Chapter 5 - Chapter 4: Momo

It was a long day for Momo; she had been at five different meetings since the launch. She didn't like any second of those two-hour-long meetings. Shopping, coffee, gossiping - that is what Momo wanted to do at this moment. She wanted to be a normal teenage girl. Representing her father's company didn't fit the description. She yearned for the carefree days when her biggest concern was what outfit to wear to school. Being constantly surrounded by adults discussing business strategies made her feel out of place and disconnected from her peers.Momo put down the three folders, filled with paperwork, on the table with a sigh. She took off her hair tie, releasing her spiky ponytail. She unbuttoned her black blazer, revealing her baggy white blouse. Smoothing down her long skirt with her hand, she reached for her heels and took them off.Her phone was filled with notifications from various social media apps, from many people, but not from him. She knew that her best friend didn't want to disturb her, but sometimes it meant a lot to her. After digging through her phone, she saw a notification button that read a missed call or an unread message.Her phone started to vibrate, indicating a new message. Surprised and hopeful, she dug through her notifications, finding the new one at the end. It wasn't anything special; it was a simple message from her mother. Disappointed, she put her phone on the glass table, and her gaze moved from the phone towards the small plate with a meal that her father had ordered for her earlier. The aroma of the food wafted up, enticing her senses. She hadn't realized how hungry she was after skipping dinner. With a growling stomach, she reached for the fork and took a bite of the cold, stiff meal. As she chewed, she couldn't help but feel a pang of disappointment. The taste was bland and unappetizing-not at all what she had been craving. She longed for a warm, home-cooked meal made with love and care. That wasn't an option for her, and Momo was worried about when it would be. She hoped that that time would come soon.After finishing her meal, Momo started to go over her phone, checking the time every few minutes. The last time she checked, it was 21:40. It was too late to call or message anybody, and it seemed like her father wasn't coming anytime soon, so she decided to go to sleep.That was her routine when she decided to go on business trips. It was a deal with her father that she should come with him at least once a month.She brushed her teeth and went to bed to wake up early tomorrow, and repeat the day in the same way.All days were the same. They consisted of meetings and tiring speeches. It was like that for Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday, butChange struck on Wednesday.With the last meeting canceled, Momo had all night to herself. Every normal girl would roam the streets of New York. That wasn't what she wanted. She won't miss her opportunity.She wanted to hear from her friends.She sent a message on her phone before she went to her hotel room to change."Can I call you in 30 minutes?"As she was entering the elevator, her phone vibrated and went off with distinct sounds. She didn't want to check her phone yet; she wanted to give Izuku time. If she timed her message right, he would receive it when he was free and awake and wasn't at school. If she calculated the time differences right, it would be about 11 a.m. in Japan. All that's left is to wait.It didn't take too much time to change-around five minutes. Most of the rest of her free time she spent holding her phone in front of her face. Izuku's contact was opened, and other distractions were disabled.She waited five, ten, fifteen minutes until she got what she wanted: a response."Give me 10 minutes."Izuku answered, and he left the app, leaving the text next to his name read last time online a few moments ago.Those words were reflected in Momo's onyx eyes. She waited every second until she counted ten minutes. She decided to dial his number before putting the phone next to her ear. It rang for a few minutes, but nobody was answering.Emotionless, she put the phone on the glass table. Hands supporting her head. It was silent. It was always the silence that hurt, and this time it hurt her even more."Room service."'Great, I can't be even depressed properly,' Momo thought as she walked towards the door and said, "Give me a minute."Opening the doors revealed a woman in a black suit, pushing a cart with food.There were straightforward meals like pasta and soups, ranging to the most complex that Momo rolled her eyes at. There was a plate with different kinds of cut vegetables next to the Steak that Momo recognized in an instant, Scandinavian Steak."I will just take the soup," Momo answered as she eyed the maid. She took the tray and placed the bowl with soup on top of it, bringing it inside the room.She placed the tray on the small shelf next to the door; the shelf was lined up from the bottom of the room towards the ceiling.She placed her hand over the soup, activating her quirk. Her palm started to glow a faint pink glow. From the glow, a thick, sandy substance came and dropped into the soup."Wait for a few minutes," Momo muttered to herself as she observed the soup. She was right. The soup started bubbling one minute after it made contact with the sandy substance. "Another poisoning attempt," Momo said to herself nonchalantly. "I guess I will report it later."Momo wasn't sulking. She wasn't afraid, no; she was just annoyed and disappointed. With no expression on her face, she turned her back to the failure in front of her. As she was walking towards the table, something lit her face; something fixed her mood. Her phone was ringing, and the caller ID was Izuku. Momo picked up."It took you long enough," Momo said the second she answered the phone.There was a chuckle on the other end. "I didn't know you missed me that much," Izuku teased."Don't flatter yourself.""I see you are not as busy as you say."Momo smiled at the sudden comment. "I made an exception for you."Izuku gasped dramatically on the other side of the phone. "You actually care."Momo's sigh was enough of an answer to his childish provoking. "How's your week been?""It was shit." It surprised Momo a little, as Izuku wasn't the kind of person to resort to vulgar words. "And I still have detention on Friday.""What did you do this time?" Momo asked, annoyed."I fell asleep," Izuku answered in a low and slow manner."Again?""Again.""I can't even be surprised anymore," Momo said into her phone with a faint smile on her face. "Did you screw up anything else?""Agatha." It was a quiet and lifeless answer.Momo wondered whether it was right to question him more or not. "Agatha?" She decided on the prior option. "Do you want to talk about it?""No, I will sort it out tomorrow or the day after that," Izuku answered slowly."Anything else interesting?""Nope," he said. "What about you?""Nothing in particular, same as always, meetings, speeches, and so on," Momo said in a bored and plain voice."What about the punk girl?""Who, Jiro-san?" Momo asked as she got a confirmation sound from Izuku. "Could you please stop calling her that?""No.""Well, she is on some kind of trip in Europe, going to different concerts every other day.""And how do you expect me not to call her a punk girl?" Izuku asked with laughter that Momo missed so much."Find a more appropriate nickname."He chuckled softly before bursting out in laughter while Momo was still dead serious. "We got off topic," he said when he caught enough air to form a sentence. "I asked about you, not her.""I told you there isn't anything interesting to talk about." She lied; there was a third assassination attempt on her life and so many on her father's that she stopped counting, but that would just worry him. "I don't have stage fright anymore, so there isn't any reason to talk about it anymore.""Come on," Izuku started whining. "You want me to believe you've spent a whole week in New York and there isn't anything to talk about?""Nope.""How much time do you have left? Is your plane coming soon?""No, why would you ask that?" she asked, confused as to why he would ask such a question until it hit her. "I forgot to tell him," She muttered to herself underneath her breath."You were supposed to come back today, so I guessed your flight was canceled and you waited for a new one," he said slowly. His slow tone was to confirm that what he said was the truth."Izuku, sorry, I forgot to tell you, I won't come home tonight or tomorrow. I am coming on Sunday.""Oh." It was a broken and disappointed answer. "Then is it a bad time to call now, you must be busy?""No, I am free the whole night."And she spent every bit, every second of that free night. She was taking full advantage of her chance. At first, the conversation didn't flow so smoothly after Momo shared the new information.It took some time for that moment to be forgotten and for everything to return to normal. Time always helps and heals, but it can backfire if you rely too much on it. Sometimes you let time pass too much, and it is too late. Momo knew that was the best since that happened to her multiple times, and she wasn't going to let that happen with Izuku."You actually did that to Bakugo?" Momo asked with a dramatic gasp, "and he let you off the hook?""It hurts when you think that the only reason, I am fine is that he left me off the hook," Izuku whined."Sorry," she answered with a wide smile that Izuku was unaware of. "What happened?""He left me off the hook."Momo burst out laughing. She couldn't breathe. It wasn't anything funny in particular that she laughed at. It was Izuku's delivery."Don't laugh!" he said quietly, but Momo didn't process anything that he said."Miss Yaoyorozu," an unfamiliar voice called for her. After making a pause, it continued, "Mr. Yaoyorozu sent me to relay you the next message." The voice took another pause before Momo turned to look in the direction of the voice and locked her eyes on the woman behind her. She was her father's secretary. After locking eyes, she started to quote, "'Dinner at 10. Be ready at 21:45 in front of the hotel.' Now it's 8, and you have an hour and a half to get ready. I'll be waiting in front of your room.""Fine, you can leave.""Izuku, I need to go. Call you soon.""I heard everything; call me as soon as you can," Izuku said before hanging up."Nami, did my father say anything else?""No, miss. I will take my leave now," she answered as she opened the room door to leave, but Momo stopped her."Wait, Nami.""What is wrong, miss?""Another one.""Another one of what?" Nami asked, confused, and Momo answered by pointing to the shelf on which lay a plate with a mushy substance that changed its color to red a long time ago."That was supposed to be soup," Momo said sarcastically and calmly as she stood up to get dressed. "Fix the security as fast as you can, please."Nami looked down at the floor, not uttering a word, and leaving with the soft sound of the door closing. No matter how sweet and polite Momo was, she was one of the rare people who could make a scary threat, even if she asked something politely.As Nami left the room, Momo let out a sigh before walking towards the closet to change. "If they are going to hire an inside woman, at least let her be competent," Momo muttered under her breath as she took the pastel yellow blouse from the closet, placing it on the bed beside her.Next to the blouse was a light gray skirt that reached to her knees. The last thing added to the outfit was a white cropped jacket. She took her time. Momo didn't bother with her hair and makeup. She was ready. All that was left was to put on her shoes, which were in the corner of the room.It was time to see her father-just the two of them.