the roommate contract - todomomo

sixteen \\ "shouto, that's shoplifting"

The mall was an enormous and wonderous place, Momo found. She hadn't actually been to a mall before if she was being honest, becuase her mother never had time to take her and there wasn't really a reason to go considering Momo grew up on clothes from Target. It wasn't like the raven-haired girl was particularly looking for a chance to go to the mall, but now that she was here, it was a strange experience. 

"You a little scared, Peaches?" Shouto raised an eyebrow, suppressing a laugh at her expression that looked utterly terrified of the building sprawled before her in a modern white aesthetic that probably spanned, like, two blocks or something. It was like she'd bever been to such a place before. Or if she had, she hadn't liked it very much. 

When she didn't answer, he nudged her with his elbow to snap her out of the trance she was in as she stared at the mall in doubt. When her head jerked to him, her face flushed adorably with embarrassment, her cheeks turning a bright red color. He just quirked a wry smile at the fact that she was embarrassed by her calling her out on it. God, how cute could someone get? 

"I've just...I grew up with a single mom, we didn't really go to these places. And this one is so...big-" Her justification for her embarrassment stopped short as he suddenly took her hand, lacing his fingers with hers and tugging her forward with him. A bright pink color spread across her cheeks at the feeling of his calloused hand holding hers so gently as if he were worried he might crush her. 

"C'mon, I'll show you around," He said easily forcing her to quicken her pace to keep up with him as he guided her mall made of shimmering white and translucent glass. "You see, it's not that big once you think about it in sections. There's the first floor that has four branches and a big...whatever you call the area in the middle," He said, still holding her hand despite the fact that it was obvious she was following without protest. "And then the top floor has three branches." He showed her on his fingers as he led her to a stand in the middle of the main area.

They stopped in front of the small glass enclosure, behind which Momo could see a rather tall, lanky man with a wide smile and a mess of blonde hair shuffling around what looked to be hot-chocolate in small plastic cups. Momo leaned into the image, her breath fanning on the glass as she stared with child-like wonder at the magical process. Shouto smiled slightly at the image of his raven-haired roommate staring with glittering wide eyes. 

"What's this?" 

"This is Taishiro's hot chocolate stand where he gives out free hot chocolate every year during the holiday season, get this, for free," He emphasized the free aspect of it, of course, and Momo just smiled, rolling her eyes slightly before quickly directing her attention back at the man. "I don't know what's in that stuff, but it's the best hot chocolate you'll ever have, I promise you." 

"Hm, promise? That's a hard promise to make," Momo tapped her chin pensively, her index finger catching on her glossy bottom lip for the briefest second. And for the briefest second, a very not-adhering-to-rule-three image flashed through Shouto's mind as he thought of her lips being parted like that for him. He could feel his body heating up and a blush spreading across his face as the scenario around the image filled itself in. Shit. 

He silenced his thoughts by dropping his head against the glass panel that separated them and the shop owner. Yeah, it hurt and it was going to leave a bruise probably, but what else was he supposed to do? The thunking sound alerted the raven-haired girl and she turned her head a curiously raised eyebrow. 

"Uh, Shouto, are you okay?" 

"Yup. Fine," He lied through his teeth waving his hand slightly and eliciting a slight giggle from her at his strange behavior. She moved on quickly enough though, pulling him by the arm toward the front counter of the stand, eager to try this amazing hot chocolate. He followed passively, still trying to shake the immovable image from his head. But it stayed stuck like glue. Like a far off possibility even though it wasn't.