Izuku tries to surprise his girlfriends with breakfast in bed. Too bad Momo is an early riser and Kyoka doesn't want to rise at all.
[Izuku x Momo x Jirou]
[Established relationship, aged up characters, OT3, Domestic Fluff, Fluff, Polyamory]
Requested by @skeptical-skull This was a lot more appealing than I thought it would be and I was already pretty fond of the idea!
It was hot when Momo woke. The blanket had been pushed down to her knees, the sheets twisted around her feet. The room was still dark, but she could see the light waiting to spill into the room from behind the curtain. Her girlfriend was laying half on top of her, slightly drooling on her chest with her arms wrapped tightly around Momo's body. Kyoka swore up and down that she didn't drool in her sleep, but they all knew that it wasn't true.
Momo hugged her closer, pressing a kiss to Kyoka's forehead as she tried to shift her over and off of her. Kyoka moaned a little in her sleep and wrapped herself around the nearest pillow without waking. Momo smiled at her as she got out of bed. She untangled the sheets and pulled them up to Kyoka's waist, then she folded the blanket at the foot of the bed.
She slipped out of the room quietly. The calendar on the back of the door reminded her that they all had the day off today, so there was no need to rush as she went through her morning routine.
The scent of bacon was in the air and she followed the smell down the hall. She could hear Izuku's voice singing from the kitchen, loudly, poorly, and it made her smile. He was singing along to one of Kyoka's songs, but he didn't know all the words. She was laughing by the time she walked into the kitchen.
Izuku spun around to face her, his face red. "M-Momo! I, uh..."
"You haven't learned the words to this song yet?" she asked. "You listen to it all the time."
"Don't tease me," he replied,turning redder.
She laughed, stepping forward to place a kiss on his cheek. "You're up early. I thought you'd want to sleep in. You've been working hard lately." She crossed the room to begin setting the table and he turned back to the stove.
"I wanted to surprise you," Izuku said. "I was gonna make you both breakfast in bed but someone had to ruin my plan."
"Sorry. You know I'm a morning person." She doubted Kyoka would be getting up anytime soon, so she only set the table for the two of them. She poured herself a glass of cranberry juice and orange juice for Izuku. "This might be better, though. It'll give our night owl more time to sleep in."
"Yeah, but she's a lot easier to surprise," Izuku said. "I was hoping to get you this time."
She laughed as she sat at the table. "You'll have to get up earlier than this to surprise me."
Izuku took her plate from the table, shoveling food from the pans and putting it on her plate. He filled her plate with eggs, bacon, and waffles topped with whipped cream and strawberries. "I hope you like it."
"I'm sure it'll be great," she told him. "Your cooking gets better all the time."
He loaded up his own plate, sitting it across from her before going back to retrieve the syrup and handing it over to her. "Your cooking is still better than mine, though."
"Only a little." She drizzled the syrup over her waffles, cutting it into triangles before taking a bite. She hummed happily as she chewed. "It's really good, Izuku."
"Thanks, Momo."
They didn't talk much, listening to the sound of Kyoka's singing coming from the speakers of Izuku's phone. This was one of her older albums, but Izuku listened to it enough that she was fairly certain it had to be his favorite. She couldn't believe that there were still songs that he didn't know all the words to.
"So, we've all got the day off today," Izuku said. "What do you wanna do?"
"Well, there's some cleaning that needs to be done," she mused.
Izuku frowned at her. "No way. We're all off for the first time in months and you want to spend the day cleaning?" he asked.
Momo blushed. "It was just an idea."
"I have a better idea," Izuku said. "We all stay in bed and watch bad movies and cuddle. Kyoka will back me up on this."
"We should at least go out," she argued. "We haven't gone out in ages." She stood up, collecting both of their plates and taking them to the sink.
"Now you're thinking," he said, pushing out his chair. "What do you wanna do? Movie, shopping, romantic dinner..."
"Kyoka would hate that," she laughed. "If you even hint at something romantic, she'll turn red and hide in the closet until your next off day."
Izuku joined in her laughter. He came up behind her and wrapped his arms around her waist. "Fine then. It can be just the two of us. We'll let Kyoka stay here in bed and I'll make her jealous when I send her pictures of us having fun."
"You can be so devious sometimes," Momo said.
"Like it?" he asked. "My girlfriend taught me."
They laughed again. Izuku slid away from her to get another plate, sliding the last of the food from the pan for Kyoka and places the dishes in the sink. "Come on, it's still warm. We can wash those later, let's take this to Kyoka."
She relented easily, going to the the fridge to pour another glass of orange juice. Izuku left the music on as they retreated down the hall to their bedroom. Kyoka was still fast asleep curled around the pillow.
Izuku put the plate on the night stand and climbed onto the bed. He wrapped an arm around her and pressed his lips to her ear to whisper. "Kyoka, time to wake up."
Kyoka hummed and buried herself in his arms.
Izuku smiled down at her. "Come on, wake up," he said softly.
"Leave me alone, Zuzu," Kyoka said sleepily.
Izuku turned red, burying his face in her neck. Momo snickered, moving closer to them. She placed the glass on the nightstand beside the plate and climbed into bed opposite Izuku. She wrapped an arm around them both. "Rise and shine, Kyoka. It's morning now."
Kyoka groaned softly. "No, Mo..."
"Yes, Kyo," Momo replied.
Kyoka cracked open one with an unhappy whine.
"There you are," Izuku said. He leaned down to place a kiss on her lips and she buried her face in his chest.
"Izuku made you breakfast in bed," Momo told her.
"Cool, I'll eat it later," Kyoka said.
"Don't go back to sleep," he insisted.
She let out a deep sigh. "Fine." She pouted as she moved herself into a sitting position and Izuku and Momo mirrored her. Momo reached over to hand her the plate of food. "Whoa, what's all this?" she asked as she got a look at the waffles and fruit on her plate. "Why'd you go through so work trouble? There an anniversary I don't remember?" Kyoka didn't waste any time digging in, moaning in pleasure as she tasted the sweetness of syrup, whipped cream, strawberries, and waffle.
"I just love you," Izuku told her. "And we all have the day off today."
"Finally," Kyoka said. She angled her body so that she could lean into Momo, who wrapped her arms around Kyoka's waist and rested her chin on the shorter girl's head. "That means I don't have to get out of bed, right?"
"Well, Momo and I were thinking of going on a date," Izuku said. "You could come with us."
"Or I could stay home and sleep, have the entire house to myself, practice my new song," Kyoka listed off.
"You're such a homebody," Momo laughed. "You really want us to go out without you?"
"I'll be here for the good part," Kyoka told them with a grin. "In bed waiting for the happy ending."
Izuku choked on air, causing Kyoka to laugh hysterically. Momo blushed and pinched her girlfriend's cheek. "You're terrible, Kyo."
"You love me," Kyoka said confidently.
Izuku's face was entirely red. "How do you still always manage to embarrass me?" he asked
"It's a talent," she said as she took another bite.
Momo shook her head. She lifted the glass from the nightstand, offering it to Kyoka who took a large gulp before handing it back. "Is there anything you would like to do with us?" Momo asked. "Izuku suggested shopping or going to the movies."
"There's nothing good out," Kyoka told her. "I'd rather stay in bed and stupid horror flicks."
"Ha!" Izuku cheered. "Told you!"
"I never said you were wrong," Momo sighed. "Just that we should go out."
"And we can," Izuku told her. He reached out to take Momo's hand, pressing a kiss to the back of it. "If we leave our rock star home."
"I really can't persuade you?" Momo asked.
Kyoka sunk down further in her girlfriend's embrace. "All I want to do is stay in bed and chill." She took another bite, stretching out her legs. Izuku took hold of them and began messaging her calf gently. "You can watch movies with me before you two go out on your date. I'll clean up a little while you're gone, I know it's been bothering you, Mo, and then when you get back all happy and tipsy, you can trip into bed and let me take care of the rest." Both Momo and Izuku were completely red and Kyoka grinned at them again. "Good?"
Izuku coughed and looked away. "Um, s-sounds good."
"Momo?" Kyoka asked.
"Good plan," Momo replied, avoiding both of their eyes.
Kyoka laughed. "You guys are too easy!"
"You're one to talk," Momo told her. "You won't even go on a date because romance makes you blush too hard."
Kyoka frowned as she blushed. "Whatever."
"Whatever we do," Izuku said, "I'm just glad that I get to do it with you two."
"You sap," Kyoka said, jabbing him in the side with her foot. There was a smile on her face, though.
Momo reached out to squeeze Izuku's hand. "I'm glad that I have the both of you, as well."
Kyoka made fake gagging sounds.
"Accept our sugary, sappy affection," Izuku told her. He leaned forward to wrap them both in his embrace and pressed a kiss to Kyoka's cheek. Momo kissed her other cheek at the same time.
Kyoka wiggled in their embrace. "Get off me, you love loons. I'm trying to eat."
"You can't get rid of us that easily," Momo said. "You just have to suffer."
A small smile tugged at Kyoka's lips. She tried to hide it by shoving more food into her mouth, but they both saw and she knew it.
Todoroki is forced to be the getaway drivers for a bank robbing duo, but having his own questionable past, this situation may not turn out to be so bad after all.
[TodoBakuMomo] [BakuMomo]
[Established BakuMomo, Protective BakuMomo, Aged Up characters, Alternate Universe, Thieves]
An explosion rocked the building, causing Todoroki to slam on the brakes of his car in surprise. He was stopped just outside of the building, his eyes raking over the seemingly undamaged building and trying to find where the damage he heard and saw was. The handsome brick building didn't seem to be damaged, but there was no way such a loud, bright display hadn't caused any damage.
He got his answer when two people raced out from the sides of the building. One of them, female he thought, had a firearm in hand, shooting over her shoulder and holding a large sack perched on the opposite shoulder. The other seemed to be creating the explosions that caught Todoroki's attention in the first place in the palm of his hands. He was carrying his own bag, much more careless than his accomplice, which is what allowed Todoroki to notice the bills that seemed to spilling from the bag.
Todoroki looked back at the building, then studied the two again. They were both wearing mask, both attention getting in their own way. The man was dressed in mostly black, but his mask and clothes were reminiscent of an explosion, and the girl was dressed immodestly in bright red. This was a bank robbery. Todoroki let out a sigh of relief when he figured that out. It was less likely people had gotten hurt if that's all it was. No, he reminded himself, that he could do anything about it if people were getting hurt. Not that he should have stopped in the first place.
A crash to his side made him turn his head to the passenger side of his car and he froze as the barrel of a canon was suddenly in his face. "Sorry, we need to borrow this."
Todoroki had never had a gun pointed at him before, especially not one that was essentially the size of his head. So, if he was frozen in place for a moment, he didn't think anyone would blame him.
The man reached inside the broken window, beneath the large thing being pointed at Todoroki, to unlock the car doors. "Leave the fucker, faster to let him drive. We gotta go."
The girl turned her head slightly, giving her partner a surprised look as he pulled the bag from her hand and tossed in the back beside his own. "Are you sure?"
The man growled. "We don't have time for you to question me." The man pointed toward the building where a lot of people, cops Todoroki assumed, were spilling out of the building. He unleashed an explosion low to the ground and caused a lot of debris to go flying. The girl took the opportunity to ditch the larger gun and switch placed with her partner, diving in the back seat and letting him take the passenger side. The man growled again and turned to Todoroki. "Drive, fucker!"
There was a click and something hard was pressed to the back of his head. Another gun, he assumed. "Please hurry up now."
Todoroki did as he was told.
The thing about having two criminals in his car was being unable to tell just how bad of a criminal they were. Yeah, they had threatened him with firearms not once, but twice, but that could have been a bluff just as easily as not. Yeah, the man had a powerful quirk, but that didn't mean he was willing to kill with it. Todoroki hadn't seen the girl shoot at any of the cops and the guy hadn't hurt any of them as far Todoroki had seen. So, they could be excellent bluffers or hardened murders and there really wasn't much of a way for Todoroki to check which it was.
He wasn't certain that he could swiftly extract himself from this situation either. He had two weapons pointed at him, the man in the passenger seat with him palm casually resting on Todoroki's shoulder, a very worrying threat that made Todoroki want to squirm beneath the unfamiliar touch, and the gun that he could see still pointed at him from the backseat despite no longer touching his head. He was at less of an advantage now that the gun wasn't touching him. If it was, he was confident that he could have frozen her hand before she could get off a shot, but between them both, he wasn't so sure. He also didn't know what kind of quirk the girl had.
Todoroki cursed himself for being so taken off guard earlier. No, he cursed himself for stopping in the first place. That was stupid of him. He knew that he couldn't afford to stop.
"Get off the main roads," The man ordered gruffly.
"Oh, sure." Todoroki said. That was something he should have been doing anyway. He was too shaken for his own good and having these two add to it probably wasn't for the best.
"And slow down, you're driving too fast. You'll attract attention," The girl said.
Again, he did as he was told. Honestly, these two were so calm, maybe it wasn't so bad that they were telling him what to do. He needed someone with a cool head and it wasn't him right now. He wasn't thinking rationally.
"Think we lost him, Ponytail?" The guy peered over his shoulder to look in the backseat.
"I wouldn't bet on it yet," She said. "But if they catch us," she grinned as she held up a second weapon, "I'm ready."
The guy grinned. "Course you are." The smile slid off of his face as he looked at Todoroki. "What the fuck happened to your face?"
"King! It's rude to be so blunt!" The girl chastised.
"And it's not rude to point a gun to his head?"
The woman flushed and looked away from her partner to meet Todoroki's gaze in the review mirror. "You don't have to answer that if you don't want to," She told him. Her gaze went back to the guy as she added, "It's none of our business if you don't want it to be."
"The fuck it's not! Did you even see his face?" The guy, King he supposed, questioned her fiercely. "Half his face is burned and it looks fresh."
"It's not... that fresh." Todoroki cursed himself for tripping on the lie and ending up with a truth instead. That wasn't likely to stop this line of questioning anytime soon.
"Is that supposed to make it better?" King demanded. "Some fucker burns your face off, but it's fine because it happened a week ago and not yesterday?"
"You're being too harsh, King." The girl put her hand on Todoroki's other shoulder, making him jump at first, but the feeling of them both with a hand on each shoulder felt grounding somehow. "If you need someplace safe, you don't have to go back."
"What?" Todoroki's eyes widened in surprise.
"Whoever did that to you, you don't have to be afraid of them," She said kindly. "You never have to see them again."
At Todoroki's silence, King added, "She's saying you can come with us, dumb ass."
Todoroki took his eyes off the road long enough to give a startled look to them both, but quickly refocused. "I can't..."
"Yeah, you can." King insisted. "In case you didn't fucking notice, we just came into a lot of fucking money. Once we get someplace out of sight, we can dump you at a hotel or something if you want. You give me a name, I can go pay the fucker a visit."
"Why would you?" Todoroki asked in confusion. The idea that his scar concerned these strangers, criminals at that, boggled his mind.
The girl smiled. "King has a soft spot for things that need protection nowadays."
"Shut up, Creati!"
She laughed.
He grumbled.
Todoroki felt... lost and oddly soothed. His hands tightened on the wheel. "You don't need to do anything," he told them. "I already... I burned down his house. I found a way to return the favor. So there's... nothing needs to be..." The confession left him feeling just as shaken as when he'd left the house not hours ago, wondering when he'd made the decision to confide in criminals.
"Good," King said. "Fuckers got what he deserved."
"You aren't... going to ask why?"
"The reason doesn't matter," Creati insisted. "No one has a right to do such a thing. And once we stop for the day, I'm going to be looking that injury over. You need to take care of it properly."
"I..." Todoroki didn't think that he could feel more lost. These strangers were showing more concern for him than his own family and it left him constantly unbalanced. He focused on driving and remained as silent as possible.
Sometime during the trip, Todoroki wasn't sure how or why, Creati had transferred the sacks of money into briefcases. He had no idea where she's gotten them from, had she had them with her somehow, but by the time they pulled into a hotel parking lot, his backseat looked just as it had before he'd picked up. No loose bills and no empty sacks.
"Here, change into these." She offered them both a folded pile of clothing.
"What's this for?" Todoroki asked.
"Our cover," She told him. "It would seem a little odd to carry a brief case and not look the part." She smiled as she placed a pair of black rimmed glasses over her face. "Please turn around."
"Huh?"
"Don't look at her, dumb ass!" King yelled as he forced Todoroki to turn his head, slamming a hand over his eyes. "She has to change, idiot!"
"Oh... Sorry."
"You're fucking hopeless, aren't you?"
The situation didn't causing him to blush, but the sound of rustling clothing and her strained sounds as she maneuvered in and out of a new outfit did. He tried to keep his thoughts off of her as much as possible, but found that it was impossible.
King was suddenly leaning very far into his space, uncovering Todoroki's eyes so that he could meet his gaze. "What's got you so red, huh?"
"N...nothing," He answered, trying to avoid the man's gaze.
"Oh? You calling my girl nothing, now?"
"That... That's not what I meant."
"King, please," Creati said from the back seat. "Don't tease him."
King grinned, a look of pride almost on his face. "What? It's not my fault the bastard's finally rattled at something. He's been an ice cube this whole time, you can't take this from me."
"Just get dressed," She said. "I'll get a room separate from the two of you. Wait ten minutes before coming in after me and we'll meet in your room." She didn't stand long enough for them to disagreed, getting out and taking a brief case and overnight bag with her, leaving another briefcase and a suitcase behind."
"Why are you splitting up?" Todoroki found himself asking. He shouldn't ask, shouldn't be curious, shouldn't be involved any further than he was, but he found that he couldn't help himself. There was something about these people that he found... appealing. Comforting even. Maybe it was just the way they treated him... normal. No falling over themselves to impress him or trying to mold him into something he wasn't. They just asserted their desires and, to some extent, even expressed concern about his own. Todoroki wasn't used to that kind of consideration and he found it appealing.
"Because of of us needs to keep an eye on you," King explained. "Now listen, I'll do the talking. You just keep checking your watch or phone and look impatient until we get to the room."
The check in with smoothly. He wasn't allowed to touch either the suitcase or briefcase, was standing far away from the front desk that he couldn't tell what he told the woman behind the counter, and they were up in their rooms in no time at all. King put away their luggage, sat him on the bed, and before too long Creati was sitting in front of him and probing the area around his eye.
"It looks like it's sweeling," She told him. "You haven't been taking proper care of it."
"I've been busy," He answered simply.
"Busy running from the cops?" King asked. Todoroki met his gaze, ignoring the protesting sound Creati made, and the man raised an eyebrow at him. "What? You don't burn down a house and get away free. You're either a missing person, a suspect, or you escaped custody. Either way, not really conducive to taking care of yourself, now is it."
"I'll be fine."
"That's no good," She told him. "You can't neglect your health this way." Frowning, she said to her partner, "Go get some ice please."
King looked at him a long moment before deciding it was okay to leave him with the girl and storming out of the room. Todoroki was surprised that he didn't slam the door, King seemed like the type, but that would probably draw too much attention.
"Have you decided what you want to do?" Creati asked him. Her name suddenly made more sense when he saw her creating a roll of bandage tape from her skin. "We can leave you in this room with enough start up to get a rental car and be back on the road by morning. Or you can decide to come with us."
"Why would you want me with you?" Todoroki asked. "You don't even know me."
She smiled. "We like you. We may not seem like it, but we can both be very caring people when motivated to be. You need to get on your feet and we want to help you. And..." She blushed and looked away from him for a moment. "And I won't deny some amount of attraction. If you did want to come with us, having an attractive get away driver wouldn't be the worst thing in the world."
"And if nothing else," King said, announcing his presence as he stepped into the room and closed the door behind him. "We know that you're attracted to her."
Todoroki found himself blushing. "I..."
"And don't fucking lie about it! I hate liars," He growled.
Todoroki swallowed down his words.
"This isn't an all or nothing deal," King told him. "We're not saying you have to sleep with or anything. If you want we can leave you in this hotel room with the startup we promised, leave this hotel, and find someplace else. If you want, you can come with us and be our partner." He tossed the ice on the bed beside them and leaned against the wall. The grinned returned to his face, fierce and just on the side of being vicious. "Of course, if you want to sleep with us in either scenario, we are a package deal."
"Always so forward," Creati said, a soft smile on her face as she watched her partner.
"We don't all have time to tip toe around shit," He answered.
"Do you two do this a lot?" Todoroki asked.
"Do what a lot?" She asked. "Invite attractive people to our bed?"
"Or do you mean taking in strays?" King asked. "Because I can tell you we never take strays. You may not be the first person we've offered a room and car to get away from their problems, but we don't invite people to come with us."
Creati took his hands in hers. "King and I, we know what we like. We don't have problems taking people we both want to bed, but only together. It's not right otherwise."
"This is a lot to think about," Todoroki admitted.
"You have until morning to decide," She told him. She began to wrap the bandage around his head, pressing a cold compress to his eye. "We'll be leaving at dawn. If you want to come with us, meet us in the lobby. If you don't, just stay here."
Todoroki's eyes widened as he turned his head to King. "You're not staying here?"
King snorted, but there was a hint of fondness in his face. "There's a reason we got separate rooms. If you decide not to come with us, we don't you to be able to compromise our room. We might trust you enough to come with us, but that's different than tempting you to put a knife in our backs while we sleep next to an amount of money that would tempt almost anyone."
It was good point, but Todoroki found that he wasn't tempted by the money in the least.He couldn't say the same about these two dangerous strangers, however.
The two began to leave and without meaning to he reached out and grabbed Creati's hand to stop her. She smiled softly at him, bending down to press a kiss to the uncovered half of his face. "You know what to do if you want to see us," She told him.
She slipped out of his hold and then he was alone. It was only after they left that he realized he hadn't seen King take the money, had noticed their luggage being opened, but it was all gone except for a small stack that sat on the nightstand.
He had some thinking to do.
In the end, he didn't take very long to consider his decision. He went out before it was too late to get a rental car, leaving a bit extra as a tip since he knew they wouldn't be getting the car back and feeling bad about it, then he parked it in the lobby as far from their arrival car as possible. He scrubbed his car clean of all his possession and identifying marks, drove it a few blocks away, and used his quirk to torch it. It seemed that he had a habit of leaving his old life in flames, there was no reason to quit now. It seemed fitting honestly, that he would use his fire to escape his life when it had been oppressing him so long. Liberating almost. He didn't let the fire continue to burn long. He dosed the flames in his ice and left the wreckage where it was, satisfied that nothing was left for him there.
Once he was back at the hotel, he set alarms. He sat an alarm on his phone, He set the hotel alarm clock, and he called the front desk and asked for a wake up. He was not going to a chance that he would miss his new life. He didn't know what he would make of it yet, but he was already attached to these two. They made him feel something other than the hot rage and cold numbness that he was used to and he wasn't prepared to lose than when he'd just found it.
He was sitting in the lobby waiting for them when they stepped off the elevator, dressed in new, sharp looking suits and seeming as normal and inconspicuous as any power couple might.
"You decided to join us," Creati said happily.
"Yeah, I did." Todoroki smiled at them. It felt strange after so long to have an honest smile on his face, like his muscle might have forgotten how to do it right, but he managed and the action was able to get a return smile from them both. "I got us a new rental."
"That was very sweet of you," Creati said. She laid a hand on his arm and began to steer him out of the building, allowing for him to seamless began guiding them to where he'd left the car.
"I torched the other," He told them.
"You make a habit of that?" King asked him.
"It seems that I have."
"My kind of guy," King responded, making Creati laughed behind her hand.
"You'll get along famously," She said.
Once they reached the car, King held his hand out for the keys. "I know you're going to be our driver, but let's wait until that burn heals a bit better."
Todoroki handed over the keys without protest and slipped into the backseat while Creati put the luggage in the trunk. Once they were all buckled in and on the road, Creati turned to face him. "My name is Momo," she said. "And that's Katsuki. It's very nice to meet you."
Katsuki groaned. "You and fucking manners."
Todoroki found himself smiling. "I'm Shouto."
"I look forward to working with you," Momo said.
Katsuki grunted. "I give it a month tops before we get him to bed."
"Katsuki!" She scolded.
"What? Don't act like you don't want it now."
"You could have a bit more decorum," She told him.
"The fuck would I want that shit?"
Shouto found himself laughing, honest to god laughter pouring out of him at the exchange. "This might be the best decision I've ever made," He told them.
"You damn straight it is," Katsuki said.
"We'll take good care of you, you'll see," Momo added.
Looking between them both, Shouto found himself quietly agreeing with Katsuki's assessment of a month. He wasn't sure he would be able to resist them if they could find ways to make him feel as happy and free as he did in this moment.
A look at the relationship between Midoriya, Shinso, and Hatsume. They may not function as smoothly as others, but their relationship works in it's own way.
[Midoriya x Shinso x Hatsume] [ShinDeku, IzuMei, ShinHatsume]
[Established Relationship, Polyamory, OT3, Developing Relationship, Humor, Character Study, Introspection]
There was a clatter as metal fall from the table and piled onto the floor. Mei didn't pay it any attention. She needed more space on the table and wasn't afraid to clear away anything not immediately in use. If her babies couldn't take a little wear and tear they weren't very good in the first place.
She paused long enough to flex her stiff fingers, absently cracking her neck. She was far too stiff. She'd been hunched over her work bench for a little too long, but there was no chance she would leave until her work was done. Everything was background noise compared to that. The grumbling in her stomach was no worse than the kink in her back, the grim on her flesh was no more than an itch, and the great thing about her quirk was that she could focus even when her eyes became blurry from lack of sleep.
The bang of the door opening only marginally got her attention. She turned to glance at the door, but her attention quickly went back to her work when she saw that it was only Shinso.
"It smells like a pig pen in here," Shinso announced as he crossed the room. "Would it kill you to air out the room every once in a while?"
He propped himself up on the work bench beside her latest project, but she didn't bother to look at him. She needed to focus and Shinso was a distraction.
The silence settled between them for a moment before he tapped on her project. "Tell me about this."
She didn't look up as she began to rattle off information, but found herself stopped halfway through.
"That's great, Mei! Look at me," Shinso ordered. There was a smile on his face, humor in his voice. "Do I even have to say it?" He asked, shaking his head at her. "Go back to your room, take a shower, sleep for eight hours, then call me."
There was no fight in her as she turned to follow his commands.
"Love you, Mei!" His voice followed her out of the room.
Shinso was with Midoriya when he got the call.
Hanging around both Midoriya and Hatsume had gotten him used to having a near constant stream of noise floating around in the background. Shinso didn't mind it so much. He could tune out if he wanted to and sometimes heard something interesting if he didn't, the only difference was subject matter. With Midoriya it was all quirks, and hero worship, and awkward stories that were way funnier than they had any right to be, even if Midoriya was too embarrassed to see how hilarious he was; and with Hatsume it was tech, and wild ideas, dropped conversations as she inspired herself mid speech. Sometimes the two talked to each other and the combined deluge of noise and ideas was as smooth as music, but he'd never admit to the investment he actually had in them talking.
"Midoriya, be quiet," Shinso commanded. He didn't use his quirk, he didn't have to. Midoriya was the sort of person that defaulted to listening to others anyway, so the chatter that had been going on was slowly halted. Shinso put the call on speaker. "Hi, Mei."
"You're a monster!" Those were the first words out of her mouth. It was something that could easily rub him the wrong way. Words like 'monster' were too close to villain for him to take in stride usually, but he'd learned to give Hatsume a bit more leeway.
Hatsume wouldn't know how to watch her words if she invented a machine to do it for her. She was careless in every sense of the words. The way she spoke, the way she interacted with others, the lack of care she gave herself... It had not taken many days of missed calls, delayed apologies, and forgotten meetups for Shinso to realize that Hatsume was a stable disaster that needed to be taken in stride.
He laughed, leaning back against the bed where he sat on the floor of Midoriya's room. Midoriya moved to sit on the edge of the bed, closer to him. "You sound well rested."
"I was almost done! I was so close."
"You went to see Hatsume?" Midoriya asked. He was smiling, Shinso could hear it.
"I needed to air her out," He explained.
Midoriya laughed, prompting Shinso's smile to become wider.
"I was three upgrades from finishing and you made me forget half of my plans!" She exclaimed. Listening Hatsume complain about having to take care of herself was honestly one of Shinso's secret pleasures.
"You should take better care of yourself, Hatsume," Midoriya told her in the sadly caring tone that made Shinso think he'd make a great hero. He'd perfected that 'I'm not mad, just disappointed voice.' "If you did, Shin would have to show up to make you all the time."
Shinso blushed at the nickname, slumping down in his seat to hide his embarrassment. "Y-yeah, stop being such a pig."
"I'm going to lock you out of my lab. You're banned, you here me!" Hatsume proclaimed.
"Ooh, I'm so scared. Pffft!"
"Hatsume, you know we care about you," Midoriya said, trying to soothe over Shinso's careless response. It made Shinso want to be more flippant, more belligerent, just to see how far Midoriya would go to be a buffer for him.
"If either of you cared about me, you'd let me work!"
She hung up.
Shinso dramatically blew out a long breath and let hid phone drop to the floor. He followed soon after, letting himself fall sideways onto the floor. "You ever wonder what it would be like to have a real girlfriend?" He asked. "One that worries about makeup and dates and dumb stuff like that?"
Midoriya shook his head. "I, uh, I don't think I'd know what to do with myself if Hatsume was someone like that." His face had gone red, like it always did when he talked about relationships, theirs or otherwise.
Shinso lifted his phone and took a picture while Midoriya wasn't looking, quickly gaining his attention from the flash and loud clicking sound. He had his setting perfectly set to embarrass Midoriya whenever he snapped a picture of him. It was swo satisfying to see the panic and red cheeks lighting up Midoriya's face that he took another picture. "Perfect."
There was a chance the Shinso's infactuation with Mei and Midoriya was entirely due to how easily he could troll them both. Shinso grinned.
"Shin, please!" Midoriya launched for the phone, but Shinso predicted that move and held it out of sight.
"Not that easy, Midoriya."
He attempted to get the phone from Shinso a few more times, extending himself further and further until he fell off of the bed and landed on top of Shinso.
"Oof! You trying to kill me, Mido?" Shinso asked.
Midoriya scrambled off quickly. "Oh my gosh, I'm so sorry! I r-r-really didn't mean to!" He was so flustered that he was getting tongue tied.
Shinso laughed as he sat up. "Yeah, I know." He lightly kissed Midoriya's cheek and laughed again as Midoriya's flush covered even more skin. He took another quick pic.
Midoriya groaned. "Shin, why?" He hid his face in his hands as he let himself fall to the floor and curl up in a ball.
Shinso moved over him to snap more pictures. "Hold that pose."
"Hatsume is right. You're a monster."
The tone was so light and playful that Shinso couldn't find himself upset about it. Hatsume could say it. Midoriya could say it. He knew what they meant, what they thought of it. They hadn't redefined the word, just rearranged his feelings about it a bit.
"Hatsume, is this your room?" Midoriya's jaw dropped as Hatsume held open a door.
She smiled brightly at him. "Yep. Do you like it?"
The room looked more like a junk yard than anything else. There were inventions and spare parts littering every surface he could see, along with a clutter of coffee cups and energy drinks. He found himself looking over at Shinso, who met his gaze with his own skeptical one.
"Do you even have a bed?" Shinso questioned.
Hatsume waved him off as if it was the most trivial thing he could have asked about. "It's in there somewhere. It's not a big deal."
"Is this why you don't sleep?" Shinso continued. "Because your room is a literal landfill?"
"Hey! Don't talk about my babies like they're trash," Hatsume scolded. She took a few careful steps into the room and placed her hand on one of her 'babies.' Something that closer inspection revealed to be a robot that was just slightly shorter than the doorway. "Besides, if I really need to, I can sleep here." She pat the arms which were curled into a craddle position, making Midoriya wonder if she'd been sleeping there the whole time.
Midoriya looked at her with horror. "Is that where you've been sleeping?"
"Midoriya, It's fine," She insisted.
"Nothing about this room is fine!"
"You worry too much."
"I'm not leaving here until this room is livable," He told her.
Shinso let out a breath and moved to lean against the wall across from her door, taking out his phone and sliding to the ground. "I refuse to participate in this."
"That's fine," MIdoriya said, rolling up his sleeves. "I spent a summer cleaning up a beach as quirk training, I can handle Hatsume's room."
"Midoriya, you don't need to do that," Hatsume told him.
"One of us has to and we both know that it won't be you."
"Just sit down and say out of the way," Shinso told her.
"It's my room," She replied, placing her hands on her hips.
"Not anymore it's not."
"Why did you even bring us here to study?" Midoriya asked. "You knew what this place was like."
"I just wanted to pick up something, but I forgot what it was," She admitted.
"You're a fucking disaster, Mei!" Shinso complained loudly.
"Shut up, Shins--"
"Help Midoriya clean your room," He ordered.
Immediately, Hatsume hunched over and began to gather up the empty coffee cups.
Midoriya looked over his shoulder to smile at Shinso. "Thanks."
Shinso gave a thumbs up but kept his eyes trained on his phone. This was going to be a long day and he was pretty sure that no studying was going to get done.
Hatsume wasn't good at taking care of people, caring about them, interacting with them, or remembering them. She spent long stretches of time locked up in a creative haze, forgetting to call or check on anyone and generally being reclusive until someone came to flush her out. She said the first thing that came to mind which had the effect of making people respond less than favorably to her sometimes.
In the beginning, Midoriya seemed to be hurt by her lack of contact. He'd come peaking into her lab with a sheepish expression and hunched shoulders, which she only noticed because she was so enthusiastic to create something for him that he got nearly all her attention when he showed up. Shinso was usually pissed and they'd ended up screaming at each other when he showed up to vent his rage at her neglect, evolving from indifference on her part to annoyance and anger when he started insulting her skills and abilities.
Eventually Midoriya figured out that she wasn't bothered by his presence and was just forgetful and Shinso stopped taking her long silences so personally. Even as friends Hatsume was a load on their relationship and she wasn't sure why Midoriya put up with her. No one else ever did. Usually after enough missed dates, unanswered calls, and silent visits ass he worked instead of interacting, people gave up on her.
Not Midoriya.
As soon as he realized that she wasn't ignoring him or opposed to his presence, he started showing up with more frequency. He had the patience of a saint. He came to ask her if she needed anything, he didn't stress her about missed appointments, and was actually pretty good company. It was only natural that eventually she'd notice that Shinso kept hanging around the lab, that food appeared on the table at her elbow, that she had pretty consistent friends and felt like a real heel for the way she treated them.
Hatsume knew very well that she sucked at people.
She had her own way of trying to take care of the people she cared about though. Like trying to offer MIdoriya things that could help him control his quirk. Like keeping a space clear floor Shinso when he wanted to show up, somewhere out of sight of the door so that no one else could find him if he didn't want to be found. Like looking up when the door opened so that she could acknowledge their presence.
She wasn't really sure that she was doing enough until Shinso confessed to her on Midoriya's behalf. Apparently, he'd told her that he liked her days earlier and she hadn't realized, so Shinso came into say the same thing in a more blunt manner. That was the dynamic that they shared, had been sharing, when they extended an invitation to include her whatever it was they shared.
Hatsume hadn't known they were... anything, if she were honest. She hadn't paid attention. She never paid attention to anyone, really, except them. She had been pretty sure she would say no up until the point where she'd said yes. Then Midoriya sneaking in to check on her turned into Shinso forcing her out of the lab to eat and sleep, turned into him and Midoriya double teaming the inventions she made to stall them, turned into Shinso using his quirk on her once he learned it was okay.
Hatsume was not good with people. That was why she talked to Shinso about their relationship before Midoriya. Midoriya was better at explaining things, but Shinso was better at actually talking. That was why she let Midoriya lure her out of her lab to hang out.
Hatsume was bad with people, but she could learn and she could be taught.
They were on the floor of Midoriya's room. It was where they ended up most often, since Hatsume's room was a dumpster fire and Shinso hated having people in his space most of the time despite being fine existing in theirs. He was laying on the floor scrolling through his phone, she was sitting against the wall tinkering with something in the palm of her hand, and Midoriya was sitting on his bed. There was a hum of chatter, but he wasn't sure which of them was doing the talking this time.
Shinso would admit to a lack of planning on his part when he dropped his phone and asked, "Are we ever gonna make out?"
Midoriya made a choking sound from the bed and looked at Shinso with wide, panicked eyes. Shinso had honestly just asked the question without thought, so he hadn't anticipated Midoriya's reaction despite the fact that it was completely obvious. "W-what?"
"Sure," Hatsume shrugged. Leave it to her to not even look up from her current project. "Could be an intriguing course of action."
Shinso rolled over so that he could watch Hatsume. "Are you even into kissing people or are you only attracted to science and robotics?"
Hatsume shrugged. "I've never kissed anyone before, so I don't know."
"W-what?" Midoriya repeated.
Shinso looked over at Midoriya, a grin slowly spreading over his lips at the look on Midoriya's face. "You've thought about it, right?"
"I-I-I.... y-you...." His words devolved into a groan and he buried his face in a pillow.
Hatsume actually looked up at this. "You okay, Midoriya?"
"Do you wanna go first?" Shinso added.
"How can you ask me that?" Midoriya yelled.
"Easily."
Midoriya made a strangled sound of embarrassment.
Shinso wasn't sure whether or not those sounds were meant to be words, but it got a chuckle out of him anyway. He moved into a sitting position. "I'll go first."
Midoriya's head popped up from where it was buried. He was completely red, expression utterly mortified, and yet his eyes were glued to both Shinso and Hatsume. Midoriya was so easy to read. Shinso winked at him just to see the embarrassment rise within him.
Hatsume put down her project and looked between them. She stretched her arms out over her head. "We doing this?"
"Yeah," Shinso said."I'm clearly the only one with any experience between us, so I'll take the lead for you hopeless youths."
"Have you k-kissed anyone before?" Midoriya asked.
"Nope," Shinso replied, popping the p and drawing the word out. "But I know more about it than either of you, obviously."
"Teach me, Shin," Hatsume said. She reached out to him, but didn't move, looking more curious than anything else. Shinso rolled to his feet and crawled over to Hatsume, taking her face into his hands. "Don't bite me or anything weird like that."
"Why do you expect me to do something weird?" She asked.
"Because yo always do," He told her. He leaned forward to press his lips to hers and Hatsume surged forward, knocking them both to the ground but keeping their lips connected the whole way. Once they hit the ground she started licking his lips, but more like she was tasting him than trying to do anything sexy. "What the hell, Mei?" He asked, pushing her face away to avoid being licked like she was a puppy.
"What? I didn't bite you?" Hatsume replied.
"No, you did something weird!"
"How was I supposed to know it was weird?"
"Do you usually go around licking people?"
"Well, not anymore," She said.
"The fuck, Hatsume?"
"Y-you... really don't know much about kissing, do you?" Midoriya spoke up quietly.
Hatsume shrugged. "I know the basics. Lips, tongue, and teeth in different arrangements."
"Oh my god, Hatsume," Shinso sighed. "Couldn't you have just followed my lead?"
"What would I learn by doing that?" She asked. "Experimentation is the only way to--"
"I'm not one of your inventions!" He groaned.
Hatsume shrugged. "I could--"
"Please don't say whatever it is that you're thinking. I know that I'm not going to like it." He pushed her away so that he could sit up. "Midoriya, please. I have to show this weirdo what she's supposed to do!"
"Uh.... I, um...."
"Midoriya, don't pass out on me. It's just a kiss." Shinso sighed, pulling his legs up and resting his head on his knees. "Why am i dating you two hopeless idiots."
"Beats me," Hatsume replied easily.
"I-I c-could... um, I could t-try..." Midoriya stammered.
"I'm not gonna peer pressure you into a kiss," Shinso told him.
"I-I didn't mean--"
"Midoriya, shut up." Shinso ordered. He used his quirk just to be on the safe side. He wanted to mope, not to guilt trip his partners. Midoriya didn't always see the distinction and it was better not to let him talk himself into doing things he didn't want to make other people happy.
There was a short, blessed silence and Shinso mourned when Hatsume broke it. "You should let me study your quirk some more."
Shinso let himself fall to the ground. "I'm gonna die a virgin."
It was probably a good thing that Midoriya couldn't react to that, because Shinso was certain that statement would have killed him.
Affection was a difficult thing to get used to between them. Midoriya himself wasn't exactly opposed to the idea, though intimacy made him nervous, once he had time to get used to each new stage in their relationship, he managed not to freak out as much about it. He had stammered for five minutes straight the first time Hatsume held his hand, only to realize that she hadn't meant it that way. It had startled him the first time Shinso hugged him only to later realize it was so that Shinso could flip off people that were staring at them without him being the wiser.
In a lot of ways, it was nice not to be dating people that wanted to be all over him all the time. In other ways, it was a little disappointing and frustrating.
Hatsume never initiated touching unless it was for the purpose of some experiment, wanting to study his quirk, or trying to get him to participate or help her with an invention.
Shinso was as likely to touch him as not. He wasn't big on public affection, but would get more touching if there were people around that he could annoy or piss off with it the action. He would put an arm around Midoriya to show him something on his phone or hold his hand on rare occasions, but most public affection was not initiated. Sometimes Shinso would lean against him when they were in Midoriya's room and that was nice, but it wasn't exactly what he wanted. He didn't know what he wanted or how to express the desire that nagged at him.
It was for this reason that Midoriya was totally surprised that the first kiss he shared in this relationship was with Hatsume.
"Hey, Midoriya, sit here." She cleared a space on her work bench and pat the area to indicate where she wanted him.
"What's this for?" He asked as he hopped into place.
"Shinso got me thinking and I feel like we should conduct our own experiment," She told him.
"What experiment?"
Hatsume took his face in her hands, staring at him intently and mumbling her observations out loud. She turned his head left and right, up and down, looked into his eyes and closely at his lips.
"Uh, Hatsume?"
"Shh. You'll interrupt my notes, Midoriya."
"Are you recording this!" He asked, eyes darting around to search for a watching camera.
"Audio only," She replied. "Now shh. Subject seems anxious, mostly likely due to the surprise of preservation rather than the soon to precede activities."
"What acti-"
She pressed her lips to his, soft and warm and nothing like what she'd done to Shinso weeks ago. He was blushing, a warmth spreading throughout his entire body when she pulled away. "H-Hatsume..."
"Pleasant. Receptive," She said clearly. "First experiment a success. Now to explore the variables."
"Wha-"
Her mouth closed down on his once more, except this kiss was nowhere near as simple and Midoriya had the sudden thought that she had much more experience than she had a few weeks ago.
Watching her boyfriends sparring was something that she never thought she would find as interesting as she did. On a surface level there was interest, of course. Having the chance to study Midoriya's quirk in action was always something she was interested in, and having a controlled environment to observe Shinso was something she constantly fought for. This was different though.
They didn't always or even most of the time, spar using their quirks. Most of the time it was Midoriya running through simple motions, demonstrating kicks and punches, and Shinso reluctantly trying to imitate the actions. Shinso liked to complain a lot about being 'forced to train' but she was almost certain he was the one that asked Midoriya for help and he tried to push himself in training like he never did anywhere else.
She wasn't always sure why she showed up to watch these training sessions. Sometimes she participated. She wasn't exactly trying to be a hero like they were, but staying in shape made some things easier for her. Watching them was oddly compelling. Studying the movement of their bodies, the subtle muscle spasms, watching the sweat drip down their skin.
"Oh!" Her exclamation caught both boys attention and paused mid movement to look at her. "I find you both attractive."
Shinso immediately began laughing, putting his hands on his knees to brace himself as his breathing was replaced with a constant stream of giggles.
"Hastu... Hatsume... Oh god," Shinso tried to speak between fits of laughter with little success at first. "Holy shit... Only you, Mei."
"Um..." Midoriya looked nervous, fidgeting in place and unsure of what to say.
Hatsume was pretty sure she knew how to smooth over this situation. She smiled at them. "Hey, Shinso? I think now would be a good time for that making out that you wanted to do before."
"Ha-Hatsume!" Midoriya yelled.
"This is isn't the first time we've kissed Midoriya, it's fine," She told him.
"B-but..."
"Unless you don't want to?" She questioned.
He blushed more and avoided her eyes, then Shinso's as Midoriya noticed him watching as well. "I... I do... want to," He admitted quietly.
"Then there's no problem," Shinso said. He reached out for Midoriya's hand, pulling him closer and smiling softly. "Let's go to my room, for once. Less interruptions."
Midoriya nodded shyly.
Hatsume stood up, dusting off her pants, and took Midoriya's other hand. She smiled at him enthusiastically. "I think this will go well. Don't be so nervous. I already studied this extensively--"
"That's probably not helping, Mei," Shinso told her.
"Does my excitement help?" She asked. "Because I think I'm fairly excited."
"That's a nice change," Shinso said. "I'm pretty excited too."
It was quiet for a while Midoriya added, "Y-yeah... so am I."
She and Shinso smiled at each other. It wasn't the smoothest relationship, but it seemed to work for them and they all enjoyed it, so she looked forward to gathering all the data about their habits and likes as she could.
