Case file #10: Yaoyorozu Momo
"Dear Diary, my student is going to ruin the economy. Or maybe he already has?"
"Your face is looking quite red, Ochako-chan." Tsuyu said, studying a red-faced Ochako who walked in after visiting the nurse's booth. "Were you crying?"
"N- No. This is... something else." Ochako stuttered as she remembered her hands being held while the pain from her injuries eased out.
"I really thought you had him with that meteor rain!" Toru aggressively flailed her hands around.
Ochako only nodded her head mindlessly as she sat down on a chair next to Tsuyu with a dreamy look on her face. Currently, a set of viridian hair, his emerald, green eyes and his soft-spoken voice was the only thing occupied her thought. She unwarily let out a strange laugh as his compliments came back to her.
"Someone wakes Uraraka up." Kyouka asked as she poked an unresponsive Ochako. "Yaomomo's match is starting."
"M- Midoriya-san!"
Izuku looked up from his book and found 1-A's vice president in front of him with books in her hands.
"Yaoyorozu-san." Izuku smiled. "I didn't know you visit the library. I've only seen Yanagi-san and Jurota-san."
"I- I've heard good things about this place, so I decided to give it a try." Momo coughed into her fist before gesturing to the chair in front of Izuku. "Do you mind if I join you?"
"I very much don't." Izuku smiled brightly. "It's always nice to spend time with someone I like."
Momo blushed profusely as she pulled out a book and covered her face with it. They then sat in the quiet library, with only the sound of pages flipping echoing through the empty room. Occasionally, Momo took quick peeks at Izuku and every time she laid eyes on his tired yet undivided attentiveness on the book he was holding, Momo could feel her face getting hotter before she quickly turned back to her book, hiding her blush from Izuku. After an hour had passed, Izuku gently closed his book and stretched along with a yawn. Momo also gently put a bookmark on a page before closing it and asked Izuku.
"You seem tired, Midoriya-san." Momo asked with worry. "Do you perhaps have trouble sleeping recently?"
"I guess." Izuku hummed. "Every time I try to sleep, I think about work. I read that readings help you feel sleepy, but I like to read so I just ended up finishing the whole thing."
"You must be exhausted!" Momo hastily reached her bag and pulled out a thermos. She elegantly poured a cup of tea and gave it to Izuku, who gratefully accepted it. Izuku immediately felt relaxed as he sipped the tea.
"Amazing as always, Yaoyorozu-san." Izuku praised, at which Momo showed a relief and giddy smile.
"It's Lavender Tea!" Momo explained. "Mother said it helps whenever she found trouble sleeping."
Izuku chuckled at Momo's enthusiasm as she explained the tea's effect. Taking another sip, Izuku could feel himself nodding off as he mumbled with a smile.
"I wish I could marry someone who makes such a good tea..."
Momo was very glad that Izuku had fallen asleep, and that no one was around to witness the dolls she created in a panic.
"I've got to move on and, be who I am~."
Izuku hummed to the song that was randomly stuck in his head with two hot dogs in his hands. Chiyo took over and told him to get something to eat. After running around to talk with a few pro heroes and trying out some activities, Izuku was currently returning to his booth with the lunch he bought. However, he heard a voice call out to him.
"He Who Snitched. " A robotic tone called him. "Be a decent, useful being for one and assist us with this task."
With a groan, Izuku walked towards the robots. "What's up?"
"One of your kind is currently sweating through their eyes in the tunnel." The robot then pointed at the tunnel that led to the fighting ring. "We are not equipped to deal with such a bothersome task. After no calculation, we agreed that a meddlesome being like you would be the right tool to solve this mess. That is, if you are useful at anything other than snitching?"
Ignoring the back-handed insults from the machine, Izuku nodded, showing that he accepted the task before thanking the robot and moving to where it pointed.
"Humans and their emotions." The robot scoffed.
She lost... in mere minutes.
At the reminder of her quick defeat, Momo tried to muffle her sob to no avail. Her motivation and self-confidence shattered the moment Midnight declared her defeat. The murmurs she heard from the stands as she walked back felt like knives stabbing her. The moment she stepped into the dark, lonely tunnel; she broke down in tears. Realizing she was crying made it even worse. Heroes must be strong. They must always stand tall despite their losses. And here she was, weeping at her loss that was all her fault.
Maybe she wasn't supposed to be he-
The train of thought stopped as Momo heard someone sitting down next to her. Quickly wiping her tears away, Momo looked up from her knees and found a familiar set of green hair sitting next to her chewing on a hotdog. Noticing her stares, the guy greeted her calmly with a smile.
"Yaoyorozu-san, right?" He spoke. "We met on your first field trip. Midoriya Izuku."
He then handed her a hotdog. "I bought an extra one. Can't finish two in a row, anyway."
Although feeling uncomfortable, Momo still accepted the hotdog from him and began to eat it in silence. Occasionally, she stole some glances at Izuku, half-expecting him to ask her to talk but instead, she watched him attempting to stay awake from various times accidentally nodding off.
"You should get some sleep, Midoriya-san." She mumbled. "I'm fine. I should go back to my class's stand."
"I'm fine. It's just side effect from using my Quirk." Izuku waved her concern off with a smile. "While we're on that, I'm on the medic team. I can heal those bruises for you now, if you want me to. Or would it be more comfortable if we're alone in my booth?"
"... You shouldn't bother with me." Momo whispered, fighting off her shaky voice. "It's better you save your energy for someone who actually put their efforts into their performances..."
"But... I am, though?" Izuku tilted his confusingly, his smile never left as he continued. "You fought with all you have out there, did you n-"
"I didn't!" Momo yelled, cutting Izuku off. "I didn't even move as Dark Shadow attacked me! I just stood there... cowering behind my shield and got pushed out of the ring like an... idiot."
Tears were leaking out of her eyes again. "They were all right! The other kids, my parents, my maids and butlers, my teachers... all of them! I'm not suitable to be a hero! I don't belong-"
"... Let's say everything you just said is true." Izuku cut her off, gaining her attention. "Let's pretend you're not suitable to be a hero. Let's say whatever crap everyone told you was true..."
Izuku paused, letting his word sunk into Momo, who became even more crestfallen at his word.
"Do you still want to be a Hero? Despite everything they said, do you?"
"... I'm not-"
"A-A-A-A-A." Izuku raised a finger, stopping her. "Do you want to be a Hero?"
"... It's all I ever wanted to be." Momo nodded slowly.
"Then that's good enough, isn't it?" Izuku smiled. "You still believe it's the right thing for you despite what everyone else said. You're on recommendation. That's mean someone thinks you belong here, and I agree with them."
"... Do you really think so?" Momo asked with a shaky voice.
"I do." Izuku confidently nodded. "But you were the one who worked through hell to get here. Do you?"
Momo lifted her head up and showed a genuine smile through her teary face.
"I do." Momo nodded. "Screw everyone else."
They stood there and laughed. Ignoring the deafening cheering that happened outside, they stood there and laughed with each other.
Having someone who believes in you is nice.
"That is one expensive tea set." Chiyo whistled as she studied the tea set that Izuku was using to brew some teas.
"It is, isn't it?" Izuku smiled as he handed a cup of tea to Chiyo. "Yaoyorozu-san gave this to me as a gift."
"A gift? What for?"
"She said it was for being her friend." Izuku sipped his tea with a happy expression.
"This 'friendship' tea set costs more than my yearly salary." Chiyo sipped her tea with an uncomfortable expression. "How rich is she?"
"She said she's the economy."
"It's scary that she said that so casually."
A/N: I love Momo, but this takes me a lot brain cells to write and I'm pretty sure I don't have that many.