"Hitoshi! Wait up!" Ayumu rushed to catch up with Shinso.
Shinso had come and picked her up just as he did every morning, but hadn't waited for her to make it down the stairs before he began walking away. Ayumu fell into step with him and immediately noticed his attitude.
"What's wrong with you? Nervous about the festival?"
Shinso sighed in annoyance, "You never called me to come walk you home last night, didn't even text me to tell me you made it home."
Ayumu laced her arm through his. "Oh… yeah, Bakugo walked me home last night. We were training later than we meant to and I just passed out when I got home."
"Hm." Shinso glanced sideways at her. That ping of jealousy he had gotten when he'd seen her talking to the other boy from her class returned. Had she hooked her arm with Bakugo's like she was doing with him now? Had she put her head on his shoulder as she so often did with Shinso? The image of her walking with him, laughing and talking, made him feel like he had swallowed a bag of rocks.
"You've been spending a lot of time with him." Shinso interrupted Ayumu's chatter about the events of the day ahead of them.
"Uh, yeah. Training has definitely made us spend a lot more time together." Ayumu looked up at Shinso as they walked. He continued looking ahead.
"Even outside of that."
Ayumu thought about it. She had been spending some lunches with Bakugo and Kirishima to talk about training and the sports festival. True to his word, Bakugo hadn't brought up her other quirk, instead insisting she was helping him get better at dodging attacks, which was true.
Ayumu shrugged, "I mean he is my friend. He's been helping me get better at illusion."
"And have you?"
Ayumu gave Shinso's arm a tight squeeze, "I guess you'll just have to wait and find out today at the festival, huh?"
Shinso looked down at her. "You better not hold back. This will be a good way to get pros to look at you. All eyes will be on your class anyways."
Ayumu smiled softly, butterflies swirling in her stomach. "I know." She looked up at him, "You better do well too! Maybe we can be in the same class next year if you do!"
They stopped at the entrance to the school. There were already a ton of people lined up inside and outside. Pros were everywhere they looked. Signs were up with arrows for the students to follow to find their waiting rooms. Ayumu stopped outside of the door labeled 1-A.
"Well… this is it. I'll see you out there." She gave Shinso a tight hug, "I'll be rooting for you."
"Hey, guys! Sorry I'm late." Ayumu dropped down into a chair next to Kirishima just as the door flew open.
"Everyone! Get your game faces on! We're entering the arena soon!" Iida announced and everyone started to move out.
"I guess you're right on time." Kirishima laughed, smacking his hand playfully on Ayumu's shoulder.
"Midoriya." Todoroki approaching Midoriya caught the attention of everyone in the room. "From an objective standpoint. I think it's fairly clear that I'm stronger than you."
"Um, yeah."
"However, you've got All Might in your corner, helping you out. I'm not here to pry about what's going on between you two. But know that I will beat you."
"What's with all these declarations of war lately." Kaminari jumped in, attempting to lighten the mood.
Kirishima moved his hand from Ayumu's shoulder and made his way to Todoroki, " Yeah, what's the big deal? Why are you picking a fight all of a sudden? And right before we get started."
Todoroki shrugged off Kirishima's hand, "We're not here to be each other's friends. Don't forget this isn't a team effort."
With that Todoroki started off toward the door, but stopped as Midoriya said his name. "I don't know what's going through your head or why you think you need to tell me you'll beat me. And yeah, of course you're better than me. In fact, you probably have way more potential than anyone in the hero course. That's why you got in so easily."
"Midoriya, maybe you're being a little hard on yourself, and us." Kirishima interrupted.
"No. He's right, you guys." Midoriya pushed. "All the other courses, they're coming at us with everything they've got. We're all going to have to fight to stand out. And I'll be aiming for the top too."
"Fine."
Ayumu stood up and pushed her chair in, "If you two are done being dramatic, they're probably waiting for us."
Iida snapped out of the trance their classmates had put him in and pulled the door open nice more, "Suzuki is right, come on everyone! Let's do our best!"
They could vaguely hear Present Mike's voice as they headed to the edge of the tunnel that would take them into the sports stadium. Ayumu and her class took their first steps onto the grass of the stadium confidently.
Ayumu paused as the tunnel opened up and looked around. The stands were filled. Mina grabbed her hand and gave her a little pull forward.
"There's a lot of people here." She swallowed hard.
Mina glanced around at the stands, smiling brightly, "I know! Isn't it exciting!"
When Present Mic announced General Studies, Ayumu turned around to find Shinso. She tried to see past Class 1-B, but wasn't able to. Mina noticed her looking back and giggled.
"Looking for someone."
"Yeah. Hitoshi." Ayumu replied without thinking. As soon as his name left her mouth, Mina laughed.
"I'm sure you'll be able to see him later."
Ayumu glanced back once more, "Yeah. I'm sure I will."
They all stopped on the dirt in front of the stage where Midnight stood. Ayumu's focus shifted from trying to find Shinso to the stage and felt her stomach twist into knots. She needed to put all her energy into doing well today. She and Shinso had agreed that this was not something they would do together. He needed to prove to himself that he was good enough to be in the hero course and she needed to prove that she still belonged.
"Now it's time for the introductory speeches!"
"Does she always dress like that?" Ayumu whispered to Mina.
Midnight's costume was skin tight. The black corset she wore pushed up her breasts, accentuating her curves. Overall, not something Ayumu thought her teacher should be wearing at any school event.
Mina nodded, "I think so. The pros usually wear their costumes to the festival so-"
"Silence everyone!" Midnight commanded, snapping the whip she had in her hand, "And for the student pledge, we have Katsuki Bakugo."
Ayumu turned quickly, surprised. Bakugo was giving a speech? After the last two weeks of spending every afternoon together, she thought he would have told her. Seeing the faces of her classmates, it looked like they had no idea either.
She watched Bakugo make his way to the stage, hands jammed in his pockets. As he stepped on the stage, silence fell over the stadium.
"I just want to say, I'm gonna win."
Ayumu whipped her face with her palm. Of course he'd say that. The crowd of students erupted in 'boos' and exasperated cries.
"Why would you be so disrespectful? You're representing us all!" Iida scolded.
"It's not my fault you're all just stepping stones on my way to victory."
Despite Iida's frantic protesting, Bakugo walked off the stage calmly. Ayumu took a step toward him, but stopped when she noticed his face. She'd seen that face when they were training and knew better than to talk to him when he looked like that.
"Who let him be class representative in the first place? We all knew he'd say something like that!" Mina complained.
Ayumu shrugged, watching Bakugo separate himself from the rest of the group, "He's just really determined to come in first."
"Why do you always defend him?" Mina followed Ayumu's gaze to where Bakugo was standing.
Ayumu turned back to Mina, "I don't know. Just something about him, I guess."
Mina went to respond, but was cut off by Midnight. "Without further ado, it's time for us to get started! This is where you start feeling the pain! The first fateful task of the festival. What could it be?"
Behind Midnight, a screen has a wheel turning so quickly Ayumu couldn't read the options. After a moment, it suddenly stopped reading 'obstacle course'. Ayumu felt herself relax. How hard could an obstacle course be?
"All 11 classes will participate in this treacherous contest. The track is 4 kilometers around the outside of the stadium. I don't want to restrain anyone, at least in this game. As long as you don't leave the course, you're free to do whatever your heart desires." The crowd cheered, "Now, take your place contestants!"
The gate lit up green where all the students were meant to go and everyone stood ready at the gate. Ayumu caught sight of Shinso and waved lightly. He waved back for a moment as the lights disappeared one at a time.
"Begin!" At the sound of Midnight's voice, they were off.