Keeping You (Todoroki x Reader)

Chapter 11

'Oooh! Can I be a cockroach? I've heard they're hard to kill.'

He bared his teeth and growled in annoyance, swiftly turning around and walking away. 'I'll still kill you. Especially you, Deku. You won't stand a chance.'

Midoriya's smile remained as he gazed after Bakugou, and quietly said, 'Just watch me.'

'You have a good childhood friend in him.' We didn't turn around to see who it was because we didn't have to. Midoriya simply nodded at All Might's statement, nothing more needing to be said.

It was true. Underneath his rough exterior and harsh words, Bakugou just proved how loyal he could be. I sweat-dropped however as I watched him yell at Kirishima for probably no reason whatsoever. 'Yeah. If only he were a tad more polite.'

'Agreed, young L/N.'

'Students in the fifth battle please make your way to them held. The match will start shortly.'

Midoriya and I both turned to each other at Vlad King's announcement and nodded. It was time.

'Good luck you two,' All Might said, clasping both out shoulders in his spindly hands. 'Do your best. And don't let your guards down.'

'Will do,' I said. With one final farewell we gathered with Ochaco, Mina and Mineta at the top of the stairs that led into the arena. 'All right guys, let's do this.'

The others took the lead and walked down the stairs first. But just as I was about to follow, a gentle grip around my wrist pulled me to a halt.

'Shoto?' I asked, eyeing the heterochromatic-eyed boy with concern. 'Something wrong?'

He remained silent for a moment, eyes flicking between mine and the floor and where he held my wrist. They finally locked with mine. 'I just wanted to say... go crush it.'

My heart had been wrestling with nerves and the icky feeling that something bad was going to happen all day. But it warmed at the small confidence his words injected into me. It was like a ray of sunlight had pierced through the cloudy sky inside me.

I brought my free hand around to squeeze the hand clasping my wrist. 'I will. Just watch me.'

'I won't miss a second.'

My heart soared at the sincerity of his words, feeling that he truly meant it. I gave his hand another reassuring squeeze before gently tugging myself loose and heading to join my friends. I practically bounced down the stairs I was now pumped with adrenaline. We definitely had a huge fight ahead, but so did Class B. We were both in the same boat sailing on rough waters. In the end, it would come down to who could hold on the longest.

It will be us. It must be us.

It didn't take me long to join the others, but I noticed that a distinct green-haired member was missing. 'Where did Midoriya go?'

'I think he's looking around our area trying to familiarise himself with our surroundings,' Ochaco answered.

'But you would've known that if you weren't talking to Mr. Icy-Hot and making heart eyes with him,' Mina teased, falling into a soft chuckle.

My cheeks burned immediately. 'I was not making heart eyes with Shoto. H-He was just wishing us luck. You know, like a decent person would.'

'Don't try and hide it, Y/N,' she continued. 'You're both totally smitten with one another. I'm both so happy and so jealous of you!'

'That's not...' I released a defeated sigh. 'You know what, never mind. Let's just find Midoriya so we can go over the plan.'