Break Through My Shell (Shouto Todoroki x Reader)

Chapter 23

As soon as the day was over and you were able to return home, you breathed out a sigh of relief. Although you did say you would wait for Shouto to talk to you first, you were also actively avoiding him, causing the struggle to find you to increase. It would likely be a while before the two of you would interact like how you did before.

But you weren't sure if he was even trying to look for you since you didn't see him much. But it was most likely because every time you saw him, you would teleport away from him, excluding when you were in classes.

You could be a very petty person sometimes...

———

The dual-haired boy panted as he came to a stop in front of the class. The bell had rung and school was over, yet he still lingered. He had just finished walking around the entire school with the hope that he would find you somewhere, however, he had no luck.

"Todoroki?"

Glancing up, he found Yaoyorozu standing in front of him.

"What are you doing here? You could have gone home by now," she continued, her soft voice reaching his ears as he straightened up.

"I was searching for (Name)," he replied. Yaoyorozu made a soft 'oh' sound before she replied.

"I think I saw her go home."

Murmuring thanks, Shouto left, deciding to talk to you tomorrow, if he could catch you.

As Yaoyorozu watched the dual-haired boy leave, she sighed. Keeping her feelings shut in could be hard sometimes, especially when she spent a lot of energy trying to not let it show.

"Why doesn't he care that much about me?"

———

The next day, after homeroom started, Aizawa had a serious look on his face.

"Today is going to be a special Hero Informatics class. This will be concerning the pro hero draft picks that we're going to talking about later."

As murmurs drifted through the class, he continued.

"You'll be picking your hero names."

There were cheers that echoed through the class at this. A moment later, the door by the front of the room slid open and in stepped the 18+ Hero. 

Aizawa continued, "And Midnight will be here to assist you in making sure your names are all good. Meanwhile, I'm going to take a nap." 

After uttering these words, he promptly stepped into his rumpled yellow sleeping bag, zipped it up, and slid to the floor. 

"Okay!" Nemuri exclaimed. "You guys need to put enough thought into your names because the ones you pick now are usually stuck with you throughout your hero careers. You don't want to be stuck with a dumb name that you came up with on a whim."

Shortly after, small boards and markers were passed around to come up with the name and write it down on. 

Biting your lip, multiple choices ran through your head as you started brainstorming ideas. You didn't want to get stuck with a stupid hero name after all. 

Glancing around, you could see that a few of your classmates were already started to scribble their decisions onto the boards.

"Does anyone want to present their names now?" Nemuri asked. Aoyama raised his hand, a pretentious look on his face.  He strutted up to the front before placing his board on the desk and announcing his choice.

"The Shining Hero: I Cannot Stop Twinkling!" he cried out, pronouncing his hero name in English instead of the usual Japanese.

You sweatdropped slightly.

It's a sentence?!?

Nemuri swiped his marker and board from him, correcting his name.

"Instead of using 'I Cannot Stop Twinkling', remove the 'I' and shorten the 'cannot' to 'can't'," she explained, following her words with actions and crossing out the changed words.

"Thank you, mademoiselle!" Aoyama said, beaming as she handed the board back to him.

She's okay with that? And can he just stick to English or French, not both?

You sighed, before noticing Ashido's hand sticking up as she eagerly waved it in the air. After Nemuri motioned for her to come up, she bounced to the front before proudly showing her board.

"The Ridley Hero: Alien Queen!" she shouted gleefully. However, Nemuri shook her head.

"Alien Queen? That sounds too scary." Ashido trudged back to her seat, frowning. "Who wants to go next?"

The air was tense, as no one wanted to go up since the first two names were weird and it made the room feel awkward.

Asui volunteered, and after presenting hers, most of the class erupted with cheers, liking what she came up with.

One by one, the number of people who were left dwindled down, and soon it was only you, Shouto, Bakugou, Iida, and a few others. Deciding on a name, you scribbled it down before Nemuri called you up. She was smirking at you as you raised your board to show what you wrote.

"The Magic Hero: Arcane." Your voice was quiet as you glanced up, before your eyes drifted across the classroom to landed on Shouto. You found yourself wondering whether or not he would like what you chose before you recalled that you weren't talking to him and that you didn't care what he thought.

"Ooh! Why did you choose that?" Nemuri asked, her blue eyes staring at you through her red-rimmed glasses eagerly. 

"Because..." you mumbled. 

"Because?" Nemuri's perfectly plucked eyebrows were raised as she waiting for your answer.

Instead of giving her what she wanted, you shook your head. Your adopted mother very nearly smacked her head against the wall in exasperation. 

"Right..."

After Bakugou had presented his name, which he had chosen to be 'King Explosion Murder', he was sent back to his seat by Nemuri to come up with a new name because it was too violent.

Then, Shouto walked up to the front before lifting his board up. 

"Shouto," he said, his voice monotone and cold. 

"Your name?" Nemuri said curiously. "Are you sure?"

His heterochromatic eyes swept over you before he nodded slowly. You bit your lip as he walked back to his seat.

"Alright, if that's what you want," she replied doubtfully. Two others gave their names and then came Iida. He had a look in his eye that seemed slightly sad as he gave his name: Tenya.

"You want your first name too?" 

As Iida nodded, you could see that he had started to write something above his name on the white board, although it had been scribbled out. It looked like the letter I, N, and G, although it was difficult to tell. He walked back to his seat, albeit he didn't look very happy.

Shortly after, Bakugou came up once more to present the name that he had supposedly fixed. 

"Lord Explosion Murder," he growled. Nemuri shook her head again, sighing deeply.

"No."