Finding Me (Todoroki x Reader)

Chapter 25

I managed to return to my seat in time for the match, flopping down in between Midoriya and Tokoyami.

"Phew..." I breathed out a sigh of relief. "I made it."

I heard a quiet chuckle escape the bird-boy beside me, silently irking at his reaction.

"You have a tendency for making it to things just when you need to, don't you L/N?" I chuckled nervously as a response, subconsciously sliding further down my seat to make myself smaller.

"I-I guess, Tokoyami," was all I could come up with, sadly.

"L/N," a new voice attracted my attention to the left of me, my eyes landing on my extremely freckle-faced friend, and my stickler of a Class Rep.

"Hey guys," I sat upright to address them properly. "I'm sorry I didn't make it down to wish Ochaco good luck. I feel terrible for it..."

"Don't worry, L/N," Iida assured me, waving his hand stiffly to add to his insistence. "We informed Ochaco of your situation, and she understood. She said to thank you for encouraging her earlier, but to better watch out in the finals."

I smiled proudly at my friend's confidence, glancing briefly down at the stage below us. 'I hope she does well,' I prayed, brows furrowing at how intense Bakugou looked on the big screen. 'All I ask is that she comes away in one piece.'

"Speaking of your situation..." 

I hummed at Midoriya's words, dragging my distracted, E/C eyes to line up with his brilliant green ones. However, it wasn't just Midoriya glancing at me, but Iida as well. I visibly gulped at how intense their gazes were upon me - both of them looking at me as if I were a criminal and they were interrogators.

"How did your conversation with Todoroki go?" Midoroya asked, and I was immediately reminded of the emotional encounter with the icy-hot boy. My shoulders drooped, but I managed to keep my eyes on my friends. A small, sad smile creeped its way onto my lips, thinking back on how it all went.

 "It went... interestingly." My voice sounded so lost, and unsure of what else to say. "I believe I came away with more questions than answers, but..." I turned my head back to to my friends, a small glint of hope shining in my eyes. "But I think I'm getting to him. I hope I am..."

With that, Midoriya and Iida caught onto the internal conflict I was feeling, and dropped the subject. Instead, Iida changed it to focus on our brown-haired friend below.

"Midoriya, I'm curious..." he started, raising him arm in a straight line once more. "What was that strategy you came up with that would give Uraraka an advantage against Bakugou?"

At his question, my ears perked up again, attention now fully intrigued by my green-haired classmate beside me. Midoroiya clutched tight to his slightly burnt and extremely worn notebook.

"Honestly, it wasn't much of a plan," he started, looking down at the object in his hand. "Kaachan is so strong. When it comes to close combat, he almost barely has any openings. The more he moves, the more he sweats, which makes his quirk more powerful.

"He's gotten really good at using his explosions to move around in the air, but if Uraraka can touch him, she can use her quirk to make him float - she could send him out of bounds. That's why it's obvious as to what Uraraka needs to do to get the upper hand."

'Amazing,' I thought, my mouth agape at what a simple, yet clever, strategy it was. 'Midoriya really is quite the tactician. Even if he doesn't realise it, he is a formidable foe for anyone - with his quirk and his brain.'