Summary: Todoroki has been training extremely hard lately and none of his classmates seem to know why. None of them act on anything, though, because it doesn't seem to be affecting him too hard. Yaoyorozu, however, knows him well enough to see that it is indeed affecting him. She takes it upon herself to look after him.
It was getting close to curfew, and yet Todoroki-kun hadn't come back to the dorms yet. That was to be expected, though, Yaoyorozu thought. After all, he usually showed up just before curfew and retired to his room immediately. Most times, he went without food at night because of this schedule of his. She was worried, that much was obvious to anyone who saw her when he was gone. None of them really knew why he had been training so hard all of a sudden, but it made Yaoyorozu worry that much more. It made her think he was overworking himself, and she didn't want to see him deliberately do that to himself.
'No matter. I set aside a couple bentos in the fridge earlier. I'll make sure he eats tonight.' She thought to herself as she walked out of the dorms. Not many of the others really saw a problem with how much he'd been training lately. To them, he looked like he always did. He was aloof, standoffish, and seldom talked to anyone aside from Midoriya, Iida, and Yaoyorozu herself. But she could see what it was doing to him. He slouched more, walked a lot slower, and had heavy bags under his eyes. Since no one else frequented him as much as she did, none of them seemed to notice. But Yaoyorozu could see every slight difference. And she hated them.
She picked up her pace, walking faster toward the gym Todoroki often used to train. He'd gone to different ones, but this was the one that he usually went to, and it seemed that he'd done the same tonight.
Cracking open the door, Yaoyorozu saw Todoroki going through his usual training. The sleeves of his gym uniform were pulled up to the elbows and he was shifting, seamlessly, between his left and right side. One moment, giant spikes of ice would rise out of the ground, only for flames from his left side to cut through them, melting them down instantly. He was picking up speed, she noticed and was forcing himself to switch faster and faster. The other times he'd been training, he hadn't been going this hard. Suddenly, the pit in her stomach got heavier, though she couldn't explain why. She was always worried about him pushing himself too hard and, watching him now, she felt like that was exactly what he was doing, but worse. She was legitimately worried for his safety now.
Yaoyorozu continued to watch as Todoroki continued his training. His speed was astonishing, to say the least. She could see the strain it put on him, though. Even though the frost didn't have time to spread across his body, every time he used his right side, it flared up worse than last time. It was the same for his left. Every burst of heat he shot from his hand sent flares zipping up his arm. Despite his resistance to it, she could clearly see the pain that it put him in.
Yaoyorozu's face fell as she continued to watch. He was pushing himself so hard, for seemingly no reason. What would he do if he hurt himself while he was in here, with no one knowing where he was? He couldn't expect himself to just walk it off, could he? So many questions were running through her head that she barely had time to register one of the only mistakes she'd ever seen Todoroki make.
Frost spread across the ground under his right foot. Immediately, it clawed it's way up his leg, reaching his knee at record speeds. Todoroki gritted his teeth and began to bring his left arm around to use his left. The second he did, though, it flared up his arm, tearing through the sleeve of his gym uniform. Stifling a yell, he fell to his knees. Instinctively, he put out his right hand to catch his fall, only for it to land onto a shattered patch of ice that instantly tore through his palm. He allowed himself to curse, one time that echoed out in the empty gym around him, before he thrust his left hand at the ice, melting it instantly at the expense of more flames running up his arm. Once it was done, he fell back, panting. His palm was bleeding badly and he wasn't exactly the best with first aid. Well, no matter. He'd–
"Todoroki-kun!" He heard a voice scream out. His eyes widened as he turned around to see Yaoyorozu running toward him, worry etched on her face. Todoroki tried to say something but was alarmed to find that there seemed to be a lump in his throat. He was too busy watching her–watching the look on her face. He decided that he didn't like that look.
"Yaoyorozu?" He managed out, incredulously. He managed to turn himself around to face her without his palm touching anything, but the pain was still present. "What are you doing here?"
She quickly fell to her knees in front of him, grabbing his wrist and pulling his palm closer to herself.
"I was worried," She said quickly as she reached into her jacket. She'd always brought a first aid kit with her when she went to check on Todoroki. Usually, she'd leave it in the lounge for when he got back. He never used them. "So I came to check on you. And what do I find? You've injured yourself."
Todoroki is forced to lean forward as she wretches his hand toward herself. He thinks of just snatching his hand away and leaving, but that'd be rude and he didn't want to offend Yaoyorozu in some way.
"I'm fine," He says unconvincingly, even to himself. He doesn't move his hand though as she begins looking it over, the first aid kit sitting on the floor between them now. "Really. You don't need to waste your time on this, Yaoyorozu."
Shaking her head at him, she keeps her attention on his hand. The cuts are deeper than they look, though the bleeding is slowing down. She lifts his palm to inspect them more and instead catches sight of scars. A lot of them, all along his arms. These ones look older, but they still look bad, as if none of them had been cared for at all.
"...Todoroki..?" She starts, lifting his other arm as well. She finds more scars, just as bad as the others. It's almost as if...
"Do you...do you never look at your own injuries?" She asks him, her voice low. She'd been neglecting to look at him this since she'd sat down across from him, but now she looks up, trying to find his eyes; Only to see that he's averted his eyes, staring at the floor, the wall, the ceiling–anything but her. His face is red and he hesitates before opening his mouth again.
"..I'm fine, Yaoyorozu. It's nothing you need to worry about." He tries to pull his arms away from her, but she tightens her grips around his wrists and keeps ahold of him. He winces, and she silently apologizes to him for aggravating any of his scars but it's necessary.
"No," she says. The tone of her voice forces Todoroki to finally look at her, only to see the most serious look on her face that he'd ever seen. "No, you are not 'fine'. Look at yourself! All you've been doing for the past month is coming here and pushing yourself harder and harder! You haven't been eating and you barely speak to anyone anymore!"
Yaoyorozu is ashamed to notice that she's close to tears and that it's taking everything that she has in order to stop herself from letting the tears flow.
"I asked Aizawa-sensei about your grades and he says that they've dropped a considerate amount. No one really sees you anymore after classes...y-you disappear and you're gone all night. We...I don't see you until morning, and even then you still barely eat."
Todoroki watches her with rapt fascination as she both fawns over his arms and yells at him. His face is red with embarrassment, but he can't stop himself from staring at her throughout the entire thing.
Suddenly she grips his wrists again, causing him to wince once more. His eyes flick down to where her hands are around his wrists and then back up to her face. She's staring him in the eyes, giving off the most serious facade she possibly can, despite the tears in the corners of her eyes.
"You either need to learn to take better care of yourself," She says, her eyes dropping back to his hands. "Or you need to learn how to ask for help sometimes!"
Stunned into silence, Todoroki finds that he can't look at her in the face anymore out of shame. His eyes fall to the floor, his hair falling over to block them from her sight. Yaoyorozu's heart drops, but she bites her lip and turns her attention back to his hands. She'd disinfected all of his scars–including the old ones–and now she just needed to wrap them. Reaching back to the first aid kit, she pulled out a large roll of gauze and began to unravel it. She started with his left hand, since it was less demanding, and wrapped it gently from his fingers all the way to his elbow. She didn't want to hinder his movements too much, so she left it a little loose around his knuckles and his wrist.
As she moved onto his right hand, Todoroki risked a glanced toward her. He couldn't see her eyes anymore, as she was completely focused on the task at hand. 'Why...why does she try so hard?' he asked himself. 'I...simply didn't want her to get caught up in my...petty issues. I didn't want to bother her with it'.
"Why...," He hears her whisper, but she shakes her head and looks back to his hands.
Todoroki sighs, wishing he was able to just get up and leave. He wasn't good at this type of thing; Talking from the heart and not from his head. But...'Out of all people, Yaoyorozu deserves to hear the truth the most. I can at least give her that.'
"Because...," He starts, still looking away while trying to think of a way to word it. "I care about you, Yaoyorozu. I didn't want to bother you with all of my...petty issues. It...seemed like a stupid thing to do...I'm sorry."
Yaoyorozu finishes wrapping his older scars and looks down at his right hand, where the newer ones sit fresh before she trusts herself to talk.
"Todoroki-kun...no matter what, your issues won't bother me. A-As long as you're willing to ask for help, I'm willing to help you...because...I-I care about you, Todoroki-kun. I don't want..to see you get hurt..." She tells him, her voice falling as she finishes. The weight of her words catches up to her, her face turning red as she turns back to his hand, gently starting to wrap his right palm. Todoroki's face does the same, and it's suddenly a lot harder to look at her. His eyes turn toward the floor again and he hopes that his hair blocks it from sight.
They sit in silence as Yaoyorozu finishes up the wrapping on his hand, neither of them really able to look at one another. She pulls on the line of gauze, making sure it's secure around Todoroki's hand before she snaps it off with the small pair of scissors in the first aid kit. Inspecting his arms once more, she nods to herself, pleased with her work. She moves to separate and put the supplies away, but Todoroki catches her hand, stopping her. The blush on her face roars into life once more as she turns back to him, nervously tilting her head.
"T-Todoroki-kun?" She starts, leaning a bit closer to try and catch a glimpse of his face. "A-are you okay?"
It takes him a moment to react, let alone answer, to her question. He grips her hand a bit before finally looking up at her. There's a look on his face that she can't quite define. But...it strangely puts her at peace and helps her relax. Her shoulders slump and she grips his hand back.
"Call me Shouto," He starts, looking her dead in the eyes. He tilts his head slightly. "Not Todoroki. Call me Shouto, please."
Yaoyorozu recoils a bit but doesn't get far, thanks to their hands connected between the two of them. As far as she knew, no one ever really called him by his first name. It felt...wrong. He had an air of regality around him that made it hard to treat him like a regular person. But, as she watched him now, that air of regality dissipated into nothingness. All that was left before her now...was Shouto.
With a smile on her face, she leaned forward again and took his other hand in hers as well. Gripping both of them, she nodded at him, trying to keep eye contact as she did.
"Alright. But, if I'm to call you Shouto," She starts, smiling as she does. "Then you must call me Momo."
He looks at her for a while, his brow furrowed. Momo can't understand what's going on in his head, but she doesn't have to. After a moment, his eyes soften and he smiles. It's the most genuine smile she's ever seen on his face and it makes her heart flutter.
"Okay." He agrees, and that's all he has to say. They lapse into silence but, unlike earlier, this one is comfortable. They don't mind staying silent because...well, there's not much to talk about anymore. Shouto could tell her a lot of things, but did he need to? It felt like it'd ruin the atmosphere if he did, so he chose not to. Momo was thinking along the same lines. She could've told him a lot about how worried the others actually were about him. It wasn't necessary, though. He'd picked up on it himself, so what was the point of saying it aloud?
It's difficult for Momo to look at him, but she can't explain to herself why. Instead, her eyes are trained on the floor between them, though they always glance back toward where the two of them are still holding hands. Shouto's eyes are stuck on both of his own hands, wrapped in white, holding onto hers as if it's the easiest thing he's ever done. Idly, he runs his thumb along her fingers while he thinks. It's calming.
He grips her hands and Momo looks back up at him, surprise practically spelled out across her face. He meets her eyes before looking back down at her hands with a small smile on his face.
"Momo," He starts, still running his thumb along her fingers. Momo leans in a bit, trying to strain her ear to hear him as he says; "I like the way your hands fit in mine."
She blushes, full of embarrassment, and finds that it's even harder for her to look at him now. Despite that, though, she grips his hands tighter in return.
"Th-they mesh quite well, don't they?" She manages to stutter out before looking away again.
Without having to look at her, Shouto could feel the embarrassment flowing off of her. He couldn't really understand it completely, but it put a smile on his face regardless. Seconds pass, and then seconds turn into minutes. Ten minutes pass before either of them even think about moving, and they only think of doing so because Shouto's stomach growls loudly.
Momo blushes in embarrassment when she hears it and immediately remembers that she'd left bentos in the fridge for this exact reason. Quickly, she stands up and pulls Shouto to his feet alongside her. He doesn't object, nor does he speak on the matter at all. Despite his ruined gym clothes, he only really pays attention to Momo. She smiles at him before grasping his hand tighter and leading him out of the gym.
There's no reason for them to be holding onto each other anymore; But there's no reason for them to let go, either. Still holding hands, the two of them briskly began walking back toward the dorms. Momo's mind is moving just as fast, if not faster than she herself is. How long had they'd been in the gym? It couldn't have been that long. At the very least, not much longer than Shouto is usually there for. If anything, they might've left sooner than he usually did. She didn't have her phone on her, so she didn't have any real way of checking. She had to assume Shouto didn't have his either, though she didn't necessarily stop to ask him.
Shouto followed her dutifully, watching the back of her head as she steered him on. He could hear her mumbling underneath her breath, causing him to think that maybe she'd picked up on the wrong parts of Midoriya's personality.
Not too long after they left the gym, they arrived back at the dorms. Momo quickly pulled Shouto through the door and shut it quietly behind her. She still wasn't sure how far off of curfew they were, so she was being cautious at the very least. If Aizawa-sensei was around, they'd definitely get in trouble for being out so late, despite the fact that it was the weekend and they didn't have classes tomorrow.
Blocking the train of thought out of her head, Momo led Shouto into the kitchen, where she finally let go of his hand-only to open the fridge and pull out one of the bentos she'd left there earlier that night. She handed it to Shouto, who took it with a bow and moved to close the fridge when the half-and-half quirk user put a hand on her shoulder, stopping her. Momo turned to face him, curiosity apparent in her eyes. Shouto simply tilted his head slightly to the side before reaching into the fridge and pulling out another of the bentos she'd prepared.
"Shouto, that's-" She started to say, but he grabbed her hand again, effectively quieting her.
"You don't look like you've eaten either, Momo," He says, shutting the fridge with a push of his foot. It got dark around them once again, as they'd neglected to turn the lights on, but Momo could still see the whiteness of his hair. He pulls on her hand, directing her towards the table. "Eat with me. We can go upstairs after."
If it wasn't for the fact that most, if not all, of the lights were still off, Shouto definitely would've seen how red her face had turned at his suggestion. She tried to wave the blush off but to no avail and instead nodded her head mutely. Shouto smiled and instead lead her to the microwave now. It wouldn't take long to eat and, even if it did, it was worth it to waste that tiny amount of time.
It takes mere minutes to heat up the food and before the two know it, they're sitting next to each other at one of the many tables in the lounge, quietly eating. Shouto didn't seem to be having any problems, but Momo had to admit that it was a bit difficult to eat with one hand. In her dominant hand, she held a pair of disposable chopsticks while the other still clutched tightly onto Shouto's. They'd left their hands on the table, in plain view for anyone that would've been prowling around at the time. Luckily for them, no one was there, saving them from any possible embarrassment.
Few words were exchanged between the couple as they ate, or as they put their things away, or even as they walked on to the elevator. Once they stood together in front of the elevator, however, they found it quite difficult to even think of letting go of one another. Since they'd left the gym, they had just about refused to let go of each other's hands. It felt natural to them, surprisingly, and they didn't really want to go against what felt right.
Momo is fidgeting with the edge of her shirt. Shouto is watching the elevator doors as if they'll open without them needing to press the button and usher them away from each other. The low light did wonders to hide the raging blush that just about controlled her face at this point and any other action felt like it would make her faint. Despite that, though, her eyes slowly made their way up to watch Shouto's face. He seemed so calm, a big change to the way he looked when he'd been training earlier that night. She gripped his hand, silently begging him to look at her.
As if compelled to do so, he began to turn, his eyes immediately searching for her own. Before he was facing her, though, Momo's other hand snaked up to cup his cheek, holding him in place. Quickly, so that she didn't have enough time to second-guess herself, she leaned forward to place a chaste kiss on Shouto's cheek. She's quick to pull away, though thanks to his hand still wrapped up in hers, she doesn't get very far. At the very least, she gets as far away enough so that she has space to turn her face to the floor, hiding the blush that's overcome her.
Shouto's face matches the red half of his hair, and he suddenly finds it quite hard to speak, let alone breath.
"Sh-Shouto, maybe...," Momo starts, gripping his hand again though still refusing to look up at him. "M-Maybe we should train together from now on. Th-that way, if you ever get hurt, I'll already be there."
He tilts his head at her, leaning down just enough to catch a glimpse of her eyes. She catches sight of his one ashen iris and one piercing blue one and immediately looks away in embarrassment. Shouto smiles. She's cute when she's bashful like that.
"I...can see no problems with that," He states matter-of-factly. He leans back up and his eyes fall onto their hands, specifically his own hands wrapped in white bandages. "...Thank you, for wrapping my hands, Momo. I...I must've neglected to say so earlier."
Momo finally looks back up at him, waving one hand in front of her face in an attempt to kill the heat that had climbed onto her cheeks.
"Y-you're welcome, Shouto.," She responds. After they had left the gym, the wrapping of Shouto's hands had, admittedly, slipped her mind. She was much more focused on Shouto himself now, rather than his hands; Specifically, his eyes. Momo hadn't really noticed it before, but...he had really pretty eyes.
She begins to lean away, finally succumbing to the idea that she'd have to let go of Shouto's hand now; Only for him to pull her back. Surprised, her eyes jump up to his, though she quickly realizes that he's focusing on something else. Shouto pulls her hand up and, leaning down to meet it, plants a soft kiss on the back of her hand. Something akin to a whimper escapes from the back of Momo's throat as he leans back up, his hair hanging over his forehead as he continued to somewhat lean toward her. Neither of them had thought about how physically close they were to one another, but it was certainly made obvious now, as Momo could feel Shouto's hot breath against her skin. It sent goosebumps down her neck.
"...A question, before we separate," Shouto starts. Momo watches him with a curious gaze, her head tilted forward in question. For some reason, a lump seemed to form in Shouto's throat. Clearing his throat, he continued, albeit quietly. "Would you like to accompany me for lunch tomorrow?"
Momo is, admittedly, taken aback at his invitation. She fans her face a bit harder before calming herself down and trying to stand as still as possible.
"Y-yes! I-I mean, I would love to, Shouto," He manages to stutter out. Living the sheltered life she has, Momo doesn't have very much experience when it comes to things like this. In fairness, neither does Shouto, but he used to watch a lot of chick-flicks with his sister, so he's picked up on some things. Momo continues on excitedly.
"I-I know of a great cafe! I-It's pretty unknown, but I like to think it adds to the charm." Momo says, gripping Shouto's hand tighter now.
He smiles, nodding his head.
"I trust your judgment, Momo," He says, finally letting go of her hand. Instantly, the both of them miss the warmth, but neither of them reached out again. "..It sounds like it could be fun."
She nods at him, her arms pulled back to her chest. Shouto's hands rest idly at his side, itching just to reach back and take her hand in his once more. He fights the urge to do so, however, and simply bows his head a bit. Once he leans back up, he's got another soft smile on his face. That smile sends shivers down Momo's back again and she starts to notice just how much she loves it when he smiles at her like that.
"I'll see you tomorrow, Momo." He says, taking half a step back. Momo's heart leaps into her throat, but she manages to reciprocate his bow and begins to step backward as well, toward her own elevator.
"L-Likewise, Shouto. I-I look forward to it." She replies. Shouto is much further away now, though both of them have neglected to turn around at all. Eventually, though, Shouto turns and Momo follows his example. They both reached their elevators, looked back at one another and waved goodbye, and then they're gone from each other's sight; But never gone from one another's minds.
Just a note at the end here. I'm legit just straight copying these over from the story on the Archive, where I originally started posting this story. I don't have a schedule for updates because I'm not very good at keeping those, but I promise the reposts won't take long to get out. When this one gets caught up with the original, they'll always update at the same time from there on out.
Hope you enjoyed it. The next chapter will be up by Wednesday.
Dantikat, out.