Heartbreaker | BNHA x Reader

[21] Be Optimistic

"It's going to be okay, Izuku. You can do this. I know you can."

As always, you offered a few words of encouragement, but you realized that alone wasn't enough to put his mind at ease. After all, he was being pitted against Katsuki, the boy who'd bullied him for years on end. His greatest adversary.

Obviously, he was going to be shaking like a leaf in the wind.

"I-I never imagined something like this might happen," Izuku stammered. "It's barely the second day... and I'm supposed to fight Kacchan? If you asked me before, I wouldn't have ever dreamed of doing such a thing. I would've said it was impossible."

You smiled. "That was before, though, like you just said. Things are different now, aren't they? You're not Quirkless anymore. You've got a real chance."

Izuku's lips parted, a mixture of awe and disbelief overtaking his expression.

It took a few moments, but eventually, he was able to return your smile.

"Yeah... you're right," he nodded, looking much more resolved. "Kacchan may be a real piece of work, but I still can't help but admire him. His confidence, his strength, his Quirk... I've always Iooked up to him. He's better than me in a hundred different ways, and I know that, but still. I don't want to lose. Not this time."

"And you won't," you insisted. Of course, you didn't have the ability to predict the future, but you wholeheartedly believed your own words.

Izuku was going to win. You were sure of it.

The Battle Trial was about to begin, so you bid Izuku farewell and watched him walk off with Uraraka, so that they could take their positions before the starting signal. The remainder of the students, those that weren't participating in their battles yet, stayed behind in the monitor room along with All Might, so that you could watch the match unfold.

Now, even though you believed in Izuku's strength and unshakable determination, that didn't mean that you weren't still nervous, especially since Katsuki was involved. His angry texts from yesterday had made it clear how angry he was. He believed that Izuku had deceived him, possibly for years. And even setting aside the matter of potential deception, he hated that Izuku actually had a Quirk now. Katsuki had always believed that Izuku would be powerless, and he couldn't seem to handle the reality-that Izuku was every bit as capable as him, if not more.

You were rooting for Izuku to win, but given the circumstances, you doubted the process of achieving victory would be an easy one.

"Do you think they'll get hurt pretty bad?" you couldn't help but fret. "Katsuki really doesn't know how to hold back..."

Shouto was your partner for the Battle Trial, so you were sticking close to his side. As always, though, he didn't seem much for conversation.

"Even if they get hurt, Recovery Girl will heal them," he said with a cold, unsympathetic tone.

You flinched. "Well... I guess so, but it'd be nice if they didn't take it to extremes. Things can get really dangerous in the blink of an eye. It could even be fatal."

"Instead of coming up with all these ridiculous scenarios, I think you should worry about yourself. You waste too much time focusing on others."

STATUS UPDATE:

[Todoroki Shouto wishes you would stop talking.]

[-10 love points.]

[Current progress: -30/200]

You clamped your lips shut immediately, afraid of letting your points drop any further. You really didn't need a repeat of what had happened with Katsuki. The system was going to have a field day with you the moment you slipped up too much.