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“You guys got all that?” Hizashi said, eyeing Class 1-A while gesturing to the board. “We have a test next Friday, so make sure you study up!”
Kyoka gawked at the myriad of terms and writing strategies Hizashi had managed to write throughout one period. Kyoka was decently good at English, having listened to so many iconic American musicians over the years, but Hizashi’s class was difficult. She had barely gotten down all the things he wrote by the time the bell rang. She was practically scribbling nonsense on her page.
“Kyoka.” She looked up from her chicken scratch to find Momo standing over her. “We’ve got to get to Hero Studies with All Might. We’re doing actual work on our fighting today, so we gotta get going.” Kyoka looked back at the board and back down at her unfinished notes.
“But I―”
“I’ve got the notes. We’re studying together this week, remember?” Momo smiled. “You can copy them from me later.”
Kyoka sighed and closed her notebook. Momo was always there to save the day. “Alright, alright. Let's go.”
-----
Later that week, Momo invited Kyoka to her room to study for their English exam. Though Denki was her usual study buddy, he let them have their time together. He was compassionate since he was the one who wanted them to be together.
When Kyoka arrived with all her materials, Momo had already prepared the room. She had tea for the two of them and a plate of shortbread cookies on a tray on her nightstand.
“Study snacks, Momo?”
“It’s bad to study on an empty stomach.” An obvious exaggeration and excuse for making Kyoka tea, but she wasn’t about to complain. She loved Momo’s tea.
Momo had her notebooks as well as other assorted papers splayed out on her king-sized bed. Kyoka took that as an invitation to sit on the other side and spread out her own things.
“You needed these?” Momo asked, offering an open notebook to her. It was opened to the page of notes she missed from the other day.
“Yeah, thanks!” Kyoka accepted the notebook and began copying the notes over into her own book. She dragged her finger down the page to find the place where her own notes left off, taking a moment to admire Momo’s penmanship. “I can never seem to get over how elegant your handwriting is Momo. It’s so perfect, it’s almost like print.”
“It took years of training. But, thank you. Your handwriting is… beautifully unique.”
Kyoka laughed, “I know you’re trying to return the compliment, but that felt kind of backhanded, Momo. Didn’t know you could go there.”
“Sorry, I didn’t mean for it to come off that way.”
“I know, babe. My handwriting is weird. It's the years of being taught how to write music and constantly having ideas flow through me. It’s kind of rushed, but I can understand it, so it’s good enough for me.”
They both giggled, and Momo shifted to sit cross-cross.
“Cookie?” Momo asked, gesturing to the tray she had set up.
“Sure.” Momo brought the tray over and Kyoka took two. She bit into one and was surprised at how sweet and flaky they were. “Oh my god, did you make these, Momo?”
“I wish,” Momo sighed, finishing up her own bite of cookie. “They’re from Satou, he made them this morning before classes.”
“Ah, I should have seen that coming. The sweets he makes are always ridiculously good.”
“Hm, maybe I’ll ask him to teach me some of his recipes.”
“Are you jealous that you didn’t actually make them for me?”
“No…”
“You totally are.”
Momo squirmed and mustered out, “So, English. We have that test in a few days right?”
“Don’t go changing the subject. I already know that you wish you made these for me,” Kyoka giggled as she finished off her cookies.
A few hours went by. They did indeed study but not without some ample distractions. Momo brought out Kyoka’s gossipy side, and she couldn’t help but spill about some rumors she had heard about their teachers.
“-and then Mina told me that Midnight said that Mr. Aizawa and Present Mic have an apartment together.”
“What?!”
“I mean we all know they were buddies when they went to UA, but you’ve seen them together, right?”
“I can’t deny it. There’s definitely something going on there.”
They continued to whisper and giggle about various couplings in their school. Kyoka was a bit surprised that Momo liked to gossip too. But, Momo was quick to get them back on track.
“Okay, Kyoka, can you tell me the rule that indicates that the phrase, ‘to boldly go,’ is improper?”
Crap, I don’t remember this one.
“Um… could you give me a hint?”
Momo chuckled, “No hints unless you give up. We’ve gotta get this down.”
Kyoka groaned. Her girlfriend was a strict study partner. Unlike Denki, she was hesitant to let anything slide and was very on top of things. Since this subject was getting a bit hard for her, Kyoka figured that this was best for her. Rigorous study practices were sure to get her to recall the crazy things Hizashi was putting on their test.
“Would you hate me if I gave up?” Kyoka whined. “I’m sorry, I don’t remember the rule.”
“Why would I hate you? This is why we’re studying, to make mistakes now and learn from them later.” Momo’s positivity was almost too much to bear. Even though she was a horrid study partner, she still lit up with that pure goddamned smile of hers. “It was the Split Infinitive rule. Write that down so we can review it again,” Momo said in a hushed tone.
Kyoka took a second to stare at her. She was so pretty when she was focused. “You’re gorgeous, you know that?”
“Kyoka, you’re not trying to butter me up, right? Cause that’ll get you nowhere while we’re studying.”
“Hmm,” Kyoka hummed, reaching for her list of topics to review.
“Shit!” Kyoka winced, grabbing her hand. While admiring her girlfriend, she cut her finger on her paper. The wound started bleeding almost immediately. Momo jumped to grab tissues from her nightstand and put pressure on the wound.
“Woah, are you alright?”
“Yeah, it’s just a papercut.”
“That looked really bad, though; so much blood.”
“I’m fine, it probably just got right into a vein.” Kyoka winced again as Momo continued holding down on her finger. It was one hell of a papercut.
Momo looked around the room and then told Kyoka, “Hold onto your finger for me, and I’ll fetch my first aid kit.”
Momo slowly let go and let Kyoka take over. Kyoka hated the pain, but she knew the pressure would help stop the bleeding. Momo quickly hopped off of the bed and rummaged through one of her dresser drawers. Kyoka bit down on her lip as she scooted over to the edge of the bed. Any slight movement seemed to disturb the cut, and it was surprisingly painful for its size.
“Found it!” Momo exclaimed, holding up a small red box. She hurried over to the bed and opened up the box to get a bandage and alcohol swab. Carefully, she unwrapped the tissues and inspected the wound. “Yeah, you cut deep, somehow.”
“It’s these damn reinforced loose-leaf sheets this school has us use.” Kyoka griped. Momo unwrapped an alcohol swab and softly held it to the cut. The introduction of the cleaning solution made it feel like the wound was being pierced by a needle. Kyoka cursed out in pain.
“Shh shh.” Momo rubbed the swab around a bit while giving Kyoka a reassuring squeeze. Kyoka whined a bit more but stuck through it.
Once the cut was clean enough, Kyoka watched as her girlfriend rummaged around for some antibiotic ointment and wrapped a bandage around her finger.
“How’s that feel?”
“Fine, thank you.”
“Good, now, I think that’s enough studying for tonight.”
“Only you have the luxury of saying that, Miss Top of the Class. Didn’t you just say I had to review a lot more to be prepared for this exam?”
Momo put her hand over Kyoka’s good hand.
“Come on, it's late,” Momo pleaded. It was actually only 10 PM, but Momo didn’t like to stay up till the witching hours as Kyoka did.
“Just because I got a papercut doesn’t mean you have to coddle me.”
“I am not coddling you.”
“Fine,” Kyoka huffed. “Can I take this downstairs then?” She pointed to the leftover dishes on Momo’s desk from their snacks. Momo nodded and helped to gather them back onto the tray for Kyoka. “I’ll be right back, ok?”
Kyoka had a mix of thoughts running through her head. On one hand, she was dizzy from the fact that she had spent the whole afternoon (and night!) studying with Momo in her room and on her bed. But on the other hand, she was a bit annoyed that Momo was being so protective of her. She just cut her finger a bit. They’d been through so much worse. Kyoka was quick to realize that that was irrational, though. Why should she be mad that Momo wanted to take care of her and wanted what was best for her? That was really all she ever wanted. Kyoka sighed loudly and smiled on her walk to the kitchen. It was sweet, really, her very own girlfriend, getting flustered over her getting a papercut. Kyoka almost stopped to wonder what she did to deserve such love over something so small.
When Kyoka got back, Momo looked like she was half asleep. She had leaned back onto her pillow, and her eyes were fluttering closed.
“Should I go?”
Momo slowly sat up on her elbows.
“No, no,” she mumbled while rubbing her eyes.
“You’re obviously tired.”
“But I don’t want you to go.”
“Sooo…?”
“Come and stay with me.”
“What? Are you the real Momo? We have class tomorrow, and this is definitely just going to end up as me sleeping over in your room.”
“So what? Just come over here”
Kyoka took a minute to consider. Should she accept the invitation and stay the night? Or should she do the responsible thing and go back to her own room? Her gut was telling her that she should take the latter option, to be considerate to Momo. However, standing there and watching her girlfriend plead and even make space for her on the bed convinced her that the former was the better choice.
“Are you sure?”
“Mhm.”
Kyoka was wary, but she walked over calmly after turning out the lights. She cleared the bed of all their papers and watched Momo close her eyes again. Momo was already settled and comfortable, so Kyoka stretched out next to her, facing Momo. Luckily, Kyoka had worn comfy clothes to their study session. So, it wasn’t uncomfortable getting in the bed. As Kyoka pulled the blanket over herself, Momo peeked open one eye. She scooted towards Kyoka until their faces were only a few inches apart.
“Is this okay?” Momo asked quietly. Kyoka’s face immediately flushed; they had never really been that close before.
“Um, yeah.” Kyoka lay there for a few moments just looking back at Momo’s face. Her heart was racing but Momo seemed perfectly content and ready to sleep. However, she opened her eyes again and caught Kyoka staring.
“Are you that nervous Kyoka?”
She was, but she didn’t want to admit it. Sure, they had already been dating for a couple weeks or so, and God knows how long Momo thought they were dating, but Kyoka couldn’t seem to shake her nerves. Since they had been friends, she was afraid of crossing any boundaries.
“A little, if I’m being honest,” she whispered. Without warning, Momo pulled her in close and flipped her around. Kyoka took a sharp inhale at the sudden contact. Momo now had her wrapped up in her arms and was spooning her.
“Don’t be. Nothing you do could make me uncomfortable,” Momo whispered into her ear. She laid a quick kiss on the back of Kyoka’s head and tightened her grip a bit.
At first, Kyoka was tense out of shock, but her shoulders slowly began to relax, and she settled into Momo’s embrace. A combination of her warmth and how safe it felt in her arms quickly lulled Kyoka to sleep.
-----
When Momo’s alarm went off about eight hours later, Kyoka was startled awake, still in Momo’s arms. They had shifted a bit in their sleep, but they still ended up holding each other. Momo’s alarm was loud and hurt Kyoka’s sensitive ears, but Momo did not move a muscle. She didn’t want to wake her up by moving, but damn, was her alarm loud.
A heavy sleeper, huh Momo?
After a couple minutes of withstanding her blaring alarm, Kyoka decided she should wake Momo up, though she didn’t want to. But, they had classes soon, and Kyoka had to get back to her room to change. Momo’s alarm stopped beeping a few moments after she made that decision, which allowed her to do something about her sleeping girlfriend. She slowly but firmly tapped the shoulder that Momo had draped over Kyoka.
Kyoka whispered, “Momo, hey, we’ve gotta get up”
Obviously, the tapping and whispering didn’t do much to wake her. Kyoka was scared to do much more to try to get her up, so she decided she’d just try to sneak out of her grasp and out of her room. The sun was just barely coming through the blinds, which meant it had to be around 7 AM. She had to get up.
She hesitated for a bit, but Kyoka began unwrapping herself from Momo’s embrace. To her surprise, Momo still didn’t wake up. Once she was out of her arms, Kyoka looked back at Momo and took in the sight of her fast asleep. She almost scoffed.
How can someone be as pretty when they're asleep as they are when they’re awake?
Kyoka thought it was unfair but still appreciated that she got to see Momo like that. She lingered for a few moments and then kissed Momo’s forehead as a way of saying goodbye. She’d come to get her if she was still asleep later.
Kyoka began scooting out of Momo’s king-size bed but was stopped suddenly. She felt a certain someone grab her wrist. When she looked back, Momo’s eyes were still closed. But she was definitely holding onto her.
“Five… more minutes,” Momo mumbled breathlessly.
Kyoka laughed softly, “I have to go, Momo.”
“I have another… alarm already set for five minutes from now.” Momo peeked her eyes open to plead with Kyoka to stay. Of course, Kyoka couldn’t resist her.
“Okay, but just five minutes.”
So they stayed and slept for a bit longer. The two girls were late to class in the end, but that didn’t matter. At least not to Kyoka, she got to see another side of Momo, and that was worth any punishment their teachers could give them.