Ayumu sat up quickly on her bed when she heard the knock at the door. Without waiting for her to respond, the door opened slowly and Shinso revealed himself in the doorway. Ayumu leaned back against the pillows on her bed and gave him a half smile, pulling her knees to her chest to make room for him to sit on the bed.

"Your mom let me in. She said you'd locked yourself in here all morning."

Shinso sat at the edge of the bed and watched her carefully. "It's a nice day out. Do you want to go do something?"

Ayumu shook her head. "I'm not feeling well."

"You don't look sick." He pressed the back of his hand to her forehead. "Do you think it's from yesterday?"

"I just keep thinking about it." Ayumu finally met Shinso's eyes, "Hitoshi, I have never felt more useless than I did yesterday. I'm supposed to help save people and yesterday I was the one who needed saving."

Shinso rubbed the back of his neck feeling awkward. "You're not useless."

"You weren't there." She said flatly.

Shinso glanced around the room, trying to find the words. "Do you want to talk about it?"

Ayumu let out a sigh and picked at a loose thread on her bedsheets, "When the villains first appeared, Bakugo and Kirishima were so quick to jump into action. I didn't really have a plan when I went after them, I just wanted to help." She paused and looked up at Shinso.

When he didn't answer she continued. "Then we got separated from everyone and I thought I was doing well, being helpful. But I wasn't. I was just in the way. I scratched Bakugo and he ended up having to save me."

Her voice wavered for a second, "I would've probably been killed if Bakugo hadn't been there." She felt anger at herself bubble up inside her, "and then I still ran off by myself."

Ayumu stood up and started pacing. Shinso watched her as she continued to rant.

"And then Toderoki had to save me because I didn't realize I was being followed and I made everyone worry! I made my mom worry and my classmates and you!" Ayumu stopped pacing and ran her fingers through her hair as she fought back tears.

Shinso sighed and stood up. He hesitated for a second before wrapping his arms around Ayumu tightly, pulling her into his chest. "It's not your fault and you're not useless. So stop beating yourself up over it."

Ayumu choked back a sob as she loosely wrapped her arms around his middle.

"Honestly, if you're all in the hero course, it's kind of their job to save their classmates when they're in trouble. You would have done the same thing, right?" Ayumu nodded. "Then you don't need to feel like this."

Ayumu dropped her arms and Shinso let her go so she could step back from him. She wiped her eyes and a half smile tugged at the corners of her lips.

"Thank you, Hitoshi."

Shinso turned away from her, "come on, let's not waste the whole day off."

Ayumu rested her head against the chain of the swing as the toes of her shoes scraped against the wood chips as the swing swept back and forth gently. Shinso sat on the swing beside her looking out over the pond where the ducks were paddling their way to the edge of the water to go home for the evening.

"I wish we could do this everyday." Ayumu voiced after a long silence.

Shinso didn't look at her, "yeah today was fun."

Ayumu twisted her swing around so she could face him, "I think the USJ attack was just the beginning."

Shinso turned his swing to face her. "What do you mean?"

She shrugged, "I'm not sure, but I just feel it. Something bad is going to happen."

"I think you're just freaked out from yesterday."

"Maybe." Ayumu looked down at her feet and kicked the wood chips into a pile.

Shinso kicked her swing lightly to get her to look up, "Don't worry so much. Even if something were to happen, you've got me."

Ayumu smiled and kicked his swing back, "I wouldn't have it any other way."

"So there's nothing to worry about."

Shinso pulled himself up off his swing and held out his hand to Ayumu. She grabbed his hand and he pulled her up.

"Let's get going. We have to get ready for school tomorrow."

Shinso stuffed his hands in his pockets as Ayumu hooked her arm with his and rested her head on his shoulder. The nervousness that had been trapped in her chest melted away and they walked through the cooling air toward home.

Shinso walked Ayumu up the steps to her house and stopped at the door before pulling it open for her.

"I'll see you in the morning."

Shinso started to turn away and Ayumu grabbed his hand to stop him from leaving.

"Hitoshi!"

Shinso turned back to look at her. Ayumu let go of his hand, letting it drop to her side.

"Thank you."

"For what?"

Ayumu shrugged, "For being there today. I don't know what I would do without you sometimes."

Shinso shrugged, "Don't mention it. I'm just glad you're feeling better." They stood in silence for a moment before Shinso turned again, "Anyways, I'll see you in the morning."

"Okay, I'll see you in the morning."

Shinso gave her a little wave and headed off in the direction of his house. Ayumu turned and shut the door tightly behind her. Her mom was sitting in the living room watching the tv when she walked in.

"Ayumu, how was your day? Did you and Hitoshi have fun at the park?"

Ayumu smiled, "Yeah it was a good day."