Peppermint || Shoto Todoroki x Reader

Chapter 52

He'd upset Y/N. The very same girl who'd always put on a brave face and put his problems in front of hers, and always plastered a smile to make him feel better despite the situation.

...

'Ugh... okay then.' A tired voice interrupted the buzzing students, each from different academies, but with the same goal in mind. 'Let's do this exam thing. I'm from... uh... the Heroes' Safety Public Commission. Name's Mera. Most of you are...' His head drooped. 'Aw... man. I haven't been getting much rest. We're too short of staff and I'm so... tired...'

'With that confession, I'll now begin orientation. So... about this license thing. Basically, one thousand, five hundred and forty examinees compete in a free-fall exercise or whatever we're calling it here...' 'Hey, you okay?' Jiro placed a concerned hand on her friend's shoulder. Y/N, who had been inconspicuously wiping her eyes as she tried hard to listen to Mera, accidentally let another tear leak out from the corner of her eye as she felt Jiro's reassuring weight on her shoulder. The girl nodded simply, not trusting herself to speak as she most likely would've burst into tears.

'No, you're not.' Jiro stated bluntly, retracting her hand. 'If you want to talk, I'm always here. And you have Ashido, Yaomomo and the girls.' Y/N nodded again, furiously rubbing at her cheek, as though frustrated with herself for crying- which she was.

'See, when you got a lot of pros around, and since Stain was arrested, many people have expressed doubts about the status of heroes in society. But, when you really think about it, getting paid makes sense. If you're going to risk your life to save someone, why shouldn't you ask for a reward, huh?'

'That's just the way the world works, oh I could use a coffee... Anyway... whether there are any for compensation out of the sense we've subdued, too many heroes are working in the streets these days to keep villains at bay. Honestly, the time between when an incident begins and when an incident is resolved is ridiculously short. You're all here trying to get your provisional licenses so you'll be swept up into this tiresome mess yourselves pretty soon. Those of you who don't have the speed frankly just won't cut it, which is what you'll be tested on. The first one hundred students to fulfil the requirements will pass today.'

'Oh... gosh.' Y/N sniffled, nose red. 'There are over fifteen thousand people here! Besides... I thought half of us would pass...' 'Oh man, I'm getting way more nervous...' Jiro groaned, folding her arms into herself.

'Well, the world could be pretty crappy.' Mera continued, struggling to support himself on his two legs. 'I suppose I should say something about it. So, anyway, here are the basic rules. The examinee will place three of these targets on their body. It doesn't matter where, as long as it's an exposed area, so no soles of the feet or armpits. Each of you will also have six of these balls. The targets are programmed to light up if they're touched by these balls. If all three targets light up, you're out.' The exhausted man mumbled, demonstrating with a target and orange rubber ball in his hand. 'Oh.' He added. 'The person responsible for lighting up your third target will get credit for your defeat. You get through this round by taking down two people. Got it? Good.'

'What else?' Mera pondered. 'I guess we'll start handing out the targets and balls. Then you'll have a few minutes to get situated after we open it.'

'Open?' Jiro questioned curiously, turning to a puffy eyed Y/N, who looked just as baffled. Just then, a resounding rumble shook the whole ground. The whole room unfolded itself like a box, revealing the battleground.

'There are different terrains, some of which you'd probably like to avoid. Use your quirks well and do your best. Or not, whatever. So much sleep loss for this...' Mera complained, planting his face into his hand. Hopefully some of these kids are fast and we can get this over with... Until then, I'm gonna rest my eyes.'

'Everyone! Stay close together, we'll fight them as a group!' Izuku suddenly yelled, stopping Y/N in her tracks. The girl shot him a glance, continuing on her way, heels clicking rhythmically on the dirt floor. 'No thanks, my quirk doesn't work well with groups.' 'Tch.' Bakugo's eye twitched in annoyance as he turned away. 'Yeah, right. This isn't a field trip!' 'You idiot.' Kirishima called as the hot-headed Bakugo stormed off. 'Wait up!' He hurried after the blond. 'Kacchan!' Izuku protested, letting his arms drop to his side slightly. 

'I'm going on my own too.' Shoto stated coldly, walking in the opposite direction. ''It's hard for me to use my quirk safely when a big group's around.' He announced, earning an exasperated 'Todoroki!' from Izuku. 

'Did something happen between Todoroki and Y/N?' Mina leaned towards Jiro, eyebrows furrowed. The dark haired girl nodded lightly, sighing. 'I don't know what, but I guess we have to focus on the task at hand first.'

'The first test will now begin.'

Y/N heard an automated female faintly call as she caught a glimpse of Aizawa in the bleachers, sitting a few seats away from Ms Joke before hundreds of balls hurtled at her. The girl took advantage of the humid weather, using the water molecules to stop all the rubber balls in their tracks, before deflecting them all with a simple flick of the wrist, sending them back and hitting multiple targets at once, taking down about seventy unsuspecting people.

Don't say what if, say you will.

Aizawa's words rang out in the brunette's mind. 'I won't let you down, Mr Aizawa.' The brunette muttered as she narrowed her eyes, planting her feet firmly into the ground as she surveyed the people in front of her sharply. 'What's that, L/N? Talking to yourself?' A tall male teased, his voice bristling Y/N to no end.

'Prepared to lose, aren't you?' Another blonde girl taunted, two of her targets lit up. The girl's lips stretched into a grin. 'It's stupid of you to put your targets in blind sight. And bold of you to assume that we'd even think about being crushed.' She replied crisply, deflecting yet another wave of balls and sending them flying back once more. This time, most people were prepared, but it was still difficult to dodge Y/N's swift attack. A rubber ball hit home on the last target which the blonde had placed blatantly on her chest, successfully eliminating her, as well as quite a few people, about a total of twenty. The disqualified examinees glared hatefully at Y/N, who stood nonchalantly amidst the throng of people.

'You've taken down so many. Why are you still going?' A guy panted as the strong wind of the balls finally settled down.

'Hm? Why am I still going?' Y/N's eyes smouldered. 'Because I won't let my teacher down. And I never, ever stop at the bare minimum.'