Keeping You (Todoroki x Reader)

One minute, Shoto, myself and the rest of our combined squadron were zooming through the streets of Ground Beta, the cool air cutting through us and keeping us alert. The next, we were entering the danger zone.

The collapsed building had to have been twenty or more stories high, its lowers levels crushed into rubble and broken glass. It sat on a tilt towards us, some rocks and sheer luck keeping it from tumbling atop us as Iida pulled the cart to a stop.

I jumped out, cringing against the intense heat radiating from the fire. I'd felt hotter before, but I still held a cautious distance from it. It was never wise to tempt fate.

'I'll head down to the river first,' Tsu called out, already hopping her way to the grassy embankment that lead to the river just on the other side. 'You guys deal with the fire first.'

'You got it, Froppy,' I replied. After she'd jumped over the hill, I ran to join Shoto and the others closer to the chaos.

'Shoto!' Iida called out. 'You're up.'

Shoto nodded, his temperature already starting to drop as he stepped closer to the fire. By the time he was close enough, a cold mist surrounded him, threatening an icy end.

'No problem,' he said before reaching out to the fire with his right hand. A blast of ice shot out of it, driving itself over the entire surface area of the fallen building. It effectively killed the fire in an instant, the dark clouds of smoke dissipating into nothing soon after. Nothing but clear, blue skies above.

'Excellent job,' Iida congratulated.

'Crisis averted,' Sato said, clenching his fist in victory.

'C'est magnifique,' Aoyama chimed in.

I walked up to a cooling down - more like warming up - Shoto, and placed a gentle hand on his shoulder. 'After all this time,' I started, an amused smile dancing on my lips, 'you still got it.'

He'd been using more fire-related attacks lately - a sign that he was maybe accepting who he was and could be. Sure, he'd used ice to incapacitate Chimera on Nabu Island and in small amounts since then, but the last big ice attack I can recall him using would've been against Mr. Aizawa with Momo in the exams before our training camp. It was good to see he hadn't forgotten his signature move.

He turned to me with a slight quirk upwards of his lips. It wasn't a cute or shy smile like usual, but instead a smirk - one that screamed that he knew he was impressive. That he'd always been impressive.

'Of course,' he merely said, the smirk remaining.

A not-so-subtle heat burned up my neck and crept onto my cheeks. I would blame it on the fire, but that had been snuffed out by the very boy who was setting off fireworks in my stomach. And from the smug look on his face, he knew it too. Cocky asshole.

I stepped away from Shoto, pulling myself back to reality with a distinct clearing of my throat. 'Right,' I said to the group, 'now that that's sorted, how's Froppy going? Any word?'

'Not yet,' Tokoyami said, pulling out a small walkie-talkie from within his cloak. 'Froppy, are you at the river? Report in.'

'I found them.' Her voice came back through a little grainy, but it was definitely her, and she sounded urgent.

'On our way, Froppy,' I said. 'Hold steady until we get there.'

I didn't wait for a reply. Taking off in a sprint, I followed Froppy's movements from before towards the embankment, the echoing pounding of boots along cement meaning my classmates were following along. Once atop the hill, I slid down in a sleek movement along my side, pushing off just before the bottom to land on the dirt pathway that ran alongside the river. Froppy wasn't hard to find, her green hair and yellow goggles an easy spot against the clear river water.