Actions

Work Header

Double Take

Summary:

Through the lens of one Todoroki Shouto about how he fell in love with Yaoyorozu Momo, pined after her, and finally, got the chance to make his wish reality. Not in that particular order.

 

Written for NSFW Todobowl Exchange

Notes:

Ah, this fic is finally here. And I'm glad it is. It's been a journey.

Before you start reading note that names are important in this fic. I’m going with the assumption that Shouto actually thought of a hero name for himself in the future so not everyone calls him his given name anymore and it’s reserved for family and very close friends. That’s all I have to divulge without spoiling anything.

I also didn’t name the agency Momo works for, so don’t mind [Agency] instead of the name in the text XD

There is one big timeskip because I wanted to have Shouto being a smart boy who thinks that a crush means rivalry XD

Big thanks to my beta, Sun, who took this story on such short notice and made it readable :D

(See the end of the work for more notes.)

Work Text:

Yaoyorozu Momo. Huh. So, that’s her name.

Shouto followed the girl down the hallway. She was talking with one of their classmates, so he didn’t want to intrude, but it was important to catch her to talk to her before she left the school premises.  

Especially so because he finally remembered why she had seemed so familiar during the recommendation exam. He’d seen a pair of sharp eyes and elegant lines of her face and had to doubletake after a strong sense of deja vu. Once he took in her proclivity to a quick smile and a naturally sunny disposition, he dismissed the notion from his mind. 

Then the school began, and as he arrived at the classroom, the girl was there to introduce herself. The alluring lilt of her voice had washed over Shouto, his breath caught in his lungs, making it hard to breathe out, and he could only do only as much to not react to it. 

He’d been tailing her since the class ended, observing with barely contained curiosity because why does he pay so much attention to this girl? It was confusing at first, but he managed to switch to logical thinking. She must be strong to participate in the recommendation exam, and that had probably made him interested. And she was strong. He could see muscles contracting as she walked, and the skirt did nothing to hide her toned thighs. 

But it wasn’t just that. He remembered her from all the galas Endeavor had dragged him to. 

 

Shouto was amazed by a girl his age. With dark hair so different from his own and a large set of eyes that took in everything with thinly veiled wonder, he couldn’t help but watch her, follow her every move. She approached people with no fear, and talked softly but with an edge showing she knew her value, if only through what she'd been taught. His eyes followed her when she asked for a smoothie in the children's section, something he would never do unless ready to suffer his father's wrath. Yet she did it so confidently and in his eyes she was strong . Shouto concluded that they were fundamentally different.

 

A stranger’s exclamation in the hallway jolted him out of the memory and back to the present. Catching barely a whisper of Yaoyorozu turning a corner, he hurried after his target. 

When it became apparent that she wouldn’t be left alone, he decided to act regardless of the others present at the moment.

“Yaoyorozu-san,” he called out and she shifted that keen gaze at him. “A moment of your time.”

With a sideways glance and a few words to the girl next to her, she was finally left alone with him. However, the middle of a school hallway wasn't what he would consider the most secluded place for a conversation. Should he ask to go somewhere else? It felt weird to ask her to come with him, yet he’d still like that.

“Let’s find a more private place to talk, Todoroki-san,” Yaoyorozu said, politely gesturing towards the exit. She seemed to notice his reluctance. He must’ve been quiet for too long.

They took one of the paths surrounded by grass. The campus was big and they’d only seen some of it, so Shouto wasn’t opposed to learning more. Plus they could easily see other people approaching them, which Shouto preferred. 

“Um, what did you want to talk about?” 

Once again he was jolted out of his wayward thoughts. It seemed today wasn’t his day. Shouto took in a deep breath, centering himself before he turned to look at the girl. He took a long look at her, and barely refrained from scowling as he saw her standing without any of her previous confidence. Well, her cheeks were slightly pink so maybe she was feeling unwell. Irrelevant for what he wanted. 

Shouto rounded on her, stopping them at the midpoint of one of the paved sidewalks they took. He was pretty sure that was surprise on her face, but he didn’t care. 

“Yaoyorozu-san,” he started, realizing she looked receptive to what he wanted to say. Good. He wanted her to listen. The problem was that he had no idea what he wanted to say. A flutter in his chest, a sort of excitement building inside of his body, and he had no idea what it meant because it resembled the feeling that appeared when he was fighting; when his muscles were strung tight, adrenaline coursing through his veins, blood pumping furiously, and mind sharp to react. Did he want to fight her? Maybe.

Shouto knew his silence unnerved everyone except his sperm donor and it seemed Yoyorozu wasn’t spared the reaction to his indifferent stare. But then, she straightened up, rolling her shoulders back. Her eyes might’ve still held some unease, or maybe it was a concern, yet there was steel behind that look, an unbending will—the strength he was looking for. 

A hazy quality spread through his mind as though he was in a dream. Yaoyorozu Momo was indeed what he was looking for. A strong opponent to further his capabilities. Barely remembering to talk, he gave her a succinct explanation and a proclamation of rivalry, all the while watching how her expression wavered between surprise, resolve, and apprehension. 

In hindsight, he should’ve known that fixating too much on one person would steal all rationality from him, make him interested for all the wrong reasons, and provide him with enough justification to argue his position even if it wasn’t as reasonable to the others as it was to him.

***

Circa 10 years later

Shouto slammed his armguards on the bench, then took off the vest of his hero suit. Just above his hip, the skin was already marred with a purplish bruise. It was a stark reminder to stay focused while fighting a villain— a minor villain at that. 

It was a beginner's mistake, a stupid one he hadn’t made since his first year at UA. He clenched his fist and wished he could punch something. However, he was well aware that no matter how frustrated he felt, the agency would not appreciate the impromptu redecoration of their changing room. 

Taking deep breaths, he exhaled once, twice, settling into a more relaxed state, shutting off the overly vigilant part of his mind so he wouldn't overwork himself when he wasn't on duty.

Unfortunately, there was nothing he could do about arousal coursing through his body. 

He wouldn’t usually be so hung up on it. The adrenalin rush made him hyperaware of his body following the fight, and frankly, he was used to it to the point that he could ignore it. 

What wasn’t easy to ignore was the attraction. An attraction that wasn’t as pure or as simple as others would like to believe him capable of. 

His phone beeped faintly indicating he'd been sitting alone in the changing room for far too long. Since the battle had been broadcast on TV, it was likely one of his friends was trying to convince him to meet them, knowing how the agency would make him take time off.

He rolled his eyes in all the dramatic glory he could muster at the moment. Mother-hens, all of them. 

But Izuku was arguably the worst and that was because his best friend knew him the best. Not all of him. No. No one knew everything that passed through his mind. Yet they knew enough to make his annoyance rise. 

Within five minutes he was out of the changing room, angry, mostly because he could not rub one out, but also because this turn of events frustrated him. 

Why did I react to her presence like that?

He didn’t know and that was what bothered him the most. Oh, he did know why it was happening. But he prized himself for being able to keep calm in any situation, something that was left from his youth when he had suppressed his emotions to the point he learned how to do it willingly and, equally willingly, let it go. 

Izuku waved from where he sat, slurping a green smoothie. There was a smile on his face, soft and pleasant, creasing the corners of his eyes. It couldn’t mask the worry Shouto could see lurking there.

“You saw the fight.” Shouto never lost his tactless way of opening conversations. None of his friends cared, though.

“Mhm.” Izuku nodded, finishing the smoothie and getting another one out of his bag. “That kick must’ve hurt.”

“The medic took a look, no internal bleeding, just some bruising.” Better to get that out of the way, otherwise he might get interrogated on why it happened in the first place. Izuku worried too much and Shouto didn’t want him to get an idea of what had really happened out there. 

Izuku narrowed his green eyes, a clear hint he wasn’t buying it. “Are you sure you’re okay?” And wasn’t that a loaded question? 

He deigned to answer and parked his ass on the other side of the bench, barely able to hide his wince. That would attract too much scrutiny and he didn’t want his oldest friend to look too closely into the reason behind this incident. No one was to know that Todoroki Shouto got distracted by a pair of long legs. No one.

Once he and Izuku parted ways, Shouto closed his eyes and breathed out. 

Yaoyorozu Momo.

Since when did she become the bane of his existence?

***

A new day brought a new set of problems. 

“[Agency] requested you to partner up with Creati for the next few patrols,” the support manager informed him. 

“I’m not interested.”

Piercing yellow eyes left him as she glanced down at the papers in her hands. “We’ve never had an inter-agency partnership with them so you’ll have to.” When he glared at her, she glared back, letting the silence stretch for a minute, and then explained. “It’s an order from the top. An inter-agency partnership is an important agenda at the moment. We need this one.”

Shouto sighed, realizing he had no way out of this. It was obviously a publicity stunt. They probably wagered on the familiarity of two former classmates to make it work, which was a very unfortunate thing for him.

Yaoyorozu was standing right next to him when they were briefed about the patrol route their agencies selected a few days later.

She stood tall and proud in a black and expanded version of her high school hero costume, this one covering her entire body with a fabric similar to what was used for Midnight’s costume. As her heeled boots gave her just an inch more height, she reached just under Shouto's eyes. 

He kept his eyes straight forward, only straying sideways when he was sure she wouldn’t catch him looking. But he did look. And something settled inside him as though it waited for the right circumstances. It seemed he preferred to have Yaoyorozu at his side.

***

He noticed Yaoyorozu beaming at the cameras. She never minced her smiles and always found a reason to smile truthfully. 

The paparazzi had been on their tail since they left his agency. Which only meant they wouldn't be seeing any villains to fight and lose some extra energy. Maybe for the best, considering Shouto's performance the previous day. He could imagine the titles in yellow pages, 'son of the former # 1 losing his footing on ice that he made himself.' What a clusterfuck would that be.

"Is something wrong?" 

He glanced at today’s partner out of the corner of his eye. Yaoyorozu walked by his side with a curious expression on her face. “No,” he replied even if that wasn’t the full truth. Some things should be private, and there was no way he’d admit to being distracted from performing his job by her presence. 

The wind rushed through the trees but beyond that it was a nice day with the sun glaring down on the asphalt streets, bringing the hint of spring closer. Shouto breathed in the crisp air, noticing a waft of a sweet scent. 

Why he got that idea, he couldn't tell, but it was obvious he was off his game today—had been for probably the last few weeks or so. 

“Should we entertain them?” He nodded to the paparazzi following them from a good distance away. “We could grab something to bite on our way.” It was a win-win situation for publicity: the heroes get the limelight while the local shop owners get the opportunity to advertise. Hell, Hawks had probably toured all of the fast food places that offered fried chicken in the whole country during his career so it wouldn’t be unusual for them to have a snack.

“I didn’t expect you to propose that,” Yaoyorozu said, sounding surprised and yet pleased. “Oh, I know just the place.” She looked at the digital clock on one of the buildings. “Hmm, we should time our break in an hour or so, and considering our route, at the time we should be…”

Shouto listened to Yaoyorozu talk, knowing that once you got her going she felt comfortable filling in the silence. He offered one-word answers and facial gestures when needed. He had talked enough for today. 

Why had he proposed that?

***

"Drinks?"

"Sure."

That had been the start of the conversation that shackled him to the bar that evening. 

Worse was the fact he only said that one word of affirmation and nodded during the rest of it. 

Why he was doing this to himself he couldn't say. 

It was a nice place; low lights and ambient music, the scent of roasted almonds that were offered in small porcelain bowls. The murmurs of other patrons were the only thing Shouto didn't like.

They sat in an upholstered boot, Yaoyorozu—Momo (as she insisted he call her even if he wasn’t sure if he should do it out loud) was across from him. In a moment of weakness, he had ordered whiskey, remembering his father confessing he preferred the beverage if he needed to drink alcohol when attending parties and such events. It was certainly an acquired taste, Shouto thought, pouting at the glass.

“You don’t seem to like it,” Momo said. 

He looked at her tall glass filled with something pink, then back to the glowing amber in his glass. Yeah, he had always liked the color pink more. 

“I’ll get something else.”

Momo smiled at that as she twirled a few locks of her hair around her fingers absentmindedly. Shouto found it fascinating. Almost forgot about ordering something new.

“So,” she said. “I know you and Midoriya are still in contact, but I haven’t seen him since…”

Shouto listened to Momo talk, enjoying the lilt of her voice and how it slithered over his skin like fine silk. 

Momo was a goddess in his eyes, a perfection made out of effort and unbending will and all things beautiful of this world. 

He knew this would also come to an end so he enjoyed it while he still could. 

***

To say Shouto wasn’t surprised would be a lie.

Baffled. Flabbergasted. Shocked into a very confusing type of stupor. 

Even now, minutes after he and Momo stumbled into the hotel room, half-naked and kissing, Shouto had no idea how that had come about. 

Yes, they’d drank a few drinks, but not too many. He dropped the whiskey almost immediately into the evening, transferring to the fruity combo Momo sipped. And he still remembered that graduation anniversary where she drank the whole class A under the table. This only made it more confusing considering the fact they were both of sound mind and still, they ended up in this situation.

Not to say he didn’t like it. It was nice and comfortable—the soft touches, a slight pinch in his hair when she grabbed him to hold him still and kiss him slow. The pliable flesh under his hands and faint, warm breaths hitting the skin of his right side. He was lost in the sensation so strong yet so delicate. 

It was a surprise but a pleasant one. 

Shouto had wanted this, he wanted to have Yaoyorozu Momo squirming in his arms. He’d wanted her to stare at him with brazed hunger and a wild look as though he would disappear if she closed her eyes a moment too long. He had wanted to hold the woman that had been on his mind for far longer than he’d be comfortable admitting closer, to claim her lips with his own, and to pass his fingers through the dark locks falling down her back.

He had her in his clutches and he wasn’t sure if he could ever let her go.

***

The pale skin under his hands was soft.

Shouto traced the underside of Momo’s breast, enjoying the sight she made sprawled on the crisp beige sheets. Her long hair spread like a halo around her head, dark strands inviting him to slip his fingers in and pull. He’d do it later, for he was content with what he had at the moment.

“Yaoyo—”

“Momo,” she interrupted, her voice strong even as her eyes held that unfocused quality. “Call me Momo.”

Shouto stilled, thumb stopping on the areola of her nipple. To tell the truth? Maybe he should?

“I already call you that in my head.”

She squirmed; a delicious reaction that made him harder than before. 

“Do you want to call me Shouto?” he offered and gained a rosy blush in response.

She was biting her lip, looking downward and to his left. “Only if you want me to.”

His lips twitched, though he stifled a smile just yet. Putting one hand near her head, he leaned down to loom over her naked form, knocking their foreheads together gently. His other hand, which up until now had showered her skin with barely-there touches, grasped the supple flesh of her breast fully. 

“Shouto.”

Finally, he cracked a smile when he just barely heard her whisper.

Momo’s cheeks warmed to a deep deep red color that was a contrast to her pale skin. Only then he went in for a kill.

“Momo,” he whispered in her ear, enjoying the full-body shudder passing through her form. A stuttering breath left her lips and tickled over his neck. 

Her hand fisted in his hair, and when he shifted to look into her eyes again, he realized it was an unconscious action. She looked surprised at where her hand was for a moment, then unclenched her fingers, but kept them in place, loosely tracing his scalp. 

“Shouto,” she said.

“Momo,” he replied.

He entered her on the next breath, and slipped into the slick heat slowly, pushing until he was fully in. 

Her nails scratched over his back and he hoped it would leave the mark. He liked marks. He wanted a mark. A mark that would show he belonged to her. That would be distinctive from all other marks he never wanted to have. A mark solely for himself, something that would make him feel safe and content.

Fingers curling in his hair, Momo angled his head to kiss him senseless. She nipped his lower lip, and he was lost in the rhythm of the moment. She just smiled wickedly at his playful glare. Oh, the game was on.

***

It became normal to share lunch on their breaks or to meet in the evenings in one of their apartments. 

Shouto heard a knock on the door and glanced at the clock. Oh, it was already that time. He left the pot to simmer and went to open the door.

Momo kissed his cheek in a greeting, taking off her dark brown coat to hang it on a coat rack. 

“I had a very, very long day,” she said as she went to leave her overnight bag. “So please tell me that’s food that I’m smelling.”

Shouto smiled at how her energetic words were in stark contrast to the exhaustion written on the lines of her face. “Katsu curry.”

“Oh,” she yelled from the master bedroom. “I haven’t eaten katsu curry in ages.”

Happy to confirm what he assumed from her long talks about the food she consumed regularly, Shouto’s smile grew as he set the table for two.

***

Momo was tucked to his right side while she absentmindedly drew circles on his chest. It was his favorite cuddle pose. She had switched sides about a month ago when the weather turned warm, with a frantic explanation that she wasn’t just doing it because he was like a portable AC much to his amusement. He had laughed back then, assuring her it was alright to use him as AC, as she put it. Even now it brought a smile to his face.

“A penny for your thoughts,” Momo said, bringing him to the present. 

He hummed idly, before saying, “I’m happy.” 

“Me too,” she said with a smile curving her pink lips. Pink. He loved pink. So he chased it and in the next moment, they were kissing, slowly at first. 

Soon Momo laid on her back and tugged him with her. He followed gladly, found her lips again, then kissed down her jaw to her neck, finding a spot to suck.

He heard her breath hitch and knew he had her with this. She loved it when he covered her with his body, boxed her in with his arms, and held her down in a vulnerable position. What made it utterly bewitching to him was the fact that she could easily slip from his grasp and revert their positions, yet instead, she let him do it. 

Not just let him, she enjoyed it too. Sometimes he’d catch her looking at him with such a gentle look in her half-lidded eyes that it overwhelmed him, tore him up inside because, what if he wasn’t giving her his all? What if this wasn’t enough? But then, her fingers would card through his hair, he’d hear a sweet whisper of her breath in his ear, and her warm body would welcome him in.  

She brought him up to lay a kiss in the corner of his mouth, then smiled at him so serenely that he actually got confused at the moment there. 

“You are the best thing that happened to me,” she said.

Oh. Oh. he realized then and there, that all his fears were unfounded. Yaoyorozu Momo was his as much as he was hers.

He nuzzled the side of her neck. 

“I feel the same.”

Notes:

I hope you enjoyed reading this!