As the day of Class 1-A's presentation neared, everybody was on edge. However, for Momo, it wasn't the worst thing in the world. Having the presentation come up meant that Todoroki was at her house for often.

Momo and Todoroki were sitting on Momo's bed, the final pages of their project strewn out in front of them. It was snowing outside with frost covering the windows. There were four days until they presented their final product.

Letting out a tired sigh, Momo leaned back against the headboard of her bed. "I feel like we've been working on this for months." she murmured.

Todoroki nodded, the ghost of a chuckle escaping his mouth. "Yeah," he replied, lifting up a hand to rub his eyes.

All of a sudden, the sound of aggressive voices could be heard outside. Momo felt a wave of pure dread and anxiety wash over her. The door of the house opened and Momo heard her parents hurry in, practically snarling at each other.

Todoroki turned his head towards Momo's door as the inaudible bickering quickly turned to shouts. Without even thinking, Momo sprung to her feet and rushed towards her bedroom door, locking it immediately.

"Shit..." she muttered, her mother's angry hiss striking the air. Her bed squeaked behind her as Todoroki rose to his feet.

"Are those your parents?" He asked, his voice emotionless.

"I-," Momo took in a sharp breath as the sound of her father kicking the floor rang across the house. She quickly turned to Todoroki, shaking her head. "I'm really sorry, they just..."

Momo bit her bottom lip as the fighting continued, and Todoroki's eyes were locked on the door. Momo's face heated up as she felt her eyes well with tears in a mix of shame and embarrassment.

"I'm sorry, Todoroki." She whispered, trying to keep her voice from breaking. Momo let out a shaky breath and closed her eyes, letting Todoroki asses the situation as however he wanted.

A few moments of silence passed between them. They both continued to listen to the sounds of furious voices before Todoroki finally spoke.

"It's okay, Yaoyorozu." He assured her. "I've been through worse, trust me."

With those words, Momo's heart cracked. She knew Todoroki had a rough childhood, and listening to the sounds of Momo's parents probably brought back some unpleasant memories.

"You only care about yourself!"

"I built this house from the ground up!"

"When was the last time you got off your ass and worked for once?"

"Go to Hell! I'm completely fine with walking out right now!"

Momo felt her shoulders shake as a few tears ran down her face. "Damn..." she whispered, stumbling away from the door and sitting down on her bed again.

"You don't deserve to hear this." Momo's voice sounded defeated when she spoke.

Todoroki turned to face her. He took in a deep breath, and Momo's heart raced when she felt the bed shift as he sat down beside her.

"I've already heard it- many times. By my own parents." Todoroki told her. "It gets better. I promise, it gets better."

Momo glanced up at him, her vision blurry from new tears. She scanned his face and could just detect the look of sadness under his usual blank expression.

"W-whenever my parents fight, it freaks me out." Momo started, her hands fidgeting in her lap. "I get in my head and end up making myself feel worse by thinking that it's my fault. It's so difficult, I just... I want it all to stop, but-."

A warm hand suddenly rested on top of hers, and Momo felt her heart stop INSTANTLY. A rosy blush dusted her cheeks as her words broke.

"It'll stop." Todoroki murmured. "For me, the fighting stopped, but other things... they got worse." Momo nodded. The bruises on Todoroki's arms definitely showed that.

That was one thing that made Momo feel extremely special. Any time when they were at school, Todoroki always had his school blazer's sleeves completely covering his arms. Not once did he let any space passed his wrists show. However, whenever Todoroki and Momo were in Momo's room, he always shrugged off his blazer like it was nothing. He didn't care if she could see his bruises or not.

"Thank you." Momo continued to stare down at Todoroki's hand that was resting on top of hers.

The smallest smile ghosted over Todoroki's face. "Promise me one thing, okay? We're gonna kick that presentation's ass."

Momo blurt out laughing- she had barely heard Todoroki make a simple knock-knock joke, let alone say something like that.

"Okay," Momo nodded, blocking out the sound of her parents and only listening to the guy in front of her. "I promise."

________

hey guys! i watched Five Feet Apart (10/10 would recommend) and cried really hard so that's good. 🤠 sorry for the short chapter but I'm gonna be busy tomorrow, HOWEVER- this weekend another chapter is going up so I'm gonna get down to business to defeat the huns.

bye!

EDIT: HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO THE ONE AND ONLY Ruby-Riot ! I LOVE HER SM AND HER STORIES ARE AMAZING! 💗