Chapter Text
Momo scooted to allow Mei to sit down. Mei opened her mouth to invite her to the roof-
“Mei, can we talk… in private? After school?” Momo asked quietly, so others at the lunch table didn’t hear.
Was this fate? The universe bending in Mei’s favor? “Of course! How about the rooftop?”
“I don’t think students are allowed on the roof?”
“They’re not,” Mei confirmed.
Momo stared at her.
Did she want clarification? “I’ll pick you up by your classroom, and take you there.”
Momo narrowed her eyes for a moment, but eventually sighed. “…Okay.”
When Momo stepped out of the classroom, she looked Mei up and down. “Is that… a jet-pack?”
“The stairs to the roof are locked, but that will not stop us!” Mei declared, already making her way outside.
Momo followed. “Er, is this entirely necessary?”
“Absolutely! You wanted to talk in private, right? Me too! And the mood on the roof is great!”
“I… I suppose.”
Once they were outside, a few feet from the wall, Mei reached out her hand. “Do you trust me?”
Momo stared, cheeks going pink. She glanced away, but put her hand in Mei’s. “Iida would lecture me if he heard this, but yes…” She met Mei’s eyes. “…I trust you.”
Once their hands connected, Mei tugged and pulled Momo into a tight embrace. Momo let out a squeak, and although she stiffened for a moment, she hesitantly wrapped her arms around Mei as well.
Then Mei turned on her jet-pack.
The ride up was short, but the whole time Momo’s grip tightened around her like a vise. And even when they eventually landed on the roof, Momo was still clinging. Mei didn’t have the space to grab her remote for the next step of the confession, so she told her, “You can let go, we’re on the top now!”
Momo let her go abruptly, face red. “S-Sorry, I got surprised. I’m normally more composed, it’s not like I haven’t flown through the air on occasion for heroic reasons…”
Momo’s hair had been frazzled by the journey, so Mei ran her hand through the section not done up in her ponytail. Momo’s eyes followed Mei’s hand as it slid along the side of her face.
Although Mei moved to pull back, Momo’s hand snapped up and grabbed her wrist, as if to keep her there. Mei was surprised a moment, not used to Momo initiating contact. Momo spoke with a voice slightly shaking, “What I’m trying to say is… You surprise me a lot, and I- I get flustered around you, and I deeply admire you…”
Mei rifled through her pocket for her remote with the hand that was currently not held by Momo. Momo’s hand slid down her wrist, interlocking their fingers. Mei wasn’t sure why Momo was going on about her, but she wasn’t about to complain.
“…And I appreciate your patience while I got to know you and figure out my feelings. It’s been lovely being friends, but I-” Momo swallowed. “I’m ready for something more.”
“Something more?” Mei asked idly as her finger hovered over the button that would activate her baby. As soon as there was a pause in the conversation, she would-
“I like you too!” Momo declared, voice finally steady, “Let’s go out!”
Every part of Mei’s body seized up from surprise, including her finger.
Explosions rang out around them, some fireworks shooting into the sky. The glitter and rose petals caught fire, filling the air with smoke and cinders. There were alarmed shouts from students down below, something about “villain attack” or “evacuation”, but Mei could hardly hear them over the sound of her own recorded voice:
“Momo Yaoyorozu, I have determined you are the best person on this planet.”
An unassuming box beside them exploded, and there was a whir of machinery as a components inside expanded, revealing a large poster board labeled: An incomplete list of Momo Yaoyorozu’s many good points.
“To your left is a list of your numerous positive qualities which I have noted during our time together, and to your right…”
Another box exploded, making Momo jump, as another poster board was revealed, this time labeled: Mei Hatsume’s promises should you choose to date her.
“…Is a list of reasons you should date me.”
Momo’s face was bright red now, and she was glancing around, a shield already created on one hand as a defensive maneuver. “Mei, what in the world-”
“This is my formal declaration of romantic interest: Momo Yaoyorozu, will you go out with me?”
Momo gaped at the display, face lit up by the flames from the glitter-rose-fireworks.
Although Mei wanted to say something, she still hadn’t recovered from Momo’s words before Mei accidentally hit the button.
Momo… confessed first?
She wracked her brain. Aoyama didn’t give her a contingency plan for this sort of scenario. Did Mei’s subsequent confession count as an acceptance? Did she need to officially accept Momo’s confession? Did Momo need to accept hers?
Before all of that, Mei still needed to process that Momo liked Mei enough to make the confession. She thought this confession was going to convince Momo to think of her romantically, she hadn’t stopped and wondered whether Momo already felt that way about her. It was a little dizzying, and beyond flattering.
Momo was still looking around the roof, so Mei grabbed her hands to get her attention again. Momo dropped the shield she had created earlier, and it clattered onto the roof. Momo’s eyes were wide when they met hers.
Mei finally found the words to speak, “I-”
The door to the roof slammed open. Which didn’t make sense, since it was locked, no student should be able to-
“Mei Hatsume you are in so much trouble!” Power Loader shouted as he marched over.
Ah. Teachers had the keys to the roof.
“It’s one thing to have lab accidents, but to set up explosives around the school-”
“They’re just on this roof,” Mei argued.
“That’s still enough that they had to evacuate! You know how embarrassing it was to see you on the security cam in Nedzu’s office? Everyone was tense thinking a villain had somehow gotten in here, but no, it was just my trouble-making student!”
Momo stepped forward, bowing. “I’m sorry Power Loader, I shouldn’t have gone up to the roof with her, I accept full responsibility for allowing this to happen.”
Mei grabbed Momo’s shoulder and pulled her up. Between the two of them, Momo definitely didn’t need to apologize. “Not your fault, it was a surprise.”
Power Loader finally seemed to pay attention to what exactly was on the roof, eyes bouncing between the two poster boards. “What were you guys even doing up here?”
“Confessing our feelings!” Mei told him.
Momo covered her face with her hands.
Power Loader stared at them. “…Haven’t you guys been dating for awhile?”
“N-no,” Momo mumbled out, red face peeking from between her fingers.
He groaned. “Mei, you’re coming with me to detention.”
Mei balked. “But we just confessed to each other-”
“Maybe next time you’ll think to do it with less explosions! Detention, now!”
Literally the worst detention Mei had ever been in.
Nothing to do. At all. Power Loader said she was allowed to do homework, but literally nothing else. She knew for a fact that Momo liked her back, but was taken away from her before they could do anything at all.
So she groaned, stretching her arms across the desk, and looked outside idly. She zoomed in on the people milling outside, though there weren’t a ton since most students had gone back to the dorms by now. She was keeping an eye out, hoping to at least see Momo and have some time to bask in her presence and break this purgatory, but she hadn’t seen her yet. Maybe she had taken a path outside the view of this window to return to her dorm.
Mei didn’t know, because she wasn’t allowed to go on her phone and text or call Momo at all.
After her third groan and stretch, Power Loader spoke up from his desk, “You can do homework if you’re so bored.”
“No one has ever suffered as much as I am suffering right now,” Mei informed him before pressing her face against the desk.
He didn’t even look away from the papers he was grading. “You can go see your girlfriend after detention.”
“I don’t even know if we’re girlfriends!” Mei stood up from her desk, indignant, “We were stopped before our discussion could get to that point!”
“Hatsume, sit down,” Power Loader told her, “You’ll have plenty of time to chat after detention.”
She acquiesced, crossing her arms and looking out the window again, hoping for a chance to see Momo.
She didn’t pass by.
Finally, finally detention was over and Mei was free. Now she could run to Momo’s dorm and figure out what they were and what their relationship was. She would go straight to the 1-A dorm, barge inside, and find Momo. She lamented the time the journey would take, but she had to get through it. She slammed the classroom door open-
And there Momo was.
She was sitting across the hall from the door, homework beside her, but as soon as she saw Mei she hopped up from the ground and approached. “Mei!”
Mei blinked at her. “You waited for me?”
“Of course! We never finished our conversation!”
They hadn’t. Mei grabbed her hands, and rushed to speak before Power Loader or any other teacher could interrupt them again. “I accept!”
“My confession?” Momo asked with a laugh.
“What else could I be talking about?”
“And I accept yours too.”
Mei’s heart soared. She laughed, still not sure how this miracle came about. Although she wanted to believe that her romance maximization babies had seduced Momo, she recognized that Momo confessed to her before she activated those, so clearly something else had gone on. “I can’t believe we confessed at the same time,” Mei commented airily.
Momo had begun packing up her bag, but paused at Mei’s words. “…It was cute, but I’m confused as to why you confessed again.”
“Again?”
Momo was all packed, and she easily slid her hand into Mei’s before they began the trek back to the dorms. “Yes? Quite awhile ago. I appreciate your patience in waiting for my response this long.”
“But that was my first confession?”
Momo stared at her, brows furrowed. “No? You told me you liked me, but were okay with starting out as friends while I sorted out my feelings.”
“Huh?” Mei was confused, “What exactly did I say?”
Momo laughed, high and shaky, “Things about how you wanted me, and wanted to experiment with me, and…” She coughed. “…Er, you were serious enough that you wanted to have children with me.”
That jogged a conversation in Mei’s memory, but not a confession. “You mean the conversation where I told you I was interested in your quirk?”
“My quirk?” Momo’s voice sounded weird.
“Yes? I wanted you to make the wonderflonium diode, and I thought your quirk would be really cool to experiment with. And it could help me building my babies in general.”
Momo stopped walking, though Mei didn’t notice until her hand was jerked back by the inaction. Mei turned to see Momo frowning. “So you just like my quirk?”
“No,” Mei corrected her, “I was curious and interested in it, but you’re a very charming woman, Momo. Didn’t you hear my confession today? Should I bring out the bullet list of all your good points again-”
“No need!” Momo bit her lip. “Wait, so you… weren’t confessing to me back then?”
“No?’
Momo’s face grew very red. The hand holding Mei’s was squeezing almost painfully tight.
Something felt off, but Mei wasn’t sure what. “…Are you okay?”
“Am I…?” Momo palmed her own face with her free hand. “I’m processing. You weren’t trying to seduce me?”
“I’ve been trying to seduce you as of this morning!” Mei informed her.
“…But none of the other times?”
Mei shook her head. “I actually didn’t realize I liked you until last night! I had a chat with Aoyama that made me realize my feelings, and then I worked all night on my confession!”
Momo raised an eyebrow. “Did you sleep last night?”
“No! The power of love kept me awake!”
Momo narrowed her eyes.
“…And maybe some caffeine!”
“You should probably go to bed once you get back to your dorm.”
Mei pouted. “But we just got together, we should hang out!”
“How about this weekend, we go on a date?”
That made Mei grin. “A date?”
“Yes,” Momo confirmed, “But only if you get some sleep now.”
Mei acquiesced. “Alright. You won’t miss me too much in the mean time?”
Momo bit her lip again. “I will, but I also might need time to process my own misconceptions.”
“…Misconceptions?”
“I thought…” Momo hesitated, blushing.
Mei waited for her to articulate, but her mouth was open without any words coming out, as though she wasn’t sure how to put it.
Eventually she decided on an explanation. “That day when you expressed your ‘interest’ in my quirk, I misunderstood, and thought that was a… er, a… a confession?”
Mei blinked at her, gears turning in her head.
Momo looked away from her, as though trying to hide her face.
That wouldn’t do. Mei tugged at their linked hands to signal Momo should look at her. Momo turned, face red and eyes still not meeting hers.
Mei repeated the explanation, trying to make sure she understood correctly, “So you’ve been under the impression that I’ve been courting you for the entirety of our friendship?”
All Momo could do was nod.
“…And you still wanted to be friends with me? And then date me?”
“Can you blame me?” Momo spoke suddenly louder than before, “This random cute girl from the support department suddenly started paying attention to me, and flattered me, and then it turned out she was also super smart and wanted to bake me cakes and would sometimes just- just tease me in the most infuriating ways!”
There was one particular part of that speech Mei wanted to focus on: “You thought I was cute?”
“…You have… cool hair,” Momo responded, quieter now, “And surprisingly defined biceps, and those eyes,” She sighed, staring into Mei’s eyes, “They’re so intricate, it’s hard not to get hypnotized by them.”
Now it was Mei’s turn to blush. She didn’t think of herself as easily flustered, but she also didn’t normally see herself as the type of girl who pretty girls like Momo would find attractive. “You’re very pretty, yourself,” Mei countered weakly, not sure how to wax poetic.
Momo smiled at that, giving Mei’s hand a squeeze.
“…We’re at your dorm,” Momo commented.
Mei turned from Momo to recognize that, yes, they were at the 1-H dorm already. Meaning their time for today was at an end.
It didn’t feel complete. Mei wasn’t ready to leave her, despite the confession and their conversations, it felt like there was still too much left unsaid. She hadn’t expressed all the feelings she could today. She wanted something more.
“…Mei?” Momo asked when Mei made no move to go into the dorm.
She had an idea. “Momo, we’re dating now, right?”
Momo licked her lips. “Yes?”
“So would it be appropriate to kiss?”
In an instant, Momo bent down and pulled Mei close, allowing their lips to meet.
The kiss was quick, only allowing a brief recognition of Momo’s warm, soft lips before they parted again. Despite the brevity, Momo was bright red, and Mei could feel her own face was heated as well.
Feelings now having been further communicated, Mei let go of Momo’s hand and opened the door to the dorm as she said, “I’ll see you later, then.”
Momo waved. “Make sure you sleep!”
She made her way to her room, cheeks sore from smiling.
As Momo commanded, she went straight to bed, still running through her memories of Momo in her head, and dreaming of their future dates.