"You…what?"

It was the day of the Provisional Hero License Exam, and Ayano was seated on one of the couches in the lounge. Her work was splayed out on the coffee table in front of her as she waited for the potential heroes to return.

Upon their arrival, she immediately went to greet them. She smiled slightly at their enthusiasm, understanding that everything seemed to go well.

Well…almost everything.

Everyone was deathly silent, waiting with baited breath. They all knew that Bakugou had failed the exam. He had muttered about it when Ayano asked him, but she asked once more in her disbelief.

She stood in front of him, eyes narrowed and losing patience. Bakugou didn't look into her eyes, his head tilted down to glare at the floor. His hands were shoved into his pockets, and his mouth was turned into a frowning pout. "…I…failed…" He angrily mumbled, nearly ashamed that he had to utter those words to her.

He couldn't bring himself to look at her. There was just no way. He was afraid of what he would see. Anger? He could handle that. Sadness? Ayano wasn't the type to get sad like that. Utter disappointment?

That's what he was afraid of.

He couldn't bear to see disappointment on the face of the person who believed in him most. On the face of the only person that mattered.

Even after such a long silence, Ayano refused to say anything. In fact, she hadn't even moved. It was like she wasn't even breathing.

Bakugou didn't want to see her reaction for fear of what it could be, but that didn't mean he didn't want to know what it was. He grew more anxious as time dragged on. Why wasn't she saying anything? Doing anything? Finally, he looked up to see her.

Ayano had on her perfect poker face.

It was the same impassive expression that she normally had, but this time, it was wholly unexpected.

She closed her eyes, thinking for a few moments. She breathed slowly. In…and out…In…and out…

"…I see." She finally breathed out, her voice only able to be heard because everyone else had been so quiet. Before Bakugou could answer her, she did another unexpected thing.

She bowed to him.

"I sincerely apologize for my shortcomings." She said, still in her perfect ninety-degree bow.

…What? WHAT!?

"…Y-You…What the fuck are you apologizing for?!" Bakugou demanded an answer, completely baffled. "I'm the one who should be doing that!"

Ayano stood up straight, tilting her head. "Why would you do that? You tried your best, did you not? Yet, you still failed. Clearly, the fault lies with me. With my mental block, I was unable to fully improve your costume to the best of my ability. The one who's costume I worked on the most happens to be the one that fails. Surely, had I done a better job, we would not be in this predicament."

She bowed to him once more. "For that, I sincerely apologize."

No…No! This wasn't her fault! It could never be her fault! It was his! All him! He wasn't good enough. He wasn't strong enough. He wasn't good enough for her!

He couldn't take it. Anything but this. He would give anything for her to be disappointed at him rather than at herself.

What truly hurt was that she wholeheartedly believed him. From beginning to end, she believed in him. There wasn't a single doubt in her mind. She firmly believed that he would have emerged victorious.

In her eyes, the fact that he didn't meant that only one person could be at fault. Her.

No…No! That was unacceptable. It was all his fault! He was improving. He was getting stronger, and yet, he still failed when his classmates were able to succeed! She did everything for him and he still failed! "Stop it…Get up! Get the fuck up! GET UP RIGHT NOW, DAMN IT!"

Ayano stood up again, but she didn't look him in the eyes. It was as if she were ashamed and she couldn't bring herself to.

Bakugou's hands tightened, his nails digging deeply into his palms. "It's not your fault! It's mine! I failed and that's it! I just wasn't strong enough! Shit!"

She finally met his gaze. "Oh…I see. Is that so?" She began cracking her knuckles. "Well, that certainly changes things."

Bakugou gulped.

Without any further notice, Ayano delivered a swift punch to his jaw.

At least he was prepared for her reaction this time. He stumbled a bit but stood his ground, his head pushed back in the direction of her punch. It hurt, but this was definitely better than her disappointment from before.

Midoriya called out to his childhood friend. "A-Aya-chan! That's too much! I think you should calm do—!" The boy stopped himself when her eyes shifted over to glare at him. Her furious gaze and chilling aura delivered her silent message perfectly clearly.

Stay. Out. Of. This.

Even though it was directed at Midoriya, the rest of the class could feel a shiver down their spine. The room suddenly felt much colder, and it wasn't because of Todoroki's quirk.

Ayano returned her attention to Bakugou, who hadn't looked back at her yet. She slowly went up to him, so close that their feet were almost touching. In this position, she forced him to look at her. "Well, if it is was not my fault, then obviously it was yours. Care to explain?"

He shoved a hand into his pocket, pulling out a crumpled paper. It was the paper that they gave out to all of the test takers that told them of their total points and comments explaining why points were deducted.

Ayano swiped it from his hand, wasting no time examining it. She read it and re-read it. Bakugou waited anxiously for her reaction again.

After she was done, she gave a long sigh. She pinched the bridge of her nose, trying to alleviate some of her irritation. Taking deep breaths, she looked up at him again. "So? What do you plan to do about this?"

Although he wasn't as surprised as before, Bakugou still had to take time to process her question. Ayano took his silence as a sort of question on her behavior. "I have complete faith in your fighting capabilities, but I cannot say the same for everything else about you. As such, I cannot say that I did not expect nearly all of the comments to be about your foul mouth. This is exactly what I mean when I tell you that you cannot keep behaving like this if you are to become a hero!"

Bakugou flinched as her hand reached up to gently cup his jaw, thinking that she was going to hit him again. "Still…I apologize for hitting you. I let my emotions cloud my judgment. I was just upset that you allowed yourself to be so foolish, and I was upset with myself for not beating that into you better."

The blond scoffed. "So you decided to hit me again!?" He immediately yelped in pain as Ayano clenched her hand around his jaw. It was still stinging from her punch earlier. "Okay, okay! I get it already! Quit it!"

"So, what do you intend to do about this?" Ayano asked again, although this time, there was more concern laced into it.

Bakugou put his hand on top of hers, gripping it tightly. "There's a three-month training course. Next test is in April."

Ayano gripped his hand back. "I see. Do your best." She let go and turned around to go back to the coffee table littered with her work. "If you require any more improvements on your costume, you know where to find me."

"Ayano." The girl looked over her shoulder at him. "I'm going to pass this time." She smirked.

"Of course you will."

Ayano was currently leaning behind the door while she listened to Aizawa reprimand both of her childhood friends for staying out past curfew and fighting.

Before, the students of Class 1-A were in the lounge while Ayano worked on her inventions. All of them were glad that their hectic schedules were finally calming down, but school would start up again the very next day. They took this chance to just relax.

Eventually, Bakugou also came down to the lounge. It was perfect timing for Ayano because she had wanted to test something. Just as she was about to call out to him, he muttered something to Midoriya as he passed him.

She was too far to hear, but Ayano read his lips. "Meet me out front later. We gotta talk about your quirk."

For the entire rest of the day, the girl was on the lookout for them. After everyone else had fallen asleep, the two of them had walked out to Ground Beta with Ayano secretly following them. She witnessed their entire fight from a distance, nearly crying when she saw, heard, and felt Bakugou's distress.

She didn't intervene though. She had no right. This was something they had to work out for themselves.

However, that didn't mean she didn't have some choice words for Bakugou later.

Now, she was patiently waiting behind the door while Aizawa basically strangled the two boys. "You broke the rules, and I can't let that go! I'll give you an appropriate punishment. Who threw the first punch?" He interrogated.

"I did." Bakugou replied without hesitation. "I also…fought back…" Midoriya added.

Aizawa released the two from their bindings, pointing at them. "Bakugou, four days! Midoriya, three days! You're both under house arrest!" The man turned towards the door. "Sasaki, get in here!"

The two boys whipped their heads around to see the girl open the door and calmly walk in. "Aya-chan!?" "Ayano!"

Aizawa continued his lecture, ignoring their surprise. "Sasaki, you get two days! For staying out past curfew and also not informing any faculty about their fight! All three of you are under house arrest! During that time, you'll be cleaning the dorm's common areas, both morning and night! Plus, I want a written letter of apology from the three of you!" He gave a deep sigh. "That's all! Get to sleep!"

The three childhood friends walked into the elevator. Midoriya could feel how tense the air was. As the elevator stopped on the second floor, he hesitantly got out. He looked back at the couple with concern, but neither of them paid any attention to him.

Ayano had her normally impassive face as she stared out at seemingly nothing while Bakugou glared at the ground with his hands shoved in his pockets.

Midoriya tried desperately to figure out something to say, but the doors to the elevator slid closed before he could. Sighing, he walked to his room to think on some things.

The elevator travelled up to the fourth floor. The two of them walked out, but Ayano followed Bakugou instead of going to her own room. He didn't protest. In fact, it seemed like he didn't even notice. He walked into his room and sat on his bed. He propped his elbows on his knees, letting his hands dangle in the space between his legs as his head hung low.

Ayano followed him in, quietly shutting the door behind. She stood in front of it, just staring at him. As if she were waiting for something to happen. When it became evident that nothing would, she took action.

"Why did I become the reason for All Might's end…" She whispered the words, but Bakugou flinched as he clearly heard her. She had once said those words to him when she had been in solitary confinement, and they were the same words he shouted at Midoriya during their fight.

Ayano shook her head repeatedly. "You can't do that…You can't…I won't let you!" She shakily breathed out.

"You can't tell me it wasn't my fault, just so you could put the blame on yourself! That's not how it works!"

Her pure rage now was miles away from what she showed earlier today when he said he failed the exam. It was his fault?! What bullshit is that!?

Ayano was shaking. Seething. She glared at him, waiting for his response. When she grew impatient, she went to grab at his collar but his low voice stopped her.

"You knew all along…" He mumbled, referring to her knowledge about Midoriya's and All Might's relationship.

Ayano frowned. There was something very unsettling about his tone. It sounded almost…defeated. "I did not hear it from Izuku, if that is what you're thinking. I figured it out myself during your first training battle when All Might refused to stop the training despite my warnings."

"…Since that long…" He muttered more to himself than to her. He slowly lifted his head, staring into Ayano's eyes. "Is that why?" He asked, as if he were still talking to himself. The girl raised an eyebrow, not liking where this was going.

"Is that why…Is that why you always supported me? Because you felt bad for me? Because you thought I needed the help? Is that wh—!" He was silenced by another one of Ayano's punches.

"How dare you! You think I did all this for you out of pity!? Do you really think that lowly of me?!" She grabbed at his tank top's collar, forcing him up to look at her.

"Well what the fuck am I supposed to think, huh?! You were always around that fucking nerd and defending him! You only chose to help me because you thought it was some sort of handicap! You thought I needed it since I wasn't the one chosen!" Bakugou yelled back at her.

Ayano furiously shook him back and forth. "I couldn't care less who All Might chooses, even if it is Izuku! What have I been telling you since we were children!? I told you that I would make support items for the most amazing hero some day! Izuku was chosen by All Might, and I still chose you!"

Her grip on his collar loosened as she backed away from him, shaking her head with unshed tears of frustration in her eyes. "…It was always you…"

She clenched her hand on her chest, over her heart. "I can't compare to All Might…but if Izuku has All Might…then you have me!"

A couple tears were finally let loose from her eyes. "I chose you because I believed you would be the most amazing hero to me. Even more amazing than All Might and even more amazing than Izuku who was chosen by All Might." She rubbed at her eyes, furiously trying to wipe the few stray tears away. "So don't you dare blame yourself for what happened. Especially not after what you said to me before…"

At this point, Bakugou could feel a few tears of his own roll down his cheeks. He used his arm to wipe them off. "Fuck! You're right, I know that…I just…I just couldn't take it. To know that he's gone now and that he chose Deku, of all people…and that it was because of me that he couldn't fight to the end. Shit! I can't believe I'm crying again!"

Ayano suddenly pulled him forward so that his face fell into the crook of her neck. "Who's crying? I don't see a single person crying here…" She whispered. The same words he once said to her when he comforted her after the nightmares.

Just like it did for her, it comforted Bakugou to no end.

Ayano took a deep breath. "It was not your fault. It was neither of our faults. You are not weak. I will not let you think that way." She gently said as one hand was placed on the back of his head and the other rubbed his back.

She was right. She was always right. She had always believed in him. From beginning to end. Even earlier today, she proved that she wholeheartedly and truly believed in him.

That was all he needed to keep going.

"…Sorry…I yelled all of that at you…" Bakugou mumbled an apology. "You're right…If that nerd has All Might, then I have you…and you're way more important to me than some retired hero." He returned her hug, wrapping his arms around her waist and crushing her to him – as if he were afraid she might leave him.

"…I beat him…" He muttered into her neck.

Ayano smiled. "You did." She confirmed.

"…I beat 'Mr. Chosen One' The one All Might picked." "You did."

"And I'll keep beating him from here on out." "I know you will."

"I'll become the greatest hero. One even better than All Might." "I look forward to it."

Bakugou tightened his hold on her even more. "…So…keep choosing me, alright?"

Ayano pushed him back a little. She cupped his cheek, making him look up at her. She gazed down at him lovingly, pulling him in for a deep kiss. As they pulled away, their foreheads remained in touch.

"I would choose you even if you didn't ask me to."