A Dragon's Heart // Shoto Todoroki x Reader

Chapter 41: Birthday

"You're so cute." He said quietly. He closed the gap between us and planted a kiss upon my cheek. "Now get dressed, dinner is almost ready." He said before standing up. The floorboards creaked underneath him as he walked out of the room; leaving me to my panicked thoughts that I couldn't quite grasp.

I sluggishly and painfully slid on some pants and socks. The oversized shirt I slept in looked like a dress, but it was too comfortable for me to care about aesthetics. Noodle remained curled up at the foot of my bed, sound asleep. I pet his little forehead before I ambled out of the room with the coffee Shoto made for me within my hands.

My body felt like stone; it creaked and felt heavy. It did make sense, my limbs and bones had been shattered and removed by that Villain – of whom when I get my quirks back I was definitely going to go and give him a 'friendly' visit. I cackled to myself at the sinister thoughts that swirled within my imagination.

With another sip of my coffee, I entered the common room. Darkness peered inside the building from the massive glass windows. From which you could almost see the entire campus, a massive area. Too big; its entirety made me painfully aware of the depth my aloneness. My eyes saw Shoto sitting silently on the couch in the main room, I felt inclined to slither in next to him. Only for my soul to leave my body when I saw the entire class ambush me.

"HAPPY BIRTHDAY AMARA!" They all shrieked excitedly in unison. My hands jolted above my head, the ceramic cup and its contents flew up into the air, before the hot liquid splattered down my hair and the ceramic mug shattered into tiny fragments. I felt myself wince, but the heat of the liquid was barely noticeable along my skin; perhaps a sign my quirks growing back.

The class all clapped and laughed at me and the frightened performance I gave. I couldn't help but smile at the faces around me. "Oh wow, thank you." I felt my eyes well up with tears – a mixture of embarrassment for the spectacle I performed and the moment of happiness.

"Its okay Amara, we're sorry for scaring you. We just wanted to surprise you!" Midoria beamed as he inched towards me with wide arms. "Don't cry, it's your birthday and you slept through most of it so let us make it up to you." He grinned before his arms wrapped me into a tight hug. I really liked Midoria, he wasn't quite as tall and intimidating as the other men in this class. He is just a sweet cinnamon roll of a guy.

"Look who rose from the dead." I heard Kirishima exclaim as he pointed a posed finger at me.

"Quite literally it feels like." I smirked as Midoria released me from his hug.

"Here's another Coffee for you Amara, and a cloth to wipe up the coffee you spilt on yourself." I was surprised to see Yaoyorozu handing me a new heavy mug and a soft piece of cloth. Considering she was rarely ever nice to me – ever.

"Um, Thank you?" I said to the tall girl, who didn't quite look as happy and confident as she usually did. Her face wore a permanent frown as if it has been engraved into her flesh. I used the cloth to pat my dark curls dry with one hand and took several sips of the coffee with the other. This coffee wasn't that bad; better than Shoto's one.

"It's late at night and your drinking coffee?" Iida lectured me but I couldn't help but laugh at him.

"Iida its her birthday she can do what she wants." Uraraka interjected.

"So" I spoke up before taking a seat on the red couch. "What's everyone been up to?" I asked.

"We've been trying to decide what to do for the School Festival, we were thinking a live performance of some sort." Kaminari tells me.

"Sounds cool." I said in a monotone.

"You mean you'd be into that?" Iida asked dumbfoundingly. "I would never have guessed-"

"-Oh, I'm not allowed to perform or participate in any way. So it doesn't matter what I think." I said with no hint of emotion.

"But, why?" Shu asked softly. An awkward cautious silence befell the group around us. I forced a sigh and opened my mouth to explain.

"You don't have to tell us." Shoto interjected nervously.

"No it's fine." My dark brows knitted together as I gulped the rest of the hot liquid down my throat. Sometimes I believed that metal lined the insides of my throat – might make sense. "SO, I bet you are all wondering what happened to me in the months that I left?" I asked loudly to the large gathering of bodies. They stood silently like statues, their eyes frozen on me. "So, I was blackmailed into joining the League of Villains. They threatened myself and Todoroki." I announced before shooting Shoto a glance. His bi-colored eyes seemed stuck to the floor.

"What was that like?" Uraraka delicately questioned.

"It's not much different from school, I got to do whatever I wanted without actually being forced to go to classes." I replied.

"Um, we have completely different high school experiences." Kirishima pointed out with crossed arms.

"I guess" I chuckled. "I also got stabbed on the first day I arrived there and I almost bled to death." The class seemed to deflate into sadness whilst listening to my words. "Luckily, I had a friend who patched me up, he was a little bit of a creep. He taught me some new techniques though." I smiled internally at the thought of Dabi. "But then during my sleep they grabbed me from my bed, dragged me across floorboards and injected me with all these needles and liquids. They tried to turn me into a Nomu." I sighed.

"When you attacked us, you had mind control gear on. You clearly weren't a Nomu." Midoria pointed out.

"I'm not sure why it didn't work. All I remember after is waking up at the Hospital and being told that I may never have my quirks back and if that wasn't bad enough, they gave me 3 months of detention." I spoke. "Well, 4 months now."

"4?" Shoto asked.

Oh shit, the pregnancy test run.

"Yeah, I ran out of school and almost got bludgeoned to death by that villain. Midoria saved me and brought me here Shouta added another month onto my detention punishment." I smiled at my green-haired friend. The look on everyone's faces was mortifying. I peered at Shoto beside me, his warm hand woven with mine. He held my hand so firmly I didn't know if he would ever let go.

"How did you survive?" Bakugo asked me, he appeared out of thin air that I almost jumped at the sound of his jarring voice.

"The adrenaline my body felt during the attack activated another quirk I've had this entire time. It was just dormant; it's a Regeneration or a Healing quirk. We aren't sure how it works yet. My severed fingers and broken bones regrew back to normal." I sighed at the painful memory. Why did it seem that people were always hurting me?

"That gives a whole new meaning to the 'Lizard' nickname I gave you." He chuckled softly.

"Indeed!" I laughed. "It means that my other quirks are growing back as well." I jested.

"But, Mirio lost his quirk as well and we don't know when he will be getting it back." Midoria whimpered like a dismayed puppy.

"Whose that?" I asked.

"He's one of the big 3" Midoria replied. I forced a nod and stretched my arms over my head.

"Well, it was lovely talking to you all." I spoke up. "I'll see you all tomorrow." I forced a smile.

"Bright and early Amara!" Iida interjected with authority. I rolled my eyes before smirking at him.

"No promises." I quipped before my eyes shifted to Shoto once more, I couldn't read his face but I knew the implications of my story bothered him.