"I'm fighting Mister Aizawa," I muttered, standing in front of the closed entrance gate waiting. "I'm supposed to beat Mister Aizawa. Why? Why this? Why now? Why me?" I reached up to pull on my bangs anxiously, since my braids were safely tucked (and now pinned, after an embarrassing training accident that I try to forget) down my collar.
Beside me, Shouto glanced down while I tried to rip my hair out. "Do you have a plan?" he asked, for some reason deferring power to me while I nervously muttered.
My head snapped up. "No!" I yelled in frustration. "If Bakago isn't willing to listen, I don't have a plan!" My hands flew up into the air angrily. I was facing a test where the goal was teamwork, and got stuck with a teammate whose main objective was to beat literally everyone else into submission. No mercy.
"We can pass without him," Shouto pointed out matter-of-factly, with all of the confidence of a person who hadn't been drop kicked by Eraserhead before.
"No, we can't," I groaned, covering my face with my hands. "Mister Aizawa won't let us pass unless we work together." If the goal of this test was teamwork, then there was no way Mister Aizawa would allow us to reach the gate until we fulfilled the objective. He was a Pro Hero, we wouldn't pass without being allowed to.
A loud huff made me spin around, and there stood Bakugo with his chin raised challengingly. "I don't need anyone to let me pass," he declared arrogantly. "I'll find him and beat him." He stared Shouto and I down, daring us to contradict him.
"We need to reach the exit gate," Shouto countered icely, immediately rising to the bait. "Mister Aizawa is stronger than us."
Bakugo met Shouto's eyes angrily. "Are you calling me fucking weak?" he growled.
"That's not the point right now," I interjected, stepping between the two boys and trying to mediate the argument. "We need to work together and create a strategy to pass, the objective of this exam is teamwork."
Bakugo narrowed his eyes at me. "I thought I said I don't need your help, Ichimi," he sneered, and I winced at the insult. Clearly, Bakugo was pissed about something and was now taking it out on everyone else.
Before I could say anything, Shouto stepped forward, trying to get between Bakugo and I. "Ichigo is correct," he asserted. "Working together to reach the gate is our best chance." My eyes widened, realizing that Shouto had just accidentally done what I'd been trying to avoid - alienated Bakugo entirely.
The blonde responded as expected. "I DON'T NEED YOUR HELP!" he roared, whirling around and stalking towards the gates, which I had only just realized were opening.
I panicked, desperately darting after the blonde. "Wait! You can't-!" Bakugo tossed a glare over his shoulder, furious and hateful. I faltered, and he continued marching forwards, leaving me behind in silent astoundment. I thought that Bakugo and I had begun a tentative friendship, at least, but it was like we'd taken two steps forward and then jumped right back to the start of the school year.
Shouto walked up beside me, expression flat. "We need to reach the gate," he said firmly. "Just let Bakugo be a distraction."
I bit my lip. "Sacrificing him to pass won't look good," I said, struggling with the idea that Bakugo really wasn't going to work with us.
"We don't have a choice," Shouto said coldly, and I paused, before forcing myself to nod. I didn't want to think that there wasn't a choice, but childishly insisting on working together wouldn't be a good idea.
I shook my head, focusing on the problem at hand. "Let's go then," I declared, taking off down the main street. Our training grounds was a suburban neighborhood, complete with white picket fences and neatly trimmed lawns. It looked a lot like the place where I grew up. Quickly running through the various homes, I glanced back for a second to see Shouto on my heels, easily keeping up with my brisk pace. "We need to stick together," I said. "We'll just cover ground as fast as we can, and if one of us gets caught then-"
An enormous explosion went off a block away, and I saw smoke rise into the air. I let out a shallow gasp. "He's already been found," I realized numbly. "There goes that distraction."
Shouto narrowed his eyes. "We need to go now," he said, turning and booking it down the street. Still stunned by the gigantic bomb, it took me a few seconds to realize that he was leaving me behind.
I pivoted on my heel, chasing after him. Shouto, with his longer legs and general athleticism, was already far down the street, using his ice to skate down the street and vanish into the distance. I grit my teeth, pumping my arms and doing everything I could to catch up. I couldn't afford to waste energy though, and slowly Shouto pulled ahead of me, fleeing towards the gate in the distance.
I hoped stupidly that Mister Aizawa would target me first, and give Shouto enough time to escape. My mind started scrambling for possibilities, ways to put this situation in our favor. My team had split up within the first few seconds of the test, and in under three minutes already had one of its members eliminated, along with separating the other two. We were facing a superior opponent on an unknown battlefield as individuals with a time limit. This was every tactician's worst nightmare.
I slipped and fell. Catching myself on my forearms and ignoring how my palms stung, I scrambled unsteadily to my feet. I exhaled, chills running down my spine from combined fear and cold. The entire block was covered in sharp, icy spikes. The path of frozen water lead down one of the side roads into the distance, and I realized that Shouto had more than likely already been captured.
I clenched my jaw in frustration, resisting the urge to chase after him. I had a time limit, if I didn't reach the gate, we all failed. The best thing I could do for my team was reach the gate and pass.
I focused on the upcoming gate, feet slapping the asphalt as I ran down block after block, making a straight shot towards the gate. Suddenly, I felt the hairs on the back of my neck stand up, and only from intensive reaction-time training was I able to whirl out of the way as Mister Aizawa came lunging from a nearby rooftop.
My feet danced in a circle, skipping over the leg trying to sweep my feet out from under me and taking back off towards the gate. I could hear Mister Aizawa on my heels, and I felt fear rise up in my chest, pushing my unmeasured breathing out of my control. My heart beat an unsteady tattoo in my chest, as I glanced back over my shoulder to see if Mister Aizawa was still chasing me.
My eyes when I saw there wasn't anyone there. My gaze snapped forward, but it was already too late, and Mister Aizawa's fist planted itself in my cheek, sending my skidding backwards. I landed in a roll, popping back up to my feet in a fighting stance. Unfortunately, Mister Aizawa was faster than most of my classmates, and before I could gain my bearings, he was already on me.
The fight devolved into instinctive dodges and haphazard blows from there. I did my best to duck and weave out of the way of Mister Aizawa attacks, searching for openings as I fled. The few times I managed to find chinks in his armor, I lashed out, landing hits that barely even phased him.
It ended rather suddenly, when Mister Aizawa ducked under my too-slow right hook and used his arms to brace my side and flip me. My legs flew over my head, and despite my trying to orient myself, it only took a few sharp motions before I was pinned to the ground, chin digging into the asphalt painfully as my arms were twisted behind my back. I heard the familiar click of handcuffs closing as cold iron circled around my wrist.
"Team 7 fails," Principal Nedzu's voice announced, and his cheery voice didn't fit the situation at all. My face scrunched up, and I felt my lip tremble as I tried not to cry. My wonderful brain, which had been so useless before, scrambled to offer me every bad result this test could have on my future. I could lose my scholarship. I could get expelled from Yuuei. My future career could be compromised. The agency wouldn't want to sponsor a failure. Mister Aizawa was definitely disappointed in me. All of my classmates had been watching as well.
I grit my teeth, choking down the tears in my eyes. I felt humiliated, frustrated, tired and upset. Pressing my forehead against the ground, I curled my knees under me, climbing to my feet. I hid my eyes from Mister Aizawa's gaze, trying to disguise the watery sheen with my bangs.
"C-can you pl-please undo these?" I asked softly, ever familiar stutter coming back. Mister Aizawa reaching behind me, silently undoing them. I felt my chest seize when he didn't bother to say "plus twenty". He was angry with me. Would he even want to teach me anymore? Was this it?
Did my dreams end here?
I heard the sound of running feet behind me, and I caught a glimpse of Shouto darting down the street towards Mister Aizawa and I. His expression was flat as usual, but I noticed the tenseness of his shoulders and unusual crease between his eyebrows. He was upset as well, and if I had cared to notice, I would've seen the way his jaw was clenched, his fists balled up in clear guilt.
As it was, I turned my back on him and fled the battle grounds, refusing to look back once. Both of my teammates had refused to listen to me, and I hadn't been strong enough to even run away on my own. I wanted to blame Shouto and Bakugo for not listening to me, and maybe that wasn't fair, but I'd had a plan that could've countered Mister Aizawa effectively. We could've succeeded, if they'd listened.
Instead, I was running away from the empty testing grounds and praying that my future hadn't just ended there.
"Oh no," Ochako breathed, staring at the screens in horror. Next to her, Tenya, Momo, and Izuku stared at the projected images of their friends in shock. Mister Aizawa had easily and viciously torn the poor excuse of a team apart, and he had done so with crushing force.
Momo's hands were covering her mouth. "Four minutes and twelve seconds," she whispered. "He beat them so easily." She knew intimately how Ichigo, Shouto, and likely Bakugo were feeling right now. This scene was far too similar to her own defeat during the Sports Festival.
"That was… very demoralizing," Tenya remarked, sounding depressed. He was keeping his composure, but there was a clear pain in his eyes after watching two of his friends fail so badly.
Izuku, however, had already reached the same conclusions as Ichigo. "Her scholarship could be at risk," he realized out loud, missing Ochako's wide eyed dismay. "Ichigo m-may have just lost her spot a Yuuei," Izuku continued, trying to remember anything he'd read about Yuuei scholarships. The program was pretty obscure, with admissions being almost ridiculously low.
"I'm going to find her!" Ochako declared in a panic, spinning around and vanishing out the observation deck doors, leaving Momo, Izuku, and Tenya to continue staring at the screens as Bakugo tried to attack Shouto in a fury.
Recovery Girl let out an unhappy sigh, watching Aizawa reel in the angry blonde. It wouldn't be the first time she'd seen immaturity get in the way of students' careers. She hoped that Kurosaki wouldn't be one of them, she liked that girl.
Mailbox/Explanation/Announcement
Oh I'm sorry, you thought this was going end well? HA, NO! But seriously, I decided to use this arc to fix Ichigo's consistent win-streak and point out some of her weaknesses. There are multiple reasons why Team 7 failed (that wasn't a Naruto reference, I swear). First, Bakugo and Shouto hate each other, and they will work together on a cold day in hell (which considering their quirks, may be possible). Second, Aizawa was much rougher this time around. He allowed Momo and Shouto to catch him because he knew Momo needed a confidence boost. Ichigo, Shouto, and Bakugo don't need confidence, if anything they need a good dose of realism. After the Hero Killer attack, all of them got their priorities a little screwed up. Third, as Ichigo described, their teamwork was abysmal, and their planning was even worse. They had no strategy going in, and they really needed to fail and get a slap upside the head. Fourth, Ichigo absolutely panicked. She's used to having teammates who support and willingly listen to her, and when they don't she's left floundering, a serious issue for someone who wants to be a strong leader. And finally, because Bakugo didn't cooperate, Ichigo didn't have a lot of time to plan. There are different types of genius seen in BNHA. There's Bakugo, who's a combat prodigy, and there's Midoriya, who's an analytical genius. Both are great quick thinkers. However, people like Momo and Ichigo fall into a more conventional type of genius. That doesn't mean they can't create brilliant strategies, its just that their genius is more suited towards books than fighting. So far, Ichigo has always been given time to plan, before getting shoved into situations. The few times she hasn't? She got stabbed in the back by "cat-woman", impaled by the Hero Killer, and now failed her exam. This highlights a huge issue for Ichigo, that she's been able to avoid until now. She needs to learn how to create plans on the go. If you disagree with my assessment, have any extra questions, or anything else, feel free to ask/challenge my decisions. I'm happy to reconsider anything I've done so far.
Beyond that hellishly long authors note, new rule! This story will henceforth be updated each Monday and Thursday (because I'm catching up with my own writing and don't have a bunch of chapters to sit on anymore). This will begin... this Thursday! So yeah, look forward to that. And now for the mailbox.
GlaresThatKill: I already answered your comment in a previous chapter... I can't... But its fine, I made that reference intentionally XD
JusKIdding: I'm glad the AU was good! I've never done a one-shot before, condensing a whole storyline is hard. Ichigo's perspective is pretty unique, I've been told. In the AU, she's very scared of being rejected, so she rejects everyone else first, if that makes sense? And I'm already working on a part 2! It'll be a little while though.
Sumiianna: Super happy you enjoyed it so much! I was worried about it being cliché, since soulmates are a really overdone concept. Part two is on its way![
AllisBlanche: I'm glad your ship has sailed XD I actually designed a cover for this on the other website, since it allows me to attach images every chapter, and it was a drawing of two hands connected by the "red thread of fate." That's what I had in mind while writing this, glad you picked up on it!
castielris: High praise! I hope your own AU goes well! And thank you, I put a lot of thought into how the soulmate concept would effect the characters. Ichigo's slow development and appreciation of Sero and Mina was a focus of the story, and I'm glad you noticed! Those two will continue to change Soulmate!Ichigo for the better. And Part 2 (which will be the final installation of this and finish things) is already being written!
Prince: Yeah, Shouto isn't going to be very happy... his life so far has been dedicated to protecting his soulmate once he found them, but in this case once he did - well, suffice to say it didn't end well. His entire life's purpose just got crushed. The next part will be highly focused on Shouto, even more than Ichigo.
Katr5432: I'm glad you appreciated the AU, and how it changed the world/characters. I couldn't imagine a universe with such a huge dynamic shift not being incredibly different. And don't worry, the original is still going on. This was just a special chapter, for fun.
TECHNICALpanda: Super happy you enjoyed this, I put a lot of work into it! There will definitely be a continuation to finish this off!
OTrizy: Based on how much support this AU got on both this site and Quotev, there will definitely be a continuation. And as for your previous comment: I don't mind, you weren't oversharing. I faced a lot of the same issues when I started writing, I've only recently become more organized (as in over the last year). The best thing I can recommend it that you do a lot of planning before you start writing, so you aren't stuck developing the concept as you go, and then have to rewrite things. Create a soundtrack to listen to while you write, it can help keep you inspired, and if you can manage, set aside time each day for writing. Fifteen to twenty minutes is usually enough. Also, I cannot stress this enough: WRITE DOWN YOUR IDEAS! You mentioned having a bunch of different concepts, that's great. Record them, and later down the line you can flip through your different ideas to develop them further, or combine them.
xenocanaan: Glad you enjoyed the AU, there will definitely be a continuation down the road. And here is your next chapter of the actual storyline!
slyKat28: Ichigo has a very dark sense of humor XD That applies to canon as well. She can find plenty of amusement in others suffering, so long as they're not seriously injured or embarrassed. The part 2 is on its way, and here's the next chapter of the actual storyline!