

"Sounds like a plan. Should we say we'll stop to get something to eat at six o'clock?"

Twenty-five minutes. "Deal."

By the end of the twenty-five minutes, Todoroki had evened out his rushing habit enough to make actual progress. It was productive.

"So. Food," Todoroki said, mopping his face with a towel. "Do we have to find something that contains more… iron? Or what?"

"Doesn't really matter," Momo answered, as if she'd explained this before. "Fatty foods work better in the long run, but for small items like this, it's negligible."

"I see."

They walked out of the arena and off the school grounds. Down the street was a small gaggle of cheap restaurants the seniors frequented during their lunch time. Since moving the students to on-campus housing, they'd seen a lot more attention from the student populace. They kept walking past this area, beyond where they were likely to see people they knew.

Now that he was aware of his bias towards her, he was starting to analyze his every thought. Was it rude to be looking at her in this way, when they were using each other to escape an unwanted romance with someone else? If it had always been there, had he been performing differently in their sparring matches because she was his partner? Or would it go away in a little while, when this whole ordeal died down and he wasn't forced to think about it every time they had to do something like what they were doing this afternoon?

They huddled over a phone, looking for restaurants in the unfamiliar part of town. They settled on a brunch cafe that customers claimed had the best steak sandwich in the region. It had two little dollar signs next to the name, didn't get a lot of traffic at dinner time, and boasted 4.7 stars. Most small restaurants and businesses allowed some amount of quirk use, being on privately owned property. Most importantly, it looked quiet.

"I'll have a… number six. Two of them," Momo said to the cashier, tapping her long, slender fingers together as she considered, folding them neatly into each other when she came to a decision. Her posture changed slightly when she stepped aside to let him order, no longer the center of anyone's attention. She thought.

They were getting married the next day.

"I guess I'll have a… what did you get? A six? I guess I'll go with that," he said, realizing too late that he had no idea what was on it. He fumbled around in his pockets for his wallet, not meaning to give Momo enough time to try to object to his paying for it.

"No, this is fair," he insisted, shoving the money towards the (somewhat bewildered) cashier before she could get to him.

Momo's expression turned to mild frustration, but it faded quickly. "Thank you, anyway," she said, looking down.

He wasn't sure whether her embarrassment over him paying was a good thing or not.

They took their seats at a booth at the back of the restaurant, facing each other. It would be a few minutes before their food arrived. Momo opened her bag and pulled out a fresh yellow folder with two or three sheets of paper poking out the top. She started to open it on the table but stopped.

"Thank you for doing this, really," she said, looking at her hands for a moment before making eye contact with him. "I'm very grateful."

He blinked at her, uncertain. "We were both in the same situation. It needed to be done."

Momo looked like she was about to say something, but closed her mouth and shook her head. She started to open the folder again, but decided she had one more thing to say. "I told Jirou about what's going on. For everyone else, I don't really care, but with her it would be too much of a lie just in not telling her. I hope that's okay."

He nodded. "Midoriya knows. He doesn't know it's you, but that's it. Some of the other guys were around, but they don't know anything."

"Yeah, the girls knew about Steve, and now they know there's somebody else, but that's it."

Todoroki raised an eyebrow. "I thought you were going to tell them everything was over? So you could, you know." Date other people.

Momo shrugged. "It's not important to me. I was never going to anyway, because of Steve."

"Yeah, me neither. But it was more because I knew whoever it was would have to deal with my father. Not worth it."

When they got their food, Momo ate quickly and pulled out her folder of papers, thumbing through them and spreading out what she needed in front of her. Todoroki squinted curiously at the upside-down words over his sandwich. "Coefficients of Thermal Expansion," was the title of the one closest to him.

"I've never seen you need this much paper before," he said.

"I've never made this alloy before," she replied. "When you're finished, give me your hand."

Todoroki blinked, understanding what she was doing. He was surprised she was putting as much thought into this as she was. It made him feel strange, but he pushed that thought to the side, stuffing the last of his sandwich into his mouth as he reached across the table to hesitantly extend his fingers.

She picked up his hand and turned it over in front of her. When she began running her fingers between his, feeling the relative size between them, he looked away.

The texture of her hands was unusual. Waxy, but calloused where her strange pores mutated her skin. They felt like they should have been cold, but they weren't.

"I'm sorry," she said. "I have to be able to touch things with my hands."

"It's fine," he said.

"Well, it's just, your face is a little red."

"It's always a little red."

"Hilarious. You know what I mean."

Todoroki said nothing. When he glanced up from where he'd been staring at the table, she was still focused on his hand.

Momo took one last look at the first sheet of paper, turned his hand over to face upwards, and placed something in it. A small metal band, nearly black, with etchings of the triangular pattern that covered the side of Momo's hero costume and most of the objects she created. She stacked the papers and moved them to the side, placing her plate under his hand instead.

"Heat it up as much as you can," she said, leaning back to create some distance between herself and the table. "We have to make sure it doesn't deform with temperature change."

Todoroki held his hand over the plate and complied, making a fist and covering the area with his other hand to avoid burning anything around them.

"Is it loose?" Momo asked, peering through his fingers. "It shouldn't be."

"Don't think so," he said.

"Take it off, freeze it, and try to put it back on."

When it became apparent that the ring would keep its shape, he slipped it off, regulated it back to room temperature, and held it up to examine it more closely. "What is this stuff?"

"A specific arrangement of hafnium, nitrogen, and carbon." Momo said proudly. "It wasn't successfully synthesized until 2152."

"That is really impressive," he said, shifting his focus back to her. "Seriously."

Momo looked down, pinking. "Thanks."

When he got back to his room, he looked around, scanning for a place to keep the ring. He wouldn't wear it after tomorrow, not for anything other than very specific occasions, but it would still feel wrong to shove it into the back of a drawer and leave it. It needed something more fitting.

Todoroki walked to his dresser and picked up the empty matryoshka doll that lived there, sliding it open carefully despite knowing he'd long since removed the flashbang mechanism inside. He put the ring in and snapped it back shut, replacing it on the surface of the dresser. It would be safe there.

XXXXX

Two weeks later, they got up early on a Saturday morning and prepared to make their way to the city hall. Momo double checked that her yellow folder still had the papers Endeavor had signed tucked opposite the thermal expansion charts. She opened a bookmark on her computer- a magazine ad with a cream lace knee-length dress and a belt at the waist. After examining the pictures one last time, she closed her eyes and pulled it out of her chest in a bundle, shaking it to smooth out the wrinkles before pulling it over her head.

She put on a pair of black leggings and grabbed a sweater from her closet, heading downstairs to find her shoes in the oversized basket they kept by the door. Todoroki was waiting for her in an armchair, his head slumped back against the cushion. He slinked out of it when she found her shoes at the bottom of the pile, and they tried to get past their classmates and out the door without attracting too much attention.

"Where are you guys going?" Uraraka asked, curious. "Are you not eating breakfast?"

"Is it a date?" Kaminari chimed in.

"We're going to go do some paperwork for something we talked to Aizawa about," Momo explained coolly.

"And if it was," Todoroki said to Kaminari, "it would be none of your business."

The bus was crowded, but the mass of people wasn't enough to shake the early morning chill. Momo sidestepped when they reached a stop, catching a different handrail so she could stand to Todoroki's left, opposite where she'd been.

She caught him eyeing her at the motion and flushed. "Sorry," she said. "It's just… cold over there."

Todoroki nodded. "It's fine. Everybody does it."

"Oh. Okay then."

His hand twitched upwards, as if he was about to do something, but he thought better of it and put it back down. The awkward silence threatened to take over again before he spoke.

"My mom wants to meet you at some point."

It was yet another jab at the picture they'd created- of a marriage that was just a temporary illusion. Everyone expected them not to like each other at this point. And everyone was proceeding as if it was forever anyway.

When they arrived at the building they were looking for, Todoroki leafed through the folder and produced the papers his father had signed. The clerk took them, smiled and said "Congratulations," attaching a second piece of paper to the first and handing Momo a pen.

As she reached over to sign her name in careful script, an old Buddhist homily came to the front of her mind unbidden. It was used in marriage ceremonies, real ones, the ones where families and friends knew what was going on and the couple involved was looking towards an exciting future. It went, "Nothing happens without a cause. The union of this man and woman has not come about accidentally but as the foreordained result of many past lives. This tie can therefore not be broken or dissolved."

Momo pushed the papers back across the desk, placing the pen back in its cup with the others. The woman, still smiling, filed the paperwork behind her and signalled to someone that she was ready for the next appointment.

Their families did know what was going on, and some of their friends. They were doing this for the future. For all intents and purposes, this was real. Her mind searched for reasons it wasn't, and didn't come up with anything good.

The way home was quiet. They talked about school, they talked about how the weather was going to be for the afternoon, they talked about the road construction and whether they needed to pick up any food on the way back. But the easy way they'd talked about the two of them was gone. It wouldn't be the same conversation. There wasn't anything to say, or maybe there was.

When she got to her room, she took off the ring and put it in the back of a drawer, where anyone who found it would assume it meant something else. She saw herself, in the mirror, reach up to unbutton the back of her dress and froze.

She was covered from head to toe.

The dress had three-quarter sleeves, and it came almost up to her collar. The belt and the buttons were placed such that getting out of it, exposing anything, would have been unreasonably difficult. It was the kind of thing she looked for when shopping for all of her clothes, and yet this time she'd completely overlooked it. Not to mention the fact that she was wearing leggings.

Two instances can't make a pattern, she tried to think, but couldn't.

She couldn't deny it. As odd as the situation was, and how uncomfortable she was with the lies she was telling the people close to her, she didn't feel like she was taking a risk. She felt safe.

Momo finished unbuttoning the dress, awkwardly reaching behind her back. She hung it on a hanger and put it in the back of her closet, telling herself she might wear it again. She knew she probably wouldn't.

She pulled out her phone and texted Jirou. It's done.

XXXXX

After the 'wedding', if it could even be called that, suddenly everything died down. They didn't have to talk to worried family members, and Momo's friends didn't bug her about her personal business. Her parents left town for a few weeks to visit remote branches of the company where rehires and purchases were being made. Things just went back to normal, exactly as planned. Over the next few weeks, things were almost eerily quiet.

One morning, a Monday, Todoroki was talking to Midoriya before class began when he had to excuse himself upon Aizawa's entrance.

"Excuse me, sensei. I have a request."

"What is it?" Aizawa looked, predictably, like he wanted to get on with the day.

"I just got a text message from my brother-in-law. My sister was supposed to have her baby this Saturday but apparently she's just gone into labor. I'd like to go to the hospital during lunch hour to see her. It's only about three blocks down and I'm sure I could make it back in time."

Aizawa considered for a moment. "All right. If you get back in time for class, I will make sure you face no repercussions."

"Thank you, Sensei." Todoroki made his way back to his desk.

Things didn't go as planned.

During the second block of the day, Mic assigned a test to the class. After a few minutes of silence, footsteps started echoing in the hallway, and teachers' voices could be heard calling out to each other.

"What is going on out there?" Mic asked quietly as he stepped to look out the door.

"It's probably the bomb threat," Kaminari said.

"What bomb threat?"

"The hospital down the street is under some kind of attack. They're trying to evacuate as many people as they can because someone said the bomb might take out the backup generator, but some low-level villains are keeping people from leaving. Apparently they've already cut the power, and there aren't many heroes available to respond," Kaminari said, reading from the phone he'd hidden under his desk.

"Which hospital?" Todoroki asked. His breath was visible.

"The one down the street on fourth and main."

Todoroki didn't close his test book or gather his things. He stood up and walked to the front of the room, where Mic was standing in front of the door.

"Excuse me," he said. "I'm leaving."

A/N: so Horikoshi just released some new info about the kids' schedules. Turns out they have school on Saturdays. I'm going to just call this one a loss, since having Saturdays off have already been referenced in this fic, and just say that this deviates from the canon information in one small detail. I'd apologize, but I don't think it's really necessary since nobody knew. Thanks for your patience.

Special thanks to milamon and FlaminkoMage, who helped me embrace my cheesy side. And, as usual, to Haresh.

Also, look forward to the next chapter, which features the beginnings of the reason this one has a blood and gore trigger warning! See you next time! Plus ultra!