Chapter Text
It wasn’t the first Christmas that Momo had spent alone.
Granted, it wasn’t really a big deal in Japan. And her mother was almost always back in town for New Year’s.
Still, Momo remembered when she was little and her mother would bundle her up and take her to the tree lighting festival in Tokyo. It was an event popularized by All Might long before she was born, but it was an integral part of her childhood. If she closed her eyes she could still taste the peppermint hot cocoa and see the lights as they lit up the snow covered tree.
The last time they had gone together was when she was eleven. The winter before he showed up.
Her mother had met her stepfather on a business trip to America. After that, their holiday schedule changed. He had two adult children in the states, so when December rolled around he always visited. Her mother took advantage of the situation and scheduled her business affairs alongside his holiday travel.
That left Momo. She may be mature, but she was still a child who wouldn’t be particularly helpful in a business meeting. And her step siblings were almost a decade older than her. She had met them in person at the wedding, and before that had sat in during many awkward skype calls. She wasn’t keen on the idea of spending the holidays with them, and her step father wasn’t exactly jumping through any hoops to convince her to come with.
So that left home. Alone.
She still went to the festival, but it hadn’t been the same in years. She didn’t really participate in the events anymore, just sat on a bench drinking her cocoa and waiting for the tree to light up. It wasn’t much fun, but it was something to do other than sitting at home Christmas Eve.
This year was going to feel even more lonely than before. At least last year, she had been able to celebrate with her classmates at the dorm. But this year, Christmas Eve was the move out day for the students that were going home. Which if she remembered correctly, that was pretty much everyone.
She smiled and waved goodbye from the door as Ochako handed her bag to her dad. Ochako waved at her too, giving a sympathetic smile. She had offered to let Momo stay with her family so she at least wouldn’t be alone, but Momo couldn’t think of anything more depressing than sitting and watching another family do all of the things hers never had the time to do. She had declined politely. She made up some excuse about not wanting to intrude, and the conversation was dropped.
Now she was regretting it. But it was too late to fill out the forms necessary for her to leave campus overnight. She continued to wave until Ochako disappeared over the hill that led down to the parking lot. Momo’s smile fell and she crossed her arms.
The common area looked so empty. No matter what time you came down here, there was always someone doing something. But now it was just her and the sparsely decorated tree that the rest of her class didn’t have time to finish.
Momo sighed, looking at the clock. The festival wouldn’t start for another three hours, and she wasn’t in any rush to get there and watch the other festival-goers have fun. She sat on the floor next to the tree, looking up at the star that Iida had struggled to put on. Momo smiled, remembering her fellow class representative balancing on top of a ladder, only managing to get the decoration on lopsided.
She heard something behind her and jumped, nearly hitting the boy standing behind her.
“... Todoroki?” She asked, looking at her classmate. His eyes were wide, and he was holding two cups of some kind of tea. “I-I didn’t realize you were still here.”
Todoroki blinked a few times before relaxing, handing her the other cup in his hand. “Yeah, I’m staying here for the holidays.”
“Thank you…” She said, taking the cup from his hand. The brown liquid looked like tea, but it didn’t smell like anything specific. “You didn’t have to make this for me.”
Todoroki shrugged. “I just figured since I was making some… well, you know.”
Momo took a sip and had to immediately suppress a gag. The tea hadn’t been properly seeped, and was mostly just hot water mixed with a weird aftertaste. She looked at Todoroki, who was watching her face with a strange level of interest. She forced herself to smile before taking another, smaller sip.
He winced. “Is it really that bad?”
Momo shook her head intently. “No, no! It’s great!”
He didn’t even sip it. He just let out a half-hearted sigh and put the cup back down on the coffee table. “I tried to make it like you usually do. I’m just not very good with… The kitchen, I guess.”
Momo had never heard someone refer to the kitchen as if it was one cohesive device rather than a room that held multiple different appliances.
“That’s ok,” She said encouragingly. “My mom isn’t good with the uh… kitchen either.”
“How so?” Todoroki sat down, crossing his legs like a child waiting for a story.
Momo smiled. “Well, one time when I was little she tried to make gravy from scratch. She even bought this little tupperware thing that was supposed to thicken it. But she didn’t know that you were supposed to mix it before you heated it up and it exploded all over the walls!”
Todoroki snorted. “No way, really?”
“I’m not joking, I think there might still be some on the ceiling. If you don’t believe me, I’ll show you some time.” She insisted. “My mother is permanently banned from the kitchen.”
Todoroki smiled, looking down at his cup. “Sounds like you and your mom have a lot of fun.”
Momo suddenly had a bitter taste in her mouth, one completely unrelated to the cup of tea. “Yeah… yeah, we did.”
There was a tense silence as the two pretended to sip their drinks. Both seemed to be trying to think of what to say, but words seemed to fall flat.
“So…” Todoroki broke the silence. “What are your plans for the night?”
“Oh, uh…” Momo was taken off guard. “Nothing much really, I’m just… you know… heading out to a festival.”
“Really?” Todoroki seemed surprised. “Didn’t know there was a festival tonight, who all’s going?”
“Oh, no. It’s just me.” That sounded a lot less sad in Momo’s head. “I mean, it’s always just me. I go alone every year. It’s just… well, a thing I guess.”
“Is it any fun?” He asked. “Going alone, I mean?”
The honest answer was no. It hadn’t been fun in years. “I guess it’s alright. The tree lighting is pretty, at least.”
“Huh.” Todoroki mused. “I didn’t know there was a tree lighting festival nearby.”
Momo looked up. “You’ve never been to it?”
“I didn’t really get out much as a child, I suppose.” He shrugged, but the look in his eyes didn’t seem nearly as casual.
Momo didn’t know what came over her, but the idea of spending another year sitting alone on a bench suddenly felt unbearable. And after all, Todoroki had never been to the festival. “Would you want to come with me?”
“You sure? It sounded like you usually go alone.” He said, looking uncertain.
“It’s not exactly by choice.” She admitted. “Besides… It might be a nice change of pace.”
Todoroki blinked up at her before smiling a little. “Alright, sounds like it might be fun.”
---
The festival itself seemed to get smaller and smaller every year. Momo didn’t know if that was just because she was getting older or if it was just the dwindling numbers of festival goers over the years. Plus the budget for the festival had never been very high, and it seemed the quality of the event had been going down steadily as time went on.
Still, the sense of nostalgia hit her in a way that it hadn’t before. She looked over at Todoroki like a child about to show off a drawing she had made. It was a piece of her that she hadn’t been able to share with another person in a long time.
“So where do you want to start?” Momo leaned over, bouncing up and down on the balls of her feet like a little kid.
Todoroki looked lost, his eyes darting between food stands, carnival games, and the tree in the middle of the small festival grounds. “I uh… I’m not sure.”
He looked overwhelmed, tapping his finger against his arm as he tried to choose. Momo wasn’t sure what she had expected his reaction to be, but it definitely wasn’t this. Then she remembered him saying he didn't get out much as a child… did that mean he had never even been to a festival?
Momo smiled softly, looping her arm around his and leading him further into the festival. “How about we start you off with a classic?”
Todoroki nodded, allowing her to lead him through the crowd of attractions and festival-goers. Momo scanned the midway, looking for a suitable beginners game to play first. She avoided any ultra specific themed games, her vision practically zoning in on a stand with plain glass bottles arranged in a triangle. The man working the booth was middle aged and balding, twirling a large plastic ring on his finger with disinterest. He didn’t even seem to care when he saw Momo approach, Todoroki following not far behind.
“Two sets, please!” Momo smiled, handing the man 200 yen from her wallet. The man nodded lazily, passing Momo six multi-colored rings from a box next to him. Momo picked her three before passing the others to Todoroki. He blinked.
“Uh… What do I do with these?” He asked, inspecting the rings intently.
Momo pointed to the bottle arrangement. “It’s kind of like a training exercise. You toss the rings onto the bottles.”
“But why?” He asked, moving two of his rings to the other hand. “Is it supposed to help with aim?”
“Well, it’s not really supposed to help with anything.” Momo explained, moving two of her own rings around her wrist for easy access. “It’s just for fun. Plus, you win prizes depending on how many bottles you get.”
Todoroki still didn’t seem sold on the idea, but he nodded and took his place at the booth with a level of concentration that only he could pull off.
Momo turned her attention to the carnival game, holding her first ring out like it was an extension of her arm. Momo wouldn’t lie, she was no slouch when it came to stuff like this. She had practically been raised with a stupid little plastic ring on her arm. If she wasn’t a pro after over a decade of festival-going, then what had she been doing all her life?
She flicked her wrist expertly, watching ring after ring find its target with ease. She smiled… until she saw how Todoroki was doing.
Each of his rings had bounced off the back wall with force, landing pathetically on the ground with a dull thud. The man running the booth gave an unimpressed hum before reaching up and taking a medium-sized stuffed duck off the hook. He tossed it to Momo.
Todoroki’s nose wrinkled as he glared at the bottles as if they had personally attacked him. He pulled out his wallet and handed the man another 200 yen. “Another two rounds, please.”
Momo stood, holding her rings in her hand as she watched Todoroki. His first problem was that he threw with too much force. His second (and arguably worst) problem was that he wasn’t actually aiming.
His third ring hit the ground once again, joining the other two in the dirt.
“Do you want help?” She asked bluntly, holding her three rings up to him. He hesitated for a second, but the humiliation of being bested by some glass bottles outweigh his pride. He took the rings, waiting for further instruction.
Momo leaned in and Todoroki followed suit, huddling like a football team before a big game. “The most important thing is finding an easy target. Look at the bottle in the second row, the one on the left. What’s off about it?”
Todoroki’s eyes darted over to the bottles, scanning them and looking for anything that stood out. “... It has a bigger gap between it and the other bottles.”
“Alright, so what do you do?” Momo nudged him gently with her elbow.
Todoroki looked at the bottle, then back at the ring in his hand. “Go for it, I guess?”
He tossed the ring gently, watching it catch along the neck of the bottle and spin downwards. He did celebrate, but rather looked at Momo like he still wasn’t sure he had done it right. She gave him a thumbs up and he beamed, a moment that was interrupted by a stuffed duck hitting him in the side of the face. Todoroki scrambled to catch it, shooting a dirty look at the man running the booth. He just continued scrolling on his phone, not seeming to care much.
Momo laughed. “You think you’re ready to try out some of the other games?”
Todoroki looked at his duck with a triumphant smile. “Yes, I think I am.”
