Chapter Text
Momo was standing in the middle of campus surrounded by boxes. She had sent the movers her parents called away, not wanting to make a bad first impression on her new peers. Thankfully the people passing didn't pay her much mind, many of them carrying their own boxes in tow. Truthfully she was lost. She stared at the map of campus she had picked up earlier, but to no avail. Though she had never had trouble with maps before she just couldn't figure this one out. Apart from the issue of orientation, she had no idea how she was going to transport her many boxes. It was her first day of independence and she was already embarrassing herself, maybe her father had been right when he told her she wasn’t ready to live alone. Momo tried to push away the memories of the argument she had with her parents the last time she'd spoken to them. Instead, she opted to look around, hoping she would miraculously find a sign pointing her just where she needed to go.
Instead of a sign, a tall man with shoulder-length black hair approached her. He had a laidback demeanour and smiled, he seemed friendly enough. However, she was still slightly uneasy. What if he was one of the pushy college boys she had heard about?
"Hey, do you need any help?" He asked, his tone calmed her and she grinned back at him, trying to seem unbothered.
"I'm a bit lost, to be honest." She replied, still attempting not to look as embarrassed as she felt.
"Oh. What building are you in? I should be able to take you there-" she tried to interrupt but he cut her off, predicting what she was about to say " It's no problem, I have nothing else to do, I finished unpacking already. To be honest I'm kind of bored."
This was not the kind of person she expected to meet at the prestigious UA, the stranger was completely different from her cold, competitive classmates from back home.
She held out her hand to the man for a handshake,
"Yaoyorozu Momo, I'm looking for building 3G. Thanks for your help!"
"Sero Hanta," he returned the handshake "That's actually my building. Looks like we'll be neighbours." He smiled at her again, it was infectious and she couldn't help herself from beaming back.
Before she could protest, he somehow managed to pick up 4 of her boxes, Sero was stronger than he looked. Momo picked up the others and followed him.
They made pleasant small talk on the way to the building, and Momo found herself forgetting about her worries. She found herself enjoying the tall man's company and hoped she might see him again. His demeanour was a refreshing reprieve from the uptight people she usually interacted with.
When they arrived at the building, Sero left in a rush apologetically but not before giving Yaoyorozu his number 'in case she needed anything '.
The dormitory building was relatively nice, a mix of modern and traditional architecture. Every occupant had their own suite and each of the rooms had its own kitchen and bathroom.
The suite was a bit smaller than what she was used to, but she tried not to be judgemental. She knew it was vastly nicer than other student housing. Momo only hoped she had quiet neighbours.
-
Since she was young, Momo often lost herself in her studies, barely noticing when time passed, eating and sleeping without realising. She did this in the first week of college. Spending all her time going to classes and either eating, studying or sleeping alone in her room.
She dove into her work and barely noticed the week passing, lost in a sea of new material. Though she didn't mind her complete submersion in academics, she knew it wasn't healthy. She spent most of her high school experience in a daze of studying, trying to live up to her parent's expectations, and she didn't want to repeat that.
The haze was cleared when, out of the blue, she received a call from her parent's house. The call is a complete surprise, especially because there were usually months between any form of contact between them. Momo thought back to the last time she saw them, and the heated argument.
She gulped and picked up the phone. "Hello? Yaoyorozu Momo speaking."
"Hello Momo, this is Minamoto, I am calling on your mother's behalf," when she recognised the voice of her mother's personal assistant, she felt a weight lift off her shoulders. Minamoto had always been kind to Momo and they were reasonably close.
"Yes, how are you?"
"Look, I'll skip the formalities, your parents want you to come home for the weekend- they need to discuss something with you."
"Oh.. do you know what it is?"
"I'm afraid not, but apparently it's urgent. I'll arrange transport, so be ready by 10am on Saturday."
"Okay, I'll see you this weekend."
"Have a good day. Goodbye." Minamoto hung up.
The conversation had been stilted and uncomfortable. Momo felt the unease in her stomach come back and begin to grow again.
The rest of the week did not pass as fast as she would have hoped. It seemed to dredge on forever, especially in contrast to the previous one.
Momo couldn't focus on her studies, her mind plagued with worries: what did her parents want? It was very unusual for them to contact her at all, let alone request her presence at home when she was across the country.
But time passed, as it tends to do, and soon she was on an aeroplane flying to her childhood home. The book she was reading was interesting, but not interesting enough to capture her attention when her mind was so occupied.
-
The dread in Momo's stomach continued to grow as the car pulled into the driveway. After being away for so long, she saw the mansion as an imposing, cold building instead of the haven it once was to her.
It was nearing dinnertime, and she was tired from a long day of travel but supposed that she would have to keep up pretences for dinner.
She was ushered through the lobby into the formal dining room, strange because the room was only used for dinner parties. She wondered if she was now considered a guest at her childhood home, or if there would be others present at dinner.
When her father walked into the room, he looked at her without any emotion and said: "You should go upstairs to clean up, you look terrible."
Momo nodded and made her way up the stairs to her childhood bedroom, though it stung to receive such cold treatment from her father, it was not unexpected after the argument from the last time they met.
When she looked in the mirror, she didn't recognise herself. After the ordeal she had gone through to gain freedom, she spent her time at college barely registering her surroundings. Now she was back at home, and though she knew it was only for a weekend, the disappointment was crushing. Pushing down the tears that threatened to escape, she applied the makeup and redid her ponytail. She scoffed at the irony.
She promised herself that upon her return to college, she would be more involved in the other aspects of 'college life '. Momo suddenly remembered the stranger who had helped her on her first day, how could she have forgotten him completely? She fished her phone out of her bag and scrolled to look for his number: there it was 'Sero'. Before she could overthink it, she messaged him a simple 'Hello'. Then realised they had talked two weeks ago and facepalmed, metaphorically. 'This is Yaoyorozu, you helped me find my dorm on the first day. Sorry it's been a while, I've been really busy ' after a second she added a ':)' to the message, sent it, and put the phone away.
Not allowing herself to scrutinise her messages any further, she made her way downstairs, to face her parents.
However, when she walked into the dining room she was not only faced with her parents but also another couple and a young man.
Oh god.
-
She had stormed out of the house. She couldn't believe it. Yaoyorozu Momo had stormed out of her house. The dramatic effect was undercut by the fact she had to go upstairs to fetch her things, then drag the suitcase down the stairs before storming out. Nonetheless, she had stormed out.
It was slightly embarrassing. Momo didn't like making a scene, but she felt that in this case, it was necessary. She was fuming. Her parents had informed her that she was going to have to drop out of college to get married for some sort of agreement. In the 21st century.
An argument had ensued and insults had come from all sides, including the other family, strangely enough. The details weren't clear, maybe she had some sort of anger blackout.
Anyway, she knew she couldn't take back what she said: she had been disowned or cut off or maybe voluntarily had cut off her family.
Momo felt a strange sort of thrill as if she were drunk with anger. In the back of her mind, she knew whatever she had done was major.
She wasn't stupid, the situation would likely be a very difficult one. Going from having everything being paid for to being entirely self-sufficient would be incredibly challenging and likely unpleasant.
At that moment, she was on a plane back to UA. Minamoto had thrust a ticket into her hand before she stormed out, for which she was extremely grateful.
Her relationship with her parents had never been bad because they hardly ever spoke to her. When she was 14, they had gone 8 months without calling her. They only started showing mild interest in her when she was about to graduate, talking about setting her up with any of the sons of wealthy families.
Momo had ignored it. Pretended it would go away. Now she saw how naive that had been. She was strangely proud of herself for having confronted them. She had never been very confident in herself, apart from in her academic achievements.
The plane ride back to UA, or maybe 'home', was drastically different from the one to her parent's house. She felt free; like a weight had been lifted off her shoulders. She was aware that she had not yet come to terms with the consequences of her actions. She decided that was okay for the moment.
When Momo fell asleep, she slept more peacefully than she had in years.