I Burn [Todoroki x Reader]

29/100 Exhaustion

His POV:

Todoroki has been spending many sleepless nights and he never made any progress. The identity of [Name]'s stalker still remained a mystery and he was on the verge of collapsing. He had tired himself, however, he knew he had to be persistent. He needed to do this, even after they had reported the incident, they were told nothing could be done right away as they didn’t know the nature of the person’s quirk.

He was exhausted, his sleepless nights was apparent on his face as his schoolmates all gave way for him to pass whenever he walked down the hallway. He just wanted to hear her voice again, perhaps if he went and saw her it would re-energize his drive.

What he saw, however, did the opposite. He wasn’t sure whether his tired mind was playing tricks on him but [Name] was with another boy. He wore U.A.’s uniform but from afar he didn’t recognize him, at least not someone from her class. Was he new perhaps? He hadn’t heard anyone transferring this late in the school year

Then, who’s he?

Todoroki followed the two as they made their way to the cafeteria. They were engrossed in their conversation that they hardly noticed him follow, he wanted to hear what they were talking about but he feared he would get caught if he got any closer. The smile on her face, however, showed that whatever it was they were talking about, it was something pleasant. The only time he had ever seen her smile like that was with him and his heart ached to see her smile at someone else.

She’s met someone else…

Perhaps it was time to let her go. The words were in the back of Todoroki’s mind, but his exhausted mind gave way to the thought. But could he really let her go just like that? After all the hard work he had put himself through, could he really just let someone else take his beloved?

Todoroki already knew the answer to his own question as he made his way towards the two. He left all inhibition behind, it was time for him to take action and he was done holding back. He’s taking back what he lost and he wasn’t about to let a stranger ruin everything.

“[Last Name]-san. May I borrow you for just a second?” Todoroki deliberately ignored the boy beside her, while he knew it was rude, he didn’t care for a second. [Name] turned to look at Todoroki, a confused look was on her face but gave him a small smile nonetheless.

“Oh hello, Todoroki-san.” she greeted. “What for?”

Todoroki, on impulse, approached her but he hadn’t figured out his excuse. If he wasn’t so sleep deprived, he would already have an excuse. However, before Todoroki could say anything, the boy beside her spoke.

“Hello…” his voice made Todoroki’s skin tingle with familiarity. His rage suddenly bubbled from within him and as soon as he chanced a glance. All he saw was red.

It was him. The whole time, he was in school. How he managed that was something Todoroki was going to have to beat from him. Oh, how he wanted to punch that smug look on his face, but he knew he needed to remain calm. At least for [Name]’s sake.

“Hey...Todoroki-san. What is it that you came for?” her voice snapped him out of his thoughts.

“I need to borrow you. There was something Kenji-san asked me to give you.”

[Name] shrugged and reluctantly agreed to Todoroki’s strange request. The other boy, however, wasn’t about to her go.

“Ah, but, [Name]-chan promised to show me her favorite spot to eat lunch.”  Todoroki noticed the boy smirk, he was quite full of himself. He knew Todoroki’s hands were tied, there was nothing for the young hero could do lest the boy run rampant and harm innocent. Best to deal with him as delicately as he possibly could.

“Sorry, Todoroki-san, perhaps later. I’ll just show Ichihara-san the spot and I’ll look for Kenji myself.”

Before Todoroki could protest, the two had already turned and left. He was exhausted, he doesn’t know how much longer he could stay on his feet but he needed to do something soon. Now that his identity had been revealed, Todoroki could only fear the worst.

He rushed to the teacher’s lounge where he collapsed on the floor. It wasn’t his greatest moment to be reduced into an undignified heap on the floor but he needed to swallow his pride to get things done.

Aizawa was the first to see the young hero and helped him up to his feet. Even with a calm tone, the edge in Todoroki’s voice was apparent as he apologized. The temperature in the lounge began to fluctuate that Eraser Head reminded him where he was.

“You’re not usually this reckless Todoroki-kun. What happened?” Aizawa asked his student. After Todoroki explained to the teacher, everyone in the room took action. To think that the school had been infiltrated the second time was unforgivable.

“Stay here Todoroki, that’s an order. You can barely stay on your feet. We’ll find the boy.”

Aizawa then left but Todoroki had no plans to follow his teacher’s order. He did his duty as a student of U.A. by reporting an intruder, but he has yet to fulfill his duty to his beloved. He had failed her time and time again and quite frankly he was tired of it. No more holding back.

Filled with determination, Todoroki then left to save the one woman who once gave him meaning and to finally remove the parasite that caused all of their pain.