Katsuki's throat and chest were becoming increasingly sore as his intense breathing persisted, but nothing was inflicting greater pain than witnessing the usually refined and courteous Momo Yaoyorozu collapse into a state of misery and despondency because of him. Rather than assess the situation carefully and adjust his behaviour accordingly, he'd fallen back into his typical habit of overreacting and antagonising those around him for his ineptitude. And he still wondered why he was struggling to perform in some areas.

During times of conflict and intensity, Momo always prioritised the wellbeing of others before her own. Although she wasn't in any real danger, she couldn't idly watch her guest punish himself when no fault had been committed on his part.

Katsuki developed a snarl when he witnessed he wriggle herself closer to him, and his displeasure brought her to a halt. In spite of his demeanour and condition, Momo was still determined to put his physical and emotional unrest to ease, and so she elected to propose a stress-coping exercise she'd been introduced to during her internships.

"We're going to try a breathing exercise, OK?" She announced in a nurturing tone. "In through the nose and out through mouth. Ready? With me."

Katsuki glared at her fiercely. He recognised the exercise, and the very mention of it irritated him. Momo tensed. Considering he was in a very agitated state, she knew she had to approach this carefully.

"Are you taking the piss?"

"With me" she insisted.

"What are you, my f*cking babysitter? Do I look a child to you?"

Momo stared at him with wide pleading eyes. "Please" she whispered.

The fact that his emotional instability had compelled her to suggest such an exercise frustrated him greatly, but it was honestly quite comforting to know that she was so committed to him. Katsuki knew he would be doing her a great disservice if he didn't participate, and so he begrudgingly agreed to the proposal, much to Momo's appreciation.

Said exercise was one his mother had pressured him into performing repeatedly in his youth following an outburst or tantrum. It irritated Katsuki to know that he was so unstable that an exercise for children had to be utilised. But rather than forceful and impatient commands issued like he was accustomed to, he was instead treated to Momo's soothing, angelic voice and occasional inspirational piece of feedback. Katsuki didn't realise it, but he'd effectively fallen into a trance as he began to absentmindedly mimic her breathing, concentrating entirely on her eyes and voice. It really did feel as if he was being alleviated of the unbearable pain and discomfort just by listening to her. Her continued kindness and compassion only served to highlight why she was one of the most beloved students on campus.

Although it had been an unexpected and unorthodox method, Katsuki soon found his restless breathing and heartbeat eventually returning to a more stable pace. But while physical relief had been achieved, it hadn't reprieved him of any emotional turmoil.

Momo too had hoped she'd be offered some relief, but the effort had unfortunately been in vain. At the very least, his once agitated demeanour had definitely subsided, but the persistent scowl on his face confirmed he wasn't completely relieved. After unjustly antagonising him, he had every right to be angry with her. Like many incidents before, she'd unfairly misjudged Katsuki Bakugo once again, immediately assuming the worst of him and arriving at haste conclusions without once considering his perceptions. Momo had completely forgotten that beneath his abrasive exterior was another young adult like her struggling to make sense of a complicated situation. How could she be so blind and heartless? Why hadn't she realised sooner that he'd been suffering?

Momo accepted there was very little she could to possibly redeem herself in his eyes. After all, Katsuki wasn't exactly the most forgiving person. The possibility of him never trusting her again didn't seem very unlikely or unbelievable, and this prospect frightened Momo ever so much. She could very well have sabotaged the admittedly slim chance of them ever having a positive relationship with one another. If they weren't to speak with each other again, the very least Momo could do was offer her apologies and a proper explanation. He deserved that much.

"I want you to know that at no point have I ever thought you possessed some lecherous intention when we kissed" she whispered apologetically. "You aren't like that. You would never do anything to hurt anybody, and certainly not something like I've been accusing you of."

There was an argument to be made that committing such an act wouldn't be out of character for Katsuki Bakugo; a student notorious on and off campus for his hurtful and disrespectful behaviour. But if anybody were to make such an accusation, Momo would've denounced it in a heartbeat. Katsuki was a lot of things - impolite, foul-mouthed, impatient and generally unwelcoming to others - but he wasn't twisted or evil, and definitely not to the degree that some students and the media perceived him as. Momo liked to believe she understood him better than most, and she knew he wouldn't have kissed her without a valid reason, and certainly not to assault her.

"There are so many factors that I don't understand or haven't even thought to consider, so I'm sorry for arriving at false conclusions. I'm sorry for hurting you. You didn't deserve to be treated like that."

There'd been a time when nothing could've evoked greater satisfaction from Katsuki than making his peers miserable. But ever since arriving at U.A and becoming acquainted with his new class of irrelevant and insignificant 'extras', those once common experiences were almost completely foreign to him now. In fact, he couldn't recall the last time he'd actively derived amusement from subjugating one his classmates. Instead, feelings of intense remorse, regret and disappointment had become all too common, and listening to the young woman bleed her heart into words and apologise for her behaviour reminded once again how terrible his former attitude had been. Why on Earth was she apologising? Had she just completely forgotten about everything he'd said about her?

Momo brought a hand to her chest. "I swear to you that the events of that night haven't been divulged with anybody else. I give you my word - I haven't told a soul. I have not and will not ever do that to do."

Momo understood completely why Katsuki had been so distressed over the prospects of their encounter becoming public knowledge. Their class and the school's staff could possibly misinterpret the situation and suspect Katsuki of sexually assaulting her, as he'd mentioned. Knowing full well he could be held responsible on account of his reputation for being provocative and confrontational, Momo had been committed to keeping the event private. She didn't want to imagine how this information could affect his relationships and education. The very thought of Katsuki being punished and possibly expelled terrified her.

The sincerity in her voice all but confirmed she was speaking truthfully, but Katsuki wasn't entirely convinced. She'd once been one of the students who never hesitated to report him to teachers for his behaviour, even when he hadn't done anything. He couldn't even breathe in the general direction of another classmate without her or one his other peers reporting him, and now here she was defending him. Something wasn't right.

"Why not?" He asked irritably. "Shouldn't everybody deserve to know that I assaulted you?"

Momo shook her head. "But you didn't assault me. Assault is committed with the intent to harm, and you didn't hurt me."

Katsuki averted his gaze, thoroughly confused as to why she so insistent on defending him.

"Like you said" she continued urgently, "'we weren't doing anything illegal'. And I stress the word 'we' with great emphasis. Like you, I consciously participated. To reveal this and attempt to deflect the blame would be incredibly dishonest and deceitful of me considering I'm partially responsible it even happened in the first place. I promise you that I have absolutely no intentions of revealing this to anybody."

Why hadn't she shared this? As the vice-president of their class, it was her duty and responsibility to report any 'inappropriate' or 'improper' behaviour, and considering she'd been attacked by another classmate, surely an incident like this deserved to be made known. Was she deliberately refraining from speaking due to embarrassment or fear of potential punishment, too? Katsuki furrowed his eyebrows. Or maybe…she really was concerned about his wellbeing? When so many could've revealed this, exaggerated the truth to illustrate him as the assailant and potentially jeopardise his continued enrolment, she hadn't, and instead had respected his safety and feelings. Katsuki didn't know what to make of it all, but what he could conclude was the he was grateful. He wasn't about to properly thank her, however - he had a reputation to maintain, after all - but the least he could do was inform her that he too had been operating with the same mindset and attitude.

To avoiding possibly appearing bashful or embarrassed, Katsuki folded his arms. "I don't intend on letting anybody else know about this. You should know that I haven't shared this, either."

Momo studied him curiously. "Why not? You know I could just as easily be vilified as you…"

"Because I don't f*cking...!"

A sudden escalation made Momo tense abruptly. Upon witnessing her renewed frightened expression, Katsuki cursed himself for becoming agitated once again, and instead adopted a softer tone to hopefully recover.

"…I don't want you to cop any sh*t for this...'cause it's not your fault."

Katsuki's confession made Momo's heartbeat accelerate. She acknowledged that most people would be more inclined to believe the female rather than male when regarding possible sexual attacks, but with enough persuasion she too could've been made out to be the felon. Just like him, such an event could very well have reflected very poorly on her and potentially threatened her education and relationships. And yet he'd still decided not to share this moment with anybody. Momo couldn't even begin to express her gratitude and appreciation. He really was a thoughtful person.

"And it isn't yours either" she reaffirmed. "We were both involved. We're both responsible."

Katsuki fidgeted uncomfortably. "Don't you want me to get in trouble?"

"No. Absolutely not. It's for this very reason I've kept this from our teachers and classmates. I don't you want to be punished for something like this; something so minor and inconsequential."

"…So you're not pissed at me?"

"No, of course not." A small laugh escaped Momo's mouth as she shook her head. She didn't mean to be deriving amusement, but she couldn't help but find the act of repeating herself to instil reassurance in him admittedly quite endearing. "Why would I be? You haven't done anything wrong. This isn't your fault."

'This isn't your fault' – four seemingly innocent and innocuous words that otherwise wouldn't have ever had an effect on Katsuki in his early years on account of his inability to do wrong. But following the most traumatic and harrowing experience of his and many others' life, Katsuki had begun to hold himself accountable for the most negligible of offences, wondering if he was responsible for all the misfortune that had begun to manifest around him and everybody else. That particular expression had become all too familiar to him, reaffirmed on many different occasions by many different people; his family, classmates, teachers…his fallen idol… So many people had insisted that he wasn't responsible. Their words did very little to convince him otherwise.

Katsuki couldn't accept that he hadn't been the one to commit the misdeed. And even more critically, he couldn't accept that she didn't resent him for it to a degree.

Lowering his gaze, Katsuki's eyes fell upon his restlessly fidgeting hands. "I don't believe you…"

Momo's smile faltered upon witnessing his dejection, and she cursed herself for trying to inject humour into this very serious situation.

"I don't expect you to believe me, and certainly not after how poorly I've treated you. I should've instinctively known that you didn't want to bring attention to this. Not once did I ever consider how you might feel about this. I'm sorry for how selfish and disrespectful I've been. I have not been fair to you at all. But you deserved to know that I haven't been offended or violated. I promise I'm not displeased or disgusted with you. I do not resent you for what's happened."

It was only now that Momo was beginning to reconsider possibly forgetting about the experience entirely like he would've preferred than drag it back out into the light. She was the student who was possibly the most notorious for obsessive overthinking, so why hadn't she been able to realise that his refrain from speaking hadn't been out of irritation but fear and remorse. His resentment was completely justifiable, she thought. In fact, she believed she deserved it for being so ignorant and insensitive.

"…And I don't…feel the same towards you, either" came a soft voice from beside her.

Momo turned her head anxiously to inspect. "…You don't?" She asked cautiously but hopefully.

She was treated to a haste shake of the head from Katsuki. "No, I don't. Despite how I might've acted earlier, I'm not pissed of with you." He massaged his face violently, reflecting on his earlier behaviour evoking frustration and disappointment again. "I know that might be a little hard to believe, but I don't hate you for what happened if that's what you think. It was just a kiss - as if I get upset with you over something so insignificant. You'd have to something a whole lot worse than that to really get under my skin."

While he'd been speaking, Momo had held her breath in anticipation, intently listening to every word. And his explanation enveloped her in a wave of relief and comfort.

"….I was so sure that you'd come to despise me for embracing you with such intimacy" she confessed.

Katsuki returned his attention to her. "…Have you really been thinking that I hate you all of a sudden?"

Momo nibbled her lip nervously. "W-well, your prolonged silence and inactivity has been…concerning me, I must admit. You haven't said so much as a word to me since, and I've been dreading that you might've begun to…think lesser of me…"

The opinions of his classmates had never been especially important to Katsuki, and if they'd been led to believe he disliked them, than it was probably because he did. Katsuki didn't care much for those he considered inferior to him…which was almost everybody. But Momo Yaoyorozu was a very important exception, and stood as one of the very few people he'd ever truly respected and admired, for her intelligence, compassion and tenacity. Hearing that one of the only people he genuinely valued believed he resented her was truly wounding to hear. Even when he didn't intend to, he still found himself hurting those he cared for.

The word 'apologise' was completely foreign in Katsuki's vocabulary, and even after mistreating her for several days, he still couldn't quite bring himself to say 'sorry'. Instead, he resolved to work around that inability. "Y-yeah, well, I haven't" he stammered, "so you can stop be so unforgiving on yourself about this. I don't think lesser of you…not for something meaningless like this."

Momo repressed the urge to laugh again. His flustered behaviour and mannerisms were quite endearing to witness from a typically irritable and impatient individual. It's how she knew he was being sincere. It might've been a true apology, but Momo still understood what he'd been conveying. But just because he'd forgiven her did not immediately mean he'd be forgiven himself.

"I've been afraid that you might also be undeservingly punishing yourself, as well" she admitted.

Katsuki turned away. "…And what if I have?"

Upon hearing this, Momo's maternal instincts manifested yet again, and soon she found herself gently caressing his thigh. How she wished there was some kind of item or device she could materialise from her body that would relieve him of all the unnecessary emotional baggage he was carrying with, but no object existed, sadly. The most she could and would do was reassure him, and she was more than prepared to do it all night if it meant she could make him feel better about himself.

"Then you mustn't anymore" she explained, smiling weakly. "I realise now that I've been over-exaggerating the importance of such a harmless event, and I'm ever so sorry you've had to suffer with this burden." She shrugged her shoulders absentmindedly. "After all, like you said: 'it was just a kiss'."

Being comforted was an unfamiliar sensation to Katsuki; somebody who'd, for the better part of his life, had never needed to be. He'd always misinterpreted care and attention as signs of pity and humiliation, and it's for these many reasons and more that he'd never felt comfortable accepting the support of others. But after finally surrendering his defences and allowing somebody inside, he wasn't disappointed or irritated at all. In fact, it was honestly quite moving to discover that anybody could value him to the point where they'd dedicate time to comforting and supporting him. It meant even more to know that Momo Yaoyorozu was one of these people.

With a weak nod of his own, Katsuki acknowledged her explanation. "Yeah…"

It was only after concluding did the pair realise that she hadn't actually removed her hand from his thigh yet. It was only when Katsuki acknowledged did Momo finally stop. Katsuki hadn't been bothered, honestly, and it had only reminded him of how compassionate and caring she really was. She'd been repeatedly described as the nurturing mother of their class, and Katsuki couldn't say he disagreed with that description. Momo, however, was overcome with embarrassment, and hastily brought said hand over her chest in attempt to calm her anxious heart. Goodness, that'd been invasive of her. Maybe there was a case to be made that she was touching him inappropriately without his consent. Still, the fact that he hadn't objected meant more to her than it really should've.

"I'm…so pleased that we've been finally able to discuss this" announced Momo. "I've been yearning for an opportunity to talk with you."

"I should've gotten in contact with you sooner, then…"

"The time taken is irrelevant right now. What's important is that we have finally been able to conduct this discussion at all." She bowed her head, grateful for his patience and cooperation. "Thank you."

"It's fine." Katsuki shrugged his shoulders dismissively before exhaling with exhaustion. "I…needed this" he confessed. "I really needed some answers for some of the sh*t that's been bothering me…"

Momo acknowledged with a nod. "I feel the same."

A small smile tugged at the corners of Katsuki's lips, but it vanished just as quickly as it arrived. Momo couldn't help but smile after seeing how desperate he was to maintain his control and composure yet again. He was nothing if not committed to his image as an steadfast, unwavering warrior, and she found his devotion quite endearing, admittedly. She really wished he would smile more, though. Visible excitement, enthusiasm or contentment from him was always a welcome sight. And Katsuki would be dishonest if he denied that he too hadn't come to appreciate the same from her.