Inko ran towards the door after hearing some knocking. "Ah! Aya-chan! Good morning!" The older woman let the girl inside and offered her a questioning look. "You normally just wait outside..."
Ayano nodded with her normal impassive attitude. "Good morning, Inko-san. I usually do, but it appears your son is late." Shouting from his room, she could hear the rush in his voice. "I-I'll be right there, Aya-chan!" The girl just sighed and pulled out another of her inventions to tinker with and pass the time.
Taking this opportunity, Inko captured the girl's attention. "Um...Aya-chan, could I ask you for some advice?" The brown-haired girl simply raised an eyebrow as the woman ushered her further inside.
Finally ready, Midoriya burst from his room and scrambled for the front door where his shoes were. He was frantically putting them on and lacing them when he noticed that Ayano wasn't even in the hallway. "Aya-chan? I'm ready! We're going to be late!" He shouted.
The girl appeared in the hallway after a few moments, followed by his mother. It seemed like they were talking as the older woman thanked the younger. After accepting the woman's thanks, Ayano directed her attention to him. "Pray tell, exactly who is responsible for us being late?" Midoriya just sweat-dropped and relented.
The two were on their way as soon as Inko finished being a mother hen and worrying about her son having all of his things.
On their way to school, Midoriya was constantly mumbling his concerns, particularly about not wanting some scary students in the same class as him. Oddly enough, Ayano was listening to him rather than working on something.
He was too busy worrying to notice, but she squinted her eyes at him, a frown set on her face. She had been thinking this ever since he said he got accepted, but she felt that there was definitely something amiss.
To be accepted without a quirk is one thing. To be accepted into the hero course as well as class 1-A was an entirely different thing. That class was to be designated for the students with some of the highest potential of becoming heroes. To be placed into 1-A without a quirk was simply unthinkable and basically impossible.
Of course, Ayano's faith in Midoriya had never wavered since they were children. She believed whole-heartedly that he could become a hero, but she obviously didn't think he would be placed into the top course. If anything, she assumed he would have been placed into the General Education course if he even got in at all.
She knew he went through some tough training the ten months prior to the exam, but that shouldn't have been enough. Let's say he did gain a lot of fighting experience and built up a good amount of muscle. There's still no way that he could have defeated so many robots in the exam and definitely not as much as those with quirks that were perfectly suited for the test like Bakugou.
As such, some major suspicions were raised. There's really no way to cheat on the exam and even if there were, Midoriya was definitely not the type to do so. Not finding a plausible solution to her questions, Ayano took her suspicions to Inko.
"Eh? Izuku didn't tell you? It's amazing! He said his quirk miraculously manifested after all this time! It really is a miracle! Oh, but it really worries me! He said because it only came about now, he doesn't really know how to control it that much. What if he gets hurt? Oh, Izukuuuu!!"
Not wanting to worry the woman any further, Ayano kept her questions to herself. Even though his mother told her all that, she didn't exactly believe it.
Quirks have never manifested past the age of four. When they were younger, Midoriya had even told her himself that he had the same bone in his foot that she did, indicating their quirkless nature.
However, there really would be no other explanation for his success. So, Ayano tried accepting the fact that he now had a quirk, as ridiculous as that sounded to her.
There was a deep furrow in her brow. After a bit more thought, she let out a deep breath to relax her features. Even if he does have some miraculous quirk now, that didn't change the fact that he had told her nothing about it. Ayano decided not to question him for now. He would tell her when he felt ready.
Eventually, the two friends made it to the school. Midoriya's classroom was closer, so Ayano walked with him there. He opened the door to reveal two of his classmates arguing – the very two people that he hoped weren't going to be in his class.
"Somei?! A stuck-up elitist, then? I should blow you to bi—GAH!?" "Aya-chan!?" Midoriya hadn't noticed the girl had left his side until he saw her hitting the back of Bakugou's head.
"The fuck is your problem!?!!" The blond yelled while rubbing his head with one hand and releasing his quirk in the other.
"Calm yourself, Baka-gou. Not everyone is able to handle your idiocy, nor should they." "HUH?!? WHAT DID YOU SAY?!!" His explosive anger was completely unacknowledged, as Ayano bowed to the rest of the class. "Please forgive this imbecile, and I apologize for his rudeness. However, you will most likely have to deal with this in the future as well." "DON'T IGNORE ME!!!"
Still not paying him any attention, Ayano bid Midoriya farewell. She began walking out of the room, causing Bakugou's screams to emanate throughout the hallway. After a couple more turns, she reached her own classroom, 1-H.
As soon as she opened the door, she was met with an awfully close pink-haired girl. "Sasaki! I have a brand-new baby to show you!" She inched even closer. "And my babies from the exam are even better and cuter!!" She inched closer again. "Our babies can work together to produce a super cute mega baby!!!!"
"Good morning, Mei." Some of the other students in the class were amazed, eyes bulging. They were surprised, not only by Mei's assertive and straightforward personality, but also by Ayano's seemingly indifferent attitude towards it.
Mei was about to pull out her 'babies' when the teacher arrived. "Alright, kiddos! Get in your seats before I make you get in them!" He gruffly shouted.
Ayano's eyes glistened with recognition. She was nowhere near as knowledgeable as Midoriya was in the subject of heroes, but she had a particular fondness for certain ones. Particularly, ones that had something to do with mechanics like Power Loader and the man standing in front of her.
"I'm your new homeroom teacher. Mechanic Hero: Junk Master." Murmurs were going around the class. Though he may not have been known too well in the world of heroes, he was especially popular with those from support companies and support course students. Ayano's father, in particular, was a fan of his and had introduced her to his work when she was young.
"Now that introductions are done, let's get on with your first test." The murmuring was immediately silenced, followed by screams.
"A test?!?" "It's the first day and we already have a pop quiz?!!" "I thought it was just going to be syllabus day!"
"Hey now! What's all this bellyaching about? You kids are the ones who chose to come to U.A. There ain't no rest for the weary, got that?" He gave a devilish grin. "This is what it means for 'Plus Ultra!' We don't got any need for any less, so suck it up and let's go!"
Many of the students groaned and others had horrified faces. The groaning, however, was disturbed by a mysterious laugh. "Fufufu!"
Ayano looked at the pink-haired girl next to her and smirked. "I suppose I'll get to see your babies after all." Mei snapped her goggles on. "To think that I could show the class my wonderful babies so soon!!" She giggled, almost maniacally.
While everybody was thinking how weird the pair was, Junk Master gave a boisterous laugh. "Now that's the spirit! Alright, kiddies! Let's get a move on!"
The students followed him down to the Development Studio where they were met with Power Loader. "This is the workshop dedicated to costume adjustments managed by Power Loader here. It's safe to say that you'll probably be spending most of your school days in this studio, so get familiar with it." Junk Master grinned, giving many of the kids an eerie feeling.
"I'll go a little easy on you kids." He held up three fingers. "I want you to build a support item that enhances your quirk with only three materials. Anybody who can't, will be expelled on the spot!" Before any complaints could be heard, he quickly continued. "You've got one hour starting now! Get to it!"
All but one student dashed to the work stations. Ayano calmly walked up to the two staff members, gaining Power Loader's attention. "Oh, so you got in after all." She nodded to him and looked up at Junk Master.
"Sir, what should I be doing?" The man squinted his eyes at her. "What're you going on about? Didn't you hear what I said?" She nodded. "I did. However, what is my assignment if I am quirkless."
The teacher's eyes widened. "Quirkless? Well, you're a special case then, ain'tcha." He closed his eyes in thought. "Hmm, then you can improve some of your old creations if you have any. That's a little too easy though, so you'll be limited to only two materials instead of three."
Ayano immediately set out to work, digging out her bionic arm cover attached with the air cannon. Her eyes gleamed. She could finally get it to fulfill its original purpose: dousing fires.
The two men looked on as she worked. "So that's the one you were talking about, huh? From the sludge incident?" Power Loader nodded. "Didn't know she was quirkless though."
Junk Master hummed. "Compared to the rest, it's definitely a disadvantage." He looked at a boy with perfectly parted black hair. The boy was using his quirk to emit a thin flame from his finger, allowing him to use it like a soldering torch. "Especially if you compare it to the kids who have quirks perfectly suited for this type of thing."
Power Loader chuckled. "Yeah? Well it sure doesn't seem like she thinks so." The two men looked at Ayano. There was a small upwards tilt to her lips and her eyes were glossy, wide with excitement.
"We've got an interesting bunch this year."