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In a lot of ways, Momo Yaoyorozu is the perfect match for him. She’s a beautiful Evening with a strong Quirk from a wealthy family; anyone would match them up based on that alone, and the two of them meet in school, where both got in under similar circumstances. The two of them seem almost like the royalty of their class, or at least that’s what Shoto hears from someone from another class, though he assumes that the person thinks he can’t hear them.
But he doesn’t set out to look for anyone to be with, nor does he have an ideal marriage to benefit his family name anywhere on is list of priorities. If anything, he thinks that he would reject the idea of being with someone with her, simply because his father would, more than likely, heartily approve.
He isn’t able to stop himself from slowly falling for her, however, though it has little to do with how “perfect” of a match she for him. Shoto falls for her strength of character and her determination and kindness. Even if everyone expects them to get together, and even if their relationship is considered typical, he knows that there’s more to it than that, and doesn’t concern himself with anything else.
For a while, they’re happy with just the two of them but, as more relationships develop in their class, they’re both reminded of the fact that the ideal would be to have two others. Neither one of them are particularly blessed when it comes to romantic charms; in fact, just admitting that they wanted to be more than friends nearly took a miracle for them.
Shoto doesn’t know if he’s supposed to be worried about finding anyone else, if that will just come naturally or if he should be looking, or if it even matters in the first place. If things are fine as they are, it shouldn’t matter, but are they? He doesn’t even know how Momo feels about the matter, and he isn’t sure how to ask her.
But then, she begins spending more and more time with a friend from another class, and when Shoto starts to hear rumors about his girlfriend getting a girlfriend, he finds out that this friend is a Morning like he is, and he wonders.
~X~
Kendo seems exactly like the type for Momo to fall for, though she and Shoto have little in common, so he’s not sure how he’s able to reach that conclusion. Maybe because he’s getting better at reading people. Whatever the case, the two become better friends, and that means that Shoto gets to see this other girl more, and he gets to see how easily she and Momo get along, and he wonders if he should say something, or if he should have any part at all.
In the end, it’s Kendo who comes to him, outright asking, “Do you think it would be okay for me to ask out Yaoyorozu?”
“Are you asking for my permission?” He finds the idea a little amusing.
“Shouldn’t I? I mean, you guys are already going out, so we would have to at least be able to get along,” she replies. “I’m not really asking your permission , I guess, but I do at least want to know what you’d think.”
He as to pause for a moment, only because he has no idea how to respond in a situation like this. “If Yaoyorozu likes you, then that’s all that matters, right? I don’t...know that I’m the best at this, but I don’t think it needs to be complicated.”
“You say that,” replies Kendo with a sigh, “but...things might get a little more complicated.”
~X~
Shoto isn’t able to get anything more out of her, and is left wondering what she meant as she begins to approach Momo and grow closer to her. When Momo comes to ask him what he thinks of her and Kendo, there is such an adorable excitement in her voice that he doubts he would ever be able to reject the idea, though the way his heart squeezes in his chest surprises him. She’s so damn cute, but he never expected to care this much about something like that.
Soon, he expects it to be the three of them hanging out together, and he looks forward to becoming better friends with Kendo while she and Momo explore their new relationship. He does not expect to already have a fourth, but then, Kendo sheepishly explains that there’s an Evening boy in her class that she’s already somewhat, complicatedly, involved with. Before she can even tell them who this boy is, Shoto feels a nameless dread, already pretty sure of who it is.
Neito Monoma is no less enthused about being involved with members of class 1-A than Momon or Shoto are about having to interact with him. In fact, for a while, all he does is “happen to” walk past whenever the three of them are talking, making snide remarks and lamenting the “loss” of Kendo, usually resulting in her apologizing for his behavior and dragging him off to deal with him. In a way, this is how the four of them hang out for some time, but Shoto doesn’t know that that makes for a good relationship.
He and Momo have grown so comfortable with one another that he can’t imagine doing anything without her involved, and Kendo is a good fit, both as Momo’s girlfriend and as a friend to Shoto. But she has her own complicated involvement with Monoma, and, though they can’t get her to admit what she sees in him, nevertheless there is something there, and it seems she isn’t willing to let that go either.
Which means that the four of them are stuck, until somebody makes a move. Shoto doesn’t expect Monoma to be the one to make that first move, but he corners him one day, on his way out of the school building.
“You two must think you’re pretty special, hm?” he asks, that shiteating grin spread across his face. “But, you know, my class has a student who was accepted on recommendation as well, so it’s not like one more really-”
“I already knew that,” Shoto replies. “We all met before we were even accepted. You actually probably would have had two, come to think of it.”
Monoma’s face falls for only a moment before that grin returns and he says, “Yeah, yeah, I get that you think you know everything, but that really doesn’t make you special, you know?”
“I need to get going,” he interrupts. “Are you trying to walk to the station with me?”
“Why would I want to do something like that?” Monoma snaps, clearly thrown, but Shoto just starts off anyway, walking around the other boy like he isn’t there, and, of course, Monoma follows after him, continuing to try to make some sort of point. This becomes a sort of habit for the boys, in the days following that, and whether or not Kendo put him up to this, Shoto still doesn’t know.
But, whatever the case, the two are left spending more and more time together, and, though the progress is slow, there is progress nonetheless.
~X~
“I don’t normally stop on the way home from school,” says Shoto.
“So then why did you invite me to eat with you?” asks Monoma with a sneer. He wonders if the boy is capable of saying anything that doesn’t come across as rude, or if that’s just part of his personality.
“We don’t have a lot of time to talk when we just walk together.”
“Who says I want to talk to you ?”
“Well, I didn’t really want to talk to you, but you kept tagging along,” he replies blandly. “We can both just go home.”
Needless to say, they end up at a cafe, sitting across from each other.
“Did Kendo ask you to make an effort to be nicer to me?”
“Have I been nicer to you?”
“That’s not really relevant.”
“She told me I had to at least try to get to know you, yeah. I just didn’t see why she was so hung up on your girlfriend, or why she thought I could ever get along with you .”
“Aren’t we getting along right now?”
“Is that what you want to call it?”
The progress between the two of them is very slow, but progress is still made.
~X~
Though Shoto is caught up in whatever his weird interactions with Monoma can be classified as, and Momo is spending a lot more time with Kendo, the two of them still keep time for one another. He doesn’t tell her much about Monoma, because he honestly isn’t sure what there is to tell, but she knows that something must be changing between the two of them, even if she doesn’t ask.
One day, he comes out and tells her, “I really can’t read him at all, he’s not just difficult, he’s...weird. But I don’t think things are going to stay complicated for ever. I do think that they’ll work out.”
“Are you sure?” she asks, looking a little worried. “I don’t want you to force anything just because Itsuka and I…”
“Don’t worry,” he says, and he hopes that his smile is reassuring. “I’m not forcing it. I’m just letting it happen.”
Shoto is still not very good at reading people, and still doesn’t always know what role to take in his relationship, but, so far, just letting things happen seems to be working out well enough.