Studying you ~TodoBaku~

Chapter 15: play to win

Shoto Todoroki

"Alright lads, game time. Get out there, do yourselves proud, and remember, you can beat these guys easily. Come on!"

We echoed coach's final motivational cry, and made our way out of the tunnel, a much smaller crowd than Tuesday cheering us on. Made sense, seeing as it was weekend, and people were out having fun elsewhere. Of course, the crowd size never mattered that much, and it actually helped me locate Bakugo with ease. He was right at the pitch side, sat in a small seat on his own, waving at me. I smiled, not waving directly at him so as not to turn attention his way, figuring he wouldn't appreciate that from people.

After the customary checks and the handshake between captains, I stood to the side as the opposition striker stood over the ball. The second he made contact with it, I charged towards, chasing down the midfielder he'd laid it off to. The midfielder did exactly what I'd predicted and panicked, surprised by my turn of pace, and it was almost effortless taking the ball off him, immediately charging on with it. The defenders' faces looked worried as well, but they stayed in the correct positions and gave me no way through. I had no passing options either, and decided to take a chance, shooting from maybe 25 yards out.

It actually went a lot better than I'd expected, fizzing towards the right-hand side of the goal, and I thought for a split-second that it was in, but the goalkeeper touched it with the slightest of fingertips, turning it out wide where his left-back kept it in play. That confirmed to me that the goalie knew exactly what he was doing, and that it would be a challenge for me to beat him.

And that proved absolutely true. Shot after shot went his way, but not Honenuki nor Amajiki or myself could get by the long-haired brunette in the goal. He was furious with his defenders for allowing us through so often, and once I'd met his eye, he did a sarcastic eye roll about them, which almost made me laugh out of pity. No offence to Sero, but if this guy joined us, we'd goddamn win this league without contest!

I was stood on the halfway line, watching as the opposition had one of their first chances of the game. Tetsutetsu managed to quite easily take the ball off him, but the striker, enraged at being so easily beaten, had lashed out at Tetsu, diving recklessly after the ball and taking Tetsu down, studs digging into the side of the silver-haired defender's leg.

I heard his cry of pain from 30 yards away. He held his leg, wailing in agony as the referee issued a straight-red card to the striker, who stormed off the pitch in a huff, not before being scolded by his coach. The opposition now had one less player to compete with, but we were losing Tetsu in exchange. It wasn't that I didn't trust Shinso to do a good job in defence, it was just that he's never partnered with Shoji before, so it would be difficult for them to coordinate.

Sure enough, my predictions came true. They had a short flurry with the ball after the incident, and their remarkably short winger crossed the ball in, and Shinso made to head it away. Shoji, not knowing he was there, barrelled into him and wiped them both out, leaving their striker free to practically pass the ball into the net past Sero, the keeper unable to find the right positioning after the sudden calamity.

I resisted the urge to facepalm, and shouted "doesn't matter, just figure it out!" to the two defenders, both sheepishly looking around at the sour faces of the team. But they held firm until half time, probably terrified of the coach's shouting that was inbound. It was indeed intense, and the coach rather pointedly told them to "sort their shit out" as we all left the dressing room. I noticed the opposition goalie coming out of his own locker room, and he smiled as he saw me.

"Good luck dude, it's been fun!" He said, a smile on his face. He seemed genuine enough, so I held out a fist for him to bump, a sign of quiet respect. Unfortunately though, that was not what happened. He must've misunderstood a couple of things, because he bent down and kissed my folded knuckle, looking up at me as he did. I pulled it back, and said "sorry, I'm in a relationship" very quickly, not quiiite the truth, but I was still feeling unfaithful.

"Yeah, I know. You keep peeking at the blondie in the front row. He's cute, you've done well" he said with the same smile, and despite my caution levels going off the charts, I made small talk with him. He didn't bring up relationships again, which was...refreshing. As soon as he'd kissed my hand, I'd expected the awkward cheesy lines about how I should cheat on my partner, blah blah blah. But no, he was just a genuinely nice guy, it turns out.

The second half played very differently from the first. This time, it was the opposition who'd gotten the jump on us, with the shaky team of Shinso and Shoji taking a hell of a battering at the back. But there were no mistakes, and soon, there was three minutes left. We'd barely had a chance to speak of in the whole half, and I'd spent most of my time idling around the halfway line. This didn't bother me much, seeing as I was practically full of energy now. The opposition let off just slightly on their attack, and it was Aoyama who seized the chance. He looped a ball out wide to meet the dashing run of Iida, subbed on for Honenuki on the left-hand side. He carried it towards the left corner, before powering his foot through it for a cross. I watched as it looped in front of me, the goalkeeper rooted in the perfect position, and I let my foot swing mercilessly through it, enough power behind it to fuel a goddamn city.

The immense roar of a crowd told me I'd scored, and deja vu came rushing back to me. Sure, it was only to equalise, but that meant 1 point instead of 0. 1 goal instead of 0. I practically suffocated under the heap of my teammates leaping into me, and once I managed to finally crawl out from underneath Muscle Mountain, I heard the referee blow his whistle, not bothering with additional time. The very first thing I did was go over to their keeper, who looked devastated on the floor. I pulled him up, and patted his back, commending his efforts in the net.

If I thought the locker room was wild on Tuesday, this time it was feral. 24 naked teenage boys, and every single one of them was fawning over me. Kirishima has leapt onto me and was rustling my hair, and I shouted "Kiri, off! I can feel your fucking dick on my leg!" with a laugh.

"Bro, you promised you'd come out with us this week!"

"No party if we don't win. You know the rules, kiri, and so do I!"

"You're giving me up and letting me down here man!"

I managed to sneak out not too long after, overwhelmed by the sheer testosterone in the room. I saw Bakugo waiting for me, leaning on a tree outside the locker room entrance. He smiled and waved as he saw me, and as I walked over, I started thinking about earlier. The boy had made an advance on me, and I'd turned him down because of Bakugo. I'd been immediately disinterested, because I had Bakugo. I'd lied about my relationship status, because I wanted Bakugo.

I wanted Bakugo.

Now.
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Damn, sucks to be that goalie...I'd have wanted Todoroki too........👀

Fact of the Day: Todoroki got MOTM today, what a legend. Also NEVER GONNA GIVE YOU UP, NEVER GONNA LET YOU DOWN-