"I'll be your hero!"
Two small children were walking down the street. One with ash blond hair and another with coffee brown hair. The young, brown-haired girl was fiddling with some sort of gadget in her hands as she walked. The ash blond boy stealing glances at her from time to time.
His attention soon shifted to the window of an electronics store. A television was on display and its screen showed an ever rising All Might facing off against four villains. The young boy quickly ran up to the store window, his eyes lighting up. The girl followed him, her eyes also watching the screen, but with much less excitement and more curiosity.
"Man, All Might's so cool! Look! You seen this one? All Might's totally the coolest! It's four-on-one! No way he can win, right?! But look! There! Dodge! Punch! Then feint…See! He won!" The boy exclaimed, his hands and body moving about to match his words.
"No matter how bad it looks, he always wins in the end! He's definitely the most amazing hero!" His body kept bouncing from excitement, his eyes never leaving the screen.
The girl beside him hummed in thought. "…I guess he is…" Her hesitant voice did not escape the boy's attention.
"What's that supposed to mean?!" He demanded, as if he were getting offended on the behalf of the aforementioned hero.
"Nothing, really!" The girl waved her hands about, worried that she may have upset her friend. "I'm sure he has to be the most amazing hero since he's number one…"
She paused, unsure if further explanation would make him angrier. "…I just don't admire him as much as you do, Kacchan. That's all."
The boy frowned and his brows furrowed. "Why not? You just said he's the most amazing hero!"
"He is! But everyone thinks that! Just because he's the most amazing doesn't mean he's my favorite." She explained.
Bakugou's face grew even more confused. Upon seeing his expression, Ayano began fidgeting. "I think the heroes from our district are better than All Might…"
She quickly continued before Bakugou could interrupt her. "Not because I think they're stronger! All Might is definitely the strongest! I just like them more because they're closer to us, you know? If we were ever in danger, it wouldn't be All Might coming to save us. He's too far! It would be the heroes right here!"
"All Might is everyone's hero, not just ours. With the local heroes, it feels like they're our heroes because they're so much closer to us. That's why I like them more.
Ayano fidgeted even more under Bakugou's piercing gaze. He was contemplating her words. He could sort of understand her reasoning, but All Might was still the coolest! Even if he wasn't close to them.
"Then…who's your favorite hero then?" He asked. Ayano looked up in thought. "I don't think I have one yet."
"Huh?! You can't say all that and then not have a favorite hero!" The blond shouted at her. She smiled sheepishly, completely understanding the inconsistency in her logic. "Well, it's not like I've ever actually met one of the heroes from around here. I'm sure that if I ever get to, they'd become my personal number one hero."
For some reason, Bakugou didn't like the sound of that. Hearing that she didn't like All Might the most was one thing, but this was another. He was upset, but it wasn't for the same reasons. Hearing that someone else would become her number one hero rubbed him the wrong way for reasons he couldn't explain.
"…It'll be me." He mumbled. She looked at him with confusion, a questioning sound coming from her mouth.
"I said it'll be me! You've already met me and I'm definitely going to become a hero, so I'll be your number one hero for sure! I'm closer to you than even All Might, right? I'll even surpass him so even if you did get to meet him, I'd still be your number one!"
"I'll be your hero!"
Ayano looked at him in shock. The tears had stopped flowing entirely because of how surprised she was at his words.
Bakugou continued shouting at her. "What does it matter if All Might is done for?! Everything will be fine if someone just replaces him, right?! If that's the case, I'll replace him! I'll surpass him and become the number one hero! You won't have to feel like this if there's someone better, right?! Then, I'll become the most amazing hero! The one that's closer to you than even All Might! The one that you'll admire even more than him!"
He was panting. The shouting and anger within him slowly subsiding after seeing her reaction. Had he gotten through to her, even just a little?
Ayano couldn't believe what she was hearing. Did he really mean all of those things? Only an idiot would say such stuff! Not to mention, his words were pretty embarrassing. It was basically the same things he said when they were children.
Was he doing this on purpose? No, it didn't seem like that. So, he really does mean all the things he's proclaiming. He really hadn't changed. How can he say such embarrassing things like that with such conviction?
Speaking of which, how did she even respond to him back then? Oh, that's right. She said something pretty embarrassing too.
"Kacchan…You're already my hero!"
It seems she hadn't changed either. Ayano still felt the same way, and she was angry at herself for taking this long to realize it.
At the bombardment of childhood memories coupled with realizing her feelings, Ayano began to cry again. These tears, however, were tears of joy. She started to laugh. A laugh of immense relief. Her heart felt so much lighter now, the weight on her shoulders diminishing.
Bakugou frowned, unsure of what to do. "Are you laughing or crying!? Pick one!"
Ayano just laughed more at his flustered reaction. "You really haven't changed…" She said quietly. She debated on whether or not to say the same words as she did when she was a child.
"You're already my hero!"
Ayano furiously shook her head. There's no way she'd say something so embarrassing like that again. She wasn't ready yet, and he already had such a big ego. There was no point in swelling his head further. At least, that's what she used to convince herself.
Taking a deep breath, she looked at him dead in the eye. He flinched, seeing the conviction in them.
"Katsuki…" His heart might have just skipped a beat at hearing her use his first name like that.
"Thank you." Her eyes softened and the ends of her lips tilted up into a gentle smile. She had smiled at him plenty of times before, but this was the first time she had done it so openly. It was the first time he was looking.
It was the first one he had actually seen.
His blush grew even deeper when he realized that he was still straddling her from before. Quickly jumping off of her, he looked away to hide the deep blush on his face. "Thank me for what?! Knocking some sense into you?! If you're ever so pathetic again, I'll be sure to hit you twice as hard next time!"
His gruff way of saying things never changed. Although, this time it was because he wanted to hide his feelings.
Ayano gave a breathy laugh as she got up. "There will not be a next time." She promised.
Bakugou stared at her, deciphering whether or not she was telling the truth. His eyes travelled to her cheeks. She had stopped crying, but the tears still streaked her cheeks. With her arms still bound by the straitjacket, she had no way of wiping them.
His hand cupped the side of her face, his thumb rubbing the tears. Although a bit rough, Ayano didn't mind his touch at all.
"Good. You're stronger than that." He declared, his eyes staring into hers. He stopped himself from saying anything further, only letting the rest run through his thoughts. "I can't bear to see you like that."
After wiping the rest of the tears off, Bakugou shoved his hand back into his pocket, seemingly embarrassed by his actions. Ayano smiled at him again, but he was already looking away to hide the returning blush.
Taking another deep breath, Ayano looked up at an odd angle. "I am prepared to speak with you all now. You have my word that I will not act out again."
Bakugou realized that she must have been looking into one of the hidden cameras. He smirked. Even while in such a crazed state, she was still able to observe her surroundings clearly.
She truly is amazing.
A click echoed through the room. The lock on the door was released.
Ayano walked past Bakugou, the fire returning in her eyes. He followed after her, the small smile still on his face.
As they returned to the monitoring room, many of the teachers still looked concerned. Ayano gave them a deep bow. Still bowing, she spoke. "I deeply apologize for my behavior. It was unbecoming, irrational, and caused you much trouble. I am fully prepared to receive any punishment that you deem fit."
Junk Master walked closer to her. "Sasaki, kiddo…That's not what we're worried about right now. You went through so much, and we neglected you. We failed you."
The girl shook her head. "The fault does not lie with any of you. If anybody could be faulted, it would be me…" She took a glance at Bakugou that did not go unnoticed by the boy. "Although, I no longer blame myself for everything. Bakugou helped me realize that."
The boy felt a pang of disappointment at hearing his last name rather than his first.
The teachers looked at each other, trying to see if anybody had any objections. She certainly seemed much better, but they had also been wrong before. Principal Nezu spoke up. "Then, about your letter of withdrawal…"
Ayano interrupted him. "I would like to rescind my letter of withdrawal. Of course, if you feel that part of my punishment is to be removed from the Support Department, then I will accept your decision."
The principal smiled at her. "I don't believe that's necessary. You seem to have reflected on your actions and like your teacher said, we are also to blame for this whole ordeal. The Support Department would be losing a very valuable student, would you not agree?" He asked, looking up at Junk Master.
The man gave a firm nod. "Your place is with us, making support items." He then smirked at Ayano. "But don't think I'll let you off the hook that easily! I expect a reflection paper submitted to me by the end of tomorrow!"
Ayano smiled and bowed again. "I greatly appreciate all of your concerns and leniency. As for making support items goes…" Her smile disappeared into a slight frown. "…I do not intend to neglect my studies. However, I believe it may take me a bit more time to assimilate back to how things were. Making support items should be fine, but weapons…"
She looked away, as if she were disappointed in herself. Junk Master placed a comforting hand on her shoulder. "It's okay, I understand." He said gently. In truth, he was just relieved that she no longer saw support items and weapons as being synonymous.
For now, he would settle with just letting her make support items that were not geared towards combat. "Alrighty! Now, let's get you out of that thing!" He exclaimed, referring to the straitjacket.
"That is unnecessary." Ayano said in her normal monotone voice. Junk Master's eyes bulged, seeing her with her arms completely free. The extra-long sleeves of the straitjacket dangled over her hands. She easily removed it to reveal her uniform underneath.
The other teachers were astonished as well, many of them with their mouths agape. "For the record, I could have gotten out at any time. There was just no reason to earlier. I am quite shocked to know that the esteemed U.A. still uses such outdated equipment like this. It seems as though the school never had any problem students before, but I believe that should not be an excuse to not keep equipment updated."
She neatly folded the straitjacket and handed it to Junk Master. "I would not be opposed to helping update the equipment. In fact, that could be my first returning assignment." She suggested.
Junk Master gave a boisterous laugh. "You're full of surprises, you know that? Sure! Why not! Think you can have it done in five days?"
Ayano smirked. "I'll have it done in three." She spoke confidently, causing her teacher to laugh again. The other teachers smiled in relief, glad to have her somewhat back to normal.
With mostly everything being resolved, Ayano and Bakugou returned together to the dorms. As they walked in, they were met with most of the 1-A students hanging around in the lounge.
Upon seeing his two childhood friends, Midoriya dashed up to them. "Aya-chan! Is everything okay?"
She stared into his worried eyes, feeling quite a bit of guilt. "Yes, everything is okay." Unlike last time, she looked right at him when she said this. The green-haired boy sighed with relief and smiled at her, knowing that she was telling the truth.
She made a mental note to give him a proper apology later when they would be given more privacy.
The rest of his classmates gave a sort of celebratory cheer, several of them coming up to check on Ayano personally.
"Man, you sure are scary when you want to be, Aya-chan! I can't believe so many of the teachers had to restrain you!" Sero exclaimed.
Kaminari snickered. "Maybe not as scary as Bakugou though. You should've seen him when he heard that his girlfriend was in trouble!"
Ayano looked at Bakugou with a single eyebrow raised. The boy ignored her, choosing instead to glare at his classmate.
She, however, did not miss the slight reddening of his cheeks.
"You gotta admit, he was pretty manly though! To go after your girl when you know she's in trouble!" Kirishima teased, causing the other two to chuckle.
That was the last straw, as Bakugou lunged forward to tackle the three boys. Several explosions and electric sparks were heard before an unknown voice spoke out.
"Excuse me!"
Class 1-A and Ayano turned around to meet the voice.
Their eyes fell upon Fujiyoshi Yuudai.