Ayanokouji in MHA

Once I was out in the hallway, the noise was mostly muffled, being blocked out by the soft music. I kept walking, the brightly colored posters lined the walls blurring together as my mind drifted.

Eventually, I stopped and glanced around. I had travelled further than I thought, and didn't recognize where in the arena I was, the corridors felt unfamiliar.

I think.

I might be lost.

After about a minute, I decided to try retracing my steps, turning back the way I'd come from. I made a turn, marched straight for a bit, and made another turn, then another, expecting to see something familiar, but somehow I ended in an even less recognizable hallway. I tried again, to retrace my retraced steps to retrace my original steps, and I ended up standing in front of a supply closet that definitely hadn't been there before, I was even more lost than when I'd started. 

I let out a small sigh, abandoning my lackluster attempts of retracing, and set off aimlessly.

As I wandered, the noise of the arena faded completely, the corridor walls here were empty, already having passed all the posters or signs. I proceeded on, finding a few empty rooms filled with stacked chairs, storage rooms, and a couple empty ones. Several men in dark clothing and neon green vests patrolled past me, laughing and making jokes with each other, seemed to paid me no attention or might have somehow missed me entirely.

I considered asking for their help to find my way out, though my pride wouldn't let me admit to getting lost. It was slightly confusing yet no big deal, carrying on, I'm hoping for something, anything that would tell me where I currently was. I entered into a quite hallway with most of the doors locked and tip toed over to the lone door that left slightly ajar.

Peeking my head through the gap, I could make out several beds lined up with curtains hanging between them to offer some privacy. The room I had accidentally stumbled outside of was the medical room.

Feeling a tad worn out from roaming for so long, I decided to step inside, it wouldn't hurt to rest to take a small break. The room had a pleasant scent to it, opposed to the rather smelly one coming from the rest of the arena, I could instantly feel my body relaxing as I laid down.

As I was about to fall asleep, I noticed the curtains on my right shifting to the side, and there was an old lady sitting down by her computer, looking over at me slightly surprised.

"Tired, are we?" she said, smiling.

I thought about a few responses, staring back at her unnervingly as she waited for my reply.

"yeah, i was looking for the bathroom... got lost, and was going to take a break here." 

Unwillingly, I was forced into admitting that I had gotten lost.

"For crying out loud, this place should be off limits to any visitors—I swear, those guards are so useless sometimes, letting a young boy wander through the gaps." She said, placing her hand on her forehead and sighing. "Well, as long as you keep quiet I don't mind you taking a break here anyway."

I nodded, accepting her offer with a silent agreement and got comfortable on the bed. The room was no longer noiseless, broken by the sound of recovery girl tapping away on her keyboard, extremely focused on her... work? A few minutes had gone by in silence, and I felt I had gotten enough of a break, leaning up from bed, I noticed she had gotten a 5 star wanted level.

Perhaps she's using it for her hero training.

(edit)

Just as I decided on getting up, the door opened abruptly, followed by Mirko and a nervous female staff member.

"Let's get this over with al—hmm? You're that kid with the strong healing quirk. Aren't you too young to start working as a doctor?" She said, mistaking me as part of the support staff.

"A strong healing quirk?" Recovery girl muttered, glancing at me curiously.

"i'm not working as a doctor, i just got lost and ended up wandering all the way here." I replied.

The staff member face had switched from nervous to confused, but refrained from saying anything because one of the fighters had recognized me.

___

"Is that so? Well, whatever." She stated, quickly losing interest in the child.

The pink-haired apathetic boy, who Mirko had claimed had a powerful healing quirk, walked past Mirko to the front door, took one last look back at us, waved, then exited the medical room, all without asking anyone directions for making his way back. 

"Haaah." I sighed.

He could of at least said bye.

I notified the staff member who had accompanied Mirko here to help him go back.

"Don't worry, this will be quick."

Moving over to the impatient bunny girl sitting over on the bed, I leaned forward kissing her cheek, and healed the minor whip injury.

"Since you weren't very injured, that's all the treatment that was needed." I said, to the slightly annoyed hero.

"You should tell those annoying bastards, next time, I don't need to be healed for every scratch I get." She added on, then pulled out her phone.

"Now, now, dear, I get that you're not thrilled about coming to the medical room for every little 'scratch'; it's still better to be safe than risk any complications." I replied, ignoring her obvious dislike of my advice.

Retreating back to my desk, I pulled out some forms I needed her to fill out, only to hear a knock at the door, and turning to see the Principal of UA, Nezu, entering alone.

"Hello! I hope I'm not intruding on anything." He spoke calmly, with his usual smile worn.

"Don't worry you aren't, I just finished up with healing Mirko, what's up?" I inquired.

"Ah, I actually came here for her." He said, pointing at the seated Rabbit Hero. "Before that though, I was somewhat curious about that pink-haired child that walked out of this room a moment ago. He paid me no attention whatsoever while I strolled past him, which is weird. Ordinarily, children his age would can't resist not staring or at least show some interest. Do you know him?" He added, with a furtive smile on his face.

"No, he got lost apparently, and was taking a break on the bed when I noticed him."

"Lost? Huh... That's a bit odd don't you think? There should be numerous staff members guarding around the medical room that could of lead him back, it's rather unlikely he would accidentally stumble along in here." Nezu thought aloud, placing his paw onto his chin in a thinking pose.

When I think about it, it does sound a bit far-fetched that someone could just accidentally slip through all the security and find their way into this room. The boy was bizarre, sure, yet I don't recall him doing anything strange during the short time he was here.

"I suppose you're ri—"

"Oi, I don't wanna listen to you two theorizing, so give me my legal stuff already." Mirko interrupted, intending to finish her obligatories, and leave as quickly as possible.

"Oh right." grabbing her legal forms, I handed them to her. "Mirko, dear, you mentioned that the child had a strong healing quirk; do you happen to know who they are? " I questioned her as she started reading the papers.

"Nah, I don't." She replied as she signed the first document. "I've only met him coincidentally twice, first when I was out patrolling—where he told me his quirk, and right now." 

"How do you know his quirk is powerful? And do you know what it is?" Nezu inquired.

"Is this an interrogation or something?.." 

She gave the impression she was done talking, only to continue on.

"He healed an acid wound I received during my fight with Toxic chainsaw, almost instantaneously." She replied half-heartedly, flipping to the next page in the small stack of paperwork. "Didn't care enough to ask what it was, but I could tell it was pretty strong. The toxic effect was erased too."

"Instantly healing an acid wound, and removing any effect Toxic Chainsaw quirk had placed? All while being a child? That's quiet the impressive feat."

"Definitely." I nodded, and thought about my encounter with the boy. "Although, back to him being slightly suspicious by making it to the medical room without being stopped by staff. He was very unassuming, yet didn't show any signs of nervousness. And I hadn't noticed him doing anything shady either, he left without asking me or Mirko for anything" 

It was hard to pin-point exactly where, but Nezu's expression had changed a little as he thoughtfully began tapping his chin.

"Interesting. Very Interesting." He whispered ominously.

___

Side by side with the female staff member as a guide, we made our way back through the silent hallways, passing through the seating area once more, I realized she stopped walking.

"Do you know where your seat is? Or would like you like me to lead you there as well?" She asked, standing about 3 feet behind me.

"no, i can make it back from here on my own. thank you."

She'd nodded her head, but watched from afar as I went wove through the crowd towards my seat, ensuring that I would make it back before she could go back to her job.

After a few more rows, I finally arrived at the section where Asui was waiting. I gave the staff member a glance to signal I've found it, and went back over to my seat.

"You were gone for a while, what happened?" She asked, with her signature poker face still on, yet I could tell she was genuinely worried.

"i kinda got lost... then one of the staff members had to walk me back." I replied, not looking her in the eyes.

"Oh... you're always one of the top scorers in class, so I'd never thought something like that would happen to you." 

It was much more embarrassing having to admit being lost to someone I was going to see often rather than I stranger, I should of came up with a better excuse.

Asui accepted my answer without a word, turning her attention back to the ring as the next match was about to begin. I followed suit, feeling the noise and excitement fill the arena again as the next fighters waltz in.

The next few fights were loud and also fast-paced, were mostly disappointing. I'd missed the Mundane man fight against Yoroichi, though Asui informed me that he'd defeated her almost instantly. Gang Orca won his fight against Minotaur Lady, it was a much closer fight than what was expected, and Eren's fight against Big Red Dot was also pretty one sided. A couple other fights that featured fighters nobody's ever heard of, unless you actively followed the sport, all of which were also relatively unsatisfactory.

Mirko had defeated her second opponent as the first match of the second round, and the next contestants came up, Mundane Man was facing off against someone called Kaneki. There was a brief exchange, but it was over in just a few blows, ending as quickly as it had started. 

However, instead of celebrating or walking off stage, Mundane Man strangely turned his head to the VIP seating. An apathetic look appeared on his face, as he jumped over to it, breaking through the glass barrier.

"Is that the choice you've made?" He muttered, defeating the guards.

He placed his hand over his head, and pulled the skin off, revealing he had been wearing a silicone mask to hide his identity.

"That's! That's Shadow!" A scream rang out from the crowd.

"Who?" Someone questioned him.

"Shadow! He's a terrorist wanted in the Midgar Kingdom!"

Panic rapidly spread throughout the building as hundreds of civilians ran out of the arena fearing for their lives. President Mic attempted to calm them down, while numerous heroes had began fending off the terrorist.

Asui had tensed up beside me in fear, not that you could tell from her face, she was frozen in her seat. I grabbed her arm, pulling her towards the closest exit, attempting to leave as fast as possible.

"we should leave." I said, as we rushed through the mob.

Uninterested in needless violence, Shadow focused on fighting the attacking heroes, while the support heroes began directing the crowd to safety. 

Thanks to them, we were able to escape unharmed relatively easily.

Outside, the commotion of the crowd continued as people scattered across the plaza; some still panicking, though most had already calmed down and followed the heroes orders.

Asui and I moved quietly, heading in the opposite direction from the arena, the once-packed masses now thinning out into small groups or individuals scattered along the same path. Now and then, someone would rush past us, focused on their on escape, or perhaps worried about a friend or family member.

"do you want to grab some ice cream before heading back?"

"... It hasn't been 15 minutes since the terrorist attack, and you want to get ice cream?" She looked at me, clearly surprised by my question.

"we're already safe. no reason to let it ruin the rest of our day; we take it and go, in and out." I replied nonchalantly.

She kept silent for a moment, before ribbiting, and giving me a small smile.

"You're stupid."

We continued down the street, reaching a small, brightly lit dessert shop, right off main street. Its distance from the terrorist incident allowed for a calm atmosphere inside, where an average-height, red-haired middle-aged man stood as the sole employee.

"Hey there you two! What Can I get for you today?" 

For someone who looked like he'd rather be anywhere else, he was oddly outgoing.

"what do you want asui?" I asked her.

"Strawberry, please." She replied quickly to the employee, wasting no time to choice what flavor she wanted.

I, on the other hand, found myself scanning the different options. Out of around 36 flavors, there were about 16 I hadn't tried before, including Chocolate Peanut Butter, Guava, Lime Coconut, Red Velvet, Carrot, and others.

Right away, I eliminated any options that were combinations of gelato flavors I'd already tasted before, ruling out those with chocolate, peanut butter, assorted fruits, etc. Red Velvet also didn't make the cut; it was decent enough as cake or cupcakes, yet I wasn't exactly eager to try it here. Then there was Guava—I'd heard it had mixed reviews, which seemed like enough reason to cross it off as well.

There were 4 left; Salted Caramel, Spiced Pumpkin, Ube, and Cotton Candy.

Salted Caramel seemed like a solid pick—It was a fairly popular flavor in other shops, and most people couldn't go wrong with sweet and salty. Although as I leaned forward, I realized the container was overflowing late in the evening, which could indicate only two things. One that it was a very unpopular flavor in this store, or two that it was recently replaced, not something I'd be willing to bet on. I crossed it off the list.

Pumpkin Spice looked nice as well. It sounded like a seasonal and mildly interest flavor of gelato, but taking a closer look, the top layer looked a little crusted over, as if it hadn't been changed in a while. Safe to bet it wasn't a popular choice either, another pass.

Finally there was Ube and Cotton Candy. Both didn't have any obvious issues, and looked promising for things that I hadn't already tried. Ube mainly consists of Purple Yam, which I'd heard was a bit of a unique flavor experience. Cotton Candy was exactly what you'd expect—sweet, sugary, and artificial, though the taste took place over being artificial.

The employee, bored of waiting for me to decide, spoke. "Cotton Candy is one of my personal favorites." He suggested, as I raised my hand in response, and side-glanced over to him.

(art)

Putting a finger in front of my lips, I cut his words short. I wasn't about to let someone who reeked of cigarettes, and gave off crack-head energy, recommend me an ice cream flavor.

I looked to the right at Asui who was patiently waiting for me to decide on what I wanted.

Dang, normally I can pick the ice cream flavors I want in an instant. I know exactly what I want, when I want it, and I order it without hesitation. Yet I'm being incredibly indecisive on these two, the reason is obvious, both were flavors I wasn't particularly interested in. Ube? Cotton Candy? They just weren't things I could get excited about.

Turning my gaze back to the counter, I noticed the employee still waiting for me to decide. He seemed to be growing a bit impatient, though I wasn't in any rush to decide.

"can I get uhhhhhhh—"

(edit)

It wasn't that I subconsciously disliked either option; they just felt underwhelming. Thinking about it negatively, Ube, for instance, seemed like a strange option—who wants a dessert made from purple yam anyway? Cotton Candy looked ridiculously sweet. The content of the ice cream might not have mattered, but the excessive sugar didn't exactly tempt me.

I'll just stop thinking about it.

"ube, please." 

The employee gave a quick nod, seeming relieved that I'd finally settled on a choice, quickly reaching for his ice cream scooper.

"actually, i think—" I said.

Shifting his weight, the middle-aged man's customer service smile barely hid his poorly concealed irritation. He looked down at the scoop of Ube, already melting in the cone, then back at me, then back at the cone, then to Tsuyu who was calmly enjoying her strawberry gelato. 

"nah, nah, nevermind. ube is good." I added, as I prepared to hand him my money.

His customer service smile flickered as he steadied his hand on the ice cream cone, the slight crunch giving away how close he was to losing it all. His eyes practically begged me to not continue changing my mind, pleading in the only way someone who'd been forced to deal with hundreds of indecisive customers could manage.

I almost felt bad.

"actually i—" 

Almost.

___

As we stepped outside the dessert shop, Asui turned her head to me, while licking her ice cream.

"That's probably why you don't have any friends." 

"because i'm indecisive?" I replied, confused on what she meant.

She was same deadpan expression she always has on, yet I could tell she wasn't exactly the biggest fan of my fun little endeavors.

"No, because you kept messing with the poor employee for no reason back there. He looked ready to snap at you." She said, shaking her head.

"i was just unsure what ice cream flavor to get, i'd tried most of them already." 

Having said that, it wasn't like I was actually lying, I just may of let things with the staff member get a smidge out of hand. I looked away feigning ignorance.

"Yeah, well, we're lucky we didn't get kicked out, you 'decided' on Ube, but kept changing your mind like four times. If I was him I would of totally throw the cone at you after the second fake-out."

"you're exaggerating, i'm sure he get's much more indecisive customers than me."

She rolled her eyes, but didn't press any further. We kept walking, the conversation mostly focused on our thoughts about the fight and school related topics as we boarded the bus, and was ended short because of all the people around. 

"Thanks for walking me back, and... for inviting me out in the first place, Ayanokouji-kun. Except for the terrorist thing, it was fun." She said, giving out a closed-eyes genuine smile.

(edit)

"don't worry about it, i had fun too, asui."

"You can just call me 'Tsu.' That's what my family calls me." She added, tilting her head.

Remembering she hadn't let her parents know she was safe yet, she pulled her phone out, and took the quiet moment to do so.

"alright, 'tsu.'"

"You're not going to ask me to call you by your first name?"

She lifted her gaze from her phone, seeming a little uncertain, as if friendship was as new to her as it was to me. Unlike me, however, her lack of experience was clearly not a choice on her end.

"wow, already wanting to call me by my first name? how bold."

"Guess I jumped right into that one, huh?" Yup.

--- 

Ch 8 End

I've always wanted to write ayanokouji monologuing about something stupid and choose him picking ice cream flavors. Pretty decent topic If i say so myself.

I wasn't really planning to write the whole tournament of irrelevant side characters, so I only wrote the Mirko part last chapter, and skipped the rest of it.

This was mostly an intermission chapter, so I decided to make it very obvious what type of character I'm planning on making Kiyo in this fanfic. 

The chapter was also gonna be longer, but 3.5 k words for me is already long enough chapter length for me, so it's basically been split into several parts.

Nearing the end of the constant short time skip as well.

Point out any inconsistences or grammatical errors thanks.