Chapter 4: New and Old Friends
Monday could not have gone any faster, from the moment Izuku woke up, he was counting the seconds until school was out. He had a small smile as he headed downstairs for breakfast, something that Inko didn't point out but was more than happy to see. Once breakfast was over Izuku headed to school with a small hop in his step. He was more attentive in class than he had ever been, something that pissed Bakugo off to no end. But Izuku was so happy that even when Bakugo tried to get to him during lunch, Izuku never truly lost his smile, it just became more hidden.
As soon as the final bell rang, Izuku quickly shoved all his stuff into his backpack and he was out the door as he heard Bkaugo yell, "Deku, get the f432k back here?"
Izuku had no plan of stopping as his walk increased into a slow jog. He had had a good weekend for once and possibly an even better evening coming up. He wasn't going to give Bakugo a chance to ruin that for him. To make sure that didn't happen, Izuku picked up the pace and was soon out in front of the school. He quickly spotted the family car and ran over to it.
He slipped in the front side and Inko chuckled and asked, "Did you have a good day?"
"Yes," Izuku said with a nod. Finally, the waiting he had been doing all day was nearly at an end. He was finally able to see if he would be able to become a hero.
Inko nodded and drove away from the school. Following the directions on her phone, Inko drove the car to the downtown part of Musutafu, until she was directed into a parking lot. After finding a spot to park, the mother and son got out of the car and went to the building. There was a large sign on the side of the building that spelt, "Hatsumi Industries" with an LED glow behind it.
Before fully closing her door, Inko reached in and grabbed a textbook from under her seat. No matter how the day went, Inko knew she needed to give the textbook to Izuku. They walked across the parking lot and headed inside. The front lobby was small with only two couches and four chairs and a mounted waterfall off to the side. At the end of the lobby a large desk with a red head woman sitting behind it.
Inko and Izuku walked up to the desk and the woman asked, "Did you have an appointment?"
"Um…I believe the name would be under Midoriya. They said to arrive whenever possible," Izuku said, unsure of what to say as no real plan had been made. So she was unsure if an official appointment had been made.
"Ah, the special guests. If you could take the elevator to floor 6. You'll find Mr and Mrs Hatsumi waiting for you." The receptionist said gesturing to the elevator that was to her right. Inko and Izuku thanked the woman and then walked over to the elevator. After calling it down and riding it up to floor 6, the elevator dinged and the doors opened. Upon fully opening Mr Hatsume was revealed to be working with a pro hero while Mrs Hatsume was standing off to the side by a table with a tablet in hand
As Inko and Izuku walked out of the elevator, Mr Hatsumi noticed them and said, "Ah, the Midoriyas. Glad you could come." -The hero scoffed and Mr Hastume turned his attention back to him- "Oh I'm sorry Crimson Dynamo. We weren't expecting them soo soon, traffic must have been light."
Crimson Dynamo huffed and looked at Izuku, "He's your special guest." Crimson Dynamo was a tall and muscular man. As he stood up he was easily comparable to All Might, but not as big. So to him, Izuku looked like a little twig that would snap under his foot.
"More like our daughter's." Mrs Hatsumi stated, writing something on the tablet, and then turning it off. She looked a little flustered but quickly hid that with a smile as she put the tablet on the table.
"Whatever, just make sure you fix my equipment as soon as possible." Crimson Dynamo stood up and walked to the elevator. He had to lean a bit to fit, then quickly closed the doors.
The Mother and Son looked back at Hatsumes, "He has a rough personality, but he's a good man at heart." Mr Hatsumi waved off their concerned looks, "Got into a fight with some thugs and they managed to bust some of his armour." "Mr Hastume then dropped the piece of armor in his hand onto the table- "More important is helping you out, Young Midoriya." Mr Hastumi pulled out his own tablet and turned it on, "I used some connections to get a hold of your quirk file, perks of being in the hero business." Mr Hatsume cleared his throat and then began reading Izuku's files, "Izuku Midoriya, Quirk: Hyper Static Cell. His body processes the ability to generate a high amount of static bioelectricity. When first tested his body was able to produce 105 volts of pure electricity, however after further testing, it was found that he was unable to discharge, unlike many other electricity-based quirks. Like other electricity-based quirks, this number is expected to rise, however, as his primary reading was higher than the average, doctors were unable to predict how much Izuku's quirk would grow. Even mentioned that it would be hard to get a proper read as Izuku Midoriy's quirk does not work with standard equipment.' The rest goes more into the depths of the science of how your body generates its bioelectricity, but we won't worry about that. We'll worry about the last line. The file stated devices struggle to withdraw the electricity from your body, as my mother told my wife that you have to modify your phone to siphon off your quirk."
Izuku nodded, and Mr Hatsume smiled, "I think we have a workaround. You see, a problem with early technology was that there was no way to limit how voltage went in. If you put a 5-volt light bulb into a 10-volt socket, you're going to overload the bulb and cause it to break. Your quirk has a safety feature similar to those lines of thinking. It can sense that if it pushed too hard it would break the bulb out. So a solution is to use a piece of equipment that can handle your quirks of electricity, while also being able to dampen its output so as not to overload other equipment.
Mr Hastumi crouched out and grabbed a briefcase that was leaning against the table. He set it on the table and opened it. He pulled out a device that looked like a high-tech hockey puck, just bigger and set it on the table. Izuku looked the device over and saw that it was silver and one of the flat faces was glass, "This is a device my wife and I created to help lightning-based quirk users. However, with the palladium core we used, the thing was so powerful that it was too efficient. Imagine that. The cost was not worth it, so we mass-produced a weaker version of it, that all worked just fine. But with the amount of bioelectricity you theorized to be able to produce, the palladium core might actually work. I believe this is the solution to your problem, Young Midoriya."
Mr Hastumi walked over and handed the device to Izuku, "Sorry to say but this particular device connects to your chest. You'll have to be shirtless for this bit."
Izuku looked at the device, wondering whether it was worth it to go shirtless. Not letting his mind overthink it, he slipped off his shirt and held the device against his chest. The metal was cold against his chest, luckily it quickly warmed up as it adhered to his bare chest. The arc reactor flickered for a bit, then gave off a steady blue light as Izuku felt his quirk starting to siphon into the device. Moving past that feeling, Izuku looked down and saw he was as scrawny as ever. He barely had any kind of muscle on his body, causing him to feel a little self-conscious now about being shirtless.
The elevator dinged and a few seconds later Mei Hatsumi walked in, "Hey Dad, hey Mom. Ms Potts said Midoriya and his mom were here." Mei Hatsumi's eyes flew on Izuku, more specifically the device on his chest, "Ah, you already gave him the arc reactor, I want to be the one to give it to him."
"Sorry, baby girl, you were too slow to get home, but we're just about to test it out." Mrs Hatsumi said. She pulled out a device, which Izuku recognized as a multimeter. A heavily modified multimeter. She walked over and attached the two clips to the base and top of the arc reactor. She turned on the device and said, "Just breathe normally, relax and let your quirk flow."
Izuku nodded as he took a deep breath and relaxed the best he could. Mrs Hatsume tapped a few buttons and then waited for it to get a reading. Once the reading appeared, she let out a small squeak. She quickly pressed a few buttons and got the same reading. This caused her to slowly turn the device to her father and let him look at the screen.
Mr Hatsumi walked over and took the device. He tapped the screen a few times, but something was causing him to be confused, "Young Midoriya, when you first got your quirk, you were able to produce 105 volts, though the doctors said it might be higher since your quirk didn't work with standard equipment. Right?"
"Yes," Izuku recalled his first test.
"Well, this is reading 300,000,000 volts. That's nearly 3 GigaJoules. That could easily power something big for 15 minutes." Mr Hatsumi said, showing Izuku the device. There was a lot of information that Izuku didn't understand, but his eyes were drawn to the reading of 300,000,000 volts, "Guess it's a good thing you can't accidentally discharge, you could easily kill a bunch of people."
Mrs Hatsumi quickly smacks her husband on the back of the head, "Don't scare the kid."
"Can I have him finally try some of my babies?" Mei asked, grabbing a briefcase off the table. She ran over and began to open it, without even much as an answer. Izuku looked down and saw that she was pulling out some kind of boot.
"Only if Young Midoriya is up for it." Mrs Hatsumi asked. She was the only social one of the trio and could understand Izuku's hesitation. They had just met and really didn't know each other.
Izuku nodded. Over the weekend he had researched some of the heroes Mr Hatsumi had listed during dinner. Seeing the different equipment those heroes used made Izuku curious about what the family had made. And if he was the only one that could power them, he would happily help them. It could be his first step towards becoming a hero.
Mei dragged Izuku over to the side of the room and began having him try out the different inventions. Using the arc reactor to power different devices, also gave Mrs Hatsumi the chance to get some data on how Izuku's quirk reacted to the arc reactor. While that went on, the three parents sat down. Inko had a large textbook on her lap and Mr Hatsumi noticed, "Where did you get that?"
"It's from my ex-husband. He went to college for mechanical engineering. I thought about having Izuku go that career path because he would have a chance to find a way to use his quirk. But it appears you solved that issue." Inko said as she put the textbook on the table.
"Ex-husband?" Mr Hatsumi asked, dodging a punch from his wife.
"We divorced when Izuku was 6. He died a few years later, but Izuku still thinks he is working overseas. We're going to be running out of savings soon and I'll start looking for a job. This textbook and a box full of blueprints are the only things I have left right now." Inko said, looking down at the textbook and thinking of the box that was still hidden in her closet. Her thoughts then drifted to the will, but she still refused to sign that, believing she didn't need help from her ex-husband. Yet maybe she should have a look at the will and see what exactly Hisashi had left her.
"Well, Young Midoriya could still go into mechanical engineering. We would be willing to teach him. He'll probably spend some time here, dragged here by our daughter, and we'll be happy to teach him. It will give him a chance to learn more about his quirk." Mrs Hatsumi offered, looking at the starry eye look on Izuku's face as he was slightly lifted off the ground.
Inko looked over at her son, as he seemed to be hovering with some kind of boots and failing to keep his balance, "I think he would appreciate that very much. I would give him something to look towards."
Mr and Mrs Hatsumi bowed slightly. Over the coming weeks, Izuku came over to Hatsume Industries after school and would help Mei test whatever new and improved invention she had. Then during the weekends, he was taught engineering by Mrs and Mr Hatsume, it was slow at the beginning, but then knowledge seemed to take hold and Izuku was quickly moving through the textbooks. He was quickly catching up to Mei's level of engineering, making it seem he had been studying since a young age.
As Izuku's proficiency grew, the Hatsumes would throw him a bone in the form of designing a new piece of equipment for a pro hero or repairing damaged equipment. As Izuku became more and more comfortable and confident in working on hero equipment, Mr Hatsume purposely offered Izuku a job and made him a part-time employee of Hatsume Industries. Izuku was slow to accept the offer, though after being encouraged by Inko, he accepted the job. Inko encouraged Izuku to accept the job, as their savings were starting to show empty and while Inko had submitted resumes to different jobs, she had only gotten a few calls back.
Through all he had learned and getting a new job, Izuku's dream of becoming a hero just grew and grew. To better prepare for becoming a hero and to help work on invention, Izuku began to train. Not in any form of combat, but he bought himself a pair of weights and began running into the evening. When Izuku hit 12, he worked on the courage to ask the hero who came for repairs if they would spar with him.
It took a bit but as soon as the first hero agreed to it, Izuku was sparring against pro heroes right and left. In the beginning, Izuku spent most of his time on the mat, but slowly he started to gain some skill and he got tips from the hero on what to practice to become better. He mainly trained with Crimson Dynamo, Whiplash and Captain Japan as they were three that were always coming in for repairs. But he trained with any hero he could, especially when a special guest arrived.
It was on a Friday evening, Izuku and Mei were in the room where heroes came to bring in their damaged equipment. They were working on their homework when the elevator dinged. Without looking up Izuku said in autopilot, "Welcome to Hatsume Industries. If you would fill out the form on the counter. Your hero name, the type of equipment that needs to be repaired and if this is your first thing coming to Hatsume Industries please also provide your usual support company."
The sound of dense metal landing on the counter made Izuku look up. His eyes went wide as he recognized the pro hero. "What the hell are two middle schoolers doing here?" Mirko said as she looked Izuku in the eyes.
"Sorry Mirko." Izuku said as he stood up. He looked down at the equipment that had been placed on the counter. It was Mirko's boot and they looked like they had been blown to pieces, which should have been impossible as they were made out of dense titanium.
"I ask what are two middle schoolers doing here?" Mirko asked. She had been recommended to Hatsume Industries as the local go-to place to get her boots fixed as they worked faster and were reliable for a good price. But if they had middle schoolers.
"This is Mei Hatsume, her parents own the business and I'm here doing a bit of an internship to get prepared for going to UA." Izuku said.
Mirko looked Izuku up and down then grinned, "A little runt like you think they can get into UA?"
Before Izuku could say anything, Mei scoffed and said, "He's held his own against a few pro heroes. Crimson Dynamo and Whiplash to name a few."
"Sorry kiddos, but there is a difference between pro heroes like those meatheads and me." Mirko said, as she crossed her arms and began tapping her foot.
Mei looked up and Izuku shrugged his shoulders, "Mirko is working her way to being in the top 20." That made Mirko smile. Izuku smiled back and then went back to the equipment "So Ms Mirko, what caused your equipment to get to this state."
"Was chasing out a villain with a speed quirk, he kept throwing stuff at me and wore my boots down. He managed to get away, but I'm going to track him down. I want to be at my best when I find him." Mirko said.
"Well with that, we'll mark your equipment down as top priority. With how damaged your equipment is we'll see what we can recover and what we can repair. But from the look of it your support company will have to build you a whole new set."
"I don't have a support company." Mirko said.
Izuku tilted his head to show his confusion, "Oh." Every pro hero has a company that built their equipment, "Then may I ask where you originally got these?"
"Costume order, from what company gives me the best deals. Right now you are the most convinced and others said you would give me a good price." Mirko said.
"Well that makes things easier and more complicated." Izuku said, trying to pick up one of the boots and having a look at them. Yet the boot was so heavy, Izuku couldn't understand how Mirko could fight in them, "Do you perhaps have the blueprint on you."
"On my laptop back at my apartment." Mirko said.
"If you could send those in, we could have your equipment ready to go by Sunday." Izuku said then pulled out a business from his wallet, "Just email the file to the email on the card and we'll begin working away on them."
Mirko took the card and looked it over, "Fine." She then turned and walked back to the elevator. As soon as the door closed behind Mirko, Izuku collapsed into his chair, keeping his cool around a top 30 pro hero took more out of Izuku than he thought
Mei looked over at Izuku and said, "You're not getting any sleep tonight, are you?'
"Depends on when Mirko sends the files," Izuku said. With that, he went back to his homework and Mei joined him. They continued to work on their homework until it was time to head home. Yet before leaving Izuku checked his work email and saw that Mirko had sent the files less than an hour after leaving Hatsume Industries.
Mei looked over Izuku's shoulders as he opened the blueprints. They both began to analyze the blueprints, to show what could be improved. Mei then walked over to the clock and clocked off, while Izuku closed his laptop and promptly turned and walked back to the elevator. Mei just shook her head as Izuku was not going to get paid for overtime, not that he cared.
No matter how often Izuku had a chance to work on a hero's equipment, he was also star-struck. Meaning he was going to spend the night at Hatsume Industries working on Mirko equipment and he did so all of Saturday. Saturday evening Izuku sent Mirko an email that her equipment was readying to be picked up Sunday morning.
Sunday morning Mirko woke up in her temporary apartment and quickly changed into her hero costume. She then angrily packed all of her stuff as she hadn't been able to find that villain that broke her equipment and she was being called to a different city to help with a problem. She then dropped off all of her suitcases at the train station and then made her way to Hatsume Industries.
Where she was directed to the sixth floor. Upon arriving on the sixth floor, Mirko was greeted with an empty room white room, save for a grey table with a metal chest on it and Izuku working a punching bag not too far away from the table. He was wearing a white sleeveless shirt and a pair of black Zuko pants. Mirko watched Izuku work on the punching bag as she walked up to him, noticing he had some tone to his arm. Something she hadn't noticed under Izuku's baggy jacket.
When Mirko was only a few feet away, she cleared her throat. That caught Izuku's attention so he grabbed the bag with his gloved hands, stopping it. Then he pulled out his headphones, letting them hang around his neck by the cord that connected them. He then turned around and noticed Mirko, "Oh Mirko." Izuku seemed to squeak but then he cleared his throat, "Sorry I wasn't accepting you so soon."
"It's 9:38." Mirko said.
Izuku tilted his head as he pulled out his phone and saw it was 9:38, "Oh guess I lost track of time. Your equipment is in the chest." Izuku said as he gestured to the chest. He and Mirko walked over to the chest, where Izuku grabbed a small towel and a water bottle, "Thanks for sending in the blueprints, it helped speed up the process."
Izuku then gestured to Mirko to open the metal chest. Mirko undid the two latches and then pulled open the lid. Inside, laying a purple pillow were Mirko's new boots, "What's with the showmanship."
"Mr and Mrs Hatsume started that, with the belief that each new piece of equipment deserves a show of respect. I do it because it's tradition." Izuku said as he whipped his brow with the towel and downed some water, "Try them on."
Mirko pulled out her new boots and slipped them onto her feet. She immediately noticed some changes, "You changed them."
Izuku flinched and said, "Sorry, I noticed that your boots were more designed for function rather than comfort. Which I don't understand since you're running around in them all day, I'm close to calling it torture what your old boots did to your feet. So I reworked them a bit to provide some more comfort." Izuku then took a breath to stop himself.
Mirko hopped up and down in place and every time she landed she noticed her feet weren't feeling as much impact. "Nice."
"I also added some bracers inside, not only to add some extra power but to help redistribute any force your boots get from blocking attacks." Izuku said, then turned and gestured to his punching bag, "Would you like to give them a try."
Mirko nodded, everything seemed fine, but she wasn't going to go into battle with equipment she didn't trust. She walked over to the punching bag and kicked it, she barely felt anything despite the fact she knew she had put some power behind that kick. Mirko then winded up her strongest kick and launched it at the punching bag. The chain holding the bag up immediately broke and the bag was sent flying, while Mirko only felt some of the impact.
"Great, now I have to pay for a new one. "Izuku grumbled but then put on a smile, "So what do you think?"
"Damn runt, now I understand why the heroes I talked to won't stop singing your praise. They won't shut up about how well Hatsume Industries did support equipment." Mirko said as she began hopping up and down again. The boot felt perfect.
"Thanks." Izuku said as he began to rub the back of his neck.
"You said you want to get into UA. Support Department I assume." Mirko said.
"Hero Course actually. I'm here at Hatsume Industries to gain the skills to build the equipment that is going to help me get in." Izuku said.
"Oh." Mirko said.
"I know there is a bad stigma around pro heroes that rely too much on support equipment, but hey at least I'm trying," Izuku said. Every time he told a new pro hero he trained with that he wanted to become a hero, they gave him words of encouragement but when he mentioned how he had to rely on equipment so much, they backed off a bit.
"Well damn, if you can build equipment as good as these, I'm curious to see what you have in mind for yourself." Mirko said as she looked over her boots, noticed how polished the metal was, she almost wasn't looking forward to when they lost their shine.
"Nothing at the moment." Izuku said, then cleared his throat, "Ms Mirko, I was wondering. To help prepare to become a hero, I sometimes spar with other pro heroes whenever they come in to get their equipment fix. I was wondering if I could have the chance to spar with you."
Mirko bent over laughing, while Izuku stood there waiting. He was used to being laughed at by other kids his age. "Sorry kid, but teaching like that isn't my style. I keep my lone rabbit style close to my chest."
"Oh you don't have to teach me anything, it's just a spar to see how I handle myself against you. Like you said there is a good difference between you and other pro heroes." Izuku said with a smile.
Mirko thought about it for a second.
"If you fight me, the service fee will be free." Izuku added.
"Alright kid, you sold me, sounds like how you see people. I don't have to be at the train station until the evening. You have until either that or when you tap out, whatever comes first and don't think I won't hold back because you're a kid." Mirko said.
"I would be disappointed if you did," Izuku said, as he tightened his glove and got into his natural fighting stance. Mirko laughed at that and launched her leg at Izuku. She was surprised when Izuku expertly took a step back and stopped just outside of Mirko's range. Mirko's foot surprisingly hit the ground first and she looked at Izuku. Izuku had a small smirk, one that Mirko was more than happy to try and knock off. So with a small yell, Mirko launched herself and unleashed a barrage of kicks at Izuku.
As Izuku managed to dodge Mirko's attack, she noticed green lightning was jumping across Izuku's eyes. "So that's how the hell you're able to dodge," Mirko said, then did a faint on her right and when Izuku moved to dodge Mirko's left leg, Mirko turned the faint into an actual attack. Mirko's foot connected with Izuku's chest and he was sent rolling across the floor. Mirko was confused as Izuku should have been able to tell the faint was just a delayed attack, "Why the hell didn't you dodge, you were reading my mind."
"What." Izuku said then coughed a bit, "I wasn't reading your mind. No, my quirk is electricity based, but I can't discharge it, so I learn to use it in other ways. One I recently figured out was how to direct my quirk to mind and accelerate my thinking. Allows me to follow my opponent's movements better."
Izuku then got back up to his feet and as he walked back to Mirko he rolled his shoulder, "I didn't tap out."
Mirko nodded as Izuku got back to his fighting stance. Mirko went easy on Izuku, afraid to hurt him, but Izuku had made it clear he wasn't afraid to get hit. So Mirko kicked forward and Izuku easily dodged. Mirko huffed as she kicked her other leg but again Izuku easily dodged as more green lighting jumped across his eyes. So Izuku could follow her movement, but he wasn't predicting so he could still get tricked. So Mirko backhanded him with her raised foot and sent him bouncing against the ground. Mirko was sure Izuku would tap out from that one hit as she had put quite a bit of force behind it. Yet to her surprise, Izuku got to his knees and then to his feet, "I know how to take a hit, I've got an old childhood friend whose quirk hits harder than that. And I thought you said you weren't going to hold back. I've seen videos of your fights, you can hit harder than that."
Mirko looked Izuku up and down, he wasn't the same scared nerd she had first met. It seemed getting into a fight had gotten him into a zone. Something that Mirko knew all too well. She smirked and said, "If that's how you want it."
Mirko then launched herself at Izuku, moving faster as Izuku's resilience was making her feel fired up. They continued to spar into the afternoon and to Mirko's surprise, every time Izuku got hit he was quick to get back on his feet. Until around 2:00 after Mirko kicked Izuku's cross out of the way, her foot connected with Izuku's chest and launched him into the wall. He hit the wall and slid down to the ground, he then tapped his shoulder and took a deep breath.
Mirko walked over to Izuku and held out her hand, "Damn runt I don't think I've ever met a middle schooler as stubborn as you. You just getting up, even after I hit you hard. You've earned my respect, runt."
Izuku smiled then chuckled as he took Mirko's hand and hauled him to his feet, "Enough respect to get your autograph." Izuku then magically pulled out his journal and held it out in front of him, "Please. I like to get the autograph of every pro hero I meet and especially those I get to spar again."
"Fine, you runt," Mirko said, as she took the journal and gave out one of the first few autographs she ever had in her years of being a pro hero. Mirko then tossed the journal back to Izuku, whose smile could light up the work. Izuku put the journals back and then brought out a flash drive from his pocket.
"Here, the blueprint for your new boots. So you can get them from whatever company you order them from next." Izuku said.
Mirko looked down at the flash drive and said, "Keep it." Mirko then turned from Izuku and walked to the elevator and called it up. As she stepped into the elevator, she turned and looked at Izuku, "I'll be calling you up when I need a new pair."
Izuku smiled as the elevator closed and he slipped the flash drive back into his pocket. He then took a step towards the table, to put the metal chest away and his entire body screamed.
"Aw, okay maybe I'll leave that for tomorrow," Izuku said, then checked the time. He needed to get home and rest and relax for school. So leaving the metal chest on the table, Izuku headed home. As Izuku took a bus home, he dropped the harder person he created to get Mirko to agree to the fight. Now he couldn't help but smile. Once he got home he took a hot bath and after dinner, Izuku went to bed
Despite how much Izuku changed working at Hatsume Industries, at school he stuck with his socially awkward self. He continued not to talk to anyone, was always working on homework and never drew attention to himself. Yet unknown to Izuku, people had begun to notice the change in Izuku. They noticed Izuku had begun to hold his head up a bit more. Speak with a bit more confidence, when he answered a question in class. Izuku even began to smile a bit throughout the day.
They also notice the change in Izuku's physique, as through his training at Hatsumi Industries, Izuku had begun to put some weight on. In the form of defining muscles, it began to make Izuku look like a bodybuilder. From some angles, they noticed that Izuku's chest gave off a little blue glow. However, it was hard to notice through Izuku's shirt and it was impossible to see if he had a jacket zipped up.
And out of everyone, Bakugou noticed the most. And it pissed him off. Bakugo hated the new Deku, the deku who was supposed to be a wreck nerd with a useless quirk. At first, he just thought he was seeing things, his mind playing tricks on him. However as he watched Deku, he saw his suspicion be confirmed. Something had changed with the nerd, and Bakugo decided that he needed to find what was causing Deku to be such a pain in the ass.
One day after school Bakugo noticed Deku was no longer heading in the direction of his home after school. That was clear from the start, as their houses were in neighbourhoods right next to each other. And as Bakugo went East, Deku would immediately turn and head West.
Bakugo had asked the old hag if Aunt Inko had moved, but she hadn't heard anything. That just pissed Bakugo off, as Deku was going somewhere new. And whatever that place was, it was responsible for the change in the nerd's behaviour. When Bakugo finally had enough, he decided to follow Deku.
It was the Friday following Izuku's fight with Mirko and Bakugo kept a close watch on Deku during the last period. As per usual the nerd was quick to gather his things and leave the school building. Bakugo quickly gathered his material and walked out of the classroom. After telling two of his lackeys to get lost, Bakugo hurried to the front of the school. He immediately spotted Deku and began to follow him. While keeping his distance from Deku so the nerd didn't know he was being followed.
Bakugo followed Deku as he left the residential area and walked through the commercial area. Bakugo almost lost Deku as they entered the business area of town, but managed to find the big fluff of green hair. While doing this, Bakugo's anger was rising the entire time.
Not only was Deku training, but he was also training in secret and was willing to travel so far every day to do so. That could only mean one thing. Deku had finally grown a pair and was training to get into UA. Bakugo growled at that thought, as kids they always talked about how they wanted to become a hero. Yet after Deku had his useless quirk, it was clear who of the two would become the next #1 hero.
Bakugo was fine if Deku was depressed because that meant he knew the truth and wouldn't get in Bakugou's way. But now it seemed Deku had illusioned himself with the idea he could become a hero. That meant Deku was better than Bakugo and Bakugo would never let that be the truth.
As Deku walked across the street, Bkaugo waited, then dashed after him. Deku walked across a parking lot and Bakugou hid behind a small brush. He walked as Deku walked into a building that had a large LED lid sign on the side. What was Deku doing at a building like this? Was Deku going behind Bakugo's back to undermine him, to make fun of him? Was Deku just pretending to be weak to one day shove it in Bakugo's face that he was better? No, if Deku somehow got into UA with his useless quirk, Bakugo would have to remind him of his place.
That thought caused Bakugo to yell and run across a small parking lot. He ran after the useless nerd, but by the time Bakugo got close. Deku had already entered the building. He must have heard Bakugo's yell because he turned around
"Oh hello, Kacchan. What are you doing here?" Izuku asked as he locked eyes with his childhood friend, through the glass door. He wasn't expecting to see Bakugo here, the only reason would be if Bakugo followed him. Why had Bakugo followed him?
"You damn nerd, what the hell do you think you're doing? Especially in a place like this." Bakugo yelled, demanding an answer. Small explosions went off in his hand, Bakugo was just waiting for the door to automatically open so he could cream Izuku. Yet the door never opened.
Izuku looked to the right and the left then back at Bakugo. "You mean Hatsumi Industries. I work here. I started a bit ago." Izuku explained in a confused tone, "What are you doing here?'
"What idiot would hire a useless nerd like you, especially at the age of 13? Don't try to lie, you're training to try for the UA entrance exam. Why else would you disappear every day after school and suddenly have a better physique? I told you, I'm going to be the only one from our shitty school that gets into UA." Bakugo said, punching the door. Which hurt, since it was made out of reinforced bulletproof glass.
"Training. Well, I won't say I've been training every day, really only when a hero comes in for repairs. Working out, usually. I didn't like that I was so scrawny looking, so I decided to start lifting weights. As for coming here, I do genuinely work here. Look." Izuku pulled out his wallet. After sifting through some cards, he pulled one out and held it against the door. Bakugo looked at the card, it was an employee ID card for Hatsume Industries, and it had a photo of Izuku on it, "As for trying to get into UA. I will say I gave up on that dream growing up, but now some stuff has changed. And now I think I might actually have a chance of getting in."
Bakugo looked at Izuku and yelled. He held his hand against the door and lit off an explosion. The door shook a bit, but no crack appeared, only burn marks were left behind.
"Young Man." Ms Potter, Hatsume Industries' receptionist, suddenly appeared behind Izuku, "If you try to do that again, I will call the police and have you arrested. Not only for damage to our property but also for aggravated assault and illegal quirk usage. Surely UA will not allow someone with that record into their school."
Bakugo growled, shot a death glare at Izuku, then shoved his hands into his pocket and walked away.
"Classmate?" Ms Potts asked as Izuku turned around.
"Yeah, we were once friends, but that didn't last very long," Izuku said, as he and Ms Potts started to walk back to her desk.
"Well if he comes back here. I'll make sure to send him packing." Ms Potts frowned as she walked around her desk and sat down. Izuku smiled as he remembered Ms Potts' quirk: Mag field. Which allows her to manipulate the magnetic fields within her eye line.
Izuku suddenly had a thought, "Your quirk, that's why Kacchan couldn't get through the door. You used your quirk to lock the door after I walked through it."
Ms Potts laughed, "You really are a clever one, but the front doors don't have that kind of lock. I heard Kacchan's yelling, so I used a button under my desk to lock the door, but I'll tell your idea to the Hatsumis. They might even add some extra protection that only I can activate."
Izuku smiled as he walked over to the elevator.
Chapter 5: Forgotten Promise and Failure
As Izuku continued through middle school he continued to train and practice with pro heroes any chance he could. If he wasn't doing homework or working on a repair order for Hatsume Industries, Izuku was either lifting weights, doing cardio or taking a jog. And he was pleased with the result he was getting. The only breaks Izuku took were on Saturday and Sunday, and if he didn't have any work to do he was working on the design of what equipment he would use for UA's entrance exam.
Yet even with only six months left until the entrance exam and the last home stretch of middle school almost upon Izuku, he had nothing. Actually, he had a lot, several different inventions, many of them were his own version of support equipment used by other heroes, yet none of them felt right to Izuku. They all work and would be perfect, but there is an instinctual gut feeling that they weren't meant for Izuku to use.
It was a Saturday afternoon with the day soon becoming evening and Izuku was working in his bedroom. Long gone was his old computer and monitor upon an old desk, to better handle working at Hatsume Industries and support his own invention, Izuku had used his pay to upgrade to the best computer and monitor his money could buy along with a new wooden desk. Izuku was sitting in his chair looking at a repair order from Whiplash as the pro hero had yet again managed the whips within his whips. Izuku had tried several times to get Whiplash to agree to an upgrade, but everything the pro hero shot him down. Now as Izuku looked over the last order, he attempted to just do the upgrade and not tell Whiplash.
A knock from his door pulled Izuku from his thoughts. Izuku turned from his monitor and looked towards his door to find Inko standing in the doorway holding a box in her arms. Izuku pushed his chair back and fully turned to face Inko, "Hey Mom. What's in the box?"
Inko forced a smile as she worked into her son's room and sat down on his bed, placing the box next to her. Inko then looked down at the floor, then after a deep breath she looked up at her son, "Izuku, honey, what I'm about to say it might be hard for you. Your father has been dead for some time, since you were 11."
Inko waited for Izuku to react, but he was frozen, the only movement was a small burst of green electricity behind his eyes. Once the green lightning started Izuku said in a hollow breath, "Is that why you've been worried about paying the bills." Inko took a sharp breath, "I noticed you throwing them away one day, haven't missed you doing that since."
Inko's eyes began to tear up just as Izuku's eyes did. She began nodding quickly and said, "Your father paid for everything through his job. He took care of all the payments, but since he's died, I've been having to dive into our savings. And we're going to be running out soon. I've been looking for a job but nothing has come through."
Inko dropped her face in her hands and began to cry. Izuku was instantly by her side, hugging her, "I'm sure everything will work out. And thank you for telling me that my father is dead. He might have left us but…."
"Izuku, he didn't just leave us, he abandoned us. Left me to raise you by myself, making me stress everyday where he was. The only communication from him was the check to pay for everything, he abandoned us, you, all over your quirk." Inko said in a broken voice. All the feelings she had been hiding from her son were now coming out.
"Okay, he abandoned us. Left you to raise me, but you've done a good job at being the best mother in the world. We might have had a rough time, but look at the past few months, they've been good. Sure we might be low on money, but you're looking for a job and I'm sure someone out there will see how good a worker you are. Until then let me help with that, my pay isn't high for Hatsume Industries but I can help a bit." Izuku said as he felt his own eyes become watery so he hugged his mother more tightly.
"How did you become such a gentleman?" Inko asked.
"I was raised by a good woman that beat it into my genes." Izuku said with a small chuckle that Inko joined him in through her tears.
Then for a few minutes, mother and son embraced each other, reflecting on all the trails they had been through. All the times they had been there for each and the times they hadn't. Times when they should have grown closer together, but ended up further apart. For those few minutes, mother and son enjoyed embracing each other.
Then Izuku's attention returned to the box that his mother had brought in, "What's in the box?"
Inko wiped the tears from her eyes and cleared her throat as she grabbed the box. "You remember that textbook I gave you?" -Izuku nodded as he pointed to the textbook resting on his nightstand, "Well it wasn't the only thing your father left you."
Inko set the box on her lap and pulled the lid off of it. Izuku stood up to look inside the box. He saw there were journals and rolled-up blueprints. Izuku remembered the promise his father had given him when he was a kid. Did the blueprints play any part in that? Izuku grabbed one of the blueprints and however, sliding off the rubber bands, Izuku began to unroll the blueprint. It was soon too big to fit in Izuku's hands, so he laid it on the ground and used his shoes and hands to keep the blueprint from rolling back up.
With the blueprint fully on display, Izuku looked it over. It was extremely detailed and Izuku recognized his father's handwriting from his textbook. Even the notes would have been written years apart; they all looked the same. It was easy to see what the blueprint was of, "It's an exoskeleton." Izuku then thought about what the purpose of it was, "To give me super strength to make me move at high speeds."
Izuku tilted his head as his eyes landed on a note that was written next to the hands of the exoskeleton, "Hey Mom can you hand me the other blueprint from the box."
As Inko pulled out the other blueprint, Izuku grabbed the textbook from his nightstand to hold the first blueprint. Izuku stood up and Inko handed him the second blueprint. After undoing the rubberband Izuku unrolled the blueprint and read the title of the blueprint, "Repulsor technology Mark 1. Designed to give flight to those that can't on their own." -Izuku moved the second blueprint to the side and looked down at the one on the floor- "Put them together and you have an exoskeleton that can fly." -Izuku looked over the larger blueprint and his eyes fell on some writing along the line, "Though I may not be able to directly support my son. I believe I can find the knowledge to build a device that can help my son be the hero he always wanted to be."
"One of the last phone call I got from your father, he told me it was close to finish it. Finishing the exoskeleton and was going to start working on a device that could use your quirk to power it. But he never built one, he could never solve the riddle of your quirk." Inko said.
Izuku looked over the larger blueprint and noticed there wasn't a power source, "But." Izuku then dropped the smaller blueprint and shoved his hand down his shirt. He grabbed the arc reactor and pulled it off of his chest. Izuku quickly put the arc reactor in the chest area of the exoskeleton, he then stood up and looked it over. The slow glow of the arc reactor sat perfectly in the middle of the exoskeleton as if it was always meant to power it, "That riddle was solved by the Hatsumes."
"I didn't think your father's blueprints would be of much use to you, but then the Hatsumes showed us their arc reactor. And after how well it works…. I've known you've always wanted to be a hero and I know I can't give you the tools to be one, but I give you these. With what you've learned from the Hatsumes, I believe your father's invention will work and you can become a hero."
Inko started to cry and Izuku comforted her, but soon his own waterworks broke and he began to cry. Again emotion ran high as Izuku and Inko made a silent promise to themselves to always be there for the other. They continued to hug and cry until Inko said it was time to retire to bed. After brushing his teeth and getting ready, Izuku sat down on his bed and looked at the blueprints again. They were extremely precise, leaving no room to make minor adjustments. Obviously, his father had spent a long time revising these blueprints to get the best design.
Izuku began to smile as he continued to look over the blueprint. Getting a sense of how hard his father had worked to design these, Izuku quickly stood up and scooped the blueprints off the ground. They didn't deserve to be on the ground, Izuku looked all over his room but with all his All Might posters, he didn't have any room to have the blueprints up.
"Sorry, All Might," Izuku said, as he quickly but carefully began to pull out the thumbtack. After rolling up the poster and slipping it into his closet, Izuku hung up the two blueprints. After making sure they were secure on the wall, Izuku took a step back.
Now being about to take in the complexity of the design from a distance, Izuku knew he was going to need some help. And he knew a girl that would be willing to give some. Izuku grabbed his phone from his nightstand and called Mei. She immediately picked up, "No, I didn't almost blow up my shop again."
Izuku grinned as he seemed to have a sixth sense for whenever Mei blew something up, "No, I'm not calling because I felt something. No I was wondering, mind clocking in some overtime helping me on a project."
"What do you have?" Mei asked. Izuku could hear the excitement in her voice as Izuku was finally letting her help on one of his personal projects. Though it would have to wait until the weekend was over.
Monday after school Izuku headed to Hatsume Industries and was not surprised to find Mei waiting for him. Izuku walked over to the metal table set his backpack on the ground and then pulled out the blueprints. "Something my father left me," Izuku said as he unrolled the blueprints on the tables and used magnets to hold them open.
Mei moved around the table and began looking them over. Izuku immorality, noticed Mie's eyes zooming around, in and out, absorbing all the details of the blueprints. After a whole minute Mei let out a breath and said, "You said your father designed these." -Izuku nodded- "Midoriya this isn't just something new. This is ground breaking and using your quirk as the power source, we might just get them to work."
"Think we're up to the challenge?" Izuku asked.
Mei looked the blueprints over again and then looked at Izuku, "Only one way to find out."
With that Izuku and Mei set out building Hisashi's designs. They decided to first tackle the gauntlets as Izuku pointed out they would be best to have for the entrance exam, whatever it entailed. It was slow going in the beginning, turning the blueprints into 3-D models and having the pieces cut out. Yet once all the metal pieces were cut out, Izuku began wielding them together, while Mei began working on the wiring.
Once the wireframe of the gauntlets was all together and wired, the two of them ran into a bit of a roadblock. Hisashi's design of the repulsor that sat in the palm of the hand didn't work. It took a bit to find the focus point of the repulsors was the issue as they would either burn out, or just explode entirely, but Izuku and Mei kept at it. Testing every little change they could think of, starting up late to do so. Until four months before UA's entrance exam, they hit a breakthrough and got everything working.
With everything seemingly now working, Izuku began video recording all the different tests.
Hatsume Industries Data Base accessed.
Izuku Midoriya personal drive accessed.
Password:***********
Video 1 Accessed
"Please press enter."
*click*
"Today is Monday, October 9th 2034. The time is 3:45 in the afternoon." Izuku said as he walked into the frame, checking his phone. He slid his phone into his pocket as he turned to face the camera. He was wearing his arc reactor which had several wires traveling down his arms to a pair of wireframe gauntlets. In the palm of each gauntlet was a glowing disc. Mei's parents had been kind enough to clean and give him the third floor of Hatsume's Industries for testing, "Today is test number one of the Repulsor gauntlets Mark 1. The objective of the day is to see whether these things actually work or not. On camera, we have Dummy and on fire safety, Mei Hatsume."
The camera swung slightly to show Mei holding a fire extinguisher, then moved back to Izuku, "I'll be starting halfway back from the center." -Izuku moved into position. He double-checked everything was connected, then flexed his finger. The arc reactor glowed for a bit, and then the repulsors hummed a bit causing Izuku to smile, "Alright we'll start with low power. 10% and see how that feels. I have stationary targets at 5 yards, 10 yards and 20 yards.'
The camera switches views to show the targets, red plates that were hanging from the ceiling from metal wires. After the last target was shown, the camera switched back to Izuku.
"I think you forgot to credit another inventor." Mei said as she crossed her arm. She might not be the most social person, but something she held close to her chest was giving the credit owed to people when they helped with a project.
"Oh yes. The designs were made by Hisashi Sutaku and built by myself and Mei Hatsume." Izuku said as he rolled his shoulders and loosened up his body, to get ready for anything that could happen. This was new technology and while Izuku had an idea of what they were to do, anything could happen, " Alright remember, half mark from the back with 10% power. In 3…2…1."
Izuku lifted both his hands and extended his fingers. He took a deep breath, then flexed his fingers. The arc reactor pulsed green and green electricity travelled down the loose wires to the repulsors. Both hummed for a bit before both fired out an energy blast. Izuku tried to hold his ground, but the force behind the blast sent him flying back across the room. Izuku backflipped across the floor until his back hit the wall. He stayed attached to the wall for a bit but then he groaned as he fell to the ground.
Mei Hatsume ran over and started to spray Izuku with the fire extinguisher. Izuku waved his hands, yelling, "I'm not on fire. I'm not on fire." Though the cold was distracting him from the pain that coursed through his entire body.
Mei released the trigger and Izuku stayed hidden behind a white cloud. Until the white cloud disappeared and Izuku slowly got to his feet, his back popping as he straightened his back. He brushed the white foam off of himself as he started to shiver, "Alright I think for the next test we should stay at 1%."
Video 1 Ended
After the success of the test, Izuku took a few days to rest up and heal from his landing but then he and Mei drove back to working on the gauntlets. And now they knew the design worked, they wanted to perfect them. Late nights and all-nighters became more common but were quickly cut off when their parents noticed how worn out they were during the day. Worried about their son and daughter's health, Inko along with Mr and Mrs Hatsume sat the two of them down and set some ground rules.
Izuku and Mei begrudgingly accepted the rules and knowing how strict their parents could be, made no attempts to bend the rules and see what they could get away with.
Hatsume Industries Data Base accessed.
Izuku Midoriya personal drive accessed.
Password:***********
Video 24 Accessed
"Please press enter."
*click*
"Today is Friday, January 5th 2035. So this is the first video of the new year, so Happy New Year. The current time is 5:31 and after a short break to celebrate the new year, Hatsume and I have worked tirelessly to improve my gauntlets. Today we will be testing Repulsor mark 5 and this test #3. After furthering testing we found some minor flaws in our improved design in the area of power conversion and distribution. We discovered that during sustained usage, the couplings began to weaken and overheat, resulting in reduced overall power and what power does get through it is lost almost immediately to heat. Meaning we have redesigned the whole repulsor base. As always on Camera we have Dummy and for a lack of a better replacement Mei Hatsume is still on fire safety."
Izuku walked into the frame, he was wearing a simple white t-shirt and a pair of jeans. Both were covered in grease stains and his hair was unkempt and messy. It hung down in front of his face and he had to brush it out of his eyes. He had a few circles under his eyes, showing a bit of exhaustion. As with every video he had his gauntlets on and they were primed to be ready.
Mei huffed off-screen, "At the end of every test, you have blasted me with CO2. Which I always remind you and you always seem to forget is -73 degrees Celsuis. It's cold." Izuku explained as he turned to look at Mei. te then turned to look directly at the camera, "And let it be on the record, that if you douse me again and I'm not on fire, I'm going to Mei Hastume's house and destroying all of her inventions."
"No, don't hurt my babies." Mei winced off-screen. Izuku saw that she was crossing her arms and pouting. To her, her inventions were her kids, something that Izuku didn't see and would have no problem breaking her toys, especially if it got the point across.
"Don't douse me when I'm not on fire and we won't have an issue." Izuku said then moved into position, "As always I'll be starting a half mark back from the center. We'll start with 1% power then move up to 2% power." Izuku walked into position and then connected the arc reactor to the repulsor. They slowly hummed to life, "In 3…2…1" Izuku raised his right hand and fired off a shot and the energy blast shattered the glass plan in front of Izuku. Izuku then spun around on his feet as he lifted his left hand and aimed it at another plane of glass. With a thought Izuku's left gauntlets unleashed an energy blast and shattered the glass plane, "Moving up to 2%." Izuku turned to his left and held up both hands. Even between 1% and 2%, the power increase was obvious as Izuku was nearly caught off balance but managed to hold his ground though his shoe squeaked a bit as he pushed back.
Then to finish it off a glass plane was lowered between Izuku and the camera. Izuku turned and unleashed an attack from his right arm. The energy blast rocketed through the air and connected with the glass plane only a meter from the camera. As the glass hit the floor, Izuku stood in the middle, his hand by his side as he let out a breath he didn't know he had.
Years of studying and months of building all come to this, Izuku had built his father's design and they worked. "YES!" Izuku cheered as he lifted both hands into the air as if he wanted a double high-5. In his excitement, Izuku flexed his finger and his gauntlets went off.
Izuku had to take several steps back to stay on his feet. As soon as he regained his balance, he suddenly turned around and pointed a repulsor off-screen. "Ah, ah ah. No" The camera moved slightly to show Mei creeping forward, an extinguisher in her hands, with the pin pulled and her hand ready to pull the trigger, "You want me to destroy your babies."
"No." Mei lowered the nozzle.
"Good choice." Izuku lowered his hand. He looked around at the destroyed glass and realized each of them had been four inches thick. His attacks had broken them apart as if they were thin. Izuku looked down at his hand, just how powerful the repulsor was. Izuku was pulled from his thoughts as Mei suddenly rushed forward. The nuzzle of of the fire extinguisher raised and Mei pulled the trigger.
Izuku quickly raised his right and fired at the cloud of CO2 rushing towards him. The attack met in the middle and then as if a smoke bomb went off the room was filled with freezing-cold CO2.
Izuku coughed a bit and waved his hand in front of his face. He looked around but couldn't spot Mei, "Your babies are dead, Mei Hatsume. You hear me, dead! Then I'm coming after you!"
Then the fire extinguisher suddenly rolled into view. Izuku instantly aimed his gauntlets at it, but then he hit the elevator's open door. Mei was trying to escape, Izuku wasn't going to let that happen. He took off towards the noise, but he knew he wasn't going to make it in time. So Izuku held his hand behind him and just as his old childhood friend, Izuku unleashed a burst from his hand that rocketed him forward.
"You're dead Meti Hatsume! Run all you want, but I know where you live!" Izuku yelled.
Video 2 end.
Log Off?
*click*