The Realist(Shoto Todoroki x reader- Bakugo's twin sister)

Chapter 61

I stood wedged in the middle of a ragged line of heroes and police, arms folded across my chest. My eyes were really trying to look over Fat Gum. Not possible. He was a walking barricade of lunchtime and hugs.

A soft scoff escaped me, half sarcasm, half nerves. I was about to mutter something pointless under my breath when a prickly sensation crawled up my spine and froze me mid-complaint.

Something felt off.

Not your run-of-the-mill dangerous. No. This had a flavor to it like copper and thunderstorms.

Like the scene before something properly bad decides to happen and everyone looks around like, wait, who ordered this catastrophe?

Sure, we were about to wade into a building full of villains. Of course someone could get hurt. But the shape of the feeling was worse than that- imminent, threaded with dread, like the air before a lightning strike.

I blinked, shook my head a little to clear it, and waited.

Ophelia should have chimed in with a warning or at least a Hey, maybe don't stand near the east entrance. Nothing. Silence. No whisper, no hiss, no little 'ghosty' nudge. Just nothing.

That made it worse.

I thumbed the paper file the officer handed out. A compiled list of possible villains and their quirks. Names and faces, quirks listed like inventory items. Dangerous, evasive, possibly psychotic.

The paper felt heavier than it should have. I flipped through, studying them like they were test questions and I was the kind of student who actually read the textbook.

"Things are moving fast now, huh?" Kirishima's voice cut through my thoughts with that bright, uneasy energy he always had.

He looked at the group- half excited, half like someone who'd just realized they'd forgotten their wallet at home.

"You're energetic, considering how early it is." Tamaki mumbled, pulling up his hood like it might make the world less awake. His voice was that half-sarcastic tone people use when they're dying inside but don't want to admit it.

I glanced down at the paper again, squeezing it in my hands and then, without even thinking too hard, made an orb appear and set it around the page.

It flared, a controlled burn that seared the edge of the list without destroying it. The little heat hummed under my skin, steady and focused.

Why did it feel like the world is about to change after today?

"-That's true. Schools don't always prepare you for investigations like this. It takes some time to adjust." A hero's voice rumbled through the crowd, and the practical tone dragged me from my headspace back into the present.

I locked eyes with her for a second, letting the logic settle some of the static in my brain.

Saori shivered beside me, but the small smile she wore made it look like she was thrilled by the danger rather than terrified. "Doesn't it feel real? Like anything could happen?" she whispered to me, voice soft and almost excited.

I gave her a short nod. "Sure."

"Now heroes!" The officer with the bad perm bellowed, pacing like his volume would somehow create order. "This could get violent quickly out there! If you encounter even a hint of suspicious behavior or resistance, call for help immediately!"

I scoffed quietly to myself and let a dry little comment slide out of my mouth loud enough for Saori to hear. "They'll be the ones calling for help when I'm done with them." I said sarcastically. Making Saori giggle.