Holy Knight
'Thoughts'
"Talking"
Chapter 4: Democracy
Todoroki and I found each other outside the train station just like yesterday. I was sitting on a bench with my headphones in when he showed up. A smile found its way to my face and I waved at him. Todoroki smiled lightly at me and waved back.
"Good morning Todoroki!"
"Morning Marina." He sat down next to me. He closed his eyes and pushed his head back to relax until the train got there.
He looked so incredibly peaceful, so I didn't say anything more to him. We just sat there enjoying each other's company. I had one ear open from headphones just in case he talked to me. When the train arrived, we stood up and entered the train. We took a seat close to the back.
"Hey Todoroki, I was thinking, wouldn't it be fun if every day we ride together we share one fact about each other? It could be something easy like… What's your favorite color?" I looked over to him expectantly
"White." Straight to the point. I love it
"Awesome! I like wearing white, but my all-time favorite color is gold. You'll notice all my weapons I create are gold and white. Our two favorite colors go so well together!" I smiled and looked out the window. "You pick the question tomorrow okay Todoroki?"
"You know to be more efficient we could just write a list of things we want to know about the other." He was looking right at me. I started to notice that when we we're together he would just hold his stare right on. Almost like he was studying a different species.
"No! We must take our time. It will make us savor it. I'm the friend expert remember. Trust me!" I lightly slapped his shoulder laughing at him. Todoroki just sighed and nodded at me. We sat in silence the rest of the ride to UA.
When we finally arrived, we instantly noticed the frenzy of reporters. It was a mad house. As soon as I saw all the cameras and reporters I started to shake. I knew that eventually my mom would find out where I was, but it was too soon. If she found out too early, she may be able to find a way to have UA drop me. Her connections were never ending it seemed.
My mind went blank and I stopped moving. I was panicking. My entire life here could be stopped. If UA was convinced to drop me, I would be forced to go back to America. I had no other options. I put all my eggs in this basket, and it was about to collapse.
Todoroki noticed that my steps next to him went silent. He looked over his shoulder and was shocked to see the complete panic on my face. He didn't think I'd be camera shy, and he was technically right. He turned around to face me completely and grabbed my shoulder.
He spoke calmly and softly, "Marina, are you okay? Is it the cameras?" I could only bring myself to nod at him. Still not moving from my position.
He nodded in understanding and, to my shock, he grabbed my hand and started to drag me away. We walked around to the back of the school still hand in hand. He let go when we were on the opposite side of the building and I instantly missed the warmth. We were faced with the back wall of the school. They made these walls huge and thick on purpose to keep out any intruders.
"Hey Marina, can you fly us over? I promise if we get in trouble for using our quirks, I'll explain that it was unavoidable." His look of determination made me realize that he really would fight the teachers on this and who could argue with that face. It left no room for questions.
I was in my uniform though, so things were going to start getting weird. I started to take off my blazer and put it in his hands when I was done. I then started to undue the buttons of my undershirt, "Listen Todoroki. I can't ruin my uniform so…. I'm going to have to go down to my bra. I really don't care if you look. I'm not modest, but I should still warn you." Todoroki didn't turn around, but his eyes didn't make eye contact with me. With the final button I was completely exposed to the dual haired boy, but he was a gentleman and didn't directly look at me. I decided to leave my tie on because I really hated tying them.
So, there I stood. Black lace bra and red tie with a green miniskirt. If anyone walked by it would be a really weird situation to explain. I instructed Todoroki to turn around, which caused him to raise an eyebrow at me, but he complied all the same. I slowly pushed myself up against his back. He flinched a little when my chest pushed into his back, but my arms wrapped under his arms holding him in place.
"Okay I'm going to lift you. Hold on as tight as you can. I got you though. Don't worry." I whispered into his ear. His body went stiff against mine. I'm sure my breath tickled his ear, but he didn't say anything, so I just continued.
My wings flew out behind me as I hugged the back of Todoroki. As I tightened my grip on him my wings took us up into the air. With him not being used to flying I took us slowly up higher and higher and then slowly over the wall. Normally I wasn't a huge fan of carrying people while I flew unless they were in need of emergency, but Todoroki was so kind to me earlier, I needed to repay the debt. I wasn't going to make him walk all the way around the school again. He'd end up being late to class.
Our feet finally found the ground and I quickly let go of him, once again, missing the warmth. He was quick to hand me back my clothes. I started to putt my clothes back on. I was a little embarrassed. Not about the nudity, but by the freak out of the cameras.
As if Todoroki could hear my thoughts, he stated factually, "Marina. You know that it's going to be really hard to become a pro hero if you're camera shy." His gaze pierced my soul.
I looked away from that piercing gaze and at my feet. We both arrived early for class, so I had time to tell him a part of my story. To only know someone for a couple days and be bringing this up was not what I wanted. I also felt that I owed him some kind of explanation, "Todoroki, thank you for your concern. I promise I'm not camera shy." I continued to look at my feet. "It's a long story to explain, but the short version, I can't have my mom know I am in Japan yet. She's a monster and she would come here and ruin everything I'm striving for, and I can't let that happen." Light tears found their way to the corner of my eyes. I finally looked at him blinking away the tears. I bowed to him in apology, "I'm sorry that I've caused you so much trouble today. I can't tell you what it means to me Todoroki, for you to go out of your way to help me." I kept my eyes to ground, refusing to look up at him.
I felt an oddly warm hand on my head. He tussled my hair and said. "Isn't this what friends do Marina? Isn't that what you said yesterday." I finally looked up at him. Fresh tears rolling down my face. A huge smile found its way to my face and more tears fell to my now pink cheeks. I nodded enthusiastically smile still on my face. He removed his hand from my head. "Let's head to class." He started to walk away from me, and I skipped up to his side. My arm found its way though his locking us together. We walked the whole way to class like that. Only separating when we reached the doors for the school.
'Yesterday I told Todoroki that I would be there for him, and then today he had to be there for me.'
The start of the day in class was Aizawa once again going over the combat training from yesterday. Today he was really tearing into us. His first comment directed at Bakugo, "Bakugo, you're talented so don't sulk like a child about your loss, okay?" Bakugo muttered a response of annoyance. "And Midoriya. I see the only way you won the match was by messing up your arm again. Work harder. And don't give me the excuse that you don't have control over your quirk. That line is already getting old. You can't keep breaking your body while training here. But your quirk will be really useful if you can get a handle on it. So, show a little urgency, huh?" Deku was nervous when Aizawa started, but now had a full smile on his face. "Lastly Marina." My eyes shot open and a lump was found in my throat. "Please find a way to use your words calmly when disagreeing with a classmate. We don't condone students picking fights with other students just because they don't like each other. Work it out." He glanced between Bakugo and I.
I will admit I was a little pissed. It was okay for Bakugo to go full rage mode on Deku because they were in a mock battle, but it wasn't okay for me to put my hands on Bakugo and call him out on it. I didn't feel like arguing with Aizawa though, so I simply nodded and kept my eyes off Bakugo.
"Alright. Let's get down to business. Our first task will decide your future. You all need to pick a class representative." Aizawa stated lazily.
All hell broke loose in the classroom. Students started screaming and making bids about why they should be elected. It was actually comical to watch. I thought it would go on forever, but Iida was quick to hush everyone. "Silence, everyone, please! The class representative's duty is to lead others. That's not something just anyone could do. You must first have the trust of every student in the classroom. Therefore, the most logical choice is to fill this position democratically. We will hold an election to choose our leader." Iida's words were confident, but his whole body was shaking. Everyone was also quick to call him out on the fact that he just wanted to be leader.
After a little back and forth from all the students the classroom finally decided on voting for our new leader. Aizawa didn't care he just wanted us to get it over with quickly. I was having a really hard time on deciding on who to vote for. There we're a couple people that would make sense. Yaoyorozu being a big one for me. She was well spoken and well educated, but after looking over at her I just got this pit in my stomach that she couldn't handle the extra pressure. Maybe I just didn't know her well enough, but my vote still wouldn't go to her.
Todoroki was someone I knew well. He was smart and strong, but not very good with communication. As I thought more and more about it, I couldn't remember him really talking to anyone but me. I really adored him, but he wouldn't be a good fit either.
Iida was just a little too strict for me. If he was voted class rep, we'd probably never hear the end of his voice. He was nice but had a tendency to be a stick in the mud. My vote didn't find a home with him either.
After looking all around the room I had finally decided to give my vote to Deku. He was a sweet kid who truly cared about everyone. He also came into his quirk late, so he wasn't arrogant at all. Lastly, he was smart and knew how to communicate. He would make the prefect leader for our classroom.
'Plus, he'd probably let me get away with anything.'
A coy smile fell to my face and a maniacal laugh left my lips as a wrote his name down. Ochako and Todoroki both threw me concerned looks but I just waved it off. They would thank me later for getting Deku as our leader, no matter my selfish motives.
It was finally time to cast our choices and Iida went around the room collecting the votes. I held my breath in hopes that my extra vote for Deku would somehow secure him the win.
Election Results
Izuku Midoriya – 4
Momo Yaoyorozu – 2
'YAY!'
Everyone in the class started to gossip about the results. Iida was sulking and I ended up feeling bad for the kid. He didn't get any votes. I didn't either, but that didn't hurt me. It was only the third day and I had picked a fight with Bakugo twice. I also wasn't someone who had high morals. Lastly, my grades weren't that great. My mom did force me to learn all sorts of things, but it had nothing on the schooling system of Japan. I survived, but just barely with my grades.
I will say I was happy for Deku, and totally thought he was the best choice for the class, but kid was shaking like a leaf. Yaoyorozu stood confident and tall. Her hands were on her hips as If she knew she deserved to be there. Deku, however, needed more confidence.
LUNCH TIME
It was finally time for lunch, and I was so happy. I stretched in my chair causing my back to pop. It felt incredible. Ochako stood up from her desk and looked over at me.
"Marina! Come have lunch again with us today." She grabbed my hand and pulled me from my chair, not waiting for a response.
I laughed at her, but quickly remembered that I wanted Todoroki to join us today. "Okay I will. Todoroki!" He snapped his eyes over to me as he was about to walk out of the room. "Sit with us at lunch today." He was far enough away from us at the front of the room, that he could have declined and ran off. I was pleasantly surprised when he nodded in agreement.
We met up with Deku and Iida outside the classroom and heading for the lunchroom. It was a short walk, but when we opened the doors it always felt like another world. Our class only had 21 students, so it always felt small and inclusive. The lunchroom, however, was its own small city. Every student from UA ate at the same time. They hired the pro hero Lunch Rush to make us all food and I think it was the only reason everyone was taken care of.
The tables always filled up fast and it was always hard to get your lunch and still get a spot for a group. I found the perfect spot across the cafeteria. "Hey guys, I'll go hold our table and get food when you all get back." I ran off before anyone could protests. In a school full of heroes, it was always hard trying to go out of your way for someone. Everyone was so quick to try and make you feel good that shit rarely got done without an argument. It was one of the main things different from home. My friends all loved each other but we treated each other like shit. We said it was out of love but coming to school here made me start to rethink the true meaning of friends.
I didn't have to wait at the table very long anyways. Lunch Rush was a pro after all. The group started to take their spots next to me. I was about to rise from my chair to go and get some food, but I stopped when Todoroki put a bowl in from of me.
I eyed the bowl of noodles and dipping sauce quizzically and then threw my eyes to Todoroki, "What's this?"
"Cold Soba." He didn't even glance my way.
"Ah, I see. That's very nice of you Todoroki. You didn't have to get me my food though. You're so sweet." I playfully slapped his shoulder over and over.
"You said you wanted me to get you some sometime, thought it was a perfect opportunity." He was already digging into his lunch.
I fake gasped and threw hands to my cheeks, "Todoroki! This is not what I meant. I meant that you will have to take me on a date to get cold soba. I feel cheated. I guess you will have to just take me on a date for another reason." He choked on his noodles and eyed me suspiciously. I stuck my tongue out at him. "Just kidding! Thank you, Todoroki. This looks delicious." His cheeks were pink, but I didn't mention it, I never did.
I picked up my chopsticks and grabbed some noodles. I dipped the noodles in the sauce provided and shoved them all into my mouth. The whole time Todoroki was looking at me out of the corner of his eye to gauge my reaction. As soon as the sauce hit my tongue I sighed heavily in completely content. I quickly repeated the process and took another bite. I looked over at Todoroki as I was chomping down and gave him a thumbs up. It was feeding time and words were not going to be given. He smiled and kept eating his food.
Ochako was watching the entire interaction with a smile on her face, "Marina, You and Todoroki seem pretty close. Did you guys know each other before school?"
I swallowed the giant bite I had just taken. "No, not at all. I only got to Japan about 2 months before the exams. I met Todoroki the same time all of you did. We just take the same route to and from school. We get a lot of extra bonding time then. Right Todoroki?" He just nodded and kept eating his Soba. "Oh! Speaking of after school, did you guys still want to get coffee and talk quirks more? Todoroki and Iida, you guys could totally come too! Deku wanted to learn more about my quirk so I thought it'd be fun for us to finally go get coffee this weekend. I seriously don't think we'll ever feel up to it after school at this point. Hero training just loves to kick our asses every night." They all nodded in agreement; Hero Training was ass kicking.
Ochako and Deku confirmed they could meet this weekend. Iida said that he was going out of town, but if something changed, he would love to come. I looked up at Todoroki with big puppy eyes. Hanging out outside of school on the weekend was the ultimate level of friendship. This was going to be a big step for us. I was more excited about seeing what Todoroki would say due to how closed off he typically was. If he agreed to come it would show that he really was starting to care about our friendship.
I held my breath as I waited for his answer, "Yeah I think I can make it."
I screamed in excitement, "Yay! I'm so happy you can come. Everyone pullout your phones so we can send phone numbers around. Iida you too! You might be able to come, but even if you can't I still want your contact info." Everyone took their phones out and started sharing contact info.
The rest of lunch everyone just talked about the election and what they thought about the results. Deku was worried and didn't feel good enough for the class rep job, while Iida encouraged him. He then started to talk about his family's business, "Observing the Iida family's hero agency has taught me that much at least." My ears perked up at this. Talking about family stuff always instantly put me on guard.
"Y'know. I've been wondering something about you. Admit it, Iida. You're filthy rich!" Ochako asked him with eager eyes.
"Uh, I was afraid people would treat me differently if they knew about my family." Deku and Ochako were completely enthralled. I had an annoying pit in my stomach, and I could feel Todoroki's eyes on me. "You see, the Iidas have been pro heroes for generations. It runs in our blood." As this point, I was done. I need to leave the table.
"IT RUNS IN YOUR BLOOD MARINA. MY BLOOD IS YOUR BLOOD." My mind kept replaying the memory.
I slammed my chopsticks down a little too hard. "Hey guys, I'll meet you back in class. I'm going to go outside and get some fresh air before we have to be back." I stood up from the table and collected my things.
I was planning on going alone, but Todoroki stood up right next to me. "I'll go with you. I'm done anyways as well." I didn't protest.
I waved goodbye to the group and started trekking back to the classroom. Todoroki was right by my side. We we're well outside of the lunchroom and we got to the point where we would need to turn to exit the school and I just kept walking. Todoroki didn't ask, but he looked over at me to try and read my face. He wouldn't find anything. I got good at burying the pain my mother caused a long time ago.
We were a couple doors away from our classroom when a loud alarm of bells started to blare. My eyes quickly flew to Todoroki's and my hand instinctually found his.
"Warning level three security break. All students, please evacuate the building in an orderly fashion." A female voice over the intercom instructed us.
Only it wasn't an 'orderly fashion' at all. Students started to smash into each other and quickly make the spacious halls feel confined. Students were screaming in fear and pushing each other to the floor. I was too overrun with other students to summon anything. My wings would just hurt other students if I tried to open them in these conditions.
I was trying to think of a plan when a large ginger haired boy collapsed into me. His weight took me by surprise and my hand lost Todoroki's. The boy fell to the ground and pulled me down with him. Students we're going to trample us if we didn't stand up. The ginger haired boy was on top of me so I couldn't do anything with out hurting him. I was starting to run out of air. His overweight body was crushing my lungs.
There was a sudden chill in the air. I heard a loud crash and students scream. I finally saw the light of day when Todoroki grabbed the ginger haired boy and threw him off me. The boy's knees hit the ground, but he stood up quickly and ran off crying.
I quickly noticed that he was able to run off because Todoroki cleared a path with his ice. Students were quickly starting to fill up the space he made though. Him and I made eye contact and for the first time in our young friendship Todoroki's face showed anger. He reached out for my hand and I grabbed his. When I got to my feet he quickly and forcefully pulled me to his chest and flipped us around to that my back was to the wall. He used his arms and his legs to shield me from the students that had filled up the empty space.
His hips were pressed into mine. His chest pushed against my breasts. He leaned in and whispered into my ear, "Are you okay? I got you now Marina." It could be the recent lack of air, but my head was spinning. For the first time in a long time, I couldn't think straight. My hands wrapped around his body and my head buried into his chest and I just nodded. My heart was thumping wildly against my chest and I don't think it was fear.
We stayed like that until the intercom told all the students that it was a false alarm and to calmly report to class. This time everyone did exit calmly. They were too drained from the recent terror to do much else.
As the area around us started to clear Todoroki and I separated. I wanted to thank him, and I totally will soon, but I just needed to get my mind together. Earlier I had pushed my bra only covered boobs up against Todoroki and it felt nothing like this. My heart was pounding, and my legs were shaking with desire. I needed to calm my shit down before engaging anyone at this point. We both walked back to class not saying anything to the other. We were so close when this all started that we were easily the first ones back. Each of us took our seats. Todoroki started to get things out he made need for class, but I just sat there and stared at the empty chalkboard. My mind going a million miles a minute and still not really thinking about anything.
The room started to fill up with the rest of the students. I decided to shake off the crazy that was the last twenty minutes. I had convinced myself that all these weird feelings for Todoroki were due to the circumstances. I was already lightheaded and then add the stress of intruders in the school. That had to be what it was. I wasn't here to start developing feelings for my fellow classmates. I just wanted to focus on school and making new friends in a new country. I wasn't going to blow a good friendship for any romantic funny business.
With my mind finally cleared I looked over at Todoroki, "Hey Todoroki." His gaze found mine, "Thank you. You know, for earlier. I will admit thought that's twice today that you've had to rescue me and for someone becoming a hero, I must say, my pride it wounded." I dramatically sighed and threw my hand over my heart. I then laughed a little and winked at him. "But seriously, thanks."
Everyone had gathered in their seats and class started with the reps in front of the class addressing all of us.
In true Yaoyorozu she started the conversation, "It's time, class rep. Let's begin." She looked over at Deku for him to get started.
Once again Deku was shaking like a leaf, "Um, so yeah okay. We need to figure out who the other class officers will be. But firsts there's something that I wanna say. I've thought a lot about this. And I think that Tenya Iida should be our class rep! He was able to capture everyone's attention and get us in line. So, I believe that he should be the one leading our class from now on!" Deku had a big smile on his face by the time he finished. Even though I voted for Deku, I was starting to understand that Iida would be a better choice. Deku still hadn't learned how to look over half the class in the eye.
"Yeah, you know what? If Midoriya vouches for him, I'm good. Plus, he was a big help today. He totally manned up and took charge, right?" Kirishima stated from his seat.
Pretty soon the whole room was filled with Iida's praises. During the panic of the students Iida took charge of the situation by calming everyone's stresses. Todoroki was my hero today, but Iida was the hero to everyone else. I looked over at Iida while everyone was praising him, and he was awe stricken. It really made me see Iida in a new light. I thought that he was the overconfident, know it all, type, but I was mistaken. He, just like me, was trying to get out of his family's shadow and make a name for himself. That was something I could respect.
Iida accepted the position and that was it was time to move on with the day. Aizawa stood in front of the classroom and addressed all of us, "Today's training will be a little different. You'll have three instructors. Me, All Might, and another faculty member will be keeping tabs on you."
"Sir what kind of training is this?" Sato exclaimed from his chair.
Aizawa held a card out in front of his face that read 'RESCUE'. "Rescue training. You'll be dealing with natural disasters, shipwrecks, stuff like that." The room grew loud with everyone's excitement. I'll admit, even I was excited. "Guy's I'm not finished yet. What you wear in this exercise is up to you. I know you're excited about costumes but keep in mind that you haven't gotten used to them yet, and they might limit your abilities. This special trainings at an off-campus facility, so we'll be taking a bus to get there. That's all. Start getting ready."
Ochako was quick to call out my name, "Marina! Are you going to wear your costume?"
"Yeah I have to. My costume is a little heavy, but I can't use my wings in my uniform. Well, unless I want everyone to see me in just my bra." I laughed and looked over at Todoroki. A nice pink tinted his cheeks.
'Ah, so he did look.'
Somehow that thought made me happy. At least I was still sexually desirable. We all gathered our things before heading to the locker rooms to change. This rescue training had me all excited. We were getting the chance to work with three different pros at one time. That meant a lot more one on one time with the pros. Today was going to be the best hero training. I could already tell.
END
