A dark gloom hung over a quiet house. The air was cool and still. The stars glinted almost teasingly in the sky, and the moon was shining a bright light onto the city of Japan. Inside the house, a young Shouto Todoroki had collapsed to his knees. The boy was no older than six years old with a burn searing across the left side of his face.

Shouto winced as tears poured from his eyes, stinging his burn. The adrenaline rushing through him kept most of the pain away but he was trembling. He glanced up helplessly at his mother who was watching him with horrified eyes, clutching the kettle in her hand. 

Rei Todoroki's face was pale as she dropped the kettle and let it clatter to the floor beside her. She slowly brought her hands up to her face. 

"Oh my God..." her words were quiet as she choked them out. "W-what did I do? What did I do?" She had started crying herself, gripping her snow-white hair. Her son writhed around on the ground, choking out muffled sobs. That's when she lowered her hand and stared at her palm for a few moments before getting an idea.

Rei approached Shouto and kneeled on the ground in front of him. He let out a whine of fear and recoiled, but she grabbed his wrist.

"Please, let me do this!" she cried, tears blurring her vision. Shouto froze, his chest heaving up and down with anxiety. 

She pressed her hand to his burn, ice forming beneath her palm. It was then that Rei's quirk got the better of her, and she jumped when the ice engulfed the entirety of the wound, digging into the skin.

Shouto let out a scream of pain and collapsed backward, his head hitting the wooden floor beneath him. His hand flew up to the burn on his face as he felt white-hot pain engulf the area around his eye. His vision was blurry, one eye being burned and the other filled with tears.

Rei stood up and walked backward until her back hit the stove. She covered her eyes and crumpled to the floor in front of her son, unable to speak. Heavy footsteps rushed towards the kitchen and Enji Todoroki pushed open the door, his eyes full of rage.

His blue eyes instantly flashed to his son, and rage exploded across his face. "What did you do to him?" he snarled towards his wife, fists clenching.

Shouto turned his head in the direction of his father's voice. "I-it wasn't... I didn't..."  his voice got caught in his throat as Enji grabbed his arm and yanked him to his feet.

As Shouto was being pulled away from his mother, he hadn't realized that it would be the last time he'd see her for years.

_____

Momo was walking down the sidewalk, her hair down and flowing in the wind. The sun had just started to set and the sky had turned into a pale orange-pink color. Shouto and Momo had decided to meet in the park again; the weather was cold from winter approaching but nice enough out where they could get fresh air.

Momo had washed any remnants of tears or makeup off of her face before she left her house. She had to take a few moments to calm herself down before using the window in her bedroom to sneak out, something she had done many times before. Now she was wearing a tan sweater and jeans with brown boots. Her heart was racing in her chest as she thought about what she was going to say to Shouto. They hadn't had a real face-to-face conversation since their kiss, and she had about ten thousand thoughts swirling through her head.

As she approached the park, she spotted Shouto leaning against a tree. His attention was set on his phone in his hand while the other was stuffed into his pocket. Momo let out a deep breath and walked towards him until he looked up, a small smile spreading across his face.

"Hi, M-..." he cleared this throat and sighed. "How are you?" his face suddenly looked concerned and Momo remembered why they met up in the first place.

Momo sighed and turned around so that they were leaning against the same tree, their arms brushing against each other. "As soon as I stepped through the door, my mom started insulting me," she smiled a fake smile, her voice cracking with emotion. "I mean- you saw them fighting first-hand. It's just-" she stared down at her hands which were clasped together. Her voice slowly trailed off, and she shook her head.

Shouto's arm slung across her shoulders and pulled her close. His cheek pressed against the top of her head as he took in a deep breath, his left side warm and comforting. "I'm sorry," he murmured. "Please don't listen to her.  You're an amazing hero."

Smiling, Momo reached up and wiped away the few tears that had slid down her face. She glanced up at Shouto with a look of admiration on her face. "Thank you. If you keep that up my teeth are gonna rot,"

"What? Why?"

"I'm saying you're being sweet, Shouto."

"Oh."

Momo chuckled and shook her head. She straightened up and turned to face him, his blue and grey eyes full of warmth. "What about you? What happened after the battle?"

Shouto shrugged slightly, gazing up at the clouds that were passing by, "After...you passed out, it only took a few minutes for the rest of the villains to flee. Nobody was hurt, other than Bakugou's ego because he had to be saved by Kirishima." he turned his attention back to Momo. "I had a few cuts and bruises that I didn't know about until afterward. Other than that, it was nothing special."

Momo nodded but stayed silent. Her eyes traveled down his arms that were covered up by the sleeves of his shirt, but she wondered if his bruises were still there. As she was thinking, she didn't realize that Shouto had caught her staring.

"What is it?" he asked quietly.

Momo was hesitant to respond. She didn't want Shouto to be offended by her question, but there didn't seem another time where she could ask. "And your father? He didn't... do anything, right?"

Shouto shook his head, and Momo felt relief wash over her. "Don't be concerned, okay? I'm alright. He was more concerned with trying to find that villain named Dabi." 

"That's good." Momo smiled at him. She was going to say more, but her stomach started growling unexpectedly and she realized that she couldn't remember the last time that she had eaten.

"Are you hungry?" Shouto asked. 

"I'm okay, I'll just eat when I get home," Momo replied hastily.

"Hold on," Shouto took out his phone and briefly checked the time, "Can I take you to one of my favorite soba restaurants?" his voice was soft and quiet like he was afraid she'd say no.

Her heart stopped for a moment. Momo's eyes widened as she processed what Shouto had said, and she cleared her throat. "Sure, that sounds awesome, Shouto." her voice was shaky with a mix of anxiety and excitement.

Shouto grinned at her and gently took her hand. "Come on, we have to get there before it closes." 

Momo's heart swelled as she stared at him. His eyes glinted in the sunset and his hair looked especially soft. 

How'd I get so lucky?

______

Short chapter today! This was surprisingly hard for me to write. I usually write my chapters all in one sitting and this took me like two and a half hours. I'm sure I've mentioned this before but I have severe ADHD so it takes me especially long to write and edit my work because I constantly get distracted by things. I'm currently writing this while listening to music and watching Grey's Anatomy at the same time. :) I also bought My Hero One's Justice 2 and it is so so fun omg. Todoroki and Kirishima are my favorite characters. <3 Hope you guys are staying healthy!