Technical Support

Chapter 20

"You sure gave me quite a scare there, Sasaki." The girl deeply bowed to him in a perfect ninety-degree fashion. "I apologize for my behavior. I acted irrationally and allowed my foolishness to cloud my sense of judgement." She raised her head to look him directly in the eye. "Thank you for your warnings. Your guidance is very much appreciated." She expressed her gratitude, referring to the Support Items Act papers he slipped into her hands without her knowledge.

Junk Master sighed, giving an uncomfortable smile. "You know, there isn't any shame in letting your emotions take over. We all have things we're passionate about. You and that Bakugou kid, both." He picked up one of the bracers from Bakugou's costume. The confiscated one. "Unlike the stuff you work with, you're not a machine, Sasaki."

"But good lord is this thing dangerous!! I'm glad he only has one of them now. Where on Earth did you even get the idea for something this crazy!?" Ayano grimaced. "Perhaps I was too liberal with the explosive output...or perhaps I underestimated the dormant potential of his quirk."

She gently took the grenade-like bracer from her teacher's hands, inspecting its every nook and cranny. "It is indeed too dangerous – That is exactly why I took it away from him." She sighed in a way that sounded slightly like defeat. "...Though I must admit...it does suit him."

Junk Master chuckled, "He definitely has an 'explosive' personality. Just make sure to keep him in check, would you?" She gave a firm nod. With that, she returned to her work station.

As soon as she did, she was met with a blur of pink. "Sasaki! That is one wonderful baby! Have you ever thought about doing this to it!??" The girl unraveled a wide piece of paper, revealing blue prints of her ideas.

"Your enthusiasm is appreciated, Mei, but I would like to think over some things on my own for now." Mei was not discouraged in the slightest. "Fufufu! Well, if you ever think about something you might like, you can come to me! I'm sure I'll have a baby that suits your needs!"

Ayano watched Mei practically skipping back to her pile of inventions, thinking about how many the girl has already made in the span of a few days. She smirked to herself, being reminded of how behind she was with what happened.

As she was about to get back to work, an irritating voice interrupted her. "Our teacher's right; that weapon is way too dangerous." Ayano turned to Yuudai with her usual impassive face tinged with annoyance.

"If you ask me, it'd fit a villain more than a hero. But I guess that's what you were aiming for, right? What were your words again? 'I wouldn't peg you for a hero even if you were the worst one'?" He laughed derisively. "That's rich, coming from you. Even you think he's dangerous, and yet you made that? I thought you were some goody-two-shoes with all your nonsense about making support items to help people, but you're also dangerous."

Choosing to ignore him, Ayano turned back to her station. She had no time for his drivel. He could say whatever he wanted about her and her ideals. She would never waver from them no matter what he said.

"Well, I guess it all worked out in the end. A weapon that's better suited for a villain, and a hero that's better suited to be a villain!" Ayano's breath caught in her throat and her teeth clenched. Yuudai laughed again, seeing the pause in her movements.

"Oh? Did I strike a nerve there? You seem to care little about yourself but when I talk about him, you clam up. You're usually pretty mouthy to me, but you can't say anything because you know I'm right. He's dangerous. You confiscating part of the costume proves that you think so too!" Her hands started to shake. She clenched them to return to a sense of control.

Yuudai scoffed. "You know, I wouldn't be surprised if real villains came here and recognized him as a potential ally. He'd probably feel right at home in their recruitment process!" His laughter was ceased by Ayano's hard grip on his collar, pulling at his tie and slightly choking him in the process.