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A light snowfall drifts down outside of the large windows of the Heights Alliance, but inside the common space is warm and full of life as class 3-A prepares for their last Christmas Eve in the home they have shared for the past few years. Even though the real celebration is still to come tomorrow, everyone seems to be embodying the festive spirit as they bustle around hanging decorations or readying dinner.
Momo Yaoyorozu hums the tune of the lively holiday song coming from Kaminari’s speakers as she reaches up on her toes to pull a bowl from the top shelf of one of the kitchen cupboards.
“Careful,” Sato says to her and the others in the kitchen as he pulls open the oven door, “Hot tray of cookies coming out!”
Having procured the bowl Ochaco requested, Momo settles back onto the balls of her feet. She pauses, closing her eyes and smiling to herself as the sugary smell of Sato’s freshly-baked cookies wafts toward her.
It smells like Christmas, especially when paired with notes of Tsu’s peppermint hot chocolate, currently simmering on the stovetop.
It doesn’t get any better than this, Momo thinks happily to herself as her smile deepens. Wonderful friends, delicious food… What more could she -
“Hey, Momo?” Ochaco calls over without looking up. “I’m almost done with this batch.”
“Right!” Momo’s eyes flash open. “Coming!” she chirps back before turning to head toward where her friend is busy forming rice balls in the common area. She then looks up as she takes a step out of the kitchen space, only to see Todoroki on the verge of walking right into her.
“Ah, sorry,” he says hastily, coming to an abrupt stop, his arms laden with a large heap of Christmas garland.
“It’s alright,” she tells him, smiling warmly at the endearing way his eyes widen at the near-mistake. “It is more than a little chaotic in here,” she adds with a soft chuckle.
As if on cue, a blond blur leaps through the scant space between them, saying, “Comin’ through, peeps!”
“Right,” Todoroki answers as his gaze briefly follows after Kaminari.
Momo cannot help but giggle again at how overwhelmed her classmate looks by all the energy around him. “Well,” she says, lifting a finger to point, “Ochaco needs this for the onigiri, so -”
“Yeah. Of course,” Todoroki replies with a quick clearing of his throat. He then moves at the exact moment Momo takes a step to walk around him, and they end up almost walking into one another again.
Stepping back nearly simultaneously, they look back up at one another and share awkward grins. Momo exhales another laugh. “I’m going this way,” she clarifies, pointing again.
“Right,” he answers with a nod before angling his body the other way.
But before either of them can take another step, Mina calls over to them: “Ooooh! Momo! Todoroki! Look up!”
“Huh?” Momo’s brows rise in curiosity as she tilts her head upwards. And then she freezes when she sees it.
A sprig of mistletoe.
Blink, blink, blink, blink.
Her eyes grow wide as she stares up at the herb in disbelief.
“You know what that means!”
Momo finally takes a breath as her gaze shifts from the mistletoe over to where Mina and Toru have gathered together nearby. She flushes at the implication of the teasing tone in Toru’s voice.
She swallows and faces forward again to find Todoroki watching her, his eyes wide just like before. The effect makes him look rather young and innocent.
Cute.
“Kiss each other!”
“You’ll have bad luck if you don’t!”
The flush from Momo’s face spreads. Her palms start to sweat and her body grows antsy.
Why does she feel so nervous all of a sudden? It’s just a silly superstition, after all. She knows she will not actually incur bad luck if she does not kiss someone underneath mistletoe.
And yet…
She watches as Todoroki’s gaze drops, presumably toward her lips, before he swipes his tongue over his own lips, perhaps absentmindedly.
A hard lump forms in her throat.
In the back of her mind, she knows why she is so nervous. If it were anyone else standing before her, she would probably just laugh off Mina’s and Toru’s teasing and walk away.
But it’s Todoroki.
In her periphery, Momo can see that many of their other classmates have now gathered to witness the spectacle. And they begin to chant: “Kiss! Kiss! Kiss! Kiss!”
Her heart starts to race. Her lips part to release a shaky breath. She licks them nervously.
“Kiss! Kiss! Kiss! Kiss!”
She has had a crush on Todoroki for well over a year now, and she has admittedly thought about what it would be like to kiss him on more than one occasion before. This is like one of her fantasies come to life.
“Kiss! Kiss!”
But this…doesn’t feel right. In all the times she imagined how her first kiss might be, she never pictured something like this.
“Kiss! Kiss!”
This doesn’t feel at all romantic, or special, or -
Suddenly, Todoroki takes a hesitant step closer to her, and Momo automatically staggers a few steps back. A loud clatter causes her to jump in surprise, and she looks down to see that she dropped the bowl without realizing.
Everybody stops chanting.
Panic courses through her as she glances from Todoroki’s face to the tactless crowd of their peers, and then back again. Though he doesn’t necessarily appear upset by her reaction, he certainly seems surprised.
“I - I -”
Momo’s voice shakes. Tears prick at the corners of her eyes. She’s at such a loss, she can’t even bring herself to apologize for her strange behavior.
She stumbles back a few more steps and then, in a haze, turns and hurries toward the elevators. Her breathing is ragged, her body trembling as she retreats to the privacy of her bedroom.
Even after she has shut herself safely inside, she continues to breathe hard, feeling lightheaded as she leans back against the door.
She has never felt so uncomfortable, or embarrassed.
Why would someone even hang mistletoe in here?
Why did their classmates have to egg them on so much?
And Todoroki… Momo bites her lip. What if she hurt his feelings by making him think she wouldn’t want to kiss him?
Finally her breathing starts to even out again. She hangs her head low and frowns down at the floor.
She could have just kissed him.
It’s only a kiss. It may not have been what she has imagined, what she hoped for, but -
Knock, knock, knock.
Momo jolts away from her door at the sudden sound of someone on the other side. She shifts to check the peephole, thinking that perhaps it is Kyoka coming to check on her.
Instead, she sees Todoroki standing there, hands in his pockets, head turned as he glances down the hall.
Her heart begins to race again. She forces a deep breath in an effort to try to remain calm.
What is he doing here?
Todoroki knocks twice more, this time clearing his throat and saying, “Yaoyorozu, are you there? I understand you might not want to see me, but I’d like to apologize if you'll let me.”
Momo stills and frowns at the door.
Apologize? Him?
Her nervousness lessens as she finds herself perplexed as to why Todoroki feels he needs to apologize to her.
Swallowing, she turns the knob to open the door.
“I think there’s been a big misunderstanding,” Todoroki says quickly as soon as he sees her.
Momo’s eyebrows fly up into her hairline at the almost anxious way he says it. She doesn’t think she has ever seen him quite like this. And his tone is even a little higher, livelier than usual.
“I hope you don’t think I expected anything of you down there,” he continues hastily. “I - I wasn’t sure what I should do, to be completely honest. But I definitely didn’t want you to feel like you had to kiss me if you didn’t want to. I would never force myself on you. Or - or anyone else, for that matter...”
He finally takes a breath and looks her over. The tension in his face subsides somewhat, though his eyes still shine with worry as he watches her.
Momo simply gapes at him for a moment, struggling to process the torrent of words he just sent her way. It’s bizarre to hear Todoroki say so much at one time, and with such emotion.
“That’s…all I really came to say,” he then says somewhat awkwardly, reverting back to his usual low tone. “I’m truly sorry if I made you uncomfortable. I hope that you can forgive me.”
Todoroki then turns to go, and Momo finally manages to find her voice: “Wait,” she says, lurching a hand forward. “Todoroki.”
He turns back to face her, that same concerned look still in his eyes.
Momo’s gaze falls to the floor. Her outstretched hand retracts to clutch tightly at the doorframe.
It doesn’t feel right to her, him apologizing when he didn’t really do anything wrong. As embarrassed as she is, she wouldn’t want to stay silent and leave him with the misconception that he did make her feel uncomfortable in some way.
“I think… you’re the one who misunderstands…”
She closes her eyes briefly and takes a breath. “I - I didn’t run away because I felt pressured,” she tells him. “At least, not from you.”
Momo glances up at his now puzzled expression and then looks away again.
“The reason - the reason that I left was…because…because…”
She stops and swallows. “This is difficult for me,” she admits under her breath as she stares down at their shoes.
“It was because… I…” she continues slowly.
Her heart pounds.
Realizing what a coward she is being, Momo forces herself to look up and meet Todoroki’s eyes. If she’s going to do this, she’s going to do it to his face.
Her heart flutters when she sees him waiting patiently.
“I…” Her lips tremble for a moment as she hesitates. “I… like…you…”
Her jaw locks the second the words have left her lips. Her hand shakes at her side as she watches his eyes grow wide once more.
“I - I wasn’t exactly planning on telling you that tonight,” she then says, looking back down at the ground. “But, uhm… there it is. I like you, Todoroki,” she confesses quietly. “And - and so, if we ever did…kiss, I… I would want it to be real.”
She allows a pause after she finishes.
But Todoroki doesn’t make a sound, nor any other indication that she just said something meaningful to him. She can still picture the way he looked before, eyes wide with shock.
It wasn’t necessarily a positive reaction.
“That’s all I wanted to say,” Momo then adds, borrowing his words from before. She can feel tears pricking at her eyes again as she ruminates in her failure of an impromptu confession. “So, please…don’t feel like you’ve done something wrong…or…like you have to say anything...”
She takes a breath, hoping to stave off the tears for just a little longer. “We can just forget any of this happened, if you want,” she adds quietly before taking a step back and pushing at the door. “Goodnight, Todoroki.”
But just before she can close it, Todoroki curls his fingers around the edge of the door and stops it in place. Baffled, Momo stares at his hand for a moment before she slowly pulls her door open again.
“...T - Todoroki?” she asks tentatively. Her heart skips. “Uhm, what are you -”
“What would make it real for you?” he asks, leaning forward against her door frame to better meet her eyes.
Blinking up at him, she stutters, “P - pardon?”
His eyes shift as he looks over her face. “You said…if we ever did kiss, that you would want it to be real. So, what would make it real for you?”
Momo’s brows furrow as she stares at him. Her mouth gapes open for a few seconds. The change in his composure has her off guard. Whereas before he seemed almost frenzied with worry over having wronged her, he now looks so serious. And he’s…rather close…
She can feel herself growing nervous again, but this time it’s different. A nice kind of nervous. Warm. Hopeful.
“I… I don’t know,” she answers slowly, still a little confused about this turn of events. “Do - are you saying that you...actually want to kiss me?”
“Yeah.” His gaze is unwavering as he looks her in the eyes. “I do.”
Her stomach somersaults. She releases a shaky breath as she stares at his determined face. “O - oh.”
Todoroki wants to kiss her. He wants to.
“So, I’d like to know," Todoroki says, looking her over, "If we kissed, what would make it real for you?”
Warmth rushes through her. Her hands feel tingly as her fingers start to nervously play together.
“I - I don’t know,” she stammers. “I… I didn’t exactly have specific criteria in mind when I said that…”
“Off the top of your head, then.”
“Off - off the top of my head?” Momo asks distractedly as her eyes stray down his face. Those lips touching her lips would certainly make it real. Todoroki wanting to kiss her makes it real.
“W - well, I suppose…I wouldn’t want us to - to kiss just because there was mistletoe… And…I wouldn’t prefer a crowd of our classmates watching either…” she murmurs with a deep flush as she recalls the embarrassing scene from before.
“We’re alone now,” Todoroki says with a tilt of his head.
“Y - yes,” Momo agrees as she averts her eyes. A shiver runs up her spine, though she felt quite warm in her sweater just a second ago.
They are alone. And Todoroki wants to kiss her.
That is an awful lot to wrap her head around.
Todoroki then glances upward. “And I don’t see any mistletoe,” he says in undertone.
“R - right!” Momo squeaks. She takes a breath as she stares down at her hands clutched tightly together. “And - and… Well, if you kissed me…I - I’d want it to be because…you like me back…because - because, you know, you have…actual, real, romantic feelings for me…”
A brief silence follows. Momo’s heart is beating so hard and so loudly in her chest that she feels certain he must be able to hear it too.
With one hand still holding onto her doorframe, Todoroki leans closer, until his upper body passes the threshold of her bedroom.
“Is that everything?” he asks.
She swallows. “I - I think so…” she whispers breathlessly before looking up at him. He is staring at her so intensely and right after admitting to wanting to kiss her. After months of trying to flirt and getting nowhere (or so she thought), it feels overwhelming to be the subject of his undivided attention like this.
But she isn’t about to look away.
“Then…”
Despite knowing what is coming, she gasps when he dips his head down toward hers. He hesitates, lifting a hand to cup her cheek so gently. Her heart continues to pound rapidly in her chest as his lips move closer to hers. Her eyes flutter closed. She can feel his breath on her face.
This is it.
And then, the barest tickle of his lips against hers precedes a light, chaste kiss.
Momo’s chest feels like it could burst. For such an innocent, delicate kiss, it stole her breath away and exhilarated her.
Her first kiss. And from her first love.
It was perfect.
Her eyes flicker open to see Todoroki’s face poised before hers. A mild flush matching her own has colored the tops of his cheeks pink. For once, he looks rather vulnerable. Open.
It’s cute.
“I - I’d like to kiss you again,” Momo ventures quietly as they stare into one another’s eyes.
Todoroki inclines his head, giving her permission.
Her insides feel like a hot mess of nervousness and excitement. She rises up on her toes, hesitantly placing a hand at his shoulder to balance herself. He’s gotten so tall recently…
She stops after bringing her lips quite close to his.
“Do you, uhm, have any criteria I should know about?” she asks quietly, if only to allow her another moment to gather her courage.
Todoroki blinks down at her and, a split-second later, his face breaks into a small smile.
“Uh… no? Think we’ve covered everything.”
The corners of Momo’s lips quirk up in response. “Ok,” she whispers. Then she tilts her head a little, trying to figure out the angle, and presses her lips to his.
Momo’s stomach flutters when Todoroki doesn’t break the kiss rather quickly like before, but instead presses his lips harder against hers. It is still sweet, delicate, but different from their first. Feeling encouraged, she slides her arms up and around his neck to pull them closer together. Momo can feel the comforting warmth of Todoroki’s hand settling against the small of her back, while the other moves to softly brush her bangs back behind her ear.
She cannot help but smile against his lips as a feeling of warmth spreads through her chest. Their second kiss is just as perfect as -
“Holy shit!”
“Language, Ashido!”
Momo breaks the kiss with a gasp and jerks her head toward the right. The breath stills in her lungs as her gaze lands on their entire class watching them from in front of the elevators. The two of them must have stumbled out of the doorway and into the hall while kissing, and were now completely visible to everyone.
Iida - the one who berated Mina for her colorful response, of course - has his eyes averted and a modest flush on his face. Mina herself looks as if Christmas came a day early. Mineta is pouting. Bakugo seems to be feigning disinterest, though Momo can tell by the stiffness in his face and the lift of his brows that even he was caught off-guard. And the rest of them are either smirking obnoxiously or are so red in the face that they could collectively pass for a patch of tomatoes.
With a squeak, Momo jumps out of Todoroki’s embrace and maneuvers herself to hide behind his blessedly tall and broad frame. Her face feels so hot, she can imagine steam coming off of it.
“Uhm, can we help you?” Todoroki asks after it’s been completely silent for far too long.
“Uh - uh - uh -” Ochaco starts to stutter a moment later. “We just - we just, erm, wanted to come up to apologize to Momo about how we…uhm…but, uh… Well, I guess everything’s fine now!” she finishes with a nervous laugh.
Momo hesitates. Considering they all came up here for her, she feels some obligation to emerge from behind her nice new Todoroki Shield. But her feet feel plastered to the floor from the embarrassment of their entire class watching the two of them kiss like that.
“Th - thank you,” she meekly says after she decides to remain in her hiding spot. “I’m… I’m good…”
“I’ll bet she’s good…” Momo hears Toru murmur with a snicker as Iida instructs everyone to file back into the elevators.
She listens to a few dings and the sliding of the elevator doors. Then it’s silent.
“Are they gone?” she asks hesitantly, clutching onto the sleeve of Todoroki’s sweater.
“Mhm,” he confirms.
“That was…really embarrassing…” Momo admits, lifting her hands to hold her warm cheeks as she continues to stare down at the floor.
“Yeah,” he mutters. “Little bit.”
They stand there quietly for a few more moments.
“I know we ought to join them for dinner and everything,” Momo then mumbles, “But I…really don’t know if I want to…”
To her surprise, Todoroki chuckles softly. “I know what you mean. But…” He sighs and glances toward the elevators. “It’ll probably be worse for us if we wait much longer.”
She groans. “You’re right.”
“C’mon,” he then says, taking her hand in his.
Momo’s stomach flutters again as she looks down at their entwined hands while he leads her down the hall. Even after kissing him, this relatively simple gesture takes her aback.
Once in the elevator, she spares a brief, nervous glance up toward Todoroki’s face.
“So,” she says, unsticking her mouth, “So, uhm… you…like me.”
“I do.” He gives her hand a squeeze, as if for emphasis.
Momo looks down at their hands again, and swallows. “And - and what does that mean, exactly? Are we…dating?”
“Do you wanna date me?” Todoroki turns his head and sends a wry glance her way.
Flushing, Momo gives a squeak and quickly looks away. “Uhm…yes?”
Ding!
“Hm,” Todoroki hums before taking a step forward. “I’m not convinced.”
She blinks in confusion as she lets him pull her along out the elevator and down the hall. “Not - not convinced? What? Do I need to shout my confession from the rooftop? Publicly kiss you again?”
“Oh, hell no!”
Momo jolts and looks to her left to see Bakugo scowling at the pair of them. He thrusts out a finger toward them. “If you two only came down here to suck face some more, then you better just go right back upstairs! No one wants to see that shit again!”
“Speak for yourself!” Mina interjects gleefully from a ways behind him. “This calls for a celebration!”
“Aren’t we already celebrating?” Tokoyami points out, pausing while decorating the Christmas tree in the corner.
“A much bigger celebration, obviously!” Mina retorts. “Christmas comes every year, but it’s been so long since we’ve had a new class couple to get excited about!” She cranes her neck and meets Momo’s eyes, then frantically waves for her to come over. “I need all the deets!”
“Go on,” Todoroki says, releasing her hand and giving her a gentle push. “Looks like the other girls wanna talk to you.”
“Oh no, please don’t leave me alone with them,” Momo whines, eyeing the excited expressions on her friends’ faces. She can only imagine all the embarrassing questions the girls have ready to rattle off at her. Having only barely started to comprehend what is going on for herself, there is no way she will be able to make it through that conversation right now.
She grasps at Todoroki’s arm as he starts to turn away. “At a time like this? That’s like throwing me to a pack of wolves!”
“And what exactly were you doing when you hid behind me upstairs?” he asks, angling to face her again before giving a pointed look and raised brow.
Momo’s face reddens. “I - you - this - this is very different, Todoroki -”
“Is it, though?”
She bites her lip as she looks up at his twinkling eyes. A small part of her thinks he is rather enjoying this.
Who would have thought that Shoto Todoroki could be playful?
“I - I swear, if you leave me to deal with them all by myself, then I take back what I said about wanting to date you,” she says, wrinkling her nose at him.
He snorts at her, and even has the gall to smirk a little.
Her lips waver before she adds, “I - I mean it, Todoroki.”
“Well, that’s too bad.” He heaves an overly exaggerated sigh. “It was nice while it lasted, though,” he says, giving her a pat on the shoulder before turning to head toward the kitchen. “I’ll remember our time together fondly, Yaoyorozu.”
Momo gapes at his retreating back. Now that he has so confidently called her bluff, she has no more cards left to play.
She presses her lips together in a pout before calling after him, “You - you better make this up to me later!”
“Oooh!” Sero (one of the obnoxious smirkers) wiggles his eyebrows as Todoroki passes by. Kaminari then joins him and the two start making annoying kissing sounds at her - Momo’s stomach flips at the thought - boyfriend.
A growl from the other side of the kitchen drowns out their teasing: “URRGHH! SHUT UP ABOUT KISSING ALREADY! THERE’S DINNER TO BE MADE, YOU IDIOTS!”