Wednesday

Chapter 4

By the time Todoroki and Kirishima arrived at the locker room, most of the other boys in the class had finished changing into their training uniforms, and most of them had filtered outside to do a quick warm up before class started. Knowing it would be best to stretch out a bit before staring combat training, Todoroki quickly changed out of his school uniform and into the school provided athletic clothes. Although he changed quickly, he was still the last one outside. Hm, he didn't think that much time had passed. No reason to worry though. He was definitely over his little episode. Everything was fine. He felt better than he did this morning, so there was nothing to worry about really.

Class was called to a start after Todoroki completed a few stretches. The stretches his father taught him to complete before and after training, although Todoroki couldn't recall a time where he could peel himself off the training room floor to actually do them. Aizawa called the class around him. Todoroki made sure to stand in the back of the group, one because he was one of the taller students, and two because the thought of standing in such close capacity with so many people made his stomach do little flips.

"Alright, for the first half of class we'll be doing basic combat training to hone the skills you've been taught during the past few weeks. I'm going to split you up into groups of two. After about ten to fifteen minutes you'll switch partners. Remember, no quirks for this exercise. The whole purpose of this is to focus on your physical defensive and offensive abilities." Aizawa pulled out a list from his pocket and rattled off the teams. "Mina with Koda, Ojiro with Yaoyorozu, Sato with Tokoyami, Iida with Jiro, Hagakure with Shoji, Uraraka with Kirishima, Aoyama with Asui, Sato with Midoriya, Bakugo with Mineta, and finally Todoroki with Kaminari."

Todoroki glanced at Kaminari, the younger male noticing how he shriveled under his gazed and only offered a small, unsure wave. Todoroki gave a small nod in return. No smile. No emotion. He knew it would be a fairly easy fight, considering that no quirks were allowed. Kaminari had little to no training outside of UA, while Todoroki, on the other hand, had far too many years of blood, sweat, and tears under his belt. Todoroki walked over to Kaminari to begin the exercise.

"H-hey Todoroki." Kaminari stuttered. After he only got a nod in response, he continued. "You'll go easy on me, right?" Todoroki shrugged, causing Kaminari to further shrivel under his gaze. "Hehe man, do you always gotta look so scary?"

Todoroki was taken aback. He hadn't meant to be scary. Sure, he was aloof, serious, and even a little cold towards others, but he hadn't meant to come off as scary. "I'm sorry. That's not what I intended."

Blinking Kaminari waved his hands in panic. "Woah, dude, its fine, really! I was just joking around!"

"Alright, get to your stations and begin. I'm starting the clock" Aizawa called from the corner of the arena.

Todoroki and Kaminari squared up. Todoroki waited for Kaminari to make the first move, hopeful that he would make a mistake within the first few swings. Unfortunately, it seemed that Kaminari had been practicing outside of class. Todoroki barely had time to block the swing to his gut before he had to worry about the right hook to his jaw. His natural reflexes took over and guided his mouth away from the punch. He blocked and dodged a few more advances before deciding that it was his turn to attack. Todoroki swung at Kaminari, pulling a fake out, pretending to go for his face and landing a hit in the gut. His opponent stumbled back a but before charging back at Todoroki. He was ready though, dodging Kaminari and tripping him. Todoroki scoffed a bit as the blonde-haired boy sat up and sighed.

"Laugh it up while you can, Todoroki. I'll pin you next time." Kaminari joked, his lips curling into a smile. Todoroki put out his hand and pulled his friend to his feet.

Todoroki shrugged at Kaminari's comment. "I mean, believe whatever helps you sleep at night."

Kaminari paused. "Did the Todoroki just crack a joke? I thought I'd never live to see the day!"