The first day of classes at U.A. had just finished. Because Jiro had vowed to make a new friend at the start of the day, she stayed around to talk to some of her classmates after classes. But she gave up on that goal after some lackluster small talk and decided it was time to head home. She felt melancholic as she walked out the classroom and down the hall. She had thought she would feel more positive going to classes at her dream school, the prestigious U.A. Instead, she felt alone in the new strange environment. She thought it was odd how lonely she felt since she often enjoyed being an independent loner. As she slowly walked down the stairs of the building, she tried to think of all the positive things about her day: getting taught by All Might was exciting and the lunch was very good. Still, she wished she had a friend to share her meals with.
While being taught by All Might was cool, it was overshadowed by how embarrassed she felt during the combat exercise. In the exercise, she and Kaminari had to infiltrate a room Yaoyorozu barricaded with metal bars. After an initial electric and sound-based attack through the barrier, Yaoyorozu was able to easily deflect all further attacks with sound-proof headphone and shock-proof resistors. She and Kaminari had no way to get past the metal bars and aimlessly flailed around for the rest of the fifteen minute time limit. It was a complete blowout. Todoroki's battle was also a complete blowout but his battle was over quickly, her battle was stalemated for a long time. Her overly long battle felt like a waste of time and it made her feel like a waste of space. She felt especially self-conscious about the battle since her entire class was watching. It made her feel like she had wasted everyone's time and that she made a horrible first impression on her classmates. Her first interaction with her combat partner, Kaminari, was horrible as well. She did not think she could ever be friends with him. What made matters worse was that he was her neighbour in the classroom. Her other neighbour, Bakugo, was bad-tempered and quick to anger. Her very first experience in the U.A. classroom was Bakugo getting into an argument with Iida directly next to her, making her feel very awkward. On top of that, she sat directly behind Shoji who was way too tall and she couldn't see past him at all. She had to have had the worst seat ever, she thought.
Jiro thought again about trying to make new friends tomorrow but immediately she thought of her trying to introduce herself to Ojiro and Tokoyami and cringed. The other students already seemed to get along so well. Could social cliques be formed so quickly? How come Asui already went by such a familiar nickname with half the class? How does such a serious uptight individual like Iida have friends already? Why does it feel like Kirishima and Ashido were friends who'd known each other for years? The other girls already seemed to be getting along so well. Maybe the other girls were going to be friends and she'll be all alone. Although now that she thought about it, she didn't remember Yaoyorozu talking with the other girls either. She thought about trying to become friends with her and quickly labeled it as unreasonable. She didn't think that such an elite student would want to talk with her or maybe anyone. A small minority of the class didn't seem to want to socialize like Bakugo or Aoyama. She remembered the first thing Mr. Aizawa said: "If you're just here to make friends then you can pack up your stuff now". As Jiro opened the door and exited the building she let out a sigh. She smiled sorrowfully as she reached her conclusion. "Maybe, I'll be alone during my time at U.A. and that's okay."
Besides, U.A. was hard. Yesterday, on "orientation" day, she was subjected to eight grueling fitness tests where she thought she would be expelled on day one the entire time. It wasn't just the hero training that was hard, the regular core classes were a lot more challenging compared to junior high. She was going to have to study a lot more and do a lot more homework. On top of all the studying she planned to do today, she decided to review the prerequisite for math so that she would not be as confused as she was today. With the heavy course load, Jiro reasoned, she wouldn't have much time to socialize with friends anyways. She walked across the now empty campus, deep in thought.
Maybe it would be possible to spend time with friends if they were studying together. She began to fantasize about studying with her classmates. She wondered how her peers were doing. Were they also struggling with the transition and the school's expectations? She re-lived a situation earlier today when she was lost in the course content and Yaoyozrozu calmly answered the question she didn't understand. She's definitely not struggling, she thought. In Jiro's daydream where she is studying with friends, she imagined Yaoyorozu teaching her.
Right before she left the school campus, she heard her name being called. She turned around and saw Yaoyorozu. Ironically, Jiro, who specialized in hearing, was too preoccupied by her fantasies, to notice her name being called at first.
"You're Jiro, right?" Yaoyorozu asked.
"Yeah."
"I was calling out your name."
"Sorry, I was… daydreaming." she said, embarrassed. She hoped Yaoyorozu did not question what she was daydreaming about.
"I'm Momo Yaoyoruzu, we faced off today in basic training"
Jiro thought it was weird that Yaoyorozu was introducing herself like she wouldn't know who she was so her first thought for a response was a sarcastic quip like 'Oh really? I forgot about losing to you for fifteen minutes straight'. Instead, she decided to share how impressed she was with her. "Yeah, you did very well today."
"You did well too, although you didn't get past the barricade so no real confrontation happened," Yaoyorozu said.
Jiro was confused. Is she… MOCKING ME? Jiro didn't know what to say so she just stared at her blank-faced.
Yaoyorozu seemed deep in thought before saying "You battle with sound, correct?"
"Yeah." Were her attacks really so ineffective that Yaoyoruzu was unsure?
"Oh, that's unfortunate."
SHE'S TOTALLY MOCKING ME. THE NERVES OF THIS GIRL.
"You don't happen to have any experience wielding any bladed weapons, have you?" Yaoyorozu continued.
"I mean, I know how to fight with a sword," Jiro answered defiantly with an annoyed expression on her face.
"That's great!" Yaoyorozu exclaimed with a friendlier expression which differed greatly from the only expression of seriousness that Jiro had seen her have. "How about another spar? Face-to-face this time?" Yaoyorozu said with the same friendly expression which made her seem a little psychopathic.
"I-, hold on, I have experience with swords but-" Jiro tried to back out of the random challenge. She also didn't want to seem like a coward so she changed the topic. "What are you still doing on campus? I thought you left after class ended".
"I was at the library and I learned that you can sign out training fields where you can use your quirk during training. Are you sure you don't want to practice with me?"
Jiro remembered her goal of making a friend and let out a silent sigh, "Sure, let's do it."
Jiro turned away from the campus exit and walked with Yaoyorozu towards the training grounds.
"So how was your first day of school?" Yaoyorozu asked, sounding a bit like Jiro's mother which made Jiro reconsider putting her in the same mental box as Kaminari as "crazy classmate I won't be able to be friends with.
Jiro didn't want to be negative but she didn't have many positive things to say so she said, "I thought I would enjoy U.A better".
"Oh?" Yaoyorozu said, probing for more information.
Jiro was not going to awkwardly explain it was due to her lack of friends nor talk about the strenuous course load to the elite student so she talked about her dissatisfaction with her desk spot, "I'm not a fan of my desk spot. I was hoping I'd be able to be friends with the people I sit next to but I didn't get along with my combat partner for the training exercise, Kaminari, and Bakugo is definitely unfriendable."
"Oh same! I tried to talk to Todoroki but I don't think he wanted to talk to me. And I also sit next to my combat partner or behind him, rather. It is also improbable that I'll be friends with him"
On their way to the training grounds, Jiro had a good time conversing with Yaoyorozu, they found more relatable things to talk about like how eccentric their new teacher was. Jiro didn't realize it at the time but her bad first impression of Yaoyorozu was due to the fact that she was also not good at socializing, having always been a rich child prodigy.
As they entered the training grounds, Yaoyorozu explained how she was hoping one of her classmates was skilled in bladed weapon combat so she was very glad that Jiro had some experience with a sword.
Yaoyorozu created a training sword for Jiro and made a spear-like rod the same size as the sword for herself. They sparred for a while and talked for a bit before parting ways.
Although Yaoyorozu had clearly beaten Jiro in another hero training exercise, the third time in two days, Jiro had a good time.
Jiro had only been with Yaoyorozu for a short thirty minutes, but when she was alone doing her homework that evening, she did not feel lonely any more.