My Pokemon Hero Academia

Chapter 25: A Mission on the Mountain!

One day, on a mountain, Shouto was just minding his own business, taking a hike. It was only a coincidence that he bumped into the young volunteer teacher that had once taught him at his high school.

"Oh? Todoroki?" (B/N) noted, turning to face Shouto in the eyes. Remembering what his younger sister used to call the half and half quirked boy, he added, "Shouto-kun, right?"

Yeah, this was the serious and formal boy from 11 years ago, Shouto affirmed. He nodded and continued to hike up the mountain. It was rather snowy on there, but it was okay. That was him training up his resistance to his own quirk anyway. He couldn't be a hero if he didn't even have any control over his own quirk, right? He'd be hurting others than helping.

Thinking to strike up a conversation, (B/N) came up with a topic. "Do you still have the ring?" (B/N) asked. Shouto flinched.

"What ring?" Shouto asked, lying.

Oh, wow. Shouto is one bad liar. (B/N) sighed. "Geez, so first (Name) forgets it, and now, you, too? What is going on with you two?" he groaned. "The ring (Name) gave you. 11 years ago when you first met. You've got to remember that."

Shouto didn't want to talk about it. (Name) had moved on already. He should, too. "I don't know what you're talking about," he replied, still lying.

"Yes, you do," (B/N) insisted. "That ring I gave to (Name) on her birthday. The ring she gave to you 11 years ago in the middle of March. The day you two first met. The day when she told you 'I like you a lot, Shouto-kun'. Don't think you can talk your way out of this." He looked at Shouto directly in the eyes.

"I mean," the teacher breathed, "don't you like (Name), too?"

Stab. Hear that? That's the sound of criticism. Shouto stopped and if he were a regular person, he would've dropped to his knees in depression, anime-style.

"Actually, no, not 'like,'" (B/N) corrected himself. He cleared his throat. "You like her very much, don't you? You love her, right?" Shouto basically cringed at the older male's words, but he was right. That's the truth. "You loved her from the beginning, but you couldn't say it. I can tell from your face and aura."

Shouto stopped in his tracks. Turning to face (B/N), he said, "So what if I liked her?" A pink blush dusted his cheeks.

(B/N) knew what to do. He smirked. "Oh? So you do like her. Are you angry that she went on a date with Tetsutetsu?" he asked. "You can't hide it, Todoroki. It's obvious that you like (Name) a lot. Your face says it all, and it's obvious.

"If you didn't like her, you wouldn't be wearing the ring, and look at your face! It's all red."

Shouto stopped for a moment to touch his face. The right side, the one he uses his ice, was warm. Warmer than his left. He blushed even harder when he realized that it was the truth. He finally came clean. "Yeah, so I like her and remember her!" he admitted. "So what?"

(B/N) paused for a moment. Staying silent, he finally burst into a fit of laughter but collected himself when he faced Shouto. "I knew it," he smirked. "It's a little obvious, really... And now I'm guessing you want a way to repay her for that gift." Shouto had to admit. This guy was good. "Don't worry too much. I'm here to help out!" He held out a wristband with a big dark purple marble in it.

The wristband itself was black, like the shadows and the dark. Kinda like Tokoyami, Shouto thought. The marble was about the size of half of a child's palm. It was purple, and there was a swirl that shaped something like an 's'. The swirl was red and dark purple.

It honestly reminded him of Gastly from 11 years ago, but it was different. It had something else that wanted to be free from... Free from what?

"You see," (B/N) began, "the ring I gave to (Name) already served a purpose some time ago. It was meant to hold something called a 'Keystone'. A Keystone is something that plays a part in Mega Evolution along with a Mega Stone. While the Pokemon holds a Keystone, the Pokemon holds a certain Mega Stone. Only some Pokemon can Mega Evolve, and the Mega Stone has to be the corresponding one with the Pokemon.