Chapter 6: Hit or Miss
Izuku couldn't believe it as he stood looking up at the front gate of UA. After months of late nights, and building his gauntlets over and over, Izuku had arrived. He had gone to bed early the night before just to make sure he would wake up in enough time for UA's Hero Course Entrance exam. It was the next step in fulfilling his dreams of becoming a hero, something he had to take hold of and never let go.
Izku shouldered his backpack as he stepped through and was officially on UA grounds. A warm feeling passed over him as though he had only been seriously working to get him the past six months, and had been working towards this his entire life. And for some reason, he wasn't as nervous as he thought he would be. He was confident in his equipment and all he had learned from relentlessly being beaten down onto the practice mat.
Izuku's right ear was suddenly flicked.
It also helped that Mei had decided to come in to provide moral support, despite UA's entrance exam for the support department not starting for another two hours.
"Come on." Mei said as he walked past Izuku and headed to the main building where the opening ceremony would happen. Izuku chuckled and was about to follow after her when a cold voice came from behind Izuku.
"Get out of the way Deku." Bkaugo yelled from behind Izuku, "And I thought I told you not to try and get in."
Izuku was pulled from his calming mindset as Bakugo pushed past him, making sure his shoulder hit Izuku. Izuku stepped away from Bakugo and held his tongue. He had been preparing himself not just for the entrance exam, but also for the chance he would run into Bakugo. Izuku thought about saying that Bkaugo couldn't hold him back and he had every right to take the test, same as everyone else. But Izuku knew that could just get Bakugo all riled up, so he didn't say anything.
Izuku waited to give some distance to Bakugo, but when Bakugo reached Mei, Izuku felt his hand reach up behind him and grabbed his backup. He watched as Bakugo looked at Mei, seeming to recognize her. Mei looked back and though her eyes didn't narrow in anger, Izuku noticed her eyes were zooming in now Bakugo, allowing her to watch for any sudden movement. A habit Izuku had noticed early now but never asked Mei able.
The two of them looked at each other for a minute then as if she wasn't worth his time, Bakugo clicked his tongue and continued walking. Izuku exhaled as he was sure Mei was doing the same, he walked up to her and asked, "Are you okay?'
"Just fine. Get in there and prove him wrong. And the support exam will have started by the time you're done. Wait up for me" Mei said.
Izuku nodded and opened the door and went inside. He followed the arrows that led him to a giant auditorium. Izuku pulled out his phone and opened the marked email that had his seat location. He began walking up the stairs and found that he had an aisle seat. Izuku slipped off his backpack stored it under his seat and then sat down. He only had to wait a few minutes before all the lights turned off and the opening ceremony began.
"HHHHHHHEEEEEELLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLOOOOOO!" Izuku instantly recognized the voice from the podcast he always listened to when he got into a zone while he was working on a project. It was the Voice Hero: Present Mic. He walked onto the stage in his hero costume and continued with the ceremony. First up was the written portion, something that Izuku was never stressed about.
Izuku had always been at the top of his class for grades. Even with all the time he spent building and working on projects, Izuku always made sure he found time to do homework and study for any test. Though with how easy he absorbed information he didn't have to study for long. So after the written tests were handed out and the hour-and-a-half timer began counting down, Izuku looked at the first question and gained a small smirk after seeing how easy the question was.
The following questions weren't much more difficult and Izuku easily breezed his way through the test. Though he wasn't above double-checking his work and his answers. But when the timer went off Izuku was more than confident he had passed as he handed in his test. In exchange for his test, Izuku was given a card that had a letter on it, which Izuku figured was the exam area he was designated to.
Izuku then returned to his seat and the introduction to the physical portion of the test began. Present Mic explained how the test worked and how examinees could earn points by destroying robots. The only small hiccup came when an examinee expressed his confusion over how in the handout there were four robots listed by other three that had been verbally mentioned. Present Mic explained that the fourth robot is a bit of a secret and as it is not worth any points most people stay away from it.
With that, everyone got up and headed out of the auditorium and outside where several buses were waiting to take them to their exam areas. Izuku looked at his card again and then headed to one of the buses that was marked to go to exam area B. He walked to the back of the bus, choosing not to notice everyone staring at his backpack. Izuku sat down in one of the seats and then placed his backpack on his legs
The wait for the bus to start moving wasn't long and soon it was at exam area B. Izuku was one of the last off the bus and without knowing when the test would begin, Izuku set about getting his equipment on. He walked over to a bench and sat down and pulled out his gauntlets. As Izuku connected all the wiring and tightened the screw, he sensed someone walking up to him. Izuku looked up and saw it was the same blue-haired student who was confused about the robots.
"What's with all the equipment?" The blue-haired examinee asked.
"It's to help direct my quirk. Made them myself." Izuku said as he tightened the last screw and flexed his finger. The repulsor hummed to life as Izuku felt his quirk get siphoned through his arc reactor and down to his palm.
"If your quirk requires so much equipment, perhaps it's not suitable for becoming a hero. Perhaps you would have better luck in the support course. What would you do if your equipment was broken in the middle of a fight? The blue-haired examinee asked, in a tone Izuku didn't like. He wasn't asking out of curiosity but from the same location that all the other pro heroes went to when they realized how much Izuku relied on support equipment.
"I could still hold my own," Izuku said, as he closed his backpack and set it after the bench. He stood up and began walking away from the blue-haired examinee. He dealt with that attitude from enough pro heroes, he didn't need it from someone who was trying to be a pro hero.
Izuku forcefully closed his backpack and then leaned it against the tree. Izuku stood up and looked the blue-haired kid in the eyes, ready to rip him a new one. However, before Izuku could say anything, Present Mic's voice yelled, "Begin."
Izuku froze, just as everyone else did. No countdown, no notice, just start. Izuku was quicker to react than everyone else, as he got over the confusion faster by directing his quirk to his mind. With a clear thought forming in Izuku's mind he took off to the big door that was not open a few seconds ago. Izuku dashed through the frozen examinee and made it to the inside of the fake city.
Hold on! The exam area was a whole fake city. How could UA possibly afford to build not just one fake city but six for each exam area?
Not getting distracted by that, Izuku came across a 1-pointer. Now it was time to see how his equipment held up against something that was built by someone who had years of experience and the funds to build anything. Izuku lifted his right arm and with a flex of his finger, power built up in the repulsor. After a second the energy was unleashed into a blast that rocketed towards the 1-pointer and hit it in its chest. The attack hit and then quickly burnt a hole through the robot.
Izuku's eyes went a little wide as he realized that was not 1 or 2%, he had instinctively increased his power to 5 % to make sure he had destroyed the robot. Yet Izuku barely had time to make the change as two more 1-pointers came around the corner as if spurred towards Izuku by the sounds of battle. Izuku raised both of his hands and unleashed too much attack. The energy burst hit the robots but did not burn as the first robot had.
Izuku quickly stepped forward, unleashed two more attacks and managed to hit the heads of the two 1-pointers. As their heads melted away, the robots began to shake until they stopped and fell to the ground.
That's three, as Izuku began to keep track of points. The baseline of who was accepted and who was denied was unknown, but Izuku would like to know how close he was to either. Izuku then noticed that other people were starting to file into the city. They were beginning to attack the robots in the surrounding area. Izuku knew he needed to go to a new location to find more robots, so he began running down the street.
Izuku ran down the street until he heard some noise coming from an alleyway. As that couldn't possibly be anything else besides robots, Izuku turned and headed into the alleyway. And just as he disappeared from the corner a three-pointer suddenly appeared and tried to punch him. On pure instinct, Izuku managed to dodge the attack, but as he raised his hand the robot attacked again.
The three-pointer's speed was faster than the others, causing Izuku to panic. Izuku shifted his arm to block the attack, but the three-pointer's speed wasn't the only improvement. As the robot's fist connected with Izuku's gauntlets, Izuku felt the wireframe quickly bend and deform. Then Izuku was sent flying down the alleyway. As Izuku hit the ground he used his gauntlets the best he could to protect his arm.
Once has stopped sliding Izuku got to his knee and saw that luckily his gauntlets weren't fully broken. The left one had taken the most damage and probably only had a few shots left, while the right one was only slightly damaged. Yet this made Izuku wish he had added some kind of armor over the gauntlets. To provide some protection to himself and the repulsors. Yet he had been so focused on building the repulsors he hadn't worked on anything else from his father's blueprints. Izuku cursed himself as he got to his feet.
Izuku's vision was still a little fuzzy so he took a deep breath and the world came back into focus. He looked down the alleyway and saw the 3-pointers, it was staring back at him as if to taunt him. His vision went a little red as he looked at it. Without a second thought, Izuku yelled and rushed forward.
Now knowing about its enhanced speed, Izuku easily dodged the robot's punches. He launched himself out of the way of the attack and landed on a dumpster. He used it to springboard over the 3-pointers. Izuku's plan was to land behind the 3-pointer and attack it from behind, but as Izuku landed he was attacked again. Izuku raised his right arm to block and managed to keep his feet under him as he was pushed back. As he stopped Izuku rolled his shoulder then rushed forwards.
This time instead of jumping away, Izuku slid under the 3-pointer's arm and slid under its stomach. Izuku stopped underneath the 3-pointer and laid both of his hands flat against its underbelly. Green lightning jumped across Izuku's body as his quirk poured into his arc reactor and shot down into his repulsor. "50%"
Immediately both repulsors gave a near-blinding light and a high-pitched whine before blasting the three-pointer in its weak spot. The metal of the robot groaned for a few seconds, and then the robot melted in half and fell to the ground around Izuku. Izuku's shoulders hit the ground and it felt like they almost became dislocated. Izuku screamed out in pain, as he fell to the ground. He struggled to catch his breath, as the pain shot through his shoulders, along with the crash causing a massive headache to cloud Izuku's mind.
He could only lay on the ground, breathing through the pain. He lay on the ground until the PA system turned on and said, "1 minute remaining."
How long had Izuku been resting on the ground? He only had a minute left and he only had 6 points. Fighting through the pain, he got up and looked around. He needed to find some robots to destroy, but all the ones in his vicinity had been destroyed. Suddenly he felt the ground begin to rumble. He looked down the street he was standing on, just in time to have a wave of examinees run past him. Though they weren't enough to cause the ground to rumble.
However, the giant robot behind them was enough to shake the ground. Izuku froze as he looked at the robot, its shadow covering most of the surrounding area. As several students ran past him, Izuku felt panic enter his mind. Telling his body to move, to run away, to get to safety. Yet he was paralyzed with fear, he couldn't move and was going to be crushed by the giant robot. Izuku tried to move, but his body wasn't responding, and then a small voice reached his ears.
"Someone, please help. I'm stuck." the voice called out. It was full of fear and terror and pain, the same of him.
Izuku looked down the street and noticed a girl with brown hair and pink cheeks pinned to the ground by some debris. She appeared to be trying to grab it with her hand, but she couldn't fully reach it. Izuku looked back up at the 0-point robot. It was only a few meters away, while he was only a few feet away.
He always wanted to be a hero, to protect and rescue others. To be a beacon of peace and hope. The people always talked about how the top heroes showed early signs of being amazing. They were always stronger than those around them, better than those around them. Izuku might never be that, but he wasn't going to give up because of that.
Izuku couldn't think straight as he felt his body begin to move toward the girl. He weaved through some debris, then slid to a stop next to the girl. He gripped the debris the best he could with his broken gauntlets. However, without the whole exoskeleton, it was too heavy for him to lift it and free the girl. Suddenly he felt himself standing in a large shadow. He looked up and saw the 0-pointed foot right about them so he chuckled a nervous laugh.
Izuku knew this was probably the end of it. He was going to get crushed, along with the girl. He had worked hard to get where he was. He worked so hard on his mission to become a hero, but now he was going to die. He would never become a hero. Everyone in his past was right, he and his useless quirk could never become a hero. He had wasted his life chasing an impossible dream.
No, Izuku couldn't allow himself to think like he couldn't afford to doubt himself now. Too many times in the past he had denied himself his dream. If he stopped now and gave up then he might never pick it back up again. He had been so close to doing it before, but now he had people supporting him. His mother, Mei and her parents, all wanted to see Izuku become a hero. It wasn't no longer just his dream, but the wish of those around him. Izuku couldn't give up now.
This wasn't the end for him, just the new first step.
Izuku let go of the debris and pointed both of his palms up. "100%." Both repulsors and arc reactor glow a bright green before a large energy blast is emitted from Izuku's hand. The attack shot up and connected with the 0-pointer's foot, disintegrating it almost instantly. Izuku let out a breath he didn't realize he had been holding, but took a sharp breath with the 0-pointer braced itself. The massive robot then began to reach down towards Izuku and the girl.
The girl began trying to free herself, with even a pink aura forming around her before blinking out. While Izuku froze as he looked up. He tried to think of what to do then his newest trick came to mind. It was a relatively new addition he had made to his arc reactor, allowing it to be sort of a last-resort repulsor.
With nothing else to do Izuku dropped his hands and puffed out his chest, "Unibeam, 100%" Green Lightning traveled across Izuku's bone, highlighting his veins before condensing down into his arc reactor. The arc reactor glowed green before unleashing a large green beam, which had the sparking of lightning travelling down it. The beam shot through the 0-pointers' hand and green lightning arced over its entire body. All the lights on the 0-point turned green, while the lighting of the surrounding building flicked on and off, and then the beam reappeared coming out of the 0-pointer's head.
Izuku stopped yelling and the light show stopped. Smoke rose off the crisp 0-pointer body as it crumbled into a black charred mess. Izuku took a breath and pain shot through his body then quickly disappeared. Izuku collapsed to the ground, nearly empty. The Unibeam attack had taken more out of him than he was expecting.
"The physical portion of the entrance exam is over. You will receive your exam score in two weeks. If any of you are in need of medical attention please wait as medical assistants are being deployed." Present Mic said, a pair of robots arrived and lifted the rubble of the girl. She was lifted onto a stretcher and taken away to be healed.
Izuku sat on the ground catching a breath with an elder pro hero Izuku recognized as Recovery Girl walked up to him, "Are you alright dear, an attack like this must have been quite exhausting."
"I'm fine, just need to rest," Izuku said, picking him off the ground and walking back towards the entrance. As he walked he felt a cold feeling coming over his upper lip, touching it he drew his finger down and saw that they were covered in blood. He quickly wiped his fingers and nose, just as he noticed several students looking at him and the burnt hole in his shirt. How many of them had seen his final attack, how easily he had seemed to have taken down the 0-pointer. He paid no attention to them as he walked out of the fake city and over to the bench that hid his backpack. He walked over to the tree from before and slipped off his broken gauntlets and arc reactor. He slipped them into his backpack, then fished out a taser and held it against his chest.
He didn't like it, but it had become a good way for him to replenish his body's electricity when he used too much. Pressing the button, Izuku felt the electricity jump from the metal prongs of the taser into his body. After a bit, Izuku fit normal and he tossed the taser back into the backpack.
He slung his backpack over his shoulder and walked to a bus to take him back to the main area. As the bus travelled to the front of UA's campus, Izuku took a small power nap. After being dropped off, Izuku shouldered his backpack and began to work his way to the support department exam. As he walked he realized how screwed he was. He had only scored 6 points as the 0-pointer robots gave him just that, zero points. Sure it had looked cool, but present Mic had let everyone know that destroying it was only useful to show our one's quirk. He had wasted so much time recovering and 6 points weren't going to be enough for the practical exam.
So even if he had aced the written exam, which he wasn't 100% sure he had, he wasn't going to get into UA.
Izuku cursed himself for failing so badly. He knew his only chance now was to go to a normal high school then hope for Tokyo U. Izuku reached the waiting area for the support course and waited for Mei to return. As he waited he sat down and leaned after the wall. After a bit, he pulled out a notebook and looked at the design he had for a full suit of armor.
But now that seemed like a far-off dream, as at Tokyo U he won't be given any kind of grant to build his armor. At least not until he was in his third year. He sighed as he pulled out a pencil and worked on the helmet. As he worked on the shape, a UA teacher walked up to him.
"Are you lost, little buddy?" Izuku looked up and saw that it was Powerloader. If Izuku wasn't so depressed he would have asked for a signature.
"Actually I just came from the hero exam and now I'm waiting for my friend that's doing the support course entrance exam." Izuku explained, as he put the pencil on his ear and closed the notebook.
"Hero exam, how did it go?' Powerloader asked. It was hard to see his face, but Izuku got the impression that Powerloader was smiling.
"Not good, Sir. A robot broke my repulsors within the first few minutes, then I exhausted myself until the 0-pointer. I had to use my unibeam to destroy it." Izuku shivered at the recent memories. He started rubbing his wrists, and they started to feel sore. He had trained tirelessly and worked on his equipment every day and he used all of his quirks to fight. But in the end, it didn't matter, he had lost. Izuku wiped the tears that were starting to form on the edge of his eyes.
"Wait, you destroyed a 0-point robot. What for?" It was rare for an examinee to destroy a 0-pointer. For two reasons, the first being that they generally run away from it. Second Powerloader made the 0-pointers tough, meaning even if an examinee attacked it, they would have to be pretty strong to even dent it.
"A girl was stuck and was going to be crushed," Izuku explained, a small happy thought that he had managed to save someone. Maybe the Hero course teachers would take pity on him and give him a second chance.
"Repulsor, unibeam. Those don't exactly sound like ultimate moves." Powerloader had a curious look on his face, "What exactly are they?"
"Equipment, I built to use my quirk." Izuku grabbed his backpack and pulled out his busted equipment. Just looking at them reminded Izuku how hard had tried but how easy he had failed. He handed them to Powerloader who looked them over with a curious eye.
"These look familiar." Powerloader looked at the palms on the gauntlets, memories filling his head as he did so, "Hey kid if you can fix these within the next ten minutes and show them to me? I'm willing to put your name down for the support course." Powerloader handed back the equipment.
Izuku's face lit up, "You really mean it." He had just failed the hero course, but if he could get into the support course, he would still be going to UA. Plus he would be in the same class as Mei. And UA was a private school, the teacher could run their class any way they saw fit. If Izuku impressed Powerloader enough then he could get the money and supplies to build his armor.
"Even with these busted, I can tell they're advanced engineering. Get them working and show me their power, and I'll consider it. You can use my room. It should have all the equipment you need." Powerloader said with a nod.
Izuku held back his excitement as he slipped his stuff into his backpack, then pushed himself up and off the wall. He followed Powerdloader down the halls to his main office. It was a standard workshop, though it was organized between mechanical, electrical and bio-engineering. Everything was put in its place, making it hard to lose anything. Everything was clean and perfectly reflected the overhead lights.
Izuku figured it would take Mei less than ten minutes to turn the place into a mess, maybe even less.
"Remember ten minutes. Try not to set anything on fire. I've already had to deal with five of those today." Powerloader said, closing the door behind him. Izuku sighed as he looked around, still working on his excitement. And as he had learned over the years the best use of this kind of excitement was to direct it at something.
Izuku might have failed the hero entrance exam, but he still had a chance to get into Ua through the support department. Izuku looked down at his backpack, either way he would need to fix his equipment, might as well use his excitement to get it done quickly
Chapter 7: Broken But Not Defeated
Walking over to the table clearly meant for mechanical engineering, Izuku pulled out a small metal stool and sat down. He slipped his backpack off and set it down on the table. Quickly undoing the zipper, he reached inside and pulled out all his arc reactor. Deciding to work on that first, because if that didn't work then he wouldn't be able to power his gauntlets.
After struggling to pop the glass cover off, Izuku slipped on a pair of goggles that magnified everything. He began to take a look around inside his arc reactor. He sighed a breath of relief as his belief of the inner wiring being fried turned out to be false. A few that were connected to the focusing repulsor were a bit fried, but that didn't comprise the function of the arc reactor. Aside from that the rest of the wire had been protected as the focusing points of the small repulsor had done a good job of containing and directing all the energy into the attack. Satisfied that he won't have to completely rebuild the thing, Izuku replaced the glass cover and slipped off the goggles.
Izuku flipped the arc reactor and took a look at the back. Twisting the base the palladium core slid out, immediately hissing and letting out a small cloud of smoke. Izuku waved the smoke around and looked at the palladium core. It was completely useful and if he planned on using his unibeam again he would have to reconfigure it so it didn't fry the palladium code every time. Having made the mistake of grabbing a burnt core before, Izuku rab Izuku grabbed a pair of pliers and slowly pulled the palladium core out. From the hissing sound and the smoke Izuku knew the core was fried, but now that he had a better look at it. It looked worse than ever, Izuku had waited too long to replace his arc reactor core before, in an attempt to see how long one could last.
But this. He was surprised he hadn't overloaded the core, as it now looked like a marshmallow that had been caught on fire and not put out. Izuku then recalled the green lightning that had travelled along his unibeam. Maybe he had overloaded the core a bit. Keeping hold of the burnt core in the pliers, Izuku reached into his backpack and withdrew his water bottle. Placing it on the table, Izuku skillfully unscrewed the top with one hand and then dropped the burnt palladium core into the water bottle.
The water within the bottle immediately began to boil and hiss, so Izuku just loosely put the lid back on. He had thought about just putting the lid back on, but that would probably result in the water bottle exploding from the pressure.
Izuku laughed at how easily he could have just made a bomb.
Refocusing back on the task at hand, Izuku reached into the side pocket of his backpack. He then pulled an old-fashioned zippo lighter and popped the top open with a flicker of his thumb. Instead of a sparker and a wick, inside the lighter were two backup palladium cores. Sliding one out and injecting it into the arc reactor, Izuku waited for the core to be ready.
Once the arc reactor stopped flashing green and held a steady blue light, Izuku pulled his shirt up and held the arc reactor against his chest, until he felt the adhesion take hold. Immediately the arc reactor began to siphon off of Izuku's electricity. After the familiar feeling filled his chest, Izuku relaxed a bit and then focused on his gauntlets.
Pulling them out, Izuku thought they looked miserable. Misshapen and broken. With a sigh, Izuku decided to start with the left one as it had received the most damage. Slowly working the metal to its original shape, after a few minutes, the wireframe looked wearable. Well, at least it won't dig into Izuku's skin when he tries to slip them on.
With that worked out, Izuku turned the gauntlet around and looked at the palm. There was some metal decay around the repulsor, which only required a quick scrubbing with some high-proof acetone. With that all finished, Izuku turned to the wire. Some of the wires had been cut, so Izuku disconnected them and putting the goggles back on he pulled some wiring from a spool that was on the edge of the table. He plugged the soldering gun in and heated up quickly. Izuku then expertly soldered new wiring within his gauntlets.
Once all was said and done Izuku unplugged the soldering gun and slipped it into its holder allowing it to cool off without burning anything. Izuku sat up straight and looked down as his handing work. Everything seemed to be fixed but there was only one way to truly test everything. Izuku connected his arc reactor to his gauntlets and crossed his fingers as everything took a bit to power on.
As the palm of the gauntlets flickered to life Izuku let out a sigh of relief, yet something still felt off. Izuku pulled out his phone and after turning it on saw he had gone over his ten minutes by nearly an hour. In a panic, Izuku slipped on his gauntlets and then his backpack. After quickly tidying up his workspace, Izuku ran to the door. Getting through the door Izuku nearly bumped into Powerloader. Powerloader managed to jump out of the way and in surprise Izuku forgot to turn or slow down so he ran straight into the hall.
As he fell to the ground Powerloader began to laugh, "Ha ha ha ha, I guess that means you're still and forgot about your ten minutes limit. Still, you paste that test.
"Test, Sir? What test?" Izuku asked, pulling out a second water bottle from his backpack and taking a small drink. Why would Powerloader be testing him?
"I don't get to give this test every often, though you're not the first to arrive and have something wrong with their equipment. Most would just leave after their equipment fails, those that don't, I give them ten minutes to repair whatever is broken. Most just leave since they think ten minutes isn't enough, or they work until they hit ten minutes then leave, even then in a rush they sometimes break their equipment even more. Very few get so lost in their work that they forget about the ten minutes and work until their equipment is fixed. You are one of those, you stayed focused on the project, not worrying about the time limit or how broken your equipment was. Meaning you passed the test."
"This was a test?" Izuku said as Powerloader's explanation just made him even more confused.
"Not a graded one. I wanted to test the kind of person you were. You said your equipment was broken within the first few minutes of the hero exam, however, you didn't give up and continued to move forward. I wanted to see that for myself." Powerloader leaned forward and inspected the repulsors, "It looks like you managed to get them into working order. Are they safe to fire?"
Izuku looked around the hallway and the room he just left. It was much smaller compared to the room he was used to training in and with all the equipment and tables, the room was even smaller. If Powerloader wanted a demonstration then Izuku would need this space.
"I think it might be best if we head outside," Izuku said, as got to his feet and brushed some dirt off his shoulder. Powerloader nodded and led Izuku down the hallway. As he followed Powerloader, Izuku used a screwdriver to tighten a few screws he had missed. One habit he wasn't sure to be thankful for picking up from Mei was always carrying around loose screwdrivers in his pocket.
Once outside the support department, they found Mei Hatsume waiting for them. She was sitting on a bench across from the entrance. Upon the doors opening Mei looked up and her eyes fell on Izuku. Anger immediately filled them but was quick to be replaced with a smile. Izuku decided he had been seeing things.
"I thought you had left without me," Mei said, walking up to the pair. Her overalls had black scorch marks, showing the invention she had shown may have or may not have exploded, along with the fact that Powerloader looked cautious when she got near, "The hero exam got out an hour and a half ago, but I couldn't find you."
"Sorry, Hatsume. My gauntlets got damaged and I figured I could use the time while I waited to repair them. I guess I lost track of time, sorry for making you wait." Izuku said, rubbing the back of his head while making sure the repulsor didn't go off.
"That doesn't explain what Powerloader is doing here?" Mei said, looking over the pro-hero. Powerloader smiled at Mei but remembered how her invention exploding had caused the biggest mess of the day. Powerloader slowly took a step back, not wanting to experience that again.
"He noticed my equipment and was curious about them," Izuku said. He didn't feel like telling Mei at the moment that he had failed the hero course entrance exam. And now getting into the support course was his only chance of getting into UA, and that Powerloader was generous enough to offer that. That would come at a later date, those Izuku hoped that day would never come
Powerloader looked between the duo, wondering what kind of relationship they had, "I was curious of how powerful they were." A flash of murder shot across Mei's face, causing Powerloader to take another step back, "I don't plan to steal the plans. I can tell they don't run off a normal AA battery and without a power source they would be useless."
Izuku looked down at his shirt. As he was usually wearing the arc reactor most of his waking hours he had learned that with a jacket the glow of the arc reactor wasn't noticeable. But with the hole in his shirt, it was easy to see the blue light. He could still feel something was wrong with the arc reactor, but Izuku didn't exactly have the time to find out what.
Izuku looked at Powerloader and said, " I think I'm ready to go whenever you're ready."
Powerloader nodded, "Normally I would test for different things, but seeing as how we don't have the time and I'm more interested in seeing a demonstration, we'll just move to that portion of the exam." Izuku nodded back then walked away from the building, rolling his fingers a bit to warm back up. Standing in front of a large patch of grass, Izuku slowly raised his arms and held his hands out in front. "We'll start with 5 percent," Izuku said a warning Mei picked up on. As Izuku trained with the gauntlets, he had slowly gotten used to the recoil and could stand his ground up to 8%. Though that might be nothing if he didn't have his feet planted. Izuku exhaled and a green light, starting at the arc reactor, travelled down to Izuku's palms.
As this happened Mei quickly jumped back and braced herself against the building, however, Powerloader never having experienced the power of the repulsors was confused about what Mei was doing. But then Izuku's attack was unleashed and he nearly fell over. The force pushing against him threatened to send him flying, yet he managed to lean forward and dig his finger into the ground. With his fingers providing anchors, Powerloader was able to watch the dual energy blast rip apart the ground in front of them.
The area in front of Izuku and Izuku himself disappeared into a cloud of dust. Luckily there was a small breeze that slowly cleared the dust cloud, as Izuku walked out of it. Waving his hand in front of his face, Izuku coughed a bit and then said, "What do you think?"
"That was only 5%," Powerloader asked, looking at the torn ground that Izuku's equipment caused. It looked like a crater, and He couldn't believe that the blast was only 5%. He wanted to see what 100 % looked like, but he also didn't want to cause more property damage. It was a few more seconds before Powerloader spoke again. He cleared his throat and said, "Well thank you for that demonstration. You two will be receiving letters within a few weeks."
Izuku and Mei both bow to Powerloader, "Now get home before your parents start to worry." With that, the duo turned and hightailed it off of UA Campus. Powerloader smirked as he looked at the crater Izuku's repulsors had created in the ground. A name of an old colleague, and a promise he made to that colleague came to his mind. He knew what he had to do as he pulled out his phone and looked up Izuku's exam file
He looked it over, as he walked to Principal Nezu's office. He knocked and Principal Nezu called out, "Ah Powerloader, I suspected that the large explosion had come from the support department. Though the exams were over 40 minutes ago." Principal Nezu, a little mouse bear hybrid, was sitting behind his desk, talking with the hero course teachers, when Powerloader walked in, "What can I do for you?"
"I would like to talk about an examinee. One Izuku Midoriya." PowerLoader said, looking at his co-workers. He gave them time to find Izuku's file as it was towards the middle of all the examinees
Mr Aizawa flipped a few papers, before saying, "Izuku Midorioya, he tried out for the Hero Course. He got a 98% on the written exam, only missing the answer to arguably the hardest question. A good start, however, he failed the practical exam with only 6 villain points. Though with the girl he rescued from the 0-pointer, his score was bumped up to 26. Not enough to get into the hero course."
Powerloader nodded, Mr. Aizawa had explained everything perfectly up to the point where Powerloader could easily take over. Powerloader then told everyone Izuku's perspective of his actions through the test and why it caused him to fail. As he spoke Powerloader could feel his own heart beating within his chest, it was telling him that nothing was more important than getting Izuku into UA and more than just the support department, "After which, he came to the support department. I talked with him and gave him the same test I've given others in the past. Yet he passed, as he worked until he was done, not once worrying about the time limit." Powerloader explained.
"He fixed his own equipment." Midnight said as she had no intention of paying attention. However, Powerloader's comment about Izuku fixing his equipment caught her attention. Most people focus on being a hero, a normal student or a support course student. Very rarely did someone have feet in two worlds, as it often let them be behind in both worlds.
"Yes, a device he called repulsors and I asked for a demonstration. May I?" Powerloader pointed to the keyboard on Principal Nezu's desk. Principal Nezu slid it forward, allowing Powerloader to tap on the keyboard. He pulled up the security system, "After failing the hero course, and seeing his equipment I offered him the chance to fix his equipment and have an opportunity to get into the support course." Powerloader pulled the point of them walking out of the building, then fast forward a few seconds, "This is the demonstration."
The video showed Izuku explaining he would only be using 5%. The blast occurred and the video paused before showing Powerloader anchoring down. A few seconds last Izuku walked out of the dust cloud, which disappeared moments later revealing the damage Izuku had done.
"That was only 5%." All Might said. He compared the strength to his own and figured it was about the same as a flick of his finger. It might not sound that great, but when compared to All Might it was impressive. The other teachers had a similar thought and some feared how much damage could be caused if Izuku used 100%
"Yes and I suspect the power growth is exponential, not linear," Powerloader said, giving his educated guess to his co-workers. As he looked between them he could see how impressed they were. Maybe they would accept his idea.
"That's all and good but I suspect this has more than accepting a student into the support class." Principal Nezu said, accepting the keyboard back.
"Yes, a promise and favor I owe to an old colleague, an older teacher from UA exactly. I knew the repulsors looked familiar and I believe my old colleague is connected to them. I promised him before he died that if I ever came across a student that had these devices, I would do everything in my power to help them become a hero." Powerloader said, "So I propose a deal. I will accept Midoriya into UA's support course, he's the best I've seen in a long time and he gives off the aura of wanting to learn more.. From there I can better help him build the blueprints I suspect he has. If we play our cards right and with UA's resources, the final product should be ready by mid-term exams. Maybe earlier, but if he does well enough in the hero midterm exam, he gets transferred into 1-A or 1-B."
"Except students never get transferred from the support course to the hero course." Mr Aizawa pointed. He had only been a little impressed by Izuku's demonstration as to him it looked more like unleashing raw strength than a precise attack. Making it seem that Izuku had little control over his equipment. And that was another thing, Izuku seemed to have to rely on his equipment a bit too much as he had failed the entrance exam since his equipment was broken.
Powerloader sighed, he knew Eraserhead was going to be the hardest to convince. Yet he wasn't deterred, "That's because none of my students have had the drive to get into the hero course, but this kid. He has the spirit to become a hero. If nothing else, I can promise you that. Something I know you will learn yourself." Powerloader looked at Principal Nezu.
"That sounds all and good, but I'm not the one you have to convince." Principal Nezu said, nodding towards Mr Aizawa.
Powerloader faced his fellow pro hero, "The UA sports festival, that will be his first milestone. He doesn't have to win, chances are he won't. He just has to get to the third round, meaning he'll provide himself on par with the hero course students as they'll usually be the only ones left."
"Are you willing to bet your career on this kid?" Mr Aizawa asked. He wanted to know how serious Powerloader was about this kid. He had seen several students enrolled in the hero course, only to either fail out or resign from the course. If he was going to go along with Powerloader's plan, he needed to see that Izuku wasn't one of those students.
"Yes. If this kid doesn't impress you, I will leave UA as a teacher forever." Powerloader said, looking Mr Aizawa in the eyes and Mr Aizawa looked back at him. Neither of them was willing to break first. Powerloader knew from the start how serious Mr Aizawa was and he wanted to prove he was just as serious if not more.
Principal Nezu coughed into his paw getting everyone's attention, "Well that does sound like a fun bet, Powerloader you are the best support teacher we have and I would rather not lose you. How about this, if this Izuku Midoriya completes the hero midterm exam, he will be transferred to the hero course. However, if he fails to impress, UA will get half of all copyrights to any invention he creates while in school and after he graduates. Moreover, Eraserhead, if Izuku Midoriya gets transferred, you are not allowed to expel him for whatever reason." Aizawa didn't seem too annoyed by that, but his fellow teacher knew better, "That will extend into his second and third years. However, Powerloader, if Izuku Midoriya fails the hero mid-term, you will be responsible for creating the plan for Hell's Door."
At the mentions of Hell's Door, Powerloader and All Might both flinched. They both understood why that plan was created and both hoped it would never have to be used. Yet Principal Nezu was someone who planned for any possible outcome and as unlikely such an outcome would happen that Hell's Door was needed. Powerloader didn't hesitate to nod. He had promised on all grounds to his old colleague, being the one that had to live with being the one that created Hell's door. It would give him less guilt than not allowing Izuku the chance to become a hero. "I understand Sir."
"Wait, what's Hell's Door?" Present Mic asked.
"Then you may enroll Izuku Midoriya into UA. He will be watched closely and every move of his will be judged. You hold your new student in high regard, we will do the same." Principal Nezu said.
"What is Hell's door?" Present Mic repeated himself.
"I understand sir and if Midoriya is all that he said he was, then I'm sure Midoriya will rise to any challenge placed in front of him." Powerloader in a serious tone. His old friend had done many things in preparation for the day Izuku came to UA. And before he had died he had entrusted all of his secrets to Powerloader. Though Powerloader had refused to look through them, as to him looking through them was admitting that his friend was really dead.
"Seriously, what is Hell's Door?" Present Mic asked for a third time as he was not getting any response.
Chapter 8: Your Hero Academia
It had been two weeks since UA Entrance Exam and Izuku could be found at Hatsume Industries. He had been working on getting a working prototype of repulsor boots. With minimal success over the board. It was getting late in the evening, but Izuku didn't feel tired. He wanted to get a good baseline of his father's design before he was done with Middle school.
But from the yells alone it was easy to tell progress wasn't really happening
"Come Dummy. Just because Mr. Hatsume nicknamed you dummy, doesn't mean you can act like an idiot." Izuku said, nearly messing up on the placement of the wire in his hand. He never understood why Mr. Hatsume hadn't dismantled or programmed Dummy yet, he never listened to orders and often did the opposite of what he was told to do.
Izuku was simply trying to get him to hold a magnifying glass so he could use both hands to solder the wire in the boot. However, Dummy never had the glass in the right spot, when he did he kept on bumping Izuku's hand and making him mess up.
Finally, Izuku had enough "Alright just get out of the way, or I'm going to sell you to charity." Izuku said, causing Dummy to make a sad-sounding noise and moved away, "I wish I had Hatsume's zoom quirk, then I won't have to deal with you."
Suddenly something unexpected occurred. Dummy hit Izuku up alongside the head, with the magnifying glass. "Okay, that's it! You're getting dismantled!" Izuku yelled grabbing a wrench from his table. He brought it up as he turned around, ready to bring it down on Dummy's outer shell. However, in that moment the elevator door suddenly dinged. The Hatsumes and Inko Midoriya walked in. Mrs. Hatsume quickly noticed the wrench in Izuku's hand.
"Trying to dismantle Dummy again." She asked.
"This time he hit me in the head." Izuku said, lowering the wrench. However, Dummy made a sound like a laugh and Izuku instantly had the wrench raised back in the air, which caused Dummy to shut up, "Good. Mom, what are you doing here?"
"This came." Inko said as she held up a letter with a wax seal of UA, "It just arrived in the mail."
Izuku smiled at the letter, but he had been hoping to read it by himself because he knew he wasn't getting into the hero course. He hadn't taught anyone about failing the entrance exam for the hero course, yet nevertheless, Izuku accepted the letter from his mother.
"Can we start with Mei, the anticipation is killing me." Mr. Hatsume requested pulling up another stool. Everyone followed suit and sat down at the table Izuku had been working on, as Izuku slid his project to the corner of the table.
Before Inko or Izuku had a chance to nod or say yes, Mei ripped the letter open and a silver disc fell out on the table. It hummed for a bit before powering on. A hologram of Powerloader appeared.
"Hello, Ms. Mei Hatsume. After your explosive demonstration of your hover shoes and much review, you have been accepted in the UA's Support class." For some reason, Powerloader didn't seem too joyous about saying that, yet he continued on, "Enclosed is the secondary letter, will be your schedule and class information. We are looking forwards to you joining us at UA."
The hologram beeped and Powerloader disappeared. Mei slipped out the letter and read it out aloud, "Dear, Mei Hatsume, you have been accepted in UA's Support course and are placed with class 1-H. Mr. Hagari Maijima, Hero Name: Powerloader, will be your homeroom teacher. The school year begins April 15th and classes begin at 7:30. Farewell and welcome to your hero academia."
Mei began to bounce in her seat, as she began to read the letter. The longer she reads the bigger her smile got. Soon her bouncing was moving the whole table.
"Good job my little ball of energy." Mr. Hatsume, along with his wife, hugged Mei. Once Mei stopped bouncing, she looked at Izuku, "Now open yours, let's see what class you got into."
Izuku sighed then like ripping a bandage off, he ripped the end of the envelope and fished out the silver disc. He spun between his fingers for a bit, as he prepared himself for the inevitable. He just wasn't ready for what everyone was about to see. Mei was the only one that knew Izuku had demonstrated his gauntlets to Powerloader, but she was still under the impression that he hadn't failed the hero course entrance exam. He was just merely satisfying Powerloader's curiosity. Izuku sighed, then lightly tossed the silver disc into the middle of the table. It spun around on itself before settling down and turning on.
Immediately a hologram of Powerloader appeared, confusing everyone.
"Wait, I thought he was the teacher for the support course?" Inko asked as everyone looked at Izuku. He wanted to hide under the table and before he had a chance to answer, Powerloader spoke.
"Hello Izuku Midoriya. I know this isn't what exactly you were hoping for. I know you were hoping, as many do, for the hero course. Unfortunately, you only scored 26 points on the exam. 6 villain points and 20 rescue points. However I don't know whether to call it fate or coincidence, but we had a chance to meet at the support department. Though you were not originally supposed to take part in the support exam, your demonstration of your repulsor technology has convinced me that you are needed at UA.
"Whether it be as a hero or as a background support. Please, allow me to be the first to welcome you to UA High. I'm looking forward to working with you." Powerloader smirked as he bowed slightly. The message stopped quickly followed by the projection disappearing
Izuku felt tears coming on. He won't be in the hero course, but he would still be going to UA. However Inko had a sceptical look on her face, clearly, her son had left some important detail out when he told her about the exam. She looked at Izuku and asked. "Izuku what exactly happened?"
Izuku flinched and then began rubbing the back of his head. It was a few moments before he answered with, "Well during the entrance exam my gauntlets were damaged. After the exam was finished I headed over to the support department to wait for Hatsume. I came across Powerloader and one thing led to another, in the end, he asked me to give a demonstration of my equipment. He gave me the offer, if I failed the hero exam, I would be considered for the support class."
Neither Inko nor Izuku spoke for a second, it was Mrs Hatsume to break the silence.
"Young Midoriya, while I know how badly you want to get into the hero course. I believe being in the support course will give you a chance to continue working on the blueprints left to you by your father. Besides, there have been incidents where a general studies student is transferred to the hero course. Never from the support course, but hey you can be the first, but first, you need to perfect your creation." Mrs. Hatsume said as she grabbed the letter and held it out to Izuku, "Become the first support student to become a hero. Make this school your hero academia."
And with that Izuku and Inko hugged each other and cried.
"Hey Dummy, get me a mop." Mr. Hatsume whispered to the robot after a second of the son and mother crying together. The robot disappeared but never returned with the requested mop. Mr Hatsume started to agree with Izuku, that the Dummy needed to be dismantled and rebuilt. Izuku and Inko cried for a bit before they finally stopped. They gave each other a long hug, almost crying again.
"Now that the waterworks are over, how about we treat these amazing kids to some dinner." Mr. Hatsume suggested, still curious about where Dummy had disappeared to.
"I think that would be lovely dear. They have accomplished something great and I think they deserve a reward." Mrs. Hatsume looked over at Mei and Izuku, who had oil smudges and smelled like burnt metal, "However I think it would be best to freshen up before we head out."
Inko was glad she wasn't the only sane parent in this group. While her husband might be a little crazy, Mrs. Hatsume always made sure her family was presentable in public, "I agree. Izuku, it smells like you haven't showered in four days."
Izuku lifted his arm a bit and sniffed. He didn't smell too bad, but he figured he had gone nose blind, "I'll take your word for it."
After showering and everyone getting ready, they met at the restaurant Mr. Hatsume had taken them to the first time they met.
Their last few weeks of middle couldn't have gone any slower. But as Izuku's patience began to wear thin, Mei's patience had disappeared only a week after receiving the letter. Their first day at UA High had arrived. Together they ran through the front gate, feeling as ready as they could be for the day, and what challenges Powerloader had for their first day. They only had one little issue.
They were late and class started 10 minutes ago.
"I thought you said you had everything ready?" Izuku said, almost tripping over a loose brick, but managing to keep himself upright. He shouldered his backpack to make sure nothing fell out. If he had time, he would have slowed down and tightened the straps.
"I thought I did, but I couldn't find my 8/17 sprocket," Mei said, struggling to keep up with Izuku. She didn't have his kind of training and wasn't used to this kind of exercise, "I didn't know my father had moved it while I was asleep."
"Oh my gosh Hatsume, what would you do without your 8/17 sprocket? I mean come on, how many times have you used the specific sprocket?" Izuku said in an extremely sarcastic tone. He could list two inventions of hers that used that size of sprockets and in his book that wasn't worth being late to the first day of school.
"15 different babies use that size of sprockets." Mei countered like that number really meant anything.
"What out of over a thousand? Not worth it in my book." Izuku said. Mei threw a weak punch, and Izuku didn't even try to dodge, because Mei lost balance and missed. Luckily she managed to stop herself from tripping.
The duo continued bickering over which tools were worth leaving behind and which were worth being late for. Needless to say, Mei had a longer list for being late. They didn't realize they had reached the support department until Izuku had to scan his ID.
"If we're lucky we can quietly sneak in and sit down. So Hatsume, keep your lips shut." Izuku said. Mei did the zipper motion over her lips, but Izuku knew that wasn't going to last long. They reached their classroom and Izuku looked through the glass window. Powerloader had his back turned to the class, so Izuku silently opened the door and signalled Mei to sneak in.
Once Mei was past the door, Izuku quietly crept in behind her.
"So that being said, today we'll begin our class with a simple engineering problem." Powerloader called out as Izuku gently lowered his backpack onto the table he sat at, "Young Midoriya, and Young Hatsume, so glad you could join us, even if you're 12 minutes late." Izuku looked up and Powerloader hadn't even turned around. It was like he had eyes on the back of his head, "Now that you're here, class can truly begin. What I'm writing on the board is a complex issue in engineering. Using only the thrust-to-weight ratio, Newton's gravitational law and Einstein's equation of relativity. Write an equation to show how much fuel to thrust conversation would be needed to lift an object of unknown weight."
Powerloader wrote the different equations on the board for reference for his students.
"Sir, are you referring to the Gravity-elemental theory?" A student asked, raising their hand.
Powerloader turned around and faced his student, "Yes. One day you will all come across this problem. Though a theory and equation have never been written and proven, your understanding of the problem will help you greatly solve any issue you come across. However, if you manage to solve the theory and write a proven equation, you will immediately graduate from UA and receive your PhD in engineering. To get an apprehension of your knowledge, you have the rest of class to work on the problem."
"Sir, what about orientation?" A different student asked.
"UA isn't within the normal boundary of a school. So we teachers can take a unique approach to teaching. Remember you have until the end of class." Powerloader said sitting down at his desk and pulling out a textbook.
"Sir, what if we solve this theory outside of the time limit?" Mei asked, voicing a question that many students had.
"You won't immediately graduate and you'll only receive your Master's at graduation," Powerloader said without looking up from his book
Izuku felt a fire be lit in his soul. He had across the gravity-elemental theory multiple times as he memorized his father's old textbook. It seemed that his father had also been working on it and had many thoughts of his own. Along with those notes, were possible equations to solve the theory, however, it is clear from the notes the equations weren't 100% proven. Yet they had been the closest Izuku had ever seen.
Izuku pulled out his notebook and wrote down the equation that seemed to -be the closest. Well, at least his father believed it was the closest one to being proven right. Izuku went over the equation in his head, he knew there were just a few things wrong with the equation.
It was like a big piece was missing from the puzzle and when Izuku figured that out, everything else would fall into place. For the entire class, Izuku tried to figure out what the piece was; however, he ran out of time.
Once the first period was done, it was time for the standard classes of Japanese, English, Social Studies, Math and History. The day went like it went by in a blink of an eye and soon the first day of school was over. Izuku was thankful when the last bell rang, as it felt like his mind was going to melt by the time the last period was over.
As he and Mei rode the train to their stop, Izuku rubbed his forehead, fighting back a pulsing headache
"I think I could fry an egg on my forehead." Izuku said, taking a drink of ice water. He swore he could hear the water begin to boil in his mouth.
Mei had her head back, with her water bottle resting on her forehead, "I knew UA was going to be difficult, but once Powerloader-sensi, brought up the gravity-elemental theory. I think I panicked for a bit."
"Well, at least it wasn't for a grade." Izuku said, taking another drink.
"But imagine, if we managed to figure out the equation. I mean it's one of the most difficult theories in engineering. If you solve it, you've basically set for life." Mei leaned forwards, tipping over her water bottle. It fell off her forehead, however before it had a chance to hit the ground, Izuku's hand shot out and grabbed it. He flipped it around and then handed it back to Mei.
"Yeah, my father had a lot of notes about the equation. I think he was trying to solve it for his repulsor boots." Izuku said, which confused Mei.
"Really that's an issue? I thought yours worked pretty well." Mei said as she had seen Izuku hover off the ground with his repulsor boot. It was completely different from her hover boot, and she would never admit it, but they worked better than hers.
"Hey they work, but they could be better. I can hover but only for a little bit before the arc reactor is completely drained. My dad had plans for actual flight. However, if I push them past a few inches, they overheat or the arc reactor can't draw enough power for them." Izuku said with the feeling that this was his father's last great creation and he would do anything to make it work. Anything short of selling his soul to the devil
"Come on, once we get home, let's just do our homework, then we can work the boot." Mei offered. It had started to become like that after Izuku worked on Hatsume Industries for a bit, together they worked through issues with each other's inventions. After a day like they just had, it would feel good to do something like that.
"No, once we're done with the homework, I'm going to bed." Izuku joked then downed the rest of his water.
Soon the train reached the stop for Hatsume Industries and together they walked up to the third floor. Throughout the afternoon and evening, they worked on the homework and once they finished the last problem, Izuku collapsed to the floor. Mei checked the arc reactor to see if Izuku had overused his quirk. In the past whenever Izuku used his quirk too much, he often passed.
Moreover, Izuku had learned that he could direct his body's electricity to his mind, allowing his mind to work at double the speed and absorb information more quickly. And throughout the day Mei had seen a few green sparks in Izuku's eyes, a clear sign that Izuku was doing just that.
Mei connected the arc reactor to her phone and got a reading. "85% of normal electricity range. No immediate medical attention needed." Mei's phone stated. Mei sighed, then looked down at Izuku, tempted to slap him across the face for making her worry about him so much.
As Mei looked at Izuku, she felt her heart rate increase a bit. She felt her cheeks go red, "Why are you such an idiot." Mei had been having these thoughts for a bit, even since she had seen him manage to knock down Crimson Dynamo during one of his training sessions. She knew what it was, but she didn't want to admit it to herself. These feelings always came up when she was alone with Izuku but had become more frequent as they prepared for UA.
She couldn't tell if Izuku had the same feeling and was afraid if she admitted she did and he didn't. She didn't want her friendship with him to change. So until she knew for sure, which she knew was going to be a challenge, since Izuku was the most emotionally dense person she had met. And that was coming from her, she won't tell Izuku about her feelings
To distract herself Mei pulled out her hover boots and worked on them until it was time to leave and go home.
Izuku was so tired he had slept through dinner and Mei was afraid to wake him up and tell him to go home. So before Mei went home, she brought him a pillow and a blanket. After making him comfortable, Mei watched him sleep a bit then went home. That night she dreams about Izuku and her possible future with him.
The next morning, Mei woke up with a bright blush on her face. She quickly ran to the bathroom and splashed her face with cold water to in an attempt make the dream go away. However, the image of Izuku wearing his exoskeleton, ready to take to the world, was burned into her memory.