Perfectly Imperfect (Shoto Todoroki x Reader)

chapter fifteen

"The cavalry battle," Miss Midnight announced, "will be your next game! Allow me to explain. The participants will form teams of two-to-four people as they see fit. In theory, it's basically the same as a regular playground game, but there's one difference. Each player has been assigned a point value based on the results from the obstacle course."

I nodded along as my classmates broke out into murmurs about how the game would be played.

Miss Midnight snapped at all of us to be quiet, and continued, "The point assignments go up by increments of five, starting from the bottom."

I ran a quick few numbers in my head. I would be worth... 200 points, I think. Or was it 195?

I looked back up at Midnight, who raised her arm in a dramatic fashion.

"And, the point value assigned to the first place contestant is..." Midnight's lips pulled up into a wicked grin. "...ten million."

No sooner were the words out of her mouth, when every face in the crowd turned to stare at Midoriya. And, though I am ashamed to admit it, mine was among them.

On one hand, there was my overall philosophy of 'protect the cinnamon roll at all costs'.

On the other hand... ten million points...

Miss Midnight grinned and gestured back up at the board.

"First years, here are the rules that you'll abide by! The game will last fifteen minutes. Each individual point value will be added together to reach your team total. Everyone will know how much you're worth thanks to your headbands."

Midnight held up a white headband with large, red numbers on the front for the crowd to see.

"Swipe as many headbands as you can to raise your team's score! Even if your headband is taken or your team is knocked down, you can continue to compete! You may use your Quirks as much as you like, but there are still rules! Make a team fall on purpose and you'll be disqualified."

There goes my strategy, then.

A large timer appeared on Midnight's screen.

"Now, you'll have fifteen minutes to build your teams! I recommend you begin.

I glance around, looking for a team. I noticed Shoto staring at me for a moment, but he looked away before I could figure out what he wanted.

One strategy I picked up in elementary school for games like dodgeball was to walk around and see if anybody invited me to their team. Before, this was just a strategy to see if anybody would take pity on me- I was terrible at sports back then- but now I needed to scope out the competition and find teammates.

So, I started wandering. Mineta and Shoji were teaming up with Tsu, it seemed, which meant my go-to wasn't avaliable. Ochaco was teaming with Midoriya (the OTP strikes again) but there was no way I was teaming with everyone's number one target.

With no better options, I spotted the first person from my class that I could find and bounced up to them.

"Hey Ojiro!" I called, "Do you have a... team... yet...?"

Ojiro didn't respond, instead staring vacantly past me. So was the other kid he was standing with, someone from class 1-B. Confused, I waved a hand in front of their faces, trying to get their attention.

"Ojiro? Hellooooooo~? Are you ok?"

At the sound of footsteps approaching, I turned around to see a blue-haired boy with an uncanny resemblance to Mr. Aizawa. I tilted my head.