Under pressure

Chapter 12

"Hey, Midoriya!"

(Y/n)s voice echoed through Todorokis head as he viewed the girl conversing with one of his opposing teams. He knew his current team was strategically the best he could do given the circumstances. The simple fact was that there wasn't much use for a person who specializes in combat in this type of event.

'Then why does is still feel like I lost'

He let go of those thoughts as quickly as he could and began to assemble a plan with his team, a small pang evermore present in his chest.

——————

The Calvary battle was a success, Midoriya along with Ochaco, Tokoyami, and (Y/n) coming up out of no where stealing 4th place. The laughed and embraced each other tightly, though the sight of beautiful hot flames, for only a moment dancing before vanishing were all that (Y/n) could think about.

The look of pure wonder in her eyes for the split second his flames were released was burned into his mind. The way her eyes widened and her lips slightly parted. The heat that slightly flushed her face and small glance of eye contact they made in the midst of battle was etched into his brain and playing on repeat.

Todoroki looked over at her and she caught his eye quickly. The wonder in her eyes was now mixed with curiosity. As they announced that there would be an intermission for lunch he walked to her and she caught pace with him, following to wherever Todoroki had planned.

The duo turned into an empty hall and kept walking when she decided to speak up.

"You know I always thought your hair was really really cool, that the white was like the ice side of your body, and the red was heat, like a ying and yang type situation? Your quirk suits your personality, if it is that"

He knew what she was trying to say but scoffed playfully anyways "Are you trying to say half of me is cold and the other is destructive?"

He was expecting and apology or for her to catch on to the obvious joke he was making, but neither of those transpired.

"Not at all. Your ice is your stability and level headedness, you're good at strategically planning your next move and can keep calm under pressure. Your heat is like your force, though I've never seen you use them before today, I can see them in your personality, the passion in your eyes when you fight remind me of fire. Mixed together, along with your training, you have the assets to become an astonishingly strong fighter."

Through all of that, his mind clung onto her last word vividly.

"Fighter?"

"Yeah, I mean being good at fighting is important, that's what your quirk is for, but you need a lot of other things to become a hero too. Your intelligence is also something to be admired, and your drive is something to strive for as well, so you as a whole are really going to shape up as an incredible hero by the time we graduate, unlike anything the world has probably ever seen before"

Her words were nice. He liked them.

She looked up after he hadn't responded, a tear had dropped from his eye and was rolling down his cheek. She looked forward and kept walking with him.

'Dear god please can this work and not be awkward'

She etched her hand so slowly closer towards his. She brushed her knuckles against his and saw out of the corner of her eye how he looked down and then back. Only when she felt him bump his hand back to hers did (Y/n)s heart swell inside her chest.

With the way her heart was pounding she wanted to kiss him right there, she probably could have. She instead, painfully slowly intertwined her fingers with his. He squeezed her hand lightly and the pulses in each of their wrists could be felt, but they didn't dare even think about that.

"I'm sorry if I brought up a difficult subject, your flames are just very beautiful"

"It's okay, I was going to tell you eventually"

"Then you can tell me eventually, you don't owe me an explanation"

He didn't respond and he didn't need to.

The kept walking for a few minutes in the silence he had grown to love with the person he had grown to... nevermind.

Once they heard the distant footsteps of others their hands parted only for them to realize that they had been steadily walking closer to each other, shoulders almost touching.

A split second decision when she saw the corner of the hallway that once crossed would end their moment of isolation caused her to quickly take his hand once more. He looked startled and deciding to just say 'fuck it' and go through, she brought his hand up to her lips and softly kissed his knuckles.

Cheeks absolutely burning up she let his hand drop back down to his side and turned towards him.

"Good luck out their Todoroki"

She turned and quickly paced to where they had posted the tournament match ups.

He stood their in absolute shock, he took out his phone and luckily he didn't look too red by his phone cameras standards even though he felt like his skin was burning up.

'25 minutes left on break, I have to go find Midoriya, he saw too'

Desperately trying to get his mindset off of the events that just unfolded, he went to talk with his other classmate for whom he had a suspicion about.

—————

"Are you almights secret love child or something?"

...

So he knew it was a bit of a grasp at straws but he had to ask or it was going to eat up his mind. Midoriya was amused and explained to him how he was not, but Todoroki was already in the mindset that Midoriya was supposed to be only his competitor. He explained his motives and then trailed off, telling him about his childhood as well.

Every time he told the story of his scar it was like a punch to the stomach, it made him feel disgusting and alone. This time was a little different, he still felt more anger towards his father than he ever had, but seeing Midoriya keep a straight face, without a falter of pity was nice. He could tell that the green haired boy saw him as his equal and respected him. He respected him too, admiring his persistence to become his friend, he was starting to even consider the offer.

A bell rang out, 5 minutes left on their break.

"Let's go get ready for our fights"

Todoroki couldn't agree more, he just wanted to get this done with now.