Saving Me [Monoma x Reader]

o3. Todoroki

By the time we all made it outside and Aizawa had finished explaining the test, I noticed a certain red and white-haired individual within our group.

"Todoroki?"

He turned around. "Oh, [L/N]. You're in this class, too?"

"Yeah."

"How are you? I see you've patched up."

"Oh, these?" I lifted my hands to reveal the band-aids I hastily slapped on in the bathroom before class. "Yeah, I'm good, thanks. I mean, it's really nothing. If I'm gonna be a hero, stuff like this is gonna pale in comparison, right?"

"I suppose."

And there it was. That awkward silence again as we blankly stared at each other.

We both turned to watch as the first person was called up to throw the ball. Bakugo. That bitch-ass, ash blond punk. I might have known his name now, but it didn't change the fact that I saw him as an overgrown chihuahua who barked at every slight.

My brows knit together and I nervously curled my toes within my shoes. "So, uh..." I paused for a bit, wondering if I should've actually said anything in the first place. "What... do you think of this whole expulsion thing? You think he means it?"

"Either way, I'm giving it my all." Todoroki only turned his head to look at me. "You should, too."

I blinked, then returned his gaze with one of my own. Maybe I was taking it the wrong way, but that was a surprisingly pleasant thing to hear, especially from someone who was technically my competition now.

I gave him a small smile. "I will."

In the end, I didn't place first nor last in any of the given tests, but I was pretty satisfied with my results nonetheless. My quirk was fairly versatile when it came to maneuverability, but pure, physical muscle was something that I lacked. Despite this, I still ended up somewhere slightly above average amongst my classmates. Being the best never crossed my mind, as it did others. Dad never reached the Top Ten, but he was still a great hero, and I believed that as long as I worked hard and did my best, then I would be a great hero, too. That was all I wanted to be.

There was no doubt that I'd constantly be compared to others, but I had accepted that as part of my journey as a hero.

Little did I know that my thoughts on the matter would completely change one day.

Once our series of tests was completed, Aizawa revealed to us that no one would be expelled after all, even though it seemed the green-haired kid, Midoriya, would've been the likely candidate. It looked like Bakugo had some kind of beef with him. I didn't know what kind of history they had, but it didn't look pretty. What didn't make sense to me was why Bakugou would have such a problem with such a nervous wreck in the first place. Midoriya seemed like a nice enough guy, so why bother slapping so much hate onto him?

"[L/N], let's go."

"Huh?" I turned around, hardly realizing until now that I had been watching the almost-fight that the ash blond instigated, had Aizawa not stopped him with the loops of his scarf.

"We're dismissed."

"Oh. Right."

We both turned to head back, only to have our backs met by a certain someone's gruff voice.

"And YOU, CHAIR BRAT!"

Great.

"Ignore him."

I nodded my head to Todoroki's words and kept my eyes forward as we continued walking.

"HEY!" he roared louder this time. "WE'RE NOT FUCKING DONE! I haven't forgotten about earlier!!"

At this, Todoroki stopped, and spoke over his shoulder. "When you shoved her to the ground, or when you kicked her chair?"

Wait. Wait wait wait wait. Todoroki noticed the whole chair thing, too? And he was sticking up for me? We barely knew each other, and yet here he was, helping me out... but I also needed to do something for myself.

"Shut up, you bastard. Stay outta this or I'll kill you! And I never shoved her!"

"Are you so caught up in your own world that you didn't even realize you were hostile to the same person twice today?"

"Deku's just a moron, so he deserves it!"

Oh. Yikes. He really didn't recognize that we had two encounters today. I mentally facepalmed. Well, never mind about doing something for myself. As thankful as I was for Todoroki's help, there was just no helping Bakugo. This was a hopeless case and I think both Todoroki and I now knew it.

"C'mon, let's just go," I sighed while gesturing forward with a side nod of my head. I could see Todoroki still narrowing his eyes at the ash blond. He actually looked pretty intimidating with that glare of his. I wouldn't want to be on the other side of it.

We both walked away, with Bakugo still screaming threats into our backsides.

"I SAID WE WEREN'T DONE, [H/C]-HAIR! DON'T YOU DARE IGNORE ME!!"

But ignore him I did.

School ended surprisingly early, since Aizawa told us to just pick up a syllabus and read over it for the next day. Being the nerd that I was, I decided to pull out the sheets of paper and read it on the way home. It was more efficient this way, plus, I'd have more time to spend time with Mom and more time to train before tomorrow. Supposedly, it was going to be a big day.

"[L/N]."

My head lifted from the syllabus, and I spun around to see that the one who had called out to me was none other than Todoroki.

"Oh, hey." I gave him a blink. "Seems like we keep running into each other today, huh?"

"Is that a bad thing?"

"Oh- uh... no! Sorry. I didn't mean it like that."

Now it was his turn to blink.

I cleared my throat. "Actually, it's uh-... it's kind of nice. I'm glad that we met. And that we're in the same class."

"I see. Same to you."

I could feel a small smile forming on my lips. "By the way, thanks for earlier."

"Hm?"

"For... sticking up for me. Against Bakugo."

"Oh, that." He nodded, but then his eyes wandered off for a moment, staring elsewhere until he returned to mine. "Don't let him push you around."

I lazily shrugged. It was my turn to look away. "From my experience, it works best when you ignore them."

Just from that one sentence, I guess I said way more than those words alone, and Todoroki read between every line. I just didn't know it then.

There was a lingering pause until he finally asked, "Heading home?"

"Yeah, taking the train. You?"

"Same here," he answered. "May I join you?"