Technical Support

Chapter 2

"Morning, Aya-chan!" Midoriya greeted when the girl exited her front door. She barely mumbled back an acknowledgement, focusing on and prodding the trinket in her hands instead. The two teens started their walk to school.

The boy glanced at the gadget and asked, "Another one of your creations?" He was used to her inattentive attitude. She was always working on something, always taking apart machines, always thinking of new ideas. Her passion for machinery rivaled his own for the number one hero All Might.

Of course, she didn't completely neglect her friend. He played a big role in her creations, often testing them out with her. She claimed that if he was going to become a hero, then he should at least have the proper gear to do so and that she would be the person to create them for him.

He appreciated her support, even when her inventions were a little wacky and especially when she supported his aspirations to become a hero when his own mother initially didn't.

He looked at the decently sized gadget in her hands. There were a lot of parts to it that he couldn't possibly begin to understand what they were for. All he could notice was that the main part of it was a tunnel shaped object about the size of the scope of a gun. Before he could ask what it did, Ayano pressed a button and a sudden burst of air launched from the opening of the tunnel right at her face.

The air pressure was so strong that it blew her hair in all directions, making it look like she just got out of bed. She started tearing up from the sudden wind in her eyes. "A-Aya-chan!?!" Midoriya yelped in surprise.

"It works..." The green-haired boy sighed at her response. It was just like her to completely disregard everything for her inventions, even her own safety. Just like he only thought about All Might, heroes, and how to become one, she only thought about inventing things.

"So, I'm guessing it's a weapon for shooting out air?" Midoriya asked. The girl shook her head, fixing her hair in the process.

"Not quite. It takes the surrounding air and subjects it to high pressures, then releases it in the forward motion. Originally, it is not meant to be a weapon, but I suppose it could be utilized as one. Do you remember the news about the fire that happened downtown?" The boy nodded and grew excited. "Yeah! The pro hero Backdraft came in and used his water cannon to douse the fire! It was so cool how far up it could shoot, and he did it all by himself!"

"Right, but do you know why he had to step in?" She asked. Midoriya just blinked at her. "...Because he's a hero...?"

Now it was her time to sigh at him. With his fanboyish nature for heroes, of course he would only pay attention to them and not the supporting characters.

She explained, "He works at the fire department, but why was he dousing such a big fire by himself when we have regular firemen? It's because the fire was too high up. The regular hoses didn't have enough pressure to project the water so high, so Backdraft had to use his water cannon to douse the fire himself. In this day and age, policemen and firemen are ridiculed for having so called 'old-fashioned' professions for safety when we have superheroes. Due to this, there has been a somewhat lax attitude towards public safety and equipment for non-heroes."

Midoriya caught on. "Oh! So, this is a machine that can make enough pressure to shoot water up that high?"

She responded, "Precisely...Although, not quite. As you saw earlier, that is nowhere near enough pressure to shoot water up an eighty to ninety story building. At best, this machine could probably create enough pressure to go up to forty stories...but only once." She added as an afterthought.

The boy tilted his head in confusion and asked, "Only once?" She nodded, seeming to finalize her statement. "The device itself has enough power to create the pressure. The outer casing, however, does not provide enough strength to contain it. If anything, it would shoot out the water but would most likely explode in the process."

Midoriya shrieked, quickly backed up, and held his arms in front of him, protecting his face. "A-A-Aya-chan! That's dangerous! You could've hurt yourself just now!"

She spared him nothing but a side glance. "Relax, I have it set to low. Also, if I already know it's too dangerous to put at maximum power, do you really think I'm stupid enough to do it?" Midoriya lowered his arms and replied, "Uh...yeah. Sorry, I didn't think about that. But wow! That's really neat, Aya-chan! You could help so many people with that!"

Ayano smiled at his statement. "That's the point." Midoriya also smiled. Ayano didn't show much emotion since she was always focused on building things. Even when she did, it was always somehow connected to her inventions. She would become frustrated when something didn't work, or she would smile when it did.

Her best smiles, however, were the ones when she knew her inventions worked and helped those in need.

It was that kind of joy that was driving her to apply for the support department of different high schools.

She continued looking at the gadget as they walked. "Hmm. I just need some advice from a professional as to what kind of material could contain that much pressure..." Her ramblings were interrupted by a loud explosion near them.

Midoriya gasped. "An explosion! It sounded like it was by Tatooin Station! Then a hero...!" He dashed off before he finished, Ayano quickly following after him in worry, although it didn't exactly show on her face.

"You need to calm down. One of these days, your obsessive attitude for heroes is going to get you killed." Midoriya laughed and responded, "I could say the same to you with your inventions! You just said that thing could blow up!"

She scoffed at him. "This is different. At least I know what I'm getting myself into. Every time there's a crime happening, you recklessly run in to see your beloved heroes without any thought." He was going to answer, but his attention was immediately diverted when Kamui Woods appeared. He whipped out volume thirteen of his hero analysis to take notes.

Instead of taking notes on Kamui Woods, he ended up taking notes on the new hero Mt. Lady who stole Kamui Wood's thunder. Noticing his fanboy attitude, another civilian wished him luck on his journey to become a hero. Feeling happy about this, he turned to look for his friend. "Aya-chan! Did you hear that...Eh?"

At the spot where she should have been was just an empty space. He looked around for her, spotting her approaching the hero Backdraft. She tapped his shoulder to get his attention. "Excuse me, sir. May I ask what material your cannon is composed of? Also, how much pressure can it sustain? Is it a part of your costume? If yes, what support department created it? Or is it merely an extension of yourself?"

"H-Huh?" This was Backdraft's only response to the girl's sudden barrage of questions. He was normally just accustomed to interview questions or requests for his autograph. He'd never encountered someone who took such a massive interest in his water cannon of all things.

Midoriya rushed up to the two and quickly tugged on Ayano's arm. "A-Aya-chan!! W-We have to get to school!" He pulled her away and bowed to the hero in embarrassment. Ayano sighed, "I informed you that I need more advice on my creation, and that was the perfect opportunity."

The green-haired boy smiled but lightly chided, "That's a pro hero, Aya-chan! He's busy with a lot of things like saving people. You can't bother him with so many difficult questions!"

"Perhaps, but I doubt you would restrain yourself if you were in a similar situation with All Might." She teased. Midoriya just blushed and tried to change the subject. "The man next to me saw me taking notes and wished me luck on becoming a hero!"

"Is that so...That's nice." Ayano slowly became detached from the conversation, once again tinkering with her tunnel like machine. Even so, Midoriya knew she supported him all the way. There was a small gait in his walk to school, happy that he got to see so many heroes in action and could add a new addition to his notes.