Chapter Text
Aizawa wasn't alone in his job-induced misery. Aina's first week, all in all, wasn't off to a smooth start. In fact, it was a bit of a trainwreck. She'd managed to forget her papers and lesson plan on the first day and had to rush back home to retrieve them- resulting in an untimely beginning to her first class. Then there was when she'd made Toshinori laugh so hard he spewed blood on her (However when her class saw the blood stain on her shirt, they just assumed their new teacher was a total badass who beat up villains on her way to school [All Might was sure to apologize profusely for the trouble]). And of course the most recent fiasco: the icebreaker she had tried with her class. She wanted to learn more about the students and their progression with their quirks. She really wanted to connect with them. That and she left her lesson plans again. ...Needless to say, the icebreaker didn't go as well as planned.
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They'd all gathered in a circle. Aina had set it up so that each child that went around in a circle would share their names, hero inspiration, and quirks- An activity that was rarely seen outside of the building of a middle school, but Aina couldn't think of much else and the students seemed willing enough. Sharing their quirks DID mean they got to show off after all. Most of the students had their powers under control, or so she thought until a boy with flame-engulfed hands stepped up. His name was Hioki, Nezu had informed you of the boy's lack-of handle on his quirk prior to you first class with the child. He wanted to show his classmates how he could execute a series of martial arts moves while leaving his hands lit all the while.
The student carried out a series of backflips, jumps, and aerial maneuvers, It was very impressive... until he had overestimated his trajectory and flew into a peer's desk, instantly lighting it into a roaring blaze with his untamed power. Immediately, the students began to panic. Many of them frantically ran to the back of the room, as far away from the flames as possible. In a flash, Kumiko tore the fire extinguisher off the wall and put a quick end to the fire.
Unfortunately though, she wasn't able to stop the gaping hole from being introduced to the back wall.
While the students had clumped together they had gotten reckless trying to carry themselves away from the situation. The hurried pushing and shoving resulted in the hole the size of a cafeteria tray.
The whole thing was even worse when there was another teacher to bear witness. Eraserhead had watched the final half of the situation play out. He'd wanted to see if she could assume her teacherly position and take initiative. Which to be fair, she did—just not to his liking. After the fire was calmed and the kids began taking their seats, Aizawa made his presence known.
"Oh! H-Hey Eraser-!" Aina said with conjured-up brightness on her face.
"Eraserhead." He lazily corrected.
"I see your fourth day is going well."
Aina cringed. "There was a mishap with some fire... But it's been put out and no one was hurt!" She made eye contact with Hioki and tried to give him a comforting smile. He just sank deeper behind his desk.
Aizawa scanned the faces of class 1-B, "And a 'mishap' back there too," he stated with lackluster surprise, gesturing toward the hole. The student responsible shifted awkwardly in his chair. No doubt about it: Shouta Aizawa was incredibly intimidating.
"It wasn't the children's fault! I was trying to get to know the students a bit more. I wanted to know more about their interests and how they used their quirks. I suppose I was a bit too overzealous in letting the kids have free-rein over the activity." Rambled the teacher.
"You can't run a class like this. These kids need to be taught, not show off." Aina bit her tongue and nodded.
Aizawa turned back to the students, "I expect you kids to be more careful around Ms. Kumiko. This is a classroom, not training grounds. Treat it as such." He turned back to the homeroom teacher.
"Don't let a little 'mishap' like this happen again."
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She already knew Aizawa didn't like her. Whether it be the way he seemed to be perpetually holding back an eye roll whenever she tried to make friendly conversation or the way he just seemed withdrawn in general- she just got the feeling he wasn't a fan.
To Aizawa, Aina Kumiko was hardly more than a student herself. She was a fresh face in the pro-industry and she barely had enough qualifications, at least in his mind, to be a teacher. He'd yet to see entirely what she could do with her quirk, but from a few news clips of the hero "Synchronera" that Hazashi shared, and not to mention the tell-tale name, he knew she had a time-manipulation quirk. He came to the conclusion that she wasn't incompetent at her job, but she did need to work a lot more on her combat skills.
Regardless of her woes, Aina Kumika wasn't a quitter. That's how she'd made it this far in the hero industry after all. So the whole week she went on trying her best to put on a bright smile and make friends with the other teachers as well as her students. Principal Nezu had assured her that she was doing an excellent job adjusting to her new position. Though, having put TWO other pros on her case hardly made her believe that he truly thought so. But she was an optimist, so she smiled and agreed to his arrangement.
She typically took on an optimistic perspective to everything, even if she had to force herself to. Not that she'd let anyone know that last part. It was this careless optimism that ground Aizawa's gears so terribly. It was helpful to maintain that attitude when comforting a victim of a disaster or while relieving stress in a dangerous situation, but being that cheery 24/7? It was enough to make the tension in his jaw even tighter.
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After today's class ended Aizawa trecked to the teachers' lounge to grade papers. As soon as he held the handle to the door he regretted the decision. Kumiko's cheerful (but somewhat low) laughter hit him like a slap to the face. A suppressed groan threatened to emerge from his chest as he walked past both Aina and Hizashi toward the in-lounge kitchen. He still hadn't eaten and needed to fuel up before he sat down and got to work.
An unwelcomed mess greeted him from inside the fridge. Irritated, he looked over his shoulder to where the two giggling companions were seated. Just as he thought, his takeout box was in the hands of class 1-B's very own homeroom teacher. He put two and two together: she had left the mess in the fridge and had stolen his food. Not that she knew it was his, he recalled tiredly placing it in the fridge, but he didn't exactly remember labeling it. Nonetheless, it just further fed his annoyance with the woman. Everyone knew not to touch his food.
He spent a couple minutes tidying up the food items out of spite and settled on one of the Red Bulls Mic had left up for grabs. He was going to be productive today if it killed him. Before totally leaving the kitchen, Aizawa glanced at the sink: someone had left their dirty dishes there. Most teachers were considerate enough to clean up after themselves, they also knew how short Aizawa's temper could get if they didn't. This logic left one prime suspect for the crime: Miss Kumiko. Of course.
Maybe he was being immature, but a pig-sty of a workplace was the most non-sensical thing he could think of. The sleep deprivation and excessive amounts of caffeine just amplified his rigid behavior, he was going to take his work home for the evening.
While leaving the lounge, Mic (still in deep conversation) and Eraser caught each other's gaze. The latter just silently huffed and gestured with his lidded eyes at the vexatious female in the room. Hizashi discreetly threw a wide tooth smile back. Kumiko didn't notice, she was still indulged in telling whatever story that she and her acquaintance had been bonding over. Aizawa didn't like Kumiko getting so close to the one person he wasn't entirely bothered by. Which was something he definitely could not say about Ms. Kumiko. When it came to being a bother, she was gifted. A savant even. He digressed, the point was he didn't like the involvement between the two.
Allowing himself one little eye roll, Aizawa went on his way to find a new place to complete his grading.