"Deku-kun!?" Uraraka shouted after the boy. He had immediately jumped out of his seat after hearing Midnight's announcement of the winner. Uraraka was already worried after seeing the state that Ayano was in, but the look of utter panic on Midoriya's face had her incredibly uneasy.
The green-haired boy hadn't even heard his classmates' shouts, running as if his life depended on it. He had come across a very disheveled and beat up Ayano before. She cared very little about her own safety when it came to testing out her support items.
Even visiting her in the hospital after the sludge incident could not hold a candle to what he just witnessed. He had never seen Ayano in such a state. He had never seen her fight so audaciously, so riskily.
It shook him to his core.
There was just one thing on his mind and it was to check up on his friend, the distant voices of his classmates just mere background noise.
Bakugou had the same thoughts. In fact, he was the first to move. His movements were stopped, however, by Uraraka's shouts. Her voice directed his attention to the green-haired boy running off to the infirmary.
The blond nearly growled, not only at the damned nerd but at himself. What was he getting so worked up for!? It's not like Ayano needed to be babied! He knew that better than anyone. And why would he need to care about her?
So, why did this anxiety inside of him keep growing?
Unknowingly, he was having an internal debate about whether or not to rush to her side.
"Man, that girl is only in the Support Department!?" "I know, right? First that General Studies boy, and now her! What is U.A. thinking?"
"I heard she's quirkless!" "Well, I guess they can't help it then."
"But she just went toe-to-toe with Endeavor's boy! If only she had a quirk…" "Yeah, it's such a shame!"
Bakugou scowled. This time, it was because of what he was hearing rather than his thoughts. Those idiots would never understand. They were just a bunch of extras.
"You know, I can't say I disagree with what the audience is saying…" Sero commented. "Yeah, seriously! If she could do that to Todoroki with just support items, imagine what she could do with a quirk!" Kirishima exclaimed.
Kaminari snickered. "You guys went up against the same person, but she lasted way longer. Guess she could easily beat you as a hero, Sero!" "Heyyy!"
Mina chimed in. "She's super strong though! Are we sure she doesn't have a quirk?" Tsuyu nodded, placing her finger near her mouth in thought. "I wonder what her quirk would be if she had one, kero."
All of the side conversations stopped when they heard a loud clang of metal. They all turned their heads to look at Bakugou. He was sitting in the front row and had kicked at the metal railings in front of him. The kick was so strong that some parts of the railing were still left vibrating.
What was really jarring though, was the ferocity in his eyes.
He had a scowl on his face like he usually did, but it wasn't like the ones he used for Midoriya or others. It wasn't one of his villain-like outbursts either.
It was seething rage.
His eyes slanted aggressively, surely causing wrinkles in his future. His lips were sloped downward in a deep frown. His jaw tightened from gritting his teeth, a slight sound being produced from the grinding.
Nobody said or did anything for a while. Eventually, Bakugou silently got up and trudged his way to the exit at the back. These idiots would never understand either. Ayano didn't need a quirk.
She never did.
"AYA-CHAN!" Midoriya burst into the room, only to be met with the blank stares of both Ayano and Recovery Girl.
His childhood friend was sitting up on the bed with her right arm stretched out, Recovery Girl in the middle of bandaging it.
The older woman sighed in annoyance. "Is everyone just making a point to barge into my office without knocking today?! Hmph!" She scolded the boy, small puffs of steam blowing out from her ears.
"S-Sorry!" Midoriya apologized as she continued bandaging Ayano's arm, bowing a couple of times for good measure.
He peeked at his friend's condition. Her tattered gym uniform was now replaced with a fresh one, not a tear or speck of dirt in sight. Except for her right arm, any place he could see skin no longer held any scratches or bruises, having been completely healed.
Recovery Girl cut off the bandages from the rest of the roll, patting Ayano's arm. "There you go, sweetie. All finished!" She thanked the woman, turning her arm over to inspect it. The bandages started at her elbow and stopped a little after her knuckles. She clenched and unclenched her fist, rolling her wrist around to relieve the tension in her joints.
"What is the purpose of your visit?" She finally addressed the boy. "To check up on you, of course! I was worried!" Still not sparing him a glance, she responded in a monotone voice. "Am I so weak that I need to be worried about?"
Midoriya flinched. "I-It's not that! I didn't mean it that way!" "The next match is starting soon, is it not?" Ayano asked, seemingly changing the subject. "I believe you should be worried about not being able to take notes. Also, if there is anything about me you should be worried about, it would be the same thing."
The boy furrowed his brow, wondering what she was getting at. "As you can see, I am perfectly fine with Recovery Girl's guidance. However, I still need to rest here for a little longer. It is possible that I will be unable to observe the next fights." Ayano looked at her childhood friend with her normal impassive expression.
"I would appreciate it if you could go and take notes for the both of us." Midoriya's eyes widened. He should have known better than to come here. Ayano was plenty strong by herself. It would seem harsh to other people but to Midoriya, this was her way of saying not to worry about her.
Once again, he was in awe at her strength. Giving her a bright smile, Midoriya nodded. "I'll be sure to take notes, but I definitely can't make as detailed ones as yours. So, get better quick, Aya-chan!" With that, he dashed off back to the stadium's bleachers.
Ayano returned to inspecting her injured arm, using the other hand to poke and prod at it. "I could have easily healed it completely you know. Of course, that doesn't mean I would do it every time but unlike your reckless friend, you don't make a habit of coming here." Recovery Girl noted, explaining that she would have made a one-time exception.
Ayano nodded, knowing full well of the woman's capabilities. "The sludge incident was different since I could only make periodic visits, but I'm right here now. There isn't much need for this arm to be scarred as well, is there?" As a nurse, Recovery Girl had the impulse to heal her arm, but if the patient didn't want it, there wasn't much she could do. All she could do was ask why.
"It is because I do not make a habit of coming here that I do not want you to heal it completely. As you say, it is not good to rely on your power so much." Recovery Girl raised her eyebrow at that. "I said I would make an exception this time though."
"Yes. However, I have other reasons for leaving it as is. These scars…they will serve as a warning of sorts. A reminder." There was a deep look in Ayano's eyes that Recovery Girl couldn't exactly decipher. Thinking better of interrogating the girl further, she let it be. If Ayano did not want her arm to be fully healed, it was not her place to judge.
"Well, I still healed a lot of your other injuries so your stamina levels should be quite low." The nurse dug into her pocket. "I have some candies for you, or you could use those stamina pills of yours that you gave Midoriya-kun before. Although, you seem fine right now." She raised an eyebrow, having realized something. "Speaking of which, is there any reason why you didn't use them during the match?"
"I have tested them on Izuku before, but they can still be quite unstable when fighting. Those pills give a short burst of energy. Against someone like Todoroki-san, it would only offer a very temporary solution. In fact, if that burst of energy is used up so quickly, it will cause the user to become even more exhausted than before. I gave them to Midoriya that one time because he was not active. It served as more of a boost to his recuperation, and it is still in the progress of being improved. It would have been much too dangerous to use in the middle of the fight." Ayano explained.
Recovery Girl hummed in thought. "If you ever need advice on them, you can ask me. If it gets perfected, something like that would be just the thing for my patients or even other hospitals. It would be a great service to the world if a medication like that is approved by the government."
Ayano smiled at her. "I will be sure to take your offer." The woman smiled back at her, handing her a butterscotch candy anyways. "Alright, now go back and watch the rest of your matches if you're fine." She pushed on her back, prompting her to go out the door.
As soon as Ayano turned the corner, she spoke. "How sweet of you to visit me." Although, nothing in her voice indicated that it was so.
Bakugou was leaning against the wall, the scowl still evident on his face as he looked at the wall opposite him. He was slouching, his hands stuffed into his pockets. At Ayano's voice, he looked at her and clicked his tongue in annoyance. "I didn't come here for you. My fight is next. I was just going to the waiting rooms."
As she was about to walk past him, he pushed himself off the wall and walked by her side. Ayano gently smiled.
They both new that the waiting rooms were in the opposite direction. Even if they weren't, there was no reason for him to stop here, nor was there any reason for him to walk at the same slow pace that Ayano was.
It didn't matter though. Ayano didn't need a verbal confirmation from him.
"Besides, you fucked up the entire arena so everyone's waiting for it to be fixed." Ayano smirked. "I will make a note to apologize to Cementoss then."
The two continued walking in silence, slowly making their way back to the stadium. Ayano thought about the many adjustments she could make to her support items, as well as new things she could make for her opponents.
Bakugou kept stealing glances at Ayano's bandaged arm. The bandages stopped a little after her knuckles, leaving the tops of her fingers open for view. On them, he could see slight cuts and small scars. He also noticed the scars on her left arm, the ones left from the sludge incident. He scowled again, growing annoyed for some reason.
"Bakugou…" His scowl disappeared, giving her his full attention. "I…I am sorry for not being able to reach you."
He frowned at her, although he wasn't mad at her at all. "Dumbass…" Was his only response, but Ayano knew it was his way of telling her that it didn't matter to him. It was his way of saying that she would be stupid to worry about something like this.
Ayano smiled again, but she suddenly stumbled. She managed to catch herself. She placed the palm of her hand onto her head, near her temple. The girl had underestimated just how tired she was and overestimated how much stamina she had.
She felt a strong arm wrapping around her waist and her left arm being slid over broad shoulders. Her entire weight shifted, being supported by Bakugou.
"I am fully capable of walking by myself." "Shut up." The girl just sighed and shook her head. They continued walking forward again in silence.
"…You better win it all." She demanded. Bakugou scoffed. "I was going to do that without you telling me to. The best hero always wins." She wanted to laugh at his very familiar words from childhood.
He then frowned. "I'll pay that half-and-half bastard back." He muttered under his breath, but Ayano easily heard him with how close she was.
With her left arm over Bakugou's shoulders, her bandaged right arm was left to dangle at her side. Her hand cupped over a pouch on her utility belt, feeling the stamina pills that could easily restore her stamina and have her walking just fine by herself.
She removed her hand from the pouch, deciding to just lean into Bakugou's warmth further.