My Healer Academia (Bakugo x OC x Todoroki)

[S3] Kota

               It was 5AM the following morning, and class 1-A was hard at work. Everyone continuously pushed their quirks to their maximum stamina limits, and Ai was no exception. As she manipulated her own body cells in order to maintain a sprint across the mountainous terrain, her goal was to get a hand on each of her fellow peers. Every contact restored their lifeforce while simultaneously draining hers. It was up to willpower at this point for her not to drop dead.

               "Damn it!" Bakugo roared as he lifted his hands from the hot water barrel and shot up an explosion from his palms. When the exhaustion was hitting him, he barely noticed the touch on his arm until the familiar feeling of healing warmth surged throughout his body. The scowl didn't leave his face when he looked down at Ai. "Who the hell said I needed your help?!" It took a lot out of Ai just to retaliate, but she still did so out of impulse.

               "You sure looked like you needed it," Ai said, giving a short chuckle before Bakugo grabbed her collar. She made no effort to get out of his hold, for she took the moment to get her breathing under control.

               "Damn pipsqueak," Bakugo growled, though he stopped any other threats once he got a good look at Ai. The elevations of her chest were inconsistent, and she seemed like she could collapse at any given moment despite the determination on her face. "Don't you dare pass out on me." His other hand grabbed Ai's elbow and steadied her on her feet. "Carrying you is just gonna be another pain in my ass." His complaint was met with a toothy grin once he released her collar, though his grip on her arm remained.

               "We've got each other's backs, right?" Ai remembered their ten month long workout montage at the park. After overdoing it on occasion, Bakugo would piggyback Ai to her old apartment whenever her legs no longer functioned correctly. It was those vulnerable times that changed her perspective of the cold hearted middle schooler, and in turn, changed Bakugo's perspective of Ai as well.

               "Yeah, whatever," he muttered, fully letting her go.

               After their separation, the trickiest students Ai had to get to were the ones who had long range quirks. Aizawa advised to stay away from Tokoyami because it was too dangerous for her to go into the cave herself, and when it came to Todoroki, Ai had to find the right timing so that she wasn't frozen or burnt to death. She opted for recreating the shoes from the obstacle course at the UA sports festival, running over the ice cast out from Todoroki's spot. He refrained from mindlessly summoning fire once he noticed how close she was. Ai dropped to her knees next to his bathwater bucket, and Todoroki let out a slow simmer from his left side to carefully melt the ice she rested on. The two were panting from their overexertion, but Ai still managed to reach out and grip his left hand that dangled out of the bucket, giving a tired smile when the fatigue melted away from his face.

               Todoroki wanted to properly thank Ai for restoring his energy, but his voice caught in his throat when her head fell on his shoulder. Her hand was about to drop from its grasp, but Todoroki intertwined their fingers and kept a tight grip on her. Though her eyes were closed, he knew that she wasn't unconscious yet. "You need to rest," he finally said, to which he could feel her shaking her head.

               "Everyone's," Ai panted, "giving it... their all..." She let out a relieved sigh when Todoroki reached over with his right hand and placed a cooling sensation on her burning forehead. "I can't slack now, Ice King. Especially not now." She finally opened her eyes when Todoroki subconsciously brushed her bangs to the side, dropping his right hand back onto the edge of the bucket. If it weren't for her already flushed face, the prolonged eye contact would have done the trick. "I, um... I should... go..."