[Third Person's PoV]
Momo stared down at the bed, her feet crossed, voice soft and hesitant. "Why are you doing this to ?"
lissa froze, guilt clawing at her chest. "Ah... I'm sorry, Momo…" she murmured, sighing deeply.
She pulled back from where she had been lying, sitting upright.
Momo's lips curled into a small, sad frown, and the sight of it made lissa's heart ache. She opened her mouth, ready to say sothing—anything—to fix this, but Momo spoke first.
"You're cruel, lissa…" Momo's voice wavered, her hair falling forward to shield her face. "I had moved on from Tony... or at least, I thought I had. I kept my distance from the two of you so I wouldn't interfere, so I wouldn't beco a problem. I suppressed my feelings out of respect for both of you. It wasn't easy, you know… moving on."
She exhaled shakily.
"I loved Tony. Maybe I still do—I don't know anymore. You're confusing ."
lissa bit her lip, guilt deepening.
Momo continued, voice raw with emotion. "I loved him because, without him, I wouldn't be who I am today. I sotis imagine what my life would've been like if I'd never t him… and I know, without a doubt, there would be a stark difference."
A pause.
"...No pun intended." She winced slightly at the unintentional wordplay with Tony's last na but pushed forward before lissa could speak.
"It hurt, at first," Momo admitted. "Letting go of soone you love. Watching him be happy with soone else. But… it wasn't just anyone. It was you. And that made it hurt a little less."
lissa's eyes widened slightly.
"You were like the sister I always wanted, my other best friend. Just like Tony, I know I wouldn't be the person I am today without you."
lissa's throat tightened, but she stayed silent, listening.
"So I thought, 'It's okay. I'm happy for them. The two most important people in my life are together. It was never ant to be. I can move on.' And that's what I did.
"There were monts where I could've ignored everything, let my feelings take over, but I didn't. I couldn't. Out of respect for you."
Momo's face flushed at a mory. "Like when he asked to put his contacts in for him… It was such an intimate mont. And for just a second, I wanted to forget everything. But I didn't. I forced myself to push through."
Her voice trembled now, and when she lifted her head, her eyes glistened with unshed tears. Her lips quivered, her body trembling as she tried to keep it all in.
But she couldn't. A single tear slipped down her cheek.
"So I have to know… Why are you doing this to ?" Momo whispered. "Why do you want to keep suffering like this? Do you enjoy seeing in pain? Is this punishnt… for loving him in the first place?"
lissa felt her own tears spill over. She rubbed at her eyes, shaking her head frantically.
"T-That wasn't what I wanted," lissa sobbed. "I never wanted to hurt you. That has never been my intention."
She hiccuped between words, voice cracking. "I just… I just wanted you to be honest with yourself. I don't even know what that would've accomplished, but I never wanted to hurt you. I swear, I only did it because I care about you."
Without thinking, lissa threw her arms around Momo, hugging her tightly as tears continued to fall.
"I thought that if you admitted it, we'd grow closer," she whispered. "That there wouldn't be any secrets between us. Hurting you was never my goal."
Momo sighed, leaning into the embrace. She knew lissa wasn't malicious—she simply wasn't that kind of person. If she were, Momo wouldn't have been friends with her to begin with.
After a mont, Momo spoke again, voice quieter now. "lissa… just how close were you planning for our relationship to be? Because, honestly, the way you went about this has a little concerned."
Breaking away, she wiped her tears, trying to regain her composure.
lissa did the sa, her pale cheeks turning red at the question. She looked away, too embarrassed to answer.
Momo arched a brow. "I thought we weren't supposed to have secrets? Honesty, rember?"
lissa mumbled sothing under her breath.
Momo frowned. "What? I didn't catch that."
lissa's face went even redder. Then, with a sudden burst of desperation, she practically shouted:
"I wanted you to join us in a threeso!! Maybe the two of you would have developed so sort of friends-with-benefits situation!"
Momo stared at lissa in disbelief, her mind struggling to process what she had just heard. "You—You—You pervert! Ecchi! Hentai!" she exclaid, turning an entirely new shade of red.
"What is wrong with you?!" Momo almost shouted, utterly stunned. "Tony was right! You are a perv!"
lissa waved her fists up and down in frustration. "That's not true! It's only because it was you, Momo! If it were anyone else, I would've shut the idea down without a second thought. But the idea of the three of us together was just… too alluring!"
Momo took a deep breath, her voice turning cold despite herself. "So you forced to confront feelings I buried just so you could entertain so fantasy?"
lissa flinched, looking down. She bit her lip before lifting her gaze, sincerity and guilt evident in her eyes.
"If I'm being honest… I hate it," lissa muttered.
Momo gave a wary smile, assuming she understood. "Yeah, I can see why you'd hate it if soone had—"
"No, it's not that," lissa interrupted, shaking her head. She hesitated for a mont before continuing, her voice softer but firm. "I hate that you just gave up. You loved Tony too. You shouldn't have put my feelings above your own without even trying. You didn't even fight for him, Momo. If you had, I wouldn't have been mad. I would have accepted the challenge, and we could have competed fairly—with no hard feelings."
"There was no point, lissa." Momo sighed, shaking her head. "I wouldn't have won. And worse, I could have lost both of you in the process."
lissa clenched her fists, frustration flickering in her eyes. "That's what pisses off, Momo! You don't know that! You're gorgeous—even before you took the serum, you were beautiful. Who's to say what would have happened between us? You never even gave yourself the chance!"
Momo's expression softened. "lissa, I appreciate the complint, but—"
"No buts!" lissa interrupted, standing up abruptly. "Co with ."
"Huh? Where?" Momo asked, wary of the sudden shift in energy.
"We're going to Tony. Right now. We're going to ask him directly—if he would've had a hard ti choosing between us or if he would've just picked without hesitation."
Momo groaned, rubbing her temples. "Can we not do that, please?"
lissa crossed her arms stubbornly. "Either we go to his room, or he cos to yours—which, with all the attendants here, wouldn't look great."
Momo let out a long, heavy sigh. "And what exactly do you hope to accomplish with this?"
"Everything," lissa said, her eyes locked onto Momo's.
For a few seconds, Momo just stared at her. Finally, her shoulders slumped in resignation. "You're not letting this go anyti soon, are you?"
"Nope."
Grumbling under her breath, Momo reluctantly conjured a pair of slippers beneath her feet.
—
anwhile, in his room, Tony sat on his bed, surrounded by floating hard-light holograms. His fingers moved rapidly, restructuring the virtual model of U.A. with precision.
A knock at the door pulled him from his work. His irises glowed faintly red as his X-ray vision activated. Through the door, he saw lissa standing in front, Momo behind her with her head slightly down, wearing a wary smile.
"Co in," Tony called.
The door swung open, and before Tony could react, lissa blurted out, "Tony, would you have sex with Momo!?"
Momo's head snapped toward lissa, eyes wide in horror. "What?!"
Tony choked on his own saliva, coughing violently as he banged on his chest to catch his breath. "What the hell, lissa?!"
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