A Well-needed Break

"Is that guy serious?" Iida asked.

"Just because he's cold and calculating doesn't mean he doesn't care," Ayako said with a shrug. She handed everyone envelopes that contained tickets and some snack money. "If he seems otherwise, well, it takes a lot of work to convince himself about that. He got it from his mom. Anyways, if you all want to sit around here and talk about that, go ahead! Just meet back here in a few hours. Anyways, I hear the Harry Potter area calling my name!"

Ayako rushed ahead and entered the theme park with the intent of getting a mug of Butterbeer. Meanwhile Class 1-A froze and looked at each other with confusion. Could they really trust this to be a day to relax?

"No way," Kaminari scoffed. "He has to have filled this place with those shapeshifters of his. I'm calling it now; he's going to ambush us the minute we let our guards down!"

"Why worry about that now? Let's just go and have fun, like Aya-chan said!" Ashido shouted excitedly. She liked Ayako and trusted her.

Then again, most of them did. She was straightforward, outgoing, and never talked down to them. However, their distrust for Kai was just as strong, if not stronger.

"I think Kaminari-san has a point," Deku said, pondering what he knew. Things couldn't really be as straightforward as a break, right? There had to be something more. But, even if there was something more to today's "training," what could they do?

"Let's do this," he said after a moment of thought. "We'll move in groups of four and keep our eyes wide open. We might as well try to enjoy ourselves since we're here, but be cautious in case of an ambush. And, let's send texts regularly to check everyone else's conditions. Sound good?"

With Iida, Yaoyorozu, and Todoroki's agreement, everyone split up and picked out attractions to visit. As one group passed the Harry Potter section, Ayako sent a text to Kai.

"It went just like you said- you've gotten them paranoid. They won't enjoy this as much as they should 😂," it read. "BTW, do you want to make any bets on who went with who? Give you one guess for who's in Deku's group!"

Unfortunately, there was no response. She didn't know what he was doing exactly, but he was too busy to answer at the moment. She sighed. Never a good sign, but things could range from plausible deniability to "you actually don't want to know for the sake of sleeping." The idiot just wouldn't tell her anything important.

Still, she thought as she took a long draught of her drink, he would always come through on the important things. All she could do was wait for him to talk. He was going to have to, sometime.

If not, maybe Nezu would be easier to interrogate. Her sisters could help, too, since they would soon be here for the athletic festival, she remembered with a smile.

Far away, the diminutive principal felt a chill go down his spine. Probably nothing, he thought, taking a sip of tea.

"Well," Ayako said to herself as she got up from her seat, "nothing to do about it now. I guess it's time to explore the park and see if anyone has realized this truly is just a break!"

As she wandered about, she looked for the familiar energies of Class 1-A. Since they had split into groups, it didn't take long for her to find some of them. She waved, said hi, and moved on.

Every time she found a group, she found similar dynamics. There was always one who was like Ashido, and either just trusted Ayako enough to relax, or had moved on enough to relax and have fun. Then there was Deku, who tried to have fun, but focused on the people around him, expecting an attack. The other two of the groups tended to be in between, like Yaoyorozu, who smiled with Asui, but frequently tensed her hands, ready to produce a weapon and fight.

Of course, there were some exceptions, most notably being Iida who, true to form, enforced any rules he saw fit to, and Bakugo, who kept trying to leave his group (who wouldn't leave him alone since he was the strongest), never cracking a smile. Seeing that, Ayako wondered what Bakugo did for fun, or if he even could have fun without trying to kill someone. Thinking back, she'd only seen him smile smugly while talking about how powerful he was, or while experiencing the thrill of battle. She made a mental note to mention that to Kai. He'd find it funny.

With her checkup on everyone done, and some laughs at the two exceptions, Ayako went about her day and found various things to do until the meeting time.

When the time came, and everyone met back at the entrance, Ayako was waiting for them.

"So, did you all enjoy your day?"

"Like hell!" Ojiro barked. In his group, he was the most tense- since he had no sensory abilities or ranged attacking options, he couldn't tell if an attack was coming, or do much unless the attacker was right on top of them.

And yet, as he learned from everyone, that attack was never to come. Now the energy that had gone into his fear moved into anger.

Ayako cringed. Though Kai had predicted it, the paranoia of the day was impossible to quantify. Of course, the fact that he had a contingency even for a mob forming around her was even more annoying.

She reached into a pocket and pulled out a holopuck. This was in fact the same one that Kai had received his acceptance in. With a few requests, Kai had gotten Principal Nezu to unlock the school's tech, including the puck, for Kai's general use.

"Greetings, exalted ones," Kai said, bowing as his hologram appeared over the puck. "This message means that you really didn't believe Ayako when she said that today was a break for you to relax. If you were smart, you split into groups and kept a watchful eye on the people around you. And I expect you were smart.

"That being the case, then what did you see in the people around you? Perhaps you saw what you wanted to have today, but could not have because you felt afraid of me. I must say, I am sorry, yet pleased. If you didn't fear me, with all that you know of me, you're just idiots.

"Anyways, you saw people enjoying their days, having a good time, and all that, while you could only watch and wait for something to go wrong. Welcome to my world.

"I hope that this gives you a little understanding of me. More importantly, I hope that you understand that those people are the same people you will be working to protect. Them, and their cheerful little Friday outings. Go, rest, and enjoy your weekends, people.

"We never know how many more we have."

Kai disappeared, and Ayako put the puck back into her pocket. She sighed and shook her head.

"So… yeah. He made it so you all ruined your own day, but he's also right. I'll punch him for you. Let's get going."