Disclaimer: I do not own Boku no Hero Academia.
During U.A.'s entrance exam, Ayame barely passed the written portion. She had stayed up all night studying the material with Yume and if it wasn't for their mother's insistence for the two the sleep, Ayame would not have gotten four hours of rest.
Ayame had worn her middle school navy uniform, smiling to herself as she rushed out to U.A. High School to take the exam. Although she was not extremely smart like her sister to pass the written exam with flying colors, Ayame was confident enough with her Quirk. It was one of the most unique Quirks her mother had said before, one that would rise up in the world of Heroes and Ayame was confident she would be able to pass the practical exam, too.
Her, along with dozens of other students, were taken to a remote simulation city where they could let loose their powers. At that time, the nerves were slowly edging Ayame on as she grew tired after the written portion and lack of sleep. The sudden realization hit when she remembered there was only one in three hundreds chance to be accepted in U.A. and she must stand out during the Quirk assessment.
Ayame gulped and rubbed her shoulder. She had changed into a practical jersey now that they were to fight the robotic 'villains' and Present Mic had explained the simulation thoroughly. Amongst the dozens of other students in her district, there were none Ayame recognize. She shook her head, slapped her cheeks, and shook off her nerves.
I can do this! I can do this! I can pass!
The buzzer went off, signaling the students to begin and in a flash; the dozens of students ran through the door and into the city. Ayame summoned an ookami, barely the size of a large dog and dashed past the others. The quicker she finds the robots and destroys them, the more points she can gain, too.
By the time Ayame had gained 9 points, the other students had caught up to her. She merely ignored them, running with her wolf again and dashed off. A slight headache was beginning to form from her Quirk overuse but she pressed on; nine points were not enough to secure the lead within ten minutes.
Although her summons was not huge, they were strong. Ayame's little ookami was strong enough to knock one robot into other, crashing the two together and gaining both points. She cheered loudly from behind and ran with the summon by her side to the next target. Whenever the ookami disappeared, she would quickly call another creature to replace them. Despite straining herself with the back-to-back summons, Ayame was excited. This was the first time she can let her power run wild.
"Five minutes!" Present Mic's voice boomed through the city, alerting everyone of the time limit left.
She made a mental count to herself, tallying up the points to be around 36 and continued on. At that time, a crystal spear stabbed the 2-point robot she had been aiming for. Ayame whirled around, short hair flying behind her, to see a tall boy run by. He never looked in direction, leaving Ayame to glare at his black hair.
"Hey! That was mine!" Ayame shouted after him.
Finally, crystallized eyes glanced behind him to stare at her. Scoffing to himself, Takarada Noeru continued to run forward.
"There's no such thing as calling 'dibs' in a competition."
Ayame gritted her teeth and resisted the urge to chase after him. Instead, she looked towards the other direction to avoid him but groaned even more when dozen of students were occupying another street. Without a choice, Ayame along with her wolf summon ran after the boy.
Although Takarada was not as fast as Ayame, he was stronger. The gems formed from his body were studier than the ghostly-summons of her imagination. Quickly, Takarada was the one taking care of the robots and leaving Ayame to clean up behind.
Damn it!
Deciding that she cannot stay in the same area as him, Ayame bolted forward. She even ran past a few robots to leave for him, aiming for the ones further in the heart of the city where fewer students were. Just when she thought she was about to leave him behind, the ground rumbled before her. She gasped when a crack formed on the road and the wolf slid to a halt.
"What the hell?!"
Ayame gasped at the giant robot that had emerged. It was as tall and big as the building, the armor clinking at ever movement it made. She was frozen momentarily as she stared at the giant robot looking right at her.
T-this…is part of the test, right?! Ayame gulped and motioned the wolf to turn around, That's U.A. for you!
"H-hey! We should go!" Ayame shouted towards the other boy, their brief rivalry forgotten.
Takarada ignored her, eyes boring into the giant robot then settling on the other students running away from the robot. If she remembers correctly, this robot does not provide any points even if it was destroyed. It was better to run away!
Without a word, he ran towards the giant robot. Ayame blinked at him.
"Huh?" Her summon stopped running in her distraction. "Huuh?!"
Lilac eyes followed his movement, watching him dash towards the other students and guiding the others through the debris. Ayame blinked again, mouth parted as realization slowly dawned on her. Before she can think anymore, the giant robot swung his arm.
"Watch out!"
Takarada looked up at that time. A blur of black and brown dashed by him and stopped right in front of the other students. Ayame's ookami reverted back to black smoke, drifting upwards and expanding until the thin trails covered their whole sky. Takarada looked up and saw the crisscross pattern of a shell forming before realizing—this girl had encased themselves into a giant tortoise she summoned.
"H-hey!" Takarada finally looked back at the brunette's kneeled form, sweat dripping from her forehead as she withstood the arm swing from the robot. "G-get out of here!"
Takarada motioned for the remaining students to run and Ayame turned back to the robot. Her vision was getting blurry with every second as the giant robot attempted to break her space. She didn't even have time to admire how this was the biggest creation she had ever made up to date. As soon as she saw everyone except the black haired boy leave the vicinity, the shell broke.
Ayame fainted.
"This idiot."
Takarada ran forward, his right arm crystallized into oversized black diamond shards. He thrust his arm forward, meeting the giant's hand and crushing the metal into pieces before it could pick up Ayame. Above her, Takarada looked down upon the fainted girl with a slight frown.
"I could have protected myself."
"TIIIIIIIIIMEEEEEEE!"
.
It was the longest week of Ayame's life.
Ayame could not remember the ending of the examination. She had woken up to see Yume with her in the setting sun. Yume had explained how Ayame had passed out right before the examination ended and the younger girl nearly cried in disbelief.
"I failed!" Ayame groaned; collapsing on the living room couch disheartened after a week of no news from U.A.
Suzume quietly patted her older sister's hand from the floor, large violet eyes looking towards the eldest in a silent plea for help. Yume smiled helplessly and sat down next to Suzume, rubbing Ayame's head in affection.
"It's too early to know, Aya. You did well," Yume comforted.
"But I fainted!" Ayame's muffled voice came from the pillow. "I couldn't remember anything after!"
"D-don't mind!" Suzume's little voice cheered and offered her large bunny to Ayame, "Nee-chan is my hero!"
Ayame finally looked up to see matching violet eyes regard her. A small smile appeared on her lips as she scooped Suzume up to the couch with her, hugging the child tightly because her little sister was just too adorable.
"Ayame!" Hiroshi's voice rang through the house, leading Shiko around as he waved a letter widely to them. "A letter, for you!"
Her eyes light up in excitement and with a yelp, Ayame dashed forward. She snatched the letter from her father's hand yet couldn't open it, her heart pounding from the nerves and excitement.
"What does it say?" Shiko asked excitedly, tightening her hold onto her husband yet her eyes was focused on Ayame's blurred figure.
"I-I," Ayame trembled.
"Go on…" Yume picked up Suzume and both sisters arrived by Ayame's side.
Her whole family was waiting eagerly for the results and that was enough encouragement for Ayame to rip the letter open.
A circular device fell out and Ayame stumbled to catch it, sighing in relief when it did not fall. A holographic screen pulled up to reveal a young woman with dark hair pulled back into a bun. She was smiling on the screen and everyone crowded around to watch.
"Sasaki Ayame," the instructor said her name and caused her heart to skip a beat, "You have scored just a little above average in the written exam. In the practical exam, you made it onto the top 25% of the student's score."
Oh no, she was getting rejected—wasn't she? Ayame pursed her lips again and Yume had to reach out to hold the device steady in case it falls.
"The quality of a Hero is many. U.A. only accepts the best of the best, ranging from their academic grades to their combat ability."
Ayame trembled again, tears brimmed the corner of her eyes as she waited for the inevitable 'fail'. Suzume hugged her sister's arm and Hiroshi wrapped his arm around his daughter; all of them waiting for the final result.
"But most importantly, the self-sacrificing nature in always putting others before yourself."
The video changed to one of Ayame from that day. It showed her running past the dark hair boy and blocking the giant robot's arm with her Quirk. Ayame was frozen as she saw herself playing on the screen and then changing to a row of teachers holding up a numbered sign. The numbers totaled up to 50 rescue points.
"Your valiant rescue effort had been noted," Soharu Ume smiled as she returned to the screen. "Congratulations, Sasaki Ayame. Welcome to U.A. High School!"
The video ended but Ayame was still frozen. It wasn't until her family started cheering did she come back to reality.
"Ayame! You did it!" Yume shook her.
"Aya-nee! Congradulurations!" Suzume attempted to say.
"I-I," Ayame was still wide-eyed at the screen.
"I knew my girl would pass!" Shiko cooed in admiration.
Ayame turned around to face all of them, new tears brimmed the corner of her eyes as she threw her arms around to hug her family. She was laughing at the same time as her family returned the hug.
"I passed! I'm going to be a Hero!"
That spring, Ayame wore her new U.A. uniform proudly. She admired the grey blazer in the reflection, shoulder length brown hair hung free and lilac eyes bright and excited.
Ayame never knew what had happened after she fainted. She never knew the boy she saw as a rival at that time had saved her. Even when the two of them had somehow ended up in the same class, Ayame barely antagonized him and Takarada barely acknowledged her. Although their relationship was not the best, Ayame did not dwell on it.
At that time, when her relationship with Sasaki Yume had been revealed, Ayame was more focused on being her own person.
"Ayame, focus."
Ayame grunted, falling onto the ground with a groan after being knocked down by Yume. She pushed herself to her feet again, wiping the sweat from her forehead as Yume readied another stance. Ayame summoned another kitsune and it dashed forward, ready to pounce on her sister.
With a swipe, Yume's lasso sliced through the poor kitsune and into Ayame's arm before she could dodge. The younger girl hissed at the red splotch on her skin and stumbled back. Yume ran forward and pushed her down, sitting over Ayame and rendering her useless.
"I don't get it," Ayame huffed, taking a deep breath to stabilize her heart rate, "I have a more…offensive Quirk yet you're not even using yours! How am I losing?"
Yume smiled helplessly. "Your Quirk correlates with your mind. If you focus enough, you can call upon the summons with just a thought and they would not disappear after one hit."
"But I am focusing!"
Yume tapped Ayame's forehead.
"Do you remember your entrance exam?"
Ayame blinked, staring at her older sister in curiosity. "Yeah, why?"
"Back then, that was your first time in creating that tortoise, wasn't it?"
She blinked again, lilac eyes closing in remembrance of over year ago. Although the memories were hazy, Ayame remembered the giant summon she had created to protect the students running away.
"At that time, what did you feel when creating it?" Yume continued to question.
"What I felt…" Ayame repeated the words to herself, "I was worried. I thought the robot was going to hurt someone and wanted something big and sturdy to block the blow. I wasn't…thinking that much."
Yume hummed. "And during the attack a few days ago…what did you feel?"
Ayame frowned at the mention of USJ. She still felt so irritated and upset that she had bawled like a baby. She wasn't able to protect her uncle like he had done for her. She was weak and useless and ended up being saved by her kouhais instead.
"Angry…and upset."
"Ayame," Yume softly comforted, "Your Quirk is unstable if you rely on your emotions alone. You were able to summon many yet—how easily were they dissipated? But when you were impulsive and moved to protect, that tortoise came from you. One day, your Quirk will become second nature to you and you would be able to move as one with it."
She opened her eyes to stare at her older sister yet a frown was on her lips. Why was it so difficult to control her Quirk? Ayame had improved immensely since her first year already. Back then, she was unable to create a creature large enough to mount. Now, Ayame can create the large ookami and kitsune to a size she was proud of and can even use them as mounts.
Though it would be better if I can create that giant nine-tailed fox…
Ayame shook that from mind.
"It would be easier if I had your Quirk," Ayame mumbled.
If she had inherited her mother's Quirk, Ayame would have easily controlled the villains. If she had their Quirks, Ayame would not need to fight with her life and can easily put the enemies to sleep. There were countless times Ayame had that thought and—countless times other had said the same.
"Sasaki…Ayame? Your Quirk is different from LullaCry's, eh?"
"What a shame! Imagine having two Heroes with the ability to put the villains to sleep!"
Yume froze by those words and watched Ayame stare off into the orange sky. She was not sure if her little sister had meant to say that out loud but she could hear the bitter undertone clearly. Yume couldn't understand the envy, she knew the limitations of her own Quirk, but she thought Ayame's Quirk had more potential than her own.
"What are you saying?" Yume flicked Ayame's forehead again, bringing the younger girl back to reality and yelped in pain. "You just need to practice! Why don't we try to expand on your Quirk? Let's see if you can summon two at once."
Ayame rubbed her head with a pout but nodded her head regardless. Yume helped her up and instead of sparring, she instructed Ayame to create something small. Her head was hurting again from the overuse but Ayame persevered, creating one little butterfly and struggling to create another.
Behind the glass door, Shiko was staring at the two blurred figures of her daughters. Hiroshi was besides her, looking at his wife in curiosity at the contemplative look on her face.
"What is it, Shiko?"
Shiko didn't answer immediately. Her grey eyes were still following the two blurs and yet—that was all she could see. With Ayame's hair untied, both sisters looked identical in shape and hair color. Shiko bit her lips, her arm tightening around Hiroshi in worry.
"Hiro…" her voice came out soft yet broken, alarming the man by the distress in her tone, "I can't tell my daughters apart."
He tensed, violet eyes darkening by her confession and pulled Shiko into his arms. Hiroshi knew of Shiko's struggles. As the years gone by, although his wife had appeared strong, he knew how much it was hurting Shiko to lose her vision. While he had the ability to watch his daughters grow up, Shiko lost hers.
"It's okay," Hiroshi whispered, leaving a gentle kiss on her head, "We will fix this together."
No one noticed Suzume around the corner, eyes sullen as she stared at her parent's back.
Ayame yawned as she walked through the U.A. corridor. Yesterday was the first time she had trained with Yume and although she had gotten a full night of sleep, her body was still sore from the beating. She knew her sister had trained hard to improve her body to make up for her Quirk but—she wasn't expecting Yume to not hold back when fighting! Ayame could still feel the bruises from last night!
"Senpai!"
She turned around to see Jirou and Yaoyorozu heading her way. Ayame paused to watch the two catch up, silently wondering when they had become such quick friends but smiled nonetheless at the two. After all, they were all heading in the same direction to Class 1-A.
"Jirou-chan and Yaoyorozu-chan," Ayame greeted, "Ah—that's such a long name! Can I call you Momo-chan?"
Yaoyorozu was taken aback by Ayame's boldness but a smile was quick upon her lips, clapping her hands together in agreement.
"Of course, senpai! It would be an honor," Yaoyorozu giggled in a refined manner and Ayame thought of how charming she looked then.
"Did you hear? The Sports Festival is happening next week," Jirou started the conversation as the three of them began to head off again.
"It's a little troubling to hold such an important event after the attack…but Aizawa-sensei was confident the festival will run smoothly," Yaoyorozu mused.
"Ahhh that oji-san," now that their relationship was not a secret anymore, Ayame did not care about her manners any longer, "Is he expected to fight in his status now?"
Jirou and Yaoyorozu looked at each other, blinking at their upperclassmen silently mouthing off their teacher and giggled. Although Ayame had run away the day before, it seemed like she had eased into the school knowing her relation with her uncle.
"Security will be quadrupled this time," Jirou assured, "There's no need to worry about an invasion again."
"Hmm," Ayame nodded her head, "That would be U.A. for you."
"Speaking of which," Jirou turned to Ayame excitedly, "Everyone is fired up for the Sports Festival. How is your training going, senpai?"
"It's great!" Ayame grinned, "My sister is helping me train this week."
"LullaCry, was it?" Yaoyorozu confirmed, "She's an amazing Hero! I have read that she was Midnight's sidekick for a year before going solo."
Ayame rubbed her nose sheepishly. "Yeah, she's amazing."
"Will she be going to the Sports Festival this year?" Jirou asked.
"Uhhhh," Ayame couldn't answer.
Last year, Ayame had told her family excitedly to come to the Sports Festival. Ayame was so excited to show off during her first year as an U.A. student. Her parents had agreed to go along with Yume and Suzume and for the whole week, Ayame was excited.
But during the day of, Suzume had caught a high fever. Their parents had rushed off to the hospital for their youngest child and were unable to contact Ayame. As for Yume, a high ranking villain had surfaced again, causing the agency to call Yume off to work.
When Ayame realized none of her family had come, she was disheartened.
During the first elimination round, she was not one to pass.
Ayame had blamed herself back then. She was upset to have not gotten the chance to show off her Quirk as much as she wanted. She was upset at herself for losing against the hundreds of other students. After eliminated, Ayame was barely focused on the festivities and watched as Takarada Noeru won the tournament.
When she had arrived home and saw her family apologize for not attending, Ayame put on a bright smile.
"Ahhh! There wasn't much to watch, anyways! I lost on the first event."
This year, Ayame wasn't sure if she would tell her family.
"Ayame-senpai…?"
"H-huh?!"
She snapped out of her thoughts, turning to Yaoyorozu who had called her and saw two pairs of dark eyes look at her in concern. Ayame smiled again.
"Yume-nee is always busy with her Hero duties," Ayame said sheepishly.
The other two asked nothing more. They arrived in the classroom soon enough and took their seats. Ayame stood off to the side by the teacher's desk, waiting for Aizawa to enter and smiled at the rest of the students.
Not long after, Aizawa walked (limped) into the classroom and Ayame resisted the urge to frown at him again. She still can't believe he's not at home resting and was teaching instead! He paid no mind to her as he stood in front of the class with an announcement.
"For today, we have a special training assignment," Aizawa began and in a second, the class cheered loudly. "Change into your hero costumes and head towards the gym."
The side of the classroom opened up to reveal 20 uniform case. All the student's eyes sparkled at the chance to wear their costume again and rushed off to retrieve theirs.
"And you," Ayame perked up at her uncle's voice, turning towards him expectantly, "Change into yours too."
"Yes!"
Ayame pumped up a first and ran off to the locker room with the rest of the girls.
Unfortunately, her costume was still being repaired after the USJ attack so all she could do was wear her gym uniform. Although it does not matter much since her uniform does not enhance her Quirk, Ayame wanted to wear the outfit her sisters had helped her design.
"Do you know what we're doing today, senpai?" Tsuyu asked curiously.
All seven girls changed and exited the locker rooms. Ayame shook her head 'no', also curious of today's event since none of her teachers had notify her beforehand.
"Aizawa-sensei usually doesn't tell me the planner," Ayame sighed.
"I wonder if it's another rescue training?" Hagakure suggested.
"We did get interrupted last time," Ashido nodded her head in agreement.
Regardless, they entered the gym together and waited as everyone gathered. Ayame hopped over next to Aizawa, assuming that she wouldn't have much of a role today besides supervising again.
"Alright, everyone's here," Aizawa surveyed the students.
"Sensei, what are we doing here?" Iida raised his hand to ask.
"Today, we're splitting you all to groups of four and," he set one mummified hand on Ayame's shoulder, causing her to look up in curiosity, "will be fighting Ayame."
Ayame blinked.
"Huh?"
The class looked at her.
"HUUUUUUUH?!"
Bakugo was the first to smirk, crimson eyes staring at the upperclassmen slightly trembling from the news.
"You're saying we can beat her up?" Bakugo asked.
Ayame whirled around to glare at him, stepping away from Aizawa to focus on the blonde.
"Hey! Who says you can beat me up?!"
"Aizawa-sensei...isn't this a bit too extreme?" Ojiro spoke up hesitantly.
"Yeah! No one told me I was going to be fighting 1-A!" Ayame turned back around to stare at her uncle in disbelief.
"Oi, you didn't let me finish," Aizawa reached forward to grab her head and caused Ayame to grumble in pain and unfairness of the treatment. "You won't be fighting alone. The students will be split up into groups of four and you will also have one student helper during each battle. Two versus four will even out the score."
"Did oji-san not pass math? How come—ow ow ow I said nothing!" Ayame reached up to grasp his hand over her head and pulled it off.
"What's the matter, Ayame? Can't handle a friendly spar against your underclassmen even with your advantages? How can you show off as a senpai then?" Aizawa taunted.
Ayame huffed and glared at her uncle but immediately stopped when his eyes were wide and scary on hers. She gulped, mentally wondering what she did to piss off her uncle this time for the punishment.
"A-Aizawa-sensei, you're not mad that the school found out our relationship, are you?" Ayame blinked up at him innocently.
"No, of course not," Aizawa grinned yet Ayame felt a shiver run down her spine, "Your dear sister requested some sort of training exercise for you, too. And seeing how well you did during USJ, I decided to come up with this plan."
"I-I-I," Ayame could say nothing in response.
"Ya know, I thought it would be kinda cool to be related to Aizawa-sensei but..." Kirishima whispered to the side.
"I'm glad he's not my family," Kaminari finished.
"What was that?" Aizawa turned his head towards the two boys. Even with his body mummified, he was still intimidating with just one look.
"Nothing, sensei!"
"Alright, now draw your lots," Aizawa pulled out a box from the side.
Ayame watched in anticipation, seeing the students pull out different orbs mainly in the color blue with a number 1-4 written on it. There were four others who had pulled out a red orb instead with the number 1-4 stamped on. Her eyes lit up at the teammates, running over to gather the four boys around.
"Tokoyami-kun, Totoro-kun, Kaminari-kun, and Sero-kun! I'm counting on you guys!"
"Ah," Tokoyami replied while Todoroki nodded his head once.
"Don't worry, senpai, I'll win this easily for you!" Kaminari winked.
"He says that now but watch him over shock himself in the first two seconds," Sero laughed.
"Let's do our best as a team!" Ayame cheered.
"First match: Yaoyorozu, Ojiro, Shoji, and Bakugo VS Ayame and Tokoyami," Aizawa announced.
"Right off the bat, eh?" Bakugo smirked and turned to the three others, "Oi! You extras should just follow my lead! Don't get in my way or anything!"
"Haah...somehow, I have a bad feeling with this," Ojiro sighed.
"Let's try to cooperate and work around Bakugo-san first," Yaoyorozu instructed. Shoji nodded in agreement with her.
"Toko-kun, let's review our Quirk together real fast. Is there anything specific I should know about you and the other team?" Ayame whispered to her teammate.
Tokoyami blinked once at her. Toko-kun?
"My Dark Shadow is versatile; can both attack and defend. But I worry he will be weak against Bakugo; Dark Shadow is weak against light but strong in the dark," at that explanation, a dark crow-like figure emerged from Tokoyami's chest. Ayame's eyes bulge open at that, gasping in surprise and leaned close to the glowing gold eyes.
"That's...so...cool!" Ayame was starry eyed at Dark Shadow.
"Hey, did you hear that? She called me cool!"
"Ahhh! He can talk too!" Ayame jumped in excitement.
"Oi! This is a match! Are you going to fight or what?!" Bakugo yelled impatiently from the stage.
Ayame focused back on the upcoming battle, smiling to herself as she ignored Bakugo in favor of her teammate.
"Anything else?"
"Ojiro and Shoji are physical combatants. Yaoyorozu can create non-living materials from her body. I'd worry about her the most."
"Alright," Ayame nodded her head and they began to walk on stage, "I'll focus on Kacchan while you keep others at bay."
"Un."
"Uwahh I'm so nervous yet excited for this match! Who do I root for?" Ochako looked between Ayame and Yaoyorozo before shaking her head. "I'll choose both! Go, senpai! Go, Momo-chan!"
"G-good luck, s-senpai! G-good luck, K-Kacchan!" Midoriya joined in on the cheering, also equally indecisive.
"I don't need your luck, Deku!"
"Kick his ass, Ayame-senpai!" Kaminari shouted from the side.
"Everyone! Do your best!" Hagakure and Ashido cheered together.
"The rules are simple," Aizawa stated, "The first to land two solid hits on your opponent will eliminate them from the match. Guarding does not count. You can also force them out of the stage or immobilize them. This will continue until only one team is standing."
Ayame stretched while Tokoyami summoned his Dark Shadow. The other team readied a stance and waited for Aizawa's further instructions.
"Ready... Begin!"
Bakugo rushed forward as soon as it began. Ayame imagined her ookami immediately and hopped on, leaving Tokoyami to take care of the other three. Out of the four opponents, Bakugo would be the toughest one yet. Ayame had already seen Bakugo fight against the gate villain but facing him was a whole another thing.
"I've wanted to do this for awhile!" Bakugo had a crazy grin on, right arm pulled back as he stared at the ghostly wolf.
"What the hell? We barely met a week ago!" Ayame shouted in incredulity; what did she ever do to him?!
They couldn't say anything more when Bakugo slammed his hand forward, an explosion triggered from his sweat glands and smoke clouded the two. The ookami disappeared from the blast and Ayame winced as she fell to the floor but quickly rolled away when she saw Bakugo jump at her.
"Your damn summons are flashy but they're weak!" Bakugo analyzed, not giving her time to call upon another, "You are naturally weak against me. Now, die!"
Another explosion set off on stage and the ground shook from the attack.
"H-hey, would the stage by okay after this?" Kirishima asked hesitantly.
"Would senpai survive after this?" Sero asked back.
"Hold still!" Bakugo's shout emerged from the smoke; another set of explosion caused more dark clouds to appear on stage.
"Haah?! You hold still!" Ayame shouted back as she ran but—the classmates noticed she did not have any other companion with her.
"Huh? Do you guys see Tokoyami-kun or the rest?" Ochako pointed out and the other students looked onto the stage.
There were slight movement within the clouds but it looked to be just the smoke moving away. Still, they focused on the dark shadows running around within. Even though Ayame and Bakugo can be clearly seen from their wide movements, not being able to see the others was more suspicious.
"W-wait, don't tell me..." Midoriya gasped; theories forming in his mind as he whipped out his notebook. He flipped through the pages until it landed on Tokoyami's page, only vague notes written down regarding 'Dark Shadow'.
"Gah!"
A loud shout could be heard from the shadow and within a second, a boy with a long tail was thrown out of the ring. Slowly, a smirk emerged on Ayame's lips as she saw Ojiro being out of commission but in her distraction, Bakugo pounced. She didn't have time to dodge away when the boy crashed into her, pinning her to the ground with one hand and the other hand sparking in fire.
"Any last words?" Bakugo grinned much like a villain.
Ayame raised one hand to lessen the pressure Bakugo had on her chest, wincing from the pain on her back from the jagged ground but—she was still smiling. Angry crimson eyes glared at her but she was not focused on him.
"Toko-kun! Now!"
Bakugo moved to slam his hand down but at the last second, a large serpent curled around his arm and circled his hand. The explosion triggered but was eaten up by the snake and the tail continued to circle the rest of Bakugo's body, rendering him immobile. If Bakugo tried to create an explosion, it would harm his hands rather than the serpent.
"What the hell?!"
Bakugo wiggled around the large snake but the summon did not budge. Ayame pushed him off easily after and wiped the sweat from her forehead. The smoke slowly cleared and the others can finally see the rest of the students. Dark Shadow had eclipsed Shoji and Yaoyorozu, forcing the two on the ground. Even though the smoke had cleared and Dark Shadow lost a few inches in size, Tokoyami was still in control and overpowered the two.
"Kacchan, this is a team match after all," Ayame got up from the ground with a skip and tapped Bakugo's chest twice playfully. "You thought my summon was weak but you never considered your teammates."
"A bait," Todoroki observed and answering the all of the student's silent question. "She used herself as bait to keep Bakugo occupied while her summon ran off to help her teammate."
"Ahh," Tokoyami agreed. "The smoke from Bakugo's explosion provided sufficient cover and power for Dark Shadow. With senpai's summon rounding the three of them together; it was easy to capture them after."
"Haaah," Ojiro sighed from the side, "If I hadn't tried attacking the wolf, Dark Shadow wouldn't have forced me out of the stage."
"An Emitter-type Quirk is really...on a whole another level," Shoji said.
"Ahem," Aizawa cleared his throat, dark eyes scanning the trapped Yaoyorozu and Shoji before turning to the angry Bakugo still inside the serpent. "Ayame and Tokoyami wins."
"Yes!" Ayame cheered and released her summon, running off to her shorter teammate. "Toko-kun! We did it!"
Once Bakugo was free, he ran after Ayame.
"Shitty crybaby-senpai! I want a rematch!"
"AHHH!"
Ayame screamed and ran faster away from Bakugo. Dark trails of smoke emerged from her body and her trusty wolf appeared. Ayame hopped on it to run away.
"It's over! Leave me alone!"
"Not until I beat the crap out of you!"
"K-kacchan! P-please, calm down!" Midoriya tried to help from the side.
"Should we help...?" Sato asked unsurely; all of them watching Bakugo chase Ayame around again.
"Oi, stop messing around," Aizawa's sharp voice paused any movement on stage.
Ayame stopped running but Bakugo didn't, crashing into Ayame and caused her to yelp again. She fell off her summon and was about to collide into someone but a warm arm steadied her shoulder. Ayame blinked, lilac eyes looking up to see heterochromia ones of grey and turquoise. Ayame perked up and grinned as Todoroki let her go.
"Thanks, Totoro-kun!"
"It's our turn next," was his remote reply, heading off onto the stage without looking back.
Ayame blinked at his aloofness but followed nonetheless, leaving Bakugo to seethe behind. She remembered to turn back to look at the angry blonde, giving another cheek grin to him and running off.
"Totoro-kun! Let's do our best!" Ayame hopped next to Todoroki, pumping her hands together in a cheer.
He merely glanced at her from the side.
"You wouldn't need to do anything, senpai." His mismatched eyes focused on the four opponents before him, "I will end this in one move."
"Huh?" Ayame whispered to herself.
"Second match: Mineta, Jirou, Hagakure, and Iida VS Ayame and Todoroki." Aizawa announced.
"Against Todoroki-kun... Do you think they will be okay?" Ochako asked Midoriya quietly.
Since the first match, Midoriya had been writing furiously in his notebook. Analyzing Ayame's and Tokoyami's Quirk had provided plenty resource to add on. Hearing Ochako call out to him, Midoriya stopped his muttering mid-way to blush.
"I-Iida-kun may have a chance but...it all depends on Todoroki-kun's first move," Midoriya analyzed.
"Ayame-senpai! I won't hold back!" Iida bowed once respectfully before turning to his teammates. "Let's win!"
Mineta was smiling to himself in a daze, looking between Jirou and Ayame and she swore she saw drool dripping from his mouth. She flinched at the perverted look in his eyes.
"Let's beat their clothes off!"
"You damn pervert!" Jirou punched the short boy's head.
"Ready..." Aizawa cut them off once he saw everyone on stage. "Start!"
"Get back, senpai."
Todoroki's calm voice spoke as soon as Aizawa finished. Ayame didn't have time to react when ice emerged from the ground—specifically, from under Todoroki. The clear ice was spreading fast and out towards the four others before spikes shot out from the end. She could only watch with wide lilac eyes at the extent of his powers and felt a chill within from the sudden drop in temperature.
The others had jumped away but they still landed on ice. Their balance was unsteady and fell down, Hagakure yelped in pain while Mineta fell (whether intentional or not) on Jirou. Iida was the only one to stay steady but did not have the time to help his teammates when more ice rushed forward.
Todoroki sighed; a stream of cold air left his lips from his Quirk. Ayame snapped out of her daze. Right; she can't get distracted. This was a team battle after all!
She kneeled down on the ice, not trusting her balance with it and set her hand down. Black smoke emerged from her hand again as she summoned the ookami running towards the other three students.
"Ahhhh! It's the wolf!" Mineta shouted in alarm. He reached up to his hair and pulled out multiple purple balls, throwing it in the creature's direction. "Get back!"
The ball only passed through the ookami.
"That did nothing!" Jirou shouted.
"Recipro Burst!"
Iida appeared by them in a flash, the engine in his legs roared as he swung his leg down. The sheer force of power cut through the ookami in half but Ayame focused before the wolf can disappear, forcing the smoke to expand and reconstruct again. A buzzing headache began to form in her head, her hand reached up to clutch the side of it but Ayame forced herself to finish the summons. The wolf turned into two smaller wolves instead and both pounced on Iida.
"I—" Ayame gasped, eyes widening at her accomplishment and nearly jumped in joy. "There's two!"
"Why are you surprised?!" Kaminari shouted in disbelief.
"It's my first time, okay?!" Ayame shouted back.
Jirou and Hagakure quickly regained their footing, aiming a series of punches towards the smaller wolves snapping at Iida. It felt like they were punching on solid air with the strange structure of the summons but quickly, the two wolves dissipated into the air.
"There may be more but they're weaker!" Hagakure punched one glove hand upwards.
Ayame reeled back with a gasp; her head pounding even after the summons were gone. So trying to control two was more difficult than one giant one—but the fact that she was able to succeed meant she can practice more later.
"That's why I said I can handle this," Todoroki mumbled.
Jirou steadied herself on the ice and plugged in her earphone jack to the amplifiers on her boots. A sound wave of her heartbeat rushed into the two's direction but Todoroki sent another large-scale ice attack to withstand the sound wave. Rushing after another, Todoroki pushed his ice forward towards the four of them and finally sent them out the stage.
"Team Ayame and Todoroki wins!"
From her kneeled position, Ayame can only watch in awestruck amazement of the attacks. Silently, she was thankful she did not have to face Todoroki as an enemy. If she was against him, she wouldn't know what to do against his Quirk.
Her eyes trailed downwards, noticing the slight tremor of his right arm and paused. From her close distance she can see a thin layer of ice covering different part of his sleeve and spreading to his hand. She quickly got up, nearly falling down in the process, but Ayame held Todoroki's hand despite him nearly reeling back in surprise.
"Your hand—" It felt as cold as ice, "Are you okay?"
Heterochromia eyes widen at her warmth clasping his hand. Todoroki tried to pull his hand away and with a slight pull, Ayame released him. For some reason, he was expecting more of a resistance.
"It's fine," he answered, bringing his left hand to his right. Heat radiated from his left hand, melting the ice from his right.
"Wow..." Ayame blinked. More than once already, she thought he was...amazing.
"Ahhh, Todoroki! You don't know how to hold back, do you?!" Kirishima shouted from the side as he helped the girls up.
"Ughh, I don't want to fight him ever again," Jirou groaned.
Aizawa scanned the ruined stage. At first, Bakugo's rampage would have been fine but after Todoroki's ice, it was not an area they can continue with. He sighed, making a mental note to tell Cementoss to fix this later, and gathered the students around.
"We'll postpone the fights till tomorrow. Those that have lost, reflect on why you lost. Class dismissed."
"Whaaat? I wanted to try too!" Kirishima objected. "Seeing all of them battling pumped me up!"
"Why we lost..." Yaoyorozo repeated those words in a daze, clenching her fist together, "That's right! We must continue to better ourselves against unexpected opponents!"
"That's the spirit!" Ashido cheered.
"Oi! You crybaby-senpai, let's have a rematch now!" Bakugo rushed towards her.
Ayame gasped and hid behind the closest person next to her. Todoroki tensed again, glancing between the angry Bakugo and his upperclassman using him as a shield.
"Didn't you hear Aizawa-sensei? We're done for today!" Plus, Ayame doesn't think she can fight in her current condition.
"Then pick a time and date, just the two of us, no distractions!" Bakugo roared.
"Wow, are you asking Ayame-senpai on a date?" Kaminari joked.
"Sorry, Kacchan! I'm not interested in you!" Ayame went along with Kaminari, still dodging behind Todoroki.
"What the hell?!"
The class laughed at their antics in a light and peaceful manner. Ayame giggled before finally setting Todoroki loose after seeing the dark look in his eyes.
"Sorry, Totoro-kun. I owe you!"
With those parting words, Ayame sped off towards the locker rooms to change. She can still hear Bakugo's angry shouting behind her, laughing as she ran away. There was still a lot Ayame had to reflect by herself and train when she returns home but—for now, she believed training with Class 1-A would prove to be rewarding.
Aizawa headed off to the teacher's lounge after school has ended, intending to finish up some paperwork and alerting Cementoss to repair the gym. There was only one other teacher in the lounge, Ume looked up to stare at the mummy walking in. Aizawa nodding in her direction but she quickly turned her attention back to the computer.
"Where's Cementoss?" Aizawa had no choice but to ask her.
Ume glanced around and realizing that she was the one he was talking to, mentally cursed herself for arriving early. Although Ume was still peeved from Aizawa's behavior, she cannot not reply to him.
"Not here."
Instead of going straight to his desk, Aizawa settled to sit next to Ume. She tensed but continued to type on her keyboard, completely ignoring that he was sitting on another teacher's desk.
"You're still mad?"
Ume nearly punched the keyboard. He's asking if she's still mad? Of course! He completely disregarded his friend's concern and isn't properly resting!
"No, Eraser Head, of course not. Why would I be mad about you disregarding the doctor's insistence on staying in the hospital and coming back to teach the future generation of Heroes?" Ume smiled brightly in his direction before turning back onto the screen.
Ah, she's mad, Aizawa sighed mentally.
"Miss Medi," he attempted to catch her attention with her Hero name but Ume refused to budge.
Ume continued to type on her screen with the student's recent grades.
"Soharu," Aizawa tried again but this time, with her surname.
Ume merely pause only one nanosecond before continuing with her typing on the keyboard. This time, Aizawa really did sigh behind his bandages.
"Ume."
She flinched, finally turning to him with a slight frown but the light pink dusting over her cheeks canceled out any anger she had.
Who says he can say my first name?! Ume shouted internally.
Once he got her attention, Aizawa finally said the two words he had been too stubborn to say.
"I'm sorry."
Ume resisted the heat from rushing to her cheeks, turning away and hoping he would not see. She wasn't expecting him to apologize of all things! Usually, their arguments will simmer down after a few days and she would be the first to approach him. But this time, Aizawa was the one to apologize first and that—flustered her.
"I'll rest properly today. Will you finally stop ignoring me again?"
Despite the low, tired tone in his voice, Aizawa did truly sound apologetic. Ume raised a hand to her cheek, resting on it nonchalantly to hide the blush.
"It's fine," she muttered between her hand.
Whatever, Ume thought; I'll let him off this time.
Her eyes settled back onto the screen, scanning over the name she had stopped at and turned to Aizawa fully.
"Why didn't you tell us you were related to Sasaki Ayame? Or Sasaki Yume?" Ume asked; now that their 'fight' had ended, she had been wondering about the controversies regarding Ayame since yesterday. Ume had been the one to volunteer and encourage Ayame to become the assistant without realizing she had ties with Class 1-A's homeroom teacher. How would that look on her end?
Aizawa shrugged. "It wasn't that important. The kids didn't want it to be known."
"It was fine with Yume-san," Ume sighed, "But the whole school knows about Ayame while she goes here."
"She seems to be handling it well," though Aizawa doubted Ayame ever had a time she would stay upset for more than two days.
"But I'm not!" Ume groaned, "How would this reflect in the other students' and faculty member's eyes? What if they think I'm playing favorites because she's related to you? I truly did not know!"
Aizawa cracked a smile at Ume's confession, finding her situation slightly amusing as she continued to spiral out of her thoughts with her decision to choose his niece.
"I didn't realize you showed favoritism towards me," Aizawa leaned back onto the chair, purposely riling Ume up now that they were civil with each other again. "Why did you choose that brat anyways?"
"She's not a brat, Aizawa," Ume corrected protectively, casually ignoring his previous statement. Still, she contemplated for a moment, thinking back to the two sisters she had taught before. "I remember Yume-san when she attended U.A. A straight A student, a class representative, and the student council president since her second year. She was nothing less than 'perfect' and made the word 'Sasaki' a fond name around the school."
Aizawa also remembered when Yume attended U.A. Everything Ume said was correct. Yume was the perfect model student they strived to have. She was never angry or upset and took a lot of roles by herself. With a powerful Quirk to back her up, Yume won two out of the three Sport Festival Tournaments during her years and was the most sought after sidekick before graduation. She was also friendly to everyone and he definitely remembered all the boys who had a crush on Yume.
"Ayame-san has a lot of potential," Ume continued, "But being in her sister's shadow has injured her confidence. She does not try as hard as she should. I thought being an assistant to you may spark her true joy in becoming a Hero again."
Aizawa could not say anything. He was not the one to question the sister's relationship and had never considered Ayame's feelings. Because that girl was always smiling and laughing, he just assumed she was just doing whatever she wanted without a care. But after listening to Ume's careful consideration towards her…
"Thanks, for looking after her."
Aizawa should try to learn more about his nieces, too.
Although Aizawa had dismissed their class for the day, Ayame stayed after school to train. Yume would not be done with her hero duties for another few hours and even then, it would not be guarantee Yume would be available to help.
Ayame stretched and headed towards the usual location. There was just a remote spot by the forest behind U.A. she enjoyed training at. It was peaceful and quiet with very few students around. Off in the distance, Ayame heard explosions going off and wondered if other students were training too.
"Ah, Ayame-san."
She looked up and saw her class representatives heading over. Takarada Noeru looked just as stoic as ever without bothering to spare her a glance. Meanwhile, the vice class representative was smiling as always, sky blue eyes twinkling under the sun.
"Hello, Yuu-kun!" Ayame greeted him brightly; she much preferred talking to him than the president. "Heading home?"
Shimizu Yuu: another prestigious boy with a powerful Quirk attending the same academy and class as Ayame. From the rumors she heard from the love struck girls in year two, even some in three, Yuu had been friends with Noeru since grade school. The Shimizu and Takarada family have known each other for generations and are business partners so seeing the two heirs interact was not odd.
However, Yuu was immensely friendlier than his best friend, Noeru. The boy would always have a pleasant smile on his face and was always helpful to their classmates. Ayame lost count on the endless love confessions he received yet for some reason, Yuu always rejected them. Still, that never deterred the girls from speaking with Yuu—especially when he has always been kind and allowed others to call him by his first name.
"Yes, we're going to my house to train for the upcoming Sports Festival," Yuu answered kindly although Takarada did not bother to stop. The other boy continued to brush past them and Yuu could only give an apologetic look towards Ayame's direction.
"Ohhh I see! Good luck in your training!" Ayame cheered.
"And you as well, Ayame-san."
A scoff can be heard from the front and they both turned to the dark haired boy. Takarada glanced behind him, crystal eyes looking down on Ayame mockingly.
"Don't even bother, Yuu. She wouldn't even make it to the tournament round."
"Why you—!"
Yuu held Ayame back carefully before she pounced on Takarada. The class president had always shown a…special treatment towards Ayame and Yuu could never figure out why. He knew for a fact Takarada disliked anyone and everyone but—Sasaki Ayame was a whole different case.
"Noeru, it may be different this year," Yuu pacified behind Ayame, his eyes narrowing slightly in warning towards the other male.
Takarada only rolled his eyes and left. Yuu can play friends with their classmates if he wants; Takarada wanted nothing to do with it.
"Sorry, Ayame-san," Yuu apologized and another kind smile was on his lips, "I hope to see you in the tournament this year."
Ayame sighed, releasing the anger and nodded her head. Just because Takarada doesn't know how to be nice doesn't mean she should take it out on Yuu.
"Count on it," Ayame grinned. "I don't know how you're able to stand him but you better go before he leaves you behind."
She jabbed a thumb in Takarada's direction and Yuu nodded his head, icy blue hair following the movement. With a wave, he ran after Takarada and Ayame focused back on her task.
Although she had won the team battles today, technically, Ayame did not contribute much…especially when she had Todoroki as her teammate. He basically won the four versus two by himself and even though Ayame had admired him for it, she realized she was…weak.
She can understand why Class 1-A was filled with potentials. The ones that stood out the most were Todoroki and Bakugo. Even Tokoyami was an ace card for them and Kaminari—even if Ayame had not seen his electricity yet, she heard plenty about it. No wonder Aizawa did not expel any students this year.
Ayame sighed, flopping down on the clearing to stare at the bright blue sky above.
Toko-kun was also the one to win our match, too, Ayame frowned.
She had relied on Bakugo's impulsiveness to focus on her only but it would not work twice. Bakugo was not completely wrong either; his Quirk would blow hers into shreds in the long run. For that match, she had relied heavily on Tokoyami to contain the other three but Bakugo would be able to win against Tokoyami, too. If he insisted on fighting her again, there's a high chance Ayame would not win.
Her arm reached up to shield her eyes, groaning out loud at her own shortcomings.
Disregarding her training with Class 1-A, what was she going to do with her own class? There's a high chance she will compete against her classmates during the Sports Festivals and everyone knew each other's Quirks quite decently.
The two most troublesome Quirks of her class were…obviously the class representatives. The stupid class rep has a simple, but powerful Quirk. He can materialize gemstones from his body and reconstruct its composition to be sturdier than the average ones found in mines. Not only that, Takarada was able to manipulate existing gems and minerals from the ground at a massive rate.
Last year, Takarada Noeru had a stunning victory as the year one student. Shimizu Yuu had come in second, unsurprisingly, and two other strong opponents were in third place. Ayame didn't have the chance to show off nor was she able to join the tournament round. No wonder Takarada doesn't even put her in his eyes.
Ayame quickly got up, slapping her cheeks once to wake up. She can't give up now! This year will be different! This year, she will prove to herself and that stuck-up class president she can win!
A/N:
I am so bad with fight scenes I am sorry. All of the teams are from a randomly generated group simulator based on their seating charts. I can't believe Todoroki made it onto the same team as Aya lol.
I drew a Todoroki x Ayame comic on my Tumblr (toomuchpineapples)! I've been drawing a lot of art for those two lately and will slowly post them on my Tumblr. Please go check it out when you can! (The cover art for this story is drawn by me too!)
Reviews are much appreciated please!
P.S. I need to create more OCs to fill up Class 2-A. Any ideas or volunteers with theirs?