Todoroki sighed half-heartedly, not wanting to diminish your high spirits but having no clue how to separate you from the blooming lotuses in the nearby pond. You stared at them in adoration and as much as he loved to see you gush over your love of plants, he knew there were more important matters.
He crouched beside your kneeling form. You had some light scratches and blotches of red throughout your body. Your new costume was doing wonders for protecting the parts that were previously naked, most of the uncovered parts replaced by a translucent green cloth a shade lighter. It let him be a bit rougher during this training session.
You noticed his unwavering stare at your costume and elbowed him cheekily,"Like what you see?"
Todoroki raised an amused eyebrow,"Your entire body's battered. Your hair's also extremely out of place."
"So no?"
There was a brief silence.
"...That's not what I said."
You laughed and took a proper seat on the grass. You knew you'd made the right call when you asked Todoroki for this session to be at night and at a public park. Not only did the sun's absence help you push through your quirk's weakness but you also kept a semblance of privacy by training in the dark.
There was also the news you had to break out to Todoroki tonight. It'd been months since you moved into his house and as much as you would forever owe him for his hospitality, your move-out was long overdue. You hoped the conversation wouldn't go too bad.
You pursed your lips in thought as you debated a way to assure him that it was nothing personal.
Todoroki noted your intentions to stay in place. His tone was stern,"We're not done training."
You groaned,"Shoto, it's been hours. Can't I catch a little break?"
"Half an hour of staring at the view while sitting is a break. Get up."
You huffed childishly at the point he was making, exaggerating your pain with sluggish movements despite him offering his hand to help you. The deadpan eyes Todoroki gave in return were enough to make you break character.
He kept his gaze on you as you practically skipped to your spot. You held a cheery smile. Even then, seeing the results of his harsher fire made him feel uneasy. Good intentions or not, the fact that his only purpose for you at that moment was for him to exploit your weakness didn't sit right with him.
Todoroki stayed silent in thought for a moment. You tilted your head,"Everything okay?"
He shook his head uneasily,"We should practice close-range fighting. No quirks."
Your eyes shot wide,"Huh?Wait, that's like, the complete opposite of what I'm trying to get better at."
"Not at all. You're training to fight Dabi. Close fighting's a specialty of his and I'd rather prepare you for any circumstance."
Your mouth formed an 'o' in understanding before he added in a slightly lower voice, his eyes shifting away from you,"I'm also uncomfortable using my quirk any more than I already have today. Training or not, I don't like being the reason you're hurting."
Whether he said the last part to himself or you, you weren't sure, but it froze you in your spot. His care for you never failed to make your heart skip a beat. You forced yourself to recover and smiled warmly,"Shoto, I don't think you have the heart to seriously hurt anyone. Not with how I see you treat me."
His expression took a strange turn at your compliment. For a statement you thought he wouldn't be surprised to hear, the way his stance suddenly stiffened startled you.
Todoroki wouldn't ever shy away from your tokens of kindness. The compliment had simply struck a cord he hadn't expected. He thought back to two particular encounters that contradicted you. Instead of the usual warmth, a different emotion crept up on him.
He wanted to call it guilt but that's not what it was. He swallowed as he met your eyes again.
Your expression was nothing short of confused as you waited for his response. All you'd done was follow up on his loving remark with your own. Your tone was coated with concern,"Shoto?"
And only with that, he understood. It was satisfaction.
He shook himself from his silence,"Sorry. Are you ready?"
Todoroki didn't let himself think it so straightforwardly but despite the appalling guilt he expected from himself, seeing you think so highly of him almost made him proud to take lengths you wouldn't deem him capable of.
You would've questioned his brief spacing out if not for how used to it you were. Nodding, you grinned playfully,"Am I ready for you to manhandle me?Absolutely."
His expression immediately flushed and as unamused he tried to look due to the seriousness of training, you didn't miss the barely withheld chuckle.
Short-range fighting was something you hadn't focused on in a while. Regardless, you took a deep breath as you positioned yourself only a few feet from him and before he could read you, you went for the first throw.
Your main understanding five minutes into combat was: Todoroki's fighting capabilities were not a joke.
Among one of your many failed attempts to land a hit on him, Todoroki gripped your arm before you could retract it and harshly jerked you downwards, letting go and you barely registered the incoming kick to your head in time to duck. He used the inertia from the missed kick to roundhouse his other leg into another kick you weren't as lucky for.
The impact hit your side and you winced but taking advantage of the contact, you pulled his leg forward and spun your body force into an elbow strike right at his stomach. You'd finally landed a hit but it wasn't until after that you'd realized your mistake.
Your back was now to him and therefore, you were blind to his next move. You could've made distance in half a second but Todoroki was quicker than that.
He locked his hand onto your elbow and yanked it further behind you at an incapacitating angle, his other arm wrapping around your waist and flawlessly maneuvering his hold on you to flip your entire being onto the floor with a hard slam.
You would've made a flirty joke about how he knocked the breath out of you if not for the fact you didn't have the breath to say it. A weak groan escaped you,"Damn."
You could pinpoint the exact moment Todoroki's mood shifted from guarded to concerned. He crouched and began scanning all the injuries you had while reaching his hand under your back, helping you stand up through the pain.
You sighed dejectedly as the hero helped you straighten out,"I barely landed one hit on you."
Todoroki's eyebrows furrowed. He wrapped one of your arms around his neck to keep you up, not minding the small bending he had to do,"Give yourself more credit. You landed a hit on me despite all the injuries you've endured today. I wouldn't have stood a chance if it were an even fight."
You flushed at his recognition of your strength and shook your head bashfully,"Really?Naahhh...You've never gone all out against me."
He smiled,"I don't think I dare to treat you like a villain."
"You don't think I can be intimidating?"
"Are you intimidated by villains?", Todoroki asked with amusement. You realized the small hole you dug yourself in and rolled your eyes as he walked you to a nearby bench.
He went back on topic,"It's not about you not being intimidating. To villains, I'm sure you are but to others your biggest attribute is your compassion. It's very welcoming; that's why it's hard to fight you."
His sudden confessional kept you from taking a seat. The warmth that bubbled up in your chest made it impossible to hold back a goofy embarrassed smile,"Shoto, you dote on me too much!!!"
Your beaming happiness was contagious. He chuckled,"After so much time together, I'm bound to pick up on some of your habits."
You let out a giggle before a comfortable silence befell the both of you. With the light atmosphere and a decent segue, it felt like the perfect timing for the news you had.
"Actually, Shoto...that brings up something we need to talk about", you started. He turned his head to you and you tried not to let the proximity discourage you. With him still holding you up, your faces were a little too close for a normal conversation.
Still, you continued,"I know the whole reason I moved into your house was because of Dabi but now...I mean, he's not really a problem anymore, is he?"
The man straightened up in disbelief,"He's not?(Name), him letting you go once doesn't rule him out as a threat."
"Of course not. That's why I've been training with you from the moment I've moved in and I think I'm ready now."
"Ready?", his tone was sharp. His temperament was only ever sensitive in terms of your safety. You knew he wasn't trying to argue but rather change your mindset,"You can't fight him yet. I won't let you."
"Wait, what?I'm not talking about fighting him. Shoto, I'm ready to move back home."
Todoroki's breath froze. You hurriedly added,"And before you think it, it's absolutely not personal. In fact, you've been nothing but the best to m-"
"Fuck no."
The blatant curse gave you a violent whiplash. You were too stunned to come up with a response as you processed what he was so strongly saying no to.
Todoroki noticed. He straightened you up against him and added,"Sorry. It's not my intention to be disrespectful, but you can't leave. I thought you would've known that."
His opposing standpoint jarred you to much for you to care about the firm hold. You barely stammered,"I-I'm sorry?Shoto, is this your bad attempt at a joke?"
He didn't dare break eye contact,"Do I ever joke about your safety?"
Your mouth was dry as you tried to simultaneously process and answer. A part of you couldn't see past this being a badly executed joke but you knew to believe him. His care for you was not to be played with.
Once a thought finally made its way to your brain, a thousand more hit at the same time.
You sputtered in alarm,"Wait, are you serious? This isn't about my safety, this is about my freedom, what the hell do you mean I can't leave?"
"I already did something terrible."
Your breath hitched,"H-huh?"
You couldn't understand what he was on about so suddenly. Todoroki brought his hand to your cheek, cradling it softly but you didn't miss the slight firmness,"I already had to fight for you to stay with me. You can't take that away."
A pit grew in your stomach. The gap between you two had only gotten smaller and as used you were to that, you were a stranger to the tone on him now. You swallowed,"What are you talking about?What fight?"
The man kept quiet. He didn't relinquish his hold on you. His gaze dug straight into yours and in all your confusion you couldn't make out the emotion in them.
Longing.
Todoroki's eyes traveled from yours to your lips. You noticed it. The action felt intimate and despite how overwhelmed you were by your confusion, your heart began beating faster at the lingering stare. Your breath hitched when he closed the gap to rest his forehead on yours.
Now you were freaking out two different ways.
You could feel the tip of his nose on the crook of yours, his breath hitting your lips softly and setting a buzzing sensation on them. The ghost feeling of his lips made you tighten your grip on the fistful of his shirt you never even remembered grabbing.
It wouldn't have surprised you to find out you somehow blacked our during all of this.
Todoroki's hand had gone to be partly dug into your hair and he finally looked up to your eyes again, staring through red and white strands,"Just...stay with me. Don't make this hard for us."
If it were any other scenario, you would've thought of his last sentence as a romantic advance. But you pinpointed something else in his voice.
As crazy as you thought yourself for thinking it, his tone made it sound like a warning.
You shook yourself from your speechless state. Your voice was coated in uncertainty,"...Shoto, what fight are you talking about?"
It was Todoroki's right hand on your cheek but the line he traced back and forth left a burning feel. He smiled softly.
"He was trying to take you away from me too and it killed me. It did him too."
----
iono
Written 7/17/23
Published 7/17/2023