Seraph - Katsuki Bakugo

n i n e

It was lunchtime. The second round was nothing to write home about, Reigen ended up on Shinso's team, and he had used his quirk on their other teammates without her knowing until the end. She was a bit perturbed by this, but all she really cared about was the fact that they had made it to the next round.

She sat in the cafeteria by herself, gathering her thoughts. A tray dropped down next to her, and she looked up to see Todoroki.

She gave him a smile, looking back to her interlocked fingers on the table.

"Not eating again? Don't you think you need the energy for the one-on-one fights?"

She sighed. "I'm too nervous."

Todoroki looked at her, eyes moving to her shaking hands. He got lost in his thoughts then, about the hold that his father had over him. What Midoriya had said to him.

He hadn't realized how long he had been lost in thought until he saw Reigen looking at him with concerned eyes. "Are you okay?"

"Yes," he said, looking at his food. "Just thinking."

"You can talk to me, if you need to."

"Thank you." He couldn't comprehend why she was being so kind to him. Between how he had been treating her all day and the fact that they weren't even all that close-- he didn't understand. Surely, she wanted to win this competition too; so why would she tell him that she was rooting for him?

They sat in silence for the rest of the time that Todoroki ate, and until Midoriya came up to Reigen.

"Hey, we're gonna go to the waiting room to prepare. You wanna come?"

She nodded, looking briefly at Todoroki. Before she could tell herself not to, she reached out and gave his hand a squeeze. She followed Midoriya before he could say anything, and he was left staring at the back of her head as she went.

When Reigen, Midoriya, Uraraka, and Iida got back to the waiting room, a wave of exhaustion hit Reigen. She slumped in a chair, placing her head onto her folded arms.

"You alright, Tanaka?" Iida asked, eyeing her warily.

"Yeah, I'm good. I just need a nap or something, I'm beat."

"Did you not sleep last night?" Midoriya chimed in, sitting next to her.

She shook her head. "Not really, I guess I was too nervous for today."

Everyone in the room mumbled in sympathetic agreement, but Midoriya leaned closer so he could speak more quietly.

"Are you gonna be okay for these one-on-one battles?"

"All I can do is my best," she replied, turning her head so it was laying sideways on her arms. "But I'm gonna win."

Midoriya smiled. "Right."

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The battles were about to begin, and Reigen was going to be up against Kirishima. As Midoriya and Shinso's battle began, she tried to come up with her own plan against Kirishima.

She sat next to Uraraka as they watched Midoriya go under Shinso's mind control, much like Reigen's teammates had in the previous round. He began to walk in the opposite direction of the purple haired boy, and the students around Reigen all began to yell in dismay. Reigen was watching with wide eyes, and her fingers to her mouth. She looked back at Ojiro, thinking back to how he had explained Shinso's quirk to Midoriya. He made eye contact with her, her expression reflected on his face as he shook his head helplessly.

Just as he was about to step out of the ring, something happened. Midoriya had activated his quirk, and wind swept through the place.

"Whew, that just about killed me," Ojiro said, and Reigen pressed her lips together. It was hard, she was rooting for them both. She wasn't sure who she wanted to win.