Chapter Text
Let's get one thing straight right off the bat. Shoto Todoroki was… not.
The word Pansexual was pretty new to his vocabulary, and not one that he often used out loud. Mainly just on anonymous message boards and in his head as a variety of really stupid kitchen-related puns. He was still, for all intents and purposes, in the closet. He had come out once, but it had been an accident and well… it’s not really like it was someone he wanted to come out.
Speaking of which…
“Anything you wanna add to this conversation, Shoto?” Touya gave him a side glance, waiting for him to weigh in on the fight he had started at the dinner table. Shoto had been invited to a family dinner over the weekend, which meant if he didn’t show then Fuyumi would tell mom at her visit and he would get lectured by both of them.
Today’s fight was about gay marriage. Of course it is. To be fair, Touya only promised to not tell dad. He never said he would avoid the topic.
Shoto picked at his chicken. “Uh, no I’m good.”
“Are you sure you don’t want to cut in?” Touya was looking at him very pointedly. Natsuo was sitting on the left of his older brother, making a gesture that clearly meant “don’t talk”.
Shoto narrowed his eyes at Touya, a silent “shut the fuck up” before shaking his head. But the damage was done.
“Why would Shoto want to add to this?” Enji asked, crossing his arms and looking across the table to his youngest son. Shoto’s heart stopped beating for a second and he almost choked on his carrots. He coughed a bit before trying to shrug as if he didn’t know.
Natsuo noticed, standing from his chair half-way. “Hey, did you guys see that new-”
“Shoto, is there something you’d like to say?” Enji asked, an edge to his voice.
Touya leaned back in his chair, crossing his arms. “Yeah, is there?”
“I- No, I don’t know why I would.” Shoto whiled his mouth off with his napkin, hoping that covering up part of his face would help him lie better.
Natsuo grabbed Shoto’s shoulder. “C’mon, leave him alone. He’s clearly uncomfortable.”
“He should only be like this if he has something to hide.” Enji commented, his face hard while he interrogated his son. “Spit it out.”
“Does anyone else want seconds?” Fuyumi stood with her still full plate. “Anyone at all?”
“I-” All eyes were on Shoto, waiting for him to say something. He wanted the floor to eat him whole. Maybe God would strike him dead if he was lucky.
“Shoto…” His father grumbled, a very familiar anger boiling just behind his eyes.
Shoto once read somewhere that when backed into a corner, people tend to do stupid shit. That is a paraphrased explanation, obviously, but Shoto felt like it was the only word that could really encapsulate the next thing he said.
“I have a girlfriend!” Shoto yelled, throwing his hands up like he was surrendering. He kicked himself mentally, realizing that no one had even asked.
He dared to open his eyes, seeing the confused faces of his brother and his sister, the shock of his father, and the disappointment of Touya.
“Bullshit-” Touya muttered, but Natsuo glared at him and a thump under the table cut him off.
Enji simply looked lost, sighing before visibly relaxing and going back to his meal. As if he had dismissed the earlier fear as just Touya trying to get a rise out of him again. “Is she a student at UA?”
“Yes.” Shoto answered, with little to no hesitancy. His father stared at him, and Shoto realized that he wanted him to elaborate. “She’s uh… in my class.”
“Well, that’s great Shoto!” Fuyumi leaned over and put her hand on his arm, trying to ease the tension. “You’ll have to bring her over some time and introduce us!”
“Oh, uh… yeah. I should do that sometime.” Shoto said, already starting to plan his and this imaginary girlfriend’s nasty breakup, followed immediately by her transfer to another school that had to take place before next week.
Touya’s eyes lit back up, and he sat straight in his chair. “What about next week? She could come to our little family dinner or some shit.”
“Oh, uh… Well, I think she might be-” Shoto started, but was cut off.
“I’m sure she could make time.” Enji said plainly, taking a bite of his chicken.
Fuyumi squeezed his arm lightly. “Ask her what her favorite food is, I’ll see if I can find a recipe!”
Shoto laughed nervously, giving a quick glare to Touya before he went back to eating his food.
What the hell was he supposed to do now?
---
Momo had a small problem… Like, literally small.
It’s name was Minoru Mineta, class pervert and overall nuisance.
Now, she knew as class 1-A’s vice representative, it was her job to listen to the grievances of her classmates. But she was getting particularly sick of hearing about his grievances about how her skirt could be shorter and how since it was hot she should undo the buttons of her shirt a bit.
She knew he was way too much of a coward to physically do anything to her or her friends, but that didn’t make the constant verbal assaults any more tolerable.
Denki and Kirishima tried their best to shut him up when they could, but he wasn’t the best at taking a hint.
But this evening, it was slowly becoming too much of a nuisance to bear. All she wanted right now was to be able to study in the common area in peace.
“You know Momo, you would be a lot more approachable if you smiled a bit more.” He said unprompted, leaning a bit too close for her liking.
She scooted away before turning to the rest of the study group. “So, can anyone explain what the author meant by-”
“Oh, c’mon you aren’t even gonna acknowledge me?” He whined, attempting to lay his head on her thigh. She had meant to gently push him away, but her own aggression got the better of her and he ended up on his back, sprawled out on the floor next to the couch they had been sitting.
“Hey, what was that for?!” He demanded, rubbing his head. Momo knew she should probably apologize, but she just couldn’t bring herself to say something so ingenuine.
Instead, Kaminari stepped up to her defense. “Hey man, you are kinda taking it a bit far.”
“Aw, c’mon I’m just joking around, right Momo?” He asked, putting his tiny little hand on her knee. She hadn’t ever given him permission to use her first name, but his skill with personal boundaries were just as low as his skills with physical ones.
She fully slapped his hand away. “What do I need to do to get you to leave me alone?”
Mineta didn’t seem to understand that this was a genuine question. “C’mon, we’re both single so what’s the harm in a little bit of flirting?”
“But what if I’m not?” She asked quickly, wanting so badly to wipe that smirk off his face. She hadn’t even realized what she had said until she saw everyone’s eyes turn to her.
Mineta blinked. “But you are though, right?”
She stayed silent. Yes, she was single. But saying that right now would probably just give Mineta the reason he needs to continue. It was probably best to keep her answers vague, even if it’s just to get through this one night. “But… what if I’m not?”
Mineta seemed to be thinking this over. He looked to the other girls, as if they might be able to confirm or deny Momo’s implied confession. They provided him no aid, looking just as confused as he did.
His face turned red and he silently got up and excused himself to his dorm. The rest of the boys in the group got up to follow, hoping to do some damage control so that his incessant whining wouldn’t wake up Bakugou and make the night unpleasant for all of them.
Momo turned her head nervously to the group of girls in front of her, watching her every move with hungry eyes.
“Spill, who is it!” Mina was the first to break the silence with a screech, grabbing a pillow from the couch and tossing it at her.
Momo just stared blankly for a moment as Mina hopped up and down. “Uh… what?”
Ochako smiled and stood up, taking a more gentle approach as she sat down next to Momo and squeezed her shoulder. “We all heard you, you have to tell us who it is!”
“I-” She stuttered, not sure what to say.
“Is it someone in our class?”
“Maybe it’s someone from 1-B?”
“C’mon, give us a hint! Boy or girl?”
“Wait!” Mina interrupted the onslaught of questions, giving a suspicious glance around the room. “Is it one of us? Jirou’s been awfully quiet!”
At the mention of Jirou, Momo felt her face heat up. She finally understood what they were asking her now, and she hoped to whoever was listening that Jirou hadn’t noticed her whole face go red.
Jirou gave a little laugh that made Momo’s heart flutter. “I’m flattered that you think so highly of me, but I’m unfortunately taken.”
Ah. Yes. Denki Kaminari. How could Momo ever forget?
Jirou turned to look at her, giving her iconic little half smile. “You don’t have to tell us if you don’t want to, but you might want to tell Mineta. Once Denki and I started dating, he finally left me alone! It might be your best shot at getting him off your back for good.”
Momo sits for a second, pondering that. Jirou did have a point, Mineta hadn’t bothered her in months. This idea would work if it wasn’t for the simple fact that she did not have a significant other to back this lie up.
Hagakure yawned, standing up and picking her books up off of the coffee table. “Well, this has been fun but I don’t think my eyes can stay open much longer!”
“Mine either…” Tsu muttered, half asleep against the chair that Ochako had been sitting in minutes before.
Ochako smiled at her girlfriend before standing up and clapping her hands together with a sigh. “We should probably get some sleep. Only one more day and then we’re on break for a bit!”
“I don’t think I can get through one more day of Aizawa’s teaching…” Mina groaned, following the other girls out.
Momo hears the door open and turns to see who it could be at this hour. Todoroki is standing awkwardly at the door, waving at her as Iida shoves past him looking furious.
She turns to her friends, waving for them to go on without her. “I’ll come up in a bit.”
Ochako nodded, heading up the stairs with the rest of the girls. Momo smiled, walking over Todoroki.
“You came in late tonight.” She commented, looking at the clock. “Curfew was three hours ago, Aizawa was looking for you.”
“Yeah, I know.” He sighed. “I already heard it. He and Iida took turns yelling at me.”
Momo laughed. “So that’s why I felt the windows shaking!”
Todoroki exhaled sharply from his nose, but his expression didn’t change much. Momo’s face softened as he pushed his hands into his pockets. “Hey… Is everything ok back home?”
He cringed at the word. “I guess, kinda… I just took the long way home to think on some stuff.”
“Do you wanna talk about it?” Momo asked gently. She knew Todoroki’s home life could be volatile at best, especially with his older brother officially rehabilitated and moved in. It would take its toll on anybody.
He hesitated, biting his lip and looking around. His arms were crossed as if he were trying to protect them from some unknown force. “Could we maybe… find somewhere a little less open?”
Momo smiled, knowing how open spaces made Todoroki feel too exposed. “I know just the place.”
Technically speaking, the girl’s dorms were off-limits to the boys. But no one really ever enforced the rule, with students of both sexes running from one side of the dorms to the other without too much fear of punishment. It was probably because Aizawa’s teaching simply didn’t leave much room for any type of scandalous activity (unless you were Mineta, apparently. But he was kept on a much tighter leash then most). Aizawa knew it, so he tended to turn a blind eye to any students going into the dorms of the opposite sex. He knew none of them were dumb enough to try anything in the same building as him.
Momo took advantage of this, dragging Todoroki up the few flights of stairs to her dorm to give them a more secure place to talk.
Once the door was closed, Shoto became a whole different person. He let out a sigh of relief, his whole body seeming to relax now that he wasn’t vulnerable and in a place where just anyone could see him.
This shift, however small it may be, is what led to Momo seeing Todoroki and Shoto almost as two different entities. Todoroki was who he was in front of other people, stiff and cold and rarely ever smiling. This was the version of him that was always on guard and always trying to focus on his surroundings. The version that never seemed to feel safe.
Shoto was more relaxed, much looser and comfortable as he fell backwards onto her oversized bed. The way that the muscles in his face seemed to unclench, making him almost look like a regular teenage boy, was far from a smile. But this was the only state of mind where someone could make him laugh, or cry, or roll his eyes. Not a lot of people knew Shoto, but those who did knew to feel honored by it.
“So what happened?” Momo asked, sitting down next to him and reaching towards the mini-fridge by the bed and grabbing two sodas.
“Can I tell you something… Well, something that you might think is kinda weird?” He asked, taking the can from her hands and fidgeting with the tab.
“Yeah, sure.” Momo turned to face him, sipping on her soda.
He took a deep breath. “Well… you know how you like boys and girls?” He asked, tapping the top of his can but still not opening it.
Momo nodded. Shoto had been one of the first people she had come out to. “Yeah, I do.”
“Well, I’m like that but I- this is going to sound weird. I guess I use a different word? Because it feels a little different then what you said it was for you, but I guess that could just mean mine isn’t real… or it is? I don’t know.” He huffed. “I’m pansexual.”
Momo smiled. She knew how hard it could be explaining the difference between pan and bi, and how no one seemed to accept the answer that it was just a personal thing. She decided that she wouldn’t get into that right now, giving Shoto a pat on the shoulder. “I’m proud of you for telling me, that takes a lot. Does anyone else know?”
Shoto grimaced. “Yeah… that’s kinda the problem.”
Shoto told her the events that had gone down at his family dinner that night, or rather giving his own version of SparkNotes on the whole ordeal. Momo nodded, trying to follow along.
“Ok, so let me see if I’ve got this right. You accidentally came out to your oldest brother.”
“Yep.”
“Who is now trying to get you to out yourself in front of your dad,”
“Uh huh.”
“Because he wants to… make him mad?”
Shoto nodded, having finally opened his can of soda and taking small sips. “That’s it.”
“Wow… that’s got to be a lot to deal with.” Momo commented, not knowing what else she could say.
“Yeah… And I kinda made it worse.” He added, muttering the last part into the can of soda before taking a long sip.
Momo raised an eyebrow. “How, exactly?”
“Well… I kinda told them I had a girlfriend.” Shoto confessed. “And now they want me to bring her to dinner next week. And if I don’t show up with one, they’re going to know I’m lying.”
Momo nodded, having a sneaking suspicion about the direction this conversation was going. “And…?”
Shoto sighed deeply. “I’m so sorry, I know it isn’t fair to ask you this but… What are your plans next Friday?”
Momo shook her head. “I’d love to help you, but I’ve got so much going on with the study sessions. Plus Mineta won’t leave me al-”
She trailed off, something in her brain clicking together at an agonizingly slow pace. She remembered what Jirou had said about how Mineta had finally left her alone after she started dating Kaminari.
“You don’t have to tell us if you don’t want to, but you might want to tell Mineta.” The words came back to her as she looked over at Shoto again. “Once Denki and I started dating, he finally left me alone! It might be your best shot at getting him off your back for good.”
Now that she thought about it, Shoto was a pretty attractive guy. It wouldn’t be hard to believe that she would find him cute enough to consider dating. He was also a pretty powerful guy, and well respected in the class. She knew for a fact that he was someone who could easily make Mineta piss his pants if he looked at him the wrong way.
That’s when the idea hit.
“It would just be for a night-” Shoto began, trying to convince her of something that she had already decided to agree to.
“I can do you one better.” She said cutting him off. “Let’s not just convince your family.”
Shoto blinked, and Momo remembered that he couldn’t hear her internal monologue.”Wait… what do you mean?”
“I’m having some problems with Mineta. If he thinks we’re dating he’ll finally leave me alone!” Momo jumped, absolutely giddy at the idea of being able to eat a banana without hearing that little cretin make some unwelcome comment.
“Wait, what about the study sessions?” Shoto asked, sitting straight up on the bed and watching as Momo paced around the room.
Momo turned to him beaming. “I’ll be able to get them done quicker if he isn’t bothering me! It won’t be an issue!”
“Wait we should think this through though, how are we going to do this? What does this entail exactly?” Shoto stood up, trying to match the intense amount of energy Momo was putting out but failing to reach that height. Rather than excited, he just seemed confused and maybe a bit frightened.
“We can worry about that in a bit,” Momo turned to him. “But first.”
She took his hands, looking him directly in the eyes. “Shoto Todoroki, will you be my fake boyfriend to help me avoid minor inconveniences?”
He blinked a few times before his lips tugged up into a half smile and he got a devilish glint in his eyes as if the pieces had fallen together in his brain as well. “
“It would be an honor.”