"Come in" called out a voice.
Y/n opened the door of training room 5. It was roughly the size of a large dance studio but with tall ceilings and had a large mirror wall. The floor was like one in a dojo, covered in a soft but firm mat material. This must be the martial arts training room.
"You're here." called out a voice from the other side of the room near the boxing equipment.
Todoroki walked casually over to the door. He was barefoot and wearing a light blue tank top with dark grey sweatpants. As he came closer y/n's already short breathing became even shallower. She started at his bare arms and shoulders and felt her face go red.
Woah... his arms look so toned... Oh my god, his shoulders...I-
Y/n jumped a little when realised that she hadn't said anything out loud and was just panting there while Todoroki was just staring at her, waiting for a response.
"Ah! Yes, I'm here!" wheezed y/n. Todoroki narrowed his eyes at her in curiosity.
"I assume you were warming up?" he asked.
"Well..." panted y/n with an awkward smile, "If you call sprinting down four flights of stairs to make it here on time a warm up, then, yes!" Todoroki tilted his head a little with surprise.
"You ran down the stairs... so you would be here at exactly 6pm?" he inquired, raising his eyebrow.
"Um... yes!" affirmed y/n with a dorky nod. Todoroki's face seemed to darken for a moment.
"Why?" he asked coolly.
Y/n gulped at his sudden coldness. This was the same, detatched tone he'd used when he first talked to her before he ran off jogging on Tuesday morning. And he was doing the intense thing with his eyes again, staring into her soul...
"Because I didn't want to leave you waiting." y/n answered with sudden firmness.
Her embarrassed smile didn't leave her face, but she hardened her eyes a little and she stared right back at him. She wasn't quite sure where she was pulling this self-assurance out of, but there was something about the way he asked her that she didn't like. That tone... it's like he was almost looking down on her.
After a few tense moments, Todoroki relaxed his face.
"Hm. Anyway, we should begin." he said as he walked over to the centre of the training room.
She sighed in relief. For a moment it seemed like he was testing her, watching carefully how she'd respond... But maybe he was simply curious as to why she had bothered to run so fast to make it on time to a simple training session. Y/n wasn't sure; his expressions were very hard to read.
Y/n quickly slipped off her shoes and socks and put them in a corner. She quickly inhaled and exhaled, closing her eyes to relax her nerves, closed the training room door and jogged over to meet Todoroki in the middle. He turned around and faced her, his arms crossed.
"So, y/n. What do you know so far about combat?" he asked in a calm and collected voice.
Y/n looked at him in surprise, not having expected Todoroki to start off like that. She shuffled her weight from side to side, racking her brain for answers.
"Um... definitely not as much as you do." she said shyly. Todoroki shook his head.
"This isn't a time to be humble. You've used combat in hero training this week." he suggested. Y/n tilted her head as she thought about that for a moment.
"Oh! Yeah I guess that does count." she admitted. "But that's just basic stuff that I learned from analysing hero battle videos. It's always kind of been a hobby of mine since I was a kid." y/n grinned.
Todoroki lifted his chin a little as if amused.
"Interesting. You remind of Midoriya." he speculated out loud. He looked down at the floor in thought, then scanned y/n for a moment. He uncrossed his arms and changed his stance, putting one foot behind the other.
"Why don't we start by versing each other?" Todoroki suggested out of the blue. "I could assess your combat skill in the fight."
Y/n widened her eyes and gasped a little, caught way off guard. They were going to start combat training WITH A FIGHT?!?
"WHA- N-now?" asked y/n in shock.
"Yeah." answered Todoroki calmly. "I can't really start teaching you combat techniques if I don't know your level first." he said logically.
She gulped, realising that he was right.
"Um... okay!" she agreed nervously. Y/n put her foot behind the other in a brawling stance and gulped. She closed her eyes for a moment and took a deep breath in, yet again attempting to calm herself.
Calm down, it's just training, y/n, focus...
She opened her eyes again and looked straight at Todoroki. He started slowly shuffling closer. Y/n felt her heart beat in her throat as she started to circle around the mat to meet him in the centre.
"Okay. Let's fight." Todoroki said, calmly advancing. Y/n gulped again and shuffled over so that they were practically right in front of each other.
Todoroki started intensely at her for a moment before suddenly swinging his right arm at y/n's face. She quickly ducked, caught off guard at how fast he started.
JEEZ he's fast!-
He threw another punch with his left, aimed at her stomach, which she stepped to the side to avoid. Todoroki continued to come at her nonstop, throwing punch after punch at her, who was barley dodging as they circled around the centre of the room.
Y/n desperately racked her brain for something to do, but just like in their match on Monday, he was giving her no time to think.
Todoroki stepped back and stopped for a moment.
"Good dodging, y/n, but don't hold back. Come at me." he said smoothly. Y/n grit her teeth and moved over the mat to meet him. He started throwing punches again, y/n dodging each one, but watching more carefully this time.
Suddenly she saw an opening as his right arm was extended past her face as she dodged his jab.
If she ran past his extended arm, she could grab his shoulder, turn herself around and push him onto the ground from behind.
Here's my chance!-
Y/n extended her own right arm to grab his right shoulder. Todoroki spun himself around in a 180 degree turn in an instant, now behind y/n's extended shoulder as her face went pale with shock.
She felt a firm hand on her shoulder and another one wrap around her wrist. Todoroki pulled down her wrist and used y/n's own gravity against her as he slammed her onto the floor, pinning her right arm and shoulder to the ground in one swift movement. She wheezed as the air was knocked out of her so suddenly.
His grip tightened when she tried to squirm from her position. Y/n soon realised that it was useless to try and move; Todoroki had completely taken her down in a matter of seconds.
Todoroki released y/n's wrist and shoulder and stood back up with a sigh. Y/n turned over and pulled herself up to seating, catching her breath as her face flushed with embarrassment.
Damn...
Compared to most of the students here, who'd had combat training years before, her combat abilities were definitely not up to par. She was going to have to work especially hard on training her fighting skills.
"Your core is unstable." said Todoroki in a serious voice, glancing down at y/n who stared up at him from the ground. "If you can't centre yourself, than the fight is already lost."
Y/n was a little shocked at his straightforwardness, but nodded sombrely in agreement. Todoroki sighed and his expression seemed to soften as he turned to face her.
"We should train that first, then. Let's practice some moves in combat that use the core muscles." Todoroki said in a smooth voice. He bent his knees slightly and extended his hand to y/n to help her up.
Y/n felt her face flush with heat as she stared at Todoroki in awe. She looked into his eyes and a determined smile appeared on her face.
She grasped Todoroki's firm hand and he pulled her up. For a moment they stood there, gripping each other's hands, before Todoroki let go and looked down to the side, slightly discomposed for a moment. He cleared his throat.
"Anyway. We should start." he said, walking over to the punching bags. Y/n followed him and stopped in front of the one of the punching bags. Todoroki moved next to her and y/n shuffled to the side to watch his demonstration.
"We'll start with some jab punches. Watch." Todoroki instructed as he put his arms up to his face and his feet in a brawling stance.
Y/n watched intently as he eyed the punching bag as if it were an enemy and began throwing punches against it, one after another. His lower body and abdomen reminded firmly in place, unmoving as he continued to punch.
He brought his arms up to his face in defence and he hopped around lightly a few times to switch up his positions, simulating a real fight, but still kept his lower body and core solid. She watched him with an astonished look on her face. He was incredibly fast, but the blows he landed on the punching bag were also very loud and very powerful.
Todoroki stopped a few moments later, panting slightly. He stepped back towards the side of the punching back and glanced at y/n.
"Your turn. Try and do the same thing." he said. Y/n shuffled over to his place in front of the punching bag. She took a deep breath to focus her concentration. She eyed the punching bag as if it were an enemy and started throwing punches as hard as she could.
"Remember your core, y/n." Todoroki reminded her coolly. Y/n looked back at him for a second, then furrowed her brow and started punching again, trying to concentrate on what he said, but when she did, the punching bag seemed to get further away from her arms.
"Stop." called out Todoroki suddenly, grabbing the punching bag to stop it moving. Y/n dropped her fists and took a moment to catch her breath.
Todoroki moved in closer and gave her a slightly annoyed look. Y/n realised that he was trying to go into her spot to demonstrate something. She quickly jumped to his side with an embarrassed look.
"Your punches are good, but you need to engage your core. It's the same as doing a sit up and pulling in your stomach." Todoroki said seriously to y/n. He suddenly grabbed y/n's wrists and drew her closer to him. Y/n's eyes widened and her heart started beating fast.
Woah what-
He placed her hands on his torso, one on his abdomen and one on his back. Y/n stopped breathing as she looked at him in awe. Todoroki put his hands over hers and pressed hers further into his torso.
"Like this. Keep your hands here and feel my core." he said in a low voice. He turned to face the punching bag and began throwing punches while y/n had her hands on his stomach and back. She felt his core stay completely strong and solid as he jabbed at the punching bag, even when he hopped around to switch up his stance.
As he moved, y/n felt his well-defined stomach muscles through his shirt on her right hand. Her heart was now beating faster than the speed of light.
Oh my god...I am literally... feeling his... abs...!
"See?" Todoroki said as he stopped punching for a moment. He turned towards y/n, who still had her hands on his torso. She could only stand there in awe as her face turned bright red.
His confident expression faded for a moment and his face seemed to flush. He raised his eyebrows and they stared at each other awkwardly for a moment before Todoroki gently removed y/n's hands from his torso. He took a step back and tilted his head with concern.
"Oh..., y/n, I'm sorry if that made you uncomfortable." he apologised, crossing his arms. Y/n stood there for a moment, eyes wide, before she shook herself out of her trance.
"Wh-what, n-no, it's, um, fine!" nervously stuttered y/n. "I just, um, was-wasn't expecting t-that, that's all. Um, a-anyway, I think I understand what you mean now!" she rambled, fidgeting with her fingers while she gave him an awkward smile. Todoroki studied her for a moment and then uncrossed his arms.
"All right then. Let's continue the session with some different types of punches." he said smoothly, moving up to the centre of the room again, close to the mirror.
Y/n took a deep breath in and followed the two-toned boy, heart pounding and ready to learn some more combat.