Chapter 14
"So, Yagi-san, how is your search going" Nezu asked, taking a sip from his cup.
Symbol of Peace tensed a bit, before relaxing, he took his tea and sipped it silently. Nezu watched Number One Hero. He knew how important the search for successor was. One for All needed to be passed one more time. He couldn't decide if it was good or bad thing. On one hand, if his suspicions about League's linchpin were correct, then All Might may not be enough to finally stop this ancient evil. Especially in his condition and decreasing time. On the other hand he feared about next wielder of this quirk. If Yagi was so powerful, then how much more strength would be possessed by this new bearer. It was both exciting and terrifying.
"I'm still torn in that matter." All Might admitted with frown.
"How so?" Nezu asked politely. He really wanted to help.
Yagi worked his jaw, catching his lip from time to time between his teeth. "I want to find a young man or woman, who I'd be sure holds the qualities of true hero. But I don't want for it be going for too long. Time is not in my side." he said gravely.
Nezu nodded and nicely folded his hands on his lap. "Anyone caught your eye so far?"
Yagi frowned. "There are some… But I'm not really sure of them. I have yet to see them shine. Maybe Sport Festival would provide me with breakthrough."
Nezu smiled gently. "I certainly hope so. And if not?"
Symbol of Peace sighed loudly. "Then I'll most likely go with a boy Nighteye had found. He's third year, right?"
"Yes, young Togata. He certainly have the traits you desire. Boy even gives the same vibe like you."
They felt into comfortable silence. Nezu's mind already presented him some scenarios of young Togata using One for All. The boy already possessed extreme strength, had right sense of justice and charisma to sway people onto his side. Just like All Might. But then there was a simple, quite voice in the back of his head suggesting him someone. Taking that possibility into considerations… Nezu couldn't help, but laugh silently at how ridiculous it'd be. Sure, his candidate had everything Yagi wanted, but Nezu could bet any amount of money at the negative answer.
"Principal, am I interpreting something important?" Alan's voice came from his desk speakers.
It pulled Nezu from his musing. He looked towards Yagi, who shook his head. "No, Alan, all is good. Did something happen?"
"No, but something is about to happen. I'm very sure you're going to enjoy it." he said in mysterious tone.
Nezu grinned at that. Talk about interesting situations.
He was in relationship. Holy crap, he was in relationship. Wait, was he? Yes? No! Maybe… It was so complicated. Even more than designing Arc Reactor in a way to make it work.
Were they a couple? Sure they hugged more, held their hands, even gave each other a kiss on the cheek or forehead from time to time. But other than that nothing really changed. They still built babies together, ate together during lunch with Yaomomo and her classmates and went to the train station together.
Izuku felt like he should just ask her directly. But he admitted that he feared potential answer. During their date, especially at it end, he felt that his crush on Mei, that he didn't knew he had, changed into something more. He could without a doubt say that he fell in love with her. From the looks of it, Mei also was into him… At least he thought that was it. He hadn't read any books about relationships. All his knowledge on the subject came from mom's soap operas and he didn't take them as a valid source of information.
He guessed he'd just need to wait for the right moment. Besides he had more important things to do.
"Are you sure it's safe?" Yaomomo's concerned voice brought him back to reality.
He looked towards her. She was sitting on a chair with little frown on her face. Next to her Mei typed on her laptop, which was linked to camera on tripod. They hid themselves behind a perspex barrier for protection.
And Izuku himself? He stood idly in the center of testing room. Arc Reactor strapped to his chest, which was connected to control box and from there to his boots, that he and Mei completed yesterday.
"Yeah, I'm sure." he answered in his most reassuring voice.
"He sure is. Plus my baby is there to put out any potential fire." Mei chimed in.
Izuku narrowed his eyes and looked towards said baby. It was a mechanical arm on the extendable crane with caterpillar track. She built and programmed it herself. When? He honestly had no idea. But he was sure of one thing. This baby was utterly stupid.
"Yeaaah…." Izuku still eyed the bot nervously.
"Oh, come on. You thought me how to program. So you're its father. Besides I gave Alan a younger brother." Mei said in proud tone.
"I deny to have any relations with that thing." Alan told them in sickened tone.
"You're just afraid about having a sibling." Mei countered.
"Anyway…" Izuku cut in, before it could go any further. "We're ready to start?" Mei just gave him a thumbs up and pressed record button. "Okay this is a first test of flying capabilities. Due to being short-staffed Mei is operating the camera and Dummy is on the fire safety." Izuku sent dirty look to the machine, which in turn pointed its extinguisher at him. "Activating hand controls." Izuku flipped a switch on control box and took two handles with buttons. He bent his knees slightly and stretched his hands a bit in front of him. "We're going to start nice and easy. With ten percent of power capacity. In three… two… one."
He hit buttons. Then he felt his body jerk upwards, spin around and hit wall that was behind him with his face and torso. He fell back on the floor and felt foam being sprayed all over him.
"Midoriya!"
His eyes opened just in time to see Yaomomo kneeling next to him with concern marring her features.
"Are you alright?!" she asked in petrified tone.
Was he? Time for damage control. He took few breaths and found that his ribs weren't broken. Then he gently turned his neck around to check on it. No problems either. He could feel his legs and arms and pain all over his face. It was similar to getting hit by his senpai's and sensei during training.
"Yeah, I'm good." he stated happily.
Yaomomo breathed with relief and help him stood up. He gazed towards Mei, who was tense and avoided looking at him. It made him feel uneasy.
"Mei?"
She still didn't rise his eyes. He walked towards her with Yaomomo at his side.
"Mei?" he repeated with worry.
"Sorry…" she whispered. "I shouldn't rush the test. You're hurt, because of this."
He kneeled in front of her and looked right into her amber eyes. She was visually disappointed in herself. Tears started to gather and threatened to fall. He brushed them away with his thumbs. Izuku really didn't like seeing her like that.
"Hey, don't cry." he said gently with small smile. "I'm good. Besides it was my fault for putting that kind of output. I should have run the numbers earlier."
"So you're not mad at me?" pink inventor asked in hopeful voice.
"I don't think it's even possible." he admitted, shrugging.
Mei hugged him and he returned her affection. When she pulled back, he saw her typical grin. He turned towards Yaomomo, who was blushing and looking away. They made her uncomfortable, didn't they?
"Thank you too, Yaomomo. For worrying about me." he smiled brightly at her.
She looked at him with quizzical expression. "It's only natural. You're my friend."
That he was. And he was very glad to have such a wonderful person as Yaomomo call him friend.
"My, my, that was quite a test."
Their heads snapped towards Nezu, who stood in the doorway with huge grin on his face, paws behind his back.
"Principal?" Yaomomo asked.
"Let me guess. Alan informed you." Izuku said with a sigh.
"Guilty as charged." traitor admitted shamelessly.
Nezu chuckled, walking forward. He made a full circle around him, eyeing the boots.
"I see that your new project is coming nicely." Principal stated, looking at him.
"Yes. Having our own lab really helps." Izuku answered, throwing arm around Mei shoulders. His partner just nodded enthusiastically.
"I'm sure it does. So is it going to be ready by the time of Sport Festival?" Nezu asked in excited voice.
"For sure." Izuku smiled brightly. He had no doubt in Mark I being ready.
"Principal, do you know, what is their new build?" Yaomomo asked hopefully.
"Of course! But I've swore not to say a word." Nezu happily told her.
Izuku gazed towards his friend. She seemed both curious and sad. She even pouted cutely, sending him slightly mad look.
"I've seen what I wanted, so I'll take my leave. I wish you all a good day." Principal said, already in the doorway.
"So…" Yaomomo started, gaining his attention. "I'm going to see it on the Sport Festival then?" she sounded quite dejected.
Izuku chuckled at that. She really wanted to know, didn't she? Unfortunately for her, it was a surprise. He was okay with her seeing tests of parts of his equipment, but not the whole project. He planned to show it to her, when it was completed.
"Nah. You just have to wait till it's ready. So… about a week and half." he smiled at her.
Yaomomo perked up at that, showing him her brilliant smile.
"Speaking of which. How are your preparations going? For Sport Festival?" Izuku couldn't help but ask. Maybe he would be able to help her somehow.
"I'm reading and memorizing useful things." she stated.
Okay, that was a start. Seeing as her quirk absolutely dependent on her knowledge it was necessity. "What else?"
She looked taken back by his question and started to play with her hands, avoiding his gaze. "That's all I'm planning on doing." she admitted shyly.
His brain came to the abrupt stop. What? Izuku blinked, staring dumbly at her. It… That was all? Didn't she know that last round is always one-on-one? Anger spiked in his mind, which he quickly squashed. No, he couldn't blame Yaomomo for that. It was just the philosophy that society poured into everyone's heads. The philosophy he opposed with all his being. He would not allow his friend to succumb into that twisted logic.
"Mei." Izuku turned towards his partner, who was checking something on her laptop. "We're going back to lab to get equipment and flight stabilizer." Then he looked at Yaomomo with sharp look, that made her gulp. Good. "We're going to the training gym."
A fist flew towards her head. She tilted it to the side, taking a graze on her check. She didn't have time to think of what to do, because the other one hit her shoulder, making her take a step back. That's going to bruise. Momo threw a desperate kick, which was easily blocked and caught in strong grip. Then her foot was swiped and soon her back hit the floor, knocking air out of her lungs. Immediately she felt weight on her waist and clenched hand was barely a centimeter in front of her nose. She patted the floor three times and when Midoriya stood up. She took a deep breath.
How many times did she get beaten like that during last half an hour? She lost a count after twelfth time. She eyed her self-declared sparring partner. She honestly didn't knew that Midoriya possessed that kind of side. He could be serious, like when he bossed around the store and kept every employee in the line or when he told her about his dream. But otherwise Momo saw him as a big teddy bear. He was always smiling brightly, had polite way of speaking, not counting occasional joke or tease, and his kindness towards people couldn't be measured. How did he turn from that mellow, friendly boy to brutal and ruthless punching and kicking machine? He fought better than better half of her classmates. And he hit hard. How could he be so strong? Honestly Momo had no idea.
She accepted his hand and rose up. She eyed him, searching for any kind of answer. They both wore U.A. sports suits, so it nicely showcased Midoriya's lean, muscled arms, that he normally hid under school uniform or with that long sleeved, loose shirt he wore in workshop. Momo deducted he must have worked hard to archive them.
Then he used his shirt to wipe his face of sweat and there Momo saw them. His abs were… for the lack of better word, impressive. She could easily compare them to Kirishima-san's. Midoriya really worked very, very hard.
Her mind suddenly reminded her, that she was staring at him. She averted her face and felt her cheeks grow how. Wait, was that wetness on her chin a sweat? She shouldn't be doing it, ogling at her friend. But some treacherous part of her was glad she did.
"We should get a break." Midoriya said, pulling her out of her bubble.
They sat on the floor next to the Mei. Pink inventor once again had soldering iron in her hand and was working at 'flight stabilizer' as it was called. Compared to bulky boots filled with all kind of stuff, this device looked almost too simple. It was similar to two part, metal arm brace, that had some wires running along its length. At the end of it was some kind of round object with glassy surface and metal band, which she assumed would sit on the palm.
Midoriya passed her a bottle of water. She was grateful for that, she needed a drink. After taking few gulps and sighing with content, she looked at green inventor.
"I'm really surprised with your fighting skills, Midoriya." she admitted. "How is that you're so good?"
He chuckled under his breath and scratched his check. "Well… I have a green belt in Oyama Karate."
Mei snorted and soon it changed into laugh. Momo blinked at her behavior. Why was she doing that after Midoriya… Wait. Midoriya. Green hair and eyes. Green belt. She quickly joined her friend.
"Do you have a green fetish or something?" Mei asked him, still cackling.
"No… I just like that color." He pouted at them, which in Momo's opinion looked absolutely adorable. "Besides I didn't have time to rise higher."
After getting her breath under control, she looked at the ground and frowned. She had some experience with fighting and her Hero Lessons were allowing her gain more. But it wasn't enough. Most of her childhood she spent doing simple exercises to keep her body in relative shape and studied, studied and studied some more. She never regretted her choice, but now…
"Hey." Midoriya's voice pulled her out of her musing. "Don't beat yourself. I'll help you as much as I can. Then you're going to wipe the floor with your competition." he sent her a wide smile.
"Yeah, I'm sure, you will do amazing there." Mei chimed in with her usual grin gracing her lips.
Those two always knew what to say to make her feel better, didn't they? She smiled back. "I hope so. I just wish I could do something about my quirk to help me even more."
"Like what?" Mei asked, rising her eyebrows.
"The best route is making things faster." she sighed.
"I'm sensing 'but' here." Midoriya said with interest.
"But I'm not sure it's possible." she half-whined.
"Why?" they both questioned in sync.
"Not counting a much needed knowledge, I have to visualize every part of the thing I'm creating. Layer after layer." she told them.
Momo was met with silence. She looked at her friends and saw them staring at her with wide eyes and slack jaws. She didn't know why.
"Sorry Yaomomo. I think something is wrong with my hearing." Midoriya said, checking his ears.
"Yeah, I though you've just said you visualize everything layer after layer." Mei added with weak chuckle.
"I did." she simply stated. That was how she always created things.
"You're not kidding, right?" Midoriya asked, getting closer.
Momo just nodded obvious to the reason of her shock.
"Holy crap, Yaomomo. Do you understand just how complicated and amazing that is?" Mei said, bouncing slightly with excitement.
"Exactly. That kind of process… I doubt that there're a lot of people who could do that in time you do it to use your mind efficiently." Midoriya added. His eyes shone a bit.
Momo took her time and analyzed their conversation. Now that she thought about it, it really sounded amazing. And she was doing it since she was four. Baby making duo bewilderment wasn't so unjustified.
"Thank you." she really was thankful for their words.
"Back to the topic. Do you think it's even possible to go faster?" Midoriya questioned.
Momo blinked and looked up. Was it really? She have tried to speed up the visualization process many times, but her mind just couldn't keep up. Then her brain supplied her with a simple memory. "Maybe… I did it once." she admitted reluctantly.
"When?" Mei asked curiously.
"At U.S.J. during villains attack." she said somberly. Suddenly she felt her palms being grasped. She gazed down and saw her friends hands on hers, just like how they held her during ride home after that day. Looking up, she saw their concerned faces. She was glad for it, for their support. She squeezed, signaling she was okay. "One villain took Kaminari-san hostage, after he overused his quirk, and threatened to kill him. Then my mind kind of went into overdrive. Next thing I knew I was holding a stun gun in outstretched hand. I've never created something so fast." She ended with loud sigh. U.S.J. was still alive in her mind. From time to time she had nightmares about it.
Mei shifted giving her half embrace. Momo leaned in, breathing her citrus shampoo. Pink inventor's hair were surprisingly soft, despite being dreadlocks. She felt Midoriya closing in from the other side, giving her a comfort. Momo found herself very happy at that. Her heart beat a bit faster. She wished for this moment to last forever.
A/N:
I know I've copied the scene from the movie, but it was too hilarious not to.
RisingSolstice grab a cookie for the correct guess.
As for Izuku's belt in martial arts. I've chosen Oyama Karate, because when I was younger I've learned some. So it's kind of sentiment.
Today I saw that the chapters are missing stars that I'm using for a POV change or sometimes for scene change. I'll go and change it in older chapters. Sorry for that.
Thanks for all of your support guys.