Across the Stars (Shoto Todoroki x Reader)

Chapter 12 - The Plan In Action

The vents were far worse than Bakugo had anticipated, to say the least. Although it underwent monthly cleaning, the metal surface was covered in a sheet of grime. Occasionally, a rat could be heard scurrying away, scared by the three huge ones squeezing through their homes desperately. For a pretty nonchalant guy, Todoroki himself had put on a disgusted grimace while looking at his surroundings. 
Oh, what a guy had to do to become a Hero!
Hardly being able to crawl through the tunnel, you finally regretted coming up with your plan. 

"Keep your eyes on the openings. We might be able to gather intel on the enemies' locations." Todoroki warned, snapping both Bakugo and you out of your distractions. 

"We should probably be quieter, don't you think?"

"Maybe if you had not forced us into this and had given me time to think, I would've blown those good-for-nothing rotten chicken nuggets to smithereens by now!" Bakugo whisper-yelled, struggling to turn around and show you one of his best scowls. 

"Shh," The split-haired boy in the front beckoned you and Bakugo to his side (a very narrow side, since his shoulders took up most of the space he was in), "I think I see a Villain down below from the opening in front of us." 
You slid under one of his arms that had been blocking your view, earning a grunt of effort from him. Sure enough, through the bars of the vent's lid, the angle you were staring at allowed a certain amount of recognition of the upper angle of the person's side profile. It was not the same girl you fought at your apartment. This girl had a much more rugged look, as if the world had chipped away at her. Her indigo eyes showed no sign of liveliness, they were damp, and conveyed to the onlookers that she was strictly transactional in relationships. Her long black hair, which you supposed was her natural colour, in a Hime cut, was dyed purple at the ends and cherry coke red at the roots. She wore a simple black compression shirt and cargo pants that had multiple chains and thigh harnesses hung up to them. She had multiple piercings and had a safety pin in one of her ears. She also- 

Her catty eyes flickered towards you, and in one swift movement, your position had been revealed. She had ripped off the metal lid and a significant part of the tunnel with almost unintended ease, revealing her raw power. All three of you fell straight down, fumbling to your fighting stances as if you had a chance against this girl. A mischievous smirk tugged at the corner of her glossy purple lips, letting out a giggle from within. She trudged towards you all in a bored manner. 

"My sister has been admiring you, y'know." She called out to you in a honeyed tone, ignoring the two people behind you and waving around her knife as if it were the mere morning newspaper, and its poisoned green edge was only the most trivial thing a person could fear, "She would greatly shower you with her love if only you came with us."

You were awestruck, your instincts weren't to fight her, but to invite her to a nearby café and have a heart-to-heart with her. 

What? Get your act together.

"Perchance, if your sister's love language is stabbing people, I am alright as I am, though I must thank her for all her compliments. May I ask what she said about me?" You inquired, strangely elated by her words, as you stepped towards her in a friendly gesture. You guessed she did not take to strangers easily, since her languid stroll turned into a full-on pounce as you got two feet closer to her. 
She jumped up high, and drew her dagger mid-air aiming it right at your jugular notch. 

"ARE YOU INSANE, MOVE!" 

You were grateful for the ruthless mouth of the angry hedgehog behind you for scaring you out of your trance. You jumped away from the incoming assault just in time, as she stabbed thin air with such vigor that you could feel the wind from her strike. If not for Bakugo, you would probably be embracing this gorgeous lady with her knife lodged into your throat. Your instincts made a comeback quick enough. Unfortunately, your sense of seriousness did not follow. For narration's sake, you asked for the girl's name, who continued her relentless onslaught on you, performing all kinds of twists and turns, making her look like she was dancing and you getting your toes stepped all over. 

"Um," You dodged another swing of the blade, "if you don't mind, your name?"

"Rue." She hissed, as if the mere sound of her name burnt her tongue. She grabbed for your shirt in an attempt to hold you in place, but the living dead had trained you better than to get caught. You kicked her off of yourself before regaining balance. Your assailant, agile, broke her fall with her knee, resulting in her skidding back from the momentum. No time wasted in getting back up, she took a few steps around you, analyzing what might be the next opening to attack. 

"You don't seem to like it," you mused out loud, earning another angry slash from the girl who dashed at you from across at full-throttle. Reflexively, you crossed your arms against your face to shield it from the attack, forgetful of the fact that you didn't have any rubber layers wrapped around them. She finally nicked you at the ventral side of your wrist. You yelled in pain, the poison felt like acid was seeping into your veins from the cut, burning you alive. You paused your dynamicity, clutching your wrist and resisting the urge to peel your skin off. Your enemy seems to have taken the moment to call for backup and correct her previous mistakes. You noticed, directing your words to the two boys behind you, you called, "By the way, it seems a little unfair of you two to stand back and watch--" You briefly glanced back, and that was the moment you realized why you weren't getting any help. Your opponent was a one-woman army. Todoroki and Bakugo lay incapacitated on the cold floor of the hallway, bound tightly by brown cords, breathing shallowly. Neither of them seemed to be in a hurry to wake up. From the other opposite side, Rue let out a satisfied grin upon noticing your utter speechlessness at her handiwork. 

"I like the look on your face. Maybe I'll spare you of my payback for the previous comment you made-!" She exclaimed, violently grabbed you by the shoulder and shoved you into herself, giving you a whiff of her sickly sweet fragrance, before piercing the side of your waist with her toxin-laced point, effectively reducing you to the ground. The ground itself felt like sludge. Pain left your vision swimming, clouding it from the edges and working its way in, leaving you with the final sight of the victor standing over you, ready to deal the finishing strike, only to be commanded to a halt by a garbled voice. The last thing you registered was Rue, crossing your body, casually wiping her mouth, leaving you for expanding darkness to consume. 

Maybe you should've waited for help to arrive.