Eria

I was horribly wrong.

Biding time in the cave while waiting for my quirk to activate was wrong. Time passed horribly slow as my mind sunk into a myriad of terrible imaginations, most of them involving my friends injured or dying. I had never felt so helpless, even when my quirk was supposed to protect the people I love.

Without any methods of communication, me, Satou, Hagakure and Kouda had no idea what was happening outside. Did the plan work? Were the villains subdued? Was everyone safe and sound? No one knew. All we could do was pray that no one would be hurt, no matter how slim the chance was.

I paced back and forth, looking at my watch. By this time, my classmates should be engaged in a tough battle against the villains in their respective teams, if Yaomomo and Aoyama had succeeded in the beginning. Occasionally, I thought I felt the earth rumbled and noises roared outside.

"I need to go," I announced to my friends.

"But Eria, you can't! You're in no condition! You can't activate your quirk!" Hagakure protested loudly.

"Sorry, but I'll take my chances. I will be their shield, no matter what," I said, feigning a smile and sprinted. The first destination in mind was the waterfall. It wasn't far, and I was also worried of Todoroki. A nagging intuition kept telling me that if I didn't go there, something bad would happen to him.

I didn't need to reach the waterfall to know my friends were in trouble. The forest was ablaze; flames licked the sky and continue its disastrous trail of destruction. An animalistic bellow resonated in the air, as though a beast had awakened. The sight before me was like a purgatory and my insides plummeted.

Sharp tree branches grazed my skin and the heat seared as I entered deeper into the forest at the epicenter of the fire. When I arrived upon the scene, the wolf-like villain was in a rampage. His body had been enlarged and he seemed to have given in to his bloodlust. Kirishima fell unconscious after receiving a full blow of the villain's fire. Todoroki took the chance to grasp onto the villain's large shoulders, spinning his body gracefully in the air to avoid the villain's attack. Tsuyu restrained the villain's hands with her tongue and Iida pinned down his beefy tail to let Todoroki do his work.

Todoroki plunged his right arm into the villain's gaping mouth. He planned to freeze him from the inside. Steam bellowed from the villain's mouth as he tried to counter the ice with his flames, but Todoroki lowered his temperature even further down. Ice spread across the villain's body as he struggled to throw the heroes off him. Iida and Tsuyu were thrown away, but Todoroki persevered. His ice continued to freeze the villain, including himself, as frost slowly covered the two.

He's going to die.

My feet were rooted to the ground. There was nothing I could do.

When the villain finally turned into a huge icicle, Todoroki fell to the ground, with his entire body covered in frost, as though his job had accomplished.

My world shattered into pieces. I dashed to him, resentment and regret filled me.

Todoroki's body continued to freeze like ice. I racked my brain on how to deal with hypothermia, while my hand was burned by the frost when I tried to touch him.

I need to warm him up. I need to.

I carried him in my arms, rubbing his body with my hands, even though I knew it was futile. There was not enough heat. The fire around the waterfall had extinguished because of the ice. His heart was beating abnormally slow and weak.

I held his face in my hands, trying to at least wake him up so that he could warm himself up. But his eyelids didn't move. His breathing was getting shallow and panic clouded my mind.

"To-todoroki, please......" I pleaded. "Please wake up." Tears brimmed in my eyes.

I'm going to lose him.

I continued to rub his face, giving him warmth, hoping he would wake.

No. No. Please don't take him away from me. Please.

I... I love him.

"Taka......saki......"

My eyes spanned wide.

Todoroki's mouth trembled slightly. I wiped the tears off my face. "Todoroki... I..."

"Go......" Todoroki slowly lifted his frozen arm and touched my hand that cupped his cheek. "...... help the others......."

Tears continued to flow down my cheeks as Todoroki struggled to speak. He was right. The others needed me.

Reluctantly, I placed Todoroki down on the ground. I didn't want to leave him, but I had more pressing matters. I checked on Iida, Kirishima and Tsuyu, who were alright despite some minor bruises. With one last glance at Todoroki, I sprinted off to the rocky area.

My legs were heavy like lead but I kept running. I didn't want the same horror to befall upon Midoriya's team. But I was too late. Sero, Ochako, Yaomomo and Aoyama were lying on the ground, unconscious and scarred, while Mineta tried to give them medical treatment.

"Takasaki, what are you..." Mineta coughed. His head was bleeding as he overused his quirk.

"Where are the others?" I breathed.

"He's too powerful. We... we tried our best, but..." Mineta looked at his friends, eyes watering. "His quirks are so unfair!"

Loud explosions resonated in the air. The battle was still ongoing. I dashed towards the source of the noise. Dark clouds overhead started to gather rapidly, as though a lightning storm was about to pour down on the island. It was one of the villain's quirk, the one that nearly obliterated Midoriya and Bakugou.

Strong gusts bellowed across the place and I nearly lost my stance. As the sky darkened ominously, fire tornadoes spiraled in the air, dancing around and setting the entire island ablaze. The villain rose into the sky and held a stance of magnificence, displaying his overwhelming power.

The tornadoes combined to become a large flaming tornado that threatened to tear everything apart in its way. Lethal lightning snaked in the dark clouds and struck every corner of the island, causing utter destruction. Within the large tornado, I heard pained wails and saw Bakugou and Midoriya were spinning in it.

I have to save them.

I wasn't certain if my assumption was right, but this was the perfect situation to test it out.

I jumped into the fire tornado without hesitation. Flames seared my skin painfully. Without my quirk, I was just waiting to be roasted. But I endured the pain.

Do it. Absorb.

Absorb all this energy and make it mine!

Flames enveloped me. I welcomed their burning embrace, which slowly turned warm and gentle. A surge of power coursed through my veins rapidly and I felt renewed with energy. More flames closed in as I absorbed them, like an open buffet ready for me to consume.

My quirk reactivated the moment the tornado weakened and died down from the lack of energy. I quickly rescued Midoriya and Bakugou to prevent them from falling to the ground.

"Takasaki?" Midoriya muttered. "You... your quirk?"

"Long story. Can you guys move?" I asked as I glared at the villain, watching his move.

"Fuck... why the fuck are you here? Get away from here," Bakugou coughed.

Out of nowhere, large dragon-like creatures appeared and knocked us down. One of it sunk its teeth into my shoulder as it pinned me on the ground. I let out a cry of pain and kicked it. It disappeared into a pool of water.

I defeated the creatures that held Bakugou and Midoriya, and lunged at the villain. A lightning from the clouds above struck my body and I crashed to the ground as my resistance was unable to withstand the powerful surge of electricity. I staggered to my feet but another lightning struck down. Electrifying pain coursed through my body, but I tried to absorb it like I did with the fire tornado. I managed to take some of its energy as mine and stood up once more.

The villain glared at me with his cold eyes. "Interesting quirk. I see it has evolved just now in the tornado."

"Yes and it's mine, bastard," I snarled.

I lunged at the villain, but an invisible barrier blocked my path. Multiple lightning flared in the sky and I tried to avoid them, but a few managed to hit me. The excruciating pain was clouding my judgement and I didn't have time to think or to absorb the energy. Dragon-like creatures lunged at me and I kicked and punched, but one of them succeeded in breaking my arm.

I cradled my broken arm as I knelt on the ground. The villain approached me and his tall figure loomed like a death reaper.

"Your quirk... it's worth taking." His cold, cruel voice sent chills down my spine.

"NOT IN A BILLION YEARS!" Bakugou roared and jumped in front of me, releasing a mega explosion at the villain.

"Took you long enough," I coughed.

Bakugou scoffed. A complacent smirk appeared on his face. His hedgehog-like hair was swept back and looked even pointier. His body glowed and emanated an aura of unlimited strength, resembling Midoriya when he used One For All.

Midoriya prepared his stance beside Bakugou. He too glowed in a green aura as he activated One For All to a maximum output. I wasn't sure what was going on, but I was glad to see them all fired up.

"Thanks," I muttered and rose to my feet.

"Thank me when I win," Bakugou replied.

"Get the others out of here," Midoriya said.

I nodded and mustered my remaining strength. While Midoriya and Bakugou drew the villain's attention, I carried my leaden legs to the young siblings, Mahoro and Katsuma. They were startled with my appearance, but soon recognised I was an ally. Katsuma's hand glowed as he used his quirk to heal Shouji, who fainted and was bleeding badly.

I couldn't risk moving Shouji. So I decided to stay at the same location, acting as their shield while the dreadful battle unfold before my eyes. The villain continued to use his weather quirk relentlessly, destroying everything in his path. Instead of looking enraged, he seemed to border on insanity.

Golden and green lights streaked in the air as Bakugou and Midoriya launched attacks on the villain. With one combined super punch, they cleared the enormous tornado and the impact caused the dark clouds to dissipate. I clenched my fists and watched them with bated breath. The young siblings also watched them with tears brimming in their eyes.

They will be fine. We'll be fine.

We'll win and protect everyone.

We'll go home together.

In one final strike, a green streak flashed in the air and launched a powerful kick at the villain. It was followed by a mega explosion that bloomed beautifully like a golden flower of hope. The villain was presumably vapourised within the explosion, but I wasn't sure. The dust cloud was too heavy to perceive anything. I used my quirk to search for someone and only found two unmoving figures lying on the ground. Midoriya and Bakugou seemed to be unconscious, but thankfully they were still alive.

I continued to stay on guard in case there were more villains lurking around. Katsuma wanted to go to Midoriya, but I stopped him, saying that I couldn't risk having them going to the open when we were still uncertain of the villain's fate.

A loud rumbling noise came from overhead and it startled us. Thankfully, it was just a helicopter.

"We're... saved?" Mahoro muttered, unable to believe her eyes.

I watched the helicopter intently. It hovered over Midoriya and Bakugou, and a scrawny person climbed down the ladder. It was All Might.

I released a breath I didn't know I was holding. I wrapped my arms over the young siblings as tears flowed down my cheeks.

"Yes, we are. We'll going to be alright."

***

The first group of Pro Heroes, led by Hawks and All Might arrived first to the island. Shortly after, another group of Pro Heroes which mainly consisted Endeavour, Aizawa-sensei and my mother arrived in another helicopter.

I didn't dare to move from my spot. I was still guarding the young siblings and Shouji. Mahoro created a large illusion of a teddy bear in the sky that drew the rescue team's attention. When my mother was the first to appear, my quirk deactivated out of relief and I tried hard not to cry.

"Are you kids alright?" She gave the young siblings a big hug. "You have been so brave. Thank you."

As though they finally believed they were safe, the young sibling hugged each other and cried, releasing all the stress they had piled up within them.

A medical response team meticulously took Shouji on a stretcher. He was waking up thanks to Katsuma's quirk. Knowing that Shouji was alright brought even more tears to the siblings.

Eventually, Class 1-A and the residents were rescued and assembled by the ruins. People were tearfully crying and cheering, for help had finally arrived. A medical response site was quickly established and all injured were being tended. The ones with the worst injuries were being treated at the HQ, where Recovery Girl was giving each and everyone a big healing kiss.

"IT HUUUUUURTS!" Bakugou shouted the moment he regained his consciousness. Both of his arms were completely broken, yet he couldn't remember what had happened.

"For the love of All Might, please shut up," I groaned. My head was still spinning from the lack of rest I had. I was still waiting for Recovery Girl to kiss me so I wanted to take a nap but the pain wouldn't leave me be.

"HAH?!" Bakugou retorted angrily. I swore my right ear was going to be deaf.

"Be quiet, dear," Recovery Girl chided. She forcibly planted a kiss on Bakugou's forehead, in which he found it hard to avoid when all muscles in his body ached and refused to move.

Midoriya was soundly asleep beside Bakugou. He was the first to be healed so now he had to sleep for the rest of the day to recover his energy. Ochako and others were also resting in other corners of the room, waiting for Recovery Girl's treatment.

Loud noises resonated from outside. It sounded like someone was yelling angrily. I made out the words as "Sho... to..." something. Then I heard my mother chiding angrily.

"WILL YOU KEEP IT DOWN, ENDEAVOUR?! STOP PINING OVER YOUR SON ALL THE TIME!"

Ah yes. Todoroki. I almost forgot about him. Crap. Is he alright?

I wanted to leave my bed and find him, but the boy miraculously appeared by the doorway, panting as though he had finished a full marathon.

"Ta...ka....saki......" Todoroki panted, his eyes immediately found mine among the crowd. He hurriedly crossed the room in a few strides and reached me.

I withheld the tears in my eyes when I was promptly reminded of the scene when Todoroki's frost-covered body was slowly dying from hypothermia.

"You're alright, thank god," I mumbled.

"Takasaki...... I..." his gentle voice croaked.

Todoroki stepped forward, arms wide spread as he wanted to hug me, but I immediately stopped him.

"Sorry... arm's broken..."

"Ah..." Todoroki withdrew his arms. "Sorry. I didn't notice it there. I......" The rest of his words were stuck in his throat. He awkwardly scratched his head.

I tried to find the appropriate words to form a sentence. "Anyway... I'm just glad you're okay because I... I'm so worried you're going to die and I still have so many things I want to tell you and we were still in an unresolved conflict and......"

......And I didn't get to tell you my feelings.

......STOP THINKING ABOUT IT! YOUR FACE IS BURNING! My rationality yelled in my mind. YOU SAID NO ROMANCE!

......But he nearly died and I was so scared......

....... NO ROMANCE, DUMBASS!

While the angel and the devil bickered in my mind, Todoroki's hand stretched out and lingered near my face. But immediately he retracted it.

"I have many things to talk to you too. I haven't apologise to you and —"

"FOR FUCK'S SAKE, INSTEAD OF MAKING MY ARMS HURT LIKE HELL, MAKE ME BLIND AND DEAF TOO!" Bakugou groaned loudly and shot a piercing glare at Todoroki. "GET OUT OF HERE UNLESS YOU'RE INJURED LIKE ME!"

Way to ruin a mood, Bakugou! THANK YOU!

"Sorry," Todoroki apologised to Bakugou, even though he didn't have to. "I'll talk to you later." He turned around and stopped by to look at Midoriya, then quickly left outside. Endeavour's signature "SHOUTOOO!" resonated in the air again and my mother had to shush the man once more.

Todoroki's absence made me feel lonely in such a crowded room. I sighed and laid back down on my bed, hoping that I would get healed as fast as possible, while Bakugou grumbled angrily in a low voice, "....... At least worry for me too, dumbass."

***

For the rest of the day, I didn't manage to speak to Todoroki again. I spent the whole day resting and sleeping, like everyone else in the room. By the time I woke up, it was nearly dawn and my mother was on a chair sleeping next to my bed. Most of my injured classmates had left last night to help out with the island's recovery, except for me, Midoriya and Bakugou, who needed more rest.

I quietly snuck out of bed and covered my mother with a blanket. I tiptoed across the room, hoping not to wake anyone. The entire HQ was quiet in the wee hours of dawn. Everyone else were soundly asleep.

In the darkness outside, the sky was slowly brightening. Birds started to chirp like every other morning, as though the island's devastation had never happened before. I stretched my limbs and took in a refreshing deep breath. My broken arm was completely healed but my movement still felt rusty.

I activated my quirk and flew to the roof of the HQ, waiting to see the sun break through the horizon.

"Takasaki?" Todoroki looked up from the window below me. His bedhead was messy but his handsomeness was still impeccable. "Why do you keep going to the roof?"

"And how do you keep finding me?" I snickered. It was déjà vu, like it had happened ages ago, even though in reality it was only two days ago.

"I saw an overly large bird flew past and I thought..."

I opened my mouth to retort but I found no appropriate words. "I wanna watch the sunrise."

"Can I join you?"

"Sure."

Todoroki's arm reached out for the roof, but he couldn't hoist himself up like before, so I had to pull him up. By the time we settled down, a golden streak of light slowly rose upon the horizon.

"Your arm's better now?" Todoroki asked.

I nodded. "Thanks to Recovery Girl, I —"

Abruptly, Todoroki pulled me into a hug. His strong arms wrapped tight around my body as he rested his head on my shoulder.

"I'm glad you're okay." Hearing his gentle voice had made me felt so much relief I thought I was going to cry. The horrible memory of him dying in front of me kept flooding into my mind and I tightened my hug around him, fearing he would disappear.

"I...... I was so scared and helpless when I saw you... I thought you were going to die and I don't have anything to make you warm or......" I sobbed, tears brimming in my eyes as the emotions returned like a tsunami.

"Don't cry," he said.

"......And I have so many things to tell you and I thought I couldn't tell you and I wanted to apologise and tell you I lov—" The words immediately stopped when I was about to tell him my deepest, darkest secret.

OH SHIT OH SHIT OH SHIT.

"Tell me what?" Todoroki released me from his hug, tilted his head a little and looked innocent as ever, though with a trace of anticipation.

I froze. My mind was completely blank.

Todoroki's eyes gleamed beautifully under the first sunshine of the day. The sun shed a mysterious yet gentle golden shade over his facial features.

"...to tell you that you got to watch the Harry Potter movies! They are just as awesome as the books!"

Todoroki blinked. "Ah. Okay. I'll watch it." His face gleamed with excitement.

Good job Takasaki Eria. You have preserved your friendship by not confessing! Are you a genius or what? Hahahahahaha! I'm so going to be friendzoned for the rest of my life.

"How many movies are there?"

"Eight..." I replied nonchalantly, while internally chiding myself for my stupidity.

"But there are seven books," Todoroki commented as he counted his fingers.

"They turned the last book into two movies."

"That's good."

I stared at the sunrise, continued to blame myself internally. The angel in me said I shouldn't have confessed like I had promised, while the devil said if I don't tell him I would lose him to someone else eventually. My internal conflict resumed.

"I'm sorry, Takasaki," Todoroki abruptly muttered. "I shouldn't have doubted you. Maybe your plan was right, but I just couldn't bear to watch you suffer, even though that's what heroes do. I wanted to talk to you back then, but I couldn't find the perfect words. I was still angry and I didn't want to make you angry either......" his voice was laced with guilt.

I turned to look at him. He lowered his head, refusing to look at me.

"And when I was suffering from hypothermia, I was so scared that I couldn't see you again. I haven't even apologise to you yet I was going to die. And when I was about to faint, I thought I saw you but it was like a dream and I wasn't sure......"

I blinked. "It was me. I was there."

Todoroki's eyes widened in surprise. "So... it wasn't a dream?"

I shook my head. "You thought I was a dream?"

"You looked so sad. Your hand felt so warm. It felt so surreal with you by my side. And you were crying with all the tears and sobbing and it made you looked like ugly......"

I glared at him. "I take my tears back!"

Todoroki chuckled. "But you also looked beautiful, like an angel, so I thought it was a dream......"

I froze while my face burned furiously. HE JUST SAID I'M BEAUTIFUL! LIKE AN ANGEL! HOLY FUCKING SHIT!

I tried not to show my overjoy and looked at Todoroki. He was smiling gently, but unlike the blush that continued to sear my cheeks, his face was flawless, void of any pink blushes.

What does that mean?! I AM SO CONFUSED.

But this is the pure innocent Todoroki Shouto we're talking about, who has no interest in romance but just outright complimenting people because he thinks it's right......

As various thoughts feuded in my mind, Todoroki was oblivious to my fidgeting and my burning face. "Anyway," Todoroki continued. "I'm glad you were there. Thank you." A beautiful, genuine smile spread across his face, making my heart flutter for the umpteenth time that day.

"You're welcome......" I said, trying not to sound disappointed. I tried to change the subject to get my mind off him. "Anyway, who saved you?"

Todoroki clicked his tongue. "That old man had to hug me in front of everyone else. He should have just burned me to death."

I laughed. "Did he go all 'SHOUTOOOOOO!' like usual?"

"......Yes."

"BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA I want to see that!"

"No. You can't."

"Come on! It's funny!"

"......It's humiliating."

We continued to chatter like we used to be, while I continued to my efforts to suppress my feelings for him, hoping in the future we would be just as close like we were right now.

***

"What?" My mother gasped when I told her my battle experience, especially the part where my quirk had evolved. "Absorb energy?"

"Apparently I did and turned the energy into mine," I added. "That was why I could activate my quirk when my energy was supposed to be depleted, right?"

My mother tapped her chin as she sunk into deep contemplation. "That's an interesting idea. This could help your condition. Does this mean your quirk evolved? I've never seen cases like this before. Maybe you should do another full body checkup when you go back."

I nodded. Goosebumps popped across my arms when I recalled the villain telling me my quirk had evolved.

"Interesting," Endeavour's tough voice came from behind us and I jolted a little. "It seems you have grown stronger."

"Because she's my daughter," my mother said as she squeezed my shoulders.

Endeavour scoffed a little. However, his gaze was devoid of derisive contempt. Instead, his eyes gleamed of admiration.

"What are you doing?" Todoroki Shouto sighed exasperatedly as he bumped into the three of us. He shot a glare at his father.

"I'm talking to your friend," Endeavour replied.

I smiled awkwardly at Todoroki, who eyed his father suspiciously. "Come on," he gestured at me and I grasped the chance to leave. "What were you talking about?"

"About my quirk."

"Oh," Todoroki replied. I had told him about my quirk earlier in the morning on the roof. "I have a suggestion. Do you want to test your quirk with me? I can create fire."

"Sure," I said. "So if this works, we have to stick together forever?"

Todoroki fell into deep thought. "Ah yes. I guess so. I will become your energy source so we have to stick together."

My smile widened at that thought. Forever was a very promising word.

With all of Class 1-A healed and healthy, we decided to stay behind on the island and continue our program, even though the Public Safety Commision intended to suspend the program. Thankfully, they granted us permission and we helped the residents to repair the damage done by the villains for the next two weeks. It was tiring but quite fulfilling.

When the time arrived, we boarded a ferry and left quietly without telling anyone. The repairs would be continued by the heroes and the military, so it seemed fitting for us to leave without disturbing them. Everyone was sad that we couldn't say goodbyes, but that's what heroes do.

In the end, Katsuma and Mahoro arrived at the port just in time with their father to bid us farewell. I watched as their tiny figures diminish in the distance, and hoped for the best of their future.

I looked at the vast ocean, thinking that a new beginning had dawned on my life.

***

Author's notes:

1. Honestly, I wrote this chapter weeks ago and I was too lazy to proofread it. My motivation to do stuff has been low so new chapters would be slow.

2. MAH HEART BROKE WHEN I SEE TODOROKI FROZEN AND LEFT TO DIE T^T I found the cover photo online and oh my god my poor Todo!!! I need to protect him!!!

3. The ending to this chapter here is kind of weird 'cos I didn't know how to write it, but I hope you like it. :)

4. Remember when I said I didn't want the romance to happen too quickly between Eria and Todo? I think I'm regretting it a little because........ I JUST WANT TO SEE THEM KISS!!!!! (me and my stupid romantic brain) (Maybe I would write a scenario where they would kiss???)

5. Ever since 2020 started, this world has been a huge mess. I hope everyone is safe and happy. :) May this world be at peace as soon as possible. 

6. Bye! See you all!