Almost three months had passed from when Uraraka joined the Musatafu Guild. And they were no closer to finding the Guild of Villains lair than they were when they had started. They had already combed through the entirety of floor one. Aside from a couple high level secret dungeons and a couple secret bosses they defeated, there was nothing in the way of the Guild.
There was also news of another guild of player killers. This guild called itself Laughing Coffin. The major most difference between Laughing Coffin and the Guild of Villains was that while Laughing Coffin was content to just kill players, the Guild of Villains was more apt to rob them, rape them, dismember them before they were killed.
Today was a mandated rest day, per Iida's orders. Everyone was doing different things. Midoriya was at the Smithy testing different weapons. Kirishima and Ashido decided to finally go on their first actual date in the Town of Beginnings. Uraraka had finally returned to her cabin to pack her things. She had been living with Midoriya for the three months she'd been with the Guild, and figured her cabin was safe now that it had been abandoned for that long. Iida was with Hatsume, who was critiquing Midoriya on his weapons choices. Bakugo went back to floor three to challenge random players to duels. Kaminari wanted to hang out Jiro.
As for Todoroki and Yaoyorozu, they were walking through floor two. They couldn't fully relax. They had decided to check this floor to see if this could possibly be the hiding ground for the Guild. The vast openness of the area didn't look like it'd be the best place for a guild in hiding. But as was the case with floor one, they were certain there were hidden corners of this floor, so it was possible they were hiding somewhere.
"If the Guild of Villains isn't here, where do you suppose they could be?" Yaoyorozu asked.
"I'm unsure. They'd have to be on floor three or four if they aren't on this floor," Todoroki said.
"Unless they've moved from every time the floors have opened."
"In which case, they could be on the highest available floor. When they first appeared, floor five had been open for a while. If they left anything behind, we had best check there for clues."
They returned to the warp gate and got ready to warp to floor five. But they saw someone approaching them before they could. It was a guy with somewhat slicked back spiky black hair.
"Excuse me," he said to them, "can you help me? I lost someone in the grasslands out there."
Todoroki and Yaoyorozu exchanged a quick glance. He didn't have the symbol of the Guild of Villains on his clothing, at least on the front of his outfit. That didn't mean he didn't have a tattoo or the emblem on the back of his clothing.
"Who did you lose out there?" Todoroki asked.
"A friend," he replied.
They were still hesitant to trust him. Ultimately though, they thought it best to humor him and maybe regret it. Yaoyorozu told him to lead the way. To their relief he didn't have the Guild of Villains emblem on his back. Neither did he have the Laughing Coffin logo. They were still hesitant to trust him. As he led them he kept casting backwards glances at Yaoyorozu. It made her uncomfortable.
The four months she'd been in the Musatafu Guild were rather peaceful for her. Disregarding the monsters and the Guild of Villains attacks, of course. She'd told Todoroki about how she was constantly hit on whenever she was alone in the Town of Beginnings. While he was still unsure how flirting was considered hitting someone, she found it funny. And kind of cute. She would often find herself more comfortable talking openly with Todoroki than if she was openly talking to pretty much anyone else, even in the Musutafu Guild. She found that there was just something about him that comforted her. What it was specifically, she didn't know. His calm demeanor? His neutral expression? His sultry voice? She blushed at that thought.
She was a bit embarrassed to admit she had a bit of a crush on him. A crush that developed over their four months together. His strange hair didn't bother her. His heterochromia she was able to overlook. Whatever was on the left side of his face, she didn't really care. She liked him because although he's dense, he's also earnest, he's kind, he doesn't have anger issues, he's collected. If they were outside, back in the real world, would they have a shot at being a couple? She never told him how she felt because, what if everything that happened in this world was all fake? Would that mean their possibly budding relationship would be fake, too? As the guy guiding them looked back at her, she glanced sadly at Todoroki. She wanted to be with him, but would it survive outside of SAO?
Todoroki caught her glance and his concern was immediately high. He could tell she was unhappy about something. Was it them following this guy? Or was it something else? She'd never looked this way before. She never looked this sad while she was with him. And that was often. They hung out a lot because, well, she was his second friend he'd made here. But she seemed to make it clear with their first meeting that friends was probably all they would remain. Which was a bit saddening for him. He tried not to, but he couldn't help but fall for her. He never flirted with her because he respected her enough to not do what others had. He wanted to pursue a closer relationship with her, but if she didn't want to get into that kind of a relationship he'd accept it. It'd break his heart, but he'd accept it.
Their guide stopped in the middle of a plain. Todoroki and Yaoyorozu prepared to equip their weapons. Yaoyorozu now had a red and black mace while Todoroki had a pair of swords, one red and one white. Their guide turned around.
"Maybe I should tell you who I am," he said, "my username is Welder, but my actual name is Yosetsu Awase."
"Great. Now where is this friend of yours?" Todoroki asked.
Awase looked directly at Yaoyorozu.
"There."
Awase was pointing directly at Yaoyorozu. She looked behind her before realizing he wasn't pointing to someone behind her. Both of them were confused.
"You don't remember me? The second week of the first month," Awase said.
Yaoyorozu groaned, rubbing her temples. Todoroki glanced from Yaoyorozu to Awase in clear confusion.
"Remember how I said people would drop what they were doing to hit on me?" She asked Todoroki.
"He was one of them?" He asked.
"Every. Other. Day. For two. Weeks."
"Oh, come on, Momo, it wasn't that bad," Awase said.
"It won't work between us, Awase. I'm part of a guild and we aren't looking for new members."
"Then leave?"
"No, I have friends. And..."
Todoroki stepped between them.
"We're also hunting the Guild of Villains. So unless you feel you could genuinely help--" Todoroki said.
"You stay out of this you freak!" Awase said.
Yaoyorozu glared at Awase after what he'd just said. Todoroki also glared at him.
"Do you want to try and reword that?!" Todoroki said, equipping his swords.
"Oh?" Awase asked, equipping a battle axe, "You wanting to start something?"
"A duel."
"Alright. If you win, she stays in your guild. I win, she's mine from this day on."
"Todoroki," Yaoyorozu said, "it's not worth it."
"Oh, don't be concerned for the freak, Momo. You're too good for him. Only us normal people should be together."
Both of them looked at him in disgust at what he'd said. Neither liked what he'd just said.
"Let's alter this. We'll both take you on. If both of us beat you, you leave us alone. If you beat even one of us, I'll go with you." Yaoyorozu said, equipping her mace.
Awase smiled at the idea.
"Deal." He began preparing to invite Yaoyorozu to a duel, "Momo, I cha--"
He recieved a duel invite from Todoroki before he could finish his sentence.
"You're fighting me first. You won't give Yaoyorozu a pity win," he said.
"Butt out! I wasn't even talking to you!"
"He's right, Awase. You're fighting him first," Yaoyorozu said.
Awase looked from Yaoyorozu to the invite to Todoroki to the invite. They saw exactly what he was going to do and forced him into this position. If he lost to Todoroki, he couldn't forfeit his match with Yaoyorozu. But he didn't want to hurt Yaoyorozu either. But if he just beats Todoroki, Yaoyorozu is his. And Todoroki couldn't be that good with swords, right?
"Fine." Awase finally said, accepting the invite.
A sixty second timer appeared between them. Yaoyorozu stood by Todoroki as he drew his swords.
"Are you going to use the skill you got?" She asked.
"I'd be a fool not to use it." He said.
Awase had his axe slung over his right shoulder.
"Just so you know, I'm taking this very personally and giving it everything I got," Awase said, unslinging the axe and holding it with both hands.
"I'd be disappointed if you didn't," Todoroki said.
He held his white left sword horizontally with his left arm extended. His red right sword was pointed at Awase with the hilt by his cheek. The timer hit zero and Awase charged him. With the rather hefty swings that he allowed axe to make, Todoroki could easily tell of the immense weight behind the axe. Awase then brought it down to Todoroki. He dodged and slashed Awase's chest in an X. He reeled back, pulling the axe from the dirt and very nearly hit Todoroki with it. He ducked under the slash and brought both swords up in a diagonal slash. Awase's dueling health was almost depleted. And he had yet to even lay a scratch on Todoroki. He didn't even get the chance to lay a hit on him. A twin stabbing from the back depleted the last of Awase's health. A message popped up saying "Shoto wins". He walked away from the duel and stood by Yaoyorozu.
"Very well done, Todoroki," Yaoyorozu said.
"Thank you," he replied.
Yaoyorozu received the notice that Awase wanted to duel. She accepted and drew her mace and a shield. The sixty second timer began counting down.
"How hard was fighting him?" She asked.
"Rather difficult. A single strike from that axe could mean well over half health being depleted." He responded.
Yaoyorozu shuddered at that fact.
"Yaoyorozu... in the off chance you do lose... there's something I want you to know..." Todoroki's face was starting to turn red.
"Yes?"
"I... I know that you said you were annoyed with people who kept flirting with you. I respected that because you're my friend before everything. But... Yaoyorozu, I couldn't help but fall for you. You're kind, you're strong, and of all the people in our guild, you are by far the most stunning."
"Todoroki..." Yaoyorozu's face was quickly turning red, as well, "I... thank you. I..." she walked up to him and hugged him tight, "I don't want to lose. I don't want to be forced to leave you. You... you... you're the person I fell for without truly intending to."
He wrapped his arms around her as well. From the other side of the dueling area, Awase looked on in rage. He felt that because he met her first, he was entitled to what Todoroki was getting. They separated at fifteen seconds.
"I wanted to challenge you first because I was fully intending to throw my match against you. But you guys brought this on yourselves." He said.
Yaoyorozu put her shield, which was on her left arm, forward and her mace was pointed down in her right hand. The timer ran out and he ran over to her, dragging the axe head on the ground. The axe struck her shield and she slammed her mace into its side. To everyone's astonishment, the axe head shattered, and the whole axe burst into pixels. Left weaponless, he had no choice but to concede. Awase left in anger, not even bothering to tell them how to get back. Todoroki and Yaoyorozu hugged tight after she had won. There were light tears shed between them.
"I won't leave you, Todoroki. I won't go anywhere here without you," Yaoyorozu said.
"I'll never leave you either, Yaoyorozu," Todoroki said.
They both grabbed warp crystals from their inventories and went back to the Town of Beginnings.
And now we have our Todomomo! Yeah, when I was coming up with this, I originally had them already together, but obviously that changed. I also originally had no intention of bringing Awase into the story, but call him a plot device for this exact purpose.