"You have 15 minutes to build your team! Get started" Midnight yelled. I started walking towards Deku when I felt a hand pull me again.
'I am not a ragdoll who the hell is pulling me now!'
I looked back and saw it was Todoroki. I kept my face as expressionless as I could. "Do you mind? I'm trying to form a team" I told him. He looked up and saw I was walking towards Deku.
"Teaming up with him would be a mistake. Join my team," he said.
"Why? I thought you said this wasn't a team effort. I figured you would try and do this alone" it sounded harsher than I meant it to, but it was too late.
"Our quirks are similar so if you use your ice we can pretend it was me" he responded. I gave him a confused look and he understood. "My dear dad is here. I don't want him to see your quirk remember"
"Oh, that's right," I said I looked over at Deku who had already found 2 partners. Iida was walking towards us. "fine, seems Deku may not need me after all" I tell him.
"Is it alright if I join you Todoroki?" Iida asked.
"Yes, I was actually coming to find you next," Todoroki responded.
"Ah good choice on L/N" I smiled at Iida giving him a small thanks.
"Todoroki allow me to join as well," Yaoyorozu asked from behind us.
"No," he said and started walking away. His simple response surprised us a bit, but Iida and I said nothing and followed behind Todoroki. We recruited the last member Kaminari.
"I chose this group because I thought we would be the best combination. Kaminari is left-wing, your quirk will keep enemies at bay. L/N take the right-wing, focus on defense," he said. I nodded my head and he went on "Iida take the front. We'll rely on you for mobility and physical defense"
Todoroki looked up at the stands. I followed his eyes and sure enough, there was his dad. The mighty flame hero Endeavor. I narrowed my eyes; I didn't like him. He never said a word to me if he ever saw me. We got in position and that's when my small size became obvious. The guys were much taller than me so Todoroki being the rider was a problem.
"Shouldn't L/N be the rider this is going to be awkward" Kaminari complained.
"You underestimate me Kaminari," I told him. Using my left-wing to support Todoroki raising him up to be more stable.
"Are you sure that's a good idea? Is your wing strong enough to support him the entire time? Also isn't your wing on his butt weird" Kaminari pointed out.
"Kaminari my wing can probably throw a ball farther than your dominant hand. Will you please have more faith in me" I said.
The countdown started.
We focused and the cavalry battle.
We ran towards Deku and to no one's surprise, everyone went after him. Soon enough he started flying with some jet pack.
"He flew? Damn support course" I heard Tetsutetsu yell.
They got away easily. "Todoroki we should go after other students while everyone's busy with Midoriya. We can gain points before going after him." I yelled at him.
"No! Everyone will lose focus on him soon, that's when we strike," He said. Just then a group made of the 1-B class was coming at us.
"KAMINARI LEFT!" I yelled and he released his electricity stopping them in their tracks. It was Tetsutetsu's team. He looked pissed, almost as mad as Bakugou. We stopped and were facing them straight ahead.
"That's Tetsutetsu, he's from class 1-B. His quirk lets his body turn to steel" I inform my group.
"Now why would you tell them that L/N. Don't you know class 1-A is full of assholes who think too highly of themselves?" he yelled out towards me. I scowled at him; he clearly didn't know I was class 1-A too.
"You know him L/N?" Iida asked.
"No, he was blown at me when he stepped on the landmine during the obstacle course. That's when I saw his quirk" I replied.
"Aww come on I also saved you from fainting!" he said in a weird voice. It was in an attempt to sound flirtatious, but it just grossed me out. I felt Todoroki flinch slightly.
"You nearly fainted?" Kaminari asked.
"Yes, I was flying too much, I burned too many calories too quickly and my body reacted. I'm fine, let's get Midoriya!" I yelled, sounding irritated about the situation.
"Right," Todoroki responded then he made an ice wall while we got away. "No time to lose!"
"Oh, by the way. Hold on to this!" I yelled and some ice came from the right holding a headband. Tetsutetsu's headband.
"What, I told you no-" Todoroki said but I cut him off.
"Relax I used your ice. Manipulate ice at will remember. I made sure to make it look like it was you" I said.
"YOU DAMN CLASS 1-A!" I could hear Tetsutetsu yelling in the distance. "I'LL GET YOU AWAY FROM THEM SOON L/N I PROMISE"
"Augh" was my only response.
"Yo I think that guy likes you L/N" Kaminari commented teasingly.
"Don't care. Not interested," was my response. We kept running until we saw Deku.
"L/N when we get close I want to make sure everyone is frozen in place, so we only have to worry about Midoriya. I'll throw ice on the floor and make sure every last one of them is stuck in place" he instructed.
"Got it!" I yelled back. Deku was running away again. Looks like his strategy was to just run seeing that the points he needed to win were already his. We stopped them and stood right in front of them.
"I'll be taking that now," Todoroki stated.
"We're halfway through, we can't stop now," Deku said.
"Now Iida" Todoroki said. With that Iida started his engine and Todoroki threw ice at our feet which Kaminari and I both jumped. I manipulated the ice to make soles out of the ice making it easy to slide around. We took off and headed straight towards Deku.
"L/N get ready," Todoroki said.
"Right!"
"Less than 6 minutes left. Time to make our move!" he said and flashed ice to the ground. I started to manipulate it. Letting my feathers guide me to make sure everyone was frozen.
"I got them all!" I let him know as soon as I was done.
"Good. I might as well take these!" he said as he held up 2 headbands.
"When did you get those?" asked Kaminari.
"I took a page out of L/N book" was all he said. I felt a small blush form, but I didn't pay much attention to it. There was no time. I heard ice being formed. I looked back and saw that ice walls were forming around the other contestants.
We were closing in on Deku when Tokoyami sent his dark shadow at us.
"Y/N!" Todoroki yelled out my name. I used my wing and blocked the attack that was coming at him and I pushed dark shadow back smirking.
'Nice try but- wait. Did Todoroki just call me by my first name?!' I looked at Todoroki and he was completely focused on what was happening. I refocused on the game I could ask him later why he did that. I could see Deku talking with Tokoyami. I read their lips as best as I could. I was pretty good at it, but I was no expert.
"Todoroki they're talking about attacking with dark shadow. I'm not sure how but that's what they're talking about"
"You can hear them from this distance?" Iida asked.
"No, just pretty decent at reading lips," I told him. It was true I would practice reading lips through Junior High. There wasn't much to do back then, and it helped me know who hated me the most and stay away from. My friend at the time encouraged it too, she said it could be useful when stalking your victim. She was so weird.
"Good work L/N" Todoroki praised. "Iida spun us around really quick," he told Iida.
Without hesitation, Iida did just that and Todoroki made a ring of ice trapping Deku in the middle with us. This also made it to where others couldn't get in. Every time we would get close Dark shadow would make its move and I would use my free wing to push him back.
"We have less than 60 seconds, we don't have a choice. I'm going to do something that will make me useless to you guys. L/N tuck in your wings as much as possible" Iida announced.
"What?" I asked doing as he said.
"What are you going to do?" asked Todoroki.
"Make sure you get that headband" Without another word Iida blasted us forward.
In a blink of an eye we passed Deku and Todoroki had his headband.
"Iida, what was that?" Todoroki asked, putting the headband around his neck.
"It's a secret move I've been hiding. No one in the class knew about it. I made my engines go into overdrive giving me my speed, but it stalls my engines for a while" he explained. He faced Deku and said "I told you Midoriya I would do my best to beat you"
I was completely stunned, if I hadn't tucked in my wings when I did I would have slowed us down or worst made Todoroki fall. The crowd was cheering so loud. I couldn't hear what they were saying. I just saw them charge at us.
"THEY'RE COMING!" I yelled
"We see that L/N" Kaminari sassed.
I saw Deku's arm start to glow. My wings puffed up letting me know danger was approaching.
'Oh no he's going to use his quirk' I looked up at Todoroki and his face showed it all he was shocked as I was. Todoroki lifted his left arm and I saw it ignite in flames. 'He's using it. He's using his flames. Deku what are you, you made him use his flames' my heart was racing as I saw Deku swing his arm making Todoroki's left-arm swing outwards. Then he grabbed a headband off Todoroki's neck.
"I did it!" Deku yelled proudly.
'He did it. He got a headband off us'
"He tricked us!" Deku yelled as he realized he got the wrong one.
"We switched them around Deku, there's no way we would leave the best one on top" I yelled back at them. I looked up to see Todoroki was rubbing his arm. He's most likely angry at himself for using his flames. I knew what it meant to him.
"Todoroki watch yourself. That was too close" Iida lectured. That's when I saw the ice wall melt revealing an angry blond.
"IM COMING FOR YOU! YOU DAMN DEKU!" he announced his entrance.
"URARAKA!" yelled Deku as they came aiming at us. Panic was starting to fill my chest.
"DAMN IT WHO HAS IT! WHO HAS THE POINTS!" yelled Bakugou. He looked at Deku's headband noticing the number. He looked over at us and yelled "DAMMIT YOU ICY BASTARDS!" and propelled himself forward with his blasts. My heart was racing, we had to defend with two teams coming at us.
"Y/N make it strong!" Todoroki yelled out. I was confused until I saw he made a rod of ice.
'Make it strong?' I could only make it colder, so I did.
'Colder colder colder colder' I kept repeating, making the ice start to harden.
"TIMES UP!" we all heard Present Mic yell. I let out a breath I didn't know I was holding. Todoroki jumped up off.
"Damn it" he mumbled. I felt bad he had to use his left side during this.
"In first place, Team Todoroki
In second Team Bakugou,
In third place, it's Team Shinso,
And in fourth place its Team Midoriya"
'What?!' I looked over and saw that dark shadow had a headband in its mouth. I looked at Todoroki and the headband on his head was gone. I started to giggle.
"L/N what's so funny?" Iida asked.
"He got us. He actually got us. Deku got our team headband" I laughed, and Todoroki reached for his head which only made me laugh harder. I looked back over at Midoriya who was on the ground crying up a new river. I turned back to Todoroki who was now holding up his left fist.
"At this point. I'll use it and turn into exactly what he wants me to be" he mumbled out; not loud enough to hear but I could read his lips perfectly. I walked up to him and held his fist in both my hands.
"You are who YOU want yourself to be. Using your flames does not make you whatever it is he wants you to be. It makes you whole. This power-" I held up his fist slightly "is your own to use. You choose how to use it IF you ever choose to. It's yours" I saw a small blush form on his face, but I let go of his fist and walked towards Deku to congratulate him.
"Way to get us on that headband Deku," I said from behind successfully startling him.
"O-oh h-hey L/N thanks b-but that was all Tokoyami." He said holding up his hands and blushing.
"Midoriya," a familiar voice said behind me. It was Todoroki, again my wings didn't warn me about him approaching. How does he do that?
"U-uh yeah, Todoroki?" Deku answered. I turned my head to look at Todoroki.
"I need to speak to you," he said then he shifted his eyes towards me "and L/N. Privately"
"A-a-alright" Deku responded. The tension between Todoroki and I could be cut with a knife. I wasn't giving him a dirty look, but you could tell something was up with us. I then remembered he used my first name, twice actually.
"Only because I have something to speak to you about as well" I responded, and we followed Todoroki out. He led us to an entrance no one was using away from the crowds. I was standing next to Todoroki on his left facing Deku. It was silent for a bit, the tension in the air was incredibly thick.
"You brought us here, now what?" Deku said. I was a bit surprised he didn't stutter considering the tension in the air. "We should probably eat soon; the cafeteria will be busy" Deku only gulped he was so nervous.
"I was overwhelmed" Todoroki finally started. "that made me break the promise I made a long time ago" I instantly looked down at his arm, I knew what he was talking about. He started naming out our classmates before taking a pause again.
"Only L/N and I felt you activate your quirk. It reminded me of All Might's quirk when we were attacked at the USJ" he finished off.
"O-oh yeah ok. Is that all we should go now?" Deku said. It was clear now. He was hiding some relationship with All Might. My hands ended up balling into fists and I kept my face clear. Todoroki noticed my hands. I saw from the corner of my eye he looked at my fists for a second.
"What I am saying is that it felt just like All Might's power" Deku instantly tensed up his eyes wide.
'There's no way a silly theory like that was true'
"Midoriya tell us the truth. Are you really All Might's secret love child or something?" Todoroki asked. I held back my need to facepalm.
'Did he really have to say it like that?! secret love child? LOVE CHILD REALLY?' I stopped myself from showing a reaction to his words the fists I made loosened. Midoriya had his eyes wide open but his shoulders weren't tense anymore.
"Well, are you?" Deku finally reacted by swinging his arms around.
"No that's not it at all! Even if I was I would still say no, so you probably don't believe me!" he finished off arms still swinging wildly.
"That's not it at all? It still sounds like something is going on between the two of you" I added. I should probably keep quiet about the fact that I saw them training together at the beach before we even made it into UA. Deku just looked at the ground not saying anything.
"My father is the number two hero. I'm sure you know about him. You know he's the number two hero. So, if there is any connection between you and All Might I have more of a reason to beat you." Todoroki declared. He was now glaring at Midoriya. "My old man is ambitious; he's been aiming for the top his entire life. Yet he was never able to best All Might, the symbol of peace is proof go him being a failure as a hero. He still wants to beat him one way or another"
"I don't know why you're telling us all of this. What are you getting at?" Deku asked
"Have you ever heard of Quirk Marriages?" Todoroki asked. I flinch at the phrase, knowing both saw my reaction. I didn't care. My parents were almost married off like that it was hard for them to make a living without their family's support. They called their marriage a failure after my parents were barren for years before adopting me.
"They became a problem after the first few generations when superpowers became widespread. They were for people who only sought out marriage as a way to make powerful children. They were simply viewed as old fashioned arranged marriages, but clearly, it was unethical. People being forced to be in a relationship they didn't want," Todoroki paused, clearly getting angry about something. "My father, that bastard has plenty of money and with that, he bought my mother's relatives to get his hands on her quirk" my eyes widened. I didn't know this. I thought it was just dumb luck he had his quirks. I was so stupid. My wings puffed up again. I figured it was because my emotions were going rampant with rage, little did I know someone else was listening in. Bakugou.
"Now he wants to use me to beat All Might. His precious creation" he said. I flinched again at the words remembering that Endeavor called him that when he attacked me back at the mansion. I could tell my face was showing all my emotions at that time. There was no hiding them this time. "I refuse to be a tool for that scumbag. And every memory I have of her she was crying. All the time."
"Todoroki…" was all I was able to say at the time. He just ignored me and kept going.
"I remember she called my left side unbearable," he said, covering his left side where his scar was at my eyes widened and I could feel tears threatening to make an appearance. "before she poured boiling water on my face. After that, my father sent her to a mental hospital and I haven't seen her since. The reason I picked a fight with you was so I could show him what I am capable of doing without using his quirk. You see I'm going to show him I can win first place without ever using his cursed power" he finished saying. "You're clearly connected to All Might even if you don't tell me or L/N about it. There's no doubt for us on that."
"Todoroki, I don't know why you would think of me as such a big threat, but I am h-honored you think of me so highly. Although I don't know why you brought L/N into this" Deku stated.
"L/N is the one who brought up the theory of you being All Might's secret child," Todoroki said easily. I swallowed a lump on the throat and stared right into Deku's eyes. He was looking at me a bit hurt. He must think of me as a friend and hearing those words must hurt. I understood that hurt.
"I'm sorry I should have kept that thought to myself. I only told Todoroki of that theory because I thought we were close, and I trusted him." I said as I bowed to Deku. I heard Todoroki's breathing stop for a second as I mentioned him "I'm not used to having friends. So, I hope you can forgive me for this, and I hope you can have patience with me as I learn" I straighten up avoiding Deku's eyes. My face showing the pain I was hiding from before. I wasn't good at this. I can't tell who's a real friend or not.
"N-no L/N it's ok. I understand, besides I'm sure you doubted that theory yourself if you didn't come to me about it." Deku said surprising me I looked at him and he had a soft smile on his face "I'm your friend, and as one of your first friends I can forgive you for silly things like this"
"T-thank you Midoriya," I say softly.
"L/N…" I heard Todoroki said besides me I looked over at him and he was staring at the ground. "I apologize for what I said in the waiting room. I didn't know that was you who held onto my arm. If I did I wouldn't have pushed you away as I did." He started. He kept looking at the ground as if they held the right words to say. "My determination to show my dad that I am able to do this without his power blinded me with rage. I do consider us close, you're the first person I've ever spent this much time with" as he kept talking my heart started to race. I didn't know why I was so nervous at that moment; I wasn't even this nervous when I was apologizing to Deku. "I hope you can still trust me as you did before. I am truly sorry for my actions and words" he finished off.
I was looking at him not really knowing what to say. I came here wanting to go off on him about using my first name but how can I even bring that up now. He was like me in a way, never really had friends so he probably couldn't predict how his words would affect me. Unlike him I had my parents to be able to guide me. His parents…..
"Todoroki… I wish your mom had been a little stronger, I wish she stayed a little longer. I wish your dad were good, I wish more people understood what you went through. I wish we met before your dad convinced you that life is war" I started saying. Todoroki was now staring at me with wide eyes at my words. Deku was surprised too. "We probably would be pretty good friends if we met in Junior High" I looked over to Todoroki who was still wide-eyed. I couldn't tell but his breathing got faster and he was slightly shaking.
"I'm glad you see me as a friend as well," Todoroki and I said at the same time. I was surprised by how in sync it sounded. I looked at him probably as shocked as he did.
"I guess we're better friends than I thought" I tried to joke.
"We should go and get some food guys," Deku said, cutting the awkward silence.
"Right! I almost passed out from not eating enough this morning" I said as we walked towards the cafeteria.
Todoroki POV
"Todoroki, I don't know why you would think of me as such a big threat, but I am h-honored you think of me so highly. Although I don't know why you brought L/N into this" Midoriya said to me.
"L/N is the one who brought up the theory of you being All Might's secret child," I stated while pointing at L/N. Midoriya's eyes widened slightly then looked at L/N. Surely he was surprised by hearing this but I didn't think it would have been a big deal until I saw the pain in his eyes.
"I'm sorry I should have kept that thought to myself. I only told Todoroki of that theory because I thought we were close, and I trusted him," L/N said. I subconsciously hold my breath.
'Trusted? Past tense? Does she not trust me anymore? Did I do something to upset her'
"I'm not used to having friends. So, I hope you can forgive me for this, and I hope you can have patience with me as I learn" L/N straighten up. I was so lost in thought I didn't realize she was bowing. Her face was showing the pain. That's when I remembered what I had said in the waiting room.
"N-no L/N it's ok. I understand, besides I'm sure you doubted that theory yourself if you didn't come to me about it." Midoriya said. "I'm your friend, and as one of your first friends I can forgive you for silly things like this"
"T-thank you Midoriya," she said softly.
"L/N…" I spoke.
'I need to apologize too. I hurt her, I didn't mean to but, I should still take responsibility for what I did' I thought to myself as I stared at the ground. I couldn't bring myself to look at her.
"I apologize for what I said in the waiting room. I didn't know that was you who held onto my arm. If I did I wouldn't have pushed you away as I did." I stated. I wanted her to know I didn't mean to hurt her. I kept staring at the ground trying to figure out how to explain it to her. How could I let her know my intentions and my reasons for doing what I did?
"My determination to show my dad that I am able to do this without his power blinded me with rage. I do consider us close, you're the first person I've ever spent this much time with" I started. I felt as if I've known her for years. Although we had only been training together for a little over a month I felt close to her. My heart began to race again when I kept speaking "I hope you can still trust me as you did before. I am truly sorry for my actions and words"
"Todoroki… I wish your mom had been a little stronger, I wish she stayed a little longer. I wish your dad were good, I wish more people understood what you went through. I wish we met before your dad convinced you that life is war" L/N began to say. I looked at her in complete disbelief. Flashbacks of a dream I had 3 years ago began to play in my head. It was exactly like this. The look in her eyes, the tone of her voice, she was saying the exact words she did in my dream. My heart was now racing even faster and I could feel my breath starting to become unsteady.
"We probably would be pretty good friends if we met in Junior High," L/N said.
'I know what's she's going to say next'
"I'm glad you see me as a friend as well," we said at the same time. My eyes couldn't get any wider. I've experienced all of this before. I… dreamt reality.
'Does this mean that everything I dreamt with her is going to come true? In my dreams, I felt like she was the most important person in my life. She was someone I trusted completely. Do I have a foresight quirk?'
"I guess we're better friends than I thought," L/N said awkwardly.
"We should go and get some food guys," Midoriya suggested.
"Right! I almost passed out from not eating enough this morning" L/N said. I snapped out of my train of thoughts and began to follow them.