The day had come. I was ready to be released. Though I was excited to finally leave, one thing deeply troubled me. Since (C/n) and I both endured the same explosion, it was likely we'd have a similar recovery period. I likely wouldn't have time to formulate a plan with Bakugou and Todoroki, let alone get to a quirk evaluation facility to refine my quirk usage. Plus, it didn't seem like us four were enough. All four of us were present at my house and we still only just barely won. We would need more people. I sighed as I waited for Daiki to come and pick me up. As I was waiting, a nurse escorted Todoroki in. He saw me and sat down next to me. I tried to think of something to say but couldn't. He seemed to be having the same problem, as he kept glancing from me to the floor. However, just being close to him was calming and gave me a sense of ease.

My state of calmness quickly vanished when I saw a purple-haired girl and became frozen with fear. Has she already healed? Is she here to hurt us? What will happen to everyone here? My mind was racing with questions as I started trembling. Todoroki put his hand on my leg and gave me a look of concern.

"(Y/n), are you alright?" I felt the heat rise to my face as his words brought me out of my thoughts and I realized what he was doing. I looked frantically to look for the girl, who had turned around and turned out to not be my insane cousin. I breathed out a sigh of relief and turned to Todoroki and gave him a faint smile.

"I'm fine," I said. Todoroki gave me a doubtful look. However, before he could question further, Daiki popped in front of us.

"HOW'S IT GOIN', SWEETHEARTS? YOU KISSED YET?" My expression immediately morphed into one of annoyance. I shot water in his face, causing him to flinch and start sputtering. "What was that for?!"

"That was your warning." I smirked and looked at Todoroki, who was smiling faintly. Daiki gave me an annoyed look.

"Now I'm all wet!"

"that's what she said," muttered a passerby, but no one heard them.

"It's your fault for not keeping your mouth shut."

///

While (Y/n) and Daiki bickered, a cloaked man watched them from across the waiting room.

"What are you waiting for? Their guard is down," whispered his partner.

"There are people here, meaning we'd have to kill them too. And you know the boss doesn't like us hurting innocent people. Only heroes and those who directly get in our way," explained the cloaked man calmly.

"Then when do we attack them?!"

"We follow them out and attack when there aren't many people around."

-/-/-/

Todoroki looked around anxiously.

"What's wrong, Todoroki?" I asked, slightly worried.

"Shh." I'd never heard him be so demanding. His voice was sharp and powerful. He stayed silent for a moment, seemingly listening for something. He then tapped my shoulder and subtly pointed over to two men on the other side of the waiting room. One of them looked extremely odd. He wore a giant cloak that looked too extravagant to actually be real and a Memeulous-style disguise: a patterned bandana wrapped around his mouth, sunglasses, and a black cap. They talked with each other.

"Well that's not suspicious at all," I commented quietly. Todoroki continued to listen, tilting his head slightly and cupping his hand around his ear. I had to admit: he looked pretty cute. But this wasn't the time for that. If Todoroki felt something was wrong, then it probably was. Todoroki's eyes suddenly widened. Before I could ask what was wrong, he grabbed my hand.

"Daiki, freeze time now," he commanded sternly. Daiki recognized his seriousness and listened. Todoroki grabbed my hand and ran out of the building. Caught off guard, I struggled to keep up.

"What is it?!"

"Those men are terrible at whispering, so I overheard their conversation. They're planning to attack someone there, and it's probably us! As long as we're in a place with many people with no connections to heroes or villains, we should be fine," Todoroki explained.

"Then why didn't we just stay there?"

"Even if they won't attack us, I don't feel comfortable with them there. I don't want them to hurt you." His eyes softened and he grasped my hand tighter than before.

"What about you? I'm not weak, you know," I said defensively.

"Sorry, that's not what I meant. I value your safety over mine, so if a threat is present, you're my top priority." I started to heat up.

"Well I care about your safety too. I couldn't live with myself if I let you get hurt, which reminds me," I stopped suddenly, jerking Todoroki to a stop. I looked at the ground and clenched my free fist. "I'm sorry."

"What?" Todoroki stared at me in confusion.

"At my house. (C/n) kidnapped you and held you hostage and I wasn't able to get you out safely. It took Bakugou almost killing us all to escape." I felt pressure build up in the top of my face as my eyes watered. The hand once being squeezed by Todoroki's was now free. I tried to hold back the tears as I felt a drop of water slide down my face.

"I was too weak to protect you," I whispered. Those were the words that caused us both to snap. My attempts to hold back the tears shattered as I realized the meaning behind those words. It was barely even a second after I said the words when I felt lips pressing against mine. Shocked and confused, I looked up. Todoroki's face was filled with sadness. The tears stopped welling in my eyes and the last of the remaining water dripped down my face. At that moment, I realized what I felt for Todoroki.

I loved him.

I loved him, and I wanted to protect him.

When our lips parted, he looked down. I caught a glimpse of his face, which was completely red.

"Sorry," he muttered. Unsure what to do, I did the first thing I could think of.

I ruffled his hair and gave him a headpat. I've been spending too much time with Daiki, I thought.

"Don't be." I hugged him, causing him to tense up in surprise before returning the hug.

"You too. Don't you dare blame yourself for what happens. There's no way to think about what happened that you are at fault in any way," he whispered. He then pulled away and wiped the remaining wetness from my eyes and cheeks. "And don't be sad about it. Seeing you cry makes me want to cry as well." I looked at his face to see small tears welling up in his eyes as he smiled warmly at me.

"Shouto?" I said. I wasn't sure why. I had so many things to say to him, but not a single one came to mind when I said his name. I watched his shocked face become tinted with pink before he grinned in ecstasy at the fact that I just used his first name. He caught me off guard by hugging me tightly.

"Yes, (Y/n)?" he replied expectantly. The hope and anticipation in his voice scrambled my thoughts even more.

"I-I...um...you...me..." All I could manage out was a meaningless sequence of words. My face was burning as I struggled to find words. I prayed that Daiki wasn't running or anything that would weaken him and cause him to be unable to keep time frozen.

"(Y/n), I think...I think I love you," Shouto said softly, hugging me tighter. Unable to find words, I wrapped my arms around him and put my head on his shoulder, hoping to convey that I felt the same. It seemed to work, as I could feel him trembling with excitement and doing the same. We raised our heads and once again leaned in, closing our eyes to prepare for the moment when our lips made contact.

But our moment of happiness was cut short by, once again, Daiki. This time, however, it seemed different. Daiki sprinted at us, fear in his eyes.

"GUYS! GUYS! WHY AREN'T YOU FARTHER AWAY?!" he yelled in a panicked voice. Shouto and I instantly jerked our heads and looked towards Daiki. As he ran past us, he grabbed my hand and I quickly grabbed Shouto's as we started to run, trying to keep up with Daiki's pace.

"I'm sorry! Has time already resumed?" I said. He shook his head.

"No! But the guy next to the cloaked guy somehow wasn't affected! And after he realized that time wasn't moving, he grabbed his friend and started chasing me!" Daiki explained frantically.

"It took that long?! How stupid is he?!" I remarked.

"We need to go somewhere crowded but with no heroes!" Shouto yelled to Daiki.

"WHAT?! That's the worst thing to do in this situation!"

"Trust him, Daiki!" I yelled. I faintly saw a figure chasing after us in the distance. "Shouto!" He looked behind us and created a wall of ice.

Knowing that we'd be safe, we slowed down, eventually slowing to a walk. We were panting and sweating. But out of the corner of my eye, I thought I saw something behind us. I turned my head to get a better look and my eyes widened.

"RUN!"