Secrets [Todoroki]

*Chapter Seven*

A few days have passed since then, and Iida's question still bothered Miri.

Nightmare hadn't been on her back as much as Miri expected. It seemed since that night; she wanted to avoid Miri. Truth be told, Miri wanted to avoid her too.

But true to their agreement, she and Todoroki avoided each other. One would catch the other looking, but gazes were quickly averted.

Miri found herself more curious about him than initially. What was under that stoic and emotionless front? What happened to him that made him this way?

Talking to Uraraka and them was slowly becoming easier. She was a little more open with them and hesitating less over her words. It wasn't so much that she was shy; she was just so worried about saying the wrong thing to them. She never had many friends in middle school and elementary school, much of her life was her moving from country to country.

But to make friends now? It was a blessing. She never felt so happy than she does when she sits down and talks to them.

"GOOD MORNING, STUDENTS!" All Might stood in the front of the room. "The costumes you had designed at the beginning of the school year are finally here. Put them on and meet on the training grounds outside." He beamed.

Miri had slipped off to the locker room with her suit. Her suit, truth be told, was nothing special.

When they first asked her to design her suit, she couldn't really think of anything special for it. She just went with something simple and easy to move in.

She held the green and black bodysuit up and looked it over.

It looked...smaller.

Sighing, she slipped it on with mild difficulty. It got stuck on her large thighs and hung tightly around her waist, but other than that it was okay.

"This is...tight," Miri muttered. She looked in the mirror and saw her muscles straining to contained in the tight suit. Her abs plainly stood out on her stomach and as she flexed her arms, she felt the suit constrict. This would not do.

"Yeah, mine is too." Uraraka's suit looked plenty cute on her. Miri felt ugly in comparison.

"But your suit looks amazing on you, Ochako!" Miri held the girl's hands delicately as she gazed at the suit. It took a lot of convincing from Uraraka to get Miri to use her first name. Over-politeness was seated into the girl's being.

"I like yours too! It accentuates your hair. And your muscles! They're so defined in it. I thought the school uniform looked good on you, but this suit is something else!" The other girl smiled.

Miri smiled back, her cheeks lightly dusted. "You're just being...polite."

They walked out together to greet the boys.

Midoriya looked like a little green rabbit, though Miri would never say that to him. Meanwhile, Iida looked like a knight in shining armor.

"Woah!" Miri marveled at the costumes. "You guys put so much more...thought into yours than I did." She rubbed her eyes. Pollen levels were okay, but they would definitely bother her.

"But yours still looks good on you." Midoriya rubbed the back of his head with a light blush. Her suit didn't leave much to the imagination.

Miri waved a hand. "I don't want to hear it. It's basic looking, I know. I'm not really..." What's the word? "...eccentric per se. It's too tight for me. If I breathe too deeply, I might pop."

They giggled among each other, but Miri's attention was caught by Todoroki who stepped out in his costume.

The ice that covered his left side didn't look right at all. And then the eyepiece? Miri cringed.

"Well...at least mine isn't the ugliest," Miri mumbled to herself.

What was the deal with that? Why was his entire left side frozen? That limited his abilities, right?

Miri listened to All Might talk about today's lesson with mild curiosity. She kept sneaking glances over at Todoroki to mentally berate his poor costume choice and make up theories about why he chose it. She sneezed a few times and tried her best to not irritate her watery eyes.

"Since there's an uneven number of you, one person will have to complete this challenge alone against a Pro Hero." Whispers erupted among the students. Who would be crazy enough to do that? All Might gestured to his left, and Midnight stepped into view. "Midnight will assist with this, of course with some limiters." He held up some weights, similar to what Miri trains with.

Miri looked around at the faces of everyone around her. Nobody looked like they wanted to do it. Miri didn't exactly want to either, but if nobody stepped forward, then it would stall the class.

Miri raised her hand. "I'll...I'll do it."

Miri didn't know much about Midnight's quirk, but maybe if she talked to Midoriya he could help her? Judging from Midnight's body type, she doesn't seem like a physical fighter, which was good in Miri's case. But then again, Pros always had something up their sleeves.

The class whispered among themselves, casting glances at Miri.

"Alright, it's settled." All Might grinned. "Young Mirianne, you'll be fighting Midnight. Good luck."

𓆩*𓆪

Miri watched the teams battle while she sat in the main room thinking of a strategy.

She didn't ask Midoriya about Midnight's quirk. He seemed kind of frazzled that he had to fight against Bakugo, but Miri didn't blame him.

As her fight grew closer, she paced. She chewed her lip and twirled the black strands of her bangs between her fingers, thinking of solution after solution.

She sat on the floor, considering all outcomes of the fight, but not knowing what Midnight was capable of was the one thing that was missing.

"Why did you offer to do it?" A familiar voice asked, and she looked up to see Todoroki standing above her.

She tried not to grimace at his costume.

"Offer to do what?" Maybe it was the fact that her mother wasn't as centered in her getting information on Todoroki—or maybe it her desire to be his friend—but she found it a little easier to talk to him.

For him to speak to her first, especially now, was surprising.

"Offer to fight Midnight. You were the last person I expected." He stared down at her.

"Sorry to...disappoint?"

He was silent for a moment. "Do you have a plan?"

Miri sighed. "No...I'm going in blind."

His eyebrows screwed together. "That's stupid. You could end up getting hurt."

Miri's nose flared. "Not that I don't appreciate it...but why does it matter to you? I thought...you weren't here to make friends?"

The boy fell silent. She looked up at him, watching his reactions.

He remained stoic.

"You looked sad. A lot of times you've looked sad, actually." He closed his eyes. "I can't ignore the fact that you seem familiar to me, no matter what you say."

Miri ran a hand through her hair. "I can assure you, we've never met before in our entire lives. I think I'd...remember you if we did."

"I think I'd remember you too." He mumbled.

They stared at each other in silence before Aizawa called for Miri.

She pushed herself to her feet with one last glance to Todoroki and slipped into the back.

"Good luck." The boy whispered after her, but he knew she couldn't hear it.