Warning! This is part two of two, so definitely read part one if you want this to make sense!
Quirk: Shadow Manipulation
I had had an amazing nights sleep, and Fuyumi cooked us a delicious breakfast before heading to her school where she taught young pupils. Shoto and I had to head to Endeavours agency early as we knew he was the time of person who demanded punctuality. We thankfully arrived there earlier than expected, giving us time to hang around a bit whilst Endeavour dealt with other business. We got changed into our hero suits for the time being and waited for the pro hero to be done.
Finally the men he was speaking to left his office, and he called the pair of us in, having placed two chairs just in front of his desk. "Sit down, both of you," he said in his gruff tone, making me nervous. Shoto and I glanced at each other, and he could sense my nervousness so he reassured me with a nod. When we sat down there was silence for a second as Endeavour glanced between Shoto and I. "(l/n)," he said firmly, and i immediately sat up straight.
"Yes sir?" I said quickly.
"You're a powerful student and you have great potential in becoming a quality hero," he said, pausing and seemingly waiting for gratitude which I gave him after a moment.
"Thank you sir," I bowed my head.
"I've spoken to your parents, (l/n)," he said, this statement confusing me. I furrowed my eyebrows, wondering what he'd want with my parents. "There were three specific reasons why I sent you an offer, (l/n). One, I saw your performance at the Sports Festival, and was intrigued by your quirk, it has great potential. Two, I wanted to see it up close for myself, hence why I had you sparring all day yesterday. What I saw impressed me, and if it hadn't I would've sent you straight back to UA to apply for an intern with a much lower ranked hero," he said and I tensed up a little, learning this piece of information. "Lucky for you, I was impressed and have decided to keep you on for the rest of the internship week. And the third reason was that my son speaks very highly of you."
I glanced at Shoto who was sat as stiff as a board, staring at his father. "So, with those things in mind, the reason I called your parents last night was to ask them for permission which they happily gave me. (l/n) and Shoto, you two are to be betrothed as soon as you are both eighteen."
My jaw dropped open, my whole body then freezing on the spot. I could barely believe what I had just heard. My heart was beating erratically, knowing that Endeavour was setting up a quirk marriage but the idea of marrying my crush filled me with happiness, yet of course it was much too soon as we weren't even together, let alone knowing if he had feelings for me or not. However what happened next made it clear to me that he didn't hold any feelings for me whatsoever.
"WHAT?!" He shouted, standing up and slamming his hands down on Endeavours desk. "How dare you! Is that all you ever think about? 'Creating strong offspring' as you tend to word it? Well no, I'm not marrying someone you tell me to marry, I'm going to marry who I want to when I want to, I'm not going to marry her! You really think I'm going to marry (y/n) because you tell me to? Well of course I won't! I'm not marrying someone I don't even like, you can't force me into anything!" Shoto's voice echoed around the room and my heart split in two. "You make me sick, thinking you can force me into a relationship I don't want to be in," he added, kicking Endeavours desk and storming out the room.
I would understand if he said he didn't want Endeavour to set him up in an arranged quirk marriage, but he specifically targeted me and claimed he didn't want to marry me. His angry speech was playing on loop in my head and I sat frozen on the chair, tears threatening to leak from my eyes as my heart was breaking in my chest. Time had seemed to slow down achingly slow, and I wanted this to be a nightmare. Hearing your crush openly admit that he didn't have feelings for you nor would ever dream of having feelings for you stung more than anything.
"You care for my son don't you," Endeavour's voice was only just heard in my brain that kept on repeating Shoto's loud speech. All I could do was nod. He didn't say anything else after that, and just got up to leave his office. I remained inside, letting the tears fall.
- Timeskip -
The day had been utterly horrible. Just like the previous day we were in the large gym, sparring, but not against each other. We went up against Endeavours other interns, and Shoto didn't look at me, not even once. My heart was aching and I was feeling more and more self-conscious as the day went on. I tried desperately to tell myself it was just Shoto's anger at his father's ideology that made him say such things, but it really sounded as though he meant it which pained me even more. There were a few times when I felt as though I was going to break down, and these were the times I had to really focus on my sparring, getting so carried away that my opposition would usually win.
It was now the evening however, and Shoto and I were stood in front of Endeavours desk as he analysed our techniques. Shoto stood completely still, his eyes fixed on the wall and refusing to look at Endeavour or me. I didn't find this fair at all, it wasn't as if I was the one who suggested any of this, so why wasn't he talking to me?
"We're going out," Endeavour suddenly said, standing up.
"Where?" Shoto asked bluntly.
"Hosu City. I've been called to do some patrolling in that area," Endeavour said, walking towards the office door and expecting us to follow.
"Hosu, that's where Iida is, isn't it?" I tried to say something to Shoto with a small shred of normality, but he just let out a small scoff. I turned my head sharply away, my crushed heart crumbling even more. I tried to control my quivering lip as we exited Endeavours agency and getting into one of the black cars his driver had, Endeavour in the front whilst Shoto and I were sat in the back. Instead of talking, I just looked out of the window, allowing the tears to fall now that I had my head turned away from everyone. I let out a small, subtle sniff and wiped my nose on the edges of my hero suit, it being all I had.
The journey felt much longer than it should've, thanks to the silence in the car. I was relieved when we arrived and exited the car however, something seemed odd with Shoto. After spending all day yesterday getting close to me and all day today utterly blanking me at every opportunity he got, he suddenly seemed to be staring at me until he realised he had been caught, causing him to look away briskly.
Endeavour led the way as the three of us walked around the city, me deciding to delve myself into the world of heroism, focussing on what Endeavour had to say and ignoring Shoto's presence behind me, however something was beginning to feel really off. Whenever I glanced back at him there was a confused expression written all over his face, his furrowed eyebrows making it obvious that he was thinking deeply and seemingly ignoring everything his father was saying about patrolling. I however decided to listen, giving me a chance to forget about Shoto even if it was just for an hour or two.
Everything changed in the blink of an eye when suddenly a loud explosion went off nearby. Flames and smoke rose from an area that looked to be a few streets away, and there were loud screams of civilians. "Time to put your training into action!" Endeavour shouted, immediately running in that direction. Shoto and I both followed him quickly, although I was panicking, wondering what we were going to be met with. A few civilians were running in the opposite way to us, and what with it being this time of night in a less populated area of Hosu City, I imagined that thankfully there's likely be few or no-one injured.
As we ran however, Shoto suddenly stopped in his track, pulling his phone out of his pocket. "What the- Shoto! This isn't the time!"
"When you're done here send people to this address," Shoto showed his father his phone before taking it back and starting to run in the opposite direction. "I'm sure you can deal with this! My friend might need my help."
I watched him go and noticed Endeavour had his fists clenched and his teeth gritted. "Night Witch, follow him!" He shouted, pointing in the direction Shoto went. I nodded quickly and did as I was told, seeing him turn down an alleyway up ahead, however I stopped at what I saw. It was like a maze, there were many different alleyways leading off into different directions, and I slowly walked down them keeping my guard up at all times. I had to switch on the lights on my hero suit as it got pretty dark, and the last thing I wanted to do was to be attacked whilst trying to find Shoto.
Suddenly there was a bright orange light up ahead, and I immediately knew that it was Shoto's flames. I ran towards it as fast as I could, turning down an alleyway and seeing a sight I never expected. Iida and a hero on the ground, the two of them conscious but apparently unable to move. Shoto stood in front of them, ice surrounding the walls of the alleyway, whilst Midoriya was jumping back and forth, attacking someone. It was a mere second later when I realised it was the hero killer.
I ran into the scene, my body moving before I had a chance to think, and just as Stain threw two knives straight towards Shoto I managed to push him out the way, being impaled by the blades instead. I let out a loud cry of pain as one pierced my shoulder, another piercing my bicep. "(y-y/n)!" Shoto's voice shouted, worry evident within it.
"Ah, so there's another one? So problematic, you hero students. You're not worthy, none of you are," Stain said, glancing between me, Midoriya and Shoto. Immediately Shoto stood up from where I had knocked him down and approached me as quick as I could, blood seeping from my wounds. Midoriya was managing to keep the hero killer busy for the time being, whilst Shoto saw to me.
"(y/n) why the hell did you do that?!" He asked desperately, clinging onto me tightly.
"I wasn't going to let you get hurt, not when I could stop it," I said, breathing heavily.
"(y-y/n)-,"
"Look out!" I shouted, managing to use my quirk to shield the two of us from Stain's sword. I refused to fall, and was desperate to fight. I was so high on adrenaline that the pain was vanishing, and I didn't notice Shoto's worried looks.
"(y/n) you can't, you're injured, stand back!" Shoto said, stepping in front of me.
"I can still fight!" I borderline screamed.
"She's got some guts," Stain lunged towards me but I lifted up a shadow arm, knocking him backwards and straight into Midoriya's kicks. I stumbled a little and Shoto caught me, stopping me from falling over.
"I'm fine," I grunted, trying to push him off of me, my adrenaline making me more angry about this morning rather than upset.
"(y/n), be careful! He has a blood consuming quirk! If he gets some of your blood, you'll end up loosing control of your body!" Midoriya shouted. "Todoroki! Look out!"
I snapped my head over to Shoto who Stain was lunging at, but he had his attention on me, apparently worried sick. I was the one to save him once again by using my shadows as a shield for him. He then turned towards me, knocking me back and pinning me down, about to lick some of my blood form my wounds. That was until...
"GET AWAY FROM HER!" Shoto's voice ricocheted through the alleyway as flames shot towards Stain, him jumping out the way just in time. "(y/n)! Please, please stand back," Shoto crouched beside me, a pleading look on his face, confusing me.
"Shoto-,"
"I can't see you get hurt!" He gestured my arm, and I began to feel a little dizzy, the pain coming back to me but I gritted my teeth and stood up.
"I can still fight, Shoto!" I shouted, about to run into battle to help Midoriya but Shoto stopped me, pulling me back towards him.
"Please (y/n)!" He was begging me and my heart was whirling with emotions, but despite the pain I was feeling both internally and externally, I pulled myself away from him and helped Midoriya. The fight felt long and the blades in my arms didn't help, but thankfully Iida and Midoriya were able to knock the hero killer out with a kick from both sides, him falling to the ground in a heap.
The rest of the night was a little bit of a blur for me as I had lost a lot of blood, but I did remember Shoto carrying me, desperately telling me I was going to be fine. I knew I was, I wasn't in that much of a bad state after all but I was shocked at how worried he seemed.
- Timeskip -
A couple of days had passed since that incident and a lot had happened. The chief of police had paid us a visit to talk about Stains capture and how Endeavour had to take all of the glory, Iida got his test results back about his hands having difficulty moving and I had received stitches where the blades pierced me. I was sat in the bed next to Iida which was diagonally opposite of Shoto, and I avoided eye contact with him at all costs.
Iida had to be taken away for more X-Rays whilst Midoriya was out getting more permanent stitches as he too gained some physical injuries. Now it was only Shoto and I left in the room, the atmosphere being incredibly awkward. It was now that I was once again relaying the speech he had yelled at his father about me, and tears were coming to my eyes but I was determined not to show it. I heard rustling over on his bed and I looked up, surprised to see he was making his way over to me with a solemn look on his face.
"Can I sit?" He asked quietly, gesturing the edge of my bed. I just nodded, and the two of us sat in silence for a moment, neither of us knowing what to say until... "I'm sorry (y/n)," Shoto whispered. "I'm sorry."
"What for?" I scoffed, wondering if he meant for the horrible way he had spoken about me, or for whether I took the injury for him.
"For everything other the past couple of days," he whispered, apparently ashamed. I remained silent, not wanting to say anything until he fully explained himself. "I'm sorry for what I said at my dads agency about- about the quirk marriage," he said, his hands twisting together. "I said things I didn't mean about you, I was just so angry that my old man thought it was okay to set up a quirk marriage for me! I promise that it wasn't anything to do with you, I was just angry at him... I'm sorry for what I said, for saying that I didn't like you because- because I- I do... like you," his voice was so quiet at the end that I thought I had misheard him.
"What?" I questioned.
"I like you (y/n), romantically and I'm sorry for what I said, I was just so angry with him that he thought he could set us up as a quirk marriage but I want to be with you because I love you and I really want you to know that! That I want to be with you because I love you and not because my bastard of a father thinks that we're just meant for some stupid quirk marriage, I was just- I was just angry that he thought he could get away with it!" His flood gates opened as he began spewing out random words, not making too much sense but I managed to pick out the most important details, them being that he hated his father for the quirk marriages, that he felt guilty when he heard me crying in the car and that he loved me undoubtedly. It was the last statement that made me the most flustered, naturally, as with each time he said it my heart was being sewn back together.
"Shoto!" I stopped his rambling and he looked at me, slightly panicked. I let out a breath and he seemed terrified of what I was about to say. "I love you too," I whispered and his eyes lit up.
"Really?" He asked desperately and I nodded. His rare smile appeared on his face, and seeing him this happy naturally made me happy.
"It hurt, what you said the other day, but if you mean your apology and if you mean it when you tell me that you love me then I can forgive you," I said and he nodded.
"I think you owe me an apology too," he said and I raised my eyebrows.
"Excuse me?"
"You scared the shit out of me the other day (y/n)! I was terrified when you took those blades for me, and you didn't let me try to protect you! I was just trying to protect the girl I love," he said, a sense of vulnerability in his tone. I chuckled a little and reached out to hold his hand.
"I'm sorry Shoto," I whispered with a smile. We both sighed in relief, him then cupping my cheek and leaning in. My mended heart was beating rapidly as he etched closer and closer, me helping in by leaning in as well. Finally sparks flew around my body as our lips pressed against each others, it feeling nothing short of perfect. I was finally kissing Shoto Todoroki, and it felt amazing.