ʜᴇʀᴏᴇs | ʙɴʜᴀ

↳ chapter 9

I looked around the wooden house in awe. Old houses like these were rare for me to come across these days, especially when I was living in the city. Todoroki didn't really care that I was eyeing his house in amazement, but instead, he continued to lead me to the training room. He stopped in front of one of the shoji doors and looked at me.

"The room might have scorch marks, " he said nonchalantly.

Called it.

He slid open the paper door, to show a room full of training equipment. The walls had been burnt, but behind them was concrete. I heaved a sigh of relief. Well, at least now I knew why the training room wasn't burnt to the ground. I put down my bag and helped the half-half boy push all the equipment to the side so that we could spar, to see which are the best and worst of each other's abilities. I stood in one corner of the room.

"Bring it on, half-boiled, " I smirked, in my sparring position.

"Really, is that the best you could come up with?" he raised his eyebrow.

I ran towards the boy, feigning a right hook, kicking his left. He, unfortunately, he blocked both of my attacks with his fast reaction time by ducking under my right arm and pinning it behind me. While he was trying to do so, I twisted my arm the other way, jabbing him from behind me with my right elbow. He didn't flinch but dropped down and kicked my feet out from under me and pinned my arms down.

I smirked, wrapping my legs around his torso and turned the tables. Now I was the one on top. I stuck out my tongue.

"That was not bad, Todoroki, " I smiled, getting off of him.

"You too. You were quite flexible, but you need to train your reaction time, " he remarked.

"You're one to talk. After pinning my arms down you assumed that you won, " I snarked, "You have a weak mind, always getting things done the fastest, but not properly,"

I used my finger and flicked his forehead. I saw him roll his eyes, a hint of a smile on his face. He got into a fighting stance.

"Rematch?"

•

I pinned him down on the ground, but he headbutted me, causing me to reel back in pain. He got up and slung his arm over me, holding me in a chokehold.

"I win, " he whispered in my ear, letting go of me.

I inhaled in a huge breath of air, the oxygen flowing into my lungs. I smiled. He had gotten better after the first match, taking the advice I gave him. I too had grown stronger but in terms of physical strength, he was a boy, so he was still stronger than me.

"Good job. I think we should try attacking one another with our quirks now since we are training for an event that involves them, " I stated.

He nodded his head, agreeing with me. He held out his hand and hoisted me up from the floor.

"I think we should take a break, you look exhausted, " he explained.

I leaned against the wall, my back slowly sliding down until I landed on my arse, my heavy breathing speaking for me. He dug something out of his bag and threw it at me. Before I knew it, a plastic water bottle was hurling at me. My eyes widened and I quickly dodged it.

"God, Todoroki. I thought I was going to die!" I exclaimed dramatically.

I picked up the water bottle and said my thanks. He chuckled at my theatrics. The bottle was ice cold, which I assumed he froze. I shot him a grin, gulping down the water like it was oxygen. I capped the water bottle and wiped my mouth with the back of my hand. Standing up, I got into my fighting stance again, readying myself for our battle.

•

I teleported up from behind him in the air, hurling a kick at his face, but he quickly dodged my attack and froze my leg. I fell onto the ground, and he froze up the rest of me in a block of ice.

"I win this time, " he declared.

I chuckled, shaking my head as he unfroze my body. We were getting better and better at controlling our powers. Suddenly, the boy asked me a question.

"Hey, Yumé-chan, " he paused, "Can you teleport objects as well?"

  I put a finger to my chin. I had never tried before, so I was quite uncertain. The boy had raised a good point though. Could I? I stood up, dusting my pants.

"I'm not too sure. I have never tried, " I replied.

"Well then, let's try, " he smirked.

  He took the water bottle that he gave me just now and put it in from of me, asking me to teleport the bottle without touching it. I focused all my thoughts on the water bottle and getting it to teleport. The bottle disappeared in front of me in a black mist and reappeared on top of Todoroki's head, hitting him. I snickered at the sight of the boy rubbing his head.

"Well, I guess you can, but that doesn't forgive you for doing that, " he grinned deviously.

We continued to spar with one another using our quirks for the rest of the day. Time had passed quickly, and before we knew it, it was time for dinner. My stomach gave out a loud growl halfway during training, which caused Todoroki to stop.

"Oh wow, it's already dark, huh?" I said, looking out of the window, the red-and-white-haired boy gave a hum in response.

"I better head home, " I said, slinging my bag over my shoulder.

  As I was at the paper door, I felt a hand on my shoulder. I turned around, to see Todoroki with a bag as well, smiling.

"Do you want to eat dinner together outside? I don't really want to talk to my dad right now, " he explained.

  I looked at him, confused. Why? By the look on his face, I knew it was best not to question. I gave a small smile and nodded, as he recommended a great soba place nearby. We chatted and walked out of the house, our laughter filling the air.