Chapter 2

Looks Don't Define (TodoMomo)

A/N: Just so everyone knows, every chapter in this story will focus on one dog/student pair at a time. So don't worry, each dog will get their chance to shine, but that is why this one is focused almost entirely on Shouto & Momo.

The ten students who were all caught up in this mess met with their families right after class the next day just as Aizawa had explained to them so that they could talk about the current situation. That was where the students and their respective dogs learned that the police had finally found the perpetrator after he left a trail of people turning into dogs all over the city. He had been arrested and interrogated which revealed that the effects of his quirk were only temporary but would last at least a few days before they returned to normal. After learning that the quirk was not permanent and that the students who had been affected were not going to be harmed from the effects, all of the families, after some tense discussion, decided that their children were allowed to stay at the school with their friends for the break rather than going home to heal just so long as they were carefully monitored.

As soon as the meeting had ended and the families had gone home, Aizawa had pulled the ten students aside and explained that for convenience he was going to have Todoroki, Jirou, Tokoyami, Bakugo, and Midoriya continue to watch the dogs that they had already been keeping track of. He was met with zero resistance which had then prompted him to tell all of them to have fun over the break, to not fear taking the dogs outside based on what had happened to them. This had then led Todoroki to take Momo on a walk, her lack of personality starting to worry him. Todoroki now sauntered down the street, the shy, anxious Doberman Pinscher he knew to be Yaoyorozu following slowly behind him. The street was bustling with people and all of the shops were open to accompany them, flashy items and giant banners being waved in the faces of passersby to try and rope in a few customers. It was a little hectic but otherwise enjoyable, the bright colors and the sense of joy coming from the people around them putting Todoroki into a good mood.

The icy-hot teen glanced back to see that Momo was barely even looking at anything as they walked. She had her head down slightly and her eyes were downcast. His worry grew when they passed by a food stand and her nose did not even twitch. Making up his mind, Todoroki slowed down his pace so that he could stay beside the creative hero in training.

"Why don't we go over this way where it is less crowded? I want to talk to you but it's too busy over here."

Momo looked up at him and then nodded slowly. Todoroki turned and began to walk away from the busy street toward an empty park area. He found a bench in the middle and made his way to it, settling down with a sigh once he reached it. Momo merely sat at his feet, her back hunched slightly as she continued to stare at the ground.

"Yaoyorozu, what's wrong?" Todoroki asked after several minutes of silence from his friend. Momo couldn't respond with words but she wasn't making a move to show him with her body or movements either.

"Are you sick?"

She slowly shook her head.

"Tired?"

"Injured?"

"Nauseous?"

Yaoyorozu shook her head to all of these inquiries, leaving Todoroki slightly more frustrated and concerned.

"What is it Yaoyorozu? You've got to tell me, I know something is seriously wrong, you've never acted this dejected before."

Momo was about to shake her head again when very suddenly, a small child ran up to her. Her ears perked up and her eyes widened slightly as the little boy trotted up to her, his little hands stretched out and a large smile brightening up his whole face which was shiny and plump in the sunlight. Momo's short tail began to wag as the boy came up to her, his voice cheery and chipper as he called out, "Doggy!"

Todoroki watched with a small smile tugging at the corner of his lips as the boy came toward them, Momo's mood instantly brightening. That is, until the boy's mother came around the corner. The woman looked normal enough, her face relaxed and smiling while she strolled through the sunlit park, but then she looked over to where her son was, and everything changed.

The little boy giggled as he reached out and patted Momo's head, his chubby little fingers scrunching up the short, smooth fur on her head until she had a small patch on her head that was ruffled and mussed. Momo's tail was wagging faster and her ears were raised happily as the boy played with her. Both Todoroki and Momo were so distracted by the little boy's antics that they did not notice his mother approach them until she had ripped her son away from Momo with a small screech. Momo yelped in surprise and jumped back a little at the woman's harsh actions, her eyes wide and her breathing rate raising slightly.

"Oh my god are you alright, my sweet angel? Did the big bad doggy hurt you anywhere?" The woman cooed at the boy in her arms, her eyes roving all over his body to make sure there was nothing wrong with him. Then she turned to Todoroki, who merely sat with an eyebrow raised at the woman's actions.

"What do you think you are doing!?" The woman suddenly snapped at the reserved teen, her eyes glittering menacingly.

"What do you mean ma'am?" Todoroki asked as politely as possible, his cool demeanor not even budging a little at the woman's outburst towards him.

"I mean, why the hell do you just have this dog loose? That thing should have some sort of muzzle at the least! It doesn't even have a leash! You ought to be way more careful when you bring a dog breed that's this dangerous to a public area," the woman sneered, a small vein twitching on her forehead as she spoke.

"Oh, but Momo is the sweetest dog I've ever met," Todoroki said politely but confidently, standing up from the bench and placing his hand on Momo's shoulder. Momo sat quietly, half-hidden under the bench as she watched the conversation. Her heart still aching from the harsh words the woman had thrown at her. "I see no reason for her to have a muzzle at all, and the only thing she has done is sit here patiently and quietly by my side, she doesn't need a leash," Todoroki glared at the woman as he spoke, daring her to challenge him again.

The woman scoffed. "Are you serious? No matter how much you think this dog is able to be out and about, I know the truth! That dog is a Doberman Pinscher! They are seriously dangerous and are known for attacking people. I mean, even just now she was messing around with my little baby boy right in front of you! She's dangerous and if you don't cage her up then I'm going to call the authorities."

Todoroki narrowed his eyes at the woman but decided that it was not worth the argument. If this woman called the police on him, Momo would most certainly be sent home and she would not be able to spend the rest of her break having fun with their friends. The icy-hot hero-in-training sighed and nodded.

"I apologize for the disruption, ma'am. I will take Momo home."

"Good, see that you do!" the woman said with a sharp nod toward the exit gate of the park before turning on her heel and stomping away.

Todoroki sighed again before turning around and kneeling to face Momo directly. The poor dog had her ears pinned back sadly and her eyes were downcast again.

"That's why you were sad earlier wasn't it? You've been self conscious about being turned into a breed of dog that most people associate with aggression, right?"

Momo didn't answer for a minute but then glanced at Todoroki and nodded slowly.

"Oh, Yaoyorozu I'm so sorry. I didn't even think about that. Um, if it means anything, I think being a Doberman makes you look pretty badass," Todoroki said, slightly unsure of how to comfort her.

Momo's eyes snapped up to meet his and her tail wagged just slightly. Todoroki chuckled to himself quietly.

"Sorry, I know that was cheesy but I'm not really good at the whole, comforting people thing," he said.

Momo shook her head and nuzzled his hand, trying to tell him that it was okay and that she appreciated his effort.

"Y-Yeah," Todoroki continued. "Um, that lady was just, stupid, she had no idea what she was talking about and she was being way too over dramatic about the whole thing. She is just one person, she's not worth the trouble. Her son thought you were pretty cool."

Momo's tail wagged more and her eyes were glittering with laughter and happiness now. She nudged Todoroki's side with her head slightly, closing her eyes and taking in his cool scent. He smelled like a frosty wildflower, a scent which made her happy and calm at the same time. Todoroki chuckled, sending small reverberations through her body. He lifted his hand and awkwardly stroked her fur, his fingers smoothing over the rough patch that the little boy had made on her head. After sitting like that for a little while, Momo moved away and Todoroki stood up from his kneeling position, his knees popping slightly as he moved.

"Alright, are you ready to head back?" Todoroki asked softly.

Momo nodded and moved to walk beside him this time rather than dejectedly behind him. She held her head up high and her tail swayed from side to side as she walked. The pair left through the exit gate and crossed the street, about to move back towards the school when Momo heard something. Her pointed right ear very suddenly swiveled backwards and her head moved to follow that ear, turning to glance behind her.

"Yaoyorozu?" Todoroki asked, stopping a little way ahead of her once he had realized she was no longer walking beside him.

But Momo wasn't listening. The sound that she had heard was the sound of a woman's voice, the same woman that had called her aggressive, as she had tripped leading to a bunch of objects from her bag falling to the ground in a scattered pile. Momo watched as the woman dashed to pick up the objects, until her eyes just slightly drifted to the left and caught sight of the bright yellow t-shirt the little boy was wearing. The sweet kid was walking away from his distracted mother, his hands out and his smile brightening his face once more. The boy had spotted something shiny on the ground and was moving down the crosswalk to fetch it. Momo continued to watch the boy, fascinated for some reason by the boy's bright personality.

"Yaoyorozu? Is everything okay?" Todoroki asked, his voice closer than it was before. Momo turned and glanced at the teen, her tail wagging just barely to signify that she had heard him. Suddenly, a quick movement caught her eye and Momo snapped her head around to look at the little boy once more to find him bent over the shiny object in the road, his mother still frantically trying to pick up all of her lost things and the boy distracted by the little treasure. He picked it up in his pudgy little hands, too enamoured with the object to notice the speeding truck headed right for him.

Momo did not hesitate as she bolted forward, her long Doberman legs carrying her much faster than usual. She heard Todoroki call out to her, clearly not having realized the situation yet, but she ignored him and ran faster, barking loudly as she went. Her ears were pinned to the back of her head and her tail streamed out behind her as she galloped toward the boy. The boy's mother whirled around when she heard the sharp barking and found her son in the road. She screamed for him to move and the boy looked up in alarm but did not move, shock keeping him frozen to the ground. The truck kept speeding toward the little child without letting up, making Momo think that the driver was probably asleep on the job. Forcing herself to run faster, Momo barked louder and pushed herself to the brink. At this point, the mother was running toward her child as well, but she was much slower than Momo.

Momo continued to bark and howl, trying to wake up the driver as he sped down the street, the truck swerving and skidding as it went. Momo finally made it to the crosswalk and launched down the street just as the truck reached the boy, her jaws open to grab him. Without even thinking, she activated her quirk just as she felt something slam into her leg. Her teeth clasped onto the boy's shirt and yanked, pulling the kid with her through the air.

Todoroki had started running as soon as Momo had but she had gotten there several minutes before he did due to her new enhanced speed. At first, he was worried that he wouldn't be able to get there in time to help her, but then as he saw her launch past the truck just as it ran over the crosswalk, he was grateful that he had been behind her. Skidding to a stop, Todoroki shot out his arm and sent his power shooting down his arm until a huge mass of snow sprang from his palm. The snow collided with the face and sides of the truck, a loud thud echoing down the street as the snow hit the metal of the vehicle. Todoroki groaned, his muscles straining as he forced his quirk to work harder, slowing the truck down until it was finally shoved to a stop. Many people who had been in the street had leaped out of the way, but now that the truck was finally stopped, they all peered around curiously. Police had already arrived at the scene, many of them having already been out on the plaza to make sure nothing happened with so many people in one place. As soon as the police had begun to approach the truck, Todoroki made a mad dash for his best friend and crush of two years.

"Yaoyorozu!"

No response.

"Come on, Yaoyorozu! Where are you?"

No response.

"Momo!"

A quiet bark met his ears and Todoroki whipped around, his eyes scanning the area. Finally, they landed on a black, curled up ball that was lying on the grass, a thick sheet of metal covering her back left leg.

"Momo!" Todoroki sprinted towards the ball, his heart in his throat, praying that she wasn't hurt. He slid to the ground in front of her, his eyes rapidly searching all over her form.

"Momo are you insane!? What the hell was that?" Todoroki asked, his voice rough with concern and adrenaline.

Momo raised her head to look at him, before uncurling the rest of her body to reveal the little boy, his small fingers grasping her fur tightly and his head nuzzling into her neck. Tears streaked down his cheeks and he was obviously shaken up but otherwise uninjured.

"O-oh my god," Todoroki whispered. "You saved him."

Momo beamed at him, her stubby tail wagging with pride. A loud wail suddenly ripped through the park and both teens looked over to find the mother of the boy sprinting towards them. She fell to her knees and scrambled to her son, tears making her face swell and her hair matted from the wind. She reached out and held her son to her chest, sobbing and stroking his thin blonde hair. While the mother looked over her son, Todoroki placed his hands on Momo and began searching for any wounds. He reached her back leg and felt his eyes widen in wonder as he realized that the metal plate attached to her back leg was actually a shield that her own quirk had wrapped around her leg to keep her from breaking it during the rescue. Upon taking off the shield he found the leg to be bruised and sore but otherwise healthy. Momo stood up and shook herself off, grass and dust tumbling from her fur. Todoroki placed a hand on her shoulder to support her despite her lack of injuries and the pair was about to go give a statement to the police when Momo felt a soft hand graze the heel of her back leg. Momo turned around to find the mother with her hand held out and her mouth slightly slack, as if she had done it on accident. The woman looked up at Momo with large eyes filled with sparkling tears.

"I know this won't mean much because I was such a jerk to you before, and I don't even know if you can understand me, but I just wanted to say that I am terribly sorry and extremely grateful. You saved my little boy even after I shouted at you and insulted you. You are an extraordinary dog and I can not express my gratitude for what you have done for me," the woman hiccuped past another sob and hugged her boy even closer to her chest.

Momo's eyes softened and her tail wagged. She then turned all the way around and nuzzled her nose into the mother's hand, her tail wagging all the while. She heard the woman's breath hitch but she ignored it, allowing her love of helping others to trump her self-consciousness. Momo suddenly jumped a little in surprise when she felt a small touch graze her chest. She looked down to find that the little boy had peeked out from behind his mother's embrace slightly and had reached out to touch her gently.

"Tank you nice doggy," the boy squeaked before nuzzling back into his mother's arms.

Momo nudged the part of his arm that wasn't being smothered by his mom affectionately and she could have sworn that the boy smiled. Smiling back at him with a big dog grin, Momo wagged her tail once more before trotting off with Todoroki.

Todoroki and Momo finally made it back to the dorms after their several long hours of talking to the police. They found out from the police that the driver had had a heart attack at the wheel, the muscle spasms of which had kept him from being able to move his foot off of the gas and the severity of which, unfortunately killed him in the process. Everyone felt bad for the poor driver who had not made it through the accident but the police had helped assure them by telling the young heroes in training that nobody else had gotten injured or killed during the entire event thanks to their assistance.

Todoroki collapsed onto the main space couch as soon as he had walked into the room, Momo thumping down onto the carpet at his feet with a loud sigh. Todoroki groaned and ran a hand through his hair, his body still recovering from the effects of the adrenaline, leaving him feeling sore and shaky. Momo felt the same way but hers felt less prominent, her shaking was just barely able to be felt through the floor.

"Well," Todoroki started out with a sigh. "Do you feel like going for a walk, Momo? I'm kind of bored, haven't really had anything interesting happen to me today."

Momo stared at Todoroki in surprise at the joke. He wasn't the kind of person who usually joked around and he was rarely sarcastic, just intelligent and calculating. She blinked a couple of times and then burst out laughing. The sound shocked the both of them as it sounded like a bark but it was also very obviously a laugh.

"Yaoyorozu, I think the effects of that villain's quirk is starting to wear off! You're getting some of your voice back!" Todoroki said beaming. Momo sat up and looked down at her paws which were starting to turn back into fingers. Momo barked excitedly as the effects began to wear off, her body resituating until it went back to normal. About half way through the transformation, both Momo and Todoroki realized that she didn't have any clothes on. Quickly, Todoroki lunged for the nearest blanket that was lying on the couch and threw it over the top of Momo so that she was completely covered. After a few seconds, Momo shifted so that her head could come up from under the blanket, revealing that she was once again, completely human.

"Yaoyorozu! You're back!" Todoroki exclaimed excitedly in his cool voice.

"Yeah! Man, it feels so good to be able to talk again," Momo said softly, her throat a little scratchy from the lack of use.

"Oh! Um, let me take you back to your room," Todoroki said with a slight blush. "We need to get some clothes on you."

Momo blushed and stood up rather quickly, holding the blanket around her body tightly. "Thanks, Shouto."

Todoroki blushed even more at her use of his first name but shoved his feelings down. "Of course, Momo."

Checking to make sure nobody was coming around the corner, Todoroki led Momo back to her room where she could get changed. While she was in her room he leaned against the wall and waited for her. She came back out moments later in a slightly less formal version of her school uniform causing Todoroki to smirk a little. Of course Yaoyorozu would wear something semi-formal even on a break from school.

"Welcome back," Todoroki said, his arms crossed in front of his chest. Momo didn't respond, instead, she moved his arms out of the way and enveloped the boy in a big hug.

"Thank you for everything," She whispered, happy tears pricking at the corners of her eyes. It took a moment, but after finally wrapping his brain around what was happening, Todoroki returned the hug, his arms enveloping her and his hands clasping at her lower back.

"I didn't do anything," Todoroki said. Momo shook her head.

"Yes you did. You gave me back my confidence, and showed me that I had value. You gave me the courage to act like a hero today and you had my back no matter what. If it weren't for you, that boy's life would have ended right there on that crosswalk."

"I didn't do that though, I'm glad I was there to support you but that was all` you. You were the one who acted even with the danger. I didn't even notice what was going on! If you hadn't been there, that boy's life would have ended but I wouldn't have even noticed until it was too late! You are too modest Momo, accept that you were amazing today, don't lessen the weight of what you did today just because I was there."

Momo was silent for a minute, just looking into the eyes of her best friend.

"Well I'm still going to thank you though. No matter who did what or why things happened when they did, I am grateful for you to have been there. We make a great team, don't you think?"

"It was my pleasure," Todoroki responded "and yeah, I agree, we make the best team I think," he said, causing Momo to blush. The creative hero then released him and brushed some of her hair back behind her ear.

"Hey Shouto, do you think maybe you'd like to, I don't know but maybe go out sometime? Go see a movie?" Momo smirked slightly. "Or go for an uneventful walk?"

Todoroki barely managed to keep the blush out of his cheeks but he couldn't help but smile, both at her joke and at her proposition.

"I'd love to," He said softly just as he leaned down to brush his lips against hers.