A/N: Argh, that moment when you've reread a chapter so many times you can't tell whether or not it's good any more Dx This is one of those transition chapters, and it was killer to write, so bear with me here. Numerous thanks to my beta's jilnachtaugen and FictionPadfoot, for without their constructive criticism, I would have never gotten round to posting this chapter.
And while on the topic, a humble request: I need feedback from everyone! If I'm doing right let me know, and if I'm doing something wrong let me doubly know! As I was saying to the lovely Amandineylan, reviews are a direct conversation, and I instantly get an idea of know what to change and what to continue, and as an amateur writer, it's invaluable. It really helps me get through when I'm stuck. And there are going to be chapters I'm kinda nervous about, such as this one, so I'm especially going to need to know what y'all think for those xP
I want to update the next chapter pretty soon as well, so I hope to hear a bunch from you guys before then! :P
Once again, truly, thank you to everyone who has taken their time to show support! :') A special shoutout to my Guest reviewers; don't think I don't see you guys! I love you peeps even more 'cause even if you don't have an account (or are just lazy signing in) it means you understand how good reviews feel and took time out to leave a comment!
Anyway, enough of that; onwards!
The Third Fault - Experience
The History teacher hadn't yet arrived when Yaoyorozu entered the classroom, her hair gleaming with the telltale sheen of a fresh shower.
Now slime-free, her hair was out of its usual ponytail and tied loosely at the nape of her neck, and any free strands she'd usually leave hanging out were tucked away, leaving her face more…open. Nobody paid much attention to the tall girl, especially the boys, which confused Todoroki, knowing the conversation they'd just had the previous class. She stopped a couple of times to speak with Ashido and then with Jiro, the picture of poise, very much unlike herself just an hour ago on the field.
He watched, chin on his palm, as Mineta passed a not-so-subliminal innuendo as she made her way to her seat ('So a little slime is what it takes to get you wet, eh?') causing the half-and-half hero to throw a look so dark he swore even Tokoyami shivered.
Todoroki had never noticed how long and delicate her lashes were. They weren't the sought after thick and full lengths many women went for, yet Todoroki found himself staring at them as they fluttered and kissed her cheekbones every time she blinked. There was something transfixing about the way they framed her dark eyes and added to her confident and composed aura. Someone called out to her, making her look up. Her lips went from a confused 'o' to a gentle smile, which accentuated her cheekbones. Her hand rose to tuck away strands of hair that were no longer there, a phantom reflex he found rather amusing.
It was only after this, as he observed the sunlight break into lines of color on the crown of Yaoyorozu's head, that he realized he was staring at her. Immediately, he looked ahead, trying in earnest to focus on the nothingness at the front of the class. Yet, despite his trying otherwise, his eyes kept flicking to his left.
Suddenly, she turned to look at him.
His eyes darted forward yet again, every muscle tensing instantly, his heart pounding, and feeling suddenly uncomfortably hot. Todoroki shut his eyes as his chest tightened and the air around him constricted, making it suddenly harder to breathe. He wedged the tip of his index under the knot of his tie and with a tug, ever so slightly loosened the knot.
He exhaled.
Calm, composed, collected. Composure was everything to him. Todoroki exhaled, reaching out for his reins of control. When he felt slightly more in poised again, expression wiped clean, before he could stop himself, he looked back at her, without thinking.
Yaoyorozu was still looking at him.
"What?" he asked, and inward cursed as his body temperature instantly shot up, completely obliterating all his hard work. What was the point of having control over the two extremes of temperature when it couldn't control critical moments such as this?
"You were right when you were talking about my lack of physical ability," Yaoyorozu said, with a touch of resignation. "I understood that the hard way. Pun not intended."
Todoroki felt his lips twitch. "Perhaps next time, stick with the jungle gym."
She let out a frustrated groan, bringing her fist to her forehead. "Ugh, who didn't see that?"
He watched as she hid her face with her hands, her nose peeking out between them. That reminded him… "How's the break feeling?" he asked, nodding towards it, not that she was watching.
Yaoyorozu breathed out slowly, pulling herself upright, and turned back to him. He blinked as she met his gaze once again.
"Recovery Girl made so much fun of me," she said it so seriously, he found himself fighting off another grin. He won the fight, obviously. "I hope this doesn't get around. It's bad enough having Kyouka and Mina make fun of me."
"So get good enough that no one can say anything."
Yaoyorozu sighed slightly, rolling her eyes upwards. "Blunt, as always," she commented lightly. Todoroki failed to see the problem in that. She held up a finger, indicating she'd just remembered something, and then pulled out a couple of worn notebooks from her bag. He raised an eyebrow.
"Midoriya's notes," she stated simply. "Apparently notes about our class are scattered throughout these two." Iida hadn't been lying when he'd said Midoriya was particular. And he'd thought Yaoyorozu had been excessive. Sato passed a sheet of paper to him from his right, which he took absently.
"I've only skimmed through the pages," she mumbled to herself, though he could still hear her as she flipped through the top one absently. "They're as detailed as a textbook…He's got biodata in here as well….'Yaoyorozu Momo. Quirk encompasses the ability of molecular creation. Nature once again chooses wisely, as this ability requires knowledge of science and molecular physics unlike any other.'"
She turned to Todoroki here and he looked at the page she was pointing to. "He just called me smart," she informed him, the edge of pride lining her words. He raised an eyebrow in amusement, resting his chin back on his palm. Yaoyorozu continued.
"'However, as with all quirks, downsides exist. Number one: The quirk requires the exposure of skin; this could prove detrimental in extreme conditions, for example, in toxic fumes, where exposure to skin is avoided. In freezing, or burning conditions as well.'"
"That's a good point." Todoroki commented. "I hadn't thought of that."
"Me neither…" she said quietly. She then caught the astounded look he gave her out of the corner of her eye. "Don't look at me like that!"
"I'm beginning to doubt your title as the class's smartest."
She grumbled. "Should I even be reading this in front of people? It could potentially be used against me…"
Todoroki shot her an irritated look. "I'm not an enemy," he said, not appreciating the lack of trust in his loyalty. "Besides, in a real fight, I'd just depend on your not being able to dodge."
That earned him a glare, but she continued reading without commenting. "'Number two: Not as effective one on one due to sheer amount of concentration needed, as well as time taken to create-' Hah! See? I was right to be trying to increase my speed."
"One should have priorities, Yaoyorozu. Fix the gaping hole before tending to the minor cuts."
The audible grumble she made in her throat was the only indication of her begrudging acceptance.
Todoroki looked away to scan the piece of paper he'd just received and felt himself groan. His eyes looked up to see both Kaminari and Kirishima simultaneously flashing him a thumbs up, expressions identical. As if rehearsed, they both pointed first at the paper, then at Tokoyami. Clearly he was supposed to pass it on.
"Wow," he heard Yaoyorozu say from his left. "He even goes on to say how each of my match-ups went, starting from All-Might's villain-hero simulation test; and then goes on to critique each outcome, weighing my quirk against whoever I've faced. This is really impressive…"
Todoroki looked back to the paper, wondering what to do. The idiots had created quite an extensive grid, with the name of everyone in Class 1A, complete with a rating system of their different attributes; hair, chest size (didn't apply to the boys), overall look, smile, personality – he was amazed they'd bothered with that last one at all.
The Creation heroine continued her impromptu lecture, not noticing the rather degrading piece of paper that was currently being passed around. "I wonder what they have on Tokoyami..." she was saying.
He looked up to look at the two boys and stared at them, hard. Their smiles faltered ever so slightly. Todoroki had several options then. He could scrunch it up and throw it away. Of course, they'd just fish it out themselves and continue this pointless charade. He could pass it to Iida, and have the class president deal with this mess. He could simply not pass on the paper. This was the worst option, as it would probably result in them bugging him endlessly until he took part, probably standing over his shoulder as he filled it in. He glanced sideways, watching as Yaoyorozu began reading out Tokoyami's breakdown.
He couldn't have that.
Making sure Kirishima and Kaminari were looking, Shouto held up his left hand under the paper. They scrunched their faces in confusion, awkward smiles still on their lips. Then, the air above his palm began shimmering with heat and almost instantly, they began flailing their arms in a panic, shaking their heads rapidly, cheeky, self-satisfied smiles long gone. But then, a voice inside him whispered a fourth option; he had it right now, with no one pestering him. He could just…fill it in. It was anonymous after all. He stared at the sheet for so long the bottom corner had started to curl from the radiating warmth.
"What's that?"
Yaoyorozu's voice cut through his thoughts. He'd barely blinked before the vice president herself had leaned over from her seat to try and read whatever it was on the page.
"No, Todoroki! Do something!"
"Move dude! Move!"
The entire class turned to watch as both boys practically tripped over themselves in a frenzy. Yaoyorozu took the sheet from him. They yelled. Just before she had a chance to look at it properly, however, Mineta had swiveled around and snatched the page from her hands. There was a resonating sigh of relief.
"Mineta, give that back here!" she snapped, irritated at not being fully aware of what was happening.
"Miss Yaoyorozu, settle down, please." The teacher had finally arrived. Yaoyorozu sat down, a heavy blush flooding her face at being told off. "Books out, turn to page 12."
However, they barely got 10 minutes into the lesson before an explosion, like a minefield bomb, sounded from the side of the room.
It seemed the paper had reached Bakugo.
Now that she was aware of it, Momo's physical agility, or lack thereof, was starting to scare her. She had tried at first to juggle both studies and exercise, but it hadn't really worked, with her ending up far behind any homework or extra credit, all her time and energy being spent on training. Plus her father, who worked from home, was growing sick of her endless zaps of creation. So she'd come up with a new plan; study at home, practice after school. Designated hours, no more, no less.
She had asked Aizawa for permission to use the training rooms after school, and he agreed, blandly putting that he would never understand why the recommendation kids were so enthusiastic.
And that was how she found herself still at school that afternoon, entering the training rooms. Todoroki had told her about the large soundproof room earlier, and it had sounded perfect for letting loose with one's quirk. Entering the small entryway, Momo opened the door to her right and came into a large padded room, divided into 5 moderately sized sections, each with its own computer. This had to be the VR room.
She backtracked, walking across the landing, and opened the door to the left. The area she came upon was absolutely massive, probably as big as the other rooms combined. The floor was lined with a strange sort of tile; rough, like the ground of a baseball field. 'Probably for grip', she thought. The walls of the arena ('arena', because it dwarfed any kind of room) were covered in murals of funky, bright colors. Large windows were placed high up near the ceiling, bringing in plenty of light, yet far enough to be spared any sort of damage. Now that she thought about it, everything in this room was probably quirk-resistant.
And utilizing the room, looking rather small in the center of such a large space, was Todoroki.
'So that's what Aizawa had meant.'
Utilizing was the correct word.
Todoroki slammed his hand towards the floor, ice beams shooting up in quick succession, like fungi growing out of the forest floor. Without missing a beat, he ran up each one, easily as if they were stepping stones, climbing higher and higher. Nearing the last one, he launched off the tips of his toes, somersaulting elegantly. Using his hand as a pivot, he launched himself off the highest pillar of ice.
And then Todoroki was falling. Hair whipped out of his face with the speed at which he plummeted, but he didn't faulter. Immediately, he held out his left hand, charging his fist with flames and instantly shot it out, like a flamethrower. The long charge of heat blasted through all the ice he'd created, and suddenly the hall filled with steam.
But as he landed, his foothold slipped, and the flames spread up from the concentrated point on his fist, spreading like a blast of air all the way up his shoulder, until half his face and torso were aflame. The echo of a frustrated curse ricocheted throughout the room as he put out the fire.
'So that's why he has his shirt off.' Yaoyorozu thought meekly, observing the rare flash of irritation marring his usually impassive features.
For a moment, she just stood there, staring mindlessly as he doubled over, trying to regain his breath. Her jaw, slightly unhinged, coupled with her unfocused gaze, gave the usually level-headed creation user quite a brain-dead look.
Suddenly, ice pillars shot into the air again and Momo realized the sequence had restarted. The gears in her brain slowly creaked back into motion and she decided to leave, quietly and quickly closing the door behind her.
It was ridiculous. This meant that not only had he already analyzed himself, he had now decided to focus fully on concentrating and localizing the origin of his flames, instead of unleashing the explosive mess that was his match against Midoriya. A game plan with instant implementation.
Yaoyorozu sighed. The staircase between her and Todoroki only seemed to grow longer and higher. Whenever she reached what many would see as a huge achievement, the talented hot and cold user would only shine brighter, increasing the distance between them even more. What she needed to focus on now were the basics.
Back to plan B: utilizing U.A.'s impressive holographic training course.
Momo reentered the room with the computers, and unceremoniously dumped her bags in the corner. She'd have to spend the day's remaining time getting an idea of how to operate it all. She walked up to the first computer, where Sero had been practicing a few days ago, and pulled up the command screen. U.A. delivered once again, offering modes complete with obstacle courses, target practice to evasive maneuvers, sneaking and strategy development.
Momo clicked on evasive tactics, which pulled up another list with options on the size and type of projectile, along with the avoidance strategy. 'That's exactly what I need. Darned avoidance skills.'
Clicking on that gave her yet another list, with the first option being MMA. She paused here, running the options through her head.
She knew the general idea behind it, but she'd never gone into depth, always relying on her quirk to dodge and attack. Momo's fitness level went as far as a daily run on her family's treadmill plus muscle building with standard gym equipment. She'd always been skeptical as to the importance of regimented, organized fighting. But perhaps that was exactly the edge she was missing.
Taking a page out of Uraraka's book, the creation artist decided to wing it. Learning from one's mistakes was the fastest road to improvement, after all. A green light turned on, and a holographic sphere was thrown at her. She stepped aside easily, and although the objects were thrown at a faster rate than the baseball machine, she was able to avoid all of them by simply dodging left and right.
After 10 throws, the simulation ended, and Yaoyorozu checked her score.
"A D?!" she cried. "61%...How in the world…"
She opened the breakdown of her performance.
Avoidance – A
Technique – D
Skill level – D
Agility – C
Momo sighed, mentally pouting. 'Well, now we know avoidance isn't really the issue.' On the bright side, at least Todoroki had been wrong. Sort of. There was obviously something wrong with the way she'd been tackling fights up until now. Momo looked back at the computer, checking if it offered some tips for improvement. It didn't. She sighed again.
She supposed it made sense that she was so underdeveloped when it came to this, seeing as in junior high, they only checked their actual quirks and ability to use them. Even as a six year old, strategizing had always come easy; solving each problem with her brain power and her ability to think outside the box were one of a kind.
Momo had also never really been pitted so intimately against another quirk user either, so her faults and lacking in battle had never been made obvious. That was what hero high school was for.
Regardless, according to the computer's breakdown, she needed to improve most in technique and skill. Switching off the computer, she decided to do some research.
"…What are you doing here Yaoyorozu?"
The sun was low in the sky, casting a warm glow of afternoon sunlight on the school grounds outside the training rooms.
She lifted her chin, acknowledging her visitor. "I've decided to train in the rooms for a while."
Todoroki grunted in response. Then, "Why do you have a pile of books?"
"They're books on how to fight," she said, nose in the air.
Momo had gone to the library and proceeded to check out every book on fighting techniques, wanting to get back to the rooms as quickly as possible. The librarian, a student from Class 1B with a bad attitude, had then told her only five books could be checked out at a time. So she had to rapidly scan through each of them, and finally managed to filter them down.
By the time she'd made it back down to the training area, Todoroki was already locking up. She looked at him disparagingly, as if it was him who decided when to close the doors.
Todoroki did something resembling rolling his eyes, and then shook his head, sighing at the floor. "Books. Right."
"I resent that belittling sigh."
He hadn't bothered changing back into his uniform, choosing to go home in his sports gear, but he'd put on a shirt (much to her relief) and thrown on a black sports jacket against the spring cold. The keys rattled as he stuffed them into his pocket and he walked over to stand next to her, peering over her shoulder to read the various book titles.
"Wait!" Momo exclaimed, quite suddenly, making him jump at her loud outburst. She shoved the books into his arms. "My stuff is still in there!"
She ran to the double doors and yanked on the handles, but the doors only rattled in response. It then hit her that they'd just been locked, and for a moment she just stared blankly at the unrelenting doorknobs.
"Keys!" she blurted.
"Yaoyorozu."
Momo turned around as he called her name, only to have the keys bounce off her shoulder and fall to the floor with a clink. With a huff, she bent over to pick them up; hearing a snort, she straightened to glare at the source, a light flush of embarrassment covering her cheeks.
"You're lucky I'm all the way over here!" She growled loudly, whirling around, unlocking the doors in a huff.
"I wouldn't be worried if you were a foot away," came the untroubled response as he flipped lazily through one of her books. Momo felt a vein pop. Doors now unlocked, she yanked the keys from the lock, turned around and threw them at him, as hard as she could. They landed by his feet, a good twelve inches from being even close to hitting him.
Todoroki momentarily tore his gaze from the book, and his mismatched eyes lazily flicked downward at the keys before sliding up to her; his expression, unimpressed.
Flushing in embarrassment, Yaoyorozu stalked inside. Her bag was lying as she'd left it in the corner of the VR room, and before grabbing it, the young pre-heroine took a deep calming breath, leaning against the wall. 'You're going to go out there,' she scolded herself. 'And you're going to act like someone worthy of being in U.A.' Nodding resolutely to herself, she headed out again, feeling her anger abate slightly.
"Yaoyorozu, catch them this time."
Momo blinked in surprise.
She watched as Todoroki swung him arm a couple of times, hand clutching the keys, giving her time to adjust herself. Quickly catching on, the girl deposited her bag by her feet and positioned herself, legs braced firmly and hands cupped out, ready to receive. Then the keys came flying at her, and she moved forward, eyes never once leaving the objects, following them meticulously. She lifted her hands. Now that she was ready for it, there was no way she'd-
The keys bounced off the tips of her fingers and dropped to the floor.
She heard a louder snort. Momo's head snapped up and the scathing look she directed his way would've been enough to sear any man alive. Todoroki's expression stayed neutral. Not even a fraction of a twitch on his stoic feature gave away his amusement, but she knew, somehow she knew, the stone-faced prick was laughing at her.
With a growl, she snatched up the keys and locked the doors.
The young prodigy looked up at her finally, as she walked towards him. He extended his hand, waiting for her to give back the keys, eyes flashing with mirth, and that just ticked her off all the more. How could he keep such a straight face even though she knew he was ready to gloat? Momo grabbed the books from his arms, then hovered the keys over his hand as if giving it to him.
Her eyes locked with his.
And suddenly, her face broke into a smile overflowing with sweetness. Instantly, alarm bells went off in the back of his mind. With a light flick of her wrist, she tossed the keys in a wide arc, missing his outstretched hand entirely. They landed on the ground a few feet away with a thunk.
His expression of shock was worth it. Momo stared right back as a carnal, savage happiness exploded in her chest. No one made a mockery of her. She suddenly understood everyone who had ever thrown away all that they had known, cherished and loved for the sake of simple, raw revenge. It was oh so very sweet.
And it lasted a glorious three seconds.
As the silence grew and he remained motionless, eyes dull with confusion, the guilt hit her, and it hit her hard. She had never done something so viciously mean in her entire life. With a frustrated groan, Momo bent down herself, picking them up, and slamming them unceremoniously into his still limply spread hand. And then she began walking away rapidly, head tucked in low, flushing furiously.
It took Todoroki a good few moments to get over what had just happened before he caught up with her. It was a while longer more before he opened his mouth. "Yaoy-"
"Don't," she snapped, cutting him across. "Don't you say a word."
He blinked, then closed his mouth. Then he cleared his throat. The silence persisted. Her hair obscured most of her face from view, although the tips of her ears glowing red were a dead giveaway.
"I didn't know your aim was so bad."
Momo rounded on him, shooting him a look so angry it could burn holes through steel 30 inches thick. Her arms tightened around her books, and she suddenly regretted having her arms full when her hands could be better utilized strangling him.
A moment more passed. And then it happened.
He cracked up.
It wasn't an all out laugh (God forbid he ever waste vital lung capacity laughing), but he gave a snort, before erupting into quiet huffs, shoulders silently shaking, which he very poorly hid behind his fist as a coughing fit. Her features dissolved into that of shock. Momo stared at him, disbelief and confusion clogging her mind. Finally, he caught her looking, and stopped almost instantaneously, giving a final grunt, before hiding the last of his smile somewhere deep inside, looking off into the distance.
She stared at him a while longer before frowning, eyebrows forming an upset knot in the middle of her forehead and she pouted, shifting her eyes to stare straight ahead.
"What just happened?" he asked.
The vice president heard the grin in his voice. Momo groaned, raising the books to cover her face. "I lost my temper is what happened," came her muffled, frustrated reply. This time he didn't camouflage his laugh as coughs, although he still raised a fist to his mouth as if he were about to.
"Even your temper needs training."
That earned him an elbow to the flank. Although, with her arms busy holding books, it ended up being a half-assed nudge into his side, which he dodged anyway. The books teetered dangerously, and he eyed them, wondering idly what would happen if they were to fall next.
There was a strangely pleasant silence after that, where Todoroki was content to just watch her; Yaoyorozu had suddenly realized she had a bag and had begun to stuff her pile of books into it. That in itself turned out to be quite the interesting feat. She first tried stuffing them all in at once, before realizing it wouldn't be that simple.
"Are you even going to read all of them?" he found himself asking.
She spared him a glance before returning to her work. "Of course."
"They're garbage," he told her.
The dark haired girl huffed. "Well, it's more than I know. If I don't start somewhere, I'll never improve." She said, not willing to be discouraged.
"You'd be better off learning by experience," he said, stopping as she did in an effort on getting the last book in. "Why not join a gym or dojo?"
"My mother is against them," Momo said, the final book barely fitting in. But now the bag wouldn't zip up fully. She sighed loudly, pausing to give her exhausted muscles a bit of a break. "She doesn't want people understanding the ins and outs of my quirk."
"That makes no sense. With that logic, you should never use you quirk."
Yaoyorozu finally gave up trying to close the bag and continued walking.
"I think it's more the fact that she doesn't want anyone to doubt her, or me, once they find out how weak I am," she laughed lightly, not thinking there was anything wrong with that statement. But Todoroki frowned. A muscle twitched as if he wanted to say something, but he remained silent.
"My mother is a lawyer for heroes," she explained, answering his unasked question. "I think she feels pride in the fact that I'm doing her legacy justice. She thinks it only obvious that someone as successful as her would have a perfect daughter. Having people find out I'm anything less than that would be a stain on her record."
There was a pause, and suddenly, Momo felt exposed, like she'd shared too much. She wondered why she had told him that particular piece of information. It was entirely irrelevant, and made it sound like she was more ungrateful than she actually was. Worse of all, it made people think she wanted sympathy of some sort.
"Parents shouldn't use their children as a means to an end," he said.
There was something hidden there, in his words, because Shoto Todoroki didn't say anything without reason. But she had taken too long trying to decipher it, and he was now looking at her, waiting for her response. "I don't know," she said, looking away. "I think it's her right as a mother to be able to feel pride in something her child does."
"You..." He was quiet, and she decided it was because he was trying to piece together the right words to express himself. "That's too ...understanding," he said, finally. "Nothing good can come of it."
"Perhaps," Yaoyorozu hummed in agreement. Another silence fell upon them, both lost in their own thoughts. "So I'm here courtesy of my mother. What about you? What are you doing here, Todoroki? Don't you have some massive estate you could be using instead?"
The air shifted then, and she could almost see the wall go up around him, the relaxed atmosphere gone instantly, uneasiness solidifying into something far more intense. His mouth curved down into its usual, bland frown. The entire thing was so sudden, and yet the change in his demeanor was hardly obvious at all. He had gone from warm to cold in a few seconds flat, and Momo felt just the smallest twinge of regret at having been the cause.
"I could train here or at home," he said stiffly. "Since I'm here, might as well train at school."
"And then when you're at home?"
"I train there."
"But... when do you do anything else?"
"Such is the sacrifice of aiming for number one."
She frowned. "Well, when do you study?"
"I don't."
Momo froze. She stopped walking entirely. She gaped at him as he continued walking. Finally he realized she was falling behind and turned to look at her. He gave her a dry look. "What?"
"There's- How- But I mean- What about exams?" she finally managed.
He looked off to the side. "We're heroes; half of our exams are practical application."
"Yeah, but the other half is written!"
"I'll deal with it when the time comes."
She gaped at him. He gave her a bland look. "But…but you're smart! How is this possible?"
At this, he turned around fully and crossed his arms. "You don't have to know calculus or the workings of a cell to be able to strategize intelligently," he said dryly.
"…Well...That's true, I suppose…"
He watched her for a while, as she lowered her gaze to frown at the floor, noting how she seemed actually conflicted at his not bothering much with academic learning. He didn't really understand where she was coming from, seeing as how his, and her, future lay in fighting crime and defending the peace. He let out an inaudible sigh.
"If it makes you feel any better, I do plan on passing every test." She looked up at him, with bright, hopeful eyes. He looked away. "And I do homework after dinner, whenever we have any."
She grinned at this, and finally rejoined him. "I bet I can score higher than you on the tests," she stated as they continued walking.
"I bet you can."
Momo pouted. "Tch, you're no fun."
"I'm not."
"Again with the seriousness."
"It is my lacking personality," he said, and she was surprised he'd remembered their old conversation.
"Well you should work on fixing it," she said.
"I would, but I'm not too sure what I'm supposed to be fixing." The large school entrance gates finally came into view. Without a word, Todoroki began walking in the opposite direction, causing Momo to turn.
"Where are you going?" she asked.
"Dropping off the keys to Aizawa," he replied.
"What just like that? Normal people say goodbye, you know."
"Goodbye, Yaoyorozu." She frowned, but before she could say anything, he continued over his shoulder, "If you haven't mastered MMA by tomorrow, I'll have to report you to the school for being inadequate."
"But it's garbage, remember?" she called after him. "Give me at least a week!"
He just waved aimlessly at her, leaving her to walk alone, grinning to her herself.
A/N: You guys have no idea how many issues this chapter has given me! Writing these two, keeping them in character, while developing their relationship is crazy hard. No wonder there are such few stories out there for them.
Lemme know what you guys thought, 'cause this is where the development takes its roots. I'm nervous as heck~