Technical Support

Chapter 10

"My apologies, Hatsume-san, but I am a bit behind on points. I hope you'll forgive me." Ayano shouted down to her as she commanded the three-pointer to use its homing missiles to target nearby robots. She jumped down to blast another one-pointer with her air cannon.

Mei gave a wild smile and laughed. "Amazing, Sasaki! You turned the villains into your own babies!" She then used her wire arrow to shoot through another one-pointer, successfully gaining the point. "But my super cute babies won't lose to yours!!!"

Ayano smirked. Despite how hectic everything around them was, the two had a friendly competition going on. Each of them trying to defeat more villains and seeing who's support items were better.

Just as they each destroyed a two-pointer, the ground rumbled. The zero-point gimmick mowed its way through the buildings, destroying them. While everybody else was running away from the rampaging robot, Ayano and Mei had wicked smiles on their faces.

Ayano was the first to take action. "Sorry, Hatsume-san. This one's mine." "Heh heh heh, not if my babies get to it first!"

"Those two know that thing gets them zero points, right?!?" Some examinees shouted in confusion.

Ayano found a damaged, but mostly intact, three-pointer as well as another one-pointer. "I need you and you." Using the remaining two disks, she slapped one on each and programmed them to do her bidding. She now had two three-pointers and a one-pointer in her possession.

She tapped away at her wristband. "You two, distract the big one." She said, referring to the three-pointers. "You, come with me." She instructed the one-pointer. "Roger." The three robots answered.

Ayano hopped onto the one-pointer and held her hand out to Mei. The pink-haired girl gave a toothy grin and jumped on. As the three-pointers distracted the gimmick as much as they could with their limited weapons, Ayano and Mei sped off on the one-pointer.

They went around to the side of the gigantic robot at its blind spot. They both jumped off the one-pointer, and Ayano commanded it to go elsewhere to destroy more villains. The two girls hooked onto the gimmick, Ayano using her grappling hook and Mei using her wire arrow.

As they reached the top of its head, Ayano pulled out some orange pills. She pinched them and let them fall onto the surface. The crushed pills began melting away at the metal, allowing her to pull a panel loose. She performed the same process as before, connecting a wire to it and her wristband.

"It appears that this zero-pointer uses the same mechanisms as all the others. The problem is that I don't nearly have enough power to reprogram something of this caliber." Mei began her usual maniacal laugh. "Fu Fu Fu! If its power you need, say no more!"

She pulled out two objects of what looked like defibrillators, something doctors would use to administer shocks to a patient's heart. Ayano could see the lightning streaks surrounding them. "These are my shock blocks! These babies can pack ten kilowatts each! They'll get you all the power you need in no time!"

Mei rubbed them together and pushed them against the robot's open panel, administering an incredible shock and deactivating it while Ayano quickly reprogrammed it. The two girls laughed as it was brought back to life under Ayano's command.

"TIME'S UP!!!" Ayano clicked her tongue in annoyance. "Just as we were getting to the best part..." She looked at Mei who pushed her goggles up onto her forehead. "It was a pleasure working with you, Hatsume-san."

"Call me Mei! See you at school, Sasaki!" With that, the pink-haired girl jumped into the air and flew with her jetpack.

Ayano's eyes followed the girl. She smiled. It wasn't arrogance that she had, it was just complete and utter excitement about the support course and finding somebody with the same passion.

Ayano was waiting for Midoriya outside of the U.A. gates when Bakugou exited the school. He stopped to see her with her back leaning against the wall. She had her eyes closed, waiting patiently. Draped over her arms in front of her was the top part of their school's sailor type uniform, leaving her in her black, racerback tank top. She had shed the uniform to cool off, having worked up a bit of a sweat during the exam.

Feeling a presence beside her, Ayano opened her eyes and looked at Bakugou. The two looked at each other in silence, Bakugou not entirely sure what compelled him to stop. The brown-haired girl noticed that his right cheek had a cut that was slightly bleeding.

Without a word, she unhooked the white, flattened sphere from her belt and walked up to him. Holding her uniform in her right hand, she held the sphere up to his cheek with her left. Surprisingly, Bakugou just stood there and let her.

He felt the cool metal of the object and heard its gears turning. "Laceration detected. First aid initiated. Administering two milliliters of isopropyl alcohol." Bakugou clicked his tongue at the stinging sensation.

He hadn't looked away from Ayano though. With her tank top, her arms were completely exposed. He saw, for the first time, the extent of the scars that ran along her left arm.

Noticing his stare, Ayano gave a small sigh. She picked up his right hand and placed it on the sphere, forcing him to hold it himself. Now having both hands free, she took her uniform and slipped it back on, concealing the scars again.

She could never be too sure since Bakugou almost always had a scowl on his face, but she could have sworn that his brows furrowed deeper when he noticed the scars.

"Applying bandage. First aid complete. Feel better." The robotic, monotone voice finished. Bakugou removed the sphere from his face and a bandage was in its place. Ayano took the device from his hand and hooked it back onto her belt.

She was about to say something when she heard the tired mumblings of Midoriya. She turned her head to see her green-haired friend, seeing his slightly disheveled state. She turned back to look at Bakugou, but he had already started walking back home.

Ayano gazed at him with his hunched up back and hands shoved into the pockets of his baggy pants. She sighed again and walked towards Midoriya, congratulating him on his safe return.