Saving Me [Monoma x Reader]

29. Sports Festival: Quarter-Finals!!

"Honenuki!" I dashed over towards his fallen figure. "Are... are you okay?" My eyes darted between the scuff marks on his skin and the purple bruises that began to form on his body.

"Heh, don't worry about me," he coughed while managing a smile. "You should be out there, celebrating your victory."

"I..." My brows furrowed, and I couldn't help but gaze at him. He seemed a bit sour. I knew that he didn't like losing, and a part of me felt bad for winning, even though I wanted to as much as he did. Had I fought against Todoroki or Bakugo and won, I would've felt completely different about the whole thing. So with Honenuki, why did I feel... guilty?

"To think you'd use the same strategy in the last game against me in this one... I should've seen it coming," he chuckled. "You earned this victory." His tone and attitude suddenly brightened up, and he lifted his fist towards me.

I didn't realize how friendly he actually looked when he smiled. And now that I got a better and longer look at him, he was...

Wait... why does it feel hot all of a sudden?

"Th... thanks," I finally replied, lifting my knuckles to his and giving him a fist bump. "You did really well, too, you know."

The fight's already over, but my heart's beating... faster..?

He squinted his eyes into a grin. "Thanks. Now get out there and keep winning, yeah? Don't make me regret letting you into our team as our rider!"

"Uh-... right." I blinked. "Okay. Yeah. Cool. I'm gonna-" I tripped over my feet as I attempted to leave. "-Wow, um... I'm gonna go..!"

"Hey! I'm the one who got slammed into a wall, so don't go hurting yourself before your next fight!"

I wanted to scream as I literally ran away.

What is happening. No. No no no no. This is... this is not okay. I'M not okay..!

Was it because I worked together with him in the last game? Was it because he helped me with Monoma? Was it because we fought against each other and now we had this... unspoken mutual respect between us?

What's going on... WHAT'S GOING ON?! Calm down, [Y/N]. It's just your adrenaline pumping from the last match..! That's all. That's all it is!

Todoroki wasn't a bad-looking guy, and I knew we had respect for one another, but it wasn't as if my heart sprung out of my chest after we had our match during the Battle Trials. He stood up for me against Bakugo AND Monoma, but I still saw him as a friend.

Hagakure helped me several times in dealing with Monoma, and similar to Todoroki, she had my back when Bakugo tried to intimidate me before the Battle Trials. Speaking of the Battle Trials, Hagakure and I were partners for that and had worked together, but I never gave a second thought about our friendship, because we were just that. Friends. Sisters.

So with Honenuki... why was it different?

"[L/N]! It was a great pleasure facing you today, but I must finish things once and for all!" Iida declared. The mufflers protruding from his calves fired up with blue streaks launching him forward, and he sped at me faster than the human eye could blink.

I was distracted for most of my match against Iida. I had completely forgotten about Monoma, which was great, but now my thoughts were spinning with Honenuki, and the fact that I was losing focus at all was bad.

"Crap..." I muttered under a short breath.

I hadn't flown once during this battle. I skated and hovered, much like in my match against Honenuki, but against Iida, I had to use more of my air and energy to evade him, otherwise he would've pushed me out of bounds like he did to Shiozaki.

Iida closed in. "This is it, [L/N]!"

"Sorry Iida, but I can't lose... I won't lose!" I torpedoed towards my opponent, firing streams of air in a desperate attempt to take him head on.

We caught onto each other and locked ourselves in a grapple. Iida continuously sprinted in place, his quirk ejecting billows of steam and kicking up dust as he tried to push against me with sheer speed and force. I pressed back, gripping onto his torso with my arms and launching as much air as I could from the soles of my feet.

"IT'S A BATTLE OF STRENGTH NOW! WHO WILL PUSH THE OTHER OUT?!" Present Mic roared.

Strength... strength?!

Who was I kidding? I wanted to be the strongest, and yet, here I was, struggling to just stay within the boundary lines against Iida. Not to say that he wasn't a worthy opponent. My endeavors against him were solid proof that he was one, but if I had to use my proudest ability against him now, then how would I have anything more to fight with against Todoroki or Bakugo?

"I'd say you have a pretty good head on your shoulders!"

My eyes widened. Honenuki's voice echoed through my head, and in the milliseconds that ticked by, I held my breath in an enlightened gasp, realizing that I didn't have to be physically strong to reach my goal of being the best. I just had to be a type of strong. I could be my kind of strong.

In that moment, I let everything go. My air. My doubts. My breath.

"[L/N] RAN OUT OF STEAM! IIDA'S PUSHING HER BACK FASTER THAN I CAN SCREAM THIS COMMENTARY AND LOOK! NOW SHE'S OUT OF BOUNDS AND-! WAIT A MINUTE! I DON'T BELIEVE MY EYES!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

The stadium exploded into thunderous cries and applause once everyone realized what had happened.

"IT'S IIDA WHO'S OUT OF BOUNDS! [L/N] IS STILL ON THE FIELD!!! HOW DID SHE DO IT?!?"

"She must have waited until the last second before stepping aside and using Iida's speed against him to swing him out," Aizawa explained. "She was using her opponent's quirk to her advantage, just like in her last match."

"WHAT A MATCH! BETTER LOOK OUT FOLKS! [L/N] IS CLIMBIN' UP THE BRACKET!"

"[L/N]!" Iida marched up to me, his forearms swinging stiffly in the air as if he were a soldier. It looked like he was about to chew me out for using an underhanded tactic to win. 

"Iida, I-"

"Congratulations, [L/N]! You certainly had me there."

I blinked. "Oh. Thank... you?" That was unexpected. I really thought he was going to chop his arms at me and scold me for not winning fairly. 

He adjusted his glasses as a flash of sunlight glinted off of his lenses. "To think I'd be the one running myself out! I suppose I was too caught up in pushing my own speed that I didn't realize what you were up to."

Half of me wanted to tell him that he nearly forced me to use the ace up my sleeve, but the other half of me decided to just accept things as they were and to keep my secret, well, a secret.

"Either way," he added, "You earned this victory. I am honored to have fought against you."

"I... " I paused as a small smile found its way on my lips. "I feel the same way. Thank you for being a great opponent, Iida."

We bowed to one another, and Present Mic shouted something in the background about a display of great sportsmanship.

"Now then! I believe Midoriya and Todoroki have their match next! Let us hurry back to the stands!"

I nodded. "Right."

I'd have to thank Honenuki later for his words. After all, they helped me win this battle.

Ba-dump, ba-dump, ba-dump.

I self-consciously pressed a palm to my chest as we walked back. There it was again. My heart was beating like crazy, and it wasn't because I had just climbed a flight of stairs to rejoin my classmates on the stands.