Ashes of Love and War - TodoMomo

||Chapter 10 ~ Part 3||

Tokoyami's yellow, bird-like eyes flashed, and he jutted out his beak defensively. "You trust that Spartan more than Aizawa and Asui?"

Momo shifted. Her hands shook. Tokoyami was the one who was always saying to be careful around Todoroki, but now it was suddenly okay to trust Aizawa and Asui? He was a hypocrite. "That's not what I meant..."

"You don't need to feel tied to Todoroki just because you agreed to sell yourself to him," Tokoyami snapped.

Momo flinched.

"You've always been like this." His voice rose. "You act like the world is your responsibility. Did you already forget how awful the priestesses were to you at the temple? How they only acted like your friends when they needed something or were scared of me?"

Momo didn't answer. His words hurt.

Tokoyami exhaled through his nose. "That Spartan is no different. He doesn't see you as human. And the way he looks at you...I don't know. It's unsettling. We need to get away from him as soon as possible. Besides, what's he going to do to stop us if we decide to leave?"

Momo looked away. "I don't know," she said quietly. She brought her hand up to clench over her chest. She suddenly felt very, very alone.

"Stop."

Momo looked up sharply. Tokoyami was staring at her, his eyes hard. "The war is over," he said. "We survived. And now we're free of the dark. We can start fresh. You don't have to be tied to him," he repeated. His hands clenched into fists at his sides.

Her shoulders pulled inward slightly. She didn't want to fight again. They were always fighting these days. Couldn't they just go back to normal?

"Okay, I'm sorry. You're right. I'm being illogical," Momo whispered. She couldn't do this anymore.

The heaviness in the room was palpable.

The kitchen door suddenly opened as Asui re-entered the room. Her eyes widened as she stopped in the doorway and looked between the two. "Is everything okay, kero?"

"Yes," they said in unison.

Asui blinked and tapped on her chin. "If you say so," she said hesitantly, obviously feeling the bitter tension that hung in the air.

Momo swallowed and turned, going over to the water bucket to wash her hands. She could feel Asui's eyes on the back of her head. For once, Momo wished she could talk to her, but the nereid wouldn't be alone until they retreated back to their room for the night.

She bit her lip. In all her years of knowing Tokoyami, they had never disagreed like this, and the thought made her stomach churn.

She wanted to talk to someone. She had never been very good at keeping her thoughts to herself. It was what had gotten her in trouble with Todoroki in the first place, but she couldn't help it.

"Lunch is about done," Asui said suddenly, breaking the silence. "Yaoyorozu, can you please go get the children, kero?"

Momo nodded and headed out to the courtyard. She noticed Asui step closer to Tokoyami as she closed the kitchen door behind her, and tried to ignore the hollow ache in her chest.

The mid-morning sun shone down, already hot, highlighting the enclosed grounds. Potted olive and lemon trees decorated the stoned space, and on the far left side of the courtyard, a stone oven was nestled next to the wall.

In the middle of the garden stood a simple fountain adorned with a statue of Hephaestus, god of the forge and protector of outcasts. His short blond hair was swept backwards, with two distinct tufts sticking up above his head.