Suicidal Todoroki x Midoriya | What it Means to Love

39 | Villain Encounter

Izuku Midoriya

A man stands behind me. He's dressed in black gothic clothing, but his eyes are an electrifying yellow. A black hood conceals his ominous mien from the sides, but since his gaze is fixed on my eyes, I have a vivid picture of his facial expression. His wrinkled grin is like a lethal poison slathered across the icing on the cake. Baleful yellow eyes are sunken into his head, and two furrowed brows twitch every now and again above his eyes.

"C-Can I help you with anything?" I ask, which rewards me with the man wrapping his arms around my neck. He brings his mouth close to my left ear and keeps his nose pointed at the ground. "I-I-I think you have the w-wrong person!" I squeak, returning to the home screen on my phone to swiftly send a sloppy sign that I might need some assistance to Todoroki.

With cool breaths running against my ear and sliding down my neck, the man chuckles softly. "You don't plan on asking your boyfriend for help, do you?" he jeers with pernicious malice soaking his words. "We've waited for a very long time to finally set this plan in action, but it's all fallen into place. Oh? You really are very feisty and resilient. There is no point, but I'll wait." While diving into my text messages to text Todoroki, I manage to type a single letter before I'm disabled from sending or receiving anything from Todoroki. "So close...and yet so far. Aren't you going to ask why I'm here and what I'm doing? Why a villain has his hands around you?"

He crossed his middle and index finger when I was denied access to completing my message to Shoto, or even sending it, I realize, glimpsing down at his hands resting at my throat. Are a-any of his other fingers crossed? Or is he hiding it with his toes, if that's even p-possible? Is it long-distance, target-specific, both, or something else? How long can he use it? I-Is it like Mr. Aizawa's—where if he blinks, the effects of his quirk will be undone—but with crossing and uncrossing his fingers?

"Were you blindly relying on Shoto to l-leave me? He isn't...a part of this, r-right?" I gasp, stifling my movements. "Would you like to take a guess?" the man replies with the click of his tongue. Shoto would never betray me like this. I believe in him. I'd put more than just my life on the line for him. "I won't fall prey to p-paranoia like that. There's no way I'm ever going to believe that," I growl weakly, further undermining my lackluster assertiveness by stuttering. "Do you really know what goes on in his head? Or are you deceiving yourself with rotten words dressed up in fancy outfits?" he counters immediately. "Do you have, ah, let's see...evidence to support your claim?" His smug smile scrapes flint against my nerves of steel.

I don't need any evidence. I-I won't be swayed. You're trying to get under my skin, but I won't let you. "Really, w-we don't have evidence for anything. If Shoto was my source for evidence, he could be lying for all we know. How can we substantiate that w-we aren't figments of someone's imagination? Of course I don't believe it, but where's the evidence? I don't need to prove anything to you. Now, what do you want from me? Why are you here?"

The villain laughs lightly, dragging his cool, scaly, and long fingers along the bottom of my chin and jawline; the sensation is like a soft, yet rough piece of paper brushing along my skin. "I've been waiting for you to ask, Izuku Midoriya." He knows my name? I-Is that part of his quirk? "Ah, I can't give you all the details, but everything is going according to Shigaraki's plans. I am here to keep the three of you separated, of course. Mmhmm... If you believed you were stalling for your boyfriend, he should be on the ground in agony by now. How do I know? Yes, his phone took quite a hit." Wh-What did you do to him? "You must be longing to run to his side to help him. Well, I am here to present a decision to you. Kacchan is being given the opportunity to join the League of Villains at the moment. He's in no danger unless his wounds open up again from his outrageous temper. Just who will you pick to go after first?"