Technical Support

Chapter 41

"...It'll be me." He mumbled. She looked at him with confusion, a questioning sound coming from her mouth.

"I said it'll be me! You've already met me and I'm definitely going to become a hero, so I'll be your number one hero for sure! I'm closer to you than even All Might, right? I'll even surpass him so even if you did get to meet him, I'd still be your number one!"

"I'll be your hero!"

.

.

.

Ayano looked at him in shock. The tears had stopped flowing entirely because of how surprised she was at his words.

Bakugou continued shouting at her. "What does it matter if All Might is done for?! Everything will be fine if someone just replaces him, right?! If that's the case, I'll replace him! I'll surpass him and become the number one hero! You won't have to feel like this if there's someone better, right?! Then, I'll become the most amazing hero! The one that's closer to you than even All Might! The one that you'll admire even more than him!!!"

He was panting. The shouting and anger within him slowly subsiding after seeing her reaction. Had he gotten through to her, even just a little?

Ayano couldn't believe what she was hearing. Did he really mean all of those things? Only an idiot would say such stuff! Not to mention, his words were pretty embarrassing. It was basically the same things he said when they were children.

Was he doing this on purpose? No, it didn't seem like that. So, he really does mean all the things he's proclaiming. He really hadn't changed. How can he say such embarrassing things like that with such conviction?

Speaking of which, how did she even respond to him back then? Oh, that's right. She said something pretty embarrassing too.

"Kacchan...You're already my hero!"

It seems she hadn't changed either. Ayano still felt the same way, and she was angry at herself for taking this long to realize it.

At the bombardment of childhood memories coupled with realizing her feelings, Ayano began to cry again. These tears, however, were tears of joy. She started to laugh. A laugh of immense relief. Her heart felt so much lighter now, the weight on her shoulders diminishing.

Bakugou frowned, unsure of what to do. "Are you laughing or crying!? Pick one!!"

Ayano just laughed more at his flustered reaction. "You really haven't changed..." She said quietly. She debated on whether or not to say the same words as she did when she was a child.

"You're already my hero!"

Ayano furiously shook her head. There's no way she'd say something so embarrassing like that again. She wasn't ready yet, and he already had such a big ego. There was no point in swelling his head further. At least, that's what she used to convince herself.

Taking a deep breath, she looked at him dead in the eye. He flinched, seeing the conviction in them.

"Katsuki..." His heart might have just skipped a beat at hearing her use his first name like that.

"Thank you." Her eyes softened and the ends of her lips tilted up into a gentle smile. She had smiled at him plenty of times before, but this was the first time she had done it so openly. It was the first time he was looking.

It was the first one he had actually seen.

His blush grew even deeper when he realized that he was still straddling her from before. Quickly jumping off of her, he looked away to hide the deep blush on his face. "Thank me for what?! Knocking some sense into you?! If you're ever so pathetic again, I'll be sure to hit you twice as hard next time!"