Chapter Text
Ever since that day, something’s been different.
After the training camp, Shouto finds himself in the hospital. Out of all of his classmates, only one had suffered a serious injury. Momo is still unconscious, so Shouto sits by her side watching her chest rise and fall with her breathing. Her head is bandaged up, but she still manages to look beautiful, somehow. Shouto is holding a bouquet of flowers that was meant for the table side, but there’s already some sitting in a vase. Someone must’ve been in here before him. Maybe a relative or other classmate of theirs. Shouto hasn’t visited her everyday, but the times he does visit, there’s a new gift for Momo for when she regains consciousness.
After that, Shouto makes it his mission to visit Momo’s room everyday until she finally wakes up. After the bouquet of flowers, Shouto notices quite a few teddy bears, balloons, and various chocolate snacks. He sits there studying all the gifts for a while. These can’t all be from one person, right? Shouto decides to get up and get a drink from a vending machine out in the hall. He passes by someone who seems to be heading to Momo’s room. Has he seen this guy before? Oh yeah, it’s Yousetsu Awase from class 1-B.
Shouto heads back into Momo’s room to see a sight he definitely wasn’t expecting. He leaves for a few minutes and Momo’s awake. She seems to be chatting happily with that Awase guy.
“I felt so bad about what happened, so I brought you a gift every day until you would wake up,” Yousetsu says sheepishly.
So they are all from him.
“I never got the chance to thank you, Awase-san. You saved my life,” Momo says with her famous smile. Yousetsu starts to blush and rubs his hand behind his neck.
“Ha ha, it’s no big deal, really… We are training to become heroes after all!”
Shouto shifts uncomfortably in the doorway holding two drinks. He’s never been very social to begin with, but how can he talk to Momo now without interrupting the two of them? They seem to be talking about how they were helping out other classmates from class 1-B during the training camp debacle. Shouto never knew of this. He just assumed Yousetsu had found Momo already injured, but it seems they were together since the beginning. After a while of awkwardly being ignored, Shouto clears his throat to make his presence aware. It works, and Momo finally turns his way.
“Todoroki-san! Did you just get here?” Momo asks innocently.
“Ah, no. I was here earlier and left to get some drinks. I got you a green tea because that’s the only tea in the vending machine… and I know you like tea,” Shouto says awkwardly. He wasn’t sure if Momo would even wake up, but he always got two drinks just in case.
“Oh, thank you, but Awase-san already got me one,” she says as she lifts up her cup. Yousetsu raises his hand and grins at Shouto as a greeting.
“Ah, I see. Well it’s good that you’re finally awake, Yaoyorozu.”
Shouto doesn’t want to force himself to invade on their conversation, so he decides to leave. Apparently they have a lot of catching up to do. For some reason, watching them talk made Shouto’s chest feel tight. Maybe because a part of him wanted to be the first person Momo saw when she woke up. But he’ll never admit that.
It’s been a few weeks since the training camp incident, and life resumes as normal at UA. The only difference is that class 1-A and 1-B seem to be closer. Shouto seems to notice more and more 1-B students visiting their dorms to hang out. As if dealing with one classroom of students isn’t enough, he now has to interact with another one. This sudden addition of students hanging out in the common room has been deterring Shouto from leaving his room very often. They all want to talk, and he just wants to get food or tea and leave as quickly as possible.
One evening, Shouto decides to get a snack from the kitchen when he sees a familiar face. The person is standing awkwardly in the common room looking around for something. Shouto decides to approach him.
“Awase. Are you looking for something?” Shouto asks him with his usual deadpan expression.
“Oh! Hey, Todoroki. I was waiting for Yaomomo. I let her borrow one of my CD’s,” Yousetsu replies with a friendly smile.
Yaomomo? Since when does he call her that?
Just before Shouto was about to ask him about the nickname that class 1-A gave Momo, she appears in front of them. She’s in her pajamas with her hair down carrying what Shouto assumes is Yousetsu’s CD. When she greets the two of them, Shouto can swear he notices Yousetsu’s face turn a slight pink. Since Shouto hasn’t been bothering to come in the common room very often, there must be some things he’s missed. Like this blossoming friendship right before his eyes. Shouto is focused on Yousetsu’s body language before he gets interrupted by Momo.
“Todoroki-san, have you eaten yet?” she asks. Shouto turns his attention over to her.
“Ah, I only came to get a snack,” he replies.
“Oh, okay. Well Awase-san and I are going to eat dinner in the cafeteria, so I guess I’ll see you later-”
“I’ll go too,” he suddenly says. This surprises both himself and Momo. Her face lights up and she clasps her hands together.
“Great! Let’s go together then.”
Although Shouto said he would go with them, he’s quickly regretting his decision. Momo and Yousetsu are talking cheerfully next to him while he just sits there awkwardly. Momo is sitting between Shouto and Yousetsu. Apparently they’ve been hanging out quite frequently and are talking about the CD Momo borrowed. Shouto just eats his food silently, glancing over at the two of them every so often. Yousetsu’s face is always smiling when he’s around Momo. Shouto has to admit her bouncy personality does have that effect on people, but does he need to sit so close to her?
“Todoroki-san, your knife!” Momo suddenly gasps, pointing to the knife in Shouto’s left hand. He seems to have melted it when he was lost in his thoughts… Smoke is still coming from his hand when he drops the knife and focuses on controlling his quirk. How could he be so careless like that?
“I, um-” Shouto begins, but Momo is suddenly very close to his face and places her hand on his forehead. Not good.
“You’re burning up!” Momo says as she places both of her hands on both of Shouto’s cheeks. “It’s not just your left side either. Are you getting sick?”
Shouto can feel his left side about to catch fire, so he puts Momo’s hands downs and excuses himself from the table. “I’m fine. I probably just need some rest, goodnight,” he says hastily and goes back to his room. That was bad. He really needs more training so he doesn’t burst into flames randomly. This doesn’t usually happen though, so what triggered it?
Shouto plops himself on his futon and rests his arm over his face. For some reason, he keeps thinking about the way Momo touched his face so casually. Then he can feel his face start to get warm again. He shifts on his side and closes his eyes to try and forget about that mishap. Shouto lays there for several minutes to try and drift off to sleep. When sleep finally finds him, the last thing he sees in his mind is Momo…and Yousetsu is right by her side.