Bloodthirst | BNHA x Vampire!Reader

34. a sad sight

"Whoa! What's going on here? The fight has only just started, but already... Midoriya has stopped moving?!"

Present Mic's words seemed to echo what pretty much everyone was thinking. Besides you, Ojiro, and Izuku himself, no one was really aware of how Shinsou's Quirk worked. It went without saying that the expressions of those around you would have turned to sheer bewilderment.

But the worst part of this was that Izuku had known ahead of time. You'd warned him not to respond to anything Shinsou said for this exact reason.

He'd known all of that, and yet, he'd fallen right into Shinsou's trap.

Because he'd been trying to defend you.

You couldn't deny that you felt guilty, however unintentional your role in all of this was. Perhaps if you hadn't run your mouth in front of Shinsou earlier, hadn't made it so damn obvious that you and Izuku were best friends, then maybe he wouldn't have known how to goad a reaction out of him. Izuku was incredibly smart, but the issue was that he was also very emotional, and Shinsou had fully used that to his advantage.

Izuku wasn't moving an inch. All you could do was stare at him, wide-eyed and on the verge of ripping your hair out from sheer frustration. Fuck, was it really hopeless? You knew that Shinsou's Quirk could brainwash people, but since you'd never fallen victim to it yourself, you didn't know how it could be countered-assuming that was even possible.

"Now," Shinsou said, narrowing his eyes. "Turn around, then walk out of bounds."

You wanted to scream out at the top of your lungs for Izuku to stop, for him to do anything but what Shinsou was telling him. Even if you had, though, you doubted it would make any difference. Izuku was completely out of it. He was wholly and undeniably under the effects of Shinsou's Quirk. You'd seen firsthand what Shinsou's powers were capable of back during the Cavalry Battle, and by all accounts, the situation seemed hopeless.

Just like that, the match was coming to an end. Izuku had worked so hard to get to this point. He'd even promised All Might that he would show the whole world who he was during this Sports Festival. His goals and ambitions... they suddenly felt impossibly out of reach.

You felt sick to your stomach, because like it or not, you were the reason Izuku was about to lose.

Wearing a blank expression, Izuku heeded Shinsou's words and took slow but steady steps towards the edge of the arena. The second he went out of bounds, Shinsou would win by default. He was going to attain victory without having to lift a single finger.

"I can't watch," you whimpered, then buried your face in the palms of your hands. Beside you, Kaminari patted your back and tried to calm you down, and although you appreciated the gesture, it wasn't going to make this any easier to swallow.

You liked Shinsou. Well, you didn't know him all that well yet, but from what you could tell, it seemed like he was here because he had a dream, just like everyone else. Plus, it was thanks to that Quirk of his that you'd been able to clear the last round so easily, and you knew you had to give credit where it was due.

That was what made it suck even more. The fact that you couldn't bring yourself to openly dislike Izuku's opponent. If only there was a way for both of them to win. That would've been nice.

It would've been nice, but unfortunately, reality didn't work that way.

"Even with a Quirk like mine, I still want to be a hero," you heard Shinsou mutter. "I doubt you'd understand, though. This isn't anything personal. It's not personal, so... just hurry up and lose for me, alright?"