It was time to get the game going. Ojiro, Tsu, and Kaminari drew their cards first. It was obvious that Tsu and Ojiro were the two heroes, since they worked together to hunt down Kaminari. They cornered him and it ultimately wasn't hard for Tsu to tie up "villain" Kaminari with her tongue (not that he seemed to mind) and Ojiro put the handcuffs on him.
"The heroes win round one," shouted Midnight, her voice echoing on the speakers throughout the simulation zone.
My team was up next. I drew my card first – in plain letters, my card read, "hero." So this meant either Midoriya or Todoroki was the villain of our group, but which? How could I find out? My best strategy still seemed to hide and let them battle it out. I decided to stay on the outskirts and hope that they didn't find me.
On the edge of simulation area, there was a building that looked like a storefront. I figured it would be better to be inside there than roaming the streets so I pushed on the door to go in. It was locked. I tried one of the store windows, and even though I struggled to lift the window up, I was finally able to hold it up while I climbed in. I had almost finished climbing in when the window crashed down on my leg.
"Son of a bitch!" I yelled, seeing the cuts on my leg from the broken glass. Blood was starting to come out of the wounds. Nothing serious that needed stitches, but there would still be scrapes and cuts. Damn it. Well, it gave me another excuse to sit down and try to wait it out. I sat on the floor in the shop, opening my backpack to look over everything that was inside.
The pair of handcuffs Midnight gave us.
A rope.
My notebook and pen.
My phone.
That was it.
Since I had time to kill, I turned on my phone to see if I had any messages. Nothing from the agency itself, nothing from Katsuki, but I did have a text from Endeavor: "You're one week in. We're not paying you to hang out with your friends so this week better have been productive. You will see me this weekend."
"No, thank you," I replied and then turned my phone off. That should go over well.
I was contemplating what I had gotten myself into when suddenly Shoto kicked open the front door of the shop and stepped into the room. He looked down at me sitting on the floor.
"I am the villain," he pronounced.
I rolled my eyes and stood up. "Todoroki, that's not how this works."
"Oh, sorry. I mean, I am not the villain."
I groaned.
I needed to think fast or else I was about to get handcuffed and lose.
Even though the idea of Todoroki handcuffing me didn't sound like the worst thing ever....
"Look, I'll make a deal with you," I said. "You only have to capture one hero to win, right? So how about you don't capture me, and I'll help you get Deku."
He considered this for a moment. "Why would I do that when you're right here?"
"But where's the glory in capturing the easy prey? What type of hero goes after the poor quirkless girl?" Please work please work please work.
He was thinking about it, I could tell.
"And look, I'm injured," I said pointing to the broken glass and blood on my leg.
"Fine," he said.
Yes!
He already had a plan to capture Midoriya that involved luring him in to one of the buildings in the area, so it was easy to work in the bait. Namely, me. We quickly discussed how it was going to run and then went our separate ways. It was go time.
"Deku! I need help!" I shouted as I wandered around the streets. "Deku!"
"Here!" I heard him shout back at me, and then I saw him running toward me. "Let's work together to get Todoroki. Are you okay?"
"I don't really need help," I admitted. "How do you know that I'm not the villain?"
"I know you're not the villain."
"You do?" I asked.
"Yes. There's no way they would allow a girl who doesn't have a quirk – oh, no offense," he said, starting to apologize.
"None taken. It's facts."
"Okay, good, I mean there's no way they would let this continue if you had to capture me or Todoroki. I know that I drew the hero card, which means that Todoroki is our villain."
"I'm glad you figured that all out. I'm so lost," I said. I decided to try playing into the little lost puppy role. If he thinks his job is to save me in this scenario, then I can use that to my advantage. "Deku, I have no idea what is happening or why Midnight thought it was fair to put the quirkless girl in the mix with you two."
"You're right, that doesn't seem very fair," Deku said, thinking it through.
I put my hand on his arm and gave it a little squeeze. Damn, the kid's got some muscles under there. Who knew? "I can stay with you, right? You'll keep me safe?" I tried to sound as nervous as I could.
"Definitely."
"Great. I'm pretty sure I saw Todoroki running into that brick building a few minutes ago," I said, pointing to the building down the street.
"So he isn't far from us now," said Deku. "He's probably heading for that rooftop to be able to watch for us. I could jump there fairly quickly, but you'd be on foot and easily captured. We or I mean...You could... um... you could...," said Deku, his cheeks turning bright red.
I smirked. I knew where this was going. "I could ride you?" I asked.
"Um... Ride... on... my back. Yes, here, come on."
"Sure thing, hero," I said as I jumped on his back, piggy-back style, wrapping my arms around his neck. "Let's go get him."
Deku jumped us to the rooftop, where we landed. Immediately a sheet of ice knocked both of us backward. I was knocked from Deku's back and flung a few feet, hitting the concrete roof hard. The backs of my legs were scratched and my elbows felt numb.
"Y/N! Are you okay?" Deku shouted, getting up and running over to me.
"I'm fine," I said sitting up, rubbing my arms and looking at the cuts on my legs. I couldn't see Todoroki so he must have been on the other side of the ice. "Actually I think I have an item we can use," I said, reaching into my backpack. "Help me up." Deku held his hand out for me to grab, to help me stand up.
Here we go....
I had them in my hands, still in my backpack. I made sure they were ready to go.
In one quick motion, I swung them out and put the handcuffs on Deku.
The look of shock on his face was amazing.
He didn't say a word.
"You lost, Midoriya," said Todoroki, finally coming out from behind the ice.
Midoriya looked at both of us in confusion. "I... I don't.. I don't understand," he stammered.
Midnight's voice came over the radio. "The hero.. I mean the villain.. the hero... y/n and Todoroki won..," even Midnight sounded confused.
Todoroki helped me to my feet, and I gave him a high five. "I struck a deal with the villain," I said to Midoriya. "Sorry about that. No hard feelings, I hope."
"That was... you did what you had to do," Midoriya said. I nodded.
The whole class was confused by what had just happened. I heard their comments as I walked back inside.
"Let me get this straight - A hero collaborated with the villain to capture a fellow hero?"
"Did she really just do that?"
"Is that allowed?"
I smiled as I walked past everyone, their eyes glued to me in something like shock or awe. Don't underestimate me, friends...
After I sat down, I heard a gruff voice behind me say, "That idiot deserved to lose for falling for your little game."
I turned around in my seat to face Katsuki. "So we're speaking now?"
He shrugged. "I was making a general comment."
"I see," I said, turning back around to face forward.
"Icy Hot is also a dumbass for not taking you out when he had the chance."
"Or smart for going after the bigger threat."
He chuckled. "There are different kinds of threats. Anyway, I wasn't talking to you. I'm just saying what I saw, idiot."
This guy... I turned around again to face him, saying, "This idiot just won her match, idiot. Either talk to me or don't, but stop being such a jerk."
"You got a problem with someone talking to you only when they feel like it?"
"You got a problem with being a decent human being?"
"Y/n..?" I turned around when I heard Shoto's voice. "You took that hit pretty hard. Can I look at your arms? I could put ice on them."
"I think I'm okay. I don't even have bruises," I said, flipping my arms over for him to see.
"Interesting," said Shoto. He took one of my arms and looked it over, running his hand up and down my lower arm. "You're sure? Your legs are okay too?"
"Are you deaf? She said she's fine," Katsuki interrupted.
"Really, Shoto, it doesn't hurt at all," I said smiling at him. "Thanks for not capturing me in the beginning."
"It was a strategic choice to get the upper hand on Midoryia," I saw a small smile form on his lips. "Plus, the look on his face when you put the handcuffs on him was worth it."
"Just admit that you couldn't catch Deku without help," said Katsuki.
"Y/n," said Shoto, ignoring him, "can we talk in the hall?" he said pointing to the door. "I'd like to discuss a few things."
"Happy to," I said, hopping up and following him outside the room.
Once in the hall, Todoroki looked me straight in the eyes. "You have a quirk," he said.
"No, I don't."
"Yes, you do. I saw it when I found you, and then again after the attack on the rooftop. I don't know why you don't want others to know, but I know how to keep a secret if that's what you want."
I sighed. When I looked at his face, it was full of kindness. I had never seen a look like that from his father.
"Yes. Thank you. I don't know how it works really or how to use it. Please don't tell anyone."
"I understand, possibly better than any of the others. But I've learned that you shouldn't be embarrassed by something that is natural to you," he said, putting his hand on my shoulder. "You just need help figuring it out."
Why did he make me feel so nervous and awkward? "Do you think you could, I mean would you have time to... I guess I'm asking if one day maybe..."
"You want to me to help you with it?" he asked.
"Yes! I mean, if you wouldn't mind..."
"Okay."
Well that was easy.
"Are you doing anything today after school?" I asked.
"No." It was his turn to look a little shy. It was insanely adorable. "Do you want to just stay after class and we can walk over to the gym together?"
"Yes!" I shouted. "I mean," realizing how loud that had been, "yes. Sounds great. Thank you." He nodded and we started to walk back in the room.
"Oh shit – Shoto I forgot I have to go by Aizawa's office this afternoon. It should only take about twenty minutes – would you mind waiting?"
"Not a problem," he said, holding the door open for me to walk back into the viewing room.
As we watched our classmates on the screens, Shoto and I discussed each of the matches as they happened, and I learned a great deal about each of my classmates. He was extremely balanced and fair in his assessments of their abilities. After Midnight ended the lesson, everyone was standing around gathering their things to go change back into our uniforms.
"So I'll see you in about twenty minutes?" Shoto asked me as we parted ways in the hallway.
I saw Bakugo stop dead in his tracks, staring at us.
"Yep. If you want to hang around the classroom, I'll head back there after I talk with Aizawa," I told him.
I couldn't wait to get one on one time with this younger, more empathetic Todoroki, but right now my attention was turning toward the man who had now seen me with my school uniform both on and off.
I had an appointment to keep.