「CURSE'S VESSEL」bnhaxjjk

19: For A Second, It Felt Like He Died

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It is already a well-known fact that Shouto Todoroki is powerful; being able to freeze an entire building without breaking a sweat was the proof of that. But with the current situation now: Yuju hugging Kirishima like he was her lifeline with teeth annoyingly clattering against each other, it was safe to say that Todoroki's performance at gym gamma and earlier with the robots during the first obstacle were just sneak peaks of what he can actually do.

There in the center of the arena stands Sero frozen and the entire half of the stadiumㅡ even going past the high stadium wallsㅡ was completely covered in a mountain of ice made by Todoroki alone. Everyone was awestrucked and taken aback that a high schooler holds such power.

Yuju was less than pleased with the sudden drop of temperature though and not having her scarf where it's past below freezing point made it worse for her. She was shivering.

Kirishima hesitantly pulls the poor girl closer to him and hugs her to share more of his body heat to which Yuju was most definetely greatful for, having nuzzled her face to his chest and hugging him tighter with a muffled 'thank you'.

"No problem." The redhead softly replies with a smile.

"Tell the truth, Sero, can you move?" Midnight, half frozen and covered in ice, asked with a suprisingly calm tone despite shivering herself.

Sero was the opposite and allowed his teeth to loudly clatter against each other with stutters as he spoke. It was understandable since he's the main victim of the situation at the moment along with him being frozen in the mountain of ice. "O-of course not!"

"Sero is immobolized! Todoroki advances to the second round!"

The crowd didn't clap and cheer like how they usually would, still shocked of it all. Instead, chanting 'don't worry about it' to ease Sero whilst Todoroki melts the ice he createdㅡ which took alot of time doing.

Their match ended as soon as it started.

"Sorry..." Todoroki mumbled only loud enough for Sero to hear as he begins to melt the ice. Looking up at the stands, he couldn't help but glare at the hellflame hero who was less than pleased of the outcome, looking down with a disapproving look as he stares back at his son with crossed arms. Todoroki grits his teeth and frowns, "I was angry."

"You alright?" Kirishima softly asks with a kind smile, speaking as if he was talking to a child as he rubs the girl's back.

Yuju instinctively snuggles closer to him, even going as far as laying her right leg in his right thigh, making the redhead tense up for a few seconds before relaxing.

This is a contrast to how the girl normally is around her classmates: mature, observant and a little quietㅡ an old soul if you call it. Now she's just straight up soft and clingy. Winter and cold temeratures really changes her.