Sorry everyone. Obviously, I'm not very good with sticking to a posting schedule. Lol. Anyways, I was a mod on the TodoMomo Mini Bang. Which if you haven't checked out, definitely do. Here's the link: Anyways, I was a mod so that had been sucking up a lot of time. It wrapped up Monday, July 13th so my posting schedule should return to semi-normal now.

Big thanks as usual to my betas: C's Melody and FlourChildWrites and 666-HyuugaNeji-999. Couldn't do it without you three! Thank you :D

Thank you to everyone who reviewed! I love you all!

The Impossible Muffin - Ekk! Thanks for the spot! Even with betas some things get missed. Thank you for being understanding. :D

mihairu7 - Oh my gosh! I'm crying, your review seriously gives me life! THANK YOU!

I've never seen Toradora but you're so right. Todo and Momo are slowly (very slowly) falling in love, but are both too stubborn to even recognize it. Which, to be fair isn't entirely their fault. Todo thinks any feelings related to Momo are driven by the arrow's curse. His words of encouragement at the end of this chapter were the first time that he felt like himself when interacting with her, because at the end of the day, those are his true feelings. He hates slavery and, if it wasn't for the curse, would have freed Momo a long time ago. Of course, the curse does rear its ugly head at the end and he kisses her, but unlike last time (in ch 2) there had been some of his own feelings behind his actions - even if he doesn't recognize it. On the other side, Momo has been scared for her and Tokoyami's safety for the last 7-8 chapters (1 month in the timeline). Her gut is telling her that Todoroki isn't going to hurt her, but everything she knows about men and hearing Tokoyami's warnings, makes her doubt her own instincts. To add to that, Momo isn't used to having significant people in her life. Whether for justified reasons or not, she feels she been abandoned by everyone she knows and has built up a wall around her heart so that she won't be hurt. And now that Tokoyami is getting increasingly exasperated with her (who wouldn't?) she is feeling really insecure. So when she half confides her thoughts to Todoroki and fishes for answers to some of her worries she is unconsciously opening her heart up to him, if only a little. We will have to see, how she takes this development though. Tehehe

Hahaha, yep, trying to keep it PG-13 on the romance side...but we will see which way the TodoMomo fire spreads. Haha.

Eee! I'm so glad you like my introduction of Neijire! I wasn't planning for her, but she fit so, so well so couldn't resist adding her in. 😊 Also, in terms of how others character come across, its all how Todo or Momo (dependent on the chapter) see the person - aka it may not always be the truth.

LOL! THAT'S IT! You guessed the story! They are getting married in the next chapter and that's it!

OMG! I can't tell you how much we authors appreciate reviewers (especially those who take the time to leave long reviews)! It means SO SO SO much to us to hear readers thoughts. I cry in excitement every time I get a review.

Thank you very much for taking the time to read and leave such a detailed review!

P.S. Thank you also for the correction. It's been edited and updated.

fencer29 - LOL! That is so true. The whole Greek mythology is about gods messing with humans.

It may not be that bad... We'll see. Haha. The chapter is told in Shouto's pov so depending on how he sees people is how they come across so she may not be as air headed as Shouto thinks. He's just moody and doesn't like people butting into his business.

Thank you for continuing with this story and for always taking the time to review. :D

KeroKeroNyao – Hahaha. I'm glad you liked Todo in a loincloth! I thought it would be pretty funny. Greeks had a different view on modesty, and most men would do a lot of athletics naked so Todo isn't as aware of how an almost naked man – who looks like a god – could make a woman's heart rate sped up.

You have some very, very good observations there about Todo's warrior instincts of grabbing Endeavor every time he is angry and also about the twitches and what that could mean for his mental state. :)

And I'm so glad you liked that ending scene! It was the first time TodoMomo had a heart to heart. There still is a lot that needs to happen before they can really fall in love but that scene was the ground work for their future development. '

Thank you so, so much for the kind review!

snowflake100 - Ahhh thank you so much! It makes me so happy to know that you are enjoying this. Thank you for taking the time to read and review!

Nap-Tyme – EEE! Thank you! I'm so happy you liked that scene! And sorry, no boat or temple baby…they could adopt though. Haha. Thank you so, so much for always leaving such kind reviews!

Now, onto the next chapter! (Please don't hate me!)

Chapter 10: We Can (Not) Return

"Yaoyorozu." Her name rolled off his tongue. He felt her pulse jump underneath his thumb. It sent a rush of excitement through him. "I want you to be able to rely on me. I want to take care of you."

She sucked in a breath but didn't say anything. Her eyes were dark, almost pitch black. He could feel her warm breath on his face. Her tongue flicked out to wet her lips, and he felt his heartbeat speed up.

Slowly, Shouto leaned down. Yaoyorozu was still underneath him, and his lips skimmed over hers. "You're mine. Let me care for you," he whispered as he kissed her.

Momo's breath caught in her throat, and her eyes widened as his lips brushed against hers — soft, gentle. He kissed her like he really did care for her, as if he meant what he said.

'You hold some significance to him.'

Momo's toes curled. Warmth spread within her stomach. She closed her eyes as his fingers cupped her jaw, lifting her head to deepen the kiss.

It felt nice. It wasn't supposed to feel nice, but it did.

Her heart was pounding in her chest. Her hands twitched, and she lifted them hesitantly, unsure what to do with them or whether she wanted to pull him closer or push him away.

Momo hadn't realized that she could be affected like this.

Affected by him.

He was a Spartan. An enemy of Troy. He had helped burn her city to the ground, loot their temples, enslave her people. And yet, he had been nothing but civil — if not even decent — to her and Tokoyami.

He treated them like people. He answered her questions. He never raised his voice at her or hit her. He talked to her. A moment before, he had even been trying to make her feel better.

Was he really as bad as Tokoyami said?

Todoroki's mouth moved against hers for a moment longer before he pulled back, and he looked down at her. His red and white bangs brushed against her forehead, and she could feel the warmth of his breath against her lips. His expression was softer than Momo had ever seen, and it made her heart ache painfully.

Could he really care for her?

'He's only acting kind to make you compliant.'

That's right. There was no way he could like her in any significant way. They hardly knew each other. She trembled, her stomach clenching painfully as another unwanted thought came to her.

'Don't forget. He only sees us as tools. To him, significance equates to 'value,' and a person only has value when they are useful for his purposes.'

"You're lying."

It was a whisper against his lips.

Todoroki's expression instantly shuttered. He withdrew his hand and took a step back.

The warm night air suddenly felt chilled.

Momo froze, and her eyes widened as, with dawning horror, she remembered her station in their contract. Her hands flew up to cover her mouth as her mind registered what she had just said out loud. She had sold herself to Todoroki, she wasn't supposed to defy him.

She had to make this right.

She felt sick. "Todoroki! I –"

"I don't lie," he cut her off. His expression was frigid; Momo could see his jaw clench. "I don't need to. If I say something, it's my word."

Momo stepped back as he stared at her. His eyes were cold. She tried to swallow over a tight throat but couldn't. Her stomach twisted so painfully she thought she'd throw up. He was her master. What slave spoke like that to the person who owned them?

She had no idea where this rebellious side of her had come from. It seemed that whenever she was with him, all she ever did was challenge him. She was never like this at the temple. Where had this sudden bout of stupidity come from?

She stumbled backwards. Then, before she could process her actions, she was running. If he called after her, cursed at her, Momo had no idea. She bolted up the stairs and down the hallway to her room. Her heart was pounding so ferociously in her chest, it wouldn't have been surprising if it completely stopped.

She shut the door and collapsed onto the floor, shaking with terror.

Stupid. So stupid, Momo berated herself as she tried to listen for Todoroki's footsteps following her. But it was impossible to hear anything over her racing heart. Momo's fingers trembled against her legs.

What had she been thinking? After all the countless times that Tokoyami had warned her to stay away from Todoroki, told her that he was cunning and dangerous, she had gone and walked right into his arms, like a fly into a spider's web.

All it took was a few kind words to sway her.

Momo slumped further against the door and dropped her face into the crook of her elbow. She was a fool.

Her parents had given her to the wrong god. They should have given her to Koalemos, the god of stupidity and foolishness, not Apollo. At least there she would have fit in.

If it wasn't the middle of the night she'd scream.

Momo buried her face in her hands. It hadn't even been more than a few hours since Tokoyami had reminded her to stay away from Todoroki.

Dangerous. Manipulative. Cunning. That was how Tokoyami had described Todoroki as he reprimanded her for blushing and acting weak in front of the Spartan earlier in the evening. He'd also said that he was done warning her to be careful. It was up to her to monitor her own actions from now on – and look where that had gotten her...

Momo pressed the heels of her palms to her eyes. Perhaps, if she hadn't been feeling useless and upset over Tokoyami acting like she was incapable of accurately judging a person's character herself, she would have made a wiser decision than to stand there like a fool and let Todoroki kiss her.

She groaned. The worst part of it all was that part of her had liked it. The kiss had been so different from their first one. It had made her heart beat faster, and warmth to flow through her. And part of her mind had even wondered what it would be like to kiss him back.

She felt her face warm, and pushed the thought away furiously.

Be who she wanted to be? Momo scoffed. What Todoroki had offered her was too ideal. No man would ever offer his wife — much less his slave — such liberties. And she had almost believed him too. Her stomach rolled.

The only positive that had come out of the whole encounter was that now she had finally realized that Tokoyami was right; Aphrodite had clearly clouded her vision and weakened her heart.

Momo sighed, and dropped her head back onto her knees. She needed to come up with a plan, an operation to prove to herself that these feelings beginning to grow in her chest for her master were a weed, not a flower.

She stood up, and made her way to her bed. Her recent bout of terror and anxiety had left her exhausted. She crawled onto her bed and stared up at the ceiling.

Thinking about it realistically, even if she didn't do anything, Todoroki would likely reveal his true nature sooner rather than later anyway.

Men hated being challenged. Even now, Todoroki was probably thinking of ways to get back at her, contemplating the best ways to punish her for her disobedience.

Honestly, she made the most impertinent, opinionated slave. Couldn't she have just kept her thoughts to herself?

Momo closed her eyes and draped her arm over her face. Worst case scenario, Todoroki would renege on his promise to free Tokoyami. Before that could happen, she needed to appease him. She had nothing left to trade, she had already given herself to Todoroki as a slave to be allowed to heal Tokoyami, all she could do now was apologize and pray to Clementia that he'd accept that.

Momo turned on her side and curled into a ball. She felt sick. Her head was throbbing. She closed her eyes and lay there trying to think of ways to properly apologize to Todoroki as she waited for someone to come get her for her shift.

No one ever came and she fell asleep.

43 days post the fall of Troy

Momo had never been known for her ability to hide her emotions, so it wasn't a complete surprise when Tokoyami had guessed something had happened between her and Todoroki. However, his decision to confront Todoroki over his presumed assumptions had been too much for Momo to bear. She had cracked, telling him about the kiss and her subsequent insubordination to Todoroki.

Tokoyami had been furious at her, as she had expected. Even after she had apologized, he'd barely spoken to her for days, and had almost completely withdrawn from her.

Now he only spent his time with Asui, helping her around the house or going with her on patrols. The few times they did speak alone, he had only grown exasperated with her.

Momo's lips thinned as she pulled on gloves before picking up a stone mallet and pestle full of dark purple berries. Carefully, she began grinding the berries into a paste.

She had always seen Tokoyami as an older brother — her only family. And she reasoned it was normal for families to fight, but with his pointed comments, Momo had to wonder if he had lost all faith in her.

She pressed the mallet into the pestle harder.

The feeling of their relationship stretching like a thread sat heavy on her consciousness and it made her angry at him, and at herself. She knew she shouldn't have let Todoroki kiss her, but it wasn't like she had done anything wrong, and she had apologized. Tokoyami just didn't believe her.

Another thing for her to fix.

Momo paused and brushed her nose with the back of her wrist. "It smells sweet."

"Sweet but highly lethal," Shouta Aizawa replied in a bland tone. He walked over to the shelves lining the back wall of the small medicine room, and pulled a clay jar from the top. "Two berries have enough potency to kill a child. Four or five will cause paralysis and death in a healthy adult."

Momo shivered faintly as she continued to grind the dark, purple berries into a paste.

The windowless room had been transformed into a medicinal stockroom. Shelves lined the walls, packed with pots and tinctures of varying sizes. Bronze tripods had been set up in the corners, providing light. And in the center of the room was a single, wooden table, but no chairs. Aizawa had said that one should never be comfortable when dealing with life and death.

It had been a little over two weeks since Todoroki had kissed her, and she still hadn't apologized to him. She had planned to ask for forgiveness on one of their nightly patrols, but he had been going by himself.

It was somewhat disconcerting. He wasn't acting like she'd expected at all. He hadn't yelled or hit her. If anything he acted like she barely existed. Her heart panged every time she thought about it.

She was being ignored on all fronts.

The extra time added to her schedule — which should have been a blessing and allowed her more sleep — had, in fact, done the complete opposite. With her and Tokoyami's friendship strained, Momo found her dreams growing steadily worse. More violent. More terrifying.

Then, a few days ago, everything had struck her. All her emotions: her anxiety, frustration, stress and the uncertainty over the last month had hit her, and she had ended up approaching Aizawa, begging him to teach her how to brew his various elixirs.

The head of the orphanage was meticulous and, in many ways, unforgiving, but he was a good teacher. And the attention and precision he required of her was a welcome distraction from the restlessness that had settled over her.

Aizawa moved back to her side and handed her the jar.

Momo glanced at the front. The face was intricately painted with purple, bell-shaped flowers with green tinges.

"If they're so dangerous, why do you keep this?" she asked, as she carefully began to use the pestle to funnel the smashed berries into the jar.

"Like any plant, it has multiple uses," he said, looking down at her. "On spears and knives, it is effective to ward off the stymphalian. But, if heavily diluted, a little can alleviate coughs and colds. Or it can even help with pain if spread on a wound."

Momo nodded, pressing her lips together as she twisted the top of the jar shut. She moved past Aizawa to the shelves. Pushing herself up onto her toes, she carefully placed the jar on the top shelf to ferment.

Four other painted vessels were nestled on the ledge. Momo paused for a moment and let her fingers skim over the illustration on another. It was a detailed depiction of a stymphalian with its wings outstretched. "These are beautiful," she whispered in awe. "Did you paint all of these yourself?" she asked louder, looking over her shoulder.

"Out of necessity," he said dismissively. "A surgeon must always be prepared. One slip up and I'd be sending my patients into the afterlife. The paintings are so I can tell the elixirs apart at a glance."

Momo nodded and looked back at the jars. "I haven't seen many of these before."

"You probably wouldn't. The others are ricinus, hemlock, oleander, and stymphalian poison."

Momo studied the designs for a moment, and then dropped down from her toes. The lower shelves were packed with evenly sized tinctures of medicine made from Eri's power. There was enough to heal twenty to thirty people. Far more injuries than any of them had sustained in the last month.

She picked one up and studied the shimmering, silver liquid. "And what do you do with all of these? You don't use them all for fighting the stymphalian, do you?"

"I sell them."

Momo raised an eyebrow. "Where? In the city?"

Aizawa stared at her. His face was impassive. "No," he said after a moment. "To pirates."

Momo felt her blood run cold. She looked up sharply and stared at Aizawa. "Pirates?"

"An old friend," Aizawa clarified dismissively, leaning against the table. "Her crew should be arriving in the next week or so with more supplies."

Momo put the vial back on the shelf and turned to fully face him. "Is that really a good idea?" she asked skeptically. "Do they even know about the children? How do you know if you can trust them?"

Aizawa leaned his head back and closed his eyes, pinching the bridge of his nose. Momo closed her mouth and swallowed her other thoughts; she had learned throughout her stay that he had little patience for multiple questions.

"The captain has been an ally to us for a long time," he said after a pause. "We barter the medicine I make in exchange for vegetables and other supplies we can't get here."

Her lips thinned. It seemed careless to be dealing with pirates, but Momo knew Aizawa was anything but careless.

Realization struck her, and she looked up sharply. "That's why we haven't gone on the offensive yet, isn't it?" she asked in disbelief. "We've been waiting for them to arrive and help fight."

Aizawa dropped his hand and looked back at her.

Momo continued doggedly. "When we met Asui at sea... It seemed like a coincidence that she found us, but it wasn't, was it? She hadn't been looking for survivors of a shipwreck, at least not our shipwreck. She was looking for them — the pirates."

"Yes," Azawai said. "I instructed Asui to find Emi Fukukado and her crew. But instead, she brought you all back. A coincidence that turned out to be favorable."

Momo's stomach dropped. Her lip twitched, and she swallowed thickly. It shouldn't have been surprising, but somehow Aizawa's confirmation of her thoughts felt like a betrayal, as if he had orchestrated the whole encounter.

She shook her head and opened her mouth to ask her next question.

"Anyway, enough discussion for now," he said sternly, cutting her off and closing the subject. Aizawa straightened. "We'll continue making the potion after it's had enough time to ferment," he said, waving his hand towards the wall. "For now, go help Asui with lunch. I have more work to do."

Momo nodded slowly as Aizawa dismissed her.

Her chest felt tight as she pulled off her gloves and left Aizawa's medical room. It had always been a mystery where Aizawa got his supplies. She had assumed that Asui had picked them up, but to rely on pirates seemed strange. It begged the question: did the pirates even know about the stymphalian?

Normal humans wouldn't set foot on the island because of the stymphalian, but these pirates had, and from the way Aizawa had spoken, this wasn't their first visit.

Was the situation not what she had originally thought? What was Aizawa not saying?

Momo shook her head. Standing in the middle of the hallway wouldn't help her solve anything. She needed to think about it later. Perhaps she'd try to talk to Tokoyami. Her heart sank at the thought, knowing he'd most likely dismiss her concerns.

Still, she couldn't let that stop her.

Her mind made up, Momo forced away the uneasiness in her limbs, and went to look for Asui, knowing that Tokoyami would be there too.

She found them in the kitchen, heads leaned close together as they whispered to one another. Momo stilled.

Asui looked up. "Momo," she said, taking a step back from Tokoyami.

"I'm sorry," Momo apologized. "I didn't mean to interrupt."

Asui shook her head. "You didn't interrupt, kero." She wiped off her hands on a towel and picked up a tray. "I was just about to go put this in the oven. If you're done with Aizawa, would you mind helping Tokoyami cut some vegetables, kero?" she asked.

Momo hummed in agreement as the nereid slipped out of the door.

Once she had left, Momo stared at the back of Tokoyami's head for a moment as he continued working.

The room suddenly felt uncomfortable. Momo brought her right hand up to grasp her opposite arm. "I need to talk to you," she finally said.

Tokoyami looked up and his eyes flashed. "Is it about the Spartan again?" he asked slowly, his voice tight.

Momo's stomach curled and she frowned. "No, it's not," she forced the words out. Her fingers dug into her arm. "But I said I was sorry, and I'm not talking to him, so I don't know why you're still angry."

"I'm not angry." Tokoyami placed his knife down and turned towards her. "I'm frustrated and exasperated, yes. But not angry."

He leaned against the counter and crossed his arms over his chest. There was a righteous anger in his yellow-bird-like eyes that made Momo's throat tighten. "You had promised me three times that you were going to be careful around him, and that's not even counting when you sold yourself to him." His voice was flat and matter-of-fact, and she flinched at the words. "If you aren't going to listen to me then I don't want to talk about your feelings or supposed lack of feelings for him. You are a grown woman and you can decide who to trust yourself. Anyway — " He waved his hand dismissively, and his eyes flickered as he changed the topic abruptly. "Let's not get into this argument right now. What is it you wished to speak about?"

Momo swallowed. She felt anger clench in her chest almost painfully. She wanted to scream. He always did this. He was passing the blame off to her. Making it seem like she was the unreasonable one. Her stomach felt tight and she dropped her arms to her side to ball her hands into fists.

She loved Tokoyami, but she could never win. No matter the argument, he always had to be right. And the problem was he was a better debater and more stubborn than her.

Momo ground her teeth in frustration, and set her jaw. She hadn't come here to argue, she reminded herself. Momo drew in a deep breath. "I don't think Aizawa — and maybe even Asui — are telling us the whole truth about what is happening here," she said slowly.

Tokoyami's eyes narrowed slightly, and Momo continued. "I mean, it's been a month since we arrived, and he still hasn't divulged what the plan is. And then, just now, Aizawa told me that pirates will be coming to the island. Why wouldn't he have said anything? And the way he spoke makes it seem that they have been coming here for awhile. But normal people would never step foot on this island, so do they even know about the dangers? Plus, have you ever wondered about this house? How did Aizawa build this all by himself?"

"You're overthinking, Yaoyorozu," Tokoyami interrupted with a sigh. "Aizawa and Asui have been nothing but good to us since we've arrived. And I've spoken to Asui. A dark guilt hangs above her head for tricking us that first time. I don't think she'd willingly hide details again, unless it was for a good cause. Besides, if they were using us, Asui wouldn't have offered for us to stay here once the mission is done."

Momo blinked, taken aback by the sudden turn of the conversation. "Stay here?" Somehow, she'd never entertained that as an option.

"Yes," Tokoyami nodded and uncrossed his arms, taking a step closer to her. "We can make a life here, away from the darkness of war and discrimination. We can finally be free." His words were full of hope.

"But...but how do we know we can trust them?"

Tokoyami's yellow, bird-like eyes flashed, and he jutted out his beak defensively. "You trust that Spartan more than Aizawa and Asui?"

Momo shifted. Her hands shook. Tokoyami was the one who was always saying to be careful around Todoroki, but now it was suddenly okay to trust Aizawa and Asui? He was a hypocrite. "That's not what I meant…"

"You don't need to feel tied to Todoroki just because you agreed to sell yourself to him," Tokoyami snapped.

Momo flinched.

"You've always been like this." His voice rose. "You act like the world is your responsibility. Did you already forget how awful the priestesses were to you at the temple? How they only acted like your friends when they needed something or were scared of me?"

Momo didn't answer. His words hurt.

Tokoyami exhaled through his nose. "That Spartan is no different. He doesn't see you as human. And the way he looks at you...I don't know. It's unsettling. We need to get away from him as soon as possible. Besides, what's he going to do to stop us if we decide to leave?"

Momo looked away. "I don't know," she said quietly. She brought her hand up to clench over her chest. She suddenly felt very, very alone.

"Stop."

Momo looked up sharply. Tokoyami was staring at her, his eyes hard. "The war is over," he said. "We survived. And now we're free of the dark. We can start fresh. You don't have to be tied to him," he repeated. His hands clenched into fists at his sides.

Her shoulders pulled inward slightly. She didn't want to fight again. They were always fighting these days. Couldn't they just go back to normal?

"Okay, I'm sorry. You're right. I'm being illogical," Momo whispered. She couldn't do this anymore.

The heaviness in the room was palpable.

The kitchen door suddenly opened as Asui re-entered the room. Her eyes widened as she stopped in the doorway and looked between the two. "Is everything okay, kero?"

"Yes," they said in unison.

Asui blinked and tapped on her chin. "If you say so," she said hesitantly, obviously feeling the bitter tension that hung in the air.

Momo swallowed and turned, going over to the water bucket to wash her hands. She could feel Asui's eyes on the back of her head. For once, Momo wished she could talk to her, but the nereid wouldn't be alone until they retreated back to their room for the night.

She bit her lip. In all her years of knowing Tokoyami, they had never disagreed like this, and the thought made her stomach churn.

She wanted to talk to someone. She had never been very good at keeping her thoughts to herself. It was what had gotten her in trouble with Todoroki in the first place, but she couldn't help it.

"Lunch is about done," Asui said suddenly, breaking the silence. "Yaoyorozu, can you please go get the children, kero?"

Momo nodded and headed out to the courtyard. She noticed Asui step closer to Tokoyami as she closed the kitchen door behind her, and tried to ignore the hollow ache in her chest.

The mid-morning sun shone down, already hot, highlighting the enclosed grounds. Potted olive and lemon trees decorated the stoned space, and on the far left side of the courtyard, a stone oven was nestled next to the wall.

In the middle of the garden stood a simple fountain adorned with a statue of Hephaestus, god of the forge and protector of outcasts. His short blond hair was swept backwards, with two distinct tufts sticking up above his head.

She looked up and paused. Across the courtyard, the children stood in awe, watching with wide eyes and open mouths as Shouto Todoroki demonstrated different dueling poses.

Momo stepped quickly behind a pillar. She hadn't expected to see him. She felt her face warm and she pressed her hand to her chest as she leaned around the limestone pillar to watch secretly.

What was he doing out here?

The children were picking up sticks, imitating his movements as they swung at imaginary foes. Todoroki knelt down next to one of the boys and adjusted his hands.

Her chest tightened as she watched him. He seemed calmer today, she noted. Not as tense as usual.

Movement across the yard caught Momo's attention as two boys suddenly jumped on Todoroki's back. He lost his balance and fell backwards onto the ground with a huff. The boys whooped in triumph and began to wage an all-out assault on him, trying to pin Todoroki to the ground.

Momo felt the corners of her lips lift slightly. He didn't seem like the type to put up with children, and yet he was acting so gentle. It was unexpected and slightly heartwarming.

She watched them for a moment before taking a deep breath to calm herself. She stepped around the pillar, clapping. "Okay, enough," she called. "Lunch is ready. Go clean up."

The boys tumbled off of Todoroki shouting and jeering, their attention diverted as they ran back inside pushing each other.

"No pushing," Momo half-heartedly called after them. They ignored her. She sighed and looked back up. Todoroki was staring at her.

Momo froze. She felt her cheeks grow warm.

Slowly, Todoroki pushed himself up. He brushed his hands off on his chiton, and then looked back at her, his expression indecipherable.

She swallowed over a thick throat. It was the first time they had been alone like this since the incident.

Part of her urged her to turn around and not engage with him; it would only prove Tokoyami's point. But another part of her was angry. Tokoyami didn't believe her anyway, so what was the point of trying to ignore Todoroki?

She couldn't fight two fronts. Tokoyami obviously wasn't going to forgive her anytime soon. The least she could do was smooth out her relationship with Todoroki.

Momo brought a hand up to clench over her chest as they stared at each other.

"You didn't seem like the type to be fond of children," she said after a moment to break the silence.

Todoroki shrugged, and rubbed the back of his neck. "They're fine. They don't mean any harm," he said, drawing closer. "Were you helping Aizawa again?"

Momo stiffened. She had never asked his permission if she could intern under Aizawa and he had never said anything about it before. She bit her lip. "Yes, I just ended today's lesson."

Todoroki nodded. "Good."

She didn't know what to do with that response. He didn't seem angry at least. She licked her lips. She needed to apologize and couldn't afford to keep putting it off. Now was as good of time as any.

"Todoroki, I–" Momo drew in a deep breath, and dropped her gaze as she wrapped her arms around herself. "I'm sorry," she said softly.

He looked at her and raised a brow. "For what?"

Momo shifted. Her fingers tightened into the fabric of her chiton. Her heart was beating faster and faster in her chest and her throat felt dry.

"For running away. For not apologizing for what I said," she forced out.

Todoroki looked away and shrugged. "It's fine."

Her eyes snapped up, and she at him. Was that it? The conversation felt anti-climatic. She had prepared to at least have him snap at her.

She couldn't understand him at all, and didn't know what to think about that.

"How's working with Aizawa?" he suddenly asked, turning to look at her.

Momo tucked a piece of hair behind her ear as the abrupt change in topic caught her off guard. She swallowed. "I've been learning a lot. He's been teaching me how to make the bases for a lot of different healing pastes and medicines. It's actually really incredible. Even as the top healer in Troy there is still a lot I need to learn."

Todoroki nodded and — if she could read him — seemed almost vaguely pleased.

Momo bit her lip as silence settled between them and her thoughts returned to Aizawa and her recent conversation. Tokoyami had dismissed her concerns, but she couldn't push the conversation away as easily.

She looked up and studied Todoroki from under her lashes. As confusing as Todoroki's actions were, she couldn't deny that he was a highly skilled warrior with excellent judgment. It was a possibility that he would know what Aizawa was up to. Or he could think she was completely irrational.

Momo's lips thinned. "Aizawa informed me that pirates will be arriving on the island soon."

She looked up at Todoroki's face. His expression didn't change.

Momo's eyes narrowed. "You knew?"

"Suspected."

"How, then? Because we haven't launched an operation?"

Todoroki sighed and brought his hand up to rest upon his sword's hilt. "People like Aizawa are always planning something. He's been nothing but secretive since we arrived. It isn't that far-fetched that he's been hiding something like this."

It was true. The earlier conversation weighed heavily on her conscience. Why wouldn't Aizawa have said anything earlier? What benefit did he have for hiding information?

Momo pressed her lips together. "I think something is happening here," she said slowly. She looked down and brought her hand up, pressing her index finger to her chin. "The stymphalian are supposed to be vicious, which we have seen is true, but it almost seems like they have a personal grudge against Aizawa. I've had this thought for a while, but — I wonder if something happened recently to get them riled up. Do you think Aizawa did something?" she asked, looking up.

"Possibly."

"But why would Aizawa lie and make it sound like it's always been like this?"

Todoroki's expression darkened. He shrugged and looked away. "Everyone has their own agenda. Gods and mortals alike." His tone was acrid.

Momo's eyebrows drew together. "You sound resentful."

His fingers twitched on his sword. "I've just been dealing with manipulative gods and people for a long time. They use people like pawns that can be disposed of as soon as they aren't needed anymore. It's disgusting."

Momo frowned. "Did the Prince not have his own agenda? You fought for him and didn't seem to care."

He shifted. "It's not that I didn't care. Bakugo is easy enough for me to understand. He never hides what he wants. He's straightforward. I'm better at dealing with people like that than those who hide their true intentions." He looked down at her. He had an unreadable expression on his face, but his eyes seemed to search hers expectantly. The hair on the back of her neck stood on end.

Momo felt her stomach twist. He looked like he wanted to kiss her again. Her heartbeat began beating faster.

She knew she shouldn't, but part of her hoped he would.

He stared at her for several moments and then the mask slid back into place and he turned on his heel and walked back inside without saying another word to her.

Momo stood there staring at the space where he had been.

What was she doing?

Was she really that desperate and lonely that she wanted Todoroki to kiss her again so she'd feel wanted?

She froze as a cold sense of devastation crept over her when she realized that she was both of those things

She really was the worst.

Thank you everyone for reading. Hopefully, you all aren't too mad at me for this chapter. :P

Momo is dealing with a lot of conflicting emotions right now. Todoroki had kissed her, and unexpectedly she had kind of liked it. Shocked by her body's response, her mind tries to remind her that he could still be her enemy, leading her to accidentally say her fears out loud. Todoroki instantly pulls away, and Momo realizes her mistake. As a slave in ancient Greece, she has no rights. The fact that she basically slapped Todoroki in the face with her words, thus sends her into a panic and she flees the scene. Holed up in her room, her mind races. Knowing slaves have been beaten for less crimes than what she had just done, Momo worries that Todoroki will retaliate against her, but he never does. The one who turns out to be angry is Tokoyami. Upset that she won't listen to him, when he thinks he is giving her sound advice, Tokoyami pulls away from Momo and tells her that she can make her own decisions. Feeling alone and abandoned, Momo tries to smooth out things with Todoroki, and while the conversation goes a lot better than the one she just had with Tokoyami, Momo realizes how desperate she is for companionship.

While writing Ashes, I've actually been really conflicted with how I wanted to write Tokoyami. I didn't want him to become a 2 dimensional character, his development, although not focused on, is just as important as Momo's. I've always felt that characters don't evolve in a vacuum. It's never just one person that makes a character change, its multiple forces all acting upon someone that makes a character grow. In that sense Tokoyami's growth or lack of growth in this is just as important as Momo's to this story. Which lead me to finally decide on Tokoyami's character, which is actually based off of a RL friend's boyfriend. In cannon, Tokoyami is pretty quiet, but I have this vague sense that he does have a stubborn streak, so I used that and manipulated it to fit this story. In Ashes, Tokoyami has had to be strong to survive - not just physically, but mentally as well. He trusts his instincts above all else, and he is used to Momo only trusting and relying upon him too. So seeing Momo pull away and start to become her own person is hard for him to adjust to. It makes him more obstinate. And although, he loves Momo as a sister, and doesn't want to hurt her, his actions of pulling away are leaving Momo alone and isolated. A vicious cycle.

As always, love, love, love hearing your thoughts. Comments seriously give me life!

The next two chapters are done and with my betas now, so hopefully I'll be able to get back onto my regular posting schedule.

Notes:

Clementia - Greek goddess of mercy and forgiveness.