"You don't need to hide. I know you're there, (y/n)," you heard Todoroki's deep baritone voice from inside the waiting room, making your heart rattle.

You slapped your cheeks with your hands, trying to calm yourself down before going into the room. As you walked in, you saw Todoroki's bangs, though parted twice, they obscured his vision as he looked down to the ground.

You leaned against a table near his seat, the unforecasted storm of dark emotions running wild in your chest. You didn't even know where to begin. For so long, you had been blind towards his struggles while you focused on your own. Though Todoroki had warned you not to trust his father, you were still in shock as you thought about the real reason you had been invited to live with them.

"Did my father send you here to get me to use my left side?"

You shook your head sideways, making the small daisy behind your ear fall down. "No, Shoto..."

"Why are you here, then?"

You tensed up, struggling to address the disturbing realisation that had only dawned upon you a few minutes ago. "Because I think I now know what you meant yesterday at lunch. I'm really sorry. I genuinely had no idea."

Todoroki drummed his fingers on his legs, not sure whether to believe you. "If you didn't know about it, you're not the one to blame, are you?"

"But, Shoto, I've been unfair to you all this time without knowing. That's why I want to apologise to you."

A look of great bitterness swiped across Todoroki's face. "Hold on, so did you only just learn about it?"

Your throat tightened, and your shoulders trembled, but you still choked out a response. "Y-yeah, I only... um... learnt about it today."

Todoroki narrowed his eyes at you, pondering whether your parents had or hadn't agreed that your quirks would match well in the first place.

You knew Todoroki wouldn't be too happy with the fact that Midoriya had informed you, but you didn't want to hide anything from him at this very moment. He deserved nothing but the truth. "Deku overheard you and Endeavor earlier," you said with a catch in your voice.

"So Midoriya was the one to tell you?"

You nodded with caution.

Todoroki stood up from his chair thanks to his ingrained manners. "How much did he say?"

"That Endeavor was looking to set us up..." You shivered, unable to finish your sentence as you saw Todoroki's jaw clench.

"(y/n), I would never be as despicable as to say that you are at my disposal. It disgusts me that anyone could ever think of you that way."

"At your disposal?" What the hell? That sounds so wrong.

He huffed at hearing his dreaded father's words coming from you. Why hadn't Todoroki communicated properly with you before this matter blew up on your faces? Through the heavy silence, he crumbled when he noticed that your eyes brimming with tears. The ice wall that distanced you from him began to thaw as he accepted that he could trust you to some extent after all you had been through together.

Todoroki crossed his arms. He still could not wrap his head around something. "Why did you act the way you did yesterday, though?"

You wanted to run away as the memory of yesterday's exchange in the classroom replayed itself in your head over and over, leaving you with your hands sweating out of anxiousness that he would decide to corner you again. "What do you mean?"

"I don't understand why you are blushing so hard right now," he said as he grew nearer to you.

Seeing his frown was like looking down the barrel of a gun. Your back stiffened. "I don't think I'm blushing."

"Are you nervous?"

"No, I'm not," you retorted.

Todoroki scoffed at his own actions before he carefully patted your head. "Sorry. I crossed the line again."

Not telling him what was really going through your head backfired so often that you were on the verge of confessing your feelings towards him. Your blush deepened. You had decided it earlier, hadn't you? Todoroki deserved the truth, though it struggled to depart your lips as he peered down at your vulnerable self.

"To be honest, I am. I'm nervous, okay?" You admitted with your head down. Your lips trembled as tears threatened to escape your eyes. "I don't know what to say when you do this kind of thing. I don't know why it has to be you of all people, either."

Todoroki's grey and turquoise eyes widened. "Hold on, (y/n). What are you saying?"

You shuffled in your place, as you puckered up the courage. "You make my heart beat so quickly. But, why are you always teasing me and then running away from me?"

Maybe, this isn't the right time. It's not like Shoto would ever--

A stream of precious memories rushed through his mind, making the corner of his mouth turn into a guarded grin. "I don't understand why. I generally do, but sometimes I am at a loss when it comes to you. I don't know why I wanted to see your interesting expressions, but that's why I enjoy coming so close to you. Even now..." Todoroki used his hand to lift your chin. He looked at your puffy (e/c) eyes before tracing down to your soft rosy lips. "Why are you the only one causing me so much confusion?"

You stared back with your dry mouth parted slightly, while a warm feeling flooded your chest. Todoroki gently pulled his hand away from you and placed it in the pocket of his navy sports uniform. "What I do know is that I don't want to make you suffer, (y/n)."

You rubbed the corner of your eye. A stubborn tear had managed to slip out. "I don't want that for you, either. I'm sorry, Shoto. I really am."

"I should be the one apologising. I guess I read the situation wrong this time," Todoroki said. The pent up anger inside him started to grow stronger. He was going to make his father pay for this.

The contrast of the delicate daisy against the concrete floor snapped him out of his thundering thoughts. He handed it to you. His hand lingered on yours for a little longer than he had anticipated. As you thanked him and excused yourself to prepare for the third stage of the Sports Festival, he still wondered. How could anyone ever be as kind as you were to him?

---

The crowd roared in exclamations as you strolled towards the arena. This would surely make it difficult for you to distinguish Kaminari's life energy. Kaminari already stood there, with a playful smirk plastered on his face. He thought this would be an easy win because you had recently been forced to take several breaks during the hero training sessions. And boy, did he not know about the surprise he was in for.

Once Present Mic announced the start of the one on one fight, you did not waste a single second. Even before Kaminari could activate his electricity quirk, you dashed towards him and jumped over his head. He electrocuted the ground as you placed your hand on his shoulders and drained plenty of his vitality, but not enough so he would faint. That wouldn't look too good for hero agencies with whom you could potentially intern.

"Huh? What even was that? Did Mr Aizawa allow that since last time?" Kaminari fell down to his knees but still slapped your hand away. You landed on the ground, bending your knees to soften the impact on your legs. As soon as you did, Kaminari's side lit up with electricity.

"Don't worry. I won't hurt you badly. But that doesn't mean I don't want to win," you said. Without hesitating, you touched a section of his chest as you struggled against him. You absorbed his life energy, stopping him from using his quirk. You noticed that your hands began to shake with a determination of their own.

You shoved the blond off the arena with all your might, focusing most of your life energy on the tip of your fingers. Kaminari landed outside the boundaries of the arena with a muffled thud, gaping as he recognised that he had underestimated you.

Claps and shouts erupted from all corners of the stadium. This had been the most exciting fight of the first round so far. Especially seeing the rather uneventful fight that Midoriya had put on against Shinso. As you were declared the winner, all you could be glad about is that no one seemed to be commenting that your quirk was better suited for a villain than a hero.

In a haze, you wished Ochaco all the best against Bakugo before plodding to an empty corridor. There, you rested your back against the wall as black dots clouded your vision. Though you were getting better at controlling your quirk, perhaps, you had put in too much energy into your final move.

"Tch," Bakugo said as he stomped past you to get to his first fight. "Get a fuckin' grip."

You looked down at your bandaged hands. If I manage to beat Iida on the next round, I might be facing Shoto later. You clenched your shirt near your heart, as you remembered your exchange with him in the waiting room. Later on, when you went on to sit with the rest of your class on the stadium's benches, you couldn't help but root for said boy.

"Apologies," Todoroki said before activating his ice quirk.

The massive ice structure he used to trap Sero revealed how unstable he was at the moment. Todoroki then gave his father a death glare, which made your stomach churn as it reminded you of the marriage Endeavor wanted to force on the both of you.

You still couldn't believe that quirk marriages happened in this day and age, given how unethical they were. And you were certain that your family had nothing to do with it.

Things were getting complicated in the eye of the storm. Even if it meant you couldn't go home this weekend, you would find a way. You would be moving out of the Todoroki household, you decided.