Finding Me (Todoroki x Reader)

Two Heroes - Chapter 5

We began our ascent, falling into an unspoken agreement of silence as we climbed each flight of stairs. We reached the tenth level... and then the twentieth... and the thirtieth. Damn, from the outside I knew this thing was tall, but how many more levels could there be? Leaning against the wall, I heaved in deeps breaths to calm my raging heart. As much as I appreciated the outfit Momo leant me, it was so not cut out for exercise.

"Level thirty..." Iida breathed out, looking at the big block numbers on the wall as he stood at the front of the pack.

"Wait, Melissa," Midoriya said, running around to the blonde girl. "How high does it go?"

Melissa - who was leaning on the stair rail at the back of the pack - was taking in just as deep of breaths as I was, strands of blonde hair falling out of her perfect ponytail. Melissa breathed in a few more breaths before saying, "...two-hundredth floor."

"The WHAT?!" Kaminari moaned, looking ready to be sick based on the extreme paleness of his skin.

"That's way too many stairs!" Mineta exclaimed.

Momo huffed out a breath. "It's still better than running into the villains."

As much as I wanted to agree with Mineta - for once, oh my goodness - Momo was right. We couldn't risk running the gauntlet through the main halls of the building where there were plenty of security cameras - it wouldn't do us any good if we got caught now. No, we had to remain inconspicuous, which meant climbing the dreaded staircase up to the two-hundredth floor.

Looking up at the the block numbers on the wall above me, I let out a heavy sigh as I took a step forward. "Well," I said, slowly climbing past Momo, Shoto, Midoriya and Iida to get to the front, "We better get a move on, then. We've got a long way to go, and very little time."

"Right."

My eyes fell on Shoto for a brief second, and I was hoping to see his usual stoic expression - a sign of determination for him - staring back at me. However, as soon as I made eye-contact with the icy-hot boy, he averted his eyes, not even giving me a chance to read him. Not giving me a chance to get close. My heart ached at the coldness, but I quickly brushed it off as I turned to climb the stairs with Iida.

I had to remain focussed. There were people in danger right now. He could wait. I told myself this, but... could he really? Could whatever was happening between Shoto and I really wait until we'd sorted out this problem? I didn't like the distance forming between us; the worst part was that I didn't understand why it was happening?

Shoto was jealous, that much was clear. But he had no reason to be, he knew that, right? We'd now reached the fiftieth floor, and I was so extremely frustrated. Damnit, Shoto. Why did he  have to be such a boy about this.

At the fifty-fifth floor, Ocahco slowed down and so I did, letting the others pass - making an effort not to look at Shoto - as I waited with Ochaco. I was about to ask if she was okay, but quickly noticed that she wasn't in pain. Instead, she was looking down the steps towards a tired-looking blonde, gripping tightly to the stair rail.

"Melissa," the brunette called out. "Do you want me to use my quirk on you?"

"I'll be fine, but thanks anyway," Melissa called back, an exhausted smile stretching her lips. In one fluid motion, she leant down to rip her dainty heels off before running up the steps towards us. "Save your power for when we need it. I'm right behind you."

"Are you sure?" I asked as the blonde made it to our level. "You look exhausted, Melissa. Here, let me lend you some strength." Ignoring her protests, I took hold of her hand and started feeding her some of my energy. Her energy shocked me, a little. It felt very similar to my own, surprisingly. White energy met white energy, mixing and moulding together as if they were one. It was warm and inviting, holding a comforting kindness to it as I easily let my energy flow into hers. If it weren't for the golden sparkles floating throughout it, I would've thought we could be twins.