"Following Class A and B is Classes C, D, and E of General Studies!!! And here come the Support Course Classes F, G, and H!! And the Business Courses!"
Yuudai clicked his tongue. "What are we? Just some accessories to make the hero kids look better?" Even with her thorough dislike of the boy, Ayano had to agree with him. Present Mic's basically off-handed introduction of all the other classes certainly made them feel that way. Many of the other students from the Support Course and General Studies held the same kind of resentment.
Even so, this just helped to spur Ayano on. She would simply have to rise to the top and be so much better than the rest that the audience would be forced to look at her.
As all the first-years lined up for the athlete's oath, Midnight announced that Bakugou would be the student representative. Distracted with her inventions before, Ayano was now interested in the festival's proceedings. She gave Bakugou her undivided attention.
"I pledge...That I'll be number one."
The boy was met with a flurry of screams and protests. Among those objections was a twinkling of laughter. Ayano was laughing behind her hand.
It was funny. He had changed, yet he hadn't. His drive to be number one was obviously still there and he didn't care about dragging down others. However, he wasn't saying this out of arrogance. Well...perhaps not completely out of arrogance. He was doing this on purpose. He was pushing himself, forcing himself into a situation in which he absolutely had to be number one.
If he was making enemies of everyone here, then everyone would give their all when they faced against him. It would be an indisputable victory if he wins in that situation.
Or rather, when he wins.
Ayano had absolute confidence in him.
As Bakugou descended the stairs of the stage, he met Ayano's gaze. Her amused look soon turned to one of challenge as she smirked. They seemed to have a telepathic conversation through their eyes.
"You better make good on that pledge." "Watch me."
Midnight revealed the first event to be an obstacle course race. As everyone prepared themselves in front of the gate, Ayano was left to her thoughts. She opted for the back, not caring to push herself to the front like many other eager students.
"Given the number of students here and how the U.A. Sports Festival is always held, there should be at least one other event before the battle royale type tournament is held. There are approximately 220 students in our class." The girl looked around at the stands, seeing the Business and Management Course students selling various things and taking notes of certain students, referring to them as possible 'good stock.'
"Without them, there should be around 160 students. The number of contestants will be thinned out twice before the battle royale. In that case, roughly 40 students should pass this round. The next event will most likely be held immediately after this. I should save my energy for that and aim for the low thirties."
She glanced at Bakugou who was raring to go. She looked away, almost as if in shame. Her thought process basically went against everything she had said before to Yuudai and to Shinsou. However, it was a necessary sacrifice for her to reach the top in the end.
She was in excellent physical condition, but she was definitely not on par with those of the Hero Course who received regular training. Not only that, but she was at an immediate disadvantage without a quirk.
Rather than waste effort on reaching the top in this event, she rationalized staying towards the back to conserve energy and observe future opponents.
Her reasoning was completely logical, but it left her with a bitter feeling.
As the race began, many students tried jamming themselves through the first barrier: the narrow gate. Ayano strapped on her bionic arm cover, listening to the gears whirring inside. Taking aim at the ceiling of the exit, she launched the grappling hook, piercing into the concrete. She pulled herself over the heads of the others, narrowly missing a sheet of ice spreading on the ground.
"Even though I think that, it would be beneficial to stay further in the front for the beginning. The people in the lead now will most likely be the ones advancing." Avoiding the rest of the ice outside of the exit tunnel, she was met with the robots from the entrance exam.
"Fu Fu Fu!! So these babies have shown themselves again!!!" Ayano looked over her shoulder to see an overly excited pink haired girl. The girl looked at her with an expectant gaze.
Answering her while still running, Ayano smiled. "As much as I would enjoy reprogramming them with you again, Mei, this is a race. I do not believe we are at liberty to do that again." Her classmate pouted, but relented.
"Then, I will just have to show my babies more!!!" Mei shouted as she used her wire arrows to latch onto the giant robot and propel herself over it. Ayano quickly followed suit, once again using her grappling hook along with her air soles. They were similar to Mei's hover soles, but rather than the more clunky design of Mei's product, hers were much more compact.
With the more conservative design, they could not produce enough continuous air pressure to make her body hover like Mei's. However, they did produce enough force to propel herself high into the air in one motion.
The two girls, decked out in their own designed support items, matched each other's pace – spurring each other on. They soon came across what Present Mic liked to call 'The Fall,' a series of thin cliffs and tight ropes connecting them.
"Fu Fu Fu!! Time for my support items to shine! Take a look, all you national support companies!! At my wire arrows and hover soles!!!" The deep pit allowed her voice and maniacal laughter to echo.
Ayano chuckled, shaking her head at her classmate. While Mei was joyously occupied with showing the observing support companies her 'babies,' she had neglected to pay attention to her pathing. The girl was choosing a rather long way to pass this obstacle, opting to show off her support items as much and as long as she could.
Ayano took the much shorter route, only going through a couple of cliffs and easily passing Mei. If she was aiming to advance this round and reach the top, there would be plenty more opportunities to show off her equipment.
She reached the mine field, seeing many people in front of her taking careful steps. Looking closely, she saw the discoloring of the dirt from having been dug up to place the mines. Ayano tapped what looked to be like half of a headset on her left temple. Grey scouting lenses appeared over her eyes, relaying screens of information to her.
The lenses scouted the area, detecting and circling every point on the ground which held a mine. With this information, Ayano could easily run past other contestants who had to take more time in examining the ground.
Suddenly, she felt and heard a loud explosion behind her. Her head looked up to see Midoriya whizzing past. Her eyes widened, marveling at how amazing her childhood friend was.
When had he gotten so bold?
Ayano took this as an initiative to pick up her pace.
Another explosion occurred some distance in front of her, soon followed by Present Mic's booming voice.
"The one who made it back to the stadium first is none other than Midoriya Izuku!!!"
Ayano released a breathy laugh, forgetting her previous sentiments and breaking out into a full-on sprint.
Reaching the finish line and returning back to the stadium, Ayano was out of breath. Her eyes shifted about, quickly counting the heads already there. She let out a heavy breath, noting her place in the mid-thirties.
After catching her breath, Ayano noticed a flurry of pink in her peripheral vision. She turned to a tuckered out and disappointed Mei. "Sasaki!!! Next time, I'll be sure to show you how amazing my babies are!"
The brown-haired girl gave her friend a small smile. "I look forward to it." Mei nodded decisively. "I'm going to ask Power Loader to let me into the Development Studio!!" Ayano blinked. "Right now? You do not intend to stay for or partake in the rest of the festival?"
Mei shook her head, pulling out some of her inventions. "Clearly, my babies need some more work!! Good luck, Sasaki!!" With that, she dashed off, Ayano's eyes following her with a smile.
Turning back around to see the rest of those advancing to the next event, she was met with the sight of Midoriya being congratulated by Uraraka and Iida. From afar, she saw Bakugou against the wall and another boy with dual-colored hair glaring at Midoriya.
She could vaguely hear Bakugou's mumbles of frustration, tinged with pain. She noticed him clutching at his left arm, the limb slightly twitching here and there. Walking up to him, Ayano pulled a hot/cold pack from her utility belt and slapped it onto his arm, the pack immediately taking effect.
Their eyes met but Ayano quickly turned hers away, unable to meet his gaze for some reason. Before she could walk away, Bakugou punched the wall with his right fist. His arm barred her from walking forward. The girl still didn't meet his eyes, just staring at his arm in front of her.
"...What the fuck was that?" Ayano didn't answer. She knew exactly what he was asking about.
At her continued silence, Bakugou asked – or rather, demanded again. "What the fuck was that shoddy performance?!" His volume increasing. Ayano bit her lip in frustration. She wasn't exactly happy about her decision either.
"I don't know what fucking game you were playing, but is that what you call 'aiming for the top'?!!? Getting in the thirties??!!" Extremely uncharacteristic of her, the girl kept silent and kept avoiding his gaze.
Bakugou growled, punching the wall again and making a deeper dent. "You could've easily taken the top five!!!" He almost added 'with me' but held his tongue. Ayano's eyes were covered by the shadow of her fringe, but even he could see the frustration on her face.
He grit his teeth and clutched at her gym uniform's collar with both hands. "What the hell are you doing?!?" "You think that decision was easy for me?!!" She spat back at him, finally looking at him.
He almost flinched when he saw the ferocity in her eyes, coupled with her powerful grip on his wrists. "You think I wanted to place so low?! If I want to reach the top later, then I have to do this now! Against all of you from the Hero Course, my support items can only take me so far! I do not have the luxury of going all out from the start like you!"
"I said it before! I will do whatever it takes to reach the top!!"
Bakugou's eyebrows furrowed even further. Deep down, he knew that she was right. He knew that everything she was saying was logical. He just didn't want to accept it.
He didn't want to accept that she couldn't be at the top with him.
Ayano is quirkless. She's part of the Support Course. She had been at a disadvantage from the very beginning, but that had never stopped her in the past. Bakugou had never witnessed her accept that fact so evidently before.
He didn't want to accept it either.
She was perfectly fine without a quirk. She didn't need cowardly tactics like this to be the best. She was above that! She said so herself that she wanted to achieve her goals with her own strength! Why couldn't she understand?!
Suddenly, the blond was pulled back, his grip on her collar loosening. "Bakugou! I don't know what happened, but calm down!!" Kirishima locked his arms underneath Bakugou's. He held slight fear in his eyes, hoping that this conflict wouldn't become like the one that occurred after their first hero training. Midoriya had also appeared behind Ayano, laying a hand on her shoulder to help calm her down.
Neither of the two stopped their glaring, sparks nearly visible between them. The two of them were slightly panting from their shouting. Realizing that Ayano would not relent, Bakugou pushed Kirishima away. "Piss off, weird-hair." The blond walked off, slouching and shoving his hands into his pockets.
Ayano stared at him for a few moments more before turning to walk in the other direction. "A-Aya-chan...?" Midoriya called out to her, but she didn't stop. He quickly followed after her.
Bakugou turned his head just enough to see her walking away in the side of his eye. He clicked his tongue, gripping his arm – the one with the hot/cold pack.