Ayano stared at the wall in concentration as she and Katsuki were trying to fix the cracks in it as they waited on All Might to arrive for class. The same cracks Ayano had put there when she threw Katsuki and his desk into the wall because of his fat comment. The two had agreed it was best to fix what they had done now than do it after school. If they showed up a bit late to dinner, Katsuki's mom would ask what took so long, and neither of them wanted to explain what happened. Katsuki didn't want to listen to his mom rag him, and Ayano couldn't deny that his mom was a bit scary when mad. They had already fixed Katsuki's desk, and were now finishing up on the wall, so it looked as if they were making great time.
"If you hadn't lost your damn temper, we wouldn't be doing this." Katsuki snarled under his breath.
Ayano rolled her eyes as she covered up more cracks with the cement solution Cementoss had given them.
"As if you have room to talk, Katsuki." Ayano said. "Besides, if you hadn't commented on my weight, I wouldn't have gotten upset in the first place."
Katsuki rolled his eyes this time as he painted over what was already dry on the wall.
'Tch, annoying women and their weight problems,' He grumbled mentally.
He then winced when Ayano hit him over the head with the bucket of cement solution.
"Aya!" He snapped.
"You deserved it, and you know it." Ayano said then stuck out her tongue in a flippant manner.
Katsuki continued growling in annoyance though just went right back to painting the wall. As they worked together, the class watched them.
"They're so funny." Mina said chuckling.
"An interesting pair for certain." Fumikage agreed.
"Man, I think they could be made for each other." Denki said. "Bakugo needs someone who can keep him in line, and Ishida doesn't seem to have a problem doing it."
With each comment, Katsuki twitched more and more in aggravation until he had enough.
"Shut-up, you bastards!" He yelled. "As if I'd date this soulless ginger she-devil!"
The class laughed with Izuku watching with wide eyes. He's never seen anyone tease Katsuki before. What was with this school? As Katsuki continued to yell at the class, Ayano kept working while wondering why everyone thought she and Katsuki would make a perfect match. They'd kill each other for certain. Wouldn't they? She shook her head because there was no real point in thinking about it. She just continued on with fixing the wall until it was done.
"There." She said as she stood. "All done. Now we don't have to stay after class."
She then looked to Katsuki who was still crouched on the floor and snarling at their classmates. She sighed before lightly bonking him on top of his head.
"Heel, Kacchan." She said. "Just stay your seat already."
Katsuki frowned though did go back to his desk to take a seat. Once he was seated, Ayano put away the equipment they had been using. She brushed her bangs from her face then realized she could hear a mental voice coming from the hall and heading their way.
'I have to make sure to make a grand entrance to wow the students,' She heard All Might say to himself. 'And gotta be quick! I can't hold this form forever!'
A second later the door was slid open with a slam with All Might sliding in grandly, which got everyone's attention.
"I AM HERE!" All Might shouted. "Coming through the door like a hero!"
Ayano sweat-dropped at his entrance as many of the other students oohed and awed at his appearance.
"I can't believe it's really All Might!" Denki said.
"So he really is a teacher!" Eijiro said. "This year's going to be totally awesome!"
As All Might did a funny little hop-step into the room, Ayano found her seat behind Katsuki.
"Hey, look." Tsuyu said. "Isn't he wearing his silver age costume?"
This had the students buzzing with even more excitement as All Might finally made it to the podium, which he stood behind. Ayano will admit it's cool knowing All Might is a teacher and will be teaching them, but she was never one for oohing and awing.
"Welcome to the most important class at U.A High!" All Might said. "Think of it as Heroing 101! Here you will learn the basics of being a pro! And what it means to fight for the name of good!"
Ayano could already see what All Might, who was flexing his muscles in a crouched position at the moment, had in store for today, and her hands clenched into fists in her lap. Battle training. She's never really fought anyone in a battle besides Katsuki, and she supposes that sludge villain. However, the latter didn't last very long, and All Might had been there to do the really heavy work. She'd have to work hard in this upcoming battle. Especially since she didn't want to let down whoever her partner might be.
"Let's get into it!" He said coming out of his crouched position to hold out a card that had battle on it while posing. "Today's lesson will pull no punches!"
Everyone else was quickly excited about battle training. Though the look of pure glee on Katsuki's face even had Ayano a bit nervous. Let's just hope he doesn't go all out on whoever he faces. Though she knew the chances of that happening were very, very slim.
"But one of the keys being a hero is….looking good!" All Might said while pointing towards the wall.
Panels inside the wall started ejecting out to reveal cubbyholes that had cases inside marked with numbers.
"These were designed for you based on your quirk registration forms, and the requests you sent in before school started!" All Might explained. "Get yourselves suited up, and then meet me at Training Ground Beta!"
"Yes, sir!" Everyone replied.
Ayano walked out to the training grounds with the others while in her costume. It wasn't very super flashy, but neither was her quirk, so it worked. She had on a sleeveless black muscle shirt that had a gold phoenix on the front of the shirt. And it was under a cropped bright green leather jacket with gold trim. The sleeves were rolled up to her elbows, and since the inside of the leather jacket was gold as well, where the sleeves ended at her elbow showed gold.
She then had on a gold sash around her waist. Her pants were simply dark wash skinny jeans that were tucked into brown boots that went up to her knees. Finally she had on gold fingerless gloves that were so long they went underneath her jacket sleeves, but it had oval cut outs on top of her arm and on the bottom side of arm. It might not scream pro-hero, but it was what she wanted, which is what matters.
"They say that clothes make the pros, ladies and gentlemen," All Might said as everyone was piling out into Training Ground Betta. "And behold you are the proof!"
Ayano smiled while guessing it was pretty cool to wear their costumes like actual pros would.
"Take this to heart!" All Might said. "From now on you are all heroes in training!"
Many from the class smiled while standing proud and tall in front of All Might as they donned their costumes.
"This is getting me all ramped up!" He admitted. "You look so cool. Now, shall we get started, you bunch of noobies?"
"Sir," Ayano spoke up. "I think we would all like to get started, but Izuku is still not here."
Katsuki scoffed while not surprised that Izuku was holding them up. That twerp hadn't even started changing when most of them were already out the door.
"I can drag him out of the changing room if you want." Ayano also offered.
All Might sweat-dropped while not doubting that Ayano would and could drag Izuku from the changing rooms. He's seen how rough Ayano can be even to her friends. Before he could tell her it wasn't necessary, Ayano spoke again.
"Never mind." Ayano said. "He's here."
Her classmates, who were starting to get used to her quirk, didn't have to turn around to see Izuku was really arriving as he came from the tunnel. Though Ochaco did turn to greet him.
"Hey, Deku." She said smiling.
"Uraraka!" He exclaimed while jumping slightly and blushing.
"I love your costume." Ochaco complimented. "Not to flashy, ya know?"
Izuku didn't comment as he continued to blush, and try not to say anything stupid in front of the cute girl.
"I should have been more specific with what I wanted." Ochaco admitted as she scratched the back of her head. "This body suit is skin tight. Not really my type."
"That's why I went without the body suit." Ayano commented then hummed. "Though this shirt is a bit tight. I was sure I gave them the right measurements."
She pulled back her jacket slightly while looking down at her chest. Minoru did the same without shame while giving a thumbs up.
"I love this school." He said with a perverted grin on his face.
He then cried out in pain when a psionic hand crushed him into the ground without mercy.
"Try to control your thoughts." Ayano said frowning down at him.
Minoru just mumbled into the ground only unable to twitch his limbs as the psionic hand kept him down. Some of the guys winced feeling bad for him as the girls rolled their eyes at his behavior. Ayano then let him up since class did need to get underway.
"Now that you're ready," All Might began. "It's time for combat training!"
As soon as the words left his mouth, Tenya's hand shot up in a snap like motion.
"Sir," Tenya addressed. "This is the fake city from our entrance exam. Does that mean we'll be conducting urban battles again?"
"Not quite!" All Might replied while holding up to fingers. "I'm going to move you two steps ahead. Most of the villain fights you see on the news take place outside. However, statistically speaking, run-ins with the most dastardly evil villains takes place indoors."
And it wasn't exactly easy for the news crew to get cameras inside to watch a fight, which is why fights like that weren't commonly seen in the news.
"Think about it!" All Might said. "Backroom deals, home invasions, secret underground lairs. Truly intelligent criminals stay hidden in the shadows."
Ayano understood that, but if home invasions was at the top of their to-do list, they still seemed like small fry to her. However, she knew it was very serious business if a criminal did get into someone's home because an entire family could be put at risk.
"For this training exercise you'll be split into teams of good guys and bad guys, and fight two-on-two indoor battles." All Might explained.
"Isn't this a little advanced?" Tsuyu asked.
She didn't seem nervous about what they were going to do, but it was hard to read Tsuyu by her expression since she only seemed to have one. However, Ayano could hear her worry through her mind.
"The best training is what you get on the battlefield!" All Might said. "But remember you can't just punch a robot this time. You're dealing with actual people now."
"Sir, will you be the one who decides who wins?" Momo asked.
"How much can we hurt the other team?" Katsuki asked.
Ayano frowned at him though wasn't surprised at all that was his question. She felt sorry for whoever he was pitted against.
"Do we need to worry about the losers getting expelled like earlier?" Ochaco asked nervously.
"Will you be splitting us up based on chance or comparative skills?" Tenya inquired.
"Isn't this cape Tre chic?" Yuga asked holding it out.
Everyone was full on questions today, weren't they? Ayano looked to All Might as he looked up at the sky while clenching his fist.
"I wasn't finished talking." He grumbled.
He then shook it off as he pulled out what looked like a script.
"Listen up!" He said. "The situation is this: the villains have hidden a nuclear weapon somewhere in their hideout! The heroes must try to foil their plans. To do that the good guys either have to catch the evildoers or recover the weapon. Likewise, the bad guys succeed if they protect their payload or capture the heroes."
Sounded simple enough to Ayano, but she wasn't sure who her partner would be. And she didn't know if she and this partner could work together well. She would just have to wait and see. All Might then held up a box that had "lots" printed on the side with stick lots sticking out of the hole on top.
"Time is limited!" All Might said. "And we'll choose teams by drawing lots."
"Isn't there a better way?" Tenya asked.
"This seems like the best way to me." Ayano said from where she stood beside Katsuki.
Tenya looked at her inquiringly since he wasn't sure how she saw it as the best way. He wasn't saying she's wrong. Only that he can't see it from her point of view.
"Let me put it this way for her," Izuku began. "Pros often have to team up with heroes from other agencies on the spot, so maybe that's the reason why we're seeing that here."
"Yes, I see." Tenya said. "Life is a series of random events. Excuse my rudeness."
He bowed to All Might as he said this, but the top pro-hero didn't seem to upset.
"No sweat!" He said. "Let's Draw!"
Everyone went up to draw their lots, and once it was all over the teams were as followed.
Team A) Izuku and Ochaco
Team B) Ayano and Shoto
Team C) Minoru and Momo
Team D) Katsuki and Tenya
Team E) Mina and Hachiro
Team F) Kouji and Rikido
Team G) Denki and Kyoka
Team H) Fumikage and Tsuyu
Team I) Mashirao and Ayumi
Team J) Hanta and Eijiro
Team K) Yuga and Toru
Team L) Mezo and Konan
Ayano looked towards Shoto as he was looking towards her. She knew he was strong. He was sent in at a recommendation after all, but she had no idea how well he worked with others. They stared each other down a moment longer before looking back to the front as All Might went over to two other boxes that stood about waist tall to him. One was marked heroes while the other villains, and he put a hand in each one.
"I declare the first two teams to fight will be," He began then pulled out two different colored balls. "These guys!"
Ayano's eyes widened partially when seeing it was Izuku's team versus Katsuki's team. Out of all the bad luck in the damn world, Izuku had to be pitied against Katsuki at time she wouldn't be able to rush in and help him.
"Team A will be the heroes!" All Might said. "Team D will be the villains. Everyone else can head towards the monitoring room to watch."
"Yes, sir." The rest of the class said.
As the others headed inside, Ayano stayed back for a moment. She then looked towards her two childhood friends as they were staring each other down. Katsuki looked murderous while Izuku looked completely nervous. However, Izuku's hands clenched into fists as he took a moment to look away from Katsuki.
'No, I can't be afraid of him forever, and I can't rely on Ayano to save me every time,' He thought to himself. 'I won't be afraid of Kacchan anymore…I will beat him today.'
He then looked back at Katsuki with determination shining in his eyes, which obviously threw Katsuki off.
'Why is he looking at me like that?' Katsuki wondered as he went back to glaring at Izuku. 'He's just a little bug. A little bug I can crush whenever I want. Nothing's changed!'
As the two continued to stare, Ayano got a bad feeling in her stomach. The fight to come wouldn't be an easy one for her to watch. Ayano didn't snap out of her thoughts until a large, comforting warm hand was placed on her shoulder. She turned her head to look up at All Might.
"No reason to look so worried, Young Ishida." All Might said. "I will be watching the fight the entire time. If the boys get a bit too rough, I will end the fight before they can get too hurt."
"Yes, sir." Ayano said.
All Might then shooed her along, so she went to catch up to the rest of her classmates. Though as she walked she did glance back one more time at Katsuki and Izuku. The look of worry didn't leave her face, but she did turn around to continue going. All Might watched her go then turned to look at the two boys she was worried about. Neither of them seemed to notice how much Ayano was concerned about their fight. So he doubted neither of them would think to hold back to ease her mind. He'd have to make sure to keep a close eye on this battle because he too knew how intense it was going to be.
"Bad guys can go on in and get set up." All Might said. "In five minutes the good guys will be let loose and the battle will start."
"Yes, sir." The said nodding.
Ayano stood with the rest of the class in the monitoring room as they waited for All Might, who had joined them, to give the signal for the fight to commence. Ayano wasn't looking forward to having to watch this fight, and kept to the back of the group since she didn't want anyone seeing her upset expression.
"Alright!" All Might finally spoke. "Let's begin the indoor combat training! Team A and Team D, your time starts now!"
Once he gave the clear, Ochaco and Izuku entered the building to start looking for the weapon.
"Pay attention, kids." All Might said. "Think about what you would do."
Everyone paid close attention to the screens, and even if she didn't want to watch, Ayano made herself look up. She watched as Izuku and Ochaco scurried around corners in one screen before her eyes found Katsuki in another. He was stalking through the hallways looking for his prey, which she was sure is what he thought Izuku was.
He had a dark look of determination on his face, and she knew once he found Izuku, he wouldn't hold back. She continued watching the screens with her heart thumping a bit harder than usual as she saw Katsuki getting closer and closer to Izuku and Ochaco before he found them. He didn't jump in right away as he waited pressed against the wall as they got closer. Once close enough, he jumped out while immediately going for Izuku.
He threw a punch while barely missing Izuku who grabbed Ochaco and jumped backwards. His punch hit the way, which exploded due to his quirk. He used his arm to clear the smoke as he glared down at Izuku who was now sporting a half mask. He seemed to say something to Izuku, but there was no audio to go along with the video. Ayano didn't need audio though to know Katsuki was most likely taunting Izuku right now.
"He almost got the jump on him." Minoru said.
"A sneak attack, Bakugo?!" Eijiro exclaimed as he punched his open palm. "What kind of man pulls cheap crap like that?"
Ayano's hands clenched into fists as she continued to watch the screen as close as possible.
"It's a viable strategy." All Might said. "He's playing the part. Acting like a true villain would."
Katsuki was always good at playing the bad guy, but he wasn't really playing here. He wanted to hurt Izuku. Ayano could see it in his eyes.
"It didn't work!" Mina said. "Midoriya dodged it!"
"Look, there he goes!" Denki said pointing.
Katsuki charged Izuku rearing back his right hand. He always does start a big fight with his right hand. Ayano has noticed this after years of watching Katsuki get into fights. She knew Izuku knew this as well. Hopefully he'd use this to his advantage. Just as Katsuki made it close to Izuku, the green-haired boy grabbed Katsuki's arm shocking almost everyone including Katsuki. Then without hesitation Izuku turned his body to throw Katsuki over his shoulder to slam him into the ground. Ayano's eyes widened while surprised herself that Izuku managed to throw Katsuki like that.
Izuku seemed to say something to Katsuki as he was getting up, and even without sound, Ayano saw that Izuku's words had triggered Katsuki's rage. Katsuki stood up with his hands sparking as he shouted something at Izuku before getting ready to fight once more. As Ayano watched on, she knew what will happen next couldn't lead to anything good for either boy. And here she was unable to do a thing. She couldn't interfere like all those other times. She couldn't protect Izuku, and she couldn't try to keep Katsuki from completely giving into his anger.
"Izuku." Ayano said. "Kacchan."
Katsuki's mouth then started moving again, but he didn't seem to be speaking to Izuku this time.
"Who is Bakugo talking to?" Eijiro asked. "I'm not hearing anything. Can we get any sound with this video?"
"He's got a radio in his ear." All Might said pointing to the own radio in his ear. "So he can talk to his partner. I gave it to them before the match started. Along with a map of the building. Also this,"
He grabbed a roll of tape to hold up for the others to see. It didn't seem like a big deal, but it had to have some kind of importance.
"A roll of capture tape." All Might said. "Wrapping this around your opponent means you've apprehended them, and they're out the rest of the game."
"So there's a fifteen minute time limit, and the good guys have no idea which level the nuclear weapon is, right?" Mina asked.
"Correct!" All Might said.
"So the heroes are at a clear disadvantage here." Mina said. "A big one."
Many of the class mentally agreed with Mina, but kept their mouths shut as they looked to All Might for an explanation.
"Real pros have to outwit villains on a daily basis." All Might said. "That's life. Even when the odds aren't in our favor, we fight!"
Many of the students smiled in agreement as Ayano just kept her eyes on the screens.
"All together!" All Might said "Let's hear—!"
"Quiet, I'm trying to watch." Ayano cut them off.
All Might sweat-dropped as the others looked to Ayano who was watching intently. All Might supposes the young lady was in no mood for a plus ultra.
"Come on, Ishida," Eijiro said. "Calm down. Things are fine. I'm sure Bakugo won't be too rough on Midoriya."
"No, Katsuki is looking to hurt Izuku." Ayano said. "Not too badly…but he wants to show Izuku that he's the bug Katsuki has always thought of him to be. He wants to put Izuku back in the place Katsuki wants him to be. This isn't a simple training exercise to Katsuki, or even Izuku."
This had the class going quiet as they looked back to the fight as Katsuki went forward. As he and Izuku engaged, Ochaco went off after Izuku shouted something at her. The two swapped a few blows with the class commenting on Izuku's moves. Izuku then ran to make some distance between them, which was smart. The time continued to tick down as Katsuki searched for Izuku relentlessly. As Katsuki searched, Izuku paused in a corridor while obviously planning something as he thought through some strategy. Katsuki stalked through the corridors, and looking at his eyes showed Ayano he was getting angrier and angrier. It wouldn't be long before he exploded.
"Hey, Ishida," Hachiro said as he came to stand next to her.
Ayano spared him a glance since nothing was really happening at the moment on the screens.
"Don't look so worried." Hachiro said giving her a slight grin. "I can tell by the short time we've known each other that you have been looking after the two of them for a long time. Whenever a fight seemed to be brewing, I'm sure you always stepped in to keep them apart. I know it has to be hard to have to sit here and just watch as they fight each other, but maybe it will be good for them to fight it out."
Ayano looked down while wanting to think it'd be true. That they'd finally fight it out, and things would come out better in the end. But things have always been complicated between those two. It'd take much more than one fight to steady their shaky relationship.
"Maybe." She said out loud. "But Katsuki has lost himself in his anger. Whatever he does next…won't be pretty."
After saying that, Katsuki found Izuku, which had Ayano's eyes focused back on the screens. And it worried her more when Katsuki didn't immediately run into attack. In fact, he looked a bit too calm as he raised his right arm. Even when separated from the boys, they weren't so far away that their thoughts were out of range from her. She could pick up what Katsuki was thinking, and as he held out his hand and readied his gauntlets, her eyes widened.
"He can't be serious." Ayano said as he reached for the pin. 'Katsuki, no!'
Her voice seemed to reach him since he hesitated for a second, but he then set his face firm as he went to pull the pin. He even ignored All Might who told him not to do it. He pulled the pin with a huge explosion happening that made the entire building shake even where they stood. As All Might called for Izuku to call in, Ayano looked at the large wall caused by Katsuki's attack. She could still hear Izuku's thoughts, so she knew he was okay. But knowing Katsuki used that on Izuku had her shook up.
The smoke started to clear with Katsuki stalking through it while looking ready to keep going as Izuku was trying to gain his bearings. Over on the other screen, Ochaco went for the weapon, but Tenya kept it from her. As they faced off, Katsuki continued to wait for Izuku to get up to fight.
"Sir, isn't this getting out of hand?" Eijiro asked. "Bakugo is acting real crazy. He's going to kill him!"
"Kirishima!" Kyoka hissed from behind him.
Eijiro looked at her in confusion, so she looked pointedly at Ayano. He looked at her as well while wincing when seeing her worried look. He shouldn't have said that. All Might looked back at Ayano as well as the girl had her hands clenching the front of her shirt as if she was trying to keep herself together. He knew he needed to stop this, but all three of these students needed this to continue. Izuku and Katsuki both were determined to keep going, and Ayano…Ayano needed to see that she couldn't step in every time these two clash. She needed to understand she couldn't be a shield for either of them forever. But he could do something without stopping the fight. He looked back to the screen as he gripped the mic in his hands.
"Bakugo," All Might addressed the hot-tempered youth. "Use that stored up power again, and I will stop this fight and your team will lose."
That go Katsuki's attention as he turned his head up to where All Might's voice was coming from.
"To employ such a strong attack indoors is inviting the destruction of the strong hold you should be protecting." All Might said. "That's a poor strategy whether you're a hero or a villain. The penalty will be a massive loss of points."
Katsuki looked down with his shoulders visibly shaking. He wasn't happy at all, which means he'll lash out. However, this time it will be hand to hand combat. He won't use that power again. Katsuki gave a shout then went after Izuku.
As they were about to clash, Izuku went to make a punch, but Katsuki used his quirk to change his position to behind Izuku and fire. As Shoto and Momo explained Katsuki's move, the fight continued. The fight moved in Katsuki's favor, and he continued to pummel him into the ground, which had the class murmuring together about it all. Izuku put space between them, but it didn't last before they ran at each other once more. Ayano gasped realizing what was going to happen.
"Stop this fight now!" Ayano snapped. "Please!"
It was too late though even as All Might yelled at them to stop. Katsuki hit Izuku who took the hit then used his other arm to send the attack he hand planned up into the air. He took the blunt of Katsuki's explosion as his own power ripped through the building and put a whole in the roof. During the chaos, Ochaco made her move, which lead to the heroes capturing the weapon. As All Might declared the winners, Ayano's arms dropped down to her side. She stared at the screen at Izuku, who was bruised and broken laid on the ground, and Katsuki, who looked shook up. Both of them were suffering from this fight. Izuku physically and Katsuki mentally. How could she help either of them?