Studying you ~TodoBaku~

Chapter 2: back of the net

Shoto Todoroki

"Tetsu!"

"Kiri, back!"

"Man on!"

"Through!" I shouted, and watched as the ball came soaring over my head. I sprinted after it, before calmly slotting it past the hands of the keeper, beating him to the free ball. Sero sighed as I helped him up, his gloved hand hot. Coach Toshinori called us all in, and all 22 of us gathered around the centre circle, along with the 3 unused subs.

"Good work today, now make sure you relax before tomorrow. First game of the season, always tough, but I'm sure you'll all manage it. Now then, as for the team sheet..."

We all tensed up, eager to see who he'd chosen. At the end of the day, we'd all get out chances, but being chosen for the first game seemed pretty damn important, especially for the first years.

"...in goal, Sero. Defence, left to right, we have Tokoyami, Tetsutetsu, Shoji and Sato. Just in front of them is Kirishima, with Aoyama to the right and Koda to the left. Front right is Amajiki, front left goes to Honenuki, which leaves...Todoroki as striker. Good work, like I said. Now get away, and rest up!"

Hell yeah! The feeling of dethroning the existing striker immediately was incredible, especially given the stories I'd heard from the right winger, Amajiki. He'd said that this "Togata" was an excellent striker, and that they linked up brilliantly. Other than that, he hadn't said much, but it was enough to get me really pumped about the season ahead, even if it was just amateur.

It's not like I didn't know I was good. The whole reason I was here was because of a football scholarship with the college. They'd had a representative see me play and snapped me up like a star signing, so I wasn't complaining.

In the locker room, Sero, Tetsutetsu and Kirishima were all celebrating like they'd just won the World Cup, and ended up getting scolded by a third year I didn't know, probably salty about losing his place. Still, they continued, and that didn't stop once everyone was stripped and showering off.

I wasn't all that keen on the public nature of locker rooms, but this was my team now. No one had said anything the past three weeks, and I never expected them to ever. I just supposed they weren't bothered, and did as they did, stripping myself and stepping under the water. It was only when the idiot brigade's party got over to me that I began to regret my decision. It wasn't out of embarrassment, just the need to not be objectified because of my physique.

I was surprisingly slender for an athlete, and fucking tall. Even I knew that people weren't exactly meant to be 6ft 5' by the time they were 18, but it apparently didn't stop me! Only Shoji was taller than me on the team, and none were a quicker runner. It's a strange combination, height and speed, but the perfect one for football. Of course, being tall naturally gave me a pretty modest endowment, but that wasn't ever something I saw fit to brag about.

"Jesus Todoroki, that thing needs a warning!" Kirishima said with a laugh as they danced passed me, and I just shrugged and turned away in response. He was joking, of course, seeing as there were much bigger around the room, but either way, I wasn't interested in his banter. Instead, I just finished up, and got myself dressed. I didn't have classes today or tomorrow, just on Wednesdays and Thursdays to compensate for training. Plus, having to be here at weekend to train was a hassle, so it all balanced out in a fair way.

The walk home was a long one. I'd usually run, but I was exhausted from today's training, given we'd started earlier than usual, and finished later as well. And so that's why I was still not at home when I got a message from the coach in the team's group chat. Opening it up, I saw a list of our names, with what I presumed were shirt numbers assigned to us.

1- Hanta Sero
2-Fumikage Tokoyami
3-Rikido Sato
4-Mezo Shoji
5-Tetsutetsu Tetsutetsu
6-Yuga Aoyama
7-Koji Koda
8-Eijiro Kirishima
9-Shoto Todoroki
10-Juzo Honenuki
11-Tamaki Amajiki
12-Yo Shindo
13-Mirio Togata
14-Hitoshi Shinso
15-Inasa Yoarashi
16-Neito Monoma
17-Yosetsu Awase
18-Kosei Tsuburaba
19-Shihai Kuroiro
20-Tenya Iida
21-Tensei Iida
22-Sen Kaibara
23-Togaru Kamakiri
24-Seiji Shishikura
25-Nagamasa Mora

Woah....number 9?! The first choice striker's kit?! This day keeps getting better and better! Sharing a solitary fist pump with myself, I ran the rest of the way back to my apartment. The school had offered to pay for this as well, all part of my scholarship! They must've been really desperate to have me on the team, huh...?

Shaking the arrogant thoughts from my head, I unlocked the door and went straight to my bedroom, collapsing onto the soft bed. I stripped off my shirt, still baking in the late-summer heat, and looked absentmindedly into the mirror.

As mentioned, I'm kinda tall, so couldn't see my whole body in the mirror, but I could see my lean arms and flat yet defined chest, and a small sliver of pride began to sweep through my body, and I chuckled a little and indulged in it, flexing my arms like a goof in the mirror.

The rest of my evening was spent alone, contemplating the game tomorrow. I was excited, especially at the news of all the first years coming to watch us. I knew some wouldn't be interested at all, but who was I if I didn't like to show off? If I spy a hot dude in the crowd, I'll dedicate any goals I score to him..

That being said, we were against tough opponents. They'd won the title last year, and so technically this would be one of the hardest games of the year, which only got me lord pumped about the fact that coach had picked me. I spent a little bit of time relaxing and reading a book, as I so often had before a game in high school, before I closed my eyes and tried to go to sleep.

It was only thirty seconds later when I sat up, rolling my eyes, and giggling to myself. That could've been bad, I nearly....

....forgot to take my contacts out!
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I know that some of the characters aren't from UA, and I couldn't resist doing an aged down Tensei Iida, but who cares? I had to think of 25 male characters from MHA off the top of my head, cut me some slack!

Fact of the Day: 6ft 5' Shoto Todoroki with glasses...😳