Class Presidents’ Meeting (ItsuMomo Short Story)
Momo’s legs were shaking – they never shook. If her mother were here, there would be two red handprints on her thighs. She couldn’t help it, though. She took a few deep breaths to compose herself and steady her accelerating heart rate, trying to distract herself by focusing on the meeting, and not on the girl a few seats away. It did not work, much to her frustration.
“Any thoughts? Yaoyorozu?” Aizawa fixated his dull eyes on her.
“Huh?” She replied dumbly, his voice knocking her out of her thoughts. Every time he looked at her, she couldn’t help but feel like they were back in the finals, with him erasing her quirk. Like that of a hawk’s, scanning her movement and her thoughts. She quailed under his gaze.
“Um...” She flickered her eyes towards the blackboard. What were they discussing about? Right, the training camp activities.
She wished she had remembered quicker, because after just a second of silence, Aizawa said, “Kendo?”
The girl in question shot a brief apologetic look at her, before offering her own suggestions, leaving Momo’s face burning. What’s the matter with me? It’s just a present. I’m not asking her out or anything.
She mentally slapped herself for even thinking of that. Focus on the meeting. That’s what you’re here for anyway.
Aizawa wrote some of Kendo’s ideas down, then asked, “Yaoyorozu. Any input?” To which she responded promptly. Her homeroom teacher gave a acknowledging grunt and continued the list with her own suggestions.
As she was speaking, she noted from the corner of her eye that Kendo’s eyes were darting between the board and her, with that curious look, like a puppy seeing a ball for the first time. She saw it a few times during their internship with Uwabami, and it has stayed with her ever since.
She’s looking, the mischievous part of her mind teased. She prayed that she wasn’t blushing. Not now.
After another ten minutes of discussion and cutting out ideas that wouldn’t work, Aizawa concluded the meeting. “I’ll take these to Vlad. We’ll gather all four of you next week to confirm, and then you guys can get started on planning the game itself. Dismissed.”
The two simultaneously stood up and thanked him. Before they could leave, Momo heard Aizawa call from behind her, “Yaoyorozu. A word.”
She gulped and turned around. Kendo gave her a last glance before leaving. No, she panicked. How am I going to...
She was genuinely considering ignoring her teacher’s words and booking it for the door, but she knew better than to disobey him.
She expected a scolding. It was probably from that screw-up earlier, or did she forget to hand in the class forms to him? Did she miss out someone? She swore she counted 20. Or was it something entirely else she completely ––
“Is something wrong? You seem off,” Aizawa asked. “Ever since this morning, you seemed jumpy.”
“No! No, everything’s alright. Just...um, drank too much tea.” She tried for a reassuring smile, but she doubted it was convincing.
“Okay...” His demeanour didn’t change. It was difficult to tell what he was feeling aside from when he was angry. “Well, don’t go overboard on that, then. You’re dismissed.”
She thanked him, grabbed her bag and walked as calmly as she could do the door. The second she shut it behind her, she raced down the corridor. Could I still catch her? How long did that take? What if she went a different way?
“Momo!” Kendo’s voice made her skid to a halt. She was by a pillar, waving her over.
“Kendo! Uh, hi! Were you waiting for me?” Momo walked towards her. They began walking out of the school.
“Yeah! You looked funny just now. What did Aizawa-sensei call you for?”
“Um, same thing as you, actually.” She was waiting for me? This never happened.
Give it to her! It’s the perfect time! She screamed at herself. She ignored it. There had to be some better moment so it wouldn’t be so weird...
“Really? Well, that means it’s obvious. You alright?”
“Yes! I’m good. Thanks for asking.” Momo’s bag suddenly felt ten times heavier with what she was carrying, even though it was as light as a feather. Her heart was beating unnaturally fast, and the sweat pouring from her forehead...that was from her running earlier, right?
“Hm.” She didn’t sound convinced. “Well, alright.” Then she switched the subject. “Aren’t you glad these meetings are almost done? Just one last planning session before the camp! All those weeks I could have spent sleeping instead...” She sighed dramatically. “I’ll never get those back now.”
“Yeah...” Her voice trailed off. I always looked forward to the meetings, She wanted to say. It was the only time she had a legitimate excuse to be in the same room as her.
“You must have enjoyed them, though. You showed up to every meeting. Ibara was pretty surprised,” She said.
Momo recalled taking ten minutes to persuade Iida to let her attend all the meetings. That guy was insistent, but her insistence won in the end.
“Heh, yeah, I suppose.” She ran a hand through her hair. GIVE IT NOW! A part of her yelled.
NOT YET! The other shot back.
“Even if you didn’t, it’s nice of you to do so. You’re a good vice chairperson.” Kendo added. Momo’s heart crawled into her windpipe when she heard that.
“Thanks,” She managed to say, “You too, keeping Monoma in check and all.”
“Ugh, don’t get me started on him.” She pulled a face, and Momo giggled, causing Kendo to smile, then it faded. “On his behalf, I’m really sorry for all his, uh...annoying-ness.”
“It’s fine.” She waved dismissively. “We deal with it.”
They were walking down the hill. “So, where you heading to?”
“Um...” Momo was hesitant to answer. Kendo blinked, before she slapped herself. “Right, I forgot you had a...”
Driver. Chauffeur. Something only Momo and a few other rich people at U.A had. Momo didn’t want it in the first place, but her mother was adamant that wouldn’t have her daughter take public transport, so she agreed on the condition that he would pick her up at the train station itself. Kendo only knew about it due to the internship.
Another awkward silence drifted over the two.
“Nothing to apologise for. It’s a weird subject,” Momo replied, mentally punching herself for making Kendo feel bad.
They had reached the foot of the hill. “I’m crossing the road here.” She pointed at the bus stop on the opposite street. “Bye!”
“Wait!” Momo called. Kendo tilted her head. “Yeah?”
She was definitely blushing. Her face felt the same during the Todoroki-Midoriya match in its final moments: burning hot.
“I–I have something for you.” She slung her bag over and unzipped it, bringing out –
“A pair of gloves?” Kendo stared at them. “Thank you, but...why?”
“You mentioned during the internship that you couldn’t get a costume that could fit your hands when you used your quirk, since no material could stretch to that size and still be useful as a weapon or protective layer. But this is made from genetically modified silkworms developed in America, so the companies here wouldn’t have access to it. It’s strong as steel but still flexible, so I thought...”
“You bought them from America?” Kendo gaped at her, her question answering itself “Oh, Momo...you didn’t...make them with your quirk, did you?”
Momo meekly nodded. Kendo took the gloves from her, then before Momo could retract her hands, Kendo’s eyes narrowed, and she said, “Wait. Don’t!”
Before Momo knew what was happening, Kendo had grabbed her left hand and was inspecting it. It began to tremble at her warm touch.
“This patch is paler. I’m guessing from your quirk? From making these?” She held up the gloves with her other hand.
“No! I spilt some soup and –” Momo stuttered.
“Don’t lie to me,” She threatened.
Momo dipped her head. “Yes,” she said after a brief silence. There was no getting anything past her.
“How long did this take?”
“A few days. Getting the material correct was the hard part,” She muttered.
“And that was what caused...” Kendo let her hands fall to her side. “Momo...”
“You don’t have to wear them. Maybe suggest it to the costume companies and they can modify your costume...or something. I don’t know why I did this. I’ll be going now.” She turned to leave from her embarrassment, but Kendo grabbed her arm with a grip firm enough to stop her from leaving, but gentle enough for Momo to want to melt in her hands.
“Thank you. It’s very thoughtful of you,” Kendo murmured, looking directly into Momo’s eyes. She’s blushing.
“You’re welcome,” Momo squeaked, her arm feeling like putty.
Kendo let go of her arm. “So...see you at the next meeting?” She sounded hopeful.
“Definitely,” She responded with a sheepish smile. Kendo flashed her own grin before the two parted.
