"My father."

Momo's eyes were wide as Todoroki slowly pulled his hand away from his face and sighed, glancing down at the floor. He let out a deep breath and slowly opened his eyes, glancing sideways at Momo.

A few moments of silence passed. Momo was still, tightening her grip on her backpack. Todoroki simply waited for her response. When Momo opened her mouth to say something, she felt someone shoulder check her harshly.

Stumbling backward, Momo nearly fell on the floor. Todoroki reached out and grabbed her shoulder to steady her. Momo glanced up and over her shoulder when she saw Bakugou striding down the hallway. His hands were stuffed in his pockets, and he was staring at the ceiling.

Todoroki's eyes narrowed, and his face twisted. "What a dick." he snarled under his breath, retracting his hand. Momo straightened up, her heart pounding from the brief contact. Before she could say anything else, Todoroki took in a sharp breath.

"Listen, instead of going to the library," Todoroki let out a sigh, rubbing his eyes with the back of his hand. "Do you just want to go for a walk or something? I'm not in the mood to work on a project right now."

Momo felt her heart skip a few beats in her chest. Her face turned to a dark shade of red and grew hot. "A-are you sure?" she asked, stumbling on her words. "Where do you want to go?"

"I don't care. Just around the city, I guess." Todoroki's voice was low.

"O-okay! Let's go then." Momo tried to keep her composure as she followed Todoroki the opposite way towards the exit of the school.

During the day, light snow had begun to fall. It was nothing heavy, just a few thick snowflakes falling from the sky. The sky was covered in light gray clouds and the air was cold. Momo had her backpack stuffed into her bag, but she didn't bother putting it on.

Todoroki's limp seemed to be fading. Either that, or he was trying his best to hide it. As they neared the gates of the school, Todoroki tripped on a piece of snow and stumbled forward. Momo grabbed his wrist and pulled him back. He set out his good leg as a way of support as his eyes widened suddenly before he straightened up.

"Okay," Momo sighed. "I'm really worried about you, Todoroki. If you need ice for your leg I can just create it on my own and then-"

Then Todoroki did something Momo had never seen before. Halfway through her sentence, he smiled. Momo's heart nearly gave out right on the spot. It wasn't just a smirk, either- it was followed by the smallest and sweetest chuckle Momo had ever heard before. Her heart melted as he laughed, and her sentence slowly trailed off. She had never even seen him look excited, let alone laugh. And it was with her.

Trying to fight back tears as she watched the most perfect laugh she had ever seen, Todoroki spoked. "Yaoyorozu, two things. One, we're surrounded by snow. Two, if I wanted ice, you realize, I could make it myself, right?" He was still smiling, and Momo felt her cheeks grow pink again. "Or did you just forget what my quirk is?"

Momo stood, dumbfounded by the sight in front of her. A few seconds after, Momo figured out that she was staring blank-faced at him. "S-sorry, Todoroki! I just- I've never seen you smile before, and..." She took in a deep breath.

Todoroki nodded, his smile fading even though Momo wished it could last forever. "Yeah, it's pretty rare. Only a few people have gotten me to genuinely smile." he let out a sigh. "I almost forgot what it felt like,"

Momo didn't respond for a moment. She cast him an encouraging glance, goosebumps rising on her arms. "I'm glad I helped you remember."
______

As the day slowly passed, Todoroki and Momo slowly walked around the streets of the city. They would either point out billboards with adverts on them or stop and get drinks at a small coffee bar near the end of a road. To Momo, the day seemed to pass by too fast.

The snow seemed to pick up throughout the day. As the sun began to set behind the tall buildings, it had definitely gotten harsher. The flakes of snow were bigger and falling down faster, slowly piling up on the streets.

"We should probably head home now," Todoroki said as he narrowed his eyes to avoid getting snow in them.

"Yeah... I guess so." Momo responded, feeling a small stab of disappointment in her heart. This is the longest time she had ever spent with Todoroki, and she didn't want it to end."

"I'll walk you home." Todoroki glanced to the side at Momo.

"A-are you sure?" she asked, shivering slightly. Momo brought up her hands and wrapped them around her arms, hunching over.

"Yeah. I really don't mind getting home late." He assured her. Momo nodded and slowly took a few steps forward, her footprints making small dents in the snow. She felt goosebumps rise on her arms and a shiver ran up her spine.

"Here." Todoroki noticed her shivering and switched sides so that she was walking near his left. His arm was brushing against hers as they walked. Todoroki began to heat up his left side, and Momo felt her cheeks darken. She wanted so badly to wrap her arms around Todoroki and pull him closer, but he would probably freak out if she did.

"Todoroki?" Momo asked softly.

"Yeah?" he asked, staring into space.

"Y-you would tell me if you got injured, right? Or your leg got worse?" she murmured.

Todoroki blinked a few times. He glanced down at her for a second, then forward again. "I..." He hesitated, unsure of what to say. "Y-yeah. I would," he told her, letting out a deep breath.

"And you would tell me if you needed anything?"

"Yaoyorozu..." he muttered. "I... I'd like to, but I hate relying on people. I haven't had anybody to trust in so long, and I just..." At this point, he was staring into the street, small flakes of snow falling into his hair. "How do I know that the people I trust won't walk out?"

Momo's eyes widened, and she felt her heart crack. The words he spoke were so genuine and hurt. She glanced down at his hand but didn't try and take it. Instead, she glanced up at him and tried to get his attention. "You always have me, Todoroki. I'll never walk out on you." she forced herself to keep talking as he glanced down at her. "You deserve so much more than that."

Once again, another smile spread across Todoroki's face. It was smaller than the one before, but still made Momo's heart melt.

"Thank you, Yaoyorozu."

______

hi there so i'm back. i went on a hiatus for a bit because one of my guinea pigs died, and it was really stressful because i'm trying hard to keep my other guinea pig healthy and stuff, but don't worry. it should be over now.

i was going to have todoroki calle her momo but i thought it was moving to fast so i didn't

also i missed todoroki's birthday but i posted an edit of it on my instagram @ shoutopearl

i love shouto todoroki sm thank you for coming to my ted talk <3 also im going to try and update more frequently