Secrets [Todoroki]

*Chapter Thirty-Nine*

Stalking through the trees, the weary classmates came upon their campgrounds.

Unconscious on the back of Kirishima, Miri was taking a nap after a rough adrenaline rush.

"Ya know, Mir, I love you like a lot, but carrying you takes seven years off my life." Kirishima heaved, breathless and sweaty.

Miri's eyes cracked open. "You could have dragged me." She yawned, stretching out.

"Oh yeah? And let Todoroki catch me doing that to you? No, thank you." He laughed, letting her down.

Miri's eyes narrowed. "What do you mean?"

"You're kidding, right? You and him are always so close to each other and are all buddy-buddy." His eyes lit up. "Are you secretly dating him!?"

"Miri is secretly dating someone?" Mina asked, poking her head into the conversation.

"Oh hell yeah, Miri!" Kaminari cheered. "Who's the lucky guy?"

Miri's cheeks heated. "I'm...I'm not secretly dating anyone!"

Kirishima pursed his lips. "But you like him, right!?"

"Come on, Miri!" Kaminari smiled. "You guys are always together and you're always so red when around him. You totally like him, right?"

"No. No. No." Miri held up her hands. "I'm not going into this discussion again. No. I'm not. You fools," She circled her finger around them. "Don't need to know. No." She walked away, thinking of her squad mates and their interrogation of her a few weeks ago.

Mina raised her eyebrow. "Well...that was different."

"She totally likes him." Kaminari nodded his head.

"Oh, yeah. Without a doubt." Kirishima smiled at her.

Mina grabbed their arms, nodding toward Todoroki, who was watching Miri. "I think the feeling might be mutual too."

𓆩*𓆪

Miri stood outside the entrance to the girl's sauna. The towel that covered her body was wrapped tightly around her. She stared at the door, debating if she really wanted to go in.

'Only a wall separates us and the boys...not to mention I'd be naked around the girls...' Her cheeks heated. 'We're all girls...but it's weird all the same for me. I just...don't look like them.' She sighed, trying to push away the thoughts in her mind. 'The girls don't judge me...they're so supportive. It's just hard not to compare myself to them.'

A delicate hand on her shoulder caught her attention. Miri turned to see Jirou with a towel wrapped around her body as well.

"Hey, Mir. Everything alright?" Jirou asked.

Miri bit her lip, her fingers curling up to play with the black strands of her hair. "I'm...I'm not sure if I'm up for this..."

"Is this your insecurities talking, or you?" Jirou asked.

Miri stared in surprise.

"I can see it when we're changing in the locker rooms, and when we went shopping. You're not really happy with yourself, are you?" Jirou rubbed her neck. "Maybe my wording of this is harsh..."

"No, you're fine. And it's not that I'm not happy with myself...it's just..." She rubbed her face. "Maybe my wording of this isn't the best either."

They both smiled at each other. "I get what you're trying to say." Jirou smiled.

"Thank god...it's not that I'm not happy with my body and all the hard work I've put into it." She flexed her arm, watching the muscle. "I just can't help but want to be like the other girls as well. The perfect hourglass figure. Ample breast and bottom. Soft skin that isn't lined with muscles that can crush a watermelon. I guess I want to be more...feminine?"

Jirou looked Miri up and down. "Well, you have all that." Jirou gave her a soft smile. "It's no secret I'm not as...physically gifted as everyone else, but that doesn't mean I'm any less than what I am." Jirou popped her hip out, her hand coming to rest on it. "Society has a messed up way of changing what is viewed as attractive and what is not. Just be you. If you put on something fake, or try to make yourself who you're not? Nobody will like you for who you really are. You won't be happy with the people you've surrounded yourself with because that's not truly where you belong."

Miri's lips parted in surprise. "I don't know what to say to all that..."

'I do, but it may not be what everyone else wants to hear.' Miri thought to herself. 'What Jirou said could apply to more than just your body. Nobody here except Bakugo knows the truth about me. Are my friendships with everyone even real? Would everybody still think and feel the same about me if they knew who I really was?'

Jirou waved her hand. "It's fine. You don't always have to have something to say. Sometimes, just doing will be enough." She grabbed Miri's hand and pushed the door open.

The room was warm, almost uncomfortably warm. Steam floated through the air and made breathing feel weird.

Miri saw all the familiar faces of her classmates and tried to maintain eye contact with their faces and nothing else.

"Miri! Jirou!" Mina cheered, sitting perched on top of a rock. "It's about time you guys joined!"

Jirou walked into the water, discarding her towel on the edge of the pool. "I couldn't find my towel." She waved her hand and smiled up at Miri.

Looking around, a little unsure, Miri took a few steps to the pool. The water covered her feet, and she found a small smile growing on her face. It felt nice...

She slid the towel off and quickly sat in the pool. The water covered up to her neck, relaxing her sore muscles. She leaned her head back and closed her eyes.

As soon as she had gotten comfortable, she had the feeling something was off. She heard a voice. A very familiar voice.

On the other side of the wall, Mineta was doing what he did best.

Much to the chagrin of the other guys, a small handful of them watched as the little grape filled their imaginations with his foul words.

Todoroki sat back in the water, his arms crossed and face hardened. The water around him was startlingly hotter than anywhere else in the pool, and the surrounding guys quickly moved away.

"Jeez, Todoroki. Are you trying to boil us alive?" Kaminari asked. He followed Todoroki's glare to Mineta. "Wait..." The gears seemed to churn in his head. "You're worried about him seeing Miri?"

Todoroki momentarily lost composure. "I don't know what you're talking about. I don't want him seeing any of the girls."

"Sure. Sure. But you're a little more concerned about Miri than the others, aren't you?" Kirishima nudged the red-and-white-haired boy.

"Unless you prefer your body being turned into a popsicle, I'd sit back if I were you." Todoroki's voice was as cool as the icy half of his quirk.

He was concerned for his female classmates. But one white-and-black-haired girl in familiar kept coming to mind. He watched as Mineta began to scale the wall, and Todoroki was instantly on his feet, making his way through the water.

He had only reached the end of the pool when he watched Mineta fall backwards, plummeting on to poor Iida's face.

Satisfaction filled him as he settled back into the water. His cheeks were lightly tinted red, slightly embarrassed of other thoughts in his mind.

"So, you're sure you're not specifically worried about Miri?" Kaminari slid over.

Todoroki only glared at him.