Day 4 - Books! - My Hero Academia
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halfamoonTitle: Within the pages, a story unfolds
Author: alchemicink
Fandom: My Hero Academia (Boku no Hero Academia)
Character(s): Yaoyorozu Momo/Jirou Kyouka (but's it's very much a Momo character study)
Notes: 1,222 words; no content warnings; this fic is just a bunch of my headcanons about Momo who I think would love books a lot because of how her quirk (superpower) works (she can create things from her body but she needs to understand the components to do it correctly)
Fic is below the cut but also on AO3 here
Momo assumes that most people's first memories about books are colorful children's stories read to them by their parents or another kind adult.
The first book Momo remembers, however, is a dishwasher parts manual. She can't recall the details of how it fell into her hands, and she wasn't even old enough to read it yet. But she remembers flipping through its pages, marveling at the diagrams of the machine and how each piece fit together. Even though she had more than enough children's books of her own to choose from, for a long time, she kept gravitating back to the manual, gazing at each labeled part, learning how they all fit together like a giant puzzle.
By the time she started figuring out how to use her quirk, reading up on the components of a wide range of items became very useful. She collected manuals and textbooks as often as she did fictional novels. Thinking back on it later, Momo wonders if that's what sparked her lifelong – if not somewhat unconventional – love of books.
***
When they move into the UA dorms, Momo has a hard time narrowing down which of her collection to bring with her. It would be silly to expect the school to have enough space to house a full library of her personal books (and indeed, as she discovers immediately, the room hardly even has enough space for her bed).
In the end, she picks the ones which seem like they would be the most useful for developing her quirk from a hero's perspective – tomes about weapons throughout history and a practical guide to field medicine – but she throws in a few of her well-worn favorites too, spines creased from years and years of rereading.
"You have a lot of books," Kyouka points out the first time she visits Momo's room for a study session.
"Oh, well..." Momo feels a little embarrassed. "I do enjoy reading quite a bit."
She expects some sort of snarky comment from Kyouka, like the biting sarcasm she directs towards many of their classmates. But Kyouka simply nods, and then, somewhat shyly admits she tends to prefer audiobooks.
They eventually dive into the studying they're supposed to do and the topic is shelved for another time.
(Momo doesn't usually listen to audiobooks herself, since many of her more technical reads tend to include diagrams and illustrations, and how could she ever think to miss out on that! But after that conversation with Kyouka, she does try one out.
It's not bad. But she can't help but imagine how she might like it better if Kyouka was the one reading it out loud.)
***
For a while, the whole world is in chaos with the League of Villains and All for One and the impending threat of global destruction, but in the end, after the crisis is over, life slowly goes back to normal. Or as close as it can be.
What's out of the ordinary, however, is an invitation from Kyouka to hang out off campus. They have gone shopping with a group of classmates before, but this is the first time it would be just the two of them.
Momo can't deny she's looking forward to it.
They walk side-by-side through the city, Kyouka leading the way but not telling Momo what destination she has in mind. She's curious what the surprise could be.
Eventually, they stop in front of a small bookstore nestled away on a barely noticeable side street. Kyouka, stammering over her words a bit, shyly anxious, explains that she thought Momo would like to check the place out.
"It looks lovely," Momo replies, taking Kyouka's hand and urging her to go inside too.
They spend much more time than expected browsing the aisles together, trading recommendations and delighting over unexpected finds. Momo ends up with an armful of new books, excited to discover all the secrets held within their pages.
It's the beginning of several more off-campus adventures together, time that Momo comes to cherish just like her books.
***
As much as Momo believes that books hold the answers to every mystery of the universe, she finds that in the years after high school graduation there is no convenient user manual for adulthood.
Juggling her fledgling pro-hero career with her personal life proves to be a struggle, and there are many nights she comes home to her apartment exhausted and in tears. But leaning on her friends help, especially Kyouka, who visits often enough that Momo could consider her a roommate.
Though this causes other problems that Momo wishes she had easy guidance for: falling in love with her closest friend.
She's read this scenario plenty of times in novels she picks up for fun. She knows all the regular tropes, knows how all the story beats play out.
It doesn't make it any easier to actually tell Kyouka about her feelings.
Momo sits with her frustration and fear, wishing that there was a simple how-to guide that she could read for this exact situation. Something that'll give her the right words to say. Something that'll guarantee Kyouka doesn't reject her and run away the moment she says the important thing. Something tangible to hold like her tattered manuals that she's flipped through hundreds of times since childhood.
For several months, Momo suffers quietly through her indecision and yearning until she comes up with an idea. An embarrassing idea, something that wouldn't be out of place in a sweet earnest romance story. She's half-convinced that blunt, straightforward Kyouka will hate it, but Momo commits to the idea anyway.
A scrapbook, she decides, is the best way – the only way – to express herself and her feelings.
(And if Kyouka doesn't like it, Momo can always get Shouto to incinerate it and then go live in the woods as a hermit for the next thirty years.)
She watches Kyouka's face when she presents her with the scrapbook a few days later. Watches the way her eyes get progressively wider as she flips through each page, taking note of what makes her laugh and what makes her lips twist into a contemplative expression.
Momo doesn't think any book has caused her to feel so nervous before, not even the horror fiction she used to read late at night under the covers in her bedroom during a phase in middle school.
Her worries are unfounded, of course, because once Kyouka reaches the end of the end of the scrapbook, she admits that she feels the same way. Has felt that way since their first year of high school together (and isn't that a revelation to learn!)
They kiss and laugh and hold each other, and it feels like a happy ending even though they still have so many more chapters of life ahead of them.
***
Momo and Kyouka return home together after a long day of work, shedding their shoes and jackets at the door along with the worries of the day.
"I'll make dinner," Kyouka volunteers, then adds with a cheeky grin, "but only if you'll read to me while I do it."
"Of course!"
Momo steps up to the bookshelf, running her fingers across familiar titles until she finds one she knows Kyouka hasn't listened to before. Then she settles down at the kitchen table and flips it open to read.
Author: alchemicink
Fandom: My Hero Academia (Boku no Hero Academia)
Character(s): Yaoyorozu Momo/Jirou Kyouka (but's it's very much a Momo character study)
Notes: 1,222 words; no content warnings; this fic is just a bunch of my headcanons about Momo who I think would love books a lot because of how her quirk (superpower) works (she can create things from her body but she needs to understand the components to do it correctly)
Fic is below the cut but also on AO3 here
Momo assumes that most people's first memories about books are colorful children's stories read to them by their parents or another kind adult.
The first book Momo remembers, however, is a dishwasher parts manual. She can't recall the details of how it fell into her hands, and she wasn't even old enough to read it yet. But she remembers flipping through its pages, marveling at the diagrams of the machine and how each piece fit together. Even though she had more than enough children's books of her own to choose from, for a long time, she kept gravitating back to the manual, gazing at each labeled part, learning how they all fit together like a giant puzzle.
By the time she started figuring out how to use her quirk, reading up on the components of a wide range of items became very useful. She collected manuals and textbooks as often as she did fictional novels. Thinking back on it later, Momo wonders if that's what sparked her lifelong – if not somewhat unconventional – love of books.
***
When they move into the UA dorms, Momo has a hard time narrowing down which of her collection to bring with her. It would be silly to expect the school to have enough space to house a full library of her personal books (and indeed, as she discovers immediately, the room hardly even has enough space for her bed).
In the end, she picks the ones which seem like they would be the most useful for developing her quirk from a hero's perspective – tomes about weapons throughout history and a practical guide to field medicine – but she throws in a few of her well-worn favorites too, spines creased from years and years of rereading.
"You have a lot of books," Kyouka points out the first time she visits Momo's room for a study session.
"Oh, well..." Momo feels a little embarrassed. "I do enjoy reading quite a bit."
She expects some sort of snarky comment from Kyouka, like the biting sarcasm she directs towards many of their classmates. But Kyouka simply nods, and then, somewhat shyly admits she tends to prefer audiobooks.
They eventually dive into the studying they're supposed to do and the topic is shelved for another time.
(Momo doesn't usually listen to audiobooks herself, since many of her more technical reads tend to include diagrams and illustrations, and how could she ever think to miss out on that! But after that conversation with Kyouka, she does try one out.
It's not bad. But she can't help but imagine how she might like it better if Kyouka was the one reading it out loud.)
***
For a while, the whole world is in chaos with the League of Villains and All for One and the impending threat of global destruction, but in the end, after the crisis is over, life slowly goes back to normal. Or as close as it can be.
What's out of the ordinary, however, is an invitation from Kyouka to hang out off campus. They have gone shopping with a group of classmates before, but this is the first time it would be just the two of them.
Momo can't deny she's looking forward to it.
They walk side-by-side through the city, Kyouka leading the way but not telling Momo what destination she has in mind. She's curious what the surprise could be.
Eventually, they stop in front of a small bookstore nestled away on a barely noticeable side street. Kyouka, stammering over her words a bit, shyly anxious, explains that she thought Momo would like to check the place out.
"It looks lovely," Momo replies, taking Kyouka's hand and urging her to go inside too.
They spend much more time than expected browsing the aisles together, trading recommendations and delighting over unexpected finds. Momo ends up with an armful of new books, excited to discover all the secrets held within their pages.
It's the beginning of several more off-campus adventures together, time that Momo comes to cherish just like her books.
***
As much as Momo believes that books hold the answers to every mystery of the universe, she finds that in the years after high school graduation there is no convenient user manual for adulthood.
Juggling her fledgling pro-hero career with her personal life proves to be a struggle, and there are many nights she comes home to her apartment exhausted and in tears. But leaning on her friends help, especially Kyouka, who visits often enough that Momo could consider her a roommate.
Though this causes other problems that Momo wishes she had easy guidance for: falling in love with her closest friend.
She's read this scenario plenty of times in novels she picks up for fun. She knows all the regular tropes, knows how all the story beats play out.
It doesn't make it any easier to actually tell Kyouka about her feelings.
Momo sits with her frustration and fear, wishing that there was a simple how-to guide that she could read for this exact situation. Something that'll give her the right words to say. Something that'll guarantee Kyouka doesn't reject her and run away the moment she says the important thing. Something tangible to hold like her tattered manuals that she's flipped through hundreds of times since childhood.
For several months, Momo suffers quietly through her indecision and yearning until she comes up with an idea. An embarrassing idea, something that wouldn't be out of place in a sweet earnest romance story. She's half-convinced that blunt, straightforward Kyouka will hate it, but Momo commits to the idea anyway.
A scrapbook, she decides, is the best way – the only way – to express herself and her feelings.
(And if Kyouka doesn't like it, Momo can always get Shouto to incinerate it and then go live in the woods as a hermit for the next thirty years.)
She watches Kyouka's face when she presents her with the scrapbook a few days later. Watches the way her eyes get progressively wider as she flips through each page, taking note of what makes her laugh and what makes her lips twist into a contemplative expression.
Momo doesn't think any book has caused her to feel so nervous before, not even the horror fiction she used to read late at night under the covers in her bedroom during a phase in middle school.
Her worries are unfounded, of course, because once Kyouka reaches the end of the end of the scrapbook, she admits that she feels the same way. Has felt that way since their first year of high school together (and isn't that a revelation to learn!)
They kiss and laugh and hold each other, and it feels like a happy ending even though they still have so many more chapters of life ahead of them.
***
Momo and Kyouka return home together after a long day of work, shedding their shoes and jackets at the door along with the worries of the day.
"I'll make dinner," Kyouka volunteers, then adds with a cheeky grin, "but only if you'll read to me while I do it."
"Of course!"
Momo steps up to the bookshelf, running her fingers across familiar titles until she finds one she knows Kyouka hasn't listened to before. Then she settles down at the kitchen table and flips it open to read.
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Date: 2024-02-05 03:50 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2024-02-05 05:42 pm (UTC)