Finding Me (Todoroki x Reader)

Chapter 49

"Yeah," Mr. Aizawa confirmed. "The good news is that nobody bombed the written exam. Five failed the practical. Badly. One team, of course, and then Kaminari, Mina, and Sero failed as well."

All three of them winced, and I couldn't help but feel sorry for them all. They'd all worked so hard - for the most part - so for them to fail the practical must've been tough. To think that I almost failed, as well...

I stiffened at the memory; those red, gleaming eyes were burnt into the insides of my brain. They were so vivid, and so realistic. Clenching my fists, I rid my mind of his searing eyes. Stain wasn't going to hold me back - not anymore.

"Allow me to explain," my homeroom teacher elaborated. "For the practical battles, the teachers made sure to leave a way for the students to win, otherwise you never would've stood a chance. We were interested in seeing how each of you worked together to approach the task at hand."

"But didn't you promise that teachers wouldn't be holding back?" Ojiro asked from the front.

"That was just to get you on edge. Besides, the training camp will focus on building your strength. Those who failed will need these lessons the most. We were never going to separate you." I cringed at the creepiest smile I'd ever seen crawl onto Mr. Aizawa's gloomy face. "That was just a logical deception we used."

"A logical deception?!" The whole class erupted into mixed cries of joy and confusion, the latter mainly from none other than our resident rule-keeper: our Class Rep.

"Mr. Aizawa, this is the second time you've lied to us!" Iida cried out, hand raised and standing upright. "Aren't you afraid we'll lose faith in you?!"

"Ah..." Ochaco tilted her head. "A little blunt, Tenya."

As much as I thought Iida's reaction was a tad overdramatic, I couldn't argue with him. First the quirk assessment tests at the beginning of the semester, and now this? What was going to be next?

"That's a good point," Mr. Aizawa noted. "I'll consider it. But I wasn't lying to you about everything... Failure is failure."

The five students who were once dancing joyfully, froze in position, staring back at our teacher like deers caught in the head-lights. 'This can't be good,' I thought, sinking lower into my seat even though I wasn't Mr. Aizawa's target.

"We've prepared extra lessons for the five of you. Frankly, they'll be a lot tougher than what you'd face at summer school."

After a few more degrading lectures, and few more tears of shame, Mr. Aizawa handed us some information booklets about the training camp, leaving us to our own devices when the last bell rang. I stared in awe at the blue, glossy hand-book, flipping and skimming through the colourful pages of information.

From the looks of it, we were going to be staying at a pretty neat-looking place; the building was nice and simple, reminding me of a winter cabin, but bigger, and the surrounding forest of lush, green trees made it feel even more remote, but in the best way. I stared wide-eyed at the pictures of the mountains that seemed to tower over the whole camp, feeling my excitement buzz inside me.

"This is going to be so great!" I exclaimed, a bright smile adorning my features. "I mean, just look at this place! Don't you guys think this is just the coolest?"

"I agree," Ojiro said, looking at his own booklet with a slight smile. "This is gonna be great. I'm so glad we're all going together."

"Looks like we'll be at the training camp a full week," Iida stated, his dark-blue eyes scanning and searching along every line of the information handbook. Midoroya was looking over his shoulder, bug-eyed as he, too, read what was in store for us.