As time passed things started to get more and more normal once again. Or at least as normal as things can be with metallic limbs and being the half foreign kid in a Japanese classroom. But with a bit over a year to get established as a hero again, Mum didn't want us overstaying our welcome with the Hatsume's, so by age seven we were moving into our own apartment in a complex nearby. Honestly, I feel oddly more… at ease with this sort of thing, especially when manual labour is involved, because at times like these Mum isn't focusing so hard… so I can push my cybernetics a little harder in what I can lift and carry.

This is what I'm thinking when, as I sit down on the couch with a huff… I hear a metallic sounding 'sproing' sound as one of my fingers pops out of its socket. As you can imagine I kept absolutely calm about this.

"AAAAAAAAAAH!"

… you react calmly to your finger popping off of its hand.

"Edward? Honey are you… oh." Mum noted as she raced in, only to sigh. "Thank goodness… I was just thinking I needed to do a bit more than a touch up to your limbs. You were starting to look a bit short compared to Neito-kun." As she said this, she reached and opened the cabinet under the TV and… are those spare arm parts? "I had a few of these prepared… but let's get to testing it."

I blinked at that. "D-don't I need to go to hospital again?" I asked. It was such a big treatment last time…

Mum smiled as she shook her head. "Of course not! Have you noticed your ports haven't been hurting you at all even though you've been growing?" She asked. Huh… that's a point actually, why haven't they? "The design of them was considered with your growing body in mind! So long as someone who knows how to is on hand to occasionally replace a damaged piece, you won't ever need to change them out… and from there it's all about unplugging one arm or leg and replacing it with the new one sweetie." She started to connect the parts, connecting one end of it to… my left arm? Holy crap when did she manage to get that out? "Seems like my little boy hasn't figured out all my tricks." She added with a giggle as I noticed.

I blushed at that… but still watched as she assembled the arm, something clearly draining frome one arm to the other… wait… "Is that the Quirk factor being pumped into it?" I asked.

Mum blinked… and then smiled. "Such a smart little boy you are Edward! Yes, that's exactly it… so you don't need to worry about too much." She remarked, even as one of her gadget gloves fingerwalked over to her, leaping onto her hand as she turned one of the fingers into a screwdriver, clearly focusing on the fine tuning… something I watched intensely. After all, I don't want to have to rely on Mum on the battlefield if my arm breaks, do I?

…please don't let me be a Genos.


By age 8 things had settled into a routine. Oh, when the school holidays were on sometimes we had family trips with the Hatsume's, and on occasion there would be family meals or visits to friends houses, but for the most part aside from some occasional discussion of Quirks, it was a lot like what I… vaguely remembered when I was eight. Less video games but you look at Pokemon 100 years on and consider trying to catch 2000 odd Pokemon. I didn't think so.

But yeah, things were back to a routine of sorts. No villain attacks – in fact I was starting to get asked on occasion at school about Mum again. Until one day during the middle of the Holidays were mum said she had a surprise in my room… and it was one I was still gaping at.

"A computer?" I asked, slack jawed.

"It's not the best I've made before." Mum noted. "And usually I'd wait a couple more years before letting you use one… but to be honest you've shown that you're further ahead than most kids would be at your point." She went quiet at that…. Does she think I'm like this because of the accident? I hope not… "Plus I think it's time we tested another aspect of your Quirk you haven't really had to test before. I want you to try and connect yourself to this computer…. It's not connected to the internet right now."

I blinked at that… odd insistence, but nodded, and took a breath out… before focusing on the computer in front of me and letting my Quirk do it's work and-

Files, settings, Start, Recycling, Word processing, CD Drives! Information floods into me all at once like a sudden wave hitting me… and then it's gone and…. I'm on my back. When did that… whoa… that's a bit of a migraine. I groan as I slowly pull myself to see mum with a slightly apologetic look on her face. "I… see why it's offline." I said… before starting to chuckle, a chuckle that mum soon joined in on.

But if nothing else… that one moment made it clear I wasn't going to just become overwhelming with this power overnight.


Mei Hatsume wasn't oblivious. Despite the fact that she tended to focus on what was fast becoming more than a hobby, but an obsession in engineering and inventors, often reading about famous inventors through the years, she didn't need her Zoom Quirk to notice something the adults didn't… that there was something… different about her cousin. Edward. Most kids looked at her reading all the time during breaks or fiddling with a model kit or little project that papa had given her and thought she was weird. Even her friends that she had accepted that she was a bit different, even if they were impressed by just how knowledgeable she was. Mei herself didn't really care what people said though, it wasn't going to stop her from doing exactly what she wanted to do.

And yet out of all the kids… Edward seemed… different. He seemed to be a bit more like the adults. When she talked about inventors and what they did, he seemed to stay focused and listen, or even suggest ideas to her back. None of the other kids really did that. It was just Mama and Papa and Auntie Kasumi. And she still didn't know exactly what it was that made him like that. And really… she didn't care. She LIKED that Edward and, to a lesser extent, his friend Monoma-kun were willing to actually talk to her about inventors and machines like that. People who were able to somewhat keep up with her…

Which was why she had asked Auntie Kasumi for something special this close to her ninth birthday without letting Mama or Papa know. And as she slowly opened up the rather plain looking box she grinned as she looked at the metallic arm inside, zooming her focus in on it and looking it over. Mama and Papa said she'd need to wait to make her own inventions… but in the meantime she planned to study Auntie Kasumi's big one. Oh sure she knew she wouldn't understand a lot of it, but she could already tell some of the design fundamentals were in place, stuff like the ball joint type connections for the hands to the arms and more… Mei could barely disguise the grin crossing her face.

Looking at this… she could already feel the sparks of ideas forming in her head! She took hold of the arm and started to pull slightly at the fingers.


Monoma looked around the living room slowly. "I thought you said we were going to try and practise stuff with my Quirk?" He asked.

I grinned back. Ten years old and Monoma was basically like a brother to me. And it had me thinking a bit as to just what Monoma in the series was like… it's not exactly an easy thing to forget surprisingly. So, I had to think of just how to help him out with both his confidence… and his skills.

"It is!" I insisted. "Your Quirk lets you copy things… so I thought we could do two things. Firstly, we can help you get better with my Quirk until it's just like if I was using it!"

Monoma blinked. "But… it's still using your power." He pointed out.

"Mum tells me about some of her hero work." I replied. "Sometimes she wishes she had another her on hand to cut off chases or get through electronic locks of hideouts or stuff like that… and then you wouldn't even need to use gadgets after, just tap another teammate with a battle Quirk on the shoulder and BAM! Twice the firepower!"

"So… you think I could be… the extra help?" Monoma asked.

I shook my head. "Monoma. Your Quirk and mine… they're similar. So long as we have the resources we need, we're awesome. I can do all sorts of tech stuff… but if you're with a team of heroes and fighting a team of villains, they might be able to fight the others…. but how do they fight someone who can be anyone on the team at once?"

Monoma looked at me for a moment… and then looked at the TV. "So… what did you have in mind?" He asked slowly.

I just grinned.


Helping Monoma train was all well and good, but by the time I was eleven I not only had managed to be able to interface with the computer while it was offline, but I could even do it online as well… so long as I didn't open too many tabs. Really, I had made it so that one hour a day – of the two Mum would let me be on the computer for – I tried to be connected to it. Which meant fewer videos and more of other sites.

Which lead me to the wonderful world of geekdom! Superhero geekdom in general! I tried getting back into roleplays like I had in the past, or even fanfiction writing, but with my life so weird as it was now and the fact that I was living inside an actual world from an anime/manga series, the same drive wasn't there. What was still there was a dedicated fanbase online of old shows and, to my glee, old superheroes from fiction… and naturally, the modern heroes. This led to discussion, criticism… and fortunately for me, debate! There was a public debate forum where people could discuss heroes and villains, past, present, fictional or real, and compare them to one another.

The quality of evidence for these arguments varied but what do you expect from a VS Debate?

As I scrolled my way through the information there, I sighed as one caught my eye. Someone had opened up a "Who could take on All Might" thread. These were fairly common, but people rarely used All Might. Usually it was some other hero, a way of comparing them to those in the public eye and fictional counterparts. Whoever this 'Mighty All Might' person was clearly wasn't concerned though, as he had been debating back and forth…. Hmm… alright then, I think I know a match.

Leonite: You wanna have someone who might give All Might a challenge, we need to look to fiction. How about the original Kamen Rider? He punched with the strength of a nuke!

I didn't need to wait too long before I noticed a reply… and I grinned as the back and forth could begin.

MightyAllMight: A nuke? How?

Leonite: Cyborg and it was the 1970's. Still strong though

MightyAllMight: All Might would be faster though!

Leonite: You'd be surprised. Rider's don't really need their bikes.

MightyAllMight: All Might could beat that! I hear he can punch so hard it splits the ocean!

Leonite: Ah, he must be strong then to defeat the eternal enemy of the Kamen Rider.

I couldn't help but chuckle at my reply there… before looking at my own metallic hand. Metal sinks in water if it's dense… and mine isn't buoyant. Damn.


I grumbled a bit as I picked up a metallic piece with a now floating hand, starting to fasten it into place slowly to the main frame of a new arm… Mum had given me the basic parts as part of my twelfth birthday and I had been slowly working on it…

Behind the school after class. The teachers couldn't be everywhere at once when school was over, and while they focused on all sorts of other places, there was rarely a need to put someone out around the back. And the fact of the matter is since I met Monoma I've been taking notice of these things… and as a result where some of the bullies hang out. So when a student had been telling a teacher that he saw their friend being dragged off behind the school… I started to make my way there, Monoma behind me.

And hadn't that been a fine decision? Monoma's been commenting about me having a hero complex and I'm starting to think he's got a point. Mind you I've never been ok with bullies in either life… it's just now I have arms and legs that aren't exactly easy for the bullies to hurt, and a friend to support me if they try flinging insults. Monoma might insist otherwise but he is in RARE form when it comes to counter insults.

"Eh? Five of you, all with quirks, against one boy? Isn't that just reinforcing that you feel inadequate if you do that? And even then, you're just targeting the first Quirkless boy you could find, are you worried what might happen if you pick someone who can fight back against you?"

I slowly look at the cracked remnants of what was once an arm. Unfortunately, being in a world of Quirks means that the bullies can be a bit more confident too.

As the head bully reached out at the kid, their hand was vibrating.

"Monoma! Boost!"

Using a borrowed use of my Quirk Monoma thrust both arms forward, sending me flying over and sticking my arm out in front of the hand- and the sound of screeching and grinding metal rung out, cracks forming in the arm and sparks alight from some places, Quirk Factor fluid leaking out of other spots. Their hand stopped, the sound vanished… and the silence engulfed us for a moment…

Needless to say, that and the ensuring furious yelling from me, Monoma and even some of the other bullies had resulted. That level of sonic power would have broken bones if they were lucky, and fortunately had just broken one of my arms. Still meant that in order to get this done, I had to give up the afternoon to work on the arm though.


Kasumi sighed as she walked into the room. She wasn't entirely blind to the reason why she was here… with Edward's metal limbs and her own Quirk, sometimes she was asked to perform support work even before she came to Japan. Really even with that she wasn't all that great with meetings, she felt it was a lot of time that could be better spent out on patrol. At the same time though… she wasn't exactly going to say no to the man who more than once had contacted her to discuss hero tactics. And who had been asking on occasion for her help and consideration since she had gotten to Japan. She sighed… but smiled slightly as she opened the door and entered the meeting room.

"I hope the tea is to your liking Nezu-san."

The white dog/rodent simply smiled and sipped as she commented on it. "Mmmm yes. It is so difficult to get a good quality blend of English Breakfast – proper English Breakfast that is – sometimes." He commented. "And how is your boy? Edward, I believe it was?"

"He's doing fine." Kasumi noted. "But… sometimes it feels like he's growing up faster than the other kids. He's always been a bit mature for his age but... he's only thirteen and yet I feel like he's holding onto more than he's saying."

Nezu's smile grew a little smaller at that. "It's only natural for a parent to think about their child that way. I see so many students mature and change in such interesting ways at U.A., so I do understand how you feel to a point." He slowly took a sip of the tea… before setting it down as he pulled up a case. "But if I'm being honest I'm not here to talk about the school. As you can imagine it dominates a lot of my life already."

Kasumi nodded. "I understand… but you're not just here for a friendly chat either, are you?" Kasumi noted. "You'd have tried to arrange something less formal. This leaves a record."

"I don't try to make all my plans as precise as you might think Ferros-san… but thank you for the compliment." Nezu responded. "But if you're interested… I would like it if you could come down to U.A. on a day when you aren't busy. The new students are going to be undertaking one of their tests soon and we'd like to… ensure the robots test their skills."

Kasumi blinked… and then chuckled, a slight grin crossing her face. "So in other words… you want them to expect one thing and receive another." She said. "You haven't changed a bit."

Nezu simply chuckled back, smiling a bit more as he saw an old acquaintance actually smile.


I blinked as I looked at Mei. "I'm sorry, you want to do what?"

"Make one of my first babies with you!" Mei remarked. "Using your arms, I know you've been working on them recently. I also know that Auntie Kasumi usually limits the strength you can access to be closer to standard human levels, but because you're planning on being a hero, you're going to need to be able to do more than that with your Quirk."

I blinked… and sighed. "Phrasing, Mei." I simply commented… but I grinned at that. While I was still a bit cautious about my cousin's… growing interest in inventing and engineering, at this point we were both fourteen. It had been almost ten years since that first moment of her turning my hand around all the way on a whim and… well, while I won't say I fully trust her, I did trust her intelligence. "But as for what to do… yeah, I've been thinking on that. What were you thinking, a limiter remover?"

"Too risky and uncontrolled." Mei dismissed. "And when I tested it my test model exploded! No no, if we want to go for something that speaks Hatsume Mei we need to think bigger but better! So that the bigger you get thrust into the spotlight, you can remind the big companies that your arms were modified with the help of Hatsume Mei!" Oh god she's getting closer to me again. I sloooowly push her back. "So I had a few ideas. What do you think of jets in your hands!"

"Too liable to explode. Trust me, I already considered it." Monoma had been the one to point it out too. "… wait, so that means you're planning on going to U.A. after all?"

Mei grinned her ever present grin, nodding. "Mhm! I'm thinking we can use whatever I use to modify your systems as part of a display of my amazing talents!"

"Maybe a part of it… but I want to be involved when we integrate it into my arm." I insisted… "Call it a co-op project. Mei and Edward Invention #1!"

"I still think it sounds better as my baby!"

"AND I KEEP SAYING PHRASING!"


As time passed… it almost seemed like no time. Until… the day came.

The day that we would apply for U.A.