[Sometimes, on occasion, she wants to reach up and ruffle his hair, pat his cheek. Be a little more affectionate than somebody should really be with their student. She hasn't done it yet, but she's sure that day is going to come soon.
There's a startled little noise when Shouto just sits up instead of trying to get her off. But then, she's still light and easy enough to deal with, especially when she's deliberately not going for a kill.
Still, she doesn't see the problem with it, if Shouto's supporting her like this. She moves her arms so their crossed over Shouto's head, and rests her chin on them. Shouto's face is definitely right against her chest now, but she doesn't care.]
I want you to get better. You need to be able to think properly in practice so you can use what you learned in real matches. My going for the kill wouldn't help you at all.
You definitely couldn't do this against another heavyweight.
[ Apparently this is something that he inspires in people, considering Momo and Fuyumi both do it to him, and his mother still makes him bend forward so that she can do it to him. But Shouto isn't quite sure how he'd react if Izuku did it, considering he's a little unsure of how to respond to her sometimes in general. The warm feeling that she inspires is a little intimidating, too.
Ten years ago and he'd have no clue what label to put to that. While he's still uncertain of it now, it's... easier to figure out. He's come a long way from the angry teenager he was, though he's been a jaded, bitter, and disgruntled adult for a while now without much difference.
Being around Izuku helps, even if things like this wind up happening a lot of the time. ]
It's fun when you do, but during training not so much. [ His voice, of course, comes muffled from where he's got his face tucked against her chest. The first few times he wound up with his face or a limb pressed like this he was a little uncertain, but Izuku's nonreaction has effectively desensitized him to it. (That, and having Yaoyorozu as his closest friend has sort of helped in that department.) ]
I'd probably risk bucking to take them off guard and knock their balance before going from there, but your center of gravity is lower than theirs so it's harder to get you off when you're attached like this. [ p h r a s i n g + p o s i t i o n ]
[There's just something about him that makes her like him. On occasion when she's been flipped like earlier she wants to just rest a hand on his cheek.
She tries not to think too much about it for the sake of her job. Unlike some people, she's actually in touch with her emotions, and so deliberately does her best to ignore them.
As for having Shouto's face in her breasts- look, when you're grappling, limbs get places, faces get places. She's been desensitized from years of fighting other women, it's nothing new to have somebody's face pressed against her chest while she's grappling them.]
There's a lot of challenges when you're fighting somebody smaller than you, aren't there? I'm not getting off until you make me or you tap out though.
[ "Unlike some people," namely him. Not that he isn't aware that they need to maintain more of a working relationship than a friendship, but that certainly doesn't stop them. Midoriya Izuku just has a way of getting under your skin, in a strangely good way. She's just so earnest, and he likes her both out of the ring and in it, the two facets of her that exist.
She's approachable and oddly comforting to be around. Calming. So it lets him relax from the rigorous attitude he's been brought up with, even if he doesn't shed everything that was conditioned into him from a young age. But so far, Shouto's managed to take that and the new things he's learned about himself in stride.
Such as:
There's a very long beat, before Shouto lifts his chin up enough that his eyes peek out from his disheveled bangs, just enough for him to try and get a better look at things - namely, her, when he asks in a deadpan: ] How ticklish are you?
[She looks down at him in slowly dawning horror. If she was a better liar, she would say she wasn't. At all. She was, in fact, not at all ticklish, and people would believe her.
Unfortunately for her, she's not. And her usual calm demeanor in the ring is quickly getting overwritten by her day to day nervousness.]
He'd originally been joking, in that dry way he has, but now he's locked onto her stutter and the nervousness that bleeds back in, and Shouto narrows his eyes. The way they are, his other arm is sort of pinned into place, so he has to brace her weight with his free forearm instead of his hand. Without hesitating, he skirts his fingers up her ribcage, even at the risk of flailing limbs and injuries.
[It is absolutely not worth it. She yelps in laughter, triangle choke loosening. Her hands move from folded on top of Shouto's head to actively trying to get his fingers to stop-]
Qu-Quit it!
[She's going to fall straight back onto the mat unless Shouto can catch her.]
[ Hup. The second she starts to loosen her hold on him, Shouto shifts, crossing his legs so that he's sitting properly on the mat. It's mostly to stabilize himself, but also in preparation for when she starts wiggling around. Because as she tries to get at his hand, he has to adjust for her movements.
And that means down she goes. But he's prepared to catch her in his lap, now freed hand shooting up to cradle the back of her head before it can hit the mat.
It does mean that he stops tickling her, but, well. Still worth it. Izuku's all bright and happy when she laughs, even when it's via cheating. It a little like the sun came out. ]
[Down she goes, and yet Shouto's caught her- and she's blushing. She catches that soft smile of his, feels her heart throb in her chest at the sight of it.
All the calm confidence she has in the ring is gone embarrassed enough to dodge his gaze. Bringing her arms up to cover her incredibly red face.]
You didn't specify how I had to break your hold, Midoriya, only that I either had to make you get off or tap out.
[ Matter of fact, although there's a bit of another dry tease in his tone as he carefully lets her shoulders and head settle on the mat. She's still basically in his lap, but much like when he had his face pressed into her chest he's fairly unperturbed by the position.
... though, he is very aware that she's turned scarlet. It's interesting how different she is from the fighter in the ring. ]
[In the ring she knows what's expected, she knows the moves her opponent knows, how they usually like to fight, their favorite counters. All of that is accounted for.
Outside of it she's hardly so sure of herself. Yes she's still clever, yes she generally knows what's going on, but she doesn't have as much control as when she's in the ring. It's easy to make her emotional, and even easier to make her flustered.
Though despite that, being in his lap doesn't bother her a bit.]
M-mph... That's never going to work in a real match.
[ There's something almost charming about Izuku when she gets flustered like this. Shouto rarely gets embarrassed, and definitely not enough to color like this - his scar actually makes it so that he only blushes on his right side, anyways, when he does - but with her, it's such a contrast to the calculative fighter that he knows her to be.
She was also quickly humanized for him, versus his father's rants about All Might and his pupil, when he saw her outside of the ring for the first time. Both are the same person, but in different contexts. He likes it.
He pats her on the hip with one hand, rubbing his neck with the other. ]
One day I'll tickle an opponent just to see what happens. [ And the thing of it is that he's serious. ]
[ The trials and tribulations of knowing Todoroki Shouto.
He shrugs at her, moving to fold his hands together on her stomach, his elbows on either side of her where she's settled. The position continues to unfaze him, mostly because he's waiting for the moment where she decides whether it's time for a break or if she's going to grapple him again. ]
I always take my opponents seriously, even when it's just the two of us. But it's interesting to see what unexpected things might work.
[She seems content enough to have Shouto over her for the moment. Her hands are still free to do whatever they'd like, of course, so getting out of it wouldn't be too much of a problem.
[ Expression deadpan, Shouto lifts his own elbows like he's playing at having wings, though he doesn't flap them. Instead, they're raised for only a moment before he drops them back down again. ]
I'm just lucky no one's realized my vision's weaker in the left eye, otherwise I'd have elbows in my face more frequently.
[ But, no one can ever say that his defense is weak on his left side. He's made up for weaker eyesight with instinct and training. ]
Generally, no. I might have to play catch up with grappling, but I have that covered. [ And he doesn't mind this, really, considering he comes to Izuku constantly.
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png){kind=small}
no subject
There's a startled little noise when Shouto just sits up instead of trying to get her off. But then, she's still light and easy enough to deal with, especially when she's deliberately not going for a kill.
Still, she doesn't see the problem with it, if Shouto's supporting her like this. She moves her arms so their crossed over Shouto's head, and rests her chin on them. Shouto's face is definitely right against her chest now, but she doesn't care.]
I want you to get better. You need to be able to think properly in practice so you can use what you learned in real matches. My going for the kill wouldn't help you at all.
You definitely couldn't do this against another heavyweight.
no subject
Ten years ago and he'd have no clue what label to put to that. While he's still uncertain of it now, it's... easier to figure out. He's come a long way from the angry teenager he was, though he's been a jaded, bitter, and disgruntled adult for a while now without much difference.
Being around Izuku helps, even if things like this wind up happening a lot of the time. ]
It's fun when you do, but during training not so much. [ His voice, of course, comes muffled from where he's got his face tucked against her chest. The first few times he wound up with his face or a limb pressed like this he was a little uncertain, but Izuku's nonreaction has effectively desensitized him to it. (That, and having Yaoyorozu as his closest friend has sort of helped in that department.) ]
I'd probably risk bucking to take them off guard and knock their balance before going from there, but your center of gravity is lower than theirs so it's harder to get you off when you're attached like this. [
p h r a s i n g + p o s i t i o n]no subject
She tries not to think too much about it for the sake of her job. Unlike some people, she's actually in touch with her emotions, and so deliberately does her best to ignore them.
As for having Shouto's face in her breasts- look, when you're grappling, limbs get places, faces get places. She's been desensitized from years of fighting other women, it's nothing new to have somebody's face pressed against her chest while she's grappling them.]
There's a lot of challenges when you're fighting somebody smaller than you, aren't there? I'm not getting off until you make me or you tap out though.
no subject
She's approachable and oddly comforting to be around. Calming. So it lets him relax from the rigorous attitude he's been brought up with, even if he doesn't shed everything that was conditioned into him from a young age. But so far, Shouto's managed to take that and the new things he's learned about himself in stride.
Such as:
There's a very long beat, before Shouto lifts his chin up enough that his eyes peek out from his disheveled bangs, just enough for him to try and get a better look at things - namely, her, when he asks in a deadpan: ] How ticklish are you?
no subject
Unfortunately for her, she's not. And her usual calm demeanor in the ring is quickly getting overwritten by her day to day nervousness.]
Y-You wouldn't!
no subject
He'd originally been joking, in that dry way he has, but now he's locked onto her stutter and the nervousness that bleeds back in, and Shouto narrows his eyes. The way they are, his other arm is sort of pinned into place, so he has to brace her weight with his free forearm instead of his hand. Without hesitating, he skirts his fingers up her ribcage, even at the risk of flailing limbs and injuries.
Worth it, probably. ]
no subject
Qu-Quit it!
[She's going to fall straight back onto the mat unless Shouto can catch her.]
no subject
And that means down she goes. But he's prepared to catch her in his lap, now freed hand shooting up to cradle the back of her head before it can hit the mat.
It does mean that he stops tickling her, but, well. Still worth it. Izuku's all bright and happy when she laughs, even when it's via cheating. It a little like the sun came out. ]
no subject
All the calm confidence she has in the ring is gone embarrassed enough to dodge his gaze. Bringing her arms up to cover her incredibly red face.]
Ch... Cheater, Todoroki-kun...
no subject
[ Matter of fact, although there's a bit of another dry tease in his tone as he carefully lets her shoulders and head settle on the mat. She's still basically in his lap, but much like when he had his face pressed into her chest he's fairly unperturbed by the position.
... though, he is very aware that she's turned scarlet. It's interesting how different she is from the fighter in the ring. ]
no subject
Outside of it she's hardly so sure of herself. Yes she's still clever, yes she generally knows what's going on, but she doesn't have as much control as when she's in the ring. It's easy to make her emotional, and even easier to make her flustered.
Though despite that, being in his lap doesn't bother her a bit.]
M-mph... That's never going to work in a real match.
[She's still not looking at him.]
no subject
She was also quickly humanized for him, versus his father's rants about All Might and his pupil, when he saw her outside of the ring for the first time. Both are the same person, but in different contexts. He likes it.
He pats her on the hip with one hand, rubbing his neck with the other. ]
One day I'll tickle an opponent just to see what happens. [ And the thing of it is that he's serious. ]
no subject
She really hopes he's joking about this. And just like that she's back to teacher mode.]
Todoroki-kun, take your opponents seriously.
no subject
He shrugs at her, moving to fold his hands together on her stomach, his elbows on either side of her where she's settled. The position continues to unfaze him, mostly because he's waiting for the moment where she decides whether it's time for a break or if she's going to grapple him again. ]
I always take my opponents seriously, even when it's just the two of us. But it's interesting to see what unexpected things might work.
no subject
She studies him for a moment.]
Just watch out for elbows.
no subject
I'm just lucky no one's realized my vision's weaker in the left eye, otherwise I'd have elbows in my face more frequently.
[ But, no one can ever say that his defense is weak on his left side. He's made up for weaker eyesight with instinct and training. ]
no subject
You've made up for it. I don't think anybody could guess just by watching you fight.
Ready for a break?
no subject
But he inclines his head in a faint nod. ]
Sure.
no subject
I'm looking forward to the day you get to use what I teach you in the ring!