"They got in a fight?!"
"House arrest!?"
The rest of Class 1-A were preparing to leave for the opening ceremony when they came across the three childhood friends cleaning the lounge. "Eeeeh!? Even Aya-chan fought?!" Mina asked in disbelief.
"Apparently, she saw the both of them walking out but didn't tell any of the teachers, so she got punished too." Jiro answered.
They all left for the opening ceremony after the whole commotion, leaving the three childhood friends in a somewhat awkward silence.
Midoriya was the first to break it. "So…my shoot style…what'd you think of it?" He asked Bakugou hesitantly.
The blond didn't respond for quite a while, leaving Midoriya with just the sounds of the whirring vacuums. The green-haired boy furrowed his brows, beginning to think that they wouldn't be able to make up even after all that happened last night.
"Your wind-up motions are too big." Bakugou finally responded, momentarily stunning the boy. "Even though you got faster, I still managed to react in time. It's not well suited for a slugfest."
Midoriya turned around, but Bakugou's back was still facing him. The blond continued. "When you added punches to the mix…That really pissed me off."
Midoriya smiled. "Got it!"
Ayano looked on at her two childhood friends, gently smiling at the development. Midoriya turned to her, excitement and expectation in his eyes.
"I agree with Katsuki. Although, it is much easier for me to say that from a third-person view, so my comments may seem trite." She explained.
The boy frantically shook his head. "No, no! I completely trust you, Aya-chan! I'll take any advice I can get! Thanks!"
She nodded. "Then, I have a question for you." For some reason, the blank stare from her was a little bit different than usual, making Midoriya feel uneasy. "I noticed that since you have taken a different approach to your fighting style, you appear to have made adjustments to your costume."
She took slow, calculated steps toward the boy. He unconsciously took steps back to put distance between them, the anxiety growing in him. "I would like to ask why you did not come to me for improvements on your costume. Or rather, why you went to Mei instead."
"I know full well how incredible Mei is. Her talent is undeniable, but I also have confidence in my work. Do you find my support items unsatisfactory in any way? Is there something I can improve on? Why did you feel the need to go to Mei? Just why is it that you never once spoke with me about your costume?" Ayano bombarded him, nearly towering over him.
"A-Ah! I-It's not that, Aya-chan! I just thought…" He hesitated a bit, glancing at Bakugou who was observing their interaction. "I just thought maybe you had a lot to handle with…you know…working on Kacchan's costume and all. You guys are d-dating now, after all. You were also going through a lot lately, and I didn't want to unintentionally trigger anything by asking you and stuff…" He trailed off, the worry and unease evident in his voice as he looked down at his feet.
Ayano tilted her head and blinked. "I see. In that case, I appreciate your concern but there is no need for it. I have made a complete recovery."
The boy smiled up at his friend, immensely relieved to hear that. "Although…" He flinched at her voice.
"As for your concerns about my relationship with Katsuki...I may be dating him now but that does not mean I forget about my friends. It does not mean I make support items exclusively for him. You will make a fine hero one day, Izuku, and I would be honored to help in that process." She ended her last statement with a small smile.
"Aya-chan…" The green-haired boy almost teared up at that, his heart swelling with warmth. Lately, with everything that's happened, the two of them hadn't really been together all that much. Even when she was going through her trauma after being kidnapped by the League of Villains, it wasn't him that comforted her but Bakugou. Midoriya was a little worried that they may have been drifting apart, but his worries were dashed with a few simple words from Ayano.
Suddenly, the girl was yanked from behind, her shirt collar slightly choking her. Bakugou had roughly grabbed the back of her shirt, pulling her away from the green-haired boy. "What the hell?! Were you lying to me last night!? You said you would always choose me!" He accused the girl.
As she fixed her shirt collar, she raised an eyebrow at him. "I will always choose you, Katsuki. However, it is incredibly foolish for me, as an inventor, to limit myself to only making support items for one person."
"Then what you said last night was pretty much worthless…" The blond mumbled, displaying an angry pout. Ayano hid her smile behind her hand. This was a rare sight, indeed. She never knew Bakugou to be the type to pout and sulk like so. She could get used to this. "My words are not worthless. How many support items have I made for you since coming to U.A?" She asked.
"…Lots…" He mumbled.
"And how many have I made for Izuku?" She questioned. He didn't answer, but he knew that the answer was none. Looking back at her, he saw her raise her eyebrows expectantly. He muttered a few more obscenities, seemingly admitting defeat.
"Besides, if I were ever forced to make a choice between making support items for you or Izuku, I would always choose you without a second thought." Ayano reassured him, her face and voice completely serious.
Bakugou just clicked his tongue and turned around, going back to cleaning. Ayano chuckled as she saw the dusting of pink on his ears. "Ah." She gave a little sound of realization.
Turning back to Midoriya, she bowed her head to him. "That may have been offensive, but I assure you that I meant no offense."
The green-haired boy quickly shook his head and waved his hands around. "No, it's okay! I know you didn't mean it like that, Aya-chan! Again, thank you!"
She nodded to him, turning around and walking back to Bakugou. She tried to see if he was still upset with her, but the blond kept turning his head away to avoid her gaze. Midoriya almost laughed at the scene, seeing Bakugou so flustered.
He smiled, glad to see so many developments happening. His two childhood friends had finally admitted their feelings for each other and were now in a relationship. He and Bakugou had somewhat made up. Things were shaping up to be more like how they used to be when all three of them were good friends.
Ayano was working at her desk when she heard a single knock on her door. Before she could react though, the door was busted open by a strong kick from Bakugou. The blond sauntered in, plopping onto her bed and placing his costume suitcase on the ground next to it.
She stared at him, blinking a few times before releasing a small sigh. It wasn't exactly proper, but he did knock, albeit only once and then proceeded to come in without permission. Still, it was progress. "I take it your remedial license training course went well?" She asked as she worked on her inventions.
The boy grunted, turning on his side so that he could look at her. "We had to work with a bunch of little fucktards today. Some dumb assignment about 'opening up their hearts' or some shit."
Ayano looked at him, her eyes widening a bit. "Children?" She asked, somehow understanding that in Bakugou's vocabulary, 'little fucktards' was synonymous with kids. "I hope you were not too rough with them."
The blond scoffed. "Pssh, yeah right. Those fuckers could take it. One of them even messed up my mask." He pulled out his mask from the suitcase, showing that the right side was completely torn. "Little shit had this quirk where he manipulates these balls that have mouths and sharp teeth. Ate right through the mask." He explained.
The girl took it from his hands, examining it from all angles. "Interesting. An easy fix. This kind of thing usually shouldn't require much paperwork. It should be ready for you by tomorrow night. Perhaps I should improve it and use more durable material."
Bakugou laid on his back again, his hands folded behind his head. "Do whatever you want. It's just a mask."
The two of them remained in each other's company, a comfortable silence settling on them. Their nights and time off usually resulted in this. Most of the times, they were in Ayano's room because she was almost always working on something. Bakugou would lay on her bed, usually taking a nap or just watching her work. Sometimes, they would be in his room instead. Although, Ayano never failed to bring something small to tinker with while she was there.
After finishing up whatever it was she was working on, Ayano released a satisfied sigh and relaxed back in her chair. She admired her work, the ends of her lips tilted upwards.
Bakugou watched her from the corner of his eye, a little smile of his own peeking out. Suddenly, she turned to address him. "Katsuki, do you have your remedial license training course tomorrow as well?"
"Nah, I have it the day after. Why?" He answered, sitting up in curiosity.
The girl hummed in thought. "Would you like to go somewhere with me tomorrow?"
The pair walked down the street, not many others out in the open. Bakugou stared at Ayano from the side, but she looked straight ahead, focusing on their path. She had invited him out, but she hadn't told him to where.
Initially, he thought that she just wanted to go on a walk like he took her to do before. However, it seemed like she had a clear destination in mind. Not only that, but she carried a rather large suitcase in her left hand.
His eyes travelled from the suitcase to her other hand. The empty one. The one closer to him. He felt the urge to fill it with his own.
Knowing that he'd have to make the first move, he internally cursed before just going for it. He intertwined their fingers as they continued walking.
Ayano almost stopped but didn't when Bakugou didn't even slow down. Her hand was limp in his as she stared up at him, processing. He didn't look back at her, turning his head away to hide his blush. The pink on his ears peeked out again.
Growing a little impatient, the boy squeezed her hand once, prompting her to gaze at their conjoined hands. Her cheeks were sprinkled with a little blush of her own as she squeezed his hand back.
That didn't last long though because she removed her hand not even a minute later.
"Why'd you pull away!?" He demanded. "Your hand is sweaty."
"…"
"HAAAH?! So what?! What's wrong with that?!" He yelled, a few veins popping out on his temple.
"There's nothing wrong with it. It's a perfectly normal bodily function. Especially for you, considering your quirk. I just prefer to have my own hands to be clean." Ayano explained.
"You can just wash them later!" Bakugou accused. The girl furrowed her brows. "Well, yes, I can, but your quirk makes your sweat especially hard to clean. With its nitroglycerin-like properties, I would need more than just regular soap and water to fully wash off all residues. I would rather not have to do that, seeing as it may be dangerous to leave that on my hands for what I am about to do."
Bakugou then realized that during their banter, they had stopped walking. He looked up at the building in front of them, recognizing it as an orphanage.
Without a moment's notice, Ayano walked through the entrance. A couple of kids ran past them, shouting at each other. One of them stopped to look up at her, his mouth wide open and his eyes lighting up in excitement. "It's Big Sis Aya!"
His shouts caused a flurry of other kids to come out from the other rooms. They all dashed out to gang up on Ayano, a couple of them jumping up and down at her feet, begging to be carried. The young inventor put down her suitcase and obliged, kneeling down to hug them.
Bakugou vaguely remembered some of their faces from that time he dragged her out on a walk when she reached a slump in her work. They were the kids that Ayano had built prosthetics for during her internship. So, this was the orphanage they came from, huh?
At all the commotion, an elderly woman poked her head out from another room. Probably the director of the orphanage. "Ah! Aya-chan, welcome back!" The girl stood up to greet the woman, eliciting a few disappointed mewls from the children at her feet who hadn't gotten their turn at a hug yet.
They were all ushered into another room. It was a playroom filled with many toys for the children to enjoy. Ayano promptly began playing with them. Although, 'playing' was really just her observing them as she sat in the center of the room. Each of them went up to her if they wanted to, showing off their toys and little tricks they learned to do with their newly developed quirks.
In return, Ayano showed off her own 'toys' from her suitcase. They were gadgets that she had been working on that would make adjustments to the children's prosthetics. For some of the more unruly and wild kids, she fixed their prosthetics on the spot. All of this, with a tender smile on her face.
Bakugou watched on from the side, his back leaning on the wall. After having to deal with the rowdy kids from Masegaki Primary School yesterday for his remedial training course, Bakugou didn't want much to deal with these kids.
Still, it was really nice to see Ayano enjoy her time with them.
"Despite her personality, she really does have a way with these kids." The orphanage's director remarked from next to him. "It must be because, unlike most people, she doesn't pity them. She just truly wants to help them in her own way."
Bakugou kept watching her, his lips turning into a small smirk full of pride. "Yeah, she doesn't mince words or beat around the bush either. They're kids, but they're not stupid. They can tell when an adult is looking down at them."
The director grinned at him. "You know her well. Well, of course you would, being her boyfriend and all!"
The blond flinched at hearing that title, his cheeks getting stained with red. So, she had even told the people at this orphanage that they were dating? She sure knew how to say some embarrassing things!
The elderly woman laughed at his reaction. "Oh, the youth these days! Well, I won't tease you for long. You should have seen my face the other day when she asked me over the phone if she could bring you along! She's visited plenty of times before, but she never brought anyone over. I told her that it was okay and that the children would probably enjoy it, but she always refused and said it was unnecessary. Imagine my reaction when she asked me if she could bring over not just a friend, but her boyfriend!"
Bakugou held his hand up to his face, trying to cover his blush but to no avail. The woman laughed again. "You must be very special to her. She must have wanted to share this side of her with you."
He would've mumbled a response, but a few children ran up to them. They pulled at his shirt, tugging him forward. "Hey, Mister! Come play with us!"
"Stop pulling me, you little turds!" The blond yelled, but followed them nonetheless. He joined Ayano, sitting crisscross on the ground.
"Hey! Hey! Aya-nee, it's the same scary guy from before!" One of the kids exclaimed. "HUUUH?! Who're you calling scary?!" Bakugou yelled back, causing the child to cry.
"Katsuki." Ayano said his name in a reprimanding way while patting the crying child's head in comfort. The angry boy pouted, muttering an apology.
Ayano kindly rubbed the child's head. "Yes, it is him, but he is not 'that scary guy.' He is someone very important to me." The child had stopped crying and looked up at her. "Is he your prince, Aya-nee?"
"WHA—!?" Bakugou gave a shout. Ayano briefly looked at him but then looked back at the child.
"Yes, he is my prince." She declared without any hesitation and a smile.
One of the biggest smiles Bakugou had ever seen from her.
His blush was now full-blown and in clear view.
The girls in the room all squealed in excitement, reminding Ayano of Hagakure and Mina. Meanwhile, the boys were moaning in despair. They marched towards Bakugou, pointing their toy swords and other weapons at him. "We…We won't hand over Aya-nee!" They vowed.
Something in the blond snapped. "Oooh?! You think you lot can stand a chance against me, huh?! Well, let's see about that!" He chased after the boys, shouting after them.
Ayano watched him, chuckling behind her hand.
It seemed Bakugou was also good with kids in his own way.