Finding Me (Todoroki x Reader)

Chapter 40

"No! Y/N!"

The flash of metal inched so close to my face, that I couldn't see anything outside of the cool grey that reflected Shoto's flames. He was so quick, that I didn't have time to even brace myself for impact. I felt numb from fear; I felt like I was falling off the side of a cliff, heart pounding faster than it ever had before. 'This is it.'

"Recipro... Burst!"

A strong wind flew over me, taking away the sword from my view, and leaving me with a dark sky above. I heard another loud bang, but my senses were all still too numb. My breathing stopped for a moment alongside my heart. Was I dead? Had Stain killed me so swiftly, that I felt no pain?

A second more went by before I felt my lungs strain from lack of oxygen, yearning for fresh air. My mind started working again, as it forced my bodily functions to operate once more, allowing me to breathe. I gasped for air as my mouth opened up, heaving as I continued to lay face-up on the ground.

My body felt like a whole weight had been taken off of it, and the repercussions were following through, my shakes never ending. My hands scraped the cement beneath me, feeling its rough texture meet my fingers.

'I can feel,' I realised, eyes flicking about without turning my head to see my surroundings. I could see the edges of buildings, and my eyes stung as the wind hit them. 'I can see things, too.'

I tested my head by wanting to look to my right - that's where the loud bang came from. It was shaky at first, but I managed to twist my neck in such a way that I could see more. I sucked in another breath, holding it as I saw my dear friend standing on his own two feet, and the Hero Killer slammed up against a wall.

"I-Iida...?" I chocked out, eyes wide with disbelief.

I stared at my friend for a moment longer, but couldn't quite understand how we'd ended up here. One second ago, Stain was about to stab me, and the next he wasn't. One second ago, Iida was paralysed on the floor, injured, and the now he was standing.

'What just happened? '

"Iida!" I heard Midoriya cry out, his voice trembling.

My eyes switched to him, seeing how he was still frozen up against the wall. However, a relieved smile adorned his freckled face, and his big, green eyes shone with a small flicker of hope.

"Y-You're..." I stuttered, sounding small and extremely high-pitched. "You're f-free, too!"

"Todoroki, Midoriya," Iida said, his head bowed low, "L/N. This has nothing to do with you. I apologise."

"Not this again-" Midoriya said, prepared to reassure his friend when said boy interrupted him.

Iida stood up from his bow, face contorted with regret. "I'm okay now," he said, gritting his teeth tightly, "but I won't let the three of you shed anymore blood for me."

Suddenly, I felt a rushed pounding of footsteps coming towards me, causing me to flip my head around to the other side. An icy hand gripped my shoulders but I didn't care as I met the eyes of my icy-hot friend.

"S-Shoto..."

"Y/N," he called, gripping onto me tighter as he crouched lower to me. "Are you all right? Can you move? Did he hurt you?"

I just groaned in response, closing my eyes for a second as the numbness my fear brought started to fade away. My wounds had reopened, and my whole body ached from using too much of my quirk without regenerating properly. It was then I realised that my eye piece had flown off sometime in the battle, as I no longer saw or felt its presence on my face. Also, my hands stung as I raised them off the ground, and realised that the opalescent stones that were attached to the palms  had shattered, leaving little cuts in my fingertips and hand.