Peppermint || Shoto Todoroki x Reader

Chapter 30

'Careful!' Izuku suddenly yelled, but it was too late. A knife lodged into Y/N's left thigh, tearing open the delicate skin. The girl gasped sharply, collapsing onto the floor. 'He's too fast.' Shoto grumbled as he clutched onto his injured arm. 'I have to leave myself unguarded. Our best option is to hold until the pros arrive and avoid close combat.'

'No, you know you've already lost too much blood! I'll distract him while you support me from behind. Sound like a plan?' Izuku asked as he activated his quirk. 'You want us to take a pretty big risk.' Shoto observed. 'Okay. We can protect them.' 'What about me?' Y/N groaned slightly as she stood up on wobbly legs. 'I can still fight. I don't think the cut's that deep. At most, I'll just need stitches.'

'So it's two against one, huh? That flimsy girlie can't do much, but this fight won't be easy.' Stain snarled, drawing his blades and getting into a defensive stance. Shoto sent a wave of ice at the Hero Killer, who dodged effortlessly and sliced the tips of the icicles off. Without giving Stain any time to react, the heterochromatic boy sent a stream of smouldering scarlet flames at him.

'Ice and fire.' Stain snapped and Shoto sent another icy attack. 'Has anyone ever told you, that you rely on your quirk too much? Makes you a careless fighter.' The Hero Killer unsheathed one of his many swords, taking advantage of Shoto's outstretched arm and attempted to wedge the blade into Shoto's side. 'Todoroki!' Izuku cried desperately, but Iida beat him to it. 'Recipro... burst!'

Iida managed to snap the sword in half and kicked Stain away in one power-packed kick. 'You're free too?' Shoto looked at a hunched Iida. 'Guess his quirk isn't as great as I thought it was.'

'Todoroki, Midoriya, L/N. This has nothing to do with you. I apologise.'

'This is no time to apologise!' Y/N cried, flinging a wave of water at the Hero Killer, slamming him into a wall for the second time that night. 'I won't let the three of you shed any more blood for me.' Iida snapped, standing up.

'It's no use trying to pretend to a hero now. A person's true nature doesn't change in just a few minutes. You'll never be anything but a fraud who prioritizes his own desires. You're the sickness that's infected this society and ruined the name hero.' Stain growled, his broken sword in his hands. 'Someone must teach you a lesson.'

'You're a fundamentalist lunatic.' Shoto muttered, eyes sharp. 'Iida, don't listen to this murderer's nonsense.'

'No, he's completely correct. I have no right to call myself a hero. Well. Even so, there's no way I can back down. If I give up now, then the name Ingenium will die!' Iida declared, hands clenched into tight fists. 'Pathetic.' Stain snarled, attacking. Shoto pushed Iida to the side, shooting a burst of flames at the Hero Killer.

'Idiot! He's only after me and that kid in the white armour! Stop fighting back, just get out of here!' The pro yelled. 'I don't think he'd let me run even if I wanted to!' Shoto retorted, eyes narrowed in concentration. 'Something clearly changed in him just now. He seems rattled.' The dual haired teen snuffed out his flames, opting to attack with ice when Stain managed to get away.

Alternating between ice and fire, Shoto kept his attacks consistent and fluid. 'Hey, Todoroki! Can you regulate your temperatures?' Iida suddenly questioned. 'Not well with my left, but yes I can.' Shoto replied, not breaking eye contact with his target.

'You've gotta freeze my legs for me! But without plugging the exhaust!'

'You're in the way!' Stain threw a knife, aimed to directly hit Shoto in the chest. Iida threw himself in the direction of the blade, the cold metal burying itself into the flesh of Iida's forearm. 'Why won't you stay down?' The Hero Killer, who was clearly getting frustrated, hurled another knife, but Iida took the blow once again. 'Just do it, hurry!' He yelled.

'It's done.' With one swift touch, Shoto froze Iida's engines, cooling them down at a much faster rate. 'Thank you, Todoroki.' Iida yanked out the blade with his teeth, standing up. 'Recipro... extend!' At the same time, Izuku activated his quirk, leaping up the wall.

Izuku Midoriya and Tenya Iida attacked the Hero Killer simultaneously, clashing in the air with a series of loud shouts and bangs. As Stain fell, Iida issued another kick to his ribs just as he landed into a blazing inferno created by Shoto.

'Stupid knife...' Y/N muttered, stumbling to a stop next to her own hunting knife. Encasing her hand in clear water, she rubbed the blade until it was back to its shiny, polished state. Then, she returned it back into its sheath and collapsed on the floor, inspecting the stab wound on her thigh. 'I'm gonna need to stitch this up in the hospital.' The brunette sighed, cleaning out the blood, leaving a gaping injury. 'It's so much deeper than I thought it was, but I don't think I tore anything major.'

When she looked up again, the scene in front of her made Y/N scream in shock. 'What the hell happened?'

'He's knocked out? You guys are gonna be in so much trouble with the police! We're not licensed yet, any damage done to anyone is illegal!' Y/N tried standing up, but her adrenaline rush was over, and she could now feel intense, stabbing pain on her thigh. 'Damn it.' She groaned, leaning on the wall for support. 'Sorry I wasn't of much help. I only slowed you guys down.' 

'It's fine, someone else was much more useless.' Shoto commented, glancing at the pro that was still lying on the ground. 'Let's restrain him and get into the street. Maybe we can find some rope.' 'Yeah, and we should probably take all of his weapons too.' Izuku agreed. 'Let... me help.' Y/N winced as she took a step forward, still unable to put much weight on her injured leg.

I should have been more careful. That knife rendered me completely helpless. I only slowed them down. None of this would have happened if I was stronger.

Thoughts like those ran through Y/N's mind as she staggered towards the boys, a hand gripping onto her bloody leg to support herself. 'We need rope.' Izuku murmured from the pro hero's back. 'Try the dumpster. And perhaps you can find something for me to staunch this darned stab wound.' Y/N suggested.

Reluctantly, Shoto began digging through the dumpster, cursing under his breath. Eventually, he was able to find a rope of reasonable length and a relatively clean handkerchief for the brunette to bind her thigh. 'Gross.' Y/N complained, wringing out the dirt in the cloth with her quirk. Once she made sure that the handkerchief was clean enough, she wound it tightly around her thigh and tied a quick knot.

'Much better.' She sighed as she took a small step, her knee bucking much lesser as compared to just now.

'We're lucky someone threw this in the dumpster.' Shoto remarked as he stood up. 'Todoroki! I can drag him from here.' Iida interrupted earnestly. 'No offence Iida, but your arms are even more mangled than my leg is.' Y/N grimaced at the sight of Iida's blood as she reached the boys. 

'The four of us barely won against him and even then, it was because of his own mistakes.' Shoto began summarising their fight, a habit that he and Y/N had developed from their training sessions for the sports festival. 'He was getting riled up and desperate and forgot all about Midoriya's quick recovery time. Then, he wasn't able to block Iida's last recipro-burst or Midoriya's assault.'

'Three of you.' Y/N corrected, walking alongside Shoto with a slight limp. 'I did nothing.' She sighed. 'Maybe if I was stronger, I wouldn't have been so useless?' 'That's not true.' Shoto defended, giving the brunette's hand a reassuring squeeze.

'What are you doing here, boy?' An unfamiliar voice rang in Y/N's ears. She looked up and saw a short, elderly man in a hero suit, seeming to glare at Izuku. 'Gran Torino!' Izuku cried, all sleepiness gone from his system. The man Izuku had called 'Gran Torino' zoomed over to Izuku, landing a foot on his face. 'I thought I told you to stay on the bullet train!'

'Who's this?' Shoto asked in a rather irritated tone. 'Gran Torino, the hero I'm interning with...' Izuku mumbled. 'I don't get it. How'd you find us.' 'Were you perhaps by chance sent by Endeavor?' Y/N questioned, certainty written on her face. 'Yes.' Gran Torino replied, literal steam coming out of his ears as he glowered at Izuku. 'I have no idea what's going on, but I'm glad you're not dead, at least.'

'Me too.' Izuku sighed. 'And I'm sorry.'