Finding Me (Todoroki x Reader)

Chapter 89

"...It may seem anti-climactic, but with this, the Provisional Licensing Exam has officially been completed."

"It's over?" I heard Midoriya say, and I couldn't help but wonder the same. That was it? The H.U.C members were all safe and so they would just cut off our battle just like that? Mera was right, but anti-climactic was an understatement. More like down-right disappointing.

"After we tally the scores, we'll announce the results here in the arena. Anyone injured should go to the infirmary. The rest of you are free to change clothes and wait wherever you like."

After the dismissal, I immediately ran for Shoto, crouching down to help him. "You okay?" I asked, reaching out to his cemented shoulder with an energy-covered hand. "You're okay, right?"

I sent a small energy pulse into the cement, cracking it bit by bit until all of it crumbled off his arm. I spotted another Shiketsu student walking over to Yoarashi, his hairy leader being the one to bend down and help the poor boy up. Bracing his back, I helped Shoto into a sitting position as he rubbed his shoulders.

"Yeah," he murmured. "I'm fine. Thanks for..." Shoto averted his gaze from mine, and I released a sigh. His guilt was all too obvious.

He was thinking about the fight. Honestly, I was too. I still couldn't believe - even after it had finished - that him and Yoarashi had the nerve to fight each other in the middle of a real battle. How egotistical could one person be, let alone two? I was mad; mad that they had fought; mad that they had risked multiple people's lives because of their pride; and I was really mad that they'd also gotten themselves hurt.

However, what I was really mad about was the fact they tried to fix their mistake, making me realise that I wasn't mad a single bit. I wanted to be, but it wasn't rage that I felt as Shoto slumped before me. It was disappointment - in them, and in myself.

Standing up, I brushed off the dirt that layered my suit. I had to say, the reflective, switching layer helped a lot.

"We'll talk about it later," I said, offering a hand up. "Let's just go have a shower first. The results shouldn't take them long to decide on."

The icy-hot boy nodded, taking my hand aNd pulling himself up. We both looked over our shoulders to see how Yoarashi was doing, and found him being pummelled into the ground by his upperclassman's disapproval. Now, that was anger.

"Poor guy," Shoto muttered, and I guessed he was trying to be funny. I didn't laugh.

Instead, I shrugged and turned away from him. "Yeah, well, just be grateful I'm not doing that to you after the stunts you just pulled. Come on, let's go."

I didn't wait for him, stalking away to an exit before he could say anything. Now that the test was finally over - regardless of if I passed or failed - a sense of relief washed over me, and now I desperately just wanted a shower and change of clothes. Maybe I could ask Hatsume to design some breathing holes in this thing when I got back.

Shoto didn't catch up to me until we hit the corridor of the change rooms, girls and boys exiting and entering their respective areas intermittently.

"Hey," he said, grabbing my wrist. "Are you okay? You know, after the fight..."

"I'm fine," I quipped, refusing to turning around.

"Well, you're obviously not fine because you won't even look at me. Are you... mad with me?"

"Why would I be mad, Shoto? You did nothing to me-"

"Because I screwed up!"

I allowed a beat of silence to pass before I turned around, only to find Shoto staring at the ground. An emotional fire boiled inside of him; I could feel it flickering and waving inside him, wanting to grow more and more until it exploded. The anger and venom dripping from his voice also caught my attention, slightly taken aback from the intensity in his heterochromatic eyes.