Shrine Maiden [BNHA]

Chapter Fifteen

~Erina's POV~

On the day of the Sports Festival, I woke up feeling a little nervous. Kirishima and I had been training nonstop since Mr. Aizawa had brought up the Sports Festival. Nothing had changed after our accidental kiss. There wasn't any weirdness between us. Everything was normal. We still spent the majority of our time together training or playing video games. It was a happy comfortable routine that I was content to have.

Before I left the shrine, my grandfather approached me and told me to keep my beads on at all times. He sounded eerily serious. I frowned at this, I'd been planning on leaving them at home, it didn't feel fair for me to have the help of a god while my peers could only rely on their quirks and I wanted to prove to everyone that I belonged at UA and I could get by on my own. Reluctantly I kept the beads wrapped around my wrist and made my way to UA.

I reached the waiting room for our class and smiled as I spotted Kirishima sitting at a table with Bakugo. He turned to me with a bright smile as he noticed my arrival and waved over at me. Bakugo shot him an annoyed look but managed to hold his tongue. I dropped into the chair next to Kirishima and couldn't help but laugh as he excitedly showed me the newest update to the Mortal Kombat mobile game we liked to play. It was easy to tune everyone else out and their nervous pre-festival jitters as we got absorbed in each other's company and the mobile game.

Our class rep Tenya Iida suddenly burst through the door causing nearly everyone to jump out of their seats, "Everyone! Get your game faces on! We're entering the arena soon." This only seemed to make those who already appeared anxious even more anxious. Mineta was doing some weird ritual drawing circles in his hand while muttering to himself and pretending to eat something invisible. Midoriya looked to be trying some deep breathing exercises. But the majority of my classmates were internalizing their panic. Very few of us were calm, I felt calm in Kirishima's presence and with the beads wrapped around my wrist. They were currently emanating a faint comforting warmth.

"Midoriya." Shoto Todoroki spoke up shocking everyone as he approached Midoriya in the center of the waiting room.

Midoriya looked up nervously, "H-hey Todoroki, what's up?" His meek stance and the anxious look on his face reminded me of the times he'd face off against Bakugo in middle school and I felt something stir within me. My instinct was to run to his aid, put myself between them and protect him.

I clenched my fists and placed my hands in my lap forcing myself to stay put. He had a quirk now; he could take care of himself. He didn't need the quirkless wonder running to his rescue anymore. I shook my head at the toxic thoughts spilling across my mind. Midoriya wouldn't look down on me for not having a quirk, that wasn't like him, even if he did have a quirk now. Kirishima noticed I'd grown tense and looked over at me his expression filled with worry.

"From an objective standpoint, I think it's fairly clear that I'm stronger than you." Todoroki said in a serious tone.

Midoriya flinched slightly before bowing his head in defeat, "Y-yeah."

The spineless way in which he rolled over sparked something within me and I got to my feet. I was prepared to jump in and rescue him the moment he needed me. Despite how much he'd hurt me, I still cared about him and I never wanted to see him hurt in anyway. As angry as I was at him, I still considered him my friend and I wanted to protect him.

"However, you've got All Might in your corner helping you out." Todoroki continued. So, he picked up on it too. "I'm not here to pry about what's going on between you two, but know that I will beat you." He declared.