Finding Me (Todoroki x Reader)

Chapter 84

My eyes widened as they landed on students dressed in various colours, standing atop metal pipes and pillars. From where I stood, their costumes all seemed to be alike, all wearing loose ninja outfits. Their eyes were the only visible face feature, the rest of their bodies covered in cloth and various armoured pieces.

They might not have come across as the scariest fighters I'd ever faced before, but the way they loomed over us in a pack had me on edge. Being together is what made them scary, and I cursed myself for being the slightest bit terrified at them.

"Crap..." I muttered, eyeing each opponent with wary eyes. "That's probably a whole class up there, Shoto."

"That was pretty good," one of the students complimented - one clad in red, standing in the middle of the group. "Just what I would expect from the runner up of the UA Sports Festival. The name's Todoroki, right? Along with little L/N, here..." I sneered at his degrading tone, but he only snickered. "I can't believe you two are wandering around out here all by yourselves. You must be really confident."

"But even if they are from UA High," another ninja said, this time a large, green one, "acting alone is just asking for trouble."

"A ten-on-two fight? They don't stand a chance," a feminine voice came from a dark blue-cladded person. She was tall and skinny with a blonde fringe poking out from underneath her head scarf.

"Hey," I called out, suddenly feeling slightly pissed. "What's that supposed to mean? You think we're just some easy pickings? Well, think again!"

Shoto let out a soft chuckle, and I heard him shuffle to step up beside me.

"This is great," he muttered, raising his arms into an offensive position. "Now I don't have to find opponents."

The red-cladded ninja huffed, his arms casually folded across his chest as he gazed down at us. I had no idea who he was underneath his hood, but I already disliked him. Maybe I disliked him just as much as I disliked Mineta. He disturbed me, but on a whole other level.

"Huh," he scoffed. "Aren't you cool..."

"Careful, Shoto," I warned, raising my own hands in preparation.

In the blink of an eye, four of the ninjas leapt off their pedestals whilst throwing their balls at us again. On instinct, I brought up a shield, the impact of the balls barely making a dent in my elasticised energy. Their eyes widened, clearly shocked by my move. I smirked. That would teach them to underestimate me.

"Step back," Shoto said, and I obeyed. Placing his right hand on the ground, Shoto sent out narrow paths of ice snaking towards our opponents. The ice wound up the pillars before encircling the ninjas' feet, strapping them to the ground.

"Damnit! I can't move!" one of them called, and I couldn't help a small proud smile stretching onto my face.

"Nice one, Shoto," I said, trailing back along the ice to him beside me. "They're completely immobilised!"

He nodded his thanks, grabbing ahold of one of his orange balls as he faced forwards. "You're surprised? I thought you watched the Sports Festival!"

He was right. If they'd watched like they said they did, they should've known I could block their attacks easily, and that Shoto could trap them without so much as lifting a finger. They should've known better...

But what if they did know better than what they were letting on? The students before us were likely second or third years at their school, and would be smarter than to let themselves be trapped.

"Shoto," I murmured. "I wouldn't be too brash, now..."

I spotted the leader pull out a small metal nut from his pocket, swinging his arm back to throw it. "Don't be cocky," he called, slinging his arm forward to let the nut go. "We're prepared!"