AN: Sorry for the wait, but here we go: In which Mina plays the match maker, and the spell of the cafe seems to finally affect Shouto. Also, in which Momo gets in trouble- or realise she has been in trouble from day 1.
6. Matching Sweaters and Realisations
The temperature drops another 0.5 degrees and Momo stretches the sleeves of her sweater over her fingers, in a failed attempt to warm herself up. She's leaning against the heater on which her scarf is now sprawled so it'll be warm when she has to face the crisp wind again, rubbing her hands over the metal hinges to melt the cold in her bones.
"Creati, your customer is here!"
Momo doesn't even bother to ask who Mina's talking about. The cafe staff tacitly agrees that Shouto is the customer, although Momo has several other regular ones, like the bubbly girl that everyone treats as if she were invisible and the perverted stalker that makes advances at her as soon as he steps foot into the shop. Although Momo loves almost all the customers, that's one she really despises, and the thought of him showing up is like a curse downing on her.
"Coming!" she calls from the lockers, thinking of the decent half-and-half guy that's waiting for her, and steps into the colder cafe. The shivers caused by the difference in temperature are enough for her to forget about Mineta and focus on the customer in front of her.
Shouto looks the same as always, despite the cold weather, and the only noticeable difference in his usual look is that is another brown bag has become his accessory.
"Is this going to become a daily thing now?" Momo asks, pointing to the bag in his hand. She isn't really accusing him, but she does feel guilty that she loves the scones so much- it's like she's robbing him.
"If you don't mind, yes," he answers without batting an eyelid. Momo doesn't want to push her luck, but she could swear excitement transpired his low voice and the guilt in her gut loosens its grip on her. "They had raspberry ones today," he says as he opens the bag for her to see and the irresistible smell leaks.
This isn't fair, Momo thinks, but what's really not fair is that she suddenly feels much warmer, and her turtleneck only makes her cheeks redder.
"Thank you." She makes a mental note to later give him a piece of the Happiness Pudding on the house as she takes the scones from him. Their hands brush again, and she feels that icy cold that seeps through her bones instantly. Momo doesn't think twice when her hand stretches out for Shouto's retreating right arm and she grasps his fingers. "You're freezing," she shivers, but doesn't let go. He could have hypothermia, in which case he needs to warm himself up as soon as possible and-
"It's okay," Shouto casually says. Momo is about to argue that there's no way freezing to death is okay, but he adds, "My right side has always been colder. My left is warm, see?" His left hand cups Momo's, sandwiching her between ice cold skin and warmth akin to that of burning flames.
"How is this even possible?" she asks, trying to scientifically bring light into the situation. "Does your right side ever warm up?"
"Sometimes, when I will my body to thermoregulate," he shrugs, obviously having given up on understanding his own body. Her lips crook into a smile when she realises that Shouto is a mystery for himself as well.
Momo realises they've been touching for quite a while only when his gaze falls on their intertwined hands, yet he doesn't let her go when she tries to slip out of the embarrassing situation. "You're warm," he notices, more for himself than for her.
She doesn't find the words to properly respond, and has no idea whether it is because Shouto's remark has her face burning as hot as his left hand or because her brain is still trying to wrap around the enigma that Shouto's half-and-half body is.
"You guys are matching~" Mina chants as she spins around Momo, balancing two bottles of syrup in her quest to decorate the Chocolate Extravaganza.
The raven-haired barista picks up one of the bottles before Mina can spill its insides, ignores the girl's pout and asks, "What do you mean?"
"He's wearing the same sweater as you!" Momo's eyes dart with the speed of light towards Shouto. "Well not exactly the same, his is black, but it's the same model!" Mina doesn't even try to hide the amusement in her voice.
"And how do you know? A striped sweater is quite common." Momo ignores her burning curiosity under the perfected mask of feigned ignorance and doesn't let her hopes get up- what is she even hoping for, really? This is just a coincidence.
"Ohoho," Mina fakes an evil laugh. "But hand-knitted turtleneck sweaters aren't common place, now are they? Specifically not ones that have knots around the collar," she winks knowingly. Momo doesn't ask how Mina got close enough to obtain this information, and she doesn't know why the Alien Queen's words make her feel better, either.
"I don't even know if they make this model for men, Mina. It must be just a coincidence," Momo sighs and returns back to painting a smile in the espresso foam.
Even if it's just a coincidence, she doesn't find it dislikeable.
It's Mina's fault, Momo decides after having stolen more than a few totally not subtle glances at Shouto's sweater while cleaning the tables around him, but never closed in quite enough to actually tell the pattern of the knots around his neck bones. She mutters her displeasure in humble words and a click of her tongue, because Yaoyorozu's don't swear, as her mother firmly reminded her the few times improper words have left her mouth.
It's been solid hours since Mina has sneaked the idea into her head, and although seemingly harmless, it corrupted her mind like a virus. Momo knows herself well enough to know the only antivirus is finding out whether what the Alien Queen has said is true or not- if only to stop Mina from giving her meaningful looks every time she steps behind the counter and to put an end to the way she wriggles her brows in Shouto's direction.
Momo doesn't succumb to petty schemes, not usually at least, but this is an unusual situation involving an unusual man, so she convinces herself it's the only way. As such, she makes a show of accidentally bumping into Shouto's desk, causing one of his pens to fall to the floor.
"I'm sorry," she gasps, avoiding his eyes and not waiting for his response to kneel after the pen. She finds it next to his foot, and gets a bonus glimpse of his carefully tidied boots before getting back up and letting her eyes track the model on his sweater.
He does have knots around his neck, she notices and her chest swells with warmth at the discovery. A stupid reaction, she knows, but she gets punished only a second later, when the warmth is replaced with panic. She overlooked one small, yet essential detail in her masterplan: the tray. The tray full of empty plates she is balancing in one hand, might she add.
Momo feels the weight of the tray shifting, its centre moving outside her palm, and loses her grip on the pen to catch the tray with both hands. As she does, however, she sees the ground closer than she remembered it to be and braces herself for the impact. At least her plan didn't fail completely, she consoles herself as she forces her eyelids shut and waits for the collision with the mercilessly hard floor.
Seconds pass without her feeling any pain, which is weird, because if she remembers one thing from her physics classes in highschool, it's that anything falls with the acceleration of roughly 10 meters per square second, so she should be feeling the impact seeping in her bones by now. She does feel she has landed, however, but not where she was supposed to.
"Are you alright?" a voice wheezes out, tickling her neck, and she dares a peek towards the speaker. As soon as her glimpse lays upon red hair, both of her eyes snap open and quickly asses the situation: one of Shouto's arms is wrapped around her waist, and she is most definitely sitting in his lap, while he is lying on the floor.
"Ah, yes, thank you," she quickly apologises and liberates herself from his protective grip, bowing towards the one who has cushioned her fall.
He gets up quickly and wipes his pants in a few quick moves. "Are you hurt?" He returns his scrutinizing gaze on her, scanning for injuries.
"No, what about you?" Guilt creeps into Momo's intestines and she remembers why she usually is against petty schemes. She abandons the tray, cause of all evils, on a table next to his and approaches fearfully.
"I'm okay," Shouto assures her, but her hand still hovers in mid-air, her fingers sprawled as she searches for his eyes.
"I'm really sorry," she says again, and she hopes her croaked voice betrays her sincerity.
Shouto simply shrugs, "It happens. Don't worry about it. I'm glad nothing happened to you."
Despite still feeling guilty, Momo relaxes and lowers her hand, letting the ghost of a smile creep on her face. He's looking at her with genuine concern, and she guesses she looked just the same a few moments ago. "I'm fine because you were here to catch me. Thank you!"
He doesn't answer for a few seconds, and Momo replays the words in her head, wondering if she said something wrong. The more she analyses them, the sappier they sound, and she's about to turn on her heels and dash towards the counter when Shouto finally speaks.
"I'm glad I was here, then."
Momo's heart leaps when the skin next to his eyes wrinkles in a small smile, and she takes a deep breath. Calming her breathing is the first step towards making sure she doesn't blush tomato red.
She nods and retreats, the image of him engraved in her brain. The place where his arm was wrapped around her warms up too, and she hears his words again. They probably mean much more to him than she can make out.
It's almost closing time, but Momo's gotten used to Shouto hanging out in the coffee shop until the last second. From the peaceful look on his face and the way his pen seamlessly flows over the paper, only stopping when he has to turn the page, Momo deduces that Shouto likes the quiet afternoons more than the busy lunches.
"Are you admiring a work of art?" Mina whispers in her ear all of a sudden, causing Momo to jolt. Her chemistry notes lay forgotten in front of her, rendering it hard for the barista to contradict her friend. "The guy's strange," Mina continues, circling the bar to pull out a chair in front of Momo. "Doesn't he feel awkward, all alone in a cafe?"
Momo only mutters a thoughtful "Hmm," remembering their conversation from yesterday. A Cup of Magic might be the closest he has experienced to a home, but she isn't going to be nosey about it.
"I'm going to check on him," she says instead and steps out of the employee-zone, ignoring Mina's gaping that quickly sharpens into a knowing smirk. Why are her friends so set on proving that she has a crush on this guy, just because she is curious about him? Isn't wanting to uncover mysteries normal human behavior?
Only a few steps keep them apart, but Shouto seems too absorbed in his work to notice her. Almost mechanically, he reaches for his cup of green tea and sips it. His pen stops moving as soon as he swallows his drink, though, and he tears his eyes from his notebook to squint at the cup with a disapproving look, accompanied by wrinkles quickly forming on the bridge of nose. If that's what a displeased Shouto looks like, Momo could stand to see it more- it's so cute it's almost comical.
"Do you want me to warm up your tea?" she offers with a gentle smile, trying not to chuckle at his jolt of surprise.
"Can you do that?" he quickly asks, and Momo dares attribute it to embarrassment from being found out glaring at his tea.
"Sure," she answers, erasing the childish giggle that's bubbling its way to the surface with a coy smile. He gives her the paper cup, but to her surprise, he follows her to the counter anyway. She wants to tell him it's not necessary, but Shouto rarely does unnecessary moves, so she bites her tongue.
Shouto props himself on the counter where Mina was just a few minutes ago, and Momo spots her in the corner, swiping the floor while humming along the song echoing in the cafe. It was her turn to choose the music today, and she went for the rock ballads she loves so much- Metallica is playing right now. Not long before Mina will start a solo with the broom as a fake guitar, Momo thinks.
A Cup of Magic is perhaps most magical in the evening. When everything is quiet and time seems to flow differently, when the few people that sit in plushy armchairs here and there fall under the tranquil spell and seem lost deep in thoughts, when the lila light Momo sets every evening colors everything a shade of calm and whimsical eery, that's when the coffee shop is at its best. The hum of the dishwasher is far away, but loud enough to keep them anchored in reality, the only reminder that this isn't some sort of magical realm.
Shouto cushions his chin on his forearms, seemingly also fallen prey to the trance. With his red and white hair and the heterochromatic eyes, he's at home in the fairy tail-like background. He watches Momo with lazy eyes, tracking her moves like they're hypnotic. She's surprised at how effortlessly he has slipped into her life, to the point where she expects him to be there every day, his presence taken for granted.
And that's exactly why this is so dangerous- not him, of course, but the expectations Momo has pushed on him without even asking for his consent. Earlier, he could have not been there to catch her- of course, she wouldn't have fallen in the first place if he wasn't there, but the point remains. Her heart squeezes unpleasantly when her logical side reminds her that Shouto won't be there forever- and neither will she work in A Cup of Magic for an eternity. She is expected to take over the shop- and she probably will, because fulfilling and surpassing expectations is what Momo has done from a young age.
Maybe that's what makes this moment all the more precious, and maybe it's also why Shouto has followed her to the counter. They are basking in each other's presence while they still can, willingly ignoring the inevitable end of this story: parting as likely strangers. It may also be why Shouto asks her, "What's your favourite drink?"
His voice doesn't disturb the peace that has coated the cafe, neither does it startle Momo. It's so low and soothing it seems to have been designed to fit here, and it makes Momo feel strangely secure.
"It's the Winter Wonderland," she says as she lits up the fire under the pot where Shouto's green tea is now resting.
He seems to assess the suitability of the name, taking into consideration Momo's personality and her looks. In the end nods satisfied. "It suits you."
"How so?" Her lips crook into a sly smile.
"It's the tea with forest fruit and cinnamon sticks in it, right?" She shouldn't be surprised he knows that- he's a regular, after all. "It gives off the vibe of something a blueberry scone lover would like," he says without any trace of menace, but she still feels a bit embarrassed.
"What about you then? Why do you like green tea?"
"My big sister likes it a lot. She was part of the Tea Ceremony Club in high school and always practiced making it at home. I guess you could say I was her lab rat- she really sucked at first." Shouto smiles at the memory, a genuine smile that isn't clouded by any regret, although it is covered by a translucent veil, like all memories of the past are.
Momo finds it appropriate to chuckle now. "Your sister seems like an interesting person."
"She is," Shouto agrees, raising his head to meet Momo's eyes, who's now sitting across from him. "But I guess she's equally parts weird," he shrugs, but the fond smile doesn't leave his face.
"Weirded than the staff here? I doubt it," Momo whispers conspiratorially.
She doesn't even flinch when Mina yells, "I heard that" from the other corner of the cafe.
"See what I mean?" Momo sighs defeated in front of the proof.
Shouto nods. "I think she'd like it here. My sister, I mean." There's a small pause as he looks around the shop, as if he's looking for the spell that floats around, enveloping people in warmth and security. "She probably believes in magic, too."
"Probably?" Momo tilts her head inquisitively.
"She's an elementary school teacher. I don't think she could make it through the day unless she believed in magic," Shouto shrugs again as if to say that kids are a mystery. Momo chuckle-snorts at the mental image of Shouto staring at kids and them staring at him, both equally intrigued by the other party.
Thankfully, she doesn't need to give an explanation for her outburst, because the tea is warm enough to be poured into his cup again and she hands it to him with a smile. Shouto sips it carefully and whispers, "Perfect," loud enough for Momo to hear. Whether he wanted her to intercept the message or not, he doesn't let out.
Momo smiles and her eyes dart to the clock: half an hour till they're closing. She picks up a mop from beneath the counter and unties her apron, ready to clean the place up for the day.
Mina chooses that moment to pass by them, seemingly without any purpose. Then all of a sudden, she whistles, "You guys match," and then disappears from Momo's visual field.
For a few good seconds, Momo stands paralysed, not brave enough to look at Shouto, but not cowardly enough to run away, either. She just stands there in the calm that suddenly feels awkward and stares at the nonexistent cracks in the floor, wondering whether she'll spontaneously combust if she does that for long enough.
"Oh," Shouto eventually says and Momo dares peek at him. It looks like he just understood what Mina meant, and he adds, "We do match."
It's not just the simple words that hit her, but also the way he smiles. He smiled a lot today, but this is the first time he does it about a thing happening in the present, about something related to her, to them, and it's enough to prove Momo she is very weak against him.
Once again, he doesn't realise how impactful his words can be and retreats in his corner, happily sipping his now-warm drink.
"You're in trouble," Mina suggestively chants, suddenly appearing behind the counter again. Momo can't even argue with her- she is in trouble, her hot cheeks tell her as much, and she should have seen the signals from far away.
"But so are you," she turns to Mina and raises her eyebrows unimpressed at her friend's scowl. "You're doing the accounting tonight."
"Why?" Mina whines in the most pleading voice she can muster.
"Payback."
AN: I hope you have enjoyed this chapter, hehe~ Finally some progress, huh? Next chapter is my favourite one, and I can't wait to write it! It's a full Todomomo fluff chapter and the one that really launches the story- also, it has Shouto's pov! And then come chapter 8, Kaminari gets in the fray... Yey! (Getting you hyped so you'll excuse my absence)
I'll do my best to post by the end of march again, but no promises! Till next time with a cup of tea, my lovely readers who keep me alive with their love (for which I thank you daily~)!