After lunch, Jinneko went over to the Development Studio. The first thing Daichi did, apart from opening the door, was cover his ears from the blaring noises of metal being sanded, drilled, and hammered. The room was filled with various pieces of machinery. He could even see a giant suit of armor a few feet away.
"Excuse me, I was sent here by Aizawa Sensei to discuss my hero costume," Daichi shouted. But the students were so engrossed in their projects they didn't hear him.
"You must be the new hero student," a voice said. It was a man with a track-hoe on his head like a mask. "I'm Power Loader." He held his hand out to shake.
"Daichi Jinneko," he shook his hand. "Or, if you'd like, Wild Cat." He put his hands on his hips, spread his feet, and held his head high.
Power Loader was not impressed. "I'll just call you Jinneko."
Daichi stopped posing, a bit embarrassed. Power Loader started to walk off, and Daichi sprinted a little to catch up to him.
"So, you need help with coming up with a hero costume?" he said.
"Yep. Where do we get started?"
"I am going to have one of my top students help you out."
He walked over to the student most engaged in their work, crouched down in front of what looked like a glowing steel flipper, and tapped on their shoulder.
"Mei Hatsume, meet Daichi Jinneko."
A young girl rose up from her spot on the ground. She pulled a pair of goggles over her head to show her shiny yellow eyes; the rest of her face was covered in soot, dirt, and grime.
"Oh, hey, I remember you. From the Sports Festival," Daichi pointed out.
"Yessiree, but my babies were the real stars of the show!"
Daichi cocked his head to the left. "Your babies?"
"Yep." Hatsume picked up her invention with a huff. "This is my newest one; I'm hoping it can be used in aquatic battle."
"Well, I'm sure any water hero will want it once it's finished."
"So, what are you looking for? Armor, weapons, or maybe a little bit of both?"
"I'm here to get a hero costume."
"Can I see your rough draft?" Hatsume held her palm out expectantly.
"I don't have a rough draft. Actually, I was hoping you could help me come up with one."
She looked up at him with a look of surprise, but that was soon replaced by the huge smile on her face. "Oh my gosh, yes!" She started eyeing him up and down. "So many ideas are swimming in my mind." She held his tail in her hands. "Have you ever thought about weaponizing your tail?" She started squeezing his tail, which made all his hairs stand on end. Daichi bit down on his paw to keep himself from screaming.
"Would you please stop that?" he asked, his voice muffled by the fist in his mouth.
"Hmm, sensitive tail. I'll remember that." Hatsume finally let go of Daichi's tail, allowing him to release his fist.
"Let's see." She took his hands in her own, running her fingers over the bandages. "Your claws look like they took a considerable amount of damage during the Sports Festival."
"Oh, don't worry, they'll grow back," Daichi reassured her, flashing her a toothy grin.
"Let's reinforce them!" Hatsume said with stars in her eyes.
"Wait, what?" Before he knew it, Daichi was being dragged to a work desk. His paw was placed on a table and held down by measuring tape.
"Your hands are the perfect size for these gloves I've been tinkering with." She wrapped the tape around his chest. "And your torso could use protection, too." Suddenly, she had her hand underneath his shirt, running her fingers through his silky fur. "If this soft underbelly of yours is anything to go by."
If Daichi still had his claws, they would have dug right through the metal table. Not only was he unaccustomed to people petting him below his neck, but he also was not enjoying her scent. The smell of motor oil and wet garbage left to stew in the summer heat was nauseating.
"I'm gonna grab those gloves. Wait right here." When she finally scampered off, Daichi released a breath he didn't even realize he was holding in.
"Is she always like this?" Daichi asked Power Loader.
"Sorry about her, Hatsume doesn't know the meaning of 'personal space.'"
Daichi watched her dig through a box of inventions, still grinning like a madman. "She's got a lot of spunk, I'll give her that."
Meanwhile, two students were working on a small rocket launcher. A boy was setting up a target range while a girl strapped the launcher to her wrist.
"Ready, Daisuke?" the girl asked.
"Ready," Daisuke answered.
The girl squeezed the handle wrapped around her palm, closing her eyes in anticipation. But nothing happened. She opened her eyes and stared at the device quizzically. She squeezed the trigger several more times, but there was still no response. The only sound coming from the rocket launcher was the clicking of the trigger.
"What's wrong?" Daisuke asked.
"The rocket won't come out," the girl explained.
"Are you squeezing the trigger?"
"Yes, I'm squeezing the trigger, what else can I do?" She squeezed it a few more times for emphasis.
"Maybe it's jammed."
At that idea, the girl slammed her fists on the launcher a couple of times to loosen it up. As if on cue, the device hummed to life. Then it started to shake violently and heat up to an insane level.
"Uhh, is it supposed to do that?" Daisuke asked, slowly backing away from the ticking time bomb.
"Nope." She tried to pull it off her arm, but it was stuck. Eventually, the rocket was fired, with enough force to send her flying to the ground. The projectile ricocheted all over the place like a bouncing ball. It eventually stopped, hitting the armor in the back. The two boys working on the armor quickly recovered from the event. After some frustrated sighs, one of the students pulled the rocket out of the new hole in the suit. Unbeknownst to them, battery acid was leaking out, and the rocket scraping against the metal set off the smallest spark.
Daichi sniffed the air. "Do you smell burning?"
A scream cut through the other sounds like a knife. In the distance, the suit of armor was entirely on fire. Most of the students were able to run away a safe distance from the blaze, but the girl tripped in the chaos. Suddenly, a sickening creaking sound was heard. The girl looked up to see that the suit was slowly falling down right where she laid. She pinched her eyes shut and huddled up into a ball. Power Loader ran over to her, but so did Daichi, and he was faster. In less than five seconds, he grabbed her just in time to evade the burning ball of steel. As they were both sent rolling on the ground by the momentum, he could feel the furs on his tail brush against the flames. Eventually, they stopped rolling
"Are you okay?" Daichi asked.
"I'm okay, but what about you?" said the girl.
"Huh, what are you talking about?"
The scent of burning fur wafted through the air. Daichi looked back to see that the end of his tail was burning like a torch. Daichi screamed like a banshee as he desperately tried to put out the fire. On one of the work desk was a bucket of water. He dipped his tail in the clear liquid. He let out a sigh of relief as he watched the fire dissipate. Suddenly, the water started to boil. Steam erupted from the bucket like a volcano. When he pulled his tail out, the flame returned with more ferocity. Now half of his tail was on fire. He tried to bat the blaze, but all that did was burn his paw pads. As he hopped around and rolled on the ground, it looked like his tail had turned into a match as it was slowly but surely eaten by the flames. As he continued to scream and flail like a chicken with its head cut off, the burning sensation was suddenly replaced with coldness. White powder rained down on him like snow. There was Power Loader, holding a fire extinguisher. Daichi laid on his back, heaving with his tongue sticking out.
"Thank you," he said.
"You're welcome."
Half of the fur on his tail was charred black. When he rubbed at it, the hairs fell off like autumn leaves. On some parts of his tail, the fur was gone, leaving behind blistered red skin.
"Why didn't the water put out the fire?" he asked, more than slightly irritated.
"Chemical fires can't be put out with water. You gotta use a fire extinguisher."
"That would've been good to know earlier."
A few students snickered at that remark. Power Loader wasn't laughing, though.
"Maybe next time, think before you run into the fire."
Daichi's ears drooped.
"But, thank you for saving my student."
His ears perked back up.
"Come on, let's get those burns treated." Power Loader pulled him back up to his feet by his arm.
After a quick visit to Recovery Girl's office, Daichi's tail was good as new. A fast high five to the girl, who was also being treated, and Power Loader walked him back to the studio. Before they were halfway through the hallway, Hatsume ran up to him with enough speed to rival Iida.
"That was so cool! I can't believe how fast you ran!"
"Neither can I."
"Come on, we'll go over the finishing touches of your costume." Hatsume dragged him back into the studio, except this time, Daichi was prepared. He was able to keep up with her without tripping on his own feet. He was also able to tolerate her invasive hands and stench. The next couple of hours were spent between the two discussing and brainstorming costume ideas.
"Okay, I'll send these blueprints to the nearest support company, and they should have it done by the start of your internship," Power Loader said.
Daichi walked back to Class 1-A. On his way there, he ran into Aizawa.
"Did you get your costume done?" he asked.
"Yep, and more."
As Daichi walked away with his tail high in the air, Aizawa just stared confused. He went inside the Development Studio and was taken aback immediately. The room had burn marks on the wall and floor, and the suit hadn't been picked up yet, so there was a smoldering pile of burnt steel on the ground.
"What the hell happened in here?" he asked.
"I'll explain," Power Loader took Aizawa into the teacher's lounge.