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tdmm-minibang · 3 years

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Into the Next Era of Our Lives

Rating - G | Fandom - BNHA | Words - 3.6K | Todomomo | for @tdmm-minibang , in collaboration with @teaplease1717

AO3

Summary: Having grown up in a family that doesn’t partake in many traditions, Yaoyorozu is eager to spend her holidays learning about various New Year’s traditions. Luckily for her, her now-fiancé Todoroki fondly remembers them from the earlier parts of his childhood.

—————

“We probably ought to clean this place out more often. It’s rather dusty in here. Maybe once every month or two?” Yaoyorozu said with a slight cough.

She waved a hand in front of her face as she opened another box and a plume of dust shot out. Scrunching her nose, she held back a sneeze.

She and Todoroki were currently sorting through the attic of the small home they owned together. Deep cleaning was the first thing on Yaoyorozu’s list of traditions, and they were close to checking it off. All that remained to be cleaned was the attic.

Their home was a modest, two-story house with tatami mats laid out in every room—Todoroki wasn’t comfortable living in a place with hardwood floors—and various knick-knacks Yaoyorozu had amassed over the years filling every shelf and tabletop. Her cluttered mess balanced out Todoroki’s minimalism everywhere you looked.

It had taken them a few days to properly declutter, but Yaoyorozu sure was glad they didn’t own an estate like the one she grew up in. It was no wonder they had so many house staff.

Yaoyorozu came from a family that had never particularly partaken in such japanese traditions, always doing more western ones instead—that, and her parents were always terribly busy with work. But now that she and Todoroki were living together, she wanted to learn about them as Todoroki did when he was a young child. Especially because this was their first new year alone together.

When she’d approached him about it a few weeks prior, her fiancé had been very receptive to the idea.

Speaking of her fiancé, he hadn’t yet responded. Yaoyorozu turned her head to see him looking intently at the book in his hands. A soft smile appeared on his face as he slowly turned over the next page.

Yaoyorozu walked over to him and glanced over his shoulder. It turned out he was looking at pictures of her younger self from when she was in middle school.

Heat rising to her cheeks, Yaoyorozu quickly snatched what she now realised was an old photo album from his hands. Todoroki blinked, eyebrows furrowing as he snapped out of his daze.

“What did you do that for?”

“Sorry,” Yaoyorozu apologised. She twirled a strand of hair around her finger, “but these pictures are embarrassing. I don’t like looking at them.”

Young Momo had a missing tooth in many of those photos, and on top of that she always insisted on wearing her hair in pigtails, a style she typically disliked on her current older self. Yaoyorozu had never particularly liked looking back at old photos of herself, always scrutinising every little flaw that ruined the perfect image she had been conditioned to keep up when in public.

Though she had tried to ignore it time and time again, Yaoyorozu knew her beauty was part of the reason for her popularity—and therefore her success—as a pro hero. It had all started way back at UA with that damn commercial during her first year internship. For the most part she brushed it aside, but it was hard to forget sometimes.

“Why? I think you look cute,” he said. From the sincere look in Todoroki’s eyes, she could tell he was being truthful.

She clutched the book close to her chest. “But I look like a mess in most of these!”

“Momo, I’ve seen what you look like in the morning with a hangover. I don’t think you can get much messier than that,” Todoroki said rather bluntly.

Okay, maybe he had a point there. Yaoyorozu did look pretty disheveled on those mornings.

She let out a sigh as Todoroki walked over and placed a hand on her cheek. “I don’t care if you look messy in those pictures, Momo. I fell in love with you for your personality because that’s always what stood out to me about you. How do you think I knew I would vote for you after only knowing you for a few days?”

Yaoyorozu smiled affectionately as gratitude rippled through her. She leaned into his touch. She could always depend on Todoroki to guide her away from the negative thoughts plaguing her mind. For a man of few words, he sure knew the right thing to say.

“Your beauty is a bonus, though.”

“You’re right,” she said, laughing breathily. “Let’s get back to celebrating. I want to make sure this is a special day for both of us.”

“Before we do that, I wanted to ask you why there’s a box full of matryoshka dolls that look like me,” he pointed with his thumb behind his shoulder at another open box.

Yaoyorozu’s face flared up again. There may or may not have been a tiny bit of an obsession upon realisation of her crush back in their third year, but that was top secret information.

—————

“This tradition is my personal favourite,” Todoroki said as he offered Yaoyorozu a large knife.

“Oh, really? I never would have guessed,” she said with a laugh as she took the knife from him. “It’s not like we eat soba at least twice a week.”

Todoroki glared at Yaoyorozu in amusement as she stuck her tongue out at him. He rolled his eyes, a smile on his face as he did.

In all honesty, Yaoyorozu didn’t mind the soba. In fact, she’d taken a liking to it herself. It was one of a few things she’d picked up from him over the years.

(Unfortunately, one of the other things was eating ice cubes. People often gave Yaoyorozu a weird look if they caught her doing it.)

“We have to make sure the dough is cut both long and thin,” he said, demonstrating what he meant. Yaoyorozu nodded, following his lead. “We do this to represent a long and healthy life.”

“Well then, here’s to a long and healthy life together,” Yaoyorozu toasted as she continued to cut up the dough as instructed.

Todoroki nodded. “To a long and healthy life together,” he mumbled, his eyes softening. He sighed, looking somber all of a sudden.

Noticing his sudden change in demeanour, Yaoyorozu put down her knife and placed a hand on his shoulder. She knew Todoroki still wasn’t the best at expressing what he was feeling unless asked. It was the kind of thing she’d learnt to pick up on after all these years of dating him.

“Are you okay?”

“There’s another aspect to this tradition. It may sound a bit ridiculous, but it was always the part I looked forward to the most — as if it could magically change the way things were back then,” he said, eyes downcast.

“If it helped you to cope with… everything, then it can’t be ridiculous.”

With a wistful smile, he said, “It also symbolises a wish to cut away the misfortunes of the previous year so you can start the new year afresh.”

Ah. Yaoyorozu understood what he was referring to. It had taken a few years, but Todoroki had slowly broken down his walls and opened up to her about his life as a child.

Yaoorozu hugged him in a silent show of support. She couldn’t pretend to understand how Todoroki was feeling right now, so she would let her actions speak for her. Sometimes, that was more powerful than anything she could possibly say to him.

Slowly, he returned the embrace. “Thank you.”

—————

Once they had finished eating their meal (which both of them had very noisily slurped up—a habit Yaoyorozu had gradually picked up from eating soba with Todoroki so often), they took a quick nap. After the alarm woke them half an hour before sunrise was scheduled, they got dressed for the cold weather and proceeded to head outside.

The next tradition on their itinerary was watching the sunrise and, unlike Todoroki, Yaoyorozu wasn’t born with the ability to regulate her temperature. While he simply wore a turtleneck and jeans, she had to bundle up in a jacket and gloves too.

Yaoyorozu couldn’t even remember the last time they were both able to just sit outside together in peaceful silence.

Life as a pro was very hectic, so Todoroki and Yaoyorozu often had little time to truly sit down and relax. They made it work though, even if during the busiest days, the only time they could spare to spend together was a simple kiss good morning.

They were both perfectly content, even if one minute was all the time they had together—just being in each other’s presence was enough.

Todoroki wrapped an arm around Yaoyorozu’s shoulder as she leant up against his left side, taking advantage of its warmth.

Having a portable heater and cooler for a fiancé sure came in handy sometimes.

“Are you looking forward to tomorrow?”

“I’m interested to see what you have in store for me, yes,” she said.

Todoroki had told her he had something prepared for the morning. Though she wasn’t quite sure what it was, Yaoyorozu had her suspicions.

Tomorrow would also be her first shrine visit. It was something she’d only heard about from various classmates and coworkers over the years. She’d wanted to visit ever since she became an adult, truly, but somehow work had always managed to get in the way.

Breathing in a deep breath of fresh air, Yaoyorozu glanced down at the ring on her finger. The gemstones glinted in the rays of the sun slowly rising over the horizon. Her breath came out in visible puffs as she rubbed her gloved hands together for warmth.

It was in rare moments like this, with the gentle breeze flowing through her hair and the tranquil sounds of nature around her, that Yaoyorozu was truly thankful for the life she led.

She had a successful career (both she and Todoroki were ranked in the top ten as of the most recent billboard chart), some truly plus ultra friends, and a loving fiancé. Had she ever been happier in her life?

“What are you thinking about?”

Yaoyorozu’s gaze flickered to the side to see Todoroki giving her that same soft look he always did when he thought she wasn’t looking. It was as if he conveyed the entire depth of his love for her into one glance. It never failed to make Yaoyorozu’s heart flutter.

She smiled and snuggled up closer to him. “Just thinking about how lucky I am.

“If you’re lucky, what does that make me?”

Yaoyorozu frowned, tilting her head to the side. “What do you mean?”

“My life has changed so much since that first year at UA. I made friends—”

“Even though you said you weren’t there to do that,” she interrupted with a giggle.

“I know,” he mumbled, looking away in embarrassment. “Midoriya didn’t exactly give me a choice.”

Yaoyorozu snorted. He was certainly right about that.

“Going back to my point, I’m much more happy now than I was before,” Todoroki continued with a wistful smile. He stared into the distance, eyes glazing over with melancholy. “My anger consumed me back then, and I’m grateful it doesn’t anymore. Being part of that class at UA was the best thing that ever happened to me.”

“I think Midoriya would cry if you told him that.”

Todoroki chuckled. He turned so he was looking directly into her eyes and placed the hand that wasn’t on Yaoyorozu’s waist on her cheek.

“You’re part of that too, remember? It’s also where I met you,” he said earnestly. Todoroki pressed his forehead against hers. “That’s why I think I'm the lucky one.”

Yaoyorozu blissfully closed her eyes. As the sun came into full view, painting the sky a beautiful palette of red and orange, so began the next era of their lives.

Todoroki leaned forwards, and their lips met in a brief but tender kiss. As they drew apart, Yaoyorozu whispered, “Happy New Year, Shouto. I love you.”

“I love you, too.”

—————

Yaoyorozu blinked groggily as her eyes adjusted to the light. Her muscles ached as she stretched her legs and arms out in front of her, her bones audibly cracking.

Strangely enough, she felt much colder than she usually did in the mornings.

It was only when Yaoyorozu heard the sound of birds tweeting that she realised what had happened.

They had decided to stay out just a little longer despite their sleepiness. At the time, it hadn’t seemed like a bad decision—though that time was also way after midnight, so neither person was entirely coherent.

Todoroki sat to her right, his head resting atop her shoulder. From his head’s lopsided position, his red and white hair hung down in front of his face. The cold had turned his cheeks rosy. From the short distance between them, Yaoyorozu could hear his light snores as he slept away.

Reaching up a hand, Yaoyorozu brushed away the hair hanging in front of his eyes. Todoroki’s hair felt soft to the touch thanks to the products she’d introduced him to a few years ago. It had been a while since either of them had the time to get a haircut, so Todoroki’s hair was starting to get a little longer. She was almost tempted to put some of it into a tiny ponytail.

Unable to contain the love she felt for him in that moment, Yaoyorozu pressed her lips to his forehead.

The light contact caused Todoroki to stir as his eyes slowly fluttered open.

“Good morning,” she whispered, running a hand through his hair in a calming manner.

“Morning,” he mumbled back, sitting up properly. He stretched his arms up into the air and yawned. Yaoyorozu often thought he looked like a cat when he did that—not that he didn’t act like one frequently.

(She sometimes liked to joke they didn’t need to get a pet cat when Todoroki practically was one himself.)

“We fell asleep outside.”

“Actually,” he said, yawning again, “you fell asleep, but I didn’t want to disturb you, so I didn’t move and eventually fell asleep too.”

That was her Todoroki. Always so considerate. It was one of the many things Yaoyorozu loved about him. She smiled and snuggled back into his side, content to sit there for a few more moments despite the cold.

“Thank you.”

—————

A short while later, both Todoroki and Yaoyorozu were fully awake and ready to continue checking off new year’s traditions from their list. Yaoyorozu had been thoroughly enjoying them so far, and was eager to learn more.

After she tied her hair up into its usual spiky ponytail (a signature look she still gravitated to even after all these years. It always made her heart melt when she saw young girls wearing their hair in the same style), Yaoyorozu poured some water into the kettle in preparation for her morning tea.

She stirred a splash of milk into her beverage. “What are we doing first today?”

“I am going to finish preparing our breakfast, and you are going to go and relax for a few minutes,” was Todoroki’s reply as he kissed her cheek.

Yaoyorozu nodded, sipping at her tea as she walked into the dining room. Her mouth opened wide as a yawn escaped her lips. She had always found it hard to wake up in the mornings after becoming a pro hero, mostly due to the exhaustion the job brought.

A short while after, in which Yaoyorozu texted Jirou about how her holidays had been going, Todoroki walked into the dining room carrying multiple plates of food. She pocketed her phone, clapping her hands together as she inhaled a deep breath. The food smelled absolutely divine!

After laying out all the dishes, Todoroki sat in the chair opposite her.

“Firstly, you’re going to need these,” he said, passing her a pair of chopsticks he’d carefully wrapped in a beautiful crimson ribbon. “And secondly, each of these,” he gestured at the food, “all represent something. I’ll explain as we eat them.”

(Mentally, she gave herself a pat on the back for guessing this morning’s tradition correctly.)

Yaoyorozu nodded, eyes sparkling brightly with brimming excitement. Learning new knowledge was one of her favourite things in the world—one of the other things being Todoroki of course.

“This one,” he began, pointing at the dish closest to Yaoyrozu, “is kohaku kamaboko. It represents the first sunrise of a new year—the first sunrise of the next era of our lives together.”

Todoroki placed a hand on top of hers, rubbing his thumb along the engagement ring on her finger. Yaoyorozu’s expression softened. How fitting.

Yaoyorozu hummed as she sampled some of the red and white fish cake, pleasantly delighted by the mildly sweet taste. She gave Todoroki a thumbs up as she chewed. His cooking skills had vastly improved!

(There was one occasion when they’d first started dating where Todoroki had almost set his kitchen on fire. It was actually quite funny to reminisce about.)

“This next one is kobumaki. It represents joy,” he continued.

“Like the joy I feel around you.” Yaoyorozu said as she took the piece Todoroki had been about to pick up.

Todoroki blinked slowly, looking back and forth between her and the place as if he’d been betrayed. After his brain had sorted through the sudden error message, he picked up another piece. Yaoyorozu giggled as Todoroki stole some food off of her plate in turn.

“What about this one?” She questioned, pointing at the herring roe to her right.

“Kazunoko.”

Offering no explanation, Todoroki quickly stuffed another piece of kobumaki into his mouth. Yaoyorozu tilted her head quizzically. He refused to meet her gaze, instead staying silent and eating more of the food.

“Shouto,” she coaxed, reaching across the table to poke his shoulder, “are you going to explain it to me?”

Todoroki mumbled something inaudible as his cheeks turned rosy.

“What was that?”

He cleared his throat. “It represents fertility.”

Oh.

Oh!

Yaoyorozu felt her face flush red. She and Todoroki had been discussing the possibility of having children someday soon, so it wasn’t too much of a shock. A harmonious feeling of joy bubbled through her. Yaoyorozu inhaled a deep breath and bit her bottom lip in an attempt to hide her growing smile. It seemed Todoroki was more eager than she had anticipated to start building their family, and Yaoyorozu couldn’t be any more overjoyed to know that.

Todoroki smiled back as he reached out and tenderly picked up her hand, pressing a kiss to the back of it.

“Sorry to ruin the moment, but there’s still more to explain,” he winced. Yaoyorozu nodded, chopsticks at the ready.

“I’m sure you’ll already know what this one is,” Todoroki pointed at the shrimp. “Ebi represents longevity. I included it to represent the longevity of our relationship.”

Yaoyorozu swooned, her heart feeling as though it was about to burst. “I sincerely hope that longevity includes the rest of our lives.”

“As do I,” he smiled softly. “This one here is kuromane which represents a wish to live and work in sound health during the next year – I thought it was fitting given our line of work. I don’t know what I’d do if something terrible were to ever happen to you.”

He gave her such an intense yet solemn stare, Yaoyorozu felt tears prick in the corner of her eyes as she nodded empathetically. She completely understood the feeling.

Compared to some of the situations Todoroki had been through, her work wasn’t all that dangerous. Every time she heard about him being involved in a high-scale villain attack, there was always that lingering ‘what if...?’ plaguing her mind. His presence was such a key component of her life, Yaoyorozu didn’t know what she would do without him.

Wiping away her tears before they could fall, she pointed to the final dish. “And what about this last one?”

“Renkon; a foreseeable good future. I chose it for the same reason as the kuromane, and also in regards to building our family.”

Joy; fertility; longevity; sound health; a good future.

Todoroki had clearly put a lot of time and effort into preparing this. Next year, she would have to do the same for him in return. Their relationship had always been one of giving and giving in return, and these traditions would become yet another aspect of that.

—————

Yaoyorozu wrapped a wooly scarf around her neck and slipped on a pair of thick winter gloves. She stared at her reflection in the mirror, carefully brushing some stray strands of hair into place.

“Ready?” Todoroki asked. He was only wearing a winter coat in comparison to her scarf, hat and gloves. An advantage of being able to thermoregulate.

Taking in a deep breath, Yaoyorozu nodded. She smoothed down the creases in her coat.

This was it. Her first shrine visit!

In all honesty, Yaoyorozu wasn’t quite certain why she felt so worked up about it. Maybe because it was the last tradition left and she wasn’t quite willing to let go of the warm buzz holiday cheer brought her.

Or maybe she was just overthinking.

Todoroki held out an arm in invitation which Yaoyorozu linked with her own, flashing him a joyous smile as she did. They then headed out of the house.

“I used to go with my mother before she was hospitalised,” he said, smiling fondly. “We’ve gone together a few times since she was discharged, too. I hope we get to pass down the same memory to our children, like my mother did for me.”

Yaoyorozu leaned into his side, the fresh breeze swirling around them ruffling her hair. “I would like that very much.”

They walked off towards the train station with the sun shining high in front of them, ready to start the rest of their lives together.

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