"What?"

Momo stared at him, eyes wide and perplexed by his statement. She was overwhelmed once again. She felt a huge blast of relief at the same time, but also loads of confusion. She didn't understand.

Todoroki sighed. "I need to explain some things first."

"N-No wait .." Momo cut him off. "You .. were the one who I kept texting for months?"

Todoroki met her eyes. She looked desperate for an answer, her eyes said it all. She was pleading for answers, she was begging for them. She must be so confused and tired from all of this. He sighed softly before looking back at the panes. "Yeah."

Momo's heart stopped for a second. The boy he fell in love with and the boy she liked as a best friend .. were the same person the whole time?

I know you, the reader, is not that surprised. You saw this coming.

Momo's brain filled up with more questions. She had so many, it was super overwhelming. She felt like she was drowning in all these questions, and she felt as if her whole life was a lie, like everything she saw was were just hallucinations this whole time.

Her lips were pushed together and so were her eyebrows as she looked away, brainstorming the structure of the situation she was suddenly now put in at the same time, but she didn't have time to continue analyzing.

He glanced at her, and sighed. Seeing her so frustrated and confused felt somewhat heartbreaking and frustrating too. She must be feeling betrayed and beyond confused. He wanted to help her with that. "I'll explain now."

《 🕟

Todoroki stared blankly at the black binder across right beside his desk as he collected all his belongings into his bag.

Putting his bag on, he grabbed the binder and examined it. There was no name stated on the cover, so he had to flip it open to find the true owner.

Those info fill up pages suddenly appeared as the first.

'NAME: momo yaoyorozu
CONTACT NUMBER: xxx-xxx-xxxx
EMAIL: N/A'

'It's Yaoyorozu's,' He thought to himself. He recalled briefly that the girls were heading out to hang out by the new cafe nearby the campus, so his first instinct was to keep her phone number and contact her regarding the binder.

He took his phone out and began to type the number, saving the contact after that.

And that was how he got her number.

《 🕟

As he walked in the empty halls, his footsteps echoed. He kept the binder clutched in his hands during his journey to the dorms. The sun was setting, and it felt awfully lonely for some reason.

He didn't hate the lonliness, it was nice.

He glanced at the black binder in his hands, staring at the constellation of the cover. Curiousity starts to engulf him at that moment. What's inside this notebook? It could just be a school notebook filled with notes, but he knew very well Momo's notebooks would have the class's name plastered on the cover for every subject. Like a blue notebook with a piece of paper plastered on it that says 'HERO BASICS' and what not.

Due to mere curiousity, Todoroki flipped the notebook to its real contents, and the first words got him hooked already. It was a story.

He stopped his tracks to read the rest. It was addiciting. The first words made Todoroki immerse in the story already. It was worded right and the vocabulary was incrediblely good, to the point some words were not understandable.

He sat by the nearest staircase, continuing to read the binder. As much as how he wanted to respect the privacy, the book was way too addictive to let go and take his eyes off.

Moments passed and Todoroki was still reading it. He couldn't stop, she was truly a talented writer.

When suddenly, he hears footsteps.

From the side, he sees Yaoyorozu walking pass.

"Yaoyorozu."

He calls out.

And that was the beginning of their meet-ups on stairs.

《 🕟

When the distance and awkward silence began in the bond of the pair after not meeting up all of a sudden at the staircase anymore, Todoroki felt disappointed.

He still went there though, waiting for her, hoping her to arrive.

He used to play little games by himself in the lonely staircase with the sun setting by the panes, and instead of liking the lonliness, he felt quite sad without her comforting prescence. He would sometimes talk to the sun about his feelings, trying to fill in the lonely atmosphere. He wouldn't tell his secrets to the moon, but rather to the sun as it went to set.

He always waited there everyday, hoping her to show up and talk to him normally again, smile at him like she used to and laugh at his strange comments.

When she showed up on that same day, she ran away after his somewhat odd and bold statements of informing her that he was waiting for her, that was when he began to feel rather insecure with what he says.

And that was when he started to care about how he presented himself infront of Momo.

Due to some strange feelings.

《 🕟

Todoroki was on his bed, staring at the number he saved on his phone.

'YAOYOROZU'

He started to wonder if Momo disliked him or was creeped out by him. He wondered if perhaps she didn't want to see him again.

But, he fought off those doubts.

Despite those doubts, he overcame it. After opening up to people over the months, he was able to handke sensitive situations. Specifically with his family.

But, this involved Yaoyorozu, it felt pressuring.

He still wanted to be closer with her, but he assumed that if it was him doing the talking, Momo probably would have disliked the interactions.

Instead, he thought of a horrible idea.

He typed a greeting to Momo then sent it.

If he can't get closer to Momo as Todoroki Shouto, then perhaps he can as a stranger.

He can learn from her more this way, and with every new piece of information, he can use it as Todoroki Shouto.

And that was how he became a secret chatmate to Momo for unknown reasons.

《 🕟

When Todoroki noticed a purple haired guy staring and following Momo a lot, he felt suspicious but mostly concerned for her safety.

He didn't see that student around the campus. He could just be a different student of a different department, but regardless, he was beginning to have some stalker vibes surrounding him.

Instead of searching all over the school, he decided to go through some yearbooks in the school, perhaps that boy could be an old student.

So he went to the brand new school library, staying there late to search for that boy's identity, flipping through the pages until he found that strange haired guy.

U.A had a special area of the library where they displayed the yearbooks of the students through the school year, so he quickly went there, took most of them, and looked through each thick book and its contents.

The sound of soft chattering students died down, and soon enough, he was left alone.

Hours has passed and he finally found it.

His name was Furukawa Sora, and he was a previous student of Class 1-A from years ago.

He quickly assumed he's a third year student now, perhaps in the same class as Nejire, Mirio and Tamaki.

Suddenly, he felt a prescence from behind him.

He looked back, to find a young student with emerald eyes and long orange colored hair, staring at him.

Kendo Itsuka.

"Ah, Todoroki Shouto!" She exclaimed, her eyes brimming. "I didn't expect to see you here," She smiled. Kendo was definitely rhe type of person who would be comfortable around anyone even if it technically meant their strangers.

"You're Kendo Itsuka, right?"

"Ah, yeah! I'm close with that girl in your class, Yaoyorozu!" She smiled, chuckling.

Todoroki doesn't say anything regarding her comments but instead the books piling in her arms. "What's with those?" He questioned.

Kendo lands her eyes on the books. "Oh, I volunteered to organize the new books in the the shelves," She said, her eyes darting back to the boy.

"I'm going to close up now, do you mind if you can return those yearbooks?" She asked.

He stared for a while. "It's really improtant though." He said, looking back at the yearbooks and his notes.

"Yeah, but I really need to clean up now," Kendo smiled, trying to convince him without the use of being hostile. They weren't that close, but Kendo obviously knew him through his fame in the Sports Festival.

Todoroki lands his eyes on the books one more, "What if I help you out?"

Kendo stared, her eyes slightly widen. Seeing Todoroki trying to convince is odd. She then smiled, "Hm, alright then," She said, brushing it off before plopping Todoroki half of the tower of books in his arms after he stood up. She then went to the shelves.

The library was huge, it even had a second floor to it. There were shelves surrounding the walls, and in the center were several tables and chairs for the students. It was warm there, and it had a calming vibe to it.

She placed all the books back in their respective areas, and so did Todoroki. It was silent.

"Hey, Todoroki," Kendo suddenly began, her voice echoing in the large area. He was right across the area. She was aiming to at leadt form a little bond with her.

"Why did you get those yearbooks?"

Todoroki pressed the thick encylopedia into the shelf together with the rest of the other books. "I was looking for a student's information."

Kendo turned her head to look at the desk where he previously was at. She placed the last book in her hands into the shelf, walking to the yearbooks.

She examined the yearbooks and the notes he had on the desk.

Suddenly, she was overwhelmed with fear.

"Furukawa Sora ..?" Her voice trailed off, softly.

Todoroki glanced back at her. "What's wrong?" He asked, noticing her head hanging low, staring at the books.

She looked back at him, her face drenched with fear and concern. Her lips formed a frown.

Looking back at the book, she proceeded to explain. "I'm not sure if you know this, because this was years ago in U.A, before I even manifested my quirk .." She began. She traced her fingers across the page.

"This boy was murdered."

Todoroki's eyes widen. Questions fill his mind immediatly, and everything started to go all fuzzy. It was just the beginning of a mystery and a complicated puzzle. He looked back towards her, "What?" He questioned, shock and surprise coating his tone.

Kendo didn't look back at him, she kept her eyes locked on the photo on the boy.

"My aunt told me about this. She was a doctor and she was the one who took care of his body before his burial, and .. it was strange how he was killed." She said.

"There was a music teacher and a music room in U.A. He would go to room and play the piano. It was sort of like a club, it was optional of course. It was meant to make the students have fun still if they liked music." She said.

"His name was Ashton Toga. He loved to play the piano and write pieces too," Her voice was soft as she spoke. "He would go to the music room and play the piano with some students every afternoon. They would sing and dance and have fun all the time," Todoroki could hear her smile for some apparent reason.

"But .. He was getting strange. He had some kind of thirst of blood. He had that desperate thirst from the start, but he was able to control it as a teacher .." She said.

"Then one afternoon, Furukawa, came in to the room to sing with the teacher until .." Her voice trailed off as she frowned.

"Mr. Himiko suddenly began to endlessly stab him with a knife in his pocket."

Todoroki felt fear jolt inside of him.

"He stabbed him everywhere, the chest, the throat, even the head .." She felt terrified just by talking about it.

"Mr. Himiko was just laughing so loud during his stabbing spree. During that, a student heard it across the hall. I don't know who that student was, but they immediatly called the police and reported the teachers when they saw blood spilling from the door .." She continued.

"When the teachers arrived along with help, he ran away. Just after a few more hours, he was found in his apartment building, where killed himself right then and there."

Todoroki's eyes widen. Such a dark story in the rather peaceful school was terrifying, it pooled him with fear. The fact a dead a student was just following around the school without anyone noticing scared him, especially the fact he was following Momo.

Todoroki slowly turned away to continue putting books back into the shelf. He felt his stomach twist after that story, it was horrifying to hear such a brutal tale.

"His only known relatives was a young girl, his neice." Kendo added. "She had a thirst for a blood too, perhaps she got it from him. She was known to have killed a student too .." She added once more.

"Did you see Furukawa somewhere?" Kendo asked, turning towards him, concerned.

Todoroki remained silent. This was something he wanted to handle for himself for a while. He needed to investigate and get a few evidence before calling for help.

"No. I saw someone similar to him though." He lied.

Kendo didn't easily believe that, but she brushed it off.

And that was when Todoroki began to learn new things around the school, and discovered the horror and the danger with Momo's safety.

A dead student was following her around.

- 🕟

This was the part Todoroki didn't want to tell Momo.

Lucky for you, you are able to know.

This is when Todoroki and Kendo were still at the library, after a few moments of silence after their conversation regarding the dark tale of U.A.

He had some doubts about it being true, he didn't see any evidence or previous news headlines regarding this. Despite that, he had to believe it.

"Where did you see that similar someone though?" Kendo asked, breaking the tension and the awkward silence as she strolled around the tables.

"He was following Yaoyorozu."

"Oh?"

Todoroki can sense of amusement in Kendo's tone. He turned back to her, his eyebrow raised.

She was leaning against the table, arms crossed, a rather strange smile formed on her lips.

The sudden shift of a tense atmosphere to a rather amusing one was odd, but none of them minded it.

"What?" He asked.

Kendo didn't change her expression as she cocked her head to the side.

"Were you concerned over it?"

Todoroki seemed too dense to comprehend the situation.

"Mhm." He nodded.

Kendo's smile grew wider. "But why?" She asked, trying to contain her composure.

"Well .." He trailed off, eyes landing on the two thick books he was clutching. "I was worried." He said lifting his head back to her.

He didn't really see what's wrong with hs statement.

Kendo squealed, startling Todoroki at her sudden high pitched voice.

"I knew it!" She pointed at Todoroki, smiling wide with eyes brimming with
a bright feeling of perhaps happiness with a hint of mischievousness

Todoroki tilted his head to the side, confused.

"What?"

Kendo's smiled remained, "Todoroki, do you want me to help you?"

"What?"

Kendo pointed her finger at him, still smiling. "Help you with Momo's safety!"

"What?"

Kendo darted her eyes to different directions, an awkward smile forming on her lips, before folding her arms, humming to herself as she contemplated how to word her statement out.

Todoroki's head was still trying to process what she stated. He's really dense when it comes to these things. Instead, a suggestion struck him.

"Are you willing to help me with anything regarding Yaoyorozu?"

Kendo's eyes brightened. "Yes! Definitely!" She said, her smile growing wider, separating herself from the table's contact.

No one really knows this, but Kendo Itsuka is a sucker for 'love', she used to read her secret stash of romance manga before she entered U.A every night. She's obviously focused with her goal of being a hero, but she really does find pleasure in romance. It didn't matter if she was in it or not, but she found something so addicting to it. She's basically your local fangirl.

She has kept that secret though, and Todoroki already found it just by seeing her reactions.

"I need your help with something."

He then proceeded to explain his desire to bond with Momo through a secret role. Despite the odd reasons he has stated, Kendo didn't seemed phased at all.

"Do you mind if you can help me get clos-"

"Yes! Yes!"

Kendo began to nod aggresively. It was surprising she had no doubts regarding it. If it meant to help Todoroki with Momo, then it's all good.

And that was how Todoroki's 'Love' advice sessions ever Saturday and Sunday came to be with Kendo Itsuka,

the person who gave him advice every weekend in exchange for frappe cups,

and the person who gave him a ripped sheet of paper from a notebook with notes and advice to help him.

( Todoroki doesn't know what Kendo thinks of him and Momo together. I'm sure you do. )

《 🕟

On that night where Todoroki heard Momo cry over her father, he was scared.

He didn't know what to do. He wanted to brighten her day, he wanted to make her happy.

Because she did that for him.

He saw a pink envelope dance in the wind as it fell from her veranda. He quickly took hold of it, briefly causing a crinkle sound from a pile of leaves he stepped on.

He rushed back inside, unaware what to do.

The first thing that came into to his head was to text her in his 'stranger' role.

But, whenever he texted Momo as the 'stranger', he was always guided by Kendo's advice like, "That sounds so dull!" and guiding the tone of his message to help the bond.

He was afraid. He might mess this up. He might use the wrong words, comforting isn't his specialty.

Doubts were something he could fight back on, but if Momo Yaoyorozu is in the situation, it's rather difficult to brush it off.

Despite all those concerns and doubts piling in his head, he pushed them all off, and pulled his phone out, and typed a message.

Then deleted it.

Then typed.

Then deleted it.

Then typed-

Ah, he deleted it again.

He typed again-

And deleted it once more-

Oh, he stopped.

The doubts and insecurities were still there sadly.

"Damn it .." He muttered to himself, pushing his hand through his hair, glaring at his phone as he leaned against the door.

"I don't know what to say .." He muttered, frustrated.

He was in the same situation as her and yet he couldn't find the right words to help her situation.

He continued to brainstorm, finding a way to let the conversation flow without making it look like he was watching her to prevent her from being uncomfortable.

He sighed.

A long time has passed and he still hasn't texted her anything.

Having nothing else to say, he typed a dull greeting, and pressed 'SEND' .

He hoped he wouldn't regret it.

..

He didn't.

The conversation flowed well in a strange manner, but, he made her happy, and manage to let her open up, and that was enough for him.

He smiled at the successful attempt to help Momo.

And that was how Todoroki, in his role as the stranger, stole Momo's heart that night.

《 🕟

During his visit to Momo's grandmother's grave, he noticed the grave beside hers.

It was Furukawa Sora's.

So it was all true. He didn't want to show his fear and shock in front of Momo, it could cause an uncomfortable atmosphere.

The next thing you know, during the time they were stuck in the school building due to the rain, he examined the music room and found one of the music pschyo teacher's piece.

'BLOOD THIRST' was its name. Quite edgy if you ask me.

It had Toga Ashton's name written there.

That was how everything really came together.

And that was how he soon realized the whole dark tale was no joke.

Who was that boy following her then?

》🕟《

On the same day Momo went to see the stranger, also known as present time, Todoroki rushed to the library to investigate some more.

Lucky for him, apparently Kendo wasn't in charge of the library yesterday afternoon, and whoever that was did not lock up the library.

He manage to sneak his way to the library despite the horrible and rather brutal weather gettint in his way to have a safe journey.

He looked through a yearbook that was published a year after Furukawa's face appeared in one of the yearbooks.

Still no information.

He went back to the original one.

Instead of focusing more on Furukawa and why he suddenly ressurected, he decides to focus on the murder himself, Sir Himiko.

His only known relative was a certain neice of his.

So he explored through his data. Specifically, the previous published yearbooks.

One portion of the thick books was a special page for the teachers as a thanks for guiding the students.

There was a page filled with photos, a collage, a cluster of selfies and smiles. A huge 'THANK YOU!' was plastered on the top of the catastrophe of pictures, plus a little mark that said 'from the older third year students'. It was perhaps the graduating class.

The first pic he tries to find in the flood is a picture of the blond fanged man.

He immediatly finds him in the corner of the page.

He was holding a hands with a little young girl, two buns at the side of her hair. She looked dumbfounded what was happening, but all that the Sir Ashton Toga did was smile at the camera.

He did have a neice, and they looked incredibly similar surprisingly. She had long fangs too.

Suddenly, the boy's eyes start to scan the little girl once more, a sense of familiarity coarsing through his head.

He remembered now.

She's a member of the League of Villains.

Then everything just came together piece by piece.

He must have got the blood of the poor student and passed it down to his ancestors.

Sir Toga must have got it. A cup of blood from the boy.

And that's when he decided to meet Momo to ensure her safety for good instead of hiding his identity for his selfish desires.

And that's when he saw her cornered.

- 🕟 -

".. And, that's basically what happened."

Todoroki concluded.

Momo's eyes were wide, darting at the ground with fear, confusion, and the feeling of being lost.

She was so lost. So, so lost. She was overwhelmed, drowning with much more questions. Her head began to ache. With furrowed eyebrows and frustrated eyes, she clutched her head. Todoroki doesn't look at her.

It was something unpredictable to happen in her perspective. To think she's developed feelings for her best friend is somewhat too much to take in. It's beginning to hurt her head even more.

Recalling everything from those text messages, recalling the times she was absolutely smitten over every little thing stated, recalling the the most smallest things that melted her heart and even recalling the most stupid jokes and puns said, made her feel like she was suffocating beneath a pool of millions of unanswered questions.

She was trying to swim her way up, thinking she'll understand, but once she reaches the surface, another flood of these questions come rushing in from above.

She was just really, really overwhelmed.

Too much things occured, and she didn't have any context to the situation until now.

Even when she got the whole meaning of the scene, her mindset didn't change, it was still flooding with questions and questions.

It was so hard to comprehend the situation in such a state. It's so hard to understand. She needed answers, but, she's not ready to take them in at the moment with a head too full of thoughts to accept more information inside.

She remembered Todoroki saying during that cold night after her birthday that opening up is always the best way to help and clear up closed up feelings.

But, sometimes you need some time to yourself.

That's what Momo thought.

Momo sighed as she tightened her grip on her head.

"Are .. you alright?" Todoroki asked, clearly hesitant of speaking in such an awkward atmosphere. She doesn't notice his eyes looking away.

"I'm .." Momo gathered the strength to say something. "I'm sorry, uh, Todoroki,"

She created an umbrella from her bare skin and left it there beside her.

Momo then got up, gripping the medical kit she got and the pink umbrella.

She doesn't look over to him.

"I think I need to think for a while before we .." Momo's voice trailed off.

"B-Before we speak once again." She manage to let out.

"You can have that umbrella. It's pouring quite a lot today."

She needed some time to analyze her feelings and the situation itself. She needed some time to understand Todoroki too, but she needed to gather courage to ask him further questions.

She knew she wouldn't be ready to face him if she doesn't receive any time to think.

She needed to understand this from her perspective.

"Please don't take it the wrong way." She forced out a laugh.

"I'll .."

"I'll see you soon."

It wasn't even a 'later'.

Todoroki hears her footsteps echo in the halls, decreasing in volume, until it was just silence, and him, just like when Todoroki and Momo suddenly stopped talking and when he would go to the staircase all by himself.

And that was how time repeated itself, and separated Todoroki and Momo once more.

◇

a/n: i had hotdogs for my birthday breakfast. did yall eat already? ;^)