Chapter Text
Much in the way of most of the developments in their relationship, dating Todoroki happens both suddenly and gradually.
Their first date takes place in a greasy burger joint across the street from the courthouse, where Todoroki has back-to-back appointments for most of the day. He asks her if it’s okay with her, because they won’t have much time and the setting is not what google suggested in terms of ‘romantic atmosphere’, but Momo is so excited to be on a date with him, she doesn’t even care. It’s not like she has anything to compare it to —so for her, it’s the most romantic place ever, even if she’s wearing the world's biggest sunglasses and a blonde wig.
She asks, in between bites, if it is normal for secretaries to accompany their lawyers to court.
“No,” Todoroki says, watching her curiously as she dips a fry into her soda, “but I understand you’re here to learn about the law, so I bring you over for your edification. This can help you if you want to pursue the law once your period at Endeavor is over.”
Momo almost chokes on her burger. She’s been so immersed in her job as a legal secretary that she’d completely forgotten about the fact that her three-month period was, one, almost up, and two, a stepping stone in her path back to fame. Guilt churns in her stomach and threatens to make her regret ordering such a greasy burger as she did.
Momo is a pretty decent liar, when the occasion calls for it — but there is something inherently wrong with lying to Todoroki. It makes her chest constrict and a weight settle in the pit of her stomach that she simply cannot stand. Her eyebrows scrunch up as she deliberates on what to do, and Todoroki, ever observant, picks up on it.
“What is it, Yaoyorozu? Did the food not sit well with you?” He asks, a tentative hand reaching across the table, as though attempting to hold her own. Momo gives him a pained smile. There are still fifteen minutes before they have to be back in court, so she supposes she better make the most out of them.
“Ah, Todoroki-san. Actually… There’s something I haven’t told you.” His expression stays impassive through her recount of the afternoon when Kaminari showed up to her house with the Lawfully in Love script, and he only hums as Momo tells him about the writer’s condition to give her the leading role. She wraps it up with CEO Mic's call to Todoroki's own father when they only have five minutes left and walks beside him as he processes her words with a pensive expression.
“Huh.” Is the only thing that he says, almost all the way back to the courtroom.
“A-are you mad?” Momo asks, heart thumping inside her chest. Todoroki looks at her, face blank but for his eyes, that look at her with unexpected kindness.
“Not at all.” he admits. “You love acting, didn’t you say so yourself? If your time at Endeavor can help you get back to it, then work hard.” Todoroki then has to go to the front while she sits on the benches towards the back, but when he passes by her, his warm fingers caress her hand, and Momo knows she’s going to love dating him.
She takes off the blonde wig on the ride back to Endeavor Law, and when they’re in the parking lot, Todoroki seizes it from her hands and puts it in the glove compartment.
“Wear a scarf next time.” He says in response to her shocked look. Then, to Momo’s further surprise, he looks away as a slight blush takes hold of his cheeks. “I like your natural hair color.”
Then he walks away. Momo smiles, cheeks ablaze, and follows after him.
To Shoto, fully taking over picking up Yaoyorozu to and from work is only natural. He’d already been doing it most days, feeling more comfortable knowing first-hand that she’s safe than waiting for her text once her friend (who he now knows is also her manager) picks her up and drives her home. It’s easier now to admit that he’s been on edge about her being alone in public since what he’s come to dub as “the creep incident”.
He learns about Yaoyorozu slowly. Not because he doesn’t want to, but because he doesn’t really have time. Just because his personal life takes a sudden turn doesn’t mean his very pressing job becomes any less demanding. But being a lawyer is a life Shoto loves, and one he knows he wouldn’t give up for the world. Still, he does his best to be a suitable boyfriend for Yaoyorozu.
They talk about everything and nothing on the commute, and it is this way that Shoto learns about her growing up as an only child in the Yaoyorozu consortium, about her falling in love with acting when her parents first took her to a play, and the fight for a real chance at what many people in her life mistook for the whims of a spoiled adolescent.
If he’s a little less forthcoming about himself, he blames it on cautiousness. This is, after all, his first relationship — a fact he admits to her without much fanfare, like mentioning the weather — but to which his girlfriend’s pretty black eyes widen in surprise at learning.
“I did tell you my work takes up most of my time.” He points out in response to her disbelief.
“Not even in middle school? High school? College?” She prods, her bottom lip slightly jutting out as her face takes on a curious expression. He suppresses a comment on the fact that not a lot of people want to date someone with a face as marred as his and, more importantly, that Shoto feels he’s the one who should be skeptical at her matching inexperience, given her beauty and popularity. He chooses instead to focus secretly on how glad he is that they’re both playing it by ear, learning about dating and each other as they go. He shakes his head in response, and Yaoyorozu lets out an incredulous laugh.
“I must be luckier than I think.” She teases then, tentatively. Shoto finds it easier and easier to let his guard down around her, and he responds to her comment with a soft snort. Yaoyorozu smiles then, sincerely, and sets her hand close to his on the table of Shoto’s favorite soba place — their place.
Deliberately, Shoto covers it with his. Momo twists her hand so they're held together, and they sit there in companionable silence until it’s time to go back to the office.
Momo learns Todoroki in bits and pieces. He guards himself with military proficiency, but Momo, a strategist born of years of chess matches against her father, wears him down slowly. She learns about his family, how he has three older siblings but only really has a relationship with two of them. He tells her about his sister teaching him how to cook and clean so he wouldn’t die living alone in college, and about playing basketball on Saturday mornings with his brother. Todoroki’s face takes on a soft but slightly pained expression when he mentions his mom, but there is a reverence to the way he talks about her that tells Momo that he loves his mother very much.
She also finds out he has a mean streak. Before, she had always chalked his unwillingness to let her pay to chivalry, but looking at the decisive way he takes his credit card out for any and all of their expenses, Momo is riddled with curiosity.
"My father pays for it." He finally says, after she stares him down on their way back from lunch, their second week of dating. So far, they've only managed to spend two evenings together after work: one holed away in the library, where she studies the law and they both pretend he doesn't just stare at her from over his own law book.
Momo is used to having people look at her — it comes with the job, after all. But there's a big difference between getting stares from fans and having her significant other look at her with those intense grey-and-blue eyes. It makes Momo's skin tingle and brings color into her cheeks because Todoroki’s stare is burning , and at the end of the date, she didn't actually learn much about criminal law at all. "It's okay" she thinks to herself, "I'll just study at home."
The second evening, it's her day off from the law firm and she spends most of it at the network's headquarters, posing for promotionals even though filming hasn't even started. She does most shots on her own, though towards the end they bring in her almost-costar, Iida Tenya, to pose alongside her.
Iida is an old acquaintance of Momo who shares a similar background to her, so she is really happy to see him. They spend the photoshoot alternating between giving each other intense looks for the sake of the photographer and catching up on each other's lives. Iida is excited to see her back in the game, and happy to work with her for the first time.
Momo is caught by surprise at the way her chest blooms with happiness at the thought that she's really going to act again. She will finally be able to make people happy with her performances again and, most of all, she'll move past the horrible chapter of her life that was her scandal-induced break from acting. The realization causes her to smile brightly, so much that it leaves Iida, walking by her side towards the exit, in awe.
"You're going to make this country proud." He assures her when they're in the lobby. "It will be an honor to work with you."
Momo thanks him, and it's then that Todoroki walks in. She only notices because she's facing the door, and she's so glad to see him that she completely misses the irritated look he sends Iida's way. Momo rushes to greet him, her mood brightening even further at the sight of his blue sweater-clad self. Still, mindful of where they're at, she only greets him lightly and from a distance, an apologetic smile on her face.
"Hello, Yaoyorozu. Are you ready to go?" He asks. Momo nods, having texted Kaminari earlier during a break in the photoshoot. She takes out a blue scarf (that is almost exactly the same color as the sweater Todoroki is wearing) and wraps it around her face, covering her hair. She then suddenly realizes her horrible faux pas.
"Oh, Todoroki-san, wait please." She says, walking back to Iida, who is looking curiously at them. "Iida-san, I'm so sorry for my rudeness. I have some things to do so I will be leaving first. Thank you for your hard work!" She bows slightly, an action mirrored by Iida, then turns back to Todoroki, who is looking rather somberly at her co-star.
"That's Iida Tenya, right?" he asks as she adjusts her sunglasses on her face. Momo looks at him, surprised that he knows an actor's name.
"Oh, do you like his movies, Todoroki-san? Maybe I should have introduced you…" she muses.
"No, my father has done business with his family." Todoroki explains. Like Momo, Iida comes from a wealthy family that has no other ties to acting than their younger son. It makes sense that Todoroki — who has mentioned his dad's various businesses other than the law firm — would know of him. What makes no sense is the intense glare he throws the bespectacled man's way before reaching out to hold Momo's hand and hiding it away in his pocket.
She's then too flustered at his unexpected boldness, and too preoccupied checking for paparazzi to ask where that came from. Regardless, she basks in the warmth of his hand encasing her own, and doesn’t bother to hide her smile all the way to the restaurant.
“Yaomomo doesn’t like me anymore.” Kaminari cries, lying on Kyoka’s comfiest couch and skewering her carefully placed throw pillows. She didn't actually invite him over, but she's gotten used to him showing up without notice in the time she's known him. While Kaminari is generally fun to be around, Kyoka still has a hard time adjusting to someone spending so much time in her space — especially someone as needy as the blond-haired agent. So instead of offering the comfort he so clearly wants from her, she rolls her eyes and turns around to go make herself a cup of coffee.
"You better put those pillows back exactly as they were, Pikachu."
"Oh, you don't like me either!" He moans, hugging one pillow and crying exaggeratedly into it. Fifteen minutes ago, Kyoka was looking forward to an evening of crappy reality TV and maybe finishing up the song she's been composing for Lawfully in love , but now she's stuck playing therapist to a too-tall baby.
"Kaminari, she's dating. Why would she want her agent going around with her on her dates?" She tries to reason with him. In response, Kaminari just cries harder.
"Oh please don't even get me started on that ! Do you have any idea how hard I've been working making sure Mic doesn't find out and it doesn't leak to the press? I'm going insane ." Kaminari fixes her with a puppy look that isn't so much as pitiful as it is annoying — partly because everything he does is annoying, partly because Kyoka finds it cute in spite of herself. She shakes her head, trying to get her mind in order.
"Oh you mean as hard as you didn't work in the two years she was on break and kept paying you?" Kyoka says in a biting yet innocent tone, and an awkward pause follows. "Yeah, I thought so."
Kaminari sits up, arranging her pillows as he does. Her comment seems to have sobered him up, and he takes the coffee she reluctantly made for him with a thankful bow. Kyoka sits on the opposite end of the couch he'd been laying in, giving him space and thinking absentmindedly about the things yet to fix for the drama's theme. Assuming Kaminari doesn't stay too late, she can probably still finish it toni-
"It's not just my job I'm worried about, you know." Kaminari says, stopping her train of thought and surprising her with the seriousness of his tone. It's the first time hearing it for Kyoka. She's heard him teasing, lightheaded, downright stupid, inadvertently fond -but never serious. She fixes her gaze on him, only to find him staring at his steaming coffee.
"Mic loves her, but relationships are a pain in the neck to work around with PR. Even if she's been laying low for so long, people will still be overinvested in her life — especially when news of the drama leak and she's under the spotlight again. Fans can be horrible people, and she's already gone through a lot…" he interrupts himself with a long, uncharacteristic sigh. "Plus, who knows if that guy will stick it out with her? Dating a celebrity is tough, I should know!" He finishes with a lighter tone. Kyoka snorts, hitting him lightly on the back of the head with a pillow.
"Sure, Casanova." she sips her coffee, unsure what to say in response to his heartfelt speech and the ridiculous notion that Kaminari could ever realistically get even a first date with a celebrity.
When she'd advised Yaomomo to follow her heart, she certainly hadn't thought about the ramifications of dating someone outside the public scene. Being pretty new to the well-known parts of the entertainment industry herself, the thought didn't even cross her mind.
As she looks at the worried frown on Kaminari's usually goofy face, she wonders whether she should have meddled in at all. 'Ugh', she thinks, 'this is what I get for befriending Kaminari in the first place.'
But she gives up on finishing the song, instead inviting the blond to a game of Mario Kart.
"Oh, you're on, Jiro!"
Shoto is not so much playing the long game with Yaoyorozu as he has absolutely no idea how to play the game.
He's frustrated by his ineptitude at taking her on a real date like Yaoyorozu deserves, and the fact that their relationship, while still new, doesn't seem to 'move forward' as they'd both admitted to hoping it would. In the nearly two weeks being Yaoyorozu's boyfriend (not that he's been keeping count), he's even failed to kiss her.
He's been so close, too. Shoto's stomach does a weird flip inside his body when he remembers how he almost kissed her senseless in a corner of his office, after she'd asked him if he'd like to watch a movie with her. They had kept discussing the details and getting closer, closer, his eyes darting back and forth from her pretty pink lips to her onyx eyes and ever so slightly leaning in — until Ashido had come in to announce a client because Yaoyorozu was not answering her line.
As he remembers Ashido's complicit laughter while leaving, he knows they may have messed up. Office relationships can be messy, a back and forth of overanalyzing PDA and visits to HR, and he probably would have been reluctant to be in one had his feelings for Yaoyorozu been any less fervent, had her time at Endeavor not been so close to being over (a fact he makes a point to not think about). Shoto is aware of the possible consequences of his and Yaoyorozu's relationship leaking to the press, and how she would have to bear most of the brunt of it should it happen. But it won’t — not if he has anything to say about it.
So when he finds Ashido at the office pantry on his tenth day of dating Yaoyorozu, he decides he might as well own up to it and get her to sign a non-disclosure agreement. He opens his mouth to address the pink-haired receptionist, but in an uncanny turn of events, she seems to sense his presence and turns around with a mischievous look on her face. Shoto kind of hates the way her golden eyes seem to know every single one of his secrets.
"So how long you and Yaomomo been dating?" she asks, not loudly but not bothering to whisper either. The shit-eating grin on her face makes Shoto’s skin crawl with embarrassment and irritation the way only Ashido has ever been able to, the way she would purposefully mess up his timetables when he’d had her as an assistant the previous year, just to get back at his unwillingness to let her meddle in his personal life. He lets none of it show. Instead, he cuts right to the chase:
"I am willing to offer you-"
"OH puh-lease Todoroki, give me some credit." She chides him, somehow looking down at him even though he’s several inches taller than her. "I'm trying to have some fun at your expense, not ruin her career. Of course I'm not gonna blab." Shoto is shocked into silence. For all her fame as the office gossip, Ashido deserves much more credit than he's ever been willing to give her. He lets out the breath he'd been holding, heading to the cabinets in search for green tea. He nods his acknowledgement at her, keeping the gratefulness for himself in a petty attempt to get back at her for trying to mock him.
He thinks Ashido is going to leave then, but instead she hangs around as he makes his tea, pestering him with annoying, meddlesome commentary on his relationship.
"That was fun to learn, though. Who would have thought it would take a literal superstar to break you, Todoroki?" Shoto sends an indignant look her way, intending to ask what she means by break him , but she doesn't stop talking. "Anyway, how was your first date with Yaomomo? I hope you went all out — I mean, she has had all sorts of first dates in her dramas: fancy restaurants, theme parks, trips overseas… She's probably hard to impress by now." A sense of dread slowly takes over Shoto as Ashido goes on, his mind playing back the rundown burger joint of his and Yaoyorozu’s first date. In that annoyingly perceptive way of hers, Ashido notices his distress, because her chatter turns uncharacteristically comforting.
"But you're a really smart guy! I'm sure she loved whatever you did for her." she amends, patting his back and making him feel like a kindergartner who just got a participation ribbon.
Shoto clears his throat, uncomfortable. He retrieves his tea mug and excuses himself back to his office without looking back.
He passes by Yaoyorozu's annex on the way to his office, and offers her a small, strained smile when she looks up from the stack of depositions she's been arranging all morning. Her eyebrows scrunch into a worried expression upon seeing him, but he lightly shakes his head, and she heeds his unspoken desire to not be followed inside his office.
Once he's seated at his desk, he lets out a groan. Of course his first girlfriend is a famous actress, and of course she's had multiple glamorous fake dates to weigh against whatever he comes up with. He feels stupid for having taken her to a burger joint . She must have had a good laugh at his expense.
"No, that's not like Yaoyorozu at all." he mutters to himself, trying to calm his raging thoughts. Even knowing how low maintenance Yaoyorozu is in regards to going out ("I much prefer a great meal over a brand name" she'd said back when they were still just a lawyer and his secretary, and they'd soon found themselves at what would become their soba restaurant), he still wants her to have a date with him that makes a lasting impact on her. Wants every single second of her time left at Endeavor to be a great memory to return to.
So he does what he does best: starts building a case. First, he needs to check for precedent, so he googles 'things yaomomo likes' and finds some creepy, questionable fan pages he quickly clicks out of.
He also finds a video where she looks somewhat younger and more innocent but just as beautiful as she admits to loving traditional Japanese food and being outdoors. He saves the video, writes the findings on a document, then moves on.
Eventually, he finds a compilation titled "Yaomomo's best romantic scenes" and clicks on it. He does so knowing he might not like seeing her be affectionate with other men but, as the video progresses, he finds his worries to have been empty. Yaoyorozu is a great actress, especially when she has chemistry with her costars, though when it comes to romantic scenes, there's something a little too… perfect about them. He couldn't explain it if he tried -but he can just tell she doesn't really love those guys. It fills him with smugness, knowing how the real Yaomomo looks when she’s confessing her love, and the actual way her eyes sparkle after a compliment. Regardless, it's still really good acting, so he turns to the comments fully expecting to find the vast majority agreeing with him.
Suffice it to say, the internet lets him down.
"YAOYOROZU!"
Momo startles. Todoroki comes rushing into her annex, a wild, raging look in his mismatched eyes and a handful of printed papers clutched in his hand, hard enough to crumple them.
"What's wrong, Todoroki-san?" she asks, standing up and walking towards him. She feels her chest constrict in concern at his outraged tone. Has he lost a case? Has a client fired him? H-
"The things these people say… how dare they!? I am going to sue them all !" he rambles, looking intensely at her then glaring at the paper. Even at his angriest, Todoroki never loses his cool, so this screaming, practically trembling man in front of her is quite a surprise for her. Momo approaches him gently, prying the sheets from his fists with delicate fingers, and finds… YouTube comments? She raises one eyebrow at her boss turned boyfriend, questioningly.
"Todoroki-san, if you could sue the internet for hateful comments, I am sure many famous people would have done it by now." Momo says, teasing him gently. His shoulders sag a little, arms falling at his sides as he gives her an annoyed look that makes her chest warm with fondness. He truly is one of a kind.
"But Yaoyorozu, these comments are atrocious! Slander! How can you be okay with this? How can you let these… people get away with them?" He asks, incredulous. Momo giggles, endeared at his ardent indignation on her behalf. She leads him back to his office and sits him down on the sofa where he normally greets guests.
"It's okay, Todoroki-san. When you're an actress, those comments are part of the job. I have learned to shrug them off." She reassures him. It does her no good to reminisce on her first days, when she would cry herself to sleep over people’s accusations of her money getting her roles. Over the years, Momo’s skin has thickened, and while it will always hurt a little, she’s done letting strangers on the internet get the best of her.
Todoroki looks at her for a long moment. She hopes she doesn't delude herself when she notices the sincere awe in his clear gray-and-blue eyes. But this is her boyfriend, so why shouldn't he look at her like that? Momo promises to herself to be more confident about him from now on. She smiles at him, ready to go back to her business (she still has a ton of work to get done before five o'clock hits), but he holds her by the wrist and pulls her into him.
She falls practically on his lap on the sofa, blood rushing to her face when she feels his arms encircle her waist. Her head is nestled in the middle of his collarbone, and she feels his breathing caress the top of her head.
"I know I can't protect you against that ." He says, slowly, as if he were fighting to get out the words. Momo knows how badly Todoroki hates being unable to help, so she gives his shoulders a reassuring squeeze. "But if someone ever harms you, I will bring the full weight of the law upon them." He vows, making Momo's already frantic heart skip a beat. Todoroki has a way of saying completely unbelievable things with a straight face, and meaning them, too, that always makes her feel like she’s going to self-combust.
She wishes he'd been there two years ago, so badly. He would have done away with the scandal in one swift court address, and maybe she would still have a career. But then, perhaps it’s because he wasn’t that Momo got the chance to meet him. She fails to find something to say that could wholly encompass how much she appreciates him, so she brings her arms up around his neck and rests her face on his chest, content with enjoying this newfound intimacy she'd never known she craved.
After Shoto, quite painstakingly, lets go of Yaoyorozu in favor of letting her continue with her work, he resumes his research.
It's hard ignoring the malicious comments (about his girlfriend , no less!) but he manages by thinking of Yaoyorozu's soft hands caressing the back of his neck. 'I guess that counts as progress.' he muses, clicking on yet another video compilation.
A part of him feels bad to be doing this during work hours, but he's mostly in between cases right now, the few active ones he's managing are waiting for court dates and citations. His current clients are all wealthy business owners trying to get out of severance payouts anyway, so he doesn't feel too bad about slacking off a little.
By his second hour of research, he starts seeing some patterns, and a plan starts taking shape inside his head. Before he knows it, he's looking into event schedules, and when five pm rolls around, he gathers his things and walks confidently into Yaoyorozu's annex.
She notices his change in demeanor, but mentions nothing of it. They spend the ride back to her home in companionable silence, throwing each other fond looks when the other isn't looking. When he parks outside her building, he takes her hand.
"Yaoyorozu, do you have any plans on your day off?" Shoto asks, thumbing the back of her hand absentmindedly and watching the lovely blush that settles on her cheeks.
"No, Todoroki-san, not yet." She says. He makes a point not to let the excitement building in his chest show, lest he ruins the surprise.
"Good. May I pick you up? I want to take you somewhere." Yaoyorozu nods, giving his hand a last squeeze before getting off. Shoto smiles one last time at her, silently thinking about how easy it is to simply exist around her, and drives off.
While Momo loves to shop, she rarely gets to wear the things she buys the way she intends to. In the past, she would have her clothes coordinated by a professional stylist, and whatever she wore had to be fashionable but conservative enough to uphold the Yaoyorozu name. Her looks were always a matter of public domain, so she’s learned to suppress her individuality in favor of the Yaoyorozu modesty that keeps her family happy and the press disinterested. Still, living on her own and mostly off the grid has proven an interesting journey of self-discovery in terms of fashion.
So she goes through her wardrobe several times, calls Kyoka and Kaminari, hangs up when they keep telling her to “just wear a t-shirt, god!” and goes through her wardrobe again. She has a feeling about this date, and she needs to look her very best for the occasion. All in all, it’s not so much changing that takes her time, but the way she keeps hanging everything back and putting it in her place every time she switches outfits, because a Yaoyorozu always picks up her own messes.
Finally she settles on a simple black long sleeved turtleneck tucked into a forest green maxi skirt and her comfiest pair of black booties. She brushes her hair and leaves it loose, applying light makeup and grabbing, as is usual now, a pair of sunglasses.
Right as she's done putting her things in her handbag, there's a knock on her door. She rushes to answer it, sure that it’s Todoroki as she looks at the clock. He’s never late.
Opening her door reveals Todoroki dressed almost exclusively in black but for the reddish applications on the seams of his Jacket. The look accentuates his peppermint hair and heterochromatic eyes, and makes him seem not exactly younger but… lighter, freer. Momo feels the breath rush out of her all at once. She is so taken aback by his image, so surprised by the way her skin tingles with his proximity and how she wants to reach out and-
Focus. This line of thinking does not uphold the Yayorozu name.
“Todoroki-san, hello.” She salutes, cheeks warm around her smile. Momo is pleased to note that her staring has not been one-sided, because her greeting startles him into awareness.
"You look lovely, Yaoyorozu." He says in place of a greeting. And it's not so much the compliment that makes her blush but the straightforward, understated way in which he delivers it. The same manner in which he lands his statements at court.
Momo feels a knot forming in her throat, thinks of her speech coaches for high school improvisation looking disapprovingly at her inability to return the compliment, then chokes out a simple "thank you".
She grabs her purse and follows Todoroki to his car, where he remains enigmatically vague as he refuses to tell her where they're going. Not one to ruin a surprise, Momo keeps quiet even though she's practically trembling with the need to know. To distract herself, she focuses on Todoroki's calm expression as he drives, fully focused, and how he misses no opportunity to slip his hand into hers during a red light. Momo shudders every time his thumb ghosts over her knuckles, and she doesn’t miss the way his lovely grey and blue eyes gleam when she does, like they know exactly what he’s doing to her. He’s a tease, and a handsome one at that.
Not too long into the trip, the buildings start to fade, and Momo's curiosity is somewhat sated when she notices the faint lights and structures rapidly growing on the horizon. She lets out a gasp the way she does most things around Todoroki, without meaning to.
"Todoroki-san, are we going to an amusement park?" she asks, unable to hide the excitement in her voice. Todoroki glances at her, a small half smile forming on his face.
"I researched the dramas you've been on," he explains, pulling into the carnival's parking lot. "And your romantic interests always take you to amusement parks or the beach at some point, so I thought, 'what about an amusement park by the beach?'"
Momo brings a hand to her chest, touched by her boyfriend's thoughtfulness.
"That's so sweet, Todoroki-san! Oh, but I do hope you know I don't expect my life to emulate my dramas." she says as he slides the car into a parking spot.
He turns off the engine to look at her, a look on his features that is equal parts serious and fierce.
"We haven't had a real date in all this time." Todoroki tells her. Momo feels her heartbeat pick up inside her chest. She has enjoyed every second of being Todoroki's girlfriend, regardless of whether it's been spent writing down his dictation or chatting quietly over a meal in their favorite restaurant, so much so, that she hadn’t even stopped to think that this is not how normal couples spend time together. She had thought he was content with it too, but his statement makes her think he clearly wants more conventional ways of spending their time as a couple.
“I want you to have a good time with me that you can remember fondly.” He finishes, and of course he’s worried about her . Momo’s smile is so wide, she feels her face is going to rupture, so she brings one hand up to hide it and lets him pull her out of the car, keeping his hand safely in hers and walking excitedly into her first real time at the amusement park.
-
Taking a picture at the entrance to the carnival is perhaps the only thing to go well for their date.
Not to say that Momo doesn’t enjoy herself, but seeing as Todoroki seemed to have a whole schedule planned out for them (which is cute, because that is her job, not his) —watching every carefully planned step of his flop is rather endearingly frustrating.
It starts when he guides her to the bumper cars, and after a few minutes of chasing each other around in the game, Momo’s sunglasses fly off her face and onto the ground. Momo watches her boyfriend’s usually impassive face contort into the picture of horror, giggling despite Todoroki’s glowering glare. He’s been careful enough to pick a slow day for business and she’s wearing her hair down, which is not a look she often sports in public, so she’s not too worried about getting recognized even though her glasses are pretty much done for. Still, he gets them off the ride and guides her to a vending stand, where she finds the funkiest, star-shaped glasses and lets him pay for them.
“I actually think I like these better.” She teases, laughing at his low groan. This is the most expressive Todoroki has ever been, and she basks in the feeling of his undivided, open attention.
Next, he guides them towards the drop tower, which they are both excited to ride on. Everything is fine right up until they are at the top of the ride, when there is nothing left but for them to free fall down three hundred feet. Momo’s eyes open very wide as she realizes she maybe did not think this through, and when she looks over, so are Todoroki’s. They squeeze each other’s hands so tightly that Momo knows she’s going to have hand cramps later, but it matters little as they fall at incredible speed, only to go back up, then fall again for what seems an eternity.
They lean on each other as they walk away from the ride, to the amusement of the ride operators and more than one teenager around them. Momo sits down on the bench that Todoroki leads her to, and waits for him as he wobbles away to fetch them both something sugary to settle their nerves.
He comes back a few minutes later, an excited look on his face while he holds a churro on each hand. Momo smiles at his rapidly approaching form, then watches as a little girl runs past him, effectively tripping him. Todoroki lets go of the food in favor to stabilize both himself and the child, but his eyes stay, horrified, on the free falling churros.
“Oh, Todoroki-san…” Momo murmurs, watching him as he stares at the spoiled food with a defeated look. He walks up to her after a moment, heeding her pats to the space beside him and dropping down unceremoniously on the bench. Momo rubs his shoulder empathetically. “It’s fine, they probably weren’t that good.” She reassures him with a smile. Todoroki allows himself one moment to hide his face behind his hand and utter a groan, then shakes off the frustration. Momo likes the way his red and white strands of hair get a little mixed at the part when he does that.
“The date is not over yet, Yaoyorozu. Let’s go.”
Momo has to hand it to him: Todoroki is an incredibly persistent man. In the same way that he does not allow almost assuredly “guilty” verdicts to scare him away from a case, he does not allow the many twists of their date to discourage him and just call it a night. He leads her to the Viking boat, gentlemanly helping her into her seat by holding the small of her back.
Once the ride starts to move, though, she’s glad she never actually got to taste the churros. The ride swings back and forth, janking her this way and that and making her crave the sweet embrace of death. Todoroki does have fun, though, so much that he doesn’t notice her admittedly quiet panic attack until he’s practically carrying her off the ride in his arms.
She takes his concerned look as the only silver lining to that hideous experience, and vows:
“I am never riding on that one again.”
“I thought you’d done this in your dramas, Yaoyorozu?” Todoroki asks when she feels better and they’re walking towards the next ride.
“Yes, Todoroki-san, but usually we just shoot some scenes inside the rides at their slowest, then the doubles actually ride the attractions.” she explains, a blush spreading on her cheeks at the admission. “Not that I’m proud of that but… well, the rides are a little scary.”
Todoroki lets out a quiet laugh, unconsciously pulling her closer to him. He makes no further comment, instead stopping in front of the Tilt-A-Whirl ride.
“This is our last attempt.” he tells her, an air of finality to his words.
“Third time’s the charm, right?” she replies optimistically. They climb on, holding onto the metal bars on top of their seats. To her surprise, this is the one ride Momo finds herself enjoying since the death of her non-star shaped sunglasses, and she’s so lost in her fun that it takes her a while to realize that Todoroki and circular motion just don’t mix. Apparently, third time is not the charm.
He’s practically scrambled on the floor of the ride, looking green and practically unconscious and muttering to “please make it stop”. Of course, the ride goes on for longer, but the second it’s over, Todoroki practically sprints out in his need to get away from the attraction. She takes her time exiting the game, then finds him sprawled on a bench.
“I tried to hurl but my stomach is empty.” he admits.
“Oh, Todoroki-san, who would have thought my prickly lawyer is scared of some twirling.” She boldly teases. It’s easy to let loose with him, even if he sends her a mean glare as she sits beside him.
“Who said I’m prickly? I am not prickly.”
“Oh, you’re not anymore.” She assures him, smiling contentedly. For all its twists, this has been a fun date. A few moments of silence pass, then Todoroki finally rights himself. Momo notices their bench is practically overlooking the sea, which looks dark and mysterious under the light of the moon. Momo finds herself alone yet again as Todoroki asks her to wait a moment then slips out God-knows-where. She doesn’t particularly like not knowing where he’s going, but he’s been trying so hard to make this date work with so little success, she doesn’t have it in herself to ask. He’s not long gone, though, and he returns holding…
“Fireworks?” she asks, incredulous. Every time she thinks she’s got him figured out, he surprises her.
“At the end of your drama dates, there are always fireworks.” He explains, matter-of-factly. He sets the pyrotechnics up on the sand a little ways away from her. Momo’s smile is practically tattooed on her face by now, watching as he lights the long wicks before sitting down beside her.
He drapes his jacket over her to fight off the chill of the seaside, and then they stare at the rapidly consuming wicks together. However, her attention soon turns to her boyfriend’s rapidly falling expression as the fireworks stay, one-by-one, rooted to the ground when the wicks are completely consumed.
“They must have been damp.” he mutters, looking away in clear shame. Momo wants to comfort him, but by now feels there is something underneath the incredible amount of effort he’s put into this date. Boldly, she reaches out to lift his face with her fingertips under his chin, finding an unexpected anger in his mismatched eyes.
“I don’t think you’re upset over the fireworks, Todoroki-san.” She prods gently. He keeps quiet for a while.
“Yaoyorozu, I want to be a boyfriend you can be proud of.” He holds her hands as he says this, encasing them within his own. “I don’t have a lot of time to give you the types of dates you deserve, and you have already been on many extravagant dates. I don’t want you to be disappointed in me.”
Momo chooses her next words carefully.
“Ah, Todoroki-san, do you know why the writer was hesitant to give me the lead role for my comeback drama?” Todoroki raises one eyebrow in confusion. He clearly thinks her question is coming out of left field. She pulls the edges of his jacket closer to herself before continuing. “She said that my romantic moments seemed ‘a little too studied.’ I did not understand it at the time, but I think I do now.” Momo pauses a little to direct a shy smile Todoroki’s way. “In all those romantic scenes, I had studied. I had no romantic experience of my own to draw from, so I couldn’t portray a woman in love convincingly. I never felt anything more than friendship towards my costars, so everything always seemed a little fake.”
“I don’t need to go back to the studio to know I could do a much better job now.” she admits softly. “And I don’t need you to make grand gestures to demonstrate your feelings for me. I am just as happy to share a plate of soba with you. I like you, and I am dating you , Todoroki-san, not any of my former costars.” She finishes. Her words appear to render Todoroki speechless, and she takes advantage of this to deliver a soft kiss to his left cheek, right under his scar.
His initially tense shoulders seem to sag, and while it could seem a defeated reaction, Momo knows it’s his way of relaxing. She leans her head on his shoulder, and they stay like that, quietly looking at the stars for a long while.
Later, when he drives her back home and she gets off the car, she leans into the window, not that differently from when she confessed to him, this time to say:
“I had a lot of fun tonight, Todoroki-san.” then, after a moment, she adds: “I don’t need an extravagant date, Todoroki-san, I just need you to be yourself.” and when he nods, she knows he’s understood what she means.
Shoto takes Yaoyorozu’s words to heart. After his absolute disaster of a 'carefully planned' date, he can’t afford not to.
He spends the next few days working on a statement for his friend Uraraka’s identity theft case, trying new lunch places with Yaoyorozu (who seems to have grown attached to her star-shaped sunglasses), and trying to think of a date that both Yaoyorozu and himself would enjoy.
He tries not to obsess over it too much, instead allowing himself to enjoy the soft feeling of Yaoyorozu’s hands around his neck as they hug him goodbye every night when he drops her off, the smell of her flowery perfume and the perfect way her body slots into his arms. Even the time in which he liked Midoriya seems… dull in comparison to the ardent feelings that Yaoyorozu awakens within him. He wants to be with her all day, every day except for work and when either of them is asleep. He wants to support her through her return to stardom, and to see her smile after he wins a case.
And he wants to kiss her. Badly. But he wants the moment to be right . She deserves it.
-
He finds his chance that same week, when his father goes out of town for a business meeting, and he finally gets the chance to change the locks of his childhood home’s gym for some overdue petty revenge.
Shoto has already succeeded in ignoring his sister Fuyumi’s gentle chiding to “give their father a break” and is currently looking around for his father’s toolbox in a closet. He makes a point not to think about the bad memories that still follow him around as he walks the hallways of his father’s traditionally Japanese estate — choosing instead to focus on the faint echoes of the ringing laughter of a ten-year-old Natsuo as he chased him around, the smell of his mother’s hot cocoa on a winter day. He finally spots the toolbox at the very top of a shelf, and in pulling it out he stumbles back as another box slides out of the closet.
The box’s contents have spilled onto the floor, and upon bending down, Shoto finds it was full of old photographs. He doesn’t pay too much attention to them (he still has some revenge to exact), but when he’s almost done, one of them catches his eye.
He’s maybe six or seven, sitting down on the hill behind their house alongside his mother, Fuyumi and Natsuo. A telescope (brand new at the time) sits amongst them and the sight of it makes something spark in Shoto’s mind. That photograph is perhaps one of the last good memories he holds from this house, and it depicts something — like Yaoyorozu said — where he’s truly being himself. He pockets the picture and all but forgets about why he showed up to the house in the first place.
On his way out, Shoto finds Fuyumi preparing dinner and, without thinking about it, side-hugs her while he says goodbye. He’s too busy phoning Yaoyorozu to notice his sister’s surprised look at his retreating form.
-
As always, Yaoyorozu is stunning when he picks her up. Even though his call clearly caught her off guard, and she can’t have had any more time to get dressed than he did to orchestrate everything, he still finds her waiting on the curb outside her apartment complex. Wearing a snug pair of jeans and oversized burgundy sweater, with her star-shaped glasses perched atop her head: she’s the most beautiful woman he’s ever seen. Shoto wills himself to stay in his space and not plant one on her the moment she enters the car. Instead, he focuses on the worried look on her face.
“What is it, Todoroki-san? You never call this late.” She asks as soon as she’s sat beside him. Shoto is used to experiencing new things when she’s near, but the bout of tenderness that her concern provokes in his chest still catches him off guard.
“I’m taking you on a date.” He simply says. Yaoyorozu’s brow unfurrows, clearly relieved at his answer. Then, she looks at him questioningly, and Shoto lets out a short laugh. “I didn’t want to wait. Plus, we needed a place that doesn’t have a lot of people and is open at this hour. I know just the place.”
Yaoyorozu hums, allowing him to keep the rest to himself. He’s learned by now that she’s always looking to learn new things, and withholding information the way he does probably drives her insane — but he appreciates the way she never really forces him to tell her things. Shoto drives them in silence, occasionally stealing a glance at his girlfriend’s relaxed face as she looks out the window.
When they arrive, Shoto guides her by the hand into the building, smiling in spite of himself at her obvious impatience to find out where they are. He’s glad his contacts allowed him a back entrance, or his surprise would have been ruined. They finally walk out onto a terrace, and then there is no mistaking the dome of the planetarium. Yaoyorozu looks at him, her onyx eyes glinting under the moonlight.
“The observatory?” She inquires, Shoto lets a satisfied smirk show on his face. Yaoyorozu’s excitement practically radiates off her face, walking around with her face turned skyward and her hand securely holding his. Shoto follows her around, looking up every now and then but mostly marveling at the way the stars are reflected in her pretty black eyes. He loves the firm grip she always has on her hand — like she has no doubt holding her own is where it belongs.
“Oh, can we go to the planetarium, Todoroki-san?” She pleads. Shoto nods, walking beside her and listening happily as she talks about the upcoming dates for filming and how she’ll most likely have to leave the country for a few weeks.
“But we’ll make it work, I promise! We’ll call each other every day and email, and I’ll work very hard to come back as soon as possible.” She says seriously, sitting down on the wooden floor of the planetarium, which is empty except for them, the dome pulled open to allow them a glimpse into the night sky. When Yaoyorozu asked how he managed this, he just said “I know a guy” and obviated the part where he helped the director of the observatory get out of legal trouble for gambling beyond his means.
“I like the sound of that.” Shoto replies, sitting beside her. The prospect of her being away has been nagging at him for some time, and though he’s been careful not to bring it up lest he upsets her, he figures this is as good a place as any to finally address it. “Your time at the law firm is almost up.” He says after a moment.
Beside him, Yaoyorozu tenses. Shoto guesses she has been thinking about it too. It’s no secret to him that their relationship is but the result of the extraordinary circumstances that brought them together, and those circumstances are, sadly, about to reach their expiration date.
“We’ll see each other less, won’t we?” She says, finally tearing her eyes away from the sky to look at her hands. Shoto wishes there was a law against that wistful grin that takes over her face.
“Certainly. We won’t be able to spend as much time together as we do now.” He agrees. Looking up, he notices the almost comical way her face constricts at his comment, and he physically backs away, almost tripping in his attempts to reassure her. “We’ll still date and call and have dinner together, Yaoyorozu. Like you said, we’ll make it work.”
He hears her sigh beside him, and then feels the familiar weight of her head on his arm. Stealing a look, he sees she’s laid her head on his shoulder and has resumed looking up at the sky. At a loss for words, he takes her hand and gives it what he hopes is a comforting squeeze.
“At least Kaminari-kun will stop pestering me about our relationship.” Shoto's right hand stops playing with the frayed edges of his sweater at this. He frowns, pulling at her hand to ask with a raised brow after the so-called Kaminari’s identity. “Oh, it’s my agent, the friend who picks me up. He’s worried the media will find out and cause another scandal. Which is a fair point and I appreciate his concern, but we are being careful. I think he’s just feeling lonely, since he hasn’t had a lot of work other than taking care of me since...since my break.”
Shoto doesn’t miss the pause, or the allusion to the reason why she stopped acting. He’s held off looking for it as a sign of respect to her, but he hates the way her whole being seems to fold into itself whenever the subject is brought up. He wants to put whatever or whoever is making her upset behind bars. Permanently so. But because it’s not his place, he holds off commenting about it.
“Well, he’s going to have to get used to it, because I’m not disappearing.” he says, lightly laying his head on hers. He feels content with the way their date is going, like finally the universe is working in his favor. Slowly, in the quiet of the night and with the alluring warmth of Yaoyorozu's body snug beside his own, he relaxes.
Shoto never relaxes, because when he does, all the stress of his job and his life fall on his shoulders and ruin his usually perfect posture. But the way his girlfriend's hand disentangles from his, only to traverse slowly across his back to hug him is unprecedented in the pleasure it brings him, and he closes his eyes in delight. Faintly, he hears her gasp, and then the hand not holding him together starts lightly pulling on his sweater by the shoulder.
"Todoroki-san, it's a shooting star!"
Shoto opens his eyes and searches for it, but to no avail — he's taken too long. Yaoyorozu seems to deflate beside him. "Oh, I guess you missed it." She laments.
Shoto feels the anxiety of his previous mistakes rise within him. A voice that sounds suspiciously like his father's berates him internally, making him wonder whether this is what their future holds: an endless constant of almost precious moments ruined by his inexperience and slowness. He clenches his fists unconsciously, letting his face fall so his hair can cover the frustration that overtakes it.
"Todoroki-san, it's okay…"
"Yaoyorozu." He interrupts. Her hand fists a handful of his sweater on his back. "I'm sorry."
"Eh?"
"I've tried being a better boyfriend, but I keep failing no matter what I do." He pauses.
"Todoroki-san-"
"Please." he grabs her hands, almost desperate. "You know what my job is like. You know how I am. I lack a great many things." He admits, looking down, then back up at her eyes. He wants to say this with his whole body. "But as long as you keep wanting me by your side, I won't stop working to be the man you deserve."
There is a pause where neither of them says anything. A blushing Yaoyorozu stares at him as though struck. Shoto tries his hardest not to look away even though the heaviness of his words is slowly dawning on him, making a blush crawl up his neck and onto his cheeks. Finally, she speaks.
"Todoroki-san, do you really like me that much?" She asks, practically whispering.
Instead of an answer, Shoto lets go of Yaoyorozu's hands to pull her softly by the neck and cheek, only stopping when their faces are millimeters away. He searches her eyes to make sure she wants this and finds them half-lidded and wanting. Then, because his words are never enough but his actions never fail him, because she's lovely and marvelous, and he really does like her that much, he closes the gap between them to deposit a light kiss on her soft, warm lips.
Kissing Yaoyorozu is everything he thought it would be and then some. She takes control of the kiss, guiding his clumsy mouth as one kiss becomes two, three, and then too many to count. The feeling of her mouth against his is incredible, like burning and freezing at the same time. At some point, her hands travel up his chest, coming to rest on his shoulders and playing with his hair, sending shivers down his spine. Similarly, his hands find her hair and tug on her ponytail until her beautiful black hair is free for him to tangle his fingers in.
They kiss and kiss and only stop when his phone keeps buzzing in his pocket — an alarm he set earlier to make sure he didn't keep her up too long. He turns it off, looks up to find Yaoyorozu smiling fondly at him, her lips swollen and hair wonderfully loose around her shoulders. Unable to stop himself, Shoto steals one last kiss, then says:
"We should probably head home. We have to be at court tomorrow." Yaoyorozu bites her lip, as though testing his capacity for self-control, then nods in agreement.
When they're back at her apartment, Shoto walks her to her door. She looks up at him from the doorframe, her onyx eyes alluring, and Shoto is glad she's so tall because it means that he barely has to lean down to kiss her goodnight.
"I'll have your documents ready before the trial." She promises, and Shoto has no trouble believing her.
Once they break through the proverbial glass ceiling of kissing, it's difficult for either of them to stop.
It's not like they spend every moment kissing, as Todoroki is still handling four different corporate lawsuits on top of his friend's identity theft case, which is almost a secure win in his bag. Moreover, as the filming dates approach, Momo finds the network requesting more and more of her time: a photoshoot here, a wardrobe check there, contract reviewing with her and Kaminari. It seems that, as the last few days of her time at Endeavor Law go by in what feels like lightning speed, her old life creeps on her a minute at a time.
So she lets Todoroki kiss her good morning in the drive to work, savoring the taste of his mouth on hers and waiting for their lunch, when she gets a chance to steal a kiss back herself from behind his briefcase. She finds unexpected delight at seeing his post-kiss expression: hair artfully tousled, cheeks blushing and the pupils in those wonderfully mismatched eyes of his dilated enough to make them seem equally black.
Her life turns so good it's almost idyllic, but much in the way of the dramatic movies and soap operas Momo made her fame starring in, the happiness is short lived. Five days before the end of her contract with Endeavor Law, she kisses Todoroki goodnight on her doorstep, like she has for the past week, then goes inside, only to find a small box sitting on the drawer she keeps near the entrance.
Upon inspection, Momo recognizes it as a box of macarons. The same brand she got two years ago, when she filmed her last movie. Momo's heartbeat quickens in her chest, and she feels a panic attack coming. She wants to run back and ask Todoroki to stay, but he must be on his way home now and she's scared to go into her apartment alone and-
She manages to rein herself in just enough to call Kaminari, who finds her sitting on the hallway floor, her knees hugged to her chest.
"Yaomomo, what's wrong?" he asks, worry etched across his face. He lowers himself to see her in the eye, making her fight harder to suppress her tears.
"He's back." she murmurs, barely audible. She points a trembling finger towards the drawer, and Kaminari makes his way there. He curses as soon as he sees the box. And while Momo has always hated wasting food, she finds she doesn't bear any ill will against Kaminari when he unceremoniously drops the box into the nearby trash bin.
He guides her into her apartment, turning every light on as he walks in and settling Momo's nerves with idle chatter about his advances (or lack thereof) on Kyoka. If she felt better, she would probably encourage him, but as it stands she can only offer him a feeble smile. Momo is thankful for him as he sends her into her room (not before checking first) to change while he brews her a cup of tea.
"If I've learned anything from you, Yaomomo, is how to make a good one." he reassures her. She switches her office clothes for pajamas and listens without really doing so while Kaminari makes action plan after action plan.
"Have you called Todoroki?" He asks. Momo shakes her head. He hums, uncharacteristically quiet. Momo tries to be a better host, but she keeps getting distracted by her own thoughts.
One moment, she's in her living room. Then she blinks, and it's the dressing room for her last movie.
"Just think about the PR boost and all the opportunities, Yaomomo." he'd said, waving a hand through the air while the other snaked its way around her waist. Momo had suppressed a shudder at the sight of his lustful eyes roving over her body.
"But… a fake relationship, director?" she'd asked, still unconvinced. Then felt the hand around her waist travel lower.
"It doesn't have to be fake, you know."
Momo's mind replays the memory as if on loop, until Kaminari shakes her shoulders hard enough to wake her up. He watches as she downs a sleeping pill and promises to stay all night with her, pulling out a spare blanket from her closet to set on top of the sofa.
"We'll get the locks changed tomorrow." He assures her, and not long after, Momo drifts into an uneasy sleep.
As soon as he's certain Yaomomo is fast asleep, Denki pulls his cellphone and starts dialing.
First, he calls CEO Mic, whose strident voice reaches new levels as he asks over and over again if he's sure. But Denki saw the logo on the macaron box — and he only knows one person whose signature gift is that particular brand.
"I'll call… I'll see what I can do." is the last thing his boss says before hanging up. Denki feels out of his depth, just as powerless as two years ago. But things are vastly different now, and he needs to help his charge whatever way he can.
"Sorry, Yaomomo." he mutters, taking her phone from where she left it on the coffee table and sifting through her contacts until he finds the number he was looking for.
He answers on the first try.
"Who is this?" Todoroki says from the other end of the line.
"Hello, Todoroki. I'm Kaminari Denki, Yaomomo's agent." Todoroki hums in acknowledgement, then inquires as to Denki's business with him. "May I see you in your office tomorrow? Preferably without Yaomomo knowing."
The silence that follows tells Denki that his request is not well received, but Todoroki agrees despite his obvious reservations. He hangs up and turns on the TV, ready to spend a sleepless night in Yaomomo's apartment.
-
The next morning, Denki drives Yaomomo to work, walks her right up until the door to her annex, where her boss is waiting to ask her to fetch some documents from the archives. She sends Denki a suspicious glare when she notices him lingering, but says nothing when she walks out.
"Shall we?" Todoroki asks, as soon as she's out of earshot. Denki nods and follows him into his office. He declines his host's offer of coffee, already feeling fidgety and over excited without the extra help of the caffeine. Todoroki closes the door behind them, then offers him a seat.
"What can I do for you, Kaminari?"
"I'm not here for me." he answers, cutting straight to the chase. "I understand you're in a relationship with Yaomomo, right?"
Todoroki nods.
"Then you have to know what's going on. First, how much do you know about Yaomomo's break?" the lawyer frowns, easily admitting to only being aware of some sort of scandal. Denki has to respect the way he hasn't looked for information on Yaomomo's past, letting his opinion of her form from his own interactions with Denki's charge. Still, it's not enough for the blond to trust him. "I'm not gonna say much, because it isn't my place, but listen: the people who tried to hurt Yaomomo almost got away with it, and they're not done trying. Be on your guard. She's gonna need you."
Across him, Todoroki's frown deepens. Denki needs to get out of there before Yaomomo returns, so he stands up and offers his hand to the lawyer, who shakes it in spite of the confused look that clouds his mismatched eyes. Denki really hopes he's a good guy, because he has a feeling that he'd be a formidable ally against that bastard.
He leaves in a hurry, dialing Jiro on his way to the car.
Shoto knows something is wrong as soon as Yaoyorozu's agent leaves the firm's building.
She returns from the archives, smiling and chatting and if he hadn't spent so much of his time learning her every expression, it might have fooled him. But while her outward demeanor is business as usual, she seems… on edge. When they go out to lunch, she doesn't take her star-shaped sunglasses off at all — in fact, she even digs out the blonde wig from the depths of his glove compartment and secures it on her head.
When Shoto asks for an explanation, she simply says "You can never be too careful".
Her behavior, Shoto thinks, is outright paranoid — of course, until it isn't. Yaoyorozu is perhaps the most observant person he knows, so when she stops in the middle of the parking lot at the end of the work day, then walks towards a random black car not ten feet away from her, he supposes she's noticed something he didn't. Indeed, she reaches lightning fast into an open window, pulling out a hand holding a camera, and twisting it so the owner can't maneuver it away from her. There is a pained scream, then the hand lets go of the camera. Yaomomo scoops it in one fluid motion, swiftly extracting the memory card from within it.
"Did your boss ask you to do this?" She asks, colder than Shoto's ever heard her. He walks up to her rapidly. Inside the car is a young man, perhaps a college student, dressed completely in black and obscuring his face with a cap. Instead of answering, the man lunges for the car keys, presumably to attempt an escape, but Shoto swoops in and yanks them from the ignition.
Cornered, the man exits the car, looking alternatively at Yaoyorozu and Shoto as if looking for an opening to run.
"I'm just trying to get a job." He says, hands raised.
"I thought you needed to send portfolios for this kind of job." Yaoyorozu retorts, her breathing becoming more haggard. She kicks the camera back to the boy, face impassive but for the anger in her normally gentle onyx eyes. "Tell him I'm not the same as two years ago, and if he tries anything, I'll see him at court."
Shoto notices the way she keeps the memory card but says nothing. Instead, he throws the car keys at the boy and watches as he scrambles to get away from them. As soon as his car is out of the parking lot, Yaoyorozu stumbles, and he rushes to catch her.
She holds onto his arms as if she didn't trust her legs to keep her upright — and that might just be the case. Shoto half-carries her down to his car. He extends the same courtesy she always does to him by not asking anything, instead forgoing his usual driving safety measures to hold her hand all the way back to her apartment. He walks her all the way up the building to her door, reluctant to go but wishing to give her space to deal with what's making her upset.
He kisses her chastely goodnight, his embrace the tiniest bit tighter before letting go and turning around. He makes to leave, but finds himself stopped as Yaoyorozu's hand holds him feebly by the sleeve of his suit jacket.
"I don't think I can be alone tonight, Todoroki-san." She confesses, looking at her shoes. Knowing how self-sufficient Yaoyorozu is, Shoto is taken aback by the sheer neediness in her voice, coupled with embarrassment and fear as she almost begs, "Will you stay?"
She doesn't need to ask him twice.
-
Yaoyorozu's space is exactly as he would have imagined: tidy and feminine, but not impractical. Spacious, but not excessively so. He wishes his first visit had happened under less strange circumstances.
"I'm sorry I can't offer you a better dinner." She apologizes when she comes back from the kitchen with dishes for their take out. Shoto brushes it off, stealing a bite from her plate in an uncharacteristic moment of lightheadedness, feeling rewarded when she grants him a small smile in response.
Later, a frazzled Yaoyorozu admits she has no spare bedroom, but she does have a king size bed and enough pillows to make a pillow wall. Shoto goes about making himself as comfortable as possible while sleeping in one's own suit while she changes in her bathroom. She comes out with a spare toothbrush when he's almost done rolling up his sleeves. There is an odd air of domesticity to the whole thing that Shoto, a big believer in going slow and personal space, finds himself quite attracted to.
In the time it takes him to brush his teeth, Yaoyorozu manages to somehow bury herself under her pillows, but not to build the pillow wall. She seems softer, calmer, less likely to get spooked, and Shoto takes this as an opportunity to help her out of her pillow grave, arrange the cushions around the bed and slip under the covers deliberately on one side of it. He hopes the metaphorical ball being in her court helps her feel better, as he knows how much being in control brings her comfort.
"I'm here for protection, Yaoyorozu." He reassures her. She pinks, muttering about not having thought differently, and finally settles down beside him. They keep quiet for a moment, hyper aware of the other's presence, dying to reach out but both too respectful of the other to even dare.
"You don't have to talk about it." he says after a moment, looking at the ceiling. "But if you want to, I'm here."
Yaoyorozu stays quiet. A look from the corner of his eye tells him that she's biting her lip the way she does when she's thinking, so Shoto gives her time. And surely enough, she speaks.
"My last movie was directed by Hanabata Koku. It was just a romantic comedy, but he has fame outside of Japan, so Kaminari-kun and I agreed it would be a great way to 'broaden our horizons'." Yaoyorozu chuckles bitterly. "Halfway through filming, Hanabata-san proposed a PR strategy to promote the movie: to claim we were dating. Not me and my co-star, Awase Yosetsu-san, but me and him. " Shoto lays on his side so he can give her his full attention, and so is able to notice the disgusted expression that takes over her face. "He even… propositioned me, but I rejected him and that was that. Until filming finished and my parents threw a party to celebrate both wrapping up on the movie and my college graduation."
She pauses. Even though Shoto is already enraged at what he's heard, he suspects that's not the worst part. Yaoyorozu scoots a tiny bit closer, so he reaches for her hand across the bed. It's not lost on him how hard she's fighting to get the words out, so Shoto hopes his gesture brings her comfort.
"He was invited, obviously. I never told anyone of what he'd told me. I didn't want to jeopardize the movie — and well, you know how these things turn for the victim. I let my guard down that night, and he called me into a room and offered me a drink. I don't know what he put in it, but I started feeling bad as soon as I sipped it. I tried to get out immediately, and barely made it into the main hall, but he kept pulling on my arm and pretending to be worried about me. I passed out in the middle of the party, and the rest is public domain. "
"Yaoyorozu…"
"Nobody heard the part where Hanabata-san put a rape drug in my drink, and that's why he took a job directing a series overseas. Or that he tried to sell the story of us dating to the media anyway." Yaoyorozu sighs. Shoto drops all pretenses of chastity and pulls her into his arms. She gasps, but makes herself at home in his space. He tries to focus on the smell of her shampoo and not the way his heart pounds inside his chest as a result of her proximity.
"I don't doubt you know this, but it was not your fault, Yaoyorozu. He should be sad and bitter and ruined, and I promise you, he will be."
"Todoroki-san, please. That man… he has friends everywhere. I'm not exaggerating. It's been so hard, moving past that and finding someone to trust me with a role again." she sighs, grabbing a fistful of his shirt. "I am happy again, and I wish to stay that way."
Shoto hums, partly because he understands, partly because telling her he's still going to see that bastard put to jail for a long time would just succeed in further upsetting her. He forgoes the sharing of his opinion with her to instead rub circles on her back, letting the steady rhythm of her breathing calm him down and the lovely weight of her head on his chest warm him up and make him drowsy.
Yaoyorozu falls asleep before him, her breathing deepening and the hand fisting his shirt becoming limp atop his chest. He cranes his neck a little so he gets one last look at her calm features, then drifts into the best sleep he's had in a long time.
"Bakugo-san, what a surprise! What are you doing here?"
Katsuki hates going to Endeavor Law.
He hates being on the Half-n’-Half bastard's turf, hates how both Shitty Hair and even the source of Icy-Hot's hot half will get on his case about going to law school as soon as they get a glimpse of him in the lobby. He especially hates how goddamn tempting the stupid offer is every single time.
But it matters little, because Ponytail is his friend, and seeing the slight slump in the same shoulders that wouldn't give up their perfect posture no matter how many hours they spent in the library, he can't fault the homewrecking bastard for calling him. Katsuki cares very little for helping Todoroki, but setting aside his dislike for the man to help his black-haired friend isn’t something difficult for him.
"I'm here to see Icy-Hot. Is he busy?" He says, gentler than usual. If Ponytail notices it, she says nothing. There's something tired in her movements, like the days when she went to class in between filming, and Katsuki feels like yelling at her boyfriend and taking her out for a meal. But he wants answers first, so he clenches his fists and waits for Yaoyorozu to answer.
"Go ahead, I think he's waiting for you." She says with a small smile, a respectable attempt at her normal cheery one, but still rather weak to his bullshit-detector —still, he lets it go. Katsuki nods, then opens the door to Todoroki's office. He's reviewing some papers, and if Katsuki were a little less proud, he'd ask what they are about.
Luckily, he doesn't need to, because the Half-n’-Half bastard slides them towards Katsuki himself, as soon as he notices his presence. He scans through them as he sits down.
"What do you know about Hanabata Koku?" Todoroki asks. Katsuki reads through the file, a rather comprehensive background check on the man Todoroki's asking after. He isn't impressed by it — he's used to his annoying thoroughness, regardless of whether or not it comes in handy.
“‘Course I do.” Katsuki replies, pissed at the lawyer’s audacity to assume he ever has superior knowledge of any field over him. “He’s the asshole that ruined Ponytail’s career. Got a whole file on him, but Ponytail wouldn’t let me pursue it when the scandal broke. Said it was bad press or some shit like that.”
Todoroki hums. “Well, he’s bothering Yaoyorozu again.” He says, an edge to his voice that Katsuki hasn’t heard on it since that last shouting match in his and Deku’s sophomore year of college. He raises a questioning eyebrow at Todoroki’s irritating vagueness. “He sent her a box of sweets and somehow got it inside her apartment. Then, she caught some idiot taking pictures of her in the firm’s parking lot. She kept the memory card, but so far we have no way to prove it’s on Hanabata’s orders. Do you think we could pursue this?”
Katsuki keeps quiet as he thinks. Hanabata is dirty, that’s no secret — but he has friends in some seriously powerful places: taking him down might be a bigger enterprise than he’s willing to admit. Still, Ponytail’s family is not without their own resources, if only they would use them. It’s a tough call to make on his own, but he’s spent too much of his adulthood keeping creeps away from Ponytail to let stupid shit like bureaucracy stop him from continuing to do it.
“What would you need to get him?” He asks instead, a plan forming in his mind.
“Proof.” says Icy-Hot, ever the unhelpful one. Katsuki grunts, digging his fingers into the armrest of his chair to keep himself from socking the guy. He takes the god damn hint for once in his airheaded life and elaborates. “Admittance that he’s been stalking Yaoyorozu. Witness statements. Whatever dirt you have on him that can help keep him at bay while we can prove what he did to Yaoyorozu.”
Katsuki doesn’t bother telling him he doesn’t need to prove anything — he has background checks on every single hired help on the Yaoyorozu party that night two years ago, and they are all squeaky clean and highly recommended, the fuckers. He has Ponytail’s medical records dating back to her fucking infancy : she is not and never was a drug addict. He himself could be a witness that whatever that imbecile made up in his head about Yaoyorozu and his relationship is a fever dream, at best, and fucking insane, realistically. Hanabata is a crooked fucker who’s obsessed with Katsuki’s friend badly enough to try to fucking rape her in her own goddamned house . The problem, as Half-n’-Half has already surmised, is proving it was that asshole director.
But he’s not about to tell him that. He can read it himself in the file when he sends it over.
“Fine. I’ll talk to Jeanist. Don’t tell Ponytail, she’ll worry her hair off.” Katsuki huffs, standing up before Todoroki attempts to see him off. They may be allies, but they’re not about to be civil about it, or even worse, friends . He’s still not and will never be over the three years Icy-Hot spent trying to steal Deku away from him. Katsuki is as excellent at holding grudges as he is at everything else he sets his mind to.
Thankfully, Todoroki doesn’t need reminding, and saves Katsuki the trouble of cursing him out by just standing up and walking with him. They pass through the empty annex, only to find Ponytail chatting with Pinky at the reception.
“Todoroki-san, Bakugo-san! Is your business finished?” She asks, her smile reaching a little higher. Katsuki always respected Ponytail’s decision to continue acting after college, though he never understood why she did it, having as many options as she did. Even now, going through yet another underserved fucking crisis, she seems so much happier than when she was juggling college and a movie.
“We’re finished, Yaoyorozu.” Todoroki says, approaching her. Katsuki’s distracted by Pinky’s chatter about a college reunion, so he’s only peripherally aware of them as they engage in their own work-related conversation. It’s seemingly inane, but Katsuki has spent enough time around both of them to recognize Half-n’-Half’s disgusting lovesick gaze from back when he used to direct it at his own boyfriend. And well, Ponytail always has been somewhere between gentle and detached, sometimes coming off as dismissive —but the way her whole being seems to brighten around the homewrecking bastard? It makes Katsuki equal parts glad for her and nauseous.
“Yeah, whatever, Pinky, text me the details.” He mumbles. Ashido pouts, and a part of Katsuki does feel bad for how unwarrantedly rude he’s being, but most of him is trying to figure out how to make sure that Ponytail’s stalker gets his due. He walks off, nodding his head ( ugh ) complicitly at Icy-Hot and letting Ponytail pat his back goodbye.
On his way to the car, he shoots a text to Shitty Deku: he’ll be home late. He needs to get some progress on this before his mind can fucking settle, and he knows just the rat to help him.