I'm basing the dialogue off of the manga + anime transcripts, but if I can change wording around to make it flow better I will. Basically, I do what I want and you can't stop me :)

And since I can't seem to find a place to respond to a review on , I'll respond here (sorry if it skews the word count :/ oh well) Someone called this work a "masterpiece" and… wow um thank you! Haha I haven't posted for… quite a while lol so I forgot how good just small comments like that make me feel all warm and fuzzy :D

Another person (or the same) commented about the time skip (chapter 4-chapter 5 it skips 5 years) and I totally agree it is a big jump, I'm just a bit impatient so I didn't wanna spend too much time on their childhood. Though in all likelihood we will be revisiting it, at least as often as canon does. And they also mentioned that they hope I don't forget that Izuku and co. are 15-16 when they get to UA, and no, I didn't forget lol. But I totally see why people get confused, I had to do a lot of research to figure out the Japanese school system to figure out their ages and what grade they would be in.

A lot of research in general lol, but it was really fun because I learned A LOT about Japan and its culture just through half a dozen articles about their school system. Did you know everyone in Japan used to consider their "birthday" on the same day (as in when they would "age up") which corresponds to the school year? However, after influences from Western culture were introduced (celebrating one's birthday on the day they were born) younger generations would give gifts on the day they were born, modeled after the Western template. Sorry that was a bit of a tangent but I think it's interesting but I don't know if it could fit in this story anywhere lol.

Thank you both for reviewing, I appreciate it so so much :D

April 10th, 2017 (1 year later, Ayano is 14)

Izuku and Ayano walked into class together, laughing about a joke one of them had shared. Ayano caught Katsuki's eye as the pair made their way to their seats. She ignored him and kept chatting with Izuku until they reached their desks, Ayano in the middle of the back row and Izuku directly in front of her. While the other students trickled in, Ayano considered why Katsuki and her had grown cold.

Her mind flipped through the close to six years she had known the two boys she called friends. She had known since the first day that the blonde was a pent up ball of rage, but he seemed to grow a lot while Izuku, Katsuki and her would hang out together. In the last year, however, his violent outbreaks became more and more frequent. Ayano had tried to calm him down as she had done before: distracting him or pissing him off more than the person he was attacking. Unfortunately, it slowly stopped working as Katsuki became more annoyed at smaller things. Soon enough, just hearing Izuku speak could set him off. Ayano wasn't entirely sure why Katsuki hated Izuku so much, but after seeing one too many bruises on the quirkless boy, she decided to keep them apart at all costs.

That had been about two months ago, and Ayano refused to speak with Katsuki until he apologized, which all three of them knew wouldn't happen. After she made it clear he was no longer welcome, he effortlessly slid back into his old friend group who worshiped the ground he walked on, which of course didn't help his God complex.

"You guys are all third-years now, it's time to start thinking seriously about your futures!" Ayano was lost in her thoughts, mostly ignoring the sensei up front. "I would hand out these future career forms, but…" He tossed the stack of papers he was holding into the air. How nice, I pity the people who signed up for classroom clean-up today, "I assume you all want to be heroes!"

Various yells of approval filled the classroom, Ayano watched Izuku hunch into his desk. Huh, wonder what he- oh. Sensei's probably gonna mention the UA thing. The exact thing Izuku was just telling me he was hoping that Katsuki would not find out about.

She wasn't surprised when Katsuki yelled over everyone from his seat in the middle of the classroom. "Sensei, don't lump me in with these losers!" He kicked his feet onto his desk, "As if my quirk could be compared to any of theirs." The fourteen year old scoffed.

A student yelled from his desk across the room, "Get over yourself, Katsuki!"

Katsuki was less mature in his response, "Shut up! Extras should act like extras!"

Sensei looked through the papers in front of him, "Oh, if I remember correctly, you want to go to U.A. High, right, Bakugo?"

A random kid to Ayano's left asked a rhetorical question, "U.A.? That national school?!"

"It was in the top 0.2% this year, you know!?" A girl in the front row looked awestruck as she looked towards Katsuki. Ayano's eyes rolled.

"Their acceptance rate is always really low, too!"

Ayano could almost feel her eyes roll to the back of her head when she saw Katsuki jump onto his desk, "That's exactly why you guys are just extras! I aced the mock test, I'm the only one at this school who could possibly get into U.A.! I'll definitely surpass All Might and become the top hero. My name'll be inscribed on the list of top earners!"

"Oh," Sensei decided to interrupt Katsuki's bragging fest, "Yeah, Midoriya wanted to go to U.A., too, right?"

The brunette looked at the boy in the seat in front of hers, she noticed his flinch at the mention of his name. The class had gone quiet as everyone turned to look at Izuku, then erupted into laughter. Another kid, Ayano couldn't recall the name of this guy either, called out, "Huh? Midoriya? No way!" He was laughing through his words, finding himself hilarious, "You can't get into the hero course just by studying!"

Izuku gained some confidence and stood up at his desk, "Th-They got rid of that rule! I could be the first…"

Ayano was barely too slow to react when Katsuki used his quirk on Izuku's desk. Izuku flew by her head and landed on his ass behind her. She immediately jumped up to stand by him. The angry blonde ignored her as he glared at the quirkless boy by her side, "Listen up, Deku. You're even worse than these damn rejects, you quirkless wannabe. You really think they'll let someone like you in when they can have me?!"

"Hey!" Ayano stood up to block Katsuki's view of Izuku and used her quirk to trap Katsuki's arms. Since every other kid was already showing off their quirks it wasn't like she could get in trouble for trying to diffuse the hot head. The blonde growled at her, making her tilt her head. "Did you just gr-?" Since her voice was barely audible even to her, she wasn't offended when Izuku interrupted her.

"No, wait, Kacchan! It's not like I'm trying to compete with you or anything!" Izuku was on the floor, he scooted further from Katsuki and Ayano until he hit the wall, "Believe me! It's just that it's been my goal ever since I was little. And well...I won't know unless I try…"

The angered boy grunted while he fought uselessly against the bubbles holding his arms against his body. He glared at Izuku, "Whaddya mean, 'unless you try'?! Are you taking the test for fun?! What the hell can you do!? You're Quirkless!"

"Katsuki!" Ayano was right in his face, matching his glare, "What the hell is your problem?"

The classroom that was filled with cheers a second ago fell silent. Although the rivalry between the pair was public knowledge, everyone also knew that it had been months since they spoke to each other.

Katsuki ignored her question, glaring at Izuku over her shoulder, "Deku! How could you ever become a hero if you need to be protected all the time?"

Ayano wanted to defend Izuku, but she honestly couldn't think of anything to say, so instead she quickly dismissed her bubbles then pushed Katsuki back into her desk before he could steady himself.

She glared at the blonde as she helped Izuku up, but he wasn't looking at them anymore. I guess he got his point across then…

Not much longer after the class had settled, they were released to go home.

Ayano looked over Izuku's shoulder and tried to decipher what he was reading about on his phone. Articles flashed on the screen and she was able to make only pieces before he scrolled down again. She had gotten a lot better a Japanese even over the last year, but reading as fast as Izuku might take her a bit more practice. Her mind was able to recognise the date and time easily enough, all of them were from April 10th, that day. The titles contained a lot of 'villain' and 'Kamui Woods' along with a superhero name she didn't recognize, 'Mt Lady'.

She poked Izuku's shoulder, "Whatcha readin'?"

He jumped a bit before answering, "Oh, there was a huge villain downtown this morning! Kamui Woods was about to use his chain prison when Mt. Lady interrupted to make her debut with a flying kick. Her quirk looks like regular gigantification, but she's surely going to be noticed in the cramped city!"

Ayano considered the new hero, "Yeah, she'll be noticed, but getting big seems to correlate with a lot of property damage, so she's definitely going to have some haters."

Izuku smiled, "I thought the same thi-" He had gone to grab his notebook labeled 'Hero Analysis For My Future No. 13', but Katsuki swiped it before he could put it in his bag.

"We're not done talking yet, Deku." There was murderous intent in Katsuki's eyes, yet Ayano still wasn't even sure what he was mad at Izuku for.

One of his friends read the cover of the notebook, "What's that, Katsuki?"

She could tell he recognised it. How could he not? They both saw Izuku carry around previous versions of the notebook everywhere for at least half a decade.

Katsuki's other friend read the cover, too, "Huh?! Don't tell me you're taking notes on how to be a hero?!"

Thing 1 and 2 decided to add insult to injury, "Man, you're so pathetic."

"More like delusional!" The fact that Katsuki wasn't speaking made her nervous, but she couldn't figure out what was going on inside his thick skull.

Izuku was frantic, "Hey, come on, give it back!" Ayano's heart dropped as she recognized the look on the blonde's face. Before she could even think about bubbling his hands, the notebook was between them and charred black from his quirk. "Huhhh?!" Izuku was shaking in shock, "Why…?" Katsuki scoffed, turned towards the window, and tossed the notebook out, not bothering to check where it landed.

Ayano's mouth was hanging open, she was barely able to react in time.

The bully continued speaking as if he hadn't just ruined one of Izuku's most prized possessions, "Most top first-string heroes have stories about them from their school days. I want the shine of being able to be called the only student to make it into U.A. from this mediocre city junior high school. I mean, I'm a perfectionist."

"So vain..." Ayano couldn't agree more with what Thing 2 (she didn't feel bad for not knowing their names anymore) said under his breath.

Katsuki laid his still smoking hand on Izuku's shoulder. He flinched as Katsuki spoke, "So anyway, don't apply to U.A., nerd."

Ayano was staring at the boy she had called a friend only a few months ago in shock as his possy walked towards the door. She couldn't believe how much worse he had gotten since returning to his old friends. A quick glance out the window made her sigh in relief for Izuku's sake, but before she could show him, Thing 2 decided they weren't done tormenting the quirkless boy. He turned around to see Izuku shaking while frozen to his spot, "Come on, you could at least say something back."

Thing 1 dismissed the idea quickly, "He finally gets it. He'll never be a hero. Better find now then later, I guess."

Katsuki was smirking as he looked over his shoulder at Izuku, once again pretending Ayano didn't exist, "You know if you really want to be a hero that badly, there's actually another way. Just pray that you'll be born with a quirk in your next life and take a swan dive off the roof of the building."

Ayano was over her shock at how much her friend had changed. It took less than a second to pin Katsuki in place with a red bubble surrounding his torso, and she would have paid to frame the look on his face as she prepared to knock some sense into him. However, something stopped her from punching said face into next week.

Izuku's hand on her arm pulled her back, and hesitantly she released Katsuki from the crimson bubble. Like always, she felt the satisfying 'pop' that accompanied each dismissal of a bubble in her bones. She glared at him and his minions as he left, but didn't leave Izuku's side.

After he was gone, she turned to her friend to see him shaking and looking down. At first she thought it was fear, so she reached out to him, but she noticed his fists were clenched. She looked closer at his face to see he was glaring at where Katsuki was standing a few seconds ago. He was definitely scared, because if he wasn't terrified of Katsuki, he would've tried to punch him like Ayano had planned to do.

But that train of thought led to one question: "Why did you stop me?" They had begun their walk downstairs and outside to where the idiot blonde had thrown the notebook.

Izuku took a deep breath before answering, "Because if you got in trouble, you might get suspended, and we can't go to UA together if you go and get yourself suspended. Again." He grinned at the memory.

"Hey! I wasn't technically suspended, they called it 'Probation'." Her tone was annoyed, but she was obviously happy to see a smile on Izuku's face.

Izuku laughed, "Yeah, yeah, whatever helps you sleep at night."

They opened the doors after slipping their shoes on, and when Izuku looked up, he gasped. He hadn't thought it through yet, but Katsuki's aim would've landed his notebook exactly in the fish pond. Izuku didn't want it, but a flash of jealousy marked his mind along with gratitude when he saw that Ayano had used her quirk to make a red half bubble over the pond hoping to catch the notebook. Her aim was a bit off, as his notebook was teetering on the edge of her 'bowl', half the pages inside and half out, hanging on by the spine. As he picked it up, he could only be thankful that it hadn't taken a swim. He turned back to Ayano to bow in thanks, but she wrapped her arm around his shoulders and started their walk home instead.

They talked about random things as he flipped through the crispy pages, the majority of them mostly intact even after Katsuki burned it. He couldn't help but reminisce about the time before he had found out he was part of the quirkless 20%. He had idolized All Might, still had really. He still wanted to become a hero just like the current #1.

But if he wanted to even get close to this dream, he had to be strong. Stronger and braver than his peers lucky enough to have quirks.

As they passed under a bridge, Ayano joked about a show they were watching at home. Izuku's laugh came out louder and more forced than before. Her next joke was interrupted.

There was a wet sound behind them, then a distorted voice made the two middle-schoolers jump out of their skins. "You'll make a perfect skinsuit for hiding, kid." Ayano turned her head to see a goopy arm that smelled like a sewer zooming straight for her.

Her first instinct wrapped her in a yellow bubble, but she didn't think through the whole inertia thing. The force from the liquid arm smacking her bubble full force knocked it, with Ayano inside, towards the support of the bridge they were under. Unfortunately, the sunshine yellow bubble isn't designed to hold anything in, just keep stuff out. The brunette girl smacked her head into the concrete wall hard enough to knock her clean out.

あきら End Chapter 8 あやの