Technical Support

Chapter 6

Upon the beginnings of her arousal, Ayano's first thoughts were brought to the searing pain within her left arm. The next thing she felt was the very distinct smell of disinfectant alcohol permeating her nose.

She scrunched her face up because of the pain and the odor, notifying her parents that she was finally awake. "Ayano!" Her mother shouted out first. The girl just barely opened her eyes, having to squint due to the lingering stinging in her arm and still needing to adjust to the light. "M-Mother..." She weakly acknowledged.

The older woman sighed with relief. "Thank goodness! Your father and I were so worried about you. You had to get surgery done and you've been out for almost a week!" She informed. Ayano then noticed her father. Though mostly stoic as usual, there was a slight furrow to his brow that revealed his concern.

"Ohhh, I really want to scold you for your recklessness! But given the circumstances, I can't be mad at you for too long. I'm just so glad you're safe now!" Her mother gently hugged her as she slowly got up, taking great care to avoid the injured arm.

Her mother continued, "You were in such critical condition that you weren't allowed to have visitors for some time. Poor Izu-kun visited almost every day but you still weren't awake. Speaking of which, I should call to let the Bakugou's and the Midoriya's know of your condition!" Whipping out her phone and beginning to walk out the door, "While I'm at it, I'll go tell one of the nurses that you're finally conscious. Just rest up, sweetie!"

The hospital room returned to its previous silence with her mother's departure. The father-daughter pair simply stared at each other. Ayano, with her normally impassive expression and her father with his. The slight furrow in his brow earlier now indicated slight irritation rather than concern.

Ayano was the first to speak. "I will apologize for not taking care of myself more and for worrying you both, but I do not regret my decision. Were the same situation to occur, I would gladly sacrifice my arm again." She continued to meet her father's cold gaze, never wavering.

He was the first to relent, going back to his stoic expression. "...It would've been better to use tungsten instead of titanium." His deep voice gave her comfort. His suggestions on her invention indicated that he, too, believed that what she did was the best course of action she could have taken. It was another way of telling her that she wasn't wrong to help, but she should still focus on how to avoid such situations.

She was relieved at the change in topic and his acceptance. Her mood brightened, as it always did when she talked to her father about machines. Ayano followed his line of sight to the nightstand next to her, noticing for the first time the scorched remains of her bionic arm with the attached pressure tunnel.

"I chose titanium for its low weight and high strength. I did consider tungsten since it is stronger, but I believed titanium's high tensile strength-to-density ratio was too valuable." She explained.

Her father hummed in appreciation of his daughter's efforts, but still stuck by his beliefs. He looked at her injured arm. "However, titanium is a poor conductor of heat. Not good for transferring it. The material absorbs too much heat in one place, wearing it out and leading to more severe burns."

Ayano looked down to her left arm for the first time since waking up. It was covered in bandages, a cast, and then put into a sling. "Value safety over speed." She nodded firmly at her father's advice, keeping a mental note to transfer this information to her notebooks when she could.

The girl was disappointed in herself. She knew of the dangers, and yet she didn't think far enough ahead to prevent them. Ayano believed that she never would've needed to use the device at max power before she adjusted it to actually handle it. This was clearly not the case, making her realize that she must be prepared for anything in this volatile world of heroics and villainy.

Her father could see the gears turning in her head as she quickly got over her disappointment in favor of coming up with ideas on how to improve her work. There was the slightest tilt of his lips, and he placed a large hand atop her head. Ayano looked up at him at this action, giving him a soft smile of gratitude.

Their moment was interrupted by the sound of the door opening. Expecting to see the return of her mother, Ayano was surprised to see a pro hero. "Oh, so you are awake. I'll have to thank Recovery Girl later for letting me know when to visit." The man mumbled to himself.

"How are you feeling, kid?" He finally addressed her. "Much better, thank you." Ayano replied respectfully.

"Good, good. I'm—" "Power Loader, the Excavation Hero...who also happens to work at U.A..." He paused at her interruption, noticing her slight fascinated tone. "Guess I don't need to waste time on introductions, then." He strolled over to the nightstand, inspecting her broken and scorched invention.

"I saw the sludge incident on T.V." He turned the machine this way and that. "I have to say, this is much better than I thought. Better than most kids your age." He set it back down. "Should've used tungsten though." He added, almost as if to bring her down because he thought it would be bad to praise her too much. Especially since she was reckless and was seriously harmed in the incident.

Ayano turned to her father with a small smile. "Yes, I agree." Noticing the interaction, Power Loader was mildly impressed that she recovered from her failures so quickly. True inventors are not constrained by a single fixed way of thinking.

"At least you know your stuff. You're not just some amateur who doesn't know what they're doing." He praised again, though it seemed like there was another meaning behind it. Ayano stared at him, prompting him to elaborate.

"You had a complete understanding of this thing's capabilities." Power Loader jabbed his thumb towards the contraption. "At that last moment...you switched it to your left hand – What I assume to be your non-dominant hand?" She nodded at his assumption, clearly implying that she knew there would be severe damage. If there were going to be repercussions, the best choice would be to use her left arm.

He grinned at that. "You know how to think ahead, and those moves out there weren't some sort of fluke. You've got some fighting knowledge in you, too. Exactly what a lot of pansies coming into the support courses lack."

Acknowledging her intellectual mind and affirming that his decision to see her for himself was the right choice, he held out a pamphlet to her. "Ever think about applying to U.A.'s Support Department?" The girl took the papers from him. It was a typical school pamphlet, advertising their facilities and such.

"Me and I guess some of the other teachers recognized your talent from seeing the sludge incident. I'm here as a sort of representative." Ayano's eyes widened a bit at his words.

Although most of his face was obscured by his large yellow helmet, she could still clearly see his frown. "Don't go thinking this is some sort of scouting or anything. If you want to get into U.A., you'll have to earn it. I'm just here to see for myself what you're made of." His gruff way of speaking conveyed his strictness. He made a point to warn her that she'd have to take the entrance exam just like everyone else. It's true, he acknowledged her inventiveness, but he wouldn't be giving anybody any special treatment.

Still looking through the pamphlets, Ayano smirked to herself. "I would expect no less from a top-notch school." Seeing the fire in her eyes, Power Loader smirked as well. "Glad to see we're on the same page then. Think about it. Let's see if you'll make the cut." With that, he turned to her father, nodded once to him, and then left the hospital room.

Ten months.

She had ten months before the U.A. entrance exam.