Finding Me (Todoroki x Reader)

Chapter 28

My heart raced when I reached the stairs to the stage. Pillars of fire erupted from the corners of the battle field, indicating that the match was about to begin. The crowd was roaring with anticipation; the atmosphere was thick with tension.

'This is it.' I breathed in deeply, closing my eyes for a moment to centre myself. 'Just go out there, and show Iida what you're made of.'

When I thought about it, I wasn't actually nervous; the nerves bouncing around my body weren't there in fear of the losing. They were there because I was excited for what kind of match I could be in for.

After watching Todoroki and Midoriya's battle, I was kind of ready to have a heated, hard-fought battle of my own. Looking around the crowd, I could tell that they were ready for another one, too.

"Now that the field's been fixed up by Cementos, we can start the next matches!" The crowd cheered louder at Present Mic's announcement, and even more flames spiralled high as I stepped onto the battle field.

"First up, it's the boy with the speedy quick attack. From the Hero Course, and Class 1-A's Class Rep: Tenya Iida!"

Said boy stood opposite me, his face steeled with concentration. 'Probably going over the wonderfully thought-out plan he came up with while I was talking to Todoroki.' I sweat-dropped at how disorganised I was being today. 'Awesome...'

"Versus... the human-sized power pack, who's just been full of surprises, today. Also from the Hero Course, it's Class 1-A's Y/N L/N!"

"Let's have a good match, L/N." Iida reached out to shake my hand, which I gladly took.

"Indeed, Iida." I smiled in return, giving his hand a firm shake. We let go of each other's hand, stepping back and taking up offensive positions.

"Let the battle... BEGIN!"

"Here I come, L/N," my navy-haired friend announced, small sparks coming from his engines.

"Bring it, Iida!" My feet were planted wide as I squatted, my palms raised towards the speedster in preparation for anything.

Suddenly, Iida took off, his body heading around me. 'He's trying to get around me,' I realised, quickly putting up a white, translucent dome over me. I stumbled at the impact Iida's charge created, causing me to drop the shield just as quickly as I created it.

"Whoa!" I heard Present Mic's commentate. "Iida went for a quick attack like in his last match, but L/N was able to block him. Nice move!"

"Damnit," Iida grunted as he staggered his way back onto his feet. "Quick thinking, L/N. Very good."

I stood on the defensive - just like against Kaminari - waiting for the navy-haired boy to make a move.

'He's way faster than me, that's for sure. My best bet, right now, is to wear him down until he can't chase after me. However, he still has Recipro Burst up his sleeve, which caught even Shizuki off guard in the last round. He stalls ten or so seconds after using it, however, so I just need to to be able to avoid it, then strike.'

"Thank you," I replied politely, bracing for another impact, "but we're just getting started."

As expected, Iida came after me again, not with his big move, but definitely faster than the average sprint. Unlike last time, though, I was ready. I sidestepped his attack, putting up a frontal barrier and sending it flying towards the speedy boy.

'Perfect.'

Just as Iida passed my standing point, the energy barrier hit him, pushing him closer and closer to the outline. 'Come on... go out! '