Perfectly Imperfect (Shoto Todoroki x Reader)

Shoto takes a baby step. Next stop: therapy? (Nope)

"NOW WE'VE GOT A FULL ROSTER FOR THE NEXT ROUND! LET'S GET THIS PARTY STARTED!!" Present Mic's voice echoed through the halls of the stadium, the thick rock walls doing little to stop his enthusiastic commentary.

"Already?" Midoriya mumbled, frowning, before smiling at Ochaco. "Later."

"I'll come with! I wanna find Shoto and wish him good luck, too."

Ochaco stood up, "Oh, I'm sorry Deku! You weren't able to prepare because of me!"

"I ship it," I mumbled. Neither of them heard me as they encouraged each other.

The OTP strikes again.

I followed Midoriya out of the room in a very good mood. Midoriya was on the verge of tears, he was so touched by Ochaco rooting for him.

"S-so, do you have a plan for how you're going to fight Tokoyami, L/n-chan?" Midoriya looked at me, wiping something wet from his eye and blinking rapidly.

"Mm-hmm." I nodded. "Since my skillset is so similar to Yaoyorozu's- weapon based, you know- he'll probably do the same attacks he did with her before. But I'm eighty-five percent sure that Dark Shadow has a physical body of some sort and is connected to Tokoyami, so if I..."

My voice trailed away as a familiar flaming figure rounded the corner right in front of us.

"AH!" Midoriya jumped half a foot in the air and stumbled backwards. "Endeavor?!"

I crossed my arms, glaring daggers at the number two hero as he looked over me at Midoriya.

"Ah, I was looking for you." He pushed past me.

"Oh, yeah, hi." Midoriya spluttered. "Uh, what are you doing back here?"

"I watched your fight against the brainwashing guy-"

"Shinso," I corrected. Endeavor ignored me, continuing to speak to a very intimidated Midoriya.

"Your power is pretty impressive. To create so much wind just by flicking your fingers. It reminds me of another Quirk."

"Yeah, yeah, we've all heard the drill about how similar Midoriya-kun is to All-Might. It's a bit of a running joke." I grabbed Midoriya's arm, tugging him away. "He's got to go, though. Right?"

"Y-yeah. My fight's up next, after all!" Midoriya and I started walking away.

"Deep breaths, L/n-chan." Midoriya squeezed my wrist as I fumed with the desire to deck Endeavor in the face with a mallet.

A feeling that amplified tenfold when Endeavor spoke his next words. "It's my Shoto's duty to surpass All-Might as the number one hero."

I froze, my blood boiling. Beside me, I felt Midoriya stop too.

"Your?" I hissed. Midoriya's grip tightened around my arm as my hand began to twitch.

Endeavor continued. "This match will be a testing ground for how much training he has left. So hit him hard. Don't disgrace yourself or him by holding back. That's all I wanted to say. I apologize for bothering you."

Midoriya and I shared a look.

"Endeavor," Midoriya began. Endeavor's receding footsteps stopped. "I am not All Might."

"What are you-"

"And the same goes for Shoto," I continued, taking turns speaking with Midoriya.

"He may be your son, but he isn't you."

"He's a million times more."

And we left.

I wasn't able to find Todoroki before the fight began, but my adrenaline was on overdrive as I watched from the student stands.