Art || Todomomo

Chapter 22

Miss Ume's son?

Shouto looked at the boy in front of him.

He does look very much like Momo, except his hair is a bit curly.

Momo, who was still in shock, spoke, "What are the odds? You've changed so much from the last time I saw you, which was like-"

"Ten years ago." The both of them said in unison and then broke into laughter.

"Do you go to UA too?" Momo asked, a genuine smile still on her face.

"Actually, I study in Shiketsu and well, I came to this cafe because" He gave Momo a sad smile, "Because it is mom's after all."

Momo and Shouto both froze.

What?

"I know this is confusing and sudden but Momo I need to speak with you, you can bring your boyfriend along if you want to but we can't talk here so follow me." And with that he led a flustered Momo and an oblivious Shouto (he took the word boyfriend as in just a friend who's a boy, classic Shouto) towards the back of the cafe and up a flight of stairs.

They entered a living room of sorts, its interior very much like that of the coffee shop below them.

"Take a seat." Sora motioned his hand to a couch and the still, quite stunned duo slowly sat down.

"Okay, I know this is a lot to take in but Momo listen carefully, this might be a long story," He looked at her, an almost guilty look on his face.

He took a deep breath and exhaled,

"Mom was never fond of the Yaoyorozu business, she wanted to pursue her own passions, live independently and not depend on her family for wealth, so when dad and her got married she made it clear to the family that she wanted no part in the business anymore."

"She moved out and at the same time that she gave birth to me did she get the news that she was now an aunt. When you were around two she visited you and. She. Absolutely. ADORED you. You must remember the gifts and letters she'd always send you."

"She treated you like her own daughter so it was only natural that the two of us were as close as siblings but you see, the family wasn't very accepting of dad and me. As in, your father refused to look at me or even hear my name and this just made the feud between my mom and your father greater."

"Eventually, after her death, my dad and I were basically banished from ever laying foot in the Yaoyorozu household so there's that but there's more, obviously. Because this is just the backstory, so let me pause for a bit, give you some time to process the information, then we can proceed."

His abrupt ending statement left Momo and Shouto more confused than ever but before trying to decipher Sora's rather abstract personality, they decided to take in the information they had just received and then finally beckoned Sora to continue.

"Mom worked a lot of odd jobs from tutoring to writing articles for magazines and so on. Dad also worked equally hard and when I was around eight, they were able to get the land for the cafe."

"It was very small back then, but it slowly gained a solid customer base because of its unique flavors and interior."

"During this time, mom also worked on a book, 'Momo no hana no yume (A peach blossom dream)' under the pen name 'Sakura Yume'.
She dedicated it to quite a few people, my dad, me, another family member and a student of hers but the main dedication was for you, Momo. It always was."

"Then it leads back to the cafe, the name of this cafe is 'Peaches' as you know," He looked at Momo, grinning slightly, "Peaches is the english word for your name, Momo."

Everyone was silent

Momo felt herself tear up as she thought about how much her aunt had done for her.

She was the first one to appreciate my interests, the first one who understood me. She dedicated an entire book for me. She named my favourite coffee shop after me. All of this, simply because she loved me. She loved me. She loved me.

The tears slid down her cheek but she made no attempt to stop it.

I miss her. I miss her so much.

Suddenly Sora spoke up,
"Kaito, that's uncle's name right?"

Momo nods.

"Did he ever tell you how mom used to call him?"

Momo shakes her head, her father seldom even mentioned aunt Ume's name.

"She called him, 'Sora'." He slowly said.

Momo looked at her cousin, even more tears welling up.

He has gone through so much as well.

"No matter the fights or the arguments, mom loved her family, especially her little brother, she even named her own son after the pet-name she had given her brother. But what did her brother do? He refused to even look or even know the name of his nephew! Did he know how much she missed her family?! Did he know that the other family member her book dedicated to, was him?! Did the family accept her?! No, they didn't, no one did and yet, she still loved them, despite everything." Sora's voice was shaking with anger and sadness, he looked tired and defeated.

Momo stood up, went over to him and hugged him.

"Its been a rough road for us, hasn't it?" Momo sniffled.

Sora shocked at first, slowly returned the hug and he felt the tears prick his eyes too.

"It sure has." He whispered.

Shouto watched and he realized just how much these two had gone through but then, there was something else he needed to know,

"Sora?" He asked, making the cousins turn to him, "How did you know we were at the cafe?"

"I saw Momo on well, social media because of the entire 'incident' and it said that she was a UA student, so I assumed she could be here and I just knew that I had to tell her all of this." Sora replied.

"Well I'm glad that you did because-" She was cut off by someone entering the living room.

He was a tall man with curly graying hair and tired eyes but as soon he saw Sora, it lit up and he smiled and Shouto thought,

That's just like Sora, wait is he the-

"Hey dad!" Sora got up to greet his father, he then looked at Momo and then Shouto and smiled,

"Dad, this is this is the one and only, Momo Yaoyorozu and her boyfriend." Sora introduced the two as they gave their greetings to this man.

"H-He isn't m-m-y b-b-boyfriend!" Momo stuttered, earning a knowing chuckle from Sora.

"I'm Kazuma Kazehaya, it's a pleasure to meet you." He looked at the two and suddenly stopped,

He looked at Shouto and asked, "What's is your name young man?"

"It's Shouto Todoroki, sir."

Kazuma's eyes widened, almost as if he had remembered something.

"Two of you, sit down." He instructed Momo and Shouto.

"There's something the both of you need to know, it's about the incident that happened ten years ago, the people behind Ume's death."

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Oh don't you just love cliffhangers!
Anyways hope you enjoyed the chapter and if you did, please give it a vote ❤️.
Also sorry for the typos and please feel free to leave constructive criticism.
K, byeeeeee.