Chapter Text
“What do you mean there’s a new teacher? Why weren’t we informed of this earlier?” Aizawa complains.
“I wanted it to be a surprise. Surprise! I thought having a teacher’s aide would help lessen your workload” Principle Nezu smiles and claps, listing her accomplishments to the wary teachers. “She comes highly recommended working on a hero studies degree and even two years as a sidekick to a popular American pro hero”
“Impressive”
“Besides, we already signed the contract so it’s too late to back out. She’s right outside. Come on in”
A hush fills the room as a young woman walks in. With a slight bow, she introduces herself. “Hi everyone. It’s a pleasure to meet you. I’m Maria Gomez and I’ll be the new teachers’ aide. Please take care of me”
“Wow, aren’t you a hottie” Present Mic whistles, wiggling his eyebrows.
Taken aback, Maria playfully smirks and gives him an obvious once over. “Too hot for you. That’s for sure”
“Ouch. That hurts, but I like it”
All the present teachers introduced themselves and their respective quirk.
“Hey Maria. I hope you don’t find this rude, but what’s your quirk?”
“Oh um, it’s nothing special. I call it Adapt. Just better vision and hearing. My eyes turn gold when my quirk is activated. It’s nothing compared to having an erasing quirk. That’s cool. I’ve never met anyone with an erasing quirk.”
“See, you’re getting along nicely. Make sure to show her around” Nezu shouts as he runs away, leaving Maria alone with the teachers. Unfortunately, some of the teachers already have prior arrangements and didn’t have time to show her around so it was decided that Present Mic would do the honors.
They spent the next two hours talking and laughing while Mic showed her around. They received a few questioning stares from students and whispers, but that did nothing to deter their playful banter which in turn helped spread a rumor to the whole school. It was almost too soon by the time they ended up at her room. Swallowing his laughter, Present Mic happily makes plans to hang out properly once their schedules lined up.
She quickly overlooks the weird laugh and starts mentally preparing herself for the next day. A mix of anxiety and excitement followed her the rest of the night as she unpacks her luggage. In the back of her mind, she hears her neighbor enter their room and seeing that most of her things are put away, decides to introduce herself. She grabs a small bag of Mexican candy she brought as gifts for her class and knocks on their door.
“Hi. Looks like I’m your new neighbor” she smiles at the grumpy looking man. His long wild black hair and scarf covers most of his face, the only prominent feature are the bags under his eyes. If she remembers correctly, this man is friends with Hizashi. “Sorry, I won’t take up much time. Just wanted to say hi and give you this. Have a good night”
With a soft hum of acknowledgement, he shuts the door. Maria, pleased with all that she accomplished today, readies herself for sleep and curls into a ball, sinking into the covers.
"There’s going to be some staff changes” Aizawa announces once the students settle down. “Today we have a teacher’s aide joining us for the rest of the year. Come in"
"Hello everyone. It's a pleasure to meet all of you" she greets enthusiastically. "My name is Maria Gomez. I recently moved to Japan and still learning so if I say something incorrectly feel free to correct me"
"I am the class representative, Tenya Iida. It is an honor to have you join our class ma'am"
Maria referenced the seating chart and silently practiced the name. "Likewise and no need to be so formal with me Tenya. Ms. Maria is just fine"
"Understood"
"Ms. Maria, what's your quirk?" Midoriya asks, ready to write in his notebook.
"If you want to know you'll have to figure it out"
"Where are you from?" Uraraka asks.
"I'm from the United States, however my family is from Mexico" The class awes, chattering and asking her anything and everything about her life. They toppled each other with questions that before she could answer another would be asked.
Mineta happily shouts, "Yes, another hottie in the classroom"
“WAIT! Are you Present Mic’s girlfriend?” Ashido’s question garners the most attention. The anticipation could be cut with a knife.
“What? Boyfriend? I didn’t know I had a boyfriend”
“There’s a rumor going around about Present Mic showing his girlfriend around school” She announced, hoping for confirmation. Maria bellows out laughing, clutching her stomach.
"Alright, that's enough. Let's start class"
"Aw, but Mr. Aizawa" the class groans, eager to ask more about their new teacher. He cuts off their whining with a glare. Maria chuckles and sits herself at the corner of the room where she has a view of the class and Aizawa. Grabbing her notebook, she writes down a couple students' names with general observations. Throughout the day and the rest of the week, Maria quietly observed class 1-A and noted anything significant that will help her remember them easier.
"Hey! If it isn't my totally rad girlfriend!" Present Mic yells, waving her down. He ends up wrapping an arm around her shoulders and gives Maria a cheeky smile at her raised brows. Ever since he’s heard the rumor, Mic has taken delight in teasing Maria. "How's your week been? Has Shouta been nice to you? Don’t worry about him. It takes him awhile to warm up to people"
"Shouta?” she mutters, trying to remember everyone’s face to their name. “Oh! You mean Aizawa. He's been very kind and helpful. I've been having trouble understanding some of the lessons, but he took the time to help me"
"Really? Sounds like I have some competition. Do I have to worry about him stealing your heart?”
"Even if he somehow stole my heart, what could you do?”
“Ooh ow, you wound me, my dear. I’ll have you know I’m pretty strong. If Shouta ever gives you problems come to me and I'll straighten him out for you"
"My hero” she dramatically swoons, batting her eyes. “I'm sure it won't come to that, but I'll keep it in mind"
The next few days turned into weeks until finally the end of the month came. She slowly memorized the names and personality of all her students. Despite Aizawa’s grumpy exterior, he always made himself available to help her. However, there were more than enough times where Maria tripped over a napping Aizawa. Her clumsiness became a running joke to the students, especially to Present Mic. He liked to joke that with the amount of falling she did on a regular basis she would eventually fall for Aizawa for real.
It was a process learning her students’ tendencies. Tenya has a habit of overcorrecting his classmates, Kaminari constantly talks, she subtly threatens Mineta for harassing the girls more than should be allowed, and Bakugou and Midoriya's rivalry turning intense on the battlefield as well as the classroom was such a common occurrence that after her first experience she stopped worrying. This particular argument sprung out of nowhere. Their constant arguing not only interrupted Aizawa, but also broke her chain of thought as she was grading assignments.
Maria flicks an eraser as it accurately smacks the center of Bakugou’s forehead causing him to fly backwards in his seat onto the ground. "That was just a warning. Next time you interrupt I'll use you as target practice"
"What did you say SHITTY WOMAN!" he jumps up, leaning on the table, looking as if he’s barely holding himself back from bombing her into the next room.
"Shitty woman? Bakugou if you're going to insult me then at least come up with some better phrases. Use your imagination" she rolls her eyes and resumes her grading.
"I'll show you insults hag"
Without looking up, she replies, "Better. Add some flavor like washed up or overhyped and now you have a spicy insult. Now zip it"
"As I was saying" he gives the two of you a tired look before continuing, "Our next training session will be taught by Maria. Just because she is a teacher's aide doesn't mean you can slack off. I expect each and every one of you to do your best"
"You're just using me as an excuse to sneak in a nap, aren't you" Aizawa neither agrees or denies the accusation.
"Does that mean we'll see her quirk?" Midoriya perks up at the news, the idea of finding out her quirk, possible benefits and weaknesses, nearly sent him spiraling.
"If you can make me use it though I highly doubt it" she responds, shrugging.
"I wonder what it could be?" the class erupts into conversation.
"That'll be all" Aizawa leaves as Maria waves him goodbye.