Summary: After the events of the movie night, Todoroki and Yaoyorozu decide to have some tea to calm their(Mostly Momo's) nerves.
The night continues.
"You don't handle horror very well either, do you, Momo?" Shouto asked.
Embarrassed, Yaoyorozu nodded and let her head fall into her hands.
"I-I've tried it before, but, as you saw...," She gestured vaguely toward the lounge area, where some of their classmates had decided to stay. "I-I'm not very good at handling them still."
He shook his head. "I don't see a problem with that. The movies are made to scare you," He stated bluntly, crossing his arms over the dining table. "Why would you be embarrassed about being scared?"
Momo shook her head, sitting up just enough to look at him. They sat across from each other at the dining table.
"W-well, it just seems...childish, I suppose," She answered, looking away as her cheeks began to burn once more. "I-It feels like since I'm training to be a Hero, I shouldn't be getting scared of some...some stupid movie made to scare children."
Shouto merely looked at her for a moment, his gaze undecipherable. Momo's head fell into her hands again and she groaned.
"I don't think that movie is appropriate to show children, Momo," He said, as serious as ever. "If anything, it's probably made to specifically scare Heroes."
She giggled. "Why do I feel like Present Mic-sensei would be terrified of it?"
"Because he probably would be," Shouto answered. Momo smiled up at him and, finally seeing some semblance of happiness in her, he smiled back. "If it's meant to scare Heroes and you got scared, doesn't that just mean you're closer to being a Pro than you think? That's pretty amazing, Momo."
The black-haired girl blushed at his compliment and sat up, holding up her head with her hands.
"I-I don't think I'm that amazing..," She muttered, but Shouto could see the gratefulness on her face regardless. "Y-you're the amazing one, Shouto. Sometimes I..."
Todoroki raised an eyebrow. Leaning forward, he pulled one of her hands away from her face and held it between his own. She smiled at him and he smiled back, prompting her to go on, regardless of her thoughts.
"Sometimes I feel like I'll never catch up to you...," Momo whispered, grasping his hand as she spoke. "I-I just...you, Midoriya, Iida, and Bakugo...you're all so far ahead of the rest of us. I don't see how we...how I am supposed to catch up. All the others are doing more than I am and I just...I just spent my internship shooting some dumb commercials and ads."
She looked away from him, and Shouto couldn't help but feel that he wasn't qualified for this. He had never been much of a people person and, while coming to U.A. had helped him a little bit, it still wasn't enough to make him comfortable with it all and it definitely didn't make him any good at it. Talking about his feelings and sympathizing was the last thing he would be good at but, seeing the dejected look on Momo's face, he knew he had to do something.
"Stay here for a moment." He told her before standing up. She turned her head to follow his movements and he smiled down at her. Lifting her hands up, he kissed her knuckles before letting go and walking into the kitchen. Once he was out of sight, Momo sighed and let her head fall into her arms against the table.
Before they'd joined in on the movie night, the two of them had been sitting in the kitchen, drinking tea. It was an earthy blend, Momo had told him as she prepared it. It was supposed to keep you grounded, help you focus, and soothe your nerves. It was meant for relaxing and, right about now, a relaxing cup of tea was exactly what Momo needed. Thankfully, they had neglected to put away the teapot before they'd moved in to watch the movie, meaning most of the work was already done.
Shouto emptied the pot and started to make a brand new batch. The fresher the tea, the better. After that, he moved over to the large container of sugar and, carefully, measured out three scoops of sugar. It was a little too sweet for his taste, but it was how Momo liked it, so he'd make it as best he could.
Soon, he had her mug, designed by Jiro and Mina and the other girls for her birthday with her name and countless stickers, filled with as much sugar as she liked and was waiting for the pot to finish brewing. He contemplated making himself a mug as well but thought against it. He wasn't making tea for the fun of it. He was making tea because Momo needed comfort and, since he thought he couldn't do it completely himself, that mug of tea would practically be a Godsend.
After what felt like a decade, the teapot finally rang out, letting him know that the tea was done. He poured it into her mug, mixed it with the little spoon he'd seen her use earlier, and picked it up, making his way back into the dining room.
Once he got back, he wasted no time in walking around and setting the mug down in front of Momo. She still had her head in her hands, though, so Shouto sat next to her and placed a hand on her shoulder, shaking her slightly.
"Momo," He whispered to her, leaning down to try and catch a glimpse of her face but to no avail. "I've made you a cup of tea. Sit up, please?"
He was worried she'd ignore him and stay down or that she had fallen asleep but, after a moment, she sat up and sighed. Immediately, her hands latched around the mug and she flashed Shouto a small, grateful, smile.
"Thank you, Shouto," She eeked out, her voice barely that of a whisper. If he weren't already as close as he was, Todoroki feared her wouldn't have heard her at all. "I-I'm sorry...I didn't mean to just drop that on you..."
"Stop it, Momo. You don't need to apologize," he responded simply. Rubbing small circles on her back, he continued. "It's better to talk about it than it is to hold it in," He hesitated before leaning slightly closer. "You can tell me anything, you know."
She seemed to shy away from his prying eyes.
"I-I know I can, but...I don't want to waste your time with something small." She eventually said, taking a sip of the tea he had made for her. A satisfied sigh slipped through her lips. Shouto chuckled, tilting his head.
"That sounds like what I said, way back when you found me training that night," He responded. Her brows flared in recognition, but he kept going. "And if that's the case, then I'll tell you the same thing you told me,"
"No matter what, your issues won't bother me. As long as you're willing to ask for help, I'll be willing to help you," He stated as if it was the easiest thing in the world for him to say. "Because I care about you, Momo. I don't want to see you get hurt in any way. "
He heard a whimper come from her before she set the mug down and seemed to fold in on herself once more. Shouto quickly moved from rubbing circles on her back to looping his arm around her and pulling her head into his chest.
"I'm sorry," He muttered, shoving his face into her hair. It smelled like lavender, a fact that he had long since known and come to enjoy. "Maybe that wasn't the right thing to say. I'm...not well-versed in this department."
Momo sniffled and pulled her head up, though not enough for her to see Shouto's face. Instead, she was staring at the mug of tea sitting on the table in front of them. It was still steaming and, coupled with Shouto's mere presence and his words seemed to be enough to let her calm down for the time being.
"No, no, no, that was...that was very good, Shouto," She murmured, giggling softly as she did. "Th-thank you. To think, my own words would be used against me. How strange."
Shouto shrugged nonchalantly. "If it fits, I see no reason not to use it," He stated, tilting his head. "I just want to convey my...feelings to you."
He shuffled and turned her around by her shoulders so that he could see her face. Immediately, Momo's face turned a deep red and she felt a need to look away. Despite that, though, she didn't and locked eyes with her boyfriend.
"I do care about you, Momo, and I want to be able to help you," He told her, his voice eerily soothing to her ears. "I-I'm sorry about...moving so quickly. I never meant to leave you behind and, while Bakugo says he's trying to do so, none of the others mean that either. I will gladly stop and help you get ahead of me to make you happy."
Finally, Momo looked away. It wasn't out of shame, though, she realized. As the corners of her eyes filled with tears and she brought a hand up to cover her mouth and prevent a sob from slipping out of her, Momo realized that she was just insanely happy.
She flung her arms around Shouto's neck and pulled him into a hug, burying her face into his neck. As if it was second nature, his arms curled around her and he pulled her deeper into his embrace. Despite her best efforts, a sob escaped her, though it quickly turned into a pleased laugh.
"Th-thank you, Shouto," She eeked out in between sobs and shuddering laughs. "Thank you...so much. For everything. Not just this little moment, but for...for standing by me at all. H-honestly and, I mean this from the absolute bottom of my heart, y-you...you mean the world to me."
His breathing hitched up and his cheeks turned as red as the right side of his hair. Following her example, he looked away bashfully.
"And you said I was the one who had a way with words...," He muttered, causing her to laugh openly. Looking at her, specifically, her beautiful smile, was enough to make Todoroki smile himself. "And you don't need to thank me. I'd stand by you regardless, Momo. I..." Love you, he wanted to say. Something made him stop, though. Something...something that he couldn't understand. Was it...was it insecurity? Could he really be afraid of...love, of all things?
Shouto hesitated, which Momo caught. She pulled away, just enough to see his face, and tilted her head in question. Her eyebrows were knit with worry.
"Shouto? Is something wrong?" Momo asked him. When he didn't answer, she cupped his cheeks and leaned closer, so much that their noses were barely an inch apart. "Y-you sounded like you were about to say some-thmph!"
The distance between them was quickly negated as Shouto easily captured Momo's lips with his own. She was taken aback for only a few moments before she reciprocated the kiss, sighing into the contact.
Both Yaoyorozu and Todoroki were rather reclused people. On their own, they weren't likely to be physically inclined to do much of anything. Even in their relationship, they weren't exactly openly physical, especially around their classmates. So for Shouto to take the initiative like that, despite the fact that their classmates were literally a room away...it made Momo a lot happier than she'd like to admit.
The kiss ended far too early for Momo's taste, but she couldn't exactly complain. Once he pulled back, Shouto sighed and looked away from her, his face red.
"Talking isn't my strong suit," He whispered, almost deathly quiet. "So I thought...actions speak louder than words...th-that wasn't dumb or anything, was it?"
Momo smiled and shook her head. In her head, she promised to remember the look on his face when he'd said that. It wasn't every day that she saw Shouto Todoroki of all people flustered to even the smallest extent.
"It was perfect, Shouto," She told him, letting her forehead fall against his chest. Like earlier, his arms wrapped around her almost instinctively. "I-I think I get the gist of what you're feeling."
He made a sound of approval and rested his head against hers. They sat in silence, and in each other's embrace, for a moment before he responded again.
"Good. You mean a lot to me, too." He finally said. Momo smiled and, thankful that he couldn't see her red face because of their position, settled for nodded against his chest.
The mug of tea Todoroki had made sat on the table, still steaming cooly. At this point, though, it was mostly forgotten but, despite that, Shouto couldn't help but think that the tea was magical, somehow. It was a strange train of thought, admittedly, but it made sense to him. Momo had said it was supposed to relax and it had done exactly that and then some. Was it wrong of him to think that, in some way, a higher power was involved?
Maybe it was. Maybe he was just reading too hard into a good result. Either way, Shouto was relieved that she had suggested it to him that night. It was his saving grace, to make tea for Momo.