Technical Support

Chapter 53

This was something else entirely though. She just looked so vulnerable. Despite what everyone thought and despite how she always acted, Ayano was indeed just a high school girl. She was just a teenager like everyone else. She had her weaknesses, her problems, and her insecurities. Maybe she had less than most others, but she still had them. They weren't the product of some traumatic experience, but of just going through life itself.

She was feeling incompetent, like she wasn't good enough, and it made her question herself. It was entirely normal, especially for people their age.

Bakugou just couldn't believe he didn't see it earlier. What kind of boyfriend was he!? Of course, it's not like Ayano was one to really let her emotions show, but he thought he might be the exception to that.

Was he not someone she could rely on when it came to these things? He wanted to be someone she could depend on, be it for trivial things or serious ones.

"And..." Ayano began again, Bakugou's ears perking up to hear her. "Even though I had made the decision to catch up to you, I still couldn't fully put everything I had into it. I-Island is the best opportunity to help me reach my goals. I can learn things there that I never would be able to in Japan. I had a full understanding of that, but...I also knew that I didn't want to leave you. That I wasn't prepared to."

"Why didn't you tell me?" Bakugou finally spoke, his hands balling into fists.

"I already told you that I need to make these decisions by myse—" "Not that!!" He interrupted her.

"I'm not talking about that. Why didn't you tell me that you were feeling insecure? Why didn't you tell me about how you felt this whole time?!!" His voice was slowly raising. He was a bit upset with her for shouldering all of this by herself, but he was more upset with himself.

He was mad that he wasn't someone she was relying on, but he was also mad that he hadn't brought this up sooner. That he wasn't the one to initiate this conversation. If he hadn't been so petty this whole time, he could have talked things out with her before it got this far. They were both feeling the same way. Why couldn't they understand each other better then?

"Why didn't you tell me earlier? Why didn't you let me help you!?!" He shouted at her.

"It's because of that!!" Ayano pointed at him, confusing him. "It's because of that...that face of yours! The face you're making right now. I didn't want to see that kind of face while I was trying to make my decision."

"What? Did you think I wouldn't let you go?" Bakugou asked, almost offended. He was relieved when she shook her head.

"I'm not dumb enough to fall in love with someone that wouldn't let me make my own decisions...but I am dumb enough to fall for you so much that your words weigh more heavily than my own." Ayano put her head in her hand, the mental fatigue of the conversation setting in.

At his confused look, Ayano elaborated. "Katsuki, I don't think you understand just how much your words mean to me. I knew you would support my decision to study abroad in I-Island...but just because you would let me go doesn't mean you want me to."

He looked down as she gently took his hand into her own. Their warmth mingled together as their hands connected. "I know you feel the same way as I do, Katsuki. We may be very different, but we tend to agree on these things."

She was right. Just like before when they both blamed themselves for All Might's end, they now both felt the same way here. He would never stop her from doing what she wanted, but he didn't want her to go. He wasn't prepared to let her go.

He looked back up at her when her other hand cupped his cheek. "If I told you about this before I made my own decision, your words could easily sway me. If you were to make the face you're making now, and tell me that you don't want me to go...I knew that I would break. I would instantly use that as an excuse to somehow justify not accepting the offer. I couldn't let something like that decide my fate. That's why I didn't tell you anything before I m—"