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Yosetsu Awase was staring at his hand in disbelief. He had really done as she had said and it worked. It worked!
He turns back to her heart still going crazy with adrenaline and listens to explanations of transmitters and receivers and realizes that this person is crazy smart. He had just unknowingly welded a transmitter on that chainsaw monster that had been chasing them around. Since he attached that tracker they will find out exactly who attacked the summer camp. They’ll find out who burned down the forest and put his friends in the hospital and his words loosen themselves from his throat in a way they don’t often do. They’re pushed out because of the adrenaline buzzing in his blood and stinging in his palms from slapping the transmitter onto that beast that nearly killed them, “Yaoyoruzu you’re amazing!”
Her eyes go wide for a moment and she turns her head, laugh weak and soft, “I just hope it’s enough.”
For him, it’s enough.
He thinks of visiting her in the hospital, but the adrenaline is gone and he doesn’t know what he would say. He thinks people like that who can think real quick and take charge are cool. He admires strong people with a backbone but he sees Yaoyoruzu more often and wonders how that person who came up with that plan is the same person who blushes often at things her friends say at lunch. She flusters pretty easy from what he can tell and that makes her more amazing in his eyes. During the summer camp, without hesitation she asserted herself. She seems nice. She smiles a lot, her ponytail bouncing as she walks and her eyes sparkling as she comes up with something probably clever to say. Once he notices her, she becomes a hard person to ignore and refuses to fade into the crowd of students at UA.
He drops his gaze to his tray when Tetsutetsu sits down and starts talking, “Starin’ at Creati again huh!”
“Tetsutetsu shush!” Kendou hisses and Awase rolls his eyes.
Monoma sets his tray down and sneers, “As if he would associate with those-“
Kendou raises a hand to chop, “Enough! Can we have one peaceful lunch?!”
Tetsutetsu grins at her and then Awase, elbowing him, “I can ask Kirishima to introduce ya! He’s friends with everyone bro!”
Awase scowls, “Wasn’t starin’.”
“It’s okay if you were.” Monoma says and he stands and laughs derisively, “They’re a running gag that never gets old.”
“For Pete’s sake!” Kendou says with a sigh and shakes her head as she digs into her yakisoba, “You know Awase, Momo is actually super nice!”
“I know that already.” He thinks, but instead shovels another spoonful of curry into his mouth and taps away at his phone game.
Monoma sighs, sinking into his seat, “She’s the smartest one of all of them. You could do worse-“
“Dude.” Tetsutetsu starts and Monoma waves his fork, “I am stating a fact.”
“Enough guys! Yeesh can’t you leave a guy to eat his lunch in peace? Hell!”
“Oh ho! Look at him gettin’ flustered just wait HEY KIRISHIMA!”
Awase groans, yanking his headband over his eyes as he hears the answering not-Tetsutetsu clone “YEAH MAN WHAT IT DO!?”
“GET OVER HERE AND FIND OUT MAN!”
Awase looks at Tetsutetsu, gritting his teeth and wondering if there’s a way he can just weld him to the lunch table and get away with it when Not-Tetsu comes over and clasps arms with him, bumping chests that clack together like boulders with their quirks, “SUH DUDE!”
“DUDE DO ME A SOLID!”
“YEAH BRO COURSE! JUST SAY-“
“Why are you yelling? Do you have your ears hardened or-“
Kendou sighs loudly, “He has a point Tetsutetsu.”
“Right! Sorry guys!” Not Tetsu says and man those are some wicked teeth they both got.
“Introduce me to your friend Creati! I’m havin’ trouble with some of the stuff in class and-“
“WHY WOULD YOU SAY THAT IN FRONT OF KENDOU! CLASS B IS PERFECTLY CAPABLE OF UNDERSTANDING THE MATERIAL UNLIKE YOU-“
Awase watches as the side of Kendou’s hand meets Monoma’s head in an audible slap, “Sorry about him Kirishima.”
“Oh uh nah dude! I actually get tutored by Bakugou-“
“I HEAR YOU TALKING ABOUT ME WITH THOSE B GRADE EXTRAS-“
“NOTHING BAD BLASTY CHILL!”
This was a big mistake Awase thinks. He gathers his backpack and thinks to make a getaway but Tetsu is grinning, drawing him up under his arm, “We both need help!”
He flusters as Kirishima grins, “Okay!” And just bounds off like a dog off to tell someone that there’s a kid drowning in a well.
Awase is the kid apparently because he certainly feels like he’s drowning. He thought that by not talking about it no one would know.
“Tetsutetsu?”
“Yeah bro?”
“Bye.”
“WAIT! WAITWAITWAIT! DON’T LEAVE ME STUCK IN THE TABLE AWASE!”
After some coaxing from Kendou he releases their dumb friend but can’t bring himself to forgive him until the next day Kirishima comes through. He visits their class at lunch and points at them from the doorway of their classroom. Again hunting dogs come to mind the way Kirishima is pointing and practically barking at Yaoyorozu. There she is. Standing pretty as anything and peering into their classroom curiously.
It’s a clear day where the classroom smells like burnt glue from Bondo, Kamakiri and Setsuna messing around Yaoyorozu visits class B.
He isn’t wearing his lucky headband and he’s half tempted to weld himself into the floor to hide but instead he pockets his phone, not caring about losing his game match and steps forward. He distantly sees Komori pump her fist with a vicious grin phone in the other hand, “You’re toast Awase! Thank your phone carrier!”
Momo’s dark eyes are lit with excitement and she says, “Hello Awase!”
She remembered his name. His stomach flips and he can’t look directly at her she’s grinning so bright. Her teeth are perfectly white and she keeps her hands clasped in front of her as she tells him, “I often have a few others at my parents’ estate over for studying! It’s more tea party than study session if you would like to join us.”
Estate?
He looks at her and agrees and that’s how on Thursday he has a tea that isn’t barley in front of him and Yaoyorozu’s classmates around the table.
The pink one goes, “Hey hey!” And calls Yaoyorozu over.
She has her hair down out of its usual ponytail. Black hair spills over her shoulder forward and with one hand she tucks it behind her ear. Her smile is bright and she asks, “What don’t you understand Ashido?”
And he gets it.
He looks at the embroidered table train. He sees the cloth napkins in their rings. He sees the chandelier overhead and can see himself mirrored in the marble floor where he sits in what is probably a chair made of actual mahogany.
This girl is way out of his league. He comes from a long line of welders. Even before quirks his dad’s dad and his pa and his father before him were all over the shipyards. He knows that this, all this opulence comes from the work of doctors or lawyers or something great. Something crazy smart and crazy rich.
This isn’t new money it’s old money and that comes with a lot of expectations and he doubts he can meet any of them.
He figures he will get help on his math homework while he’s here but when he asks her, Yaoyorozu sits down next to him. Her hand brushes his as she pulls her paper close and he flushes as she looks at him warmly, “What are you having trouble with?”
He unsticks his tongue from the roof of his mouth and manages to tell her, “I don’t know what I don’t know.”
Why did he say that? Now he’s also dumb and out of her league. Academically Momo Yaoyorozu is number one!
She just giggles, “That’s what Kaminari always says.”
Oh great. He’s lumped in with that “wheeeeeey” guy that went down in like less than a minute against Shiozaki.
“Um.”
She looks over his paper and hums, “Oh I see what you’re doing wrong.”
In elegant strokes of her pen-Pen, she’s writing math out in pen!-she goes through the steps and explains them plainly in a soft voice.
“Try this one now!”
She taps a blunt nail against his paper and he realizes her nails are mad short. Like bitten down to the beds.
“Awase?”
He jolts, hitting his knee on the table and nods tugging at his hair band, “I get it!”
He hunches over his paper in embarrassment. She lets out air through her nose in a hum, “Don’t hesitate to ask me! For anything!”
“Yaomomo! I lost my pencil!”
“Oh!” She turns to her classmate with a tail and produces a mechanical pencil from her arm.
“That’s wicked cool.” Awase blurts and Yaoyorozu turns in surprise, “O-oh. Thank you very much, Awase.”
He just nods stiffly and goes back to his work. He needs to keep his trap shut but she makes him so nervous! His mouth shoots off without him thinking too much which does relieve his nerves but brings a whole new onslaught of damn, I really said that huh?
The second time she comes over she claps her hands together, eyes shining like stars, “You did it!”
He huffs, taking his paper back, “Not that hard once you explained it. You make it sound so simple.”
He likes the way his words seem to charge her up like those wind-up toys and she rocks on her heels hands clasped together, “I’m so glad!”
“It’s like that forest situation yeah?”
He hadn’t meant to bring it up. He still has dreams about that damn creature chasing them both, chainsaws deafeningly loud and Yaoyorozu frighteningly still as he drags her along.
He presses on, “Once you say what to do, it’s simple. Obvious.”
“Oh.” She doesn’t seem to know what to say until she finds her words, “If it wasn’t for you...things would have been so different-“
“Huh? Oi I weren’t fishing for compliments Yaoyorozu-“
“Yaomomo.”
He blinks.
“You can call me Yaomomo!” She ducks her head, blushing pretty and suddenly his words have fled, his mouth suddenly dry.
“Sure.”
He leaves her house in a daze, understanding the material but warm and not understanding himself.
He’s being stupid, grinning like an idiot.
She told him to call her Yaomomo, too.
Kirishima asks him how it went and he snaps out his hand. The dumb guy blinks at him before grasping and receives the most heartfelt handshake of his life until he gets too emotional and goes for a hug that Awase dances out of easily.
He’s on cloud nine for the rest of the week with an invitation to study at the Yaoyorozu estate. Except Yaomomo keeps? Walking him to lunch? She always separates when they grab food, “Ah. I need to eat a lot for my quirk so it takes much longer! You don’t need to wait with me!”
He understands that she probably doesn’t want him to stick around so he grunts an affirmation and gets his food without her.
He already knows she eats a banquet of food no problem. He sees her now from across the lunch room, empty bowls piled on either side of her tray as she talks to the earphones girl from her class.
He’s disturbed from his thoughts by Tetsutetsu slamming his tray down, “I saw you walk in with her, bro! NICE!”
He holds out his fist and Awase rolls his eyes, “It’s nothing to yell about, guy.”
“Nonsense bro! Not when you’re walking next to the second prettiest girl in school!”
“Who’s the first?” Kamakiri asks, his pincers clicking and Tetsutetsu laughs, clapping him on the shoulder.
“Kendou! DUH!”
There’s a scandalized “OH HO HO!”
They turn to see Kendou carrying two trays with a slightly enlarged hand and dropping Monoma to the ground unceremoniously with the other. Her face has gone pink and she frowns, “ Y-you’re not begging any food off of me today even if you suck up! You should just have Lunch Rush make you extra portions like everyone else!”
Tetsutetsu just laughs loudly, “But then I wouldn’t get to bug you!”
Kamakiri pats her on the back, “S’best if ya just take th’ compliment Pres. He’s too dumb to lie after all.”
Kamakiri gives Tetsutetsu a toothy grin as the other boy bellows his indignation and Awase is just glad the attention is off of him as he glances towards Yaomomo’s table.
He jolts as their eyes meet and can only stare as she jolts a little too. She lifts a hand and waves and he is too late in lifting his own before someone else at her table gets her attention. He stands there like an idiot, hand half raised and curling into a fist as he drops it.
“Bro you got it bad. Jus’ say hi and get it over with already.” Kamakiri laughs and Awase shakes his head, “What would she even want to do with a guy like me? She’s helping me study that’s got to be a pain enough as it is.”
“AWWWW THAT’S NOT TRUE!” Tetsutetsu says.
Monoma is sneering as he lint rolls his uniform and jabs the lint roller at Awase, “You’re too good for her, Awase.”
He just rolls his eyes and eats his lunch.
Except it turns out for some reason Yaomomo wants a lot to do with him because she keeps buggin.
He will be heading from one class to another and suddenly Yaomomo is there and he’s tilting his head up to look into her pretty eyes as she goes on about smart people things. Something she read or something that she’s been thinking about and he can’t help but respond.
He knows he doesn’t talk much but when he does she lights up and it gets easier.
That’s the thing though.
It’s easy to get along and it’s easy to talk and soon enough he’s looking for her during passing period. Hell, he even goes to wait for her sometimes!
He’s just another dazzled person caught in her orbit and that’s why when she compliments him for the umpteenth time on one of his headbands he snaps at her, “Oh yeah?”
“Yes! This color-“
He turns on her, both bewildered and embarrassed remembering her saying to him just yesterday too, “the color really complements your eyes. They’re-“
“What’s your deal huh? You like me or something?”
She pauses, her shoe making a squeaking sound in the hallway. Her eyes go wide, and her face goes as pink as that dancer chick in her class.
“Yes. I-I did not mean to be so forward! I simply-“
She what.
What?
WHAT.
She’s babbling, hands clasped in front of her and he suddenly blurts out, “Me too.”
They stare at each other for a long time before she’s bringing her hand up to her mouth with a wobbly laugh.
“What’s so funny?” he’s more stunned than anything. This girl likes him. Yaomomo, top of her class, quick thinker and wicked cool hero to be likes him back.
She smiles at him bright, “We were on the same page the whole time! I thought...maybe you wouldn’t like someone so...”
She waves her hand vaguely and he sucks in a breath as he takes it into his own, “Someone so cool?”
“I w-wasn’t going to say that!”
“You kidding me?” He sighs, letting their hands fall between them, heart beating out of his chest, “That’s like one of the only ways to describe you.”
She smiles bright, leaning forward and he’s sweating a bit about how tall she is compared to him. It’s overwhelming in a good way even when she says brightly, “I’ve been saying the same about you!”
His stomach is flipping like crazy until they have to part ways and he realizes when he tries to let go that he’s accidentally welded their hands together.
He’s about to apologize profusely before Yaomomo just gives a soft titter of laughter and says sweetly, “If it’s you, I don’t mind being stuck a little longer...”
She brushes her bangs behind her ear and he concentrates on not welding their lips together too.