13 faults

by it's simply me

It was hard enough studying at UA. Befriending Shouto Todoroki was even harder. Throw in some family controversy, and you have yourself chaos only a Hero of Creation can fix. Eventual TodoMomo.

9. Chapter 9

A/N: Uhh…Hey?

Okay, okay, yes, I know, it's been forever. And a half. But lemme try to give you a summary of my happenings, just for sake of explanation: After those exams I'd gone off for (mid-terms, essentially), I applied for an internship. That was end of November, and a few months later, I had finals coming up. Then, I moved in with the bf, and then had medical boards to complete. Now working on some research before applying.

Man it doesn't seem that long when you list it...

Well, okay, that's it for excuses. I realized that studying and work really isn't ever going to end, so I might as well get used to it and get to writing! Cause oh boy have I missed this story. And I started this with the strong intention of finishing it, and that intention is still here.

But MOST of the credit goes to you reviewers. Guys, your reviews and messages have been incredible. If there was a reason for me coming back it's you guys and I can't stress that enough. (Sakuhime21, that Spanish review just made my day. God bless google translate!)

Thank you so very much for the support, love, and the constructive criticism! I hear you guys! I have gone back and read everything from scratch, and I've tried patching up all the mistakes you guys pointed out and more (there were quite a few. I get what you're saying – I'm sorry! I bet I'll continue to make them, so please, keep letting me know!)

Coming back after such a long time means of course, seeing if anything has happened in the manga (because I am an anime only watcher, so the only manga I know of is what's in the relationship section of Momo/Todoroki on wiki. And I was especially worried, seeing as I had the outline to the large majority of the story already written out ages ago (read, two years. Yikes). Not much has changed, thank goodness, except for Todoroki's freaking brothers! (goddam Horikoshi, why do we share the same wavelength?)

*minor spoilers*

So Shoto's oldest brother is Toya. Maaan, I'm sorry Toya, I'm sure you're gonna turn out being this great guy and all that, but right now, even in the manga, we don't know, so I'm keeping you as is! There is a surprising amount of overlap though. *fingers crossed* (Thank goodness, otherwise this story would have gone OC, and that's not how I like my stories!) I edited in Toya's name even in previous chapters – although I did like the name Enma; it means fire monkeylord of hell or something very appropriate like that xD

*end minor spoilers of names*

This chapter was a nightmare to patch up, since I wrote chunks of it here and there. Please let me know what you thought after, because, ya know, first chapter back and this chapter was what speed bumped my muse in the first place. So yeah, I'm nervous. Also, jilnachtaugen, I realize it isn't fair to just DM you at a moment's notice, years later to be my Beta again, but if you're by some chance reading this and are interested in Beta-ing again, please let me know!)

Alrighty, now on with the story!

---

Ninth Fault - Feeling

---

Todoroki spotted Yaoyorozu before she spotted him.

She was standing in the doorway of the dorms, chatting animatedly with Jiro and Uraraka, and, what appeared to be a floating dress; invisible girl. Yaoyorozu's expression was clear and open and happy, and unlike anything he'd seen on her for a few weeks now.

For some reason, she'd started being distant with him; she didn't look him in the eye, wouldn't extend their conversations for too long, and there was a formality in her tone that he hadn't heard her use, with anyone, since U.A.'s starting days. Her actions, however, were presented in such a way that no one could ever suspect anything was amiss. So it was entirely possible he was just reading between the lines a bit too heavily, but his sixth sense was telling him something wasn't right.

Recently, they hadn't really had the opportunity to spend time together in any case, what with license exams and internships and general projects and the fact that everyone in class 1A was everywhere, all the time.

Of course, it could just be his imagination.

"Good morning, Todoroki!" Uraraka had spotted him, and Jiro immediately looked over as well, with that irritating smile she wore whenever she felt she knew something that no one else did. And since he, indeed, didn't know why she was smiling, that was probably the case.

Yaoyorozu didn't turn.

"Good Morning," he replied, though his eyes were on the taller, dark-haired girl, whose back was still to him. "Heading out somewhere?"

"Yup. A bunch of places," Jiro's grin widened. "Wanna come with?"

Todoroki's eyes flicked onto her, waves of knowest-more-than-thou rolling off the smaller girl, before he grew impatient and looked back at the taller girl. "Can't. Going to the hospital today."

Yaoyorozu turned around after hearing this. "Your mother?"

Word spread fast. He nodded, smothering an eye roll at the speed of the gossip route. He hadn't really made it a spectacle that he had started to try and face his past, but it seemed like the rest of the class found that incredibly interesting. No one had come and asked him upfront though. And of course it would be Yaoyorozu who did first.

Just as soon as she looked at him though, Yaoyorozu looked away again, apparently spotting something of supreme interest on the floor.

Todoroki frowned.

"Aw c'mon Todoroki, it'll be fun!" Uraraka said, bubbling over with her limitless energy. "Everyone's gonna be there!"

"Everyone?"

"Yeah!" She paused, suddenly gaining a concentrated look. "No wait, I mean, Deku and Bakugo aren't going. Neither is Iida… in fact, I don't think any guys are invited. So maybe you'd feel a bit out of place…"

He raised his eyebrow. "What's the occasion?"

Many things happened at once just then.

Uraraka gasped, big eyes bugging out even wider, as if he had just admitted to hating the color pink, and then shot a very apologetic look towards Yaoyorozu. Jiro snorted into her fist, what would have certainly been scathing words but was cut off by a swift jab to her stomach, courtesy of Yaoyorozu. Invisi-girl's sleeves were flapping up and down in a very unnerving 3-dimensional dance. Yaoyorozu herself had suddenly brightened with a delicate sheen of pink.

That was also something that had begun happening quite often – her turning pink. Todoroki had explained that off to being allergies.

From the hallway came a long, resonating note sounding like "Momoooo~!" Mineta came shooting out seconds later, arms opened wide and aiming for what appeared to be a collision course straight into Yaoyorozu.

Instinctively, hero training kicking in, Todoroki's hand shot out. His extended his hand hooked into the small statured boy's collar with instinctual precision, just before he was able to crash into the girl. However, Todoroki had miscalculated the boy's weight to be around that of a two year infant, which he now learned was a gross underestimation; bubble boy easily weighed as much as the average 12 year old. So the rather dense Mineta fell with an unceremonious thud to the floor, yanking Todoroki down with him, although the half-n-half hero managed to stabilize his footing last minute and remain upright.

"Hey, what gives man!" Mineta cried indignantly, shrugging Todoroki's grip off the back of his collar. "Look how upset you made Yaomomo!"

Todoroki was pretty sure Yaoyorozu's sigh was of relief, rather than any form of sadness.

"Learn some control," the ice-and-fire hero said, making sure to keep his tone level. "You'll hurt somebody by charging into them unexpectedly like that."

"That wasn't an accident – I meant to do that. That was a birthday hug!"

Todoroki felt his eyes roll and he raised his hand to pinch the bridge of his nose. Keeping one's patience was also a form of discipline. It could be considered training even. He just had to count to ten, and breathe in through his nose and out thr-

'Wait…' "Birthday?"

Jiro had erupted into cackles, clutching her abdomen as she wiped tears from her eyes. Tooru and Uraraka were giving Yaoyorozu a gentle pat on the shoulder, muttering sympathetic nothings in her ear. And the girl in question was looking determinedly anywhere but at him.

Todoroki stared.

"I'm ready guys!" A gush of wind blew past as Mina Ashido landed with a flurry of feathery fuzz and an electric smile, in a very similar entrance to Mineta, although she managed to avoid crashing into anyone. "Let's get going, birthday girl!"

The gaggle of girls began moving as one towards the door, and Todoroki felt himself snap back to attention.

"Wait!" he heard himself call out. Before giving himself a chance to think things through, his hand had shot forward and clamped around Yaoyorozu's wrist, pulling her backwards. She stumbled a bit with the force of his tug, and his other hand flew to her shoulder to stabilize her. The other girls shot the both of them knowing glances, continuing on without stopping.

"We'll be just outside, Momo!" Jiro called. Todoroki hardly heard her.

Yaoyorozu stood upright, tucking strands of hair that had come loose behind her ear with the hand that wasn't still gripped in his. Her dark eyes flicked up towards his, rimmed by thick, even darker lashes, and just as he managed to remember how to vocalize, she looked away again.

"Today's your birthday?"

"Mhm..." she didn't look at him, even though it was just the two of them, that distractingly flattering flush still dusting her cheeks.

"You never told me," he said.

"You never asked." That tart response was more like the Yaoyorozu he knew, and his heart panged with the ache of familiarity.

"...Happy Birthday," he offered, and she looked away, flush intensifying. He frowned. If he didn't know better, he'd have thought she was embarrassed. Of him.

"Thank you," she murmured.

But he did know better. "You're mad at me," he stated quietly.

Finally, she looked up at him. "I'm not mad," she said, frowning, with a slight furrowing of her eyebrows, as if he was the confusing one. Todoroki mirrored her expression, his examining stare scanning over her features, and she looked away again, much to his increasing frustration.

"We promised we'd never hide our problems," he reminded, with gentle sternness. "Since they only lead to misunderstandings."

"Yes, I remember. And I agree. But I'm not hiding anything."

Todoroki opened his mouth to argue when her hand came down to grip his; so immersed he was with trying to decode what her expressions meant that he hadn't even realized he still had a clamped hold around her wrist.

Ever so gently, she squeezed, and he felt his fingers loosen and let go, only to have her now free hand come up and hold his as well. Yaoyorozu hadn't looked away once. Her eyes were bright; glistening in what he could only imagine to be sincere happiness. Her skin glowed with the pink of a blush, soft, her gentle smile entrancing, like he was the only person it was meant for.

"I'm not mad at you."

This is why she confused him more than anything else in his life ever had. All he could do was nod. Yaoyorozu then let go, gaze dropping once again to her shoes, fiddling with her hair as if she were feeling awkward. But that obviously couldn't be the case, when just seconds ago she had given him such an unwavering look. Was he missing something?

"I, um… I have go Todoroki. They're waiting for me."

He nodded again, but since she wasn't looking his way, he wondered if she even noticed.

"I'll see you later," she suggested, and then she was gone.

Todoroki was utterly flabbergasted. Over the past few months, especially after the sports festival, he had made vast improvements in his social wisdom. He had been able to recognize jokes, found an ease with rebuttals that he actually enjoyed. He had made friends – some closer than others – and after several experiences with Yaoyorozu, he had learned to recognize subtleties in behavior, when a person said one thing but meant something else entirely. And more than anything, he'd learned to recognize her subtleties.

There was no doubt something was wrong with Yaoyorozu, but seeing as how candid she'd been with the girls, that meant it was just him. He'd done something to upset her. And yet, as his hand absently ran over the other, the last of her warmth still lingering, she'd very clearly said she wasn't mad at him. And if he read her correctly, she was telling the truth. Was this some elevated level of subtlety, where a person said and acted one thing but actually inside something else was at play? How was he ever supposed to grasp this? Todoroki frowned. His head hurt.

"She's definitely not mad at you."

Todoroki barely controlled his jump at the sudden voice. Gave snapping downwards, he spotted Mineta, still sitting exactly where he had been dropped, watching the entire interaction between the two with an expression that could only be described as jealousy. Instantly, Todoroki's perfected mask of composure dropped back over his features, and decided to humor the other boy.

"Oh? How would you explain it?"

Mineta huffed, finally getting up to stand at his full height of three and half feet. "Like I'd tell you, rival!"

And, with that rather irritatingly confusing statement, the small grape boy stomped away.

---

"She has to be angry," Todoroki muttered. "She has to be."

"Oh?" There was a subliminal knowing undertone in her soothing voice. "And your proof?"

Todoroki huffed, trying to gather the facts. "She hardly makes eye contact. Whenever she talks, it's very formal or brief, like she wants to run away. It's as if…" he paused, looking down to stare at his intertwined hands. "It's as if she doesn't want to be around me."

"Hm… that does sound rather strange."

"And yet she insists she's not," he said, leaning forward on his chair, foot tapping incessantly, feeling restless. "Angry, I mean."

His mother simply giggled. What part of his frustration seemed amusing was beyond him. Shouto was in a quandary, and so he took the matter to the one person the world claimed always had the answers; his mother. Despite how irked he was by the matter, she seemed to be enjoying something rather extensively, and he was getting the feeling it was at his expense.

It was currently the peak of the afternoon. Golden, warm sunlight poured in through the large, artificial plastic windows (glass itself was too dangerous to have around 'mentally compromised' patients), and it lessened the harshness of the fluorescent lights overhead. The day itself was a beautiful one; cloudless, a perfect, pre-autumn wind. It being Saturday night meant the entire city was alive and thriving; a perfect day for a birthday celebration. Saturdays to him, however, meant visits to his mother, and he had thought nothing of it, until meeting Yaoyorozu in the lobby.

"Girls can be like that sometimes," his mother continued patiently. "What did you do today? Anything in particular that you think may have upset her?"

Todoroki huffed, feeling a scowl materialize and leaned back, crossing his arms defensively across his chest. "I may have…not known today was her birthday," he muttered, voice lowering with every word, trying to be as inaudible as possible, but his mother's tinkling laughter was enough to show she had, indeed, heard. He shot her a look. "But she had never mentioned it before. How was I going to know?"

"No matter how understanding a girl is, I think not knowing it's their birthday is always enough to upset anyone," his mother commented lightly.

This whole thing didn't sit right with him. Something was off. It didn't make sense that Yaoyorozu be upset at this, when he was certain she had never mentioned it before. It wasn't logical, and Yaoyorozu was the most logical person he knew. And then there was that look she'd given him as she insisted nothing was wrong…

"Yaoyorozu said she wasn't upset," Shouto answered finally. Almost defensively. "She said it was understandable, seeing as I didn't know."

"Oh? She sounds like a very special girl," his mother replied, and Shouto nodded, choosing not to reply to this obvious fact. "But please tell me my son had enough etiquette to wish her anyway?"

"I did," he said heatedly. His mother beamed, and he couldn't help the innate swell of pride bloom inside his chest. "But she's been acting this way for a while now…"

"Maybe she knew her birthday was coming up, and yet you didn't show any interest?"

He scoffed at the idea. "She isn't that type of person."

"And yet she's still avoiding you."

Todoroki leaned back in his chair, gaze shifting out the window. His mother had a point. He tried thinking back, but for the life of him, he couldn't remember when Yaoyorozu's strange change in behavior had started, but it had definitely been throughout most of September. Had she implied it somewhere? Had he perhaps walked in on a conversation, and forgotten? No matter how hard he tried, he was drawing up continuous blanks.

"What do I do?" he asked finally.

"The past is gone," his mother had fixed him with that look he still wasn't used to; a look that made him realize, with large thumps of his heart, that he now had a mother. He stared back down at the floor. "No matter how hard you try, or how badly you want it, there's nothing we can do to change that." He frowned at this. "But what we can do, is fix our present, and do everything we can to make it right again. For the future."

He felt a gentle pressure under his chin as his mother tilted his head to look at her. "Isn't that right, Shouto?"

There was more to the woman's gaze just then; she meant more than just a missed birthday. Her words held depth – apologies he told her he didn't want to hear anymore. But even though he had told her to never outright say the words 'I'm sorry', she was still trying, throwing the meaning in wherever she could. He internally sighed. There was nothing he could do about the inner guilt his mother felt; he would just have to keep reassuring her, being her rock, until it finally sunk in that everything that happened was now in the past.

The half-n-half hero nodded, eyes dark and brewing, trying to assure his mother that he understood perfectly. She sent him a gentle smile. "Good! Well then, has there been anything Yaoyorozu wanted? Anything she showed interest in?"

Shouto sighed. That was another thing about Yaoyorozu; she was rich. She had everything one could ever want. He was also self-aware enough to know that he knew next to nothing about the likes and dislikes of a teenage girl. In fact, the only time she had ever expressed excitement was when she was explaining something. Yaoyorozu had even said once that nothing gave her more joy than when someone understood something because of her.

Maybe he could book her a tutoring session and she could just teach for a few hours.

He quickly shook his head as he started to actually seriously consider the options and turned his gaze up to the tiled roof with a closed-mouth sigh. Perhaps he was looking at this from the wrong angle. If roles were reversed, what would she get him? Probably a book. That wasn't too bad an idea, except for the fact that he was pretty sure she already had anything she probably wanted. And doing any research on what books she was into as well as any of the newest releases would take too long. He needed something he could easily get, before the day ended.

She might also get him clothes. That was something people gave each other. He still had that ski cap she'd bought him…

His eyes widened as the memory hit him. It was time to make some calls.

---

'Yaoyorozu, meet me at the dorm gates by 7:30pm'

Momo blinked at her phone screen, hardly able to contain her surprised confusion. There were only a handful of reasons Todoroki could possibly be calling her out that late, and all of them made her heart race and face flush uncomfortably. She had to calm down – getting one's hopes up was a recipe for disaster – and battered feelings. He did tend to be thoughtful, she had learned, so the most she would let herself expect was him trying to explain why he hadn't remembered her birthday, or hadn't known, or something of the like.

"What are you blushing at, birthday girl?" Before Momo could gather her wits, Kyoka came in and, with a flurry of quick fingers, snatched her phone clean out of her hands. Momo could feel the excitement burst out of her friend before she actually saw it. "No way!" The music enthusiast exclaimed. Loudly.

"Kyoka!" Momo hissed, feeling her blush intensify as the other girls shot the pair inquisitive looks from their spots in line to the ice cream vendor. She was getting rather tired of her friend's incessant need to invade her privacy, especially since they kept happening at the most inopportune times.

"Well, well, well," cooed Kyoka, looking up to flash Momo a sly grin. "Looks like Mr Clueless isn't as clueless as we thought."

Momo felt herself flush in both embarrassment and frustration. She had told Kyoka about everything, desperately in need of a second, outward, unbiased opinion of her strange thoughts that had been developing recently over the past month or so. Kyoka had initially taken it as if she'd just been told potatoes could be fried, baked and boiled – common knowledge. Of course, once she realized Momo was far out of her depth and hadn't a clue what any of this meant or what to do, Kyoka then took it upon herself to become her personal therapist, advisor and positive enthusiast.

They had both finally agreed that until Momo became comfortable and accepted her new, strange, alien feelings that she would take a step back from Todoroki, and just observe how things progressed.

To Kyoka, it was obvious what her friend was feeling. But convincing Momo of that was an entirely different matter. The only way about it was to give it time, and let the broth simmer, so to speak. Let the girl marinate in her own thoughts, let them soak in, until she understood that this was simply the start of a new phase in life that everyone went through.

Yaoyorozu had her mouth open, ready to berate her friend for speaking so brashly when the rest of the group walked over to join them.

"Hey guys!"

"What? What's happening?" Uraraka asked, handing over Momo her berry flavored scoops of ice cream.

Kyoka's grin spread wider, and Momo watched as the hand holding her phone hostage twitched. "Don't you dare!" Momo said, snatching the device back. The other girls stared in confusion, and Jiro's smirk remained plastered to her lips. "Kyoka!"

"Guess what Momo's got planned today~," Kyoka sung.

"What?" Ashido played along, bouncing on the balls of her feet, grinning from ear to ear, wanting in on the fun.

"I'll never ever speak to you again!" Momo hissed, now shaking her friend by the shoulder.

"What?"

"C'mon! Don't leave us hanging."

"Yeah, what's up, Momo?"

Momo felt tears of frustration gather at the corner of her eyes, and she felt her world suddenly narrow, like it was seconds away from exploding.

Kyoka smirked.

"She's going for a deluxe treatment," Momo froze. "And she's going to treat all of us!"

'Huh?'

"Aww, Momo, that's so sweet of you! But we couldn't," Tooru said.

"Not on your special day," Uraraka chirped.

"We'll just divide the cost amongst the rest of us, don't you even worry," Mina added. "Ahh, I'm really feeling up for a good ol' pampering as well. Great idea, Momo!"

Momo's extended hand grew limp, and all thoughts had been wiped clean from her mind.

"Time to live up this day to the max," Kyoka sent her a rather cocky grin as she strolled casually on ahead. Momo stared after her friend, realizing that her friend had planned all of it, on the spot. Somehow, Kyoka had managed to get her pampered on her birthday without shouldering any costs, while getting her ready for whatever that evening had planned, under the ruse of savagely teasing her, all the while keeping her secret safely between the two of them.

Momo would never tell her just then, but Kyoka was absolutely incredible.

---

Todoroki was already at the dorm gates when Momo finally made her way down at 7:15. He was dressed in a simple, navy blue sweater, sleeves bunched up at his elbows, paired with khakis. The young pre-hero was leaned up against the brick wall, staring at both feet firmly planted on the ground, hands tucked into his pockets in a way that appeared aloof, but Momo knew it was to hide that nervous tick he had in his fingers. It took Momo a few moments to realize she'd stopped walking.

"Hi," she said once she had drawn up close to him.

"Hey," he gave her a quick scan with his eyes, and again her heart raced. There was a silent pause where she looked anywhere but at him.

The sun had set not too long ago, and the skies were finally settling into the darkness that was to come. Everything was calm and clear, and the September warmth was beginning to cool, giving way to a rather pleasant evening. Everything about this night was perfect and it was all Momo could do to stop the word 'date' from overriding her thoughts.

"You look..." his voice startled her out of her spiraling nervous attack. Her heart pounded in anticipation. "Different."

This was still Shoto Todoroki, the boy with the social ability of a seven year old and the eloquence of a wall.

"Oh," she breathed in, trying to suppress the flare of disappointment welling up inside, mentally berating herself for it. Hadn't she prepared herself for no expectations? She had come here straight after her day out, convinced that all this would just be a short confrontation (Todoroki liked clearing the air). "Um… it's probably my hair… The girls insisted we do something special..." Still, all things considered, it was actually incredible he had noticed anything at all. Her hair was down in a sleek wave of black rather than its usual up-do, something Kyoka had insisted she try out.

'Just in case you're wrong that it's nothing. Either way, I'm sure lots of people will appreciate it,' she'd said, a glint in her eye.

Immediately, Momo's hand rose to start fiddling with the ends, feeling extremely conscious and out of her depth.

"Yeah," he nodded. "It looks nice."

He was doing it on purpose. There was no other explanation. He knew exactly how much trouble she was having calming herself down, especially looking the way he did, and he knew how out of bounds compliments threw her, so he was being especially confounding today. He wanted her to suffer, wanted to throw her thoughts through a loop and wanted her brain to blow a fuse. Momo decided to just give up trying to calm down her heart.

"You do too," she said, tucking hair behind her ear. That part of the ground where freshly-cut grass met concrete was especially intriguing just then.

Todoroki tilted his head slightly. "Really? I haven't done anything special."

She sighed. Wasn't that the truth; effortlessly handsome. Momo pouted. But before she could get a word in, he was off, walking away in that dignified, confident fashion, and she knew by now to wordlessly follow. But her feet didn't move. Momo stared at his back, feeling lost. He was going somewhere, wanting her to follow? They were going somewhere. He didn't just want to talk. Her nerves only grew more and more erratic.

Momo felt her ears ring, like someone was screaming in her mind, so loud she couldn't hear herself, yelling that if she were around him, something would go horribly wrong, that she would say something and ruin what they had. She would say something she could never take back and he would never look at her again. She would do something and this peaceful friendship would be wrecked, so far beyond recognition. And she would have lost one of the best things that ever happened to her.

This was ridiculous. This was the same old, comforting, calming, fickle, eclectic Todoroki. Why was it that she felt so…out of control?

"Yaoyorozu?"

She jumped, gaze snapping up. Todoroki had stopped a few yards ahead, half turned, his look of confusion just visible in the fading twilight. All the thoughts in her head came rushing forward, and her lips trembled a bit in doubt, as if overloaded, not knowing what words to shape out.

Ah. Right. It was because she'd fallen for him.

With that begrudging thought, finally, she followed.

The distance to the nearest traffic light was only about a hundred feet, and yet it felt so much longer. An uncomfortable, awkward, crushing silence had settled around them, very unlike the usual companionable ones Momo was used to. It bothered her that this was what feelings did. People were always gloating about feelings, and their brilliance, and how everything was heightened and wondrous and magical. She felt like meeting everyone that ever said that and gluing their hands to their mouths; feelings ruined everything.

What added to the already perplexing situation, however, was Todoroki. Previously, whenever she'd remain silent, which wasn't often, he'd usually step in, doing one of two things; either he made light conversation, or he exuded a deep, soothing aura, gently brushing over her frayed nerves or worries, and immediately calmed her to her core. Yes it was a strange gift and yes, that's what she had learned to rely on.

But tonight wasn't that way. For some reason, which did nothing to assuage her anxiety, he was quiet. His body language was tense – not necessarily stressed, but more…focused. Like there was a goal he needed to accomplish, and yet he doubted his ability to carry it through. A muscle pulsed in his cheek, and his eyes darted to and fro on the many lights up ahead, as if he was determined to look nowhere but forward. And the longer she looked at him, curiously…the clearer her mind became. It was like the need to help him and lighten whatever burden he was carrying overpowered any other thought in her brain.

"Um, Todoroki-"

"Yeah?" His reply was immediate, coming out before she had even finished saying the last syllable. His eyes were instantly on her, wildly alert and overly bright, as if ready to cling to whatever she had to say. Almost…desperate, as if he'd been hoping she would break the silence. And suddenly all her thoughts turned to mush once more.

She hated this. Oh how she hated this. It was like someone had erased any semblance of their friendship and instead inserted a hyper-analytical, overly conscious, self-conflicting version of herself, anything close to logic and calm wit wiped from her cortex entirely. Shouldn't liking someone mean wanting to be with them, wanting their undivided attention on you? Wanting to impress him? But his intense concentration focused solely on her was making her panic, bleaching her mind of all and everything.

"So um...are we going somewhere?"

He quite obviously deflated, and Momo felt a distant part of her – the part that knew how to be friends with him – fight the urge to roll her eyes. Looking him in the eye while simultaneously being consoling was simply not possible when her brain's sole mission was wondering if her mouth opened too wide when she talked.

"Obviously," he stated, letting out a soft breath of exasperation. "You think I'd call you out, alone, at 8, to talk?"

Well, when he put it like that... "You've done stranger things," Momo said, hating how quiet she sounded. She was not her mother's daughter, and suddenly, she was so grateful to be visiting home after this (she'd never had a birthday without the Yaoyorozu family going all out). She couldn't wait for her sudden mousy persona to be glared right out of her. "Um... So where are we going?"

"A restaurant."

"For dinner?" she winced as soon as she said it. 'Duh Momo, what else?' But he didn't tease her on it (something he would have done usually, she noted).

"Yeah. You haven't eaten already have you?" he said, and then he shot her a rather worried look, as if whatever she said next would determine everything, and it hit her; he was nervous. Just as much, if not more, than she was.

Somehow, that helped calm her down more than anything else had so far.

Momo smiled, her first genuine one that night. "No."

He gave a small, curt, appraising sort of nod, almost to himself, looking forward again as the light turned green. Another silence fell over them, which allowed Momo to take a moment to wonder what exactly was making Todoroki nervous. Her dilemma was quite straightforward, and the possibility that he was facing similar problems, for the same reasons, seemed improbable at best.

A heartbeat.

She had to know.

"Todoroki?"

"Hm?"

"Why...why are we doing this?"

"Why?" he asked, sounding like she'd lost her mind. "It's your birthday right?"

Momo's heart skipped a beat and she had to remind herself to breathe. Of course that was the reason. Of course it wasn't…of course there wasn't any other reason. She tried desperately to hide the sinking feeling inside, but hiding feelings from your own subconscious wasn't exactly possible. Once again, she had failed to keep her expectations in check. She had tried extensively for over a week and failed.

After she packed away her premature excitement and subsequent disappointment, she realized what he'd said. Her birthday? No, no, no, she'd made it clear that she hadn't minded it at all – in fact, she'd purposefully never brought it up – Todoroki doing something thoughtful for her was the last thing she wanted to feed her feelings. And she'd tried actively to make sure he understood that she didn't think it was his fault in any way.

"Well, yes, but you only found out today-"

"You only told me today."

"Yes, and that's because I didn't want to make a big deal out of it."

He scoffed, and she suddenly felt a flare of irritation swell within. "You don't believe me?"

"Somebody told me girls tend to mean one thing, although they say something completely different."

"Who said that? Sounds like Kaminari. Wait until I tell Kyoka …" When she looked up at him, it was to see him giving her a strange look, like he didn't know what to think. 'Join the club,' she thought flatly. She looked down as she fiddled with her hands, staying quiet for so long that he looked away again.

There was that crushing, smothering silence again. This was so unlike them, and it scared her. Why were they unable to get into that easy-going, normal, stress-free zone they usually found so quickly? A torrent of fear now flooded her mindscape. This was exactly why she hadn't wanted to tell him. He was throwing away a perfect evening on spending time with her, spending money on her, for something as frivolous as a birthday?

This was definitely out of obligation. He had probably spent hours mulling things over, trying to understand social etiquette that already confused him, and he felt like he had a responsibility towards her, or else he'd failed as a person – he was like that, trying too hard to play the good guy sometimes…Momo felt her heart sink.

"Todoroki...?"

"Hm?"

"I'm sorry," she whispered, and she felt him turn, speechless. She couldn't bring herself to look at him just then. Words kept tumbling out of her mouth before he was able to say anything. "I'm sorry if the girls forced you into thinking you had to do anything. That wasn't right. There's no need to celebrate something so trivial-"

"Look me in the eyes."

Momo blinked. "Huh?"

Todoroki had come to a halt, and she turned around, eyes immediately falling from his sweltering ones to his waist, unintentionally tracing the wonderful ways his shirt complimented his frame before falling to the cobblestone underfoot.

"Look me in the eyes and say that."

Okay..?

"There's…" she paused, eyes flicking to the right before snapping back to mismatched ones. "You don't…don't have…" she swallowed thickly, dry throat scratching uncomfortably. She squared her shoulders and peaked at him under lashes. "There's no need…to…"

She tried, she really did. One final time, she took in a deep, stabilizing breath and raised her gaze to meet his. The intensity churning within his irises hit her instantly. It was like she had retracted into that shell Todoroki's brother had thrown her in previously; where self-doubt and inferiority had become the default. It was all too much and her eyes shot to the ground again, fidgeting with the cloth of her dress, that all-too familiar burn sweltering at her cheeks for what felt like the hundredth time that evening.

Todoroki let out a dry huff, like he'd expected nothing less.

"That's why."

He began walking again, leaving her gaping as he overtook her. No. She would not be responsible for the downfall of this relationship, not again. Momo clenched her fists, Todoroki's brother be damned, speeding up to fall into his stride. Her brain worked a little better when he wasn't looking at her, and she rose to her defense. "I just think you troubled yourself for no reason."

"It's no trouble," he said. Then, as an afterthought, "For me, at least."

"You didn't have to do this."

"Well I wanted to."

"But it was unnecessary."

"I don't care."

"Todoroki-"

He sighed, coming to a stop as they reached the red light, his eyes focused on glowing lights overhead. It was as if he was frustrated he had to spell it out. "I can't change the past, but at least I can keep trying for the present."

'Huh?' There was a pause, and then her face split in a lopsided smile. "Was that supposed to be an explanation?" she asked, holding back a laugh. "That's so cheesy."

He grunted lightly, but something on his face told her he wasn't as angry as he put on. "Just let me try and fix this, alright?"

Momo blinked, following him as he walked on the zebra crossing as the lights turned green. "…Fix?"

"Yeah," he said, and in a sudden burst of emotion, he stopped right there, mid-crossing. "I'm going to make you forget whatever it is I've done to get things this bad."

"'Bad'…?" Momo breathed. "That's-…I wouldn't call this …bad…" She felt her throat clam up even as she said it, as some internal pressure cut off any form of speech. She'd been distant, sure, but she wouldn't have thought he would take it so far. Momo suddenly realized that distancing herself had somehow…hurt him. The insecurity and self-loathing were back.

"Oh?" His eyes were slightly cold as he faced her. "Then explain this; you haven't been able to hold normal eye contact for weeks. You leave the room as quickly as possible. I don't think you've started a conversation of your own free will in days." And then he wasn't looking at her. "I'm not blind."

Momo could have snorted with irony if she wasn't busy berating herself, searching for some solution to this. She took a deep, mental breath, ready to start the analysis from the beginning of this internal - and apparently external - mess.

Recently, being with him had become rather strange for her. Whenever Todoroki was around, she found herself double-thinking everything before it left her mouth. She had begun caring about what she looked like more than usual. She spent so long staring at herself in the mirror or fiddling with her hair, making sure it was presentable before going out in front of him, that she was sure others would start thinking of her as vain, which was a far cry from the nervous wreck she actually was inside.

Feelings that she was still getting a grip on were clouding her judgement, erasing every reason Todoroki had appreciated their friendship. She spent so long worrying about when she'd trip up and make a fool of herself that she realized Todoroki was starting to notice her sudden changes. And after so painstakingly building a respectable reputation in his eyes, this was something Momo could not allow.

So to maintain whatever dignity she had left, Momo decided to take the coward's solution – avoid him entirely. And quite ironically, he had mistaken all this for anger, at him no less. And while she didn't want him to think she was mad at him, especially when it was quite literally the opposite, she couldn't possibly tell him the real reason either.

Of course, she should have learned from the first time she tried that; avoiding him was not something Todoroki took kindly to. In fact, this was beginning to become a pattern - she distanced herself and, almost out of spite, he shoved his existence back in her face.

Momo felt herself smile.

He cared.

How did she keep forgetting that? It was rather adorable – like a child throwing a tantrum. And right then and there, she found a new approach, one that filled her heart with ease for the first time in almost a month. Most of her bashfulness and avoidance came from the idea that since this revelation dawned itself that it meant everything had changed. To her, as a first and only child, change wasn't something she was used to, and it almost always meant something bad. So she had tried hiding it all away, distancing herself, denying the feelings, forcing herself to act like they weren't there, trying to act like herself on purpose; a much more difficult thing to do when one actively trying to force it.

No, from now on, she'd embrace these feelings. If she wanted to look at him, she would, and if she wanted to make him laugh she would, if she wanted to be sappy she would, and if she wanted to admire everything that he made her aspire to be, she freaking would. This realization was so opening, so freeing, so exciting, and she couldn't believe-

Cars honked at them, making both teens jump. The timer had run out and they both jogged to the other side. Momo grinned. She couldn't believe it had taken him pouting about not looking him in the eyes while in the middle of a crosswalk for her to realize this. She raised her hand to her face, shielding herself from view as she burst into quiet giggles. It was after the laughter had faded, and she looked at him over the top of her hand, that she saw the rather bewildered look on his face and decided to indulge him a bit.

"I did it again, didn't I?" she said finally, lowering her hand to smile at him fondly. "Forced you to dance along to the rhythm of my selfish whims."

Todoroki looked utterly bemused at her abstract choice of words, glaring at her dryly, waiting for her to explain. She walked right up to him, staring firmly into those strange eyes of his.

"I made you feel like you were responsible for something that was purely internal, which is ridiculous. All you've ever been to me is wonderful. I won't do it again, not willingly. You deserve better, Todoroki, and I'm sorry."

He looked at her like her lower jaw had spontaneously fallen off her face. It was a rare display of something akin to bewilderment and it soothed her down to her soul. It was incredible how ridiculous an idea ignoring him now seemed to her. Talking to him was incredibly satisfying, and discovering the different words that would elicit all these different expressions – especially the confused kind – was the icing on the cake.

This was what being with him meant. Momo could have stayed there, on that peaceful street all evening, soaking him in, imprinting him to memory as he watched her like she was all there was in the world.

"Well come on," she said, ripping her eyes from his, feeling more in control of herself again, for the first time in over a month. "I want to eat."

When Todoroki finally caught up to her - clearly trying to gauge what exactly her reaction meant - it was while she waited for the next pedestrian light to turn green. There was a slight pause, and she could practically see the gears whirring in his head as he tried finding the words.

"You..." his eyebrows were knotted in confusion as he visibly struggled for a choice of words. "…I don't understand you."

"Oh?" Momo said happily, hands clasped behind her back, rocking slightly on her feet. "I think you understand me pretty well."

"I'd beg to differ," he muttered, running a hand through his hair. Momo only now realized just how transfixing that simple movement was. Crimson and white were swept off his forehead, silky strands threading together in controlled chaos only to sprinkle back down, fluffed up over his eyes.

Momo looked away, before he could catch her staring. She grinned to herself rather wistfully. This wouldn't last for too long, this happiness of just being friends. But sneaking around without him knowing was exhilarating in its own way. So for now this wonderful friendship they'd built was enough,

There was a peaceful lull in conversation, the first peaceful one of the night, as they both watched the digital numbers count down.

"Regardless," he said finally, firmly, as if he'd come to some sort of internal conclusion. "I apologize for not paying more attention. But I'm going to try and fix it." This was a change she'd noticed since the end of term exams; he apologized more.

"Sure Todoroki. Okay."

He huffed. "At least try sounding sincere."

"I can't if there's no premise behind it."

He kicked idly at the pavement. "You're basically saying this entire evening was planned for nothing."

She grinned. "That's exactly what I'm saying."

Todoroki frowned, and it looked so much like a pout that she couldn't help but laugh. "Vexing woman," he grumbled.

"Hey, that's not something you tell someone on their birthday." The light finally turned green and they continued walking, him lagging a step behind. "Or ever, really."

Momo heard him give a heavy sigh. "I feel like… I've lost."

"Isn't that always the case?"

"Only with you."

Momo pulled a triumphant expression, turning to face him as he smirked lightly back. This was strange. It felt like she was flirting with him, and he was going along with it.

He continued. "You always make everything far more complicated. While simultaneously making everyone else feel like a fool for not thinking as much."

"Don't make me sound like some sort of drama queen."

He straightened up, snapping his fingers, not a trace of a smile on his lips. "Yes, that's it. You're a drama queen."

She glared at him. "I resent that."

There was that smirk. "Drama queen."

Momo wiggled her fingers threateningly at him. Todoroki quirked an eyebrow. She leaned inwards, fingers ready to graze his flanks and instantly, a wall of ice erupted between them.

"I was wondering when you'd try exploiting... that." His smirk had widened, peering at her complacently from over the wall.

She rolled her eyes. "I give up." She stared at him as he continued walking. "Are you just going to leave this giant iceberg here, in the middle of the street?"

"If I melted it now, I'd probably burn my clothes," he said over his shoulder. "It's summer. It'll melt eventually."

"Laziness isn't a virtue."

"And yet, it gets the job done just fine."

"You vexing boy."

Todoroki give a breathy laugh. "You've been itching to use that, haven't you?"

"And then you say you don't get me."

A rather strange silence fell over them, one where the both of them just smiled to themselves for no real reason, quietly walking side by side. This was the silence she remembered; a silence where her heart was beating erratically and yet she felt perfectly at ease, where there was no pressure, and it existed because they preferred it. It was like she felt invigorated and full of life, like she could run for miles on end, laughing the entire way. Just then, there was nowhere else she'd rather be.

It was at the corner of the next block where she bumped into him, his shirt acting as soft cushioning for her nose, and she got a whiff of a gentle scent, cedar wood- no, sandalwood…and vanilla, perhaps. He turned, and she backed up slightly, but gently, Todoroki grabbed her shoulder, steering her in another direction.

"This way," he said softly. There was a silence as she continued trying to figure out what that scent was (cardamom? Maybe nutmeg) when Todoroki spoke up again.

"Something interesting happened."

"Oh?" Damn that smell was good.

"It happened quite a while ago now."

"Right."

"I wanted to tell you, but of course, you were avoiding me-"

"Todorokiii," she growled.

He ignored her. "I received an email of apology. Something about jumping to conclusions before having all the facts and that he'd misunderstood me, and that he'd look forward to my next battle."

"That's nice," she chirped, not a clue as to why he was telling her this, but happy he was nonetheless, enjoying the sound of his voice. She had to learn to let him speak more.

"Sound familiar?" he asked and she blinked.

"Was it supposed to?"

"Funny."

"I'm serious, Todoroki."

He turned his head fully to give her a disbelieving look. "You don't remember?"

"No. Remember what?"

"You're being serious?"

"Yes!"

For the life of her she couldn't, and that seemed to boggle his mind.

They had arrived at the riverside, a sight she rarely got to see. Living on the other side of the city, in the complete opposite direction, meant everything they were currently passing were sights she'd never seen before. She knew the river existed, and she crossed over it whenever she took the train downtown, but had never seen it up close. It should have transfixed her, and she should be mentally taking notes, but Momo found herself occupied by other things.

"Tell me! What am I supposed to be remembering?"

To her surprise and utter chagrin, he just grinned. "Unbelievable... "

"What?" she asked, as he remained elusively quiet. "Todoroki! What are you talking about?" Momo found herself turning around as he lagged behind, walking down the slope towards the water, which he was now staring at, apparently lost in thought. "Todoroki?"

"I forgot about the river."

Momo stared at him. Then she looked down at the river. Then she looked back at him. "You forgot?"

He gave a rather irritated huff, which stirred up his bangs. "I usually take the route from home. The dorms are on the opposite side."

"So you're saying," Momo looked at him. "That where we have to go is on the other side."

"Yeah."

"Across the river?"

"Yes."

There was a silence. "Honestly didn't expect this kind of oversight from you, Todoroki."

No sooner had the words left her mouth than a giant wave of ice catapulted forward, forming a flat bridge of sparkling, frosted wonder. The impromptu walkway lay on the surface of the river, probably having frozen a good few feet under water, as well as rising a good two feet above. It was with a start that she realized he was waiting for her to cross. Her eyes lit up with wonder.

"Is it safe?"

She flinched as he gave two large, heavy stomps on the ice. It didn't budge. Todoroki turned to give her a thumbs up. Momo grinned, and then walked forwards, silently counting her lucky stars she'd chosen to wear her more practical boots over the heels Kyoka had been pressuring her into.

The ice wasn't made in a smooth layer, instead the natural bumps and dents of Todoroki's quirk were present throughout, and although this made for a rather rugged terrain, it also made slipping not too much of an issue. But still Momo paused, one foot on the ice, watching the dark water rush beneath it, and trepidation started sinking in. The river itself was almost fifty feet across, and the rate at which it was flowing underfoot was nothing to sneeze at.

"Do you want me to go first?"

Todoroki's voice came in from behind her, and she swallowed, doing her best to build the courage. But when she took too long to answer, he stepped forward. "Hold on to me. I should have made it wider. Sorry."

She mutely shook her head, and as he began trekking across, she placed a hand on his right shoulder, which she dimly noted felt rather cold. Her head faced down, staring at her feet, Momo focused intently on her next step and finding a secure footing. Todoroki was moving at the perfect pace, not slow enough to be condescending and just fast enough to make her get over any doubts or fears at taking next step. It was once they were halfway across and she had gotten into the rhythm and discovered an easy way to walk (placing the side of the shoe down first), that Momo finally looked up.

The sight took her breath away.

There weren't any lights anywhere close to the river, and this meant the reflection of the moon on the rippling surface seemed even brighter, glowing on the dark, rippling waters like a silvery ball. The sounds of the river had flooded her ears, and without the fear of drowning, rather than ominous, it instead sounded like a gentle hum, full of life, and incredibly soothing, and Momo couldn't even fathom having ever been scared. Like that summer night after the movie. And once again, she realized, this rather soft-spoken, headstrong boy had opened her eyes to something incredible.

"Todoroki..." her voice came out as a breathy sigh, upturned in wonder.

He had already paused, having felt her stop, and at her calling his name, he turned into her slightly, in an attempt to see what had caught her attention. Without realizing it, she had leaned into him as well, her cheek almost pressed up against his left shoulder. Her hand was pressing lightly on the inside of his elbow, as if she had been halfway through telling him he should also see this, but forgot in the process, still hypnotized by the improbability of it all. Natural body heat gently cascaded into her, warming her up in ways she didn't know she needed.

"Todoroki?"

"Hm?"

His reply seemed distant, like he wasn't really listening, and it rung clearly in her ear, the loudest his voice had ever been, due to it rumbling through his chest and his lips being hardly a few inches from her ear.

"Isn't that a bridge?"

She pointed forwards, and sure enough, there in the distance, still a good two or three blocks upstream, lay a bridge.

"So it is," He replied.

Momo left out snort of laughter, jabbing him softly in the flank and he instantly twitched, giving a reflexive laugh before shuffling a good four feet away. His eyes snapped up, shooting her an unhappy, questioning look at the unwanted tickle. The warmth that he'd been radiating was instantly replaced by the cool breeze and Momo found herself regretting her actions slightly.

"Not firing on all cylinders today are we?" she teased.

He huffed, "I just thought this was faster." He was obviously covering up his embarrassment. Then again, it was entirely possible he was telling the truth as well. One could never tell with Todoroki, fickle as he could be.

She decided he'd been antagonized enough for one night. "I prefer this anyway," she said. "It's really beautiful." He nodded in her peripheral vision, and a thought dawned on her. "Was this part of it? For what you had planned tonight?"

Todoroki opened his mouth, but then a thought seemed to cross his mind and he closed it again, a small, knowing smile on his face. All he offered was a vague shrug, after which he turned around. She sighed, knowing that was probably all she'd get out of him. Momo spent the rest of the trek herself, glancing at the rippling reflection of the moon every now and then. She finally made it across and took a moment to appreciate the scene some more. So transfixed was she that Momo could hardly contain her jump at the sudden loud burst of flames.

She whirled around to see Todoroki's left side alight with fire, flexing his right shoulder as if testing out newly oiled hinges.

And he was shirtless.

Momo whirled around, back to the spectacle, face blazing like it had been burnt. Then she blinked, watching as he directed a blast at the crossing they'd just made, melting the crystalline bridge from existence. It was bewitching in an entirely different way; a column of raw, fiery power hit the icy runway, waves of rippling air contorting the opalescent white, glistening as it melted away, and gently hissing as steam cascaded in large twirling rivulets up into the darkness of the sky.

"So that no one tries crossing it when it's thinned down," Todoroki explained once he put out the flames and had pulled his shirt on again. "I also used too much of my right side; my joints were getting stiff."

There wasn't much she could say just then, cheeks still flushed, still unable to look at him. "R-Right..."

Todoroki suddenly appeared in front of her, blocking her view. Momo looked up at him only to notice his eyes were glinting in an odd way she hadn't seen before and he looked very much like he wanted to say something. He was wearing a rather insufferable smirk; a rather self-satisfied, knowing look, and suddenly a feeling of dread dawned on her.

He knew.

He knew why she had turned away from him. And if he knew that, it wasn't a long trip before he pieced other things together. However, before her panic could fully take root, he motioned onwards, his smirk not fading in the slightest.

"Shall we?"

Momo simply nodded.

---

"Yaoyorozu, explain to me something."

"Alright."

They'd been walking for a good five minutes now and they'd been talking throughout. They were heading towards a single, not-so-small single story building. It was probably where Todoroki had planned dinner, and it was still a bit of a walk away. Surprisingly enough, it was mostly Todoroki, as if he was unloading weeks worth of pent up conversations all at once and Momo wondered if she'd perhaps been underestimating just how much he enjoyed their little talks. Either that, or after one crossed a certain line with the half-n-half hero, he just opened up. Nevertheless, Momo felt satisfied that he was coming out of his shell.

"This morning, Mineta told me that you weren't angry at me."

"Oh? You two discuss me now, do you?"

He ignored her. "Obviously I didn't agree."

"I bet you made that clear to him as well."

He hummed in agreement. "When I asked him to explain himself," Momo felt herself roll her eyes, sure that when he said 'asked' it was probably more of a command, with no room for denial. "He refused. He said something about being my…rival." Todoroki looked absolutely sullen about being linked to the little bubble boy at all.

So Mineta knew. Clearly her attempts at trying to hide any new feelings had made it only more obvious. Even Kyoka hadn't been surprised. Well, that lesson had been learned.

"He was able to tell you weren't mad when I couldn't. Why?"

Momo felt a small smile pull at her lips, not entirely sure how to answer but before she could delve further into it, her ringtone started blaring.

"It's my mother," she said, and a chill suddenly shivered down her spine. "I was supposed to call her that I'd be home late. Ohh, this isn't good."

"It's your birthday, I'm sure she'll let this one go," Todoroki offered.

Momo grimaced. "Not my mother. I suppose the analogy of her as a mother could essentially be Endeavor as a father."

Todoroki crossed his arms, his eyes narrowed. "I highly doubt that."

She raised her hand in apology. "Sorry, I'm going to have to take this." Momo walked a few feet ahead, putting the phone to her ear. "Hello mother. I'm so sorry I forgot to call, it completely slipped my mind."

"Momo, listen," her mother's voice cut across in typical crisp command. "You're not to come home today."

Momo frowned, her mind immediately speeding up, alert and hanging onto every syllable coming out of her mother's mouth. "What? Are you okay? Are you in trouble? I have heroes as colleagues mother, just say the word-"

"No, no, nothing of that sort, Sweetheart." 'Sweetheart'? "There's just a lot of lawyers here right now, and your father doesn't want you involved."

Lawyers? Why would they need lawyers when her mother was one? And her father was involved?

Suddenly, it pieced together and everything faded, and she suddenly felt far, far away, no longer hearing her mother's voice, hearing nothing as cold buckets of ice fell into her gut. Her heart pounded against her ribcage and she could hardly breathe.

There really was only one explanation. And if she was right, it was her fault. If her family fell apart, torn into pieces, it would be her fault.

"It would be best if you didn't come home this weekend actually. Perhaps not until I say so."

Momo felt herself tremble. Her mind raced. She couldn't let this happen. It was her, Momo, who had suggested they take their bickering and throw it out the window. That if they couldn't work it out, they should give up. It has her fault, and to have this guilt grind and gnash inside of her…there was no way she'd be able to live with it, with the knowledge that the seed she had planted had grown, sprouted and thrived through the cracks, pushing them apart and collapsing everything she had ever known.

"I'm coming home," she breathed.

"Are you not listening, Momo? You are not to come home."

"What? Of course I am."

Todoroki was looking at her; she could feel his eyes boring into her, lapping up every word trying to piece together what was happening, but Momo couldn't bring herself to care.

"There is nothing you can add to the situation, since this has nothing to do with you."

And suddenly, a flare of anger surged within her. Her mother had always been heartless – detached, cold, calculating, any kindness few and far between – and Momo was used to it. It was always why she had looked up to her father, and why she did her best to mimic his patience, his gentleness, his kindness, and it was always why she had known her parents worked well for each other, for how extraordinarily opposite to the other they were, and how well they worked around the other's shortcomings. She had known that they'd last, and that there did exist hope in this world. They were her parents, her family, and that concept may have been rather murky in her mother's mind, but there was no way she was cold enough to keep Momo from her own family.

"This has everything to do with me," she felt herself yell in a surge of hopeless frustration. And of course, her mother picked up on it, as always.

"Momo," came the clipped reply. "Are you PMS-ing?"

Momo felt a growl rip her throat. "What's astonishing me is how you think I don't have the right to be there. You're my parents!"

She felt her breath catch as it became clear her mother was no longer listening; she could hear her formal tone across the line as she addressed someone else, hazy and muffled, probably covering the microphone with her hand. She had officially put her own daughter on secondary priority.

Never before had Momo felt such a dizzying array of emotions. It was like a punch to the gut – by her own mother. Like she'd been kicked away, shunned and discarded, like she'd never been enough of a part of the family to have any say in whether or not it stayed together. Momo could feel herself shaking, but she had no idea how to stop.

"Momo," her mother was back. "I have to go. Listen, everything is fine. It will be alright, don't worry. We'll celebrate on your next free weekend. But do not come home tonight, please. If you do, you won't be let in. I'll talk to you later, Honey."

"Mother-"

But her only answer was the dial tone. She stared at the screen for so long it turned off, and she continued staring even past that. Suddenly, the weight of the world was back, the sounds of horns, the bark of a dog, the whistle of the wind; everything grated on her ears. She felt suffocated. She was not supposed to be here.

There was a crunch of dry grass behind her and she remembered. The person who had always made everything better was right there, with her, possibly when she most needed everything to be better. But just then, she wanted nothing to do with him. The silence was thick, and heavy, and it stuck to her like leeches, sucking out her energy, sucking out her ability to focus on anything.

"Yaoyor-"

"I don't want to talk about it."

It would have been snappish were her voice not coming out in harsh whispers. She hated herself just then, because she realized she had ruined everything he had so wonderfully thought out and she was ruining everything like a slap in the face and she did want to talk about it, with him, but she wasn't able to do that. And she hated herself for not being able to help it.

She stood there shaking with raw overflowing emotion, and she remained that way for so long, just trying to regulate her breathing, back as rigidly straight and posture-perfect as always, eyes glassed over, mind a million miles away.

It was a gentle touch that brought Momo back. Blinking, she looked over to see Todoroki resting a hand on her shaking shoulders. He wasn't looking at her and was letting her have her silence, although his curiosity and concern were apparent through the way he furrowed his eyebrows and thinned his lips. She watched him for a while, eyes thoughtlessly transfixed on his mouth, drinking him in, his touch and presence having a strange, calming effect on her.

Then he stepped away, and his hand left her shoulder, leaving her colder than she'd been before.

Suddenly, she was angry all over again.

"We…" he paused, and it was probably the first time she'd ever seen hesitation on his face. "…Do you still-"

"Todo…ki," her voice cracked as she interrupted him. "I…need to be alone…"

He said nothing, and his silence made her feel worse, and that only made her angrier.

Instead, he began walking away (where are you going), and then walked back (don't leave me alone) before stopping, and walking away again, proceeding to pace in front of her. Back and forth and back and forth, yanking at her heart with every movement. She sighed irritably, bringing her arms up to rest her head on her hand. He was mumbling to himself inaudibly, running a hand through his hair. There was a pause, and she drew in some relief at the quiet, focusing on the sound of her own heartbeat.

"Yaoyorozu-"

"Todoroki, please." she snapped, voice low and listless. "Just... go."

(Don't go.)

He stared at her, and she could tell by how quiet he'd gotten, probably waiting for some sort of instruction, and that irked her to no end.

"Todoroki," she said, sharp and clear. "Leave me alone."

For a moment he didn't move, and she felt her heart swell in hope. He was staying.

"Alright. But you wait here."

And then he turned, and as the only thing holding her heart together left, the overwhelming silence bore down on her, thoughts covering her like a smothering quilt. It was over. Her life as she had known it was over. She had thought that maybe with her out of the house, with no distractions, her parents would maybe be able to work out their differences, and things would just be normal again.

She felt cold and alone and so very sad. All Momo wanted was someone to tell her things would work out. She wanted someone to stay by her side, unmoving and unwavering.

She wanted a hug.

The cold air surfaced goosebumps along her arms, and the beginning of tears pricked at her eyes. In a rush of indignation at her own weakness she straightened up, blinking rapidly; Todoroki had told her to wait so that's exactly what she wouldn't do.

Momo walked away, the summer air drying her eyes as she kept them open, stopping from blinking the tears down her cheeks. She didn't have a destination; all she knew was that if she kept putting her right foot in front of her left, eventually she would put enough distance between her and everything else. Her parents could get their divorce. She wouldn't go through the idiocrasy of choosing between them either. They had dorms now, and when they graduated she'd be able to support herself anyway.

She didn't need her father's warm hugs. He was rarely there to give them anyway. She didn't need her mother to check in on her all the time. She was independent. She didn't need her father's praise or her mother's support or their smothering rough-edged love.

She didn't need any of it.

Momo sniffled, pausing a moment as the gentle breeze cooled her face. Maybe she should go home. Her mother wouldn't let her in, but at least she'd be near them. If anyone left the house, she'd hound them until they told her what happened, client confidentiality be darned. But before she went anywhere, she had to wipe her face clean of any emotion.

Momo finally blinked, tears barely clinging to her lashes, the moisture clouding her vision, her peripheral only a rough swarm of dull color and yet through it, she realized she'd reached the bridge over the river, the one they'd seen from Todoroki's bridge of glass. She climbed up the stairs, walking towards the railing to peer over the side as a single car whizzed past, losing herself in the thriving water. It looked so dark now, and bottomless, like if one were to fall in, they'd be lost forever.

She stepped up, using the rails as a ladder, the toe of her shoes peeking over the bars. Here she stood taller than ever before. The wind lapped at her clothes and whipped her hair, her arms dangling by her sides, and if Momo angled herself just the right way, it was like she was hovering, flying; weightless. The water was pitch black, and it was the scariest thing she had seen and she wondered how something so scary when she was alone could have seemed so beautiful when she was with Todoroki.

No sooner had the thought passed through her head than she felt a strong grip clamp around her arm and yank her back.

"What the hell, Yaoyorozu?!"

He was back, just like he always was. Like a boomerang; the farther she tried to fling him away the harder he hit when he came barreling back. She fell into his arms, steady and strong, pushing her upright.

"I told you to wait! What are you doing here?" he was holding her by both shoulders now, voice loud like she'd never heard it before. "Why would you even be here? Nothing can ever be worth..."

And then he trailed off, and she watched, through watery eyes still brimming with tears, through the broken kaleidoscope of shapes and colors, as he gave her the most heart-wrenching look she'd seen him give. Like if something happened to her, something would happen to him too.

If she wasn't sure how she felt about him before, she was now.

Todoroki swallowed, licking his lips and then opened his mouth again. "As long as your parents are alive, you owe it to them to stay alive as well. Nothing else matters. In fact no. Even if they died," she breathed in sharply at the thought. He pushed on, "You'd still owe it to everyone else to stay alive."

He thought she was going to kill herself. She could have laughed; the innocence of him. Of course, maybe with the look currently donning her face, that wasn't such a farfetched idea. Momo blinked. Suddenly, she felt Todoroki wipe his thumb across her cheek, leaving a burning, tingling track in its wake, and only then did she realize her first tear had fallen.

It was like a dam broke.

Momo choked back a sob, and instantly clamped a hand over her mouth in an attempt at stifling it, eyebrows scrunching up, eyes overly bright as months of pent up emotions came tumbling out. She was intensely aware of wide, mismatched eyes, staring in bewildered panic, and the need to not be seen looking so broken blared through her. So she leaned into Todoroki's shoulder, the only place she could hide herself from that intensely caring gaze.

Her forehead pressed into his collar bone, their only point of contact, elbows drawn tightly into her chest, hands still smothering her mouth. Her eyes were wide open and unfocused, blinking dimly at the ground, feeling warm tears roll down her nose to the damp grass underfoot. Another sob wracked her body, and she wondered how she would ever stop.

But then she felt him rest his cheek against the side of her head, and his arm wound tightly around her, pulling her even closer. Her face pressed into his shirt and tears slowly began staining the cloth in large, dark blotches. A small light glowed for half a second as a napkin was created in the palm of her hand. She held it to her face so as not to turn him into a soaked rag by the end of it. Now coated in warmth, held securely in his arms, full of the compassion, finally gettingn the hug she had been craving, any self-control she had was thrown into the flowing river meters below.

Todoroki frowned. There was something innately wrong about the entire scene.

He had never seen her cry like this before. Yaoyorozu was not one to be found with blotched, damp cheeks, shoulders wracking with breathless, shuddering sobs. He didn't know if she had been putting up a faux front of strength up until now, but regardless, his impression of her had been one of infallible mental fortitude, whose intelligence was to be revered and admired – anyone who didn't was a damned fool.

But he wouldn't let anyone, himself included, doubt the person he knew she was because of a low moment. The idea of anyone else but him seeing her this way made him only tighten his hold around her surprisingly slender frame, and he was grateful there were very hardly any cars on the bridge tonight.

Crying girls were outside his experience range, however, and he had no idea where to go from here.

Her body shook with another attack of hiccups, and he glowered. Every hiccup, every stifled cry wrenched at his heart in ways he didn't really understand. But what he did know was how badly he wanted to help her. How badly he wanted to take the cause of her tears and rip it to shreds.

But, he supposed, parent issues were something he at least had some experience on.

"I was almost six when they took my mother away," Todoroki found himself saying quietly, after her hiccups had decreased and her sobs had quietened down enough for him to be heard.

"I remember that night incredibly clearly. It felt like my whole world had collapsed. I was certain there would be no future without her. There were many times where I questioned just what my life meant, and why I had to bother at all anymore. I was quite the morbid kindergartner," he let out a huff of joyless laughter. Yaoyorozu had quieted down, the odd hiccup still shaking her shoulder as she listened silently, her head now turned to rest perfectly in the crook of his neck, one of her arms pushed between them.

"I must have gone…2 months, without speaking to anybody? And after that, hardly more than a few words…But here I am, still alive, with a future most would say is quite bright, speaking to far more people I could ever have imagined, with goals I can stand up for with pride. It's something my younger self would have never thought possible. It's probably only possible because of all that happened. Of course, everyone needs support, and I had my sister, mostly…

"My parents haven't met since that day. And yet, even without them…I turned out alright, I suppose…"

"Why was your mother taken away?" her voice resonated through his chest as she spoke, thick with tears and hoarse from hiccupping. Shoto's fingers tightened their grip around her subconsciously.

"Because she scarred me."

Yaoyorozu disentangled herself from his arms, pushing up from his shoulders, to give him an aghast, horrified stare. Her eyes were made to look all the more appalled by the rim of redness and sheen of tears. "Your mother…?" she whispered, and Todoroki felt his eyes leave hers, intimidated by the searching way in which her dark, bright irises searched his. "I always thought-"

"That it was my father. Yeah, most people do," he watched the lights flicker off the surface of the water. "One of the last memories I have of her at home is her yelling 'Shoto, it's not my fault. It was your father. If only he wasn't the devil'…" he trailed off, the reality in front of his eyes replaced by something else entirely, playing a scene from a different time.

But Yaoyorozu's whisper brought his gaze back to her. "So, when you go to visit your mother…in the hospital…"

"Psyche ward," he confirmed quietly. The hand that was still resting on his shoulder curled to grip on his shirt. Probably a subconscious action. Yaoyorozu was probably bursting with things she wanted to ask, to unleash the many opinions she almost certainly had; he wouldn't blame her. She was inquisitive by nature and thrived on learning and understanding.

Yet, as the moments ticked by, she never asked him anything. A swelling erupted in his chest. "But it's fine," Todoroki continued. "We've talked past it. It took me 10 years to muster up the courage to see her…but she's my mother. She's important to me."

Yaoyorozu nodded earnestly, and that's all she said, or didn't say, her teeth clamped shut together, quietly understanding that he wouldn't accept words against his mother. He was grateful.

"But my point is," he looked at her intently, trying to steer back the conversation to her. "That you are lucky, Yaoyorozu." She blinked at the sudden statement. "You've had parents who cared for you all your life – who still care for you – and nothing will change that. Trust me on this. If my mother can still feel like my mother, then I can assure you, so will yours."

Her eyes became extra bright, and she began blinking furiously, quickly averting her gaze to the ground. "Yaoyorozu," he gently bent down to look her in the face. "You'll be fine."

A single tear rolled down her cheek, and she hurriedly wiped it away, looking almost annoyed at herself. Then she nodded. Todoroki felt himself smile ever so gently.

"Now, as memorable as this has been," he said, straightening. "It's not quite the night I had planned." She managed a small show of teeth as she smiled. Encouraged, he continued. "So let's go." He began making his way down the stairs of the bridge, expecting her to follow.

"Todoroki," he paused as she called out to him. When she didn't continue, he looked up, and for a moment.

Nighttime was really when she was at her maximum glory. The moon poured off her creamy skin, streaking her hair silver, deepening the black and giving her a glow like some otherworldly being. The delicate, hardly existent breeze was enough to caress the silky strands, flitting them into her eyes. She didn't bother tucking them behind her ear, and Todoroki found he didn't care either, because at that moment, everything was in the way she was looking at him.

"Thank you," she said, her red-rimmed, puffy eyes and flushed skin making her earnest look even more sincere. "For sharing that with me."

He didn't know what it was; he could honestly say he'd never seen anyone wear that expression, and it scared him for how intense it was, and for some reason, he felt heat crawling up his neck. But it was hypnotizing as well. He may not be able to read it, but Todoroki knew that if she looked at him like that, he could do anything. Anything for her.

"Thank you," she repeated.

He nodded mutely, suddenly unable to swallow. She walked down, her eyes never once leaving his. "Thank you." She stepped up, stopping just in front of him. "Thank you."

He blinked. "Yao-"

Then, her stomach growled.

A snort bubbled its way out of his throat as she covered her face with her hands in embarrassment. Smiling, he raised his arm towards her, offering her his hand. She took it, palm sliding perfectly into his. Her fingers interwove with his, so smooth an action it had to be subconscious, and Shouto was sure that, despite the secrets he had shared, despite how her sadness tugged at him, this was the most content he had ever been.

---

The walk back was quiet, both lost in their own worlds.

Todoroki idly thanked whatever forces existed for having offered his right hand to her instead of his left. Where he was still managing to maintain the temperature in his right to what he hoped would be pleasant enough, his left was a mess of sweat and clamminess, stuffed deep in his pocket, hidden from the world.

The restaurant finally appeared, lit up in a moderately sized clearing, surrounded by grass and trees. Endless windows ran around the walls, breaking only where the door lead into the building, orange glow lighting up the surroundings in rays of warmth. Just before they entered its periphery, Todoroki felt a tug. Turning he saw Yaoyorozu eyeing the building uncertainly.

"Wait… there's people in there," she said, voice low, puffy eyes fixed onto the large glass windows putting up the whole inside on display. Todoroki didn't immediately answer. He hadn't expected her mood to be this thrown when he'd made these plans.

"H-How do I look?" she asked, probably sensing that he wanted to enter.

The first thought through his mind was 'beautiful'. Of course, that was also a word she would probably not take seriously, since post-crying faces tended to not be the stereotypical billboard picture of beautiful, so perhaps 'perfect'? No, but then she would argue that nobody was perfect, so maybe he'd instead say 'lovely'. Or if she-

"Does it look like I've been crying?"

'Oh.'

He studied her for a while, and she looked meekly back.

"I think people will just think its allergies," he stated. Yaoyorozu looked like she was ready to argue, so he quickly cut her off. "But we don't have to go inside." She blinked in surprise. "I'll be right back."

Momo watched as he entered the heavy brass doors, and blinked in surprise as golden sprinkles of confetti fell from the ceiling. Was that how this restaurant welcomed all their guests? Momo wondered why Todoroki would choose this place then, since being forced into the center of attention in such a flashy and unnecessary way seemed so far from his comfort zone.

But as she looked closer she saw him raise his right hand to ruffle the confetti off his head while – she took a small step forward, just shy of the boundary of light the restaurant was throwing out, eyes squinting in an attempt to see better – his left arm lifted and waved people off, almost hurriedly. Well that made sense; he would obviously shake off anything that frivolous (of course, why he'd come back here after experiencing this before confused her). He walked straight to the main counter, talking to a lady with a shock of white hair.

Momo leaned forward in an attempt to see better, as the lady he was talking to stood up and looked, what seemed like, straight at her. Momo squinted. No… wait, she was looking straight at her. Without thinking, her heart leaping into her throat, Momo whirled around, her back now to the establishment. That was Todoroki's sister.

Things started piecing together. This was his sister's restaurant, which Todoroki had mentioned to her some months ago. That explained why he was willing to come here, to put up with the confetti – although that still didn't make too much sense. Greeting every guest like that? Momo distractedly wondered if that sushi platter had been put on the menu.

Then it hit her that Fuyumi had been looking right at her, and she'd just turned around. Momo felt her temperature drop; she must have seemed so rude. Momo turned meekly back around, seeing Todoroki now leaning against the front area, facing towards her; Fuyumi had disappeared somewhere. She waved at the boy, but he didn't respond. She frowned; lost in thought perhaps. She waved harder. Still nothing. Maybe she wasn't visible from the outside? Her heart danced with relief.

A couple of minutes later, Todoroki was back, carrying a bag of what had to be food. Momo's stomach gave a low growl.

"Let's go," he said, and in classic Todoroki style, walked right on expecting her to follow.

"Wait, Todoroki," Momo quickly joined him. "That was Fuyumi." He nodded in affirmation. "Well I didn't say hi or anything, she'll think I was being rude."

"No I explained the situation," he said.

Momo blinked, "Oh," she said, looking down, not sure how to process this.

"I didn't give her details," Todoroki continued, shooting her a quick glance. "Just that we felt like eating by the river."

That sentence held so many different points she wanted to touch on she didn't know where to even start. So she continued as if he'd said nothing. "But even more so, she'd wonder why I didn't at least come in to say hello."

"I told her you were still at the river," he said.

It still blew her mind knowing how considerate Todoroki could be. "Thank you, Todoroki," she said softly, sincerely, smiling the smallest of smiles.

"You're welcome," he said, a hint of relief, and she wondered if he'd been doubting what her reaction would be to everything. She continued smiling, looking at him from the corner of her eye. His eyes were trained forward, always forward. She was on his unscarred side, and she loved the way his pale skin looked against his paler hair, the darkness highlighting the contrast wonderfully. That's when she noticed a fleck of gold glinting in his hair, and a question suddenly reappeared.

"Is that how Fuyumi greets everyone at this restaurant?" she asked. "Blasting them with confetti?"

"No?" He replied, quirking an eyebrow at her, his voice spelling out a question blazing with the subliminal message screaming 'Are you crazy?' Then Momo plucked the gold foil from his hair and his eyes widened in realization.

"Oh, you were watching…" He paused and she let her moment of silence be confirmation. "No, not usually."

She tilted her head. "Only when the owner's brother walks in?"

Todoroki glanced at her, almost uncertainly. "No…"

Momo stared at him in utter confusion. What in the world could be celebration enough to warrant-

The bag rustled in Todoroki's hand as they started climbing a grassy hill, drawing her attention to the food and she suddenly remembered how the whole evening had started; her birthday. Her mind jumped back to how confetti had poured down on him as soon as Todoroki had entered those doors, and how he'd been waving people off, almost hurriedly. As if they weren't needed anymore.

The confetti had been for her (and who knows what else, since he'd waved off anyone else before they started whatever was planned).

Momo felt her heart swell. The amount of thought and effort he'd put into all this had to have been so out of his comfort zone. Guilt crept in, for having pressured him into arranging all of this to start with, and then even more guilt for having ruined almost all of it.

As she opened her mouth to apologize endlessly, they reached the top of the hill. They were by the river again, although further from the bridge now, on the sloping, grassy walls of the river bank, grassy where they stood, but cemented as it dipped down to the river. It was quite high up from the water, not like the previous area where they were lower down and level.

The view was just as wonderful. From their height, they could see much further down and upstream, and being closer to the bridge meant many more lights and many more reflections being thrown off the rippling, thriving surface of the river. The breeze was alive with gentle, comforting trickles caressing her skin, stirring the grass underfoot, showing up as little, frolicking streaks of silver. Momo was entranced.

"I think this is probably my favorite place in the city now," she said honestly.

She heard a single puff as Todoroki gave a light laugh beside her, crouching down to set everything up, probably finding it ironic that her new favorite place was where she (in his mind) almost killed herself. Momo crossed her ankles and sat down right next to him, taking the cardboard box he handed her. All thoughts of refuting that idea immediately disappeared as he opened a box and saw a calzone staring back up at her. And then she remembered why Todoroki had first mentioned his sister owned a restaurant at all.

"You remembered," she breathed, not sure why she was so touched by this. Maybe it was because it had been so long ago even she'd forgotten it. Maybe it was because of how he had planned this for her birthday, something from a private conversation only they had shared. Maybe it was just everything he had done that evening. She looked at him with all the adoration she could muster.

And then the smells hit her, a waft of dough, meats, spices and cheeses, and she swore she had never smelt something so delicious in her whole life. Her stomach gave an angry rumble as she picked up a slice from the pre-cut delicacy.

"Oh. Wow."

Her syllables came out muffled threw the large bite. It was almost too hot, and she had to lift her hand to fan her mouth as she let out some steam.

"See? It's really good," Todoroki said, watching her with an amused look in his eyes. She nodded, lips pursed, trying to blow out the steam without sending the cheese flying; maybe it was the hunger swaying her bias, maybe it was the boy himself, but this was her new favorite (though not by a longshot).

"And it's so fresh, how did she make it so fast, that's incredible!" she exclaimed, swallowing finally, so excited her sentences blended together.

"I told her to get them ready," he answered. She cocked her head in question, swallowing. He lifted his food, poised for a bite. "Why did you think I just left?"

Momo pondered. "I don't know, you wanted to give me space?"

"And I told you to wait," he said. "Which naturally meant you didn't."

"Naturally," she grinned back at him.

They shared a smile, before each delving into their meals. They sat there, high up on the water's edge, calm and quiet and for a while they stayed that way, Momo becoming engrossed with watching the way the water flowed beneath them as she ate, the hypnotic sounds bringing in a lull of sleep. Everything that had happened today blurred together in a thick foggy mist of draining, heavy memories that seemed so far away. Her eyes felt sore and ironically dry.

Taking her last bite, Momo scooted herself over to the edge, eyeing the wall as it sloped at a relatively gentle angle to the rushing water below. She practically felt the way Todoroki tensed up behind her and she felt herself smile softly.

"I wasn't going to jump," she said, shooting him a glance before throwing her legs to dangle over the side, comfortably sitting on the edge as if it were a park bench. "From the bridge, I mean."

"Right," came his taut reply.

"No seriously," she leant back on her hands, watching as he finished off his last bite. A flash of déjà vu struck as she remembered herself, months ago, finishing her plate before him; had she always eaten so fast, or was he just a slow eater? He tucked his empty carton with hers in the now empty bag and scooched his way over to sit next to her, though still a few inches from the edge.

"One can never be too sure," he said matter-of-factly.

"Todoroki…" she paused, once again reflecting over the anomaly that was everything surrounding her companion. He looked at her, waiting for her to continue. "You're so…incredible."

"Huh?" Todoroki's reactions to compliments were always a joy to see. His mouth would fall open ever so slightly in confusion, even more so than when he was shocked and then, as if he realized how unrefined that looked, he immediately clamped it shut again, looking away, brows deeply furrowed as if she'd just said the mostly puzzling thing in the world, a muscle in his cheek pulsating.

Momo clamped one hand over the other, resting them between her legs, leaning forward slightly to better her angle with him. "You planned this whole night, after only finding out this morning, and still managed to make it so meaningful."

"It really wasn't-"

"Then," Momo was on a roll now and wouldn't let him stop her. So often she simply felt grateful, but never expressed it. It was time to change that. "After having curveball on top of curveball thrown at you, you just work your way around it, being considerate all the while, and still making it so intricate. I mean look at this view," she gestured to the glittering lights in the distance, reflecting like deep space on the river surface. "It's so amazing- you're so amazing. You're incredible."

There was a silence, and Momo felt her cheeks flush at the openness of her words, and yet the smile never left her face. She felt no embarrassment either. He needed to know things weren't going unnoticed. There was a certain relief to voicing her words – like she got to release some of the feelings she had been building for weeks now. She really wanted to know what his face looked like though. As she glanced over, Todoroki raised a hand to run through his hair, pausing briefly at the nape of his neck, before falling back down to his lap.

"… A good hero has to be able to think on their feet," he said finally.

It was such a Todoroki response, so pure, so concise, so him, and Momo couldn't help it; she burst out laughing. It was probably the first time she had laughed, properly laughed, all evening and it felt so extremely good that she couldn't stop, not for quite a while. Todoroki turned to shoot her a bemused look, not enjoying being the brunt of a joke, which only made her laugh harder.

"Sure Todoroki, whatever you say," she laughed through tears. Once she had calmed down enough, she took a deep breath, wide smile still stretching across her face. "But I am serious about what I said; thank you Todoroki."

"You've been thanking me a lot recently," he muttered, still not quite able to handle her praise.

"Only because you give me much to be thankful for," she replied, and she wanted to look at him longer to find out whether or not his face was doused in the warm lighting or if that was actually a flush coloring his face.

"Yeah right."

"What, of course you do!" she insisted.

"After having you angry at me, I beg to differ," he answered back.

"I told you, I wasn't angry!" Honestly how many times would she have to say it before he accepted it? He rounded on her suddenly and only her years of posture training kept her from sliding into to the river.

"That's right, you never gave me a real response," he said, and Momo had never heard him so riled up. "The grape said this morning that you weren't angry as well-"

"Well, there you go."

"How was he able to tell, but I wasn't?" Todoroki asked. "Yaoyorozu, explain it to me." She had to keep herself from rolling her eyes at his blunt, commanding tone. "Why was I not able to interpret you better than…him?"

She sighed. "I don't know Todoroki."

Todoroki glowered at the river, like somehow it was at fault. "I'm going to get it out of him," he muttered darkly. Momo noted mentally that she would have to stop that conversation from happening. Mineta had obviously realized her feelings, and she was nowhere near being comfortable enough for Todoroki figuring that out, least of all from Mineta.

"If he doesn't comply, I'll ice him," Todoroki continued.

"Frozen grapes... Reminds me of a grape slush," Momo said honestly.

"That could work…" he agreed.

"Just need a blender," Momo felt herself giggle. "We have one at home-" And then she felt herself pause, the temperature around her dropping a few degrees.

Todoroki didn't miss a beat. "Maybe I could ask Kaminari to shock him to bits after I've frozen him solid. That should break him to bite sized pieces."

"Ohh, yum. Grape popsicle bites," she grinned at him, but just as the words left her mouth, she straightened as she remembered something. "You know there's this study going on that if you enter an electric shock into a nerve, with the correct amplitude, you might be able to switch off a person's pain. Like if someone has constant, chronic pain."

"Interesting," Todoroki said. "No electricity on Mineta then."

She laughed.

They spent the next hour or two talking about changes and predictions, about advancements in technology. Given that this was her father's department, Momo was especially passionate, some of his enthusiasm having been passed on to her. It didn't register to the young heroine how she was talking so avidly again, being so in control and knowledgeable of the topic clearly mustering up some buried energy. Finally, after Momo smothered her fourth yawn, Todoroki stood up, picking up the plastic bag.

They chose to take the train most of the way back to the dorms. The trip saw a much more quietened Yaoyorozu, as if her tiredness had finally caught up with her. Like the energy she was first using to talk was now being directed for walking. So Todoroki took it upon himself to talk. He knew there would be no stopping her sadness taking over again when she was alone, and if he could, he would have stayed with her to make sure that feeling never reared its ugly head again. Of course, that wasn't exactly possible, but at the very least, for any time she spent with him he could try keeping her mind elsewhere.

As they walked after the train, he pointed out the different buildings and their architecture, the strategic locations, and the popular places for crime. He told her about his dream firm, when he eventually could afford to run his own hero-offices, where he would personally train and oversee new prodigies. And he asked her about her own vision, her aspirations, her opinions.

These were topics he knew she loved, and every time he asked her, she had new additions and improvements added on, always different from their last discussion, like she was always thinking and evolving. Sometimes she'd integrate some of his suggestions into her own, and that always gave him a strange rush of pride.

He'd been wondering if he was succeeding at all in trying to distract her, because while she had been replying perfectly to everything, it was in a quiet, gentle voice, and every time she spoke he was reminded of her sadness. But every now and then she would flash him a gentle, albeit small, smile and sometimes even grace him with some quiet laughter, and that success helped him push on, keeping faith that he was helping, if only a little.

It was quite a bit later that the two students found themselves entering the U.A. dorms standing on the landing in front of the two elevators, at 12 minutes to midnight. For several minutes, neither of them moved, Yaoyorozu hovering awkwardly, and he wondered if she was maybe just as reluctant to leave him as he was to leave her.

"Happy birthday, Yaoyorozu," he offered, finally, after almost 2 minutes of stalling. She turned to him, head cocked slightly, and looked at him with dark, doe eyes, a gentle smile tugging at her lips. Yaoyorozu really was distractingly beautiful.

"Thank you, Todoroki."

He answered her sincere and meaningful words with a rather stiff, half-hearted nod before turning away, walking towards the boys' elevator, but stopped as he felt a soft, delicate grip on his hand. Before he understood what was happening, she had grabbed just under his collar and tugged. Soft, velvety lips pressed up against his cheek, just a hair's breadth from the corner of his mouth. They lingered for hours – or was it 3 seconds – before pulling away, like feathers brushing across his skin.

Her mouth was moving; he knew that because he could see were her lips, but for the life of him he had no idea what she was saying. She could have just confessed to being the brains behind the League of Villains and he'd have not heard. She was looking at him with that same look she had given him on the bridge – or at least, he thought she was. Her eyes were in his periphery. All he really knew for certain was that just then, her lips were pink and soft and perfect, and stretched in another delicate smile.

Todoroki didn't remember much after that. Minutes passed, or it may have been hours, but he only struck back to reality when Sero smacked him upside the head with a plastic water bottle, down for a late night snack, asking if he'd been drugged. With a start, Todoroki realized he was still standing in the front lobby by the kitchens, and Yaoyorozu had long gone.

He blinked, raising his hand to his cheek.

Wait.

What had just happened?