"Oh boy..."

You shifted in your spot on the bench. I thought Midoriya was the nosy one...

"Is it true, then?" he asked.

Todoroki sat perfectly still, like a statue. You knew he would wait there forever until you responded. The era of The Butcher was years ago - you were only a couple of years old when Midnight adopted you. But people still remembered. Butcher and Hellia were captured, but the story you were told was that your "parents" died. Now, you had some concerns about that.

If only your dad had been one of those street thugs and not someone famous...

"It is," you said. No point in lying.

"How long have you known?"

"Honestly, only a couple of days before you."

Todoroki's eyes widened, "You had no idea this whole time?"

"Nope. I think my- Midnight and the other teachers thought it best to wait before dropping the bomb. I tried to be upset with them, but honestly, I wish I'd never found out."

He nodded, seeming to understand, "When I saw you fighting the Nomu, I thought the villains had done something to you. But then the Nomu was slowly dying just from your touch. I know I haven't seen you in battle all that much, but is that normal?"

"Definitely not," you shook your head, "I would never do that to a person... I don't know, maybe I would. I like to think I have more control than that. I was just scared for Aizawa and didn't know what else to do."

"I don't blame you," he said, "I could've killed several villains that day, but as a hero..."

"I know. I'm the one with villain blood in me."

Todoroki grimaced, "I'm sorry, that's not what I was trying to get at. You didn't actually kill it, by the way... If you hadn't done what you did, I think All Might would've had a rougher time. Whoever these villains are, they're desperate for his blood."

"All Might? A rough time?" You questioned.

"Yes. That Nomu was specifically made to be his worst nightmare. I'm not even sure there was anything human left about it."

You shivered. Who were those villains? Where did they come from?

"Hey," Todoroki set his hand on your shoulder. It felt like a bag of frozen peas. You hadn't noticed your glum expression was weighing your entire body down, "I don't think you're a villain. Not even close."

You peered up at his to see if he was lying, but he looked like the same, cold Todoroki. He didn't seem like the joking type, either.

You smiled, "Thanks. I don't think you're anything like your father either."

He was mesmerized by the look you gave him, but he quickly turned away and focused on his food again, "You may not be a villain, but you're still my rival. I will beat you at the festival."

"Oh... fun?" you laughed awkwardly.

You text Midoriya after lunch, hoping he still wanted to meet up later. He said yes, but after he had a chat with All Might. That left you with maybe fifteen or so minutes after school to just hang out.

You sat on the steps of an empty staircase and replied to the many texts you received over the last few days. Bakugo left you a wordy reminder about practice tomorrow, and the girls invited you to a sleepover study party this weekend. It all sounded nice. Nice and normal - exactly what you needed right now.

No texts from Shinso.

It wasn't like he had to message you all the time, but you weren't confident in his feelings after the whole hallway incident today. You both agreed not to get too serious before the sports festival, so you couldn't be upset.

Hmph.

Who said you couldn't message him first? You were about to ask him about his day and why he had a stick up his ass when an unknown number text you first.

The hell? You didn't respond right away, but you didn't have to...

(AN: So for the sake of some "romances" y'all are a little older lol..)

Creepy, you thought. Was someone in class just playing a mean prank on you? You knew how it worked in the movies, so you quickly blocked the number and continued messaging Shinso.

Don't even deal with that shit.

You froze. Did you not block them by accident? No, the old messages were still there...

"Come on, you wouldn't shut up before..." you muttered angrily at your phone.

"(Y/N)?"

You jumped out of your skin - your phone flew from your hands. You were surprised you hadn't broken it by now.

"Oh, I'm so s-sorry!" Izuku came into view, "I didn't mean to scare you!"

"Izuku..." you gasped, "Oh gods. It's okay, I wasn't paying attention."

"Did you still want to train today?" He asked, "If you aren't feeling up to it we can just wait."

"No, no let's do it. We can run the park by my place and maybe you can show me a few moves?"

He happily agreed. You decided to quickly change into your gym clothes before leaving campus and walked together to the park.

The conversation was light. You talked about All Might mostly, but eventually, that led to you asking about the fight at the USJ.

"What happened after I passed out, anyway?" You asked.

"Hm, well, you had a scalding fever and we were all worried... Luckily, All Might was able to stop the Nomu soon after you... yeah," he paused, "Shigaraki came at us before they all disappeared through the portal again. I'm probably assuming things, but I think he was targeting you."

You gulped, "I guess I owe you guys my life."

"All Might was the real hero," Izuku looked embarrassed, "but I hope to be someone strong enough to protect y- my friends!"

"You are! And you will!" You insisted, "Come on, let's race one lap around."

Izuku has gotten faster. You used to be able to outrun him but this time you were neck and neck. After 2 miles, you both decided to practice different fighting moves. You admired his techniques and you'd be lying if you said you didn't want to learn a thing or two from him.

"You can catch me here," he explained, "before I come at you. Try it."

You did as you were told, but missed the first few times. Then, you were finally able to deflect him. You got a little excited and decided to full-on whoop his ass.

You pinned his arm behind his back, "C'mon, Izuku! Don't let me beat you so easily!"

He was blushing and fidgety for a moment, but then he grinned, and you noticed the green sparks around his body returning. You were out of school and in public so he wasn't about to pound you, but what intrigued you was the familiar overwhelming power he exuded.

While you were distracted, he flipped the tables on you and had you trapped against his chest.

"Sorry, I cheated," he said.

You smirked. You had already tapped into his energy. Slowly, you were able to push his arms apart so they no longer hold you.

"Y-you're matching my strength?" He said in awe.

"Perks of the quirk!"

After a while, the two of you were at a standstill. Unless he decided to use his quirk to its full strength, neither of you were going anywhere from this weird position.

He stopped, letting his muscles relax, "Oh, is it weird to feel a little sleepy?"

You both stepped away from each other, "Sorry, also perk of the quirk... you have a similar energy to All Might, Izuku."

At that, the green-haired boy went stiff as a board, "I DON'T KNOW WHAT YOU'RE TALKING ABOUT!"

You raised an eyebrow, "Okaaay. You obviously aren't hiding anything... You ready to call it a day?"

"Y-Yeah, I think I need a nap," he scratched his head, "If you want to run again sometime, I don't live far, I'd do this again."

"Definitely!" You beamed, "We should as much as we can before the sports festival."

"Are you nervous?" He asked.

"Yeah..." you admitted, "It's just that I don't really know who I am yet, you know? I want to show the world I can be a hero, but how can I do that if I don't even believe it yet."

He was silent as he gazed at you. You focused on the dirt by your feet.

"I... have been feeling the same way. For a long time now," his voice was sad, "I feel like I've only come this far because I've had help."

I know the feeling...

"But," he clenched his fists, "that just means I have to work even harder. So that I was worthy of their help after all. Even if neither of us is perfect at this event, we have to be able to look back on that day knowing we gave it our all!"

You usually tuned out when Izuku got emotional, but this time you were almost crying too. He gasped when you flung your arms around him. You couldn't help it, he was so sweet and hopeful...

"Thanks for the pep-talk, Izuku," you said into his shoulder. It felt like you were hugging a diving board until he finally loosened up.

He's actually kinda... strong? More solid than he looks, you thought. He returned the hug in a tender, soft way. His freckled cheek touched yours, and both of you jumped back.

"Well, this was fun!" You stretched your smile way too big, "I'll see you later, Izuku!"

"Y-Yeah, s-see you!!"

As you walked home, you made a mental note to practice quirk abilities just as much as conditioning. You knew Bakugo wouldn't mind using his on you... as painful as that sounded, it might be smart to train with him. Especially if you two ended up having to face each other at the festival...

Your phone buzzed in your pocket. Maybe it was Shinzo finally responding to your crude text from earlier.

To your delight, he had responded and called, but that's not who the recent buzz was from.

Shit.

You weren't far from your house now, but what if you were being followed? The sun was setting, and it would be dark soon. You didn't want anyone to know where you lived. Then you and Midnight would be in danger...

Thinking on your feet, you turned back around to maybe catch up with Midoriya.

You growled and planted your feet on the ground.

You knew you would eat those words, but the sooner this stalker-bandaid was ripped off, the better.

The unknown number didn't respond but they had read the text. You begged for the sun to slow down or for more people to be walking home. The old lady across the way didn't look like she could help you in a villain fight.

You activated your quirk, and instead of glowing pink, you had a green tint to you. Izuku's energy was a bit intense and made your head feel dizzy.

A leaf crunched from behind you, making your heart drop to your toes. You didn't want to feel so afraid. Heroes had to be brave, right?

You balled your hands into fists and turned, ready to attack whoever was there. Your breath stuck in your throat.

"You?!"