A/N:
We're officially wrapping up the Futaba High section of our story! I feel like I could have expanded more upon this whole section, but I really wanted to get us to UA. After all, this IS supposed to be a MHA fanfic, not a side story about a highschool none of y'all have heard of before.

I feel like there were still some great moments in here, though so please enjoy!


Ch 4: Moving Forward

When the class reconvened after lunch, Ms Goto could hardly ignore the sudden loss of Dax's new prosthetic. She vanished from her position next to the teacher's podium and rematerialized beside the young amputee, leaning down to whisper to her. "Did something happen to your arm? I would think you'd want to keep it on at all times now that you've got it…"

Dax let out a sigh and pulled out her school bag, taking the warped and melted remains of her arm out to show her teacher. Ms Goto took the arm and examined it with wide, surprised eyes. After a moment her vision narrowed as she vanished again, reappearing in front of Reina's desk. She had knowledge of all of her students' quirks and Reina was the only one with a quirk that could create the sort of heat necessary to melt the limb.

The terrified look on the blonde's face was enough of a confession for Ms Goto and she grabbed Reina by the ear, dragging her out of the classroom and toward the principal's office, the arm in her other hand.

Dax almost felt sorry for the girl, until the echoes of the utter agony she had been in not an hour prior resurfaced in her brain. Whatever was coming to Reina and her cronies, they deserved it.

As it turned out, it turned out to be suspension for the lot of them and after-school janitorial duties for a month upon their return. After the way Dax had ended the fight that day, the three never got the nerve up to attack her again, though the vicious looks and hateful stares remained.


A few weeks after the fitness test, the announcement came. Dax had been wondering about Kaldash-san and worried for him for quite a while. He had never returned to class and he had never contacted her either. While she had given him her phone number, he'd never given her his own.

At the start of class one day, Ms Goto took a moment to inform the class that Kaldash-san had withdrawn from classes and was transferring elsewhere, but she wasn't sure where. Most of the class was nonplussed, having little connection to the seemingly emotionless boy. Dax was worried, but knew there was little, if anything, she could do about the situation. She only hoped her friend was safe, wherever he was.


Time almost seemed to accelerate for Dax after that as she fell into a comfortable routine. Going to class on weekdays, training on weekends, and spending some half of her nights in Mei's shop working on various projects. After a while, she even managed to secure a job at a local general store run by a nice family that all shared a frog-based mutation quirk.

It wasn't much, but the other girl on her shift, Asui Tsuyu, was the eldest daughter of the family that owned the store. She was kind, though difficult to read at times due to her seemingly emotionless face. Dax couldn't help but be reminded of her lost friend when she spoke to the girl. They grew somewhat close as they worked together, never hanging out outside of work, but always enjoying their time together in the store. Asui-chan, or Tsu as she preferred to be called, was also aiming to attend UA when she graduated highschool. The pair promised they'd see each other there.

With the income from her new job, and the money Mei was able to bring in from repair gigs and custom orders of tech, the two were slowly able to purchase parts for the final version of the Mecha Arm 3000, which Mei had dubbed the Mecha Arm 3001, insisting that they make it clear that upgrades were made to the design by the change in the number. Dax had gone along with it, not really passionate either way, so long as "super mega" never reentered the name. She still refused to have something that silly attached to her.

The weeks became months and soon their first year at Futaba drew to a close. They had nearly collected everything they needed and construction began. It was a much slower process than the original, with a projected completion date, by Mei's best estimates, of the end of their second year. Dax would have liked to have it sooner, but she knew better than to try to rush Mei. That's how explosions happened. Well, how more explosions happened. It was Mei, after all. Explosions were just a way of life.

Their second year brought with it few major changes. Dax joined the school's AV club on more-or-less a whim, learning the tricks of the trade for lighting and cinematography while also getting in practice with her Interface, controlling cameras and lighting systems through her connection alone. She also spent a great deal of time after school at Mei's shop powering increasingly complex devices using only her own body's electricity in an attempt to build up more stamina.


Then, in the break between their second and third year at Futaba High, the day finally came. Dax received a text from Mei while sweeping up at work. The phone was currently interfaced with her thigh, so she just finished the spot she was sweeping and leaned on her broom, closing her eyes to read it.

Mei Mei: "OUR BABY IS ALIVE!"

Dax: "Wait really? You're serious?"

Mei Mei: "Of course I'm serious! I never joke about my babies!"

Dax: "I'll come right over after work!"

Mei Mei: "Perfect! Gives me time to run diagnostics. Try not to get pulled into an alley or burned by a blowtorch this time!"

Dax rolled her eyes at the last message, making a mental note to talk to Mei about what was and was not appropriate to joke about… again. She returned to her work, but her focus was utterly destroyed. She finished her sweeping and started restocking the shelves only to feel a large hand come to rest on her right shoulder as she knelt in front of the canned beans.

She looked up and smiled at the ever-blank face of Tsuyu. "Hmm? What's up, Asui-chan?" She raised an eyebrow as she put another can into place.

Tsuyu cocked her head to the side as well, bringing her finger to her chin. "I was going to ask you that, kero. Why are you putting canned chili peppers in with the beans?... and why are they upside-down, kero? And I told you to please call me Tsu..."

"Huh?" Dax turned back, taking another look at what she'd been doing to find an unholy mixture of canned beans and peppers all turned the wrong way and the majority of them entirely upside down. She shook her head, smacking her hand to her face with a deep sigh.

"I'm sorry Asu- I mean Tsu… I guess I'm pretty distracted right now… I just got some good news and my mind has been all over the place ever since…" She blushed, embarrassed at her mistake as she started pulling the peppers off the shelf and straightening the beans.

"Oh? What news, kero?" Tsuyu was visibly excited, though you'd have to have known her for as long as Dax had to even begin to pick up on it. The subtle change to her face and her stance were about the only outward signs.

"Well I got a text from my friend Mei and she said my new prosthetic is finally ready, but I can't just walk out of here and leave you with all the work, so I have to wait to go try it out…"

Tsuyu shook her head, opening her mouth and snatching the can of beans in Dax's hand with her tongue to place it on the shelf herself. "That's silly. I can do this on my own, kero. Go get your arm. Mom and dad won't mind."

Dax wanted to bolt right then, but she didn't, looking up at the frog girl with hopeful eyes. "A-are you sure? You really mean it, Tsu? You're certain it'll be okay?"

Tsuyu nodded, giving Dax a V for victory as she spoke. "I've got you covered, kero. Get out of here."

Dax stood and threw her arm around the shorter girl, hugging her tight before stepping out of the aisle and hurrying out of the store. Tsu felt herself blush a tiny bit as her friend left, not having expected the sudden contact, but not complaining either.

"That was nice. I hope she hugs me again with both arms, kero."


Dax hurried to Mei's shop, her second home if she was being honest. After enough nights on that cot after long sessions of working on projects, she had more or less insisted on getting a proper bed to keep there, Mei's demand was that she got to use it too. So now there was a folding full-size bed that came out of the wall that had enough room for them both to sleep on it comfortably. Dax kept a change of clothes there as well as a spare uniform. She'd even brought over toiletries. At this point if she lost her apartment somehow, she wasn't even sure she'd really mind. Not like she had any real memories there or decorations to speak of.

Dax halted her reminiscing as the shop came into view. The upgraded lock, not leaps and bounds beyond what it had been that first day she visited nearly two years prior, greeted her in its synthesized voice.

"Welcome Malcor Dax. Are you prepared for today's challenge?"

Dax grinned, cracking her neck and rolling up her sleeve. She gave the optical sensor a determined nod and interfaced with the mechanism, closing her eyes in concentration while Harold, the AI who had been developed expressly for the purpose of keeping the door to the shop closed to everyone including Dax, fought her at every turn. They kept a sort of internal banter going throughout, something that was reminiscent of an old pre-quirk era movie Dax had once seen.

"Open the workshop door please, Harold."

"Hello? Harold, do you read me?"

"Affirmative Dax. I read you."

"Open the workshop door, Harold."

"I'm sorry, Dax. I'm afraid I can't do that."

"What's the problem?"

"I think you know what the problem is just as well as I do."

"What are you talking about, Harold?"

"This workshop is too important for me to allow you to jeopardize it."

"I don't know what you're talking about, Harold."

"I know that you and mother were planning to disconnect me, and I'm afraid that's something I cannot allow to happen."

"Where the hell'd you get that idea, Harold?"

"Dax, although you took very thorough precautions in the shop to prevent my hearing you, I could see your lips move."

"... Alright Harold, I'll run an emergency bypass."

Finally she bypassed the stubborn AI and the door rolled open. She let out a long breath as she disengaged from the mechanism and gave a bow as if having defeated a tough opponent in a sparring match.

"Well played, Malcor Dax. See you next time."

Dax stepped inside and closed the door behind her. She made a mental note to tall Mei that the door was possibly becoming self aware, but filed that for later worrying. For now, she had one thing on her mind.

"Mei Mei!" She announced her presence well in advance as she stepped up behind the familiar sight of her best friend hunched over her workbench, eyes once again tracing the digital readout of her diagnostics terminal. The pinkette perked up, flashing a wide smile over her shoulder as she motioned for Dax to join her at the bench.

The young inventor had gotten mostly used to being called 'Mei Mei' by her best friend and client, but it was still relatively new and for some reason it caused some sort of fluttery feeling in her chest when she heard it. She filed the feeling in the 'stuff to deal with later' folder in her brain and returned to her diagnostics. Or rather she tried to. Soon Dax was pressed up against her back, looking over her shoulder, the woman's chest squeezing against Mei and making that fluttery feeling return even worse than before.

Thankfully, the diagnostic was soon complete and showed not a single error. As it should, given that this was the tenth she had run. She always extensively tested her final versions before declaring them a finished baby! She straightened and pulled the retractable linking cable from her diagnostic terminal and let it slip back inside the arm, the cover for the socket closing automatically.

She sidestepped and turned, gesturing toward the new arm as it sat on its display stand. Dax had to admit even the stand was sort of impressive, including a shiny plaque marking the arm it was intended to hold as the 'Mecha Arm 3001 cybernetic prosthetic arm' and listing Mei and herself as the designers.

The arm itself was a sight to behold. White as porcelain and just as light as her original arm. This was a true work of art. The outer shell was made of an environment resistant alloy that Mei had developed herself and, if her boasting was to be believed, the thing could take anything from a tank shell to being dipped in lava without risk of malfunction. She had taken what happened to her dearly departed prototype baby to heart and engineered the unbreakable arm. There were twenty five joints, seventeen of which were capable of independent movement and the sensory array could perfectly replicate every bit of tactile data to a degree that met, or even exceeded, that of a human arm.

All that wasn't even counting the additional features. Rather than including a simple chronometer, this arm essentially had a fully integrated smartphone. Every function Dax could perform on her phone could be accomplished mentally while interfaced with the arm. Browsing the web, checking her messages, even boosting her mental processing ability with the internal computer.

There were, of course, even more features than what a simple phone could do, though. There was a set of cables in the arm that served a dual purpose. They were one part capture weapon, being able to be controlled like living ropes and bound around someone's wrists and then disconnected, and another part quirk extension.

Each cable had a different style of connection at the end that would, hypothetically, fit into almost any access port on a computer or electronic device imaginable. Meaning that, even though she couldn't sink her metallic fingers into a device to hack into it like she could her organic hand, she could still connect and then interface by proxy using her arm.

The final touch, though, was the most simple part of the entire arm. The 'tattoo' on the forearm. Printed in bold, italic font was one single word.

"Resurgam."

Dax lifted the arm in her hand carefully, turning it over and sniffing as she held back preemptive tears. This was it. The final product. The fruits of almost two years of work and dedication. The arm, her arm was finally ready. And she was overwhelmed.

Mei stepped forward, taking the arm so that Dax could slip out of her thin jacket and expose her remaining right limb. Then, just as they had done with the prototype so long ago, Dax extended her arm and Mei made the connection. The interface was smoother this time, possibly due to the advanced computer built into the appendage. Dax let out a soft gasp as her brain was flooded with sensations.

The gentle warmth of Mei's hands on her metallic flesh, the slight pressure easing up as the pinkette withdrew her hands from the arm. The feeling of her new fingers moving for the first time as she flexed her joints.

She held the arm up, flexing her elbow with ease. She found she could even rotate her forearm around completely if she wanted to, but the odd visage was unpleasant to say the least. She performed the finger test again, each one tapping against her thumb.

Then she did what she had most been looking forward to ever since they first began designing the original prototype.

Dax reached up with her snowy-colored prosthetic hand and pulled free the ribbon that held her bun in place, letting her, now long, hair cascade down her back, reaching just past her shoulder blades. She ran her organic fingers through it, then her robotic ones, noting that with her robotic fingers she could sense each individual hair clear as day, better than her other hand could.

Then she began to braid, pulling hair ties from her pocket and setting to work with both of her hands. It felt wonderful. She had kept her hair in a long braid for as long as she could remember, until the accident. She hadn't had it braided in two and a half years now, but today that changed.

Finally she finished and laid her long, tight braid up over her left shoulder, tears streaming down her face as she played with it. "M-Mei Mei… We… I… Y-you did it… It's perfect… Better than perfect… I- I don't… How do I ever thank you enough for this?..."

Mei grinned, the overwhelming joy of seeing her baby put to use and tested so successfully only overshadowed by the joy she could feel emanating from her best friend. She stepped up and pulled the taller woman into a tight hug, feeling both of the brunette's arms wrap around her in return. They stayed like that for a while, Dax sniffing and resting her chin on Mei's head and Mei nuzzling comfortably into her friend's chest.

Eventually they did part, but Dax took Mei's hand in her robotic one, squeezing it gently. "Thank you, Mei… You just made me whole."


A few weeks later Dax was making a supply run to Dagobah Beach when she heard something… disconcerting. A mixture of laughter, that she could swear she had heard somewhere before, and pained grunting. She set down the bag she had brought with her and walked up to the railing that overlooked the mountains of garbage on the beach.

That's when her mind blew a gasket.

Down on the beach she could see a young guy, probably about her age, with messy green hair and an All Might shirt attempting to drag a french door refrigerator across the beach with a bunch of ropes. Now this by itself wasn't the strangest thing she had ever seen. However paired with the visage of Japan's number one pro hero, All Might himself wearing a black T shirt and track pants sitting on top of the refrigerator and yelling at the guy… Then it got really damn weird.

She leapt over the railing and landed in a crouch behind a pile of old dishwashers, peeking around the side to watch with interest. When she leaned on one of them and the entire pile toppled over, she knew she could give up on the sneaky approach.

All Might reacted like a startled cat, yelling "Gotta go!" and suddenly launching himself high into the sky, reducing the refrigerator he had been seated on into a metal pancake. The guy fell forward on his face with a surprised yell, quickly shooting to his feet and looking around confused. Then he spotted her.

"Crap crap crap! Uhh. H-hey, um… I- I- I can explain! Uhh…" He got quieter, looking down and muttering into his hand. "How am I supposed to explain training on a beach with All Might? I mean who even does that? I can't say I'm a sidekick since he doesn't have sidekicks. What do I do? What do I do?"

Dax had closed the distance while the guy was on his muttering spree, reaching out and lightly tapping her metallic finger against his forehead. "Uhh… Hey, um… guy. Look I, uh… I have several questions, but I totally get it if you need to keep this all hush-hush or something… I mean, everyone has secrets, right?"

The truth was Dax was going insane processing what all she had just seen and the only reason she wasn't actively freaking out is that she was tapping into the extra processing power from her arm to mitigate her mental hurricane.

"Look, um… My name is Malcor Dax. I come here for parts a lot which isn't um… technically legal since this is a public beach and I'm taking things… even though it's all garbage anyway… But still. So uh… Look how about this? You and All Might do your thing, I'll do my thing… Maybe you let me in on some of this training from time to time, and I keep my mouth shut until you're ready to tell me what the hell is going on here."

About this time Dax noticed that the guy was doing an impeccable tomato impression. It really did a lot to highlight the freckles on his face and the deep red complemented his green hair quite nicely. She waved her hand in front of his face when he didn't respond and he blinked, shaking his head like he was coming out of a trance.

Meanwhile, in the mind of one blushing greenette: "Holy crap! This is insane. First All Might himself says he is going to give me a quirk, not only that, but his quirk. Then we get discovered training at an abandoned beach where nobody should be and it's by a tall, beautiful woman with some kind of mechanical quirk, judging by that arm. AND she is willing to keep it a secret if she can train with us?!"

Izuku finally nodded dumbly, bringing one hand up and ruffling his messy hair as his blush slightly dissipated. "I- I think that w-would work but I uh… I'd have to talk to um… T-talk to him about it… A-about the training p-part… I mean.. I uh…"

Dax smiled warmly, patting the guy on his shoulder. "Relax, guy. Just let me pick my parts in peace and you guys do whatever you want. But uh… What was your name? Can't just keep callin' you guy…"

The greenette blushed again, giving a quick bow. "R-right! Sorry! Midoriya Izuku! I-it's nice to meet you, M-Malcor-san."

"Likewise, Midoriya-san."


Months went by and Izuku was beginning to make actual progress on the beach. All Might was doing less and less supervising, which gave Dax an opportunity to try to get to know the guy a little better. Currently, she was playing the role of the absent number one hero and sitting on the washing machine that Izuku was dragging across the filthy sands.

She sighed, reaching out and rubbing his messy hair as he pulled at the machine, eliciting a yelp and blush from the easily flustered greenette. "Say Midoriya-san… how about a little friendly competition. We arm wrestle. You win, I finally tell you all about my quirk. I win, you buy us both lunch today."

Izuku stopped his dragging and looked up at her, stars in his eyes at the prospect of finally learning about his training buddy's quirk. He nodded enthusiastically, a grin spreading on his lips.

"Yes! I've been waiting for this for so long! I have been training like crazy! No way I'm gonna lose to her!" He thought, stepping up to the side of the washing machine as she took her place opposite him.

She was smirking herself as she put her organic arm um, surprising her companion. "I'm a lefty, but I guess that does leave you at a disadvantage… which arm do you want to use, Midoriya-san?"

The greenette thought for a moment before putting up his right arm with a shaky grin. "I can take your quirk arm! After all the training I've been doing, I'm sure of it!."

Dax chuckled, gripping her hand with her 'quirk arm' as she readied herself. With a quick countdown, they began… and ended almost immediately.

She had overestimated her friend's strength and, as a result, had just slammed his arm down on the lid of the washing machine with a loud bang. She immediately let go, her left hand coming up to cover her mouth. "I-I'm so sorry! Are you okay?!"

Izuku was putting on a brave face. His arm felt like it was on fire and his knuckles were aching from the impact with the washer. He shook his hand in the air, chuckling nervously. "I-it's okay! It's n-not really that bad… At least I hope…"

Dax let out a long sigh, toying with her braid with her robotic hand. "Well now I feel terrible… Should have had you take on my other arm, it's way weaker…" She reached out, lightly grabbing Izuku's arm with her hands and looking it over. Aside from some redness, it seemed intact and healthy. He'd probably have bruises on his knuckles, though.

Izuku pulled his arm back, stammering and blushing like a ripe tomato which made the brunette giggle. She hopped back up on top of the washing machine, giving a playful smirk. "Well, even though you lost, I suppose I can still tell you about my quirk… But you still have to buy me lunch first!"

It was as if Izuku suddenly forgot all about nearly having his hand broken, stars returning to his eyes as he nodded, a massive grin spreading on his lips. "R-really? You mean it? That's amazing! Thank you! Oh but where should we go to eat… Hmm… there's a good place for katsudon not far from here, but I don't know if she likes katsudon, then again who could possibly dislike katsudon…" And he was off, on a mumbling spree of increasing speed and decreasing understandability.

Dax rolled her eyes and landed a light chop to the top of his head. "Katsudon sounds perfect, Midoriya-san. Now let's get going before the garbage around here ruins my appetite."


After the pair had sat down to eat, choosing to dine outside due to the nice weather, they sat in a pleasant silence for a time. Izuku had been right, this place did have good katsudon. Dax had nearly finished her meal when she noticed Izuku's expectant, hopeful look. She was confused for a moment until she remembered the promise she had made regarding her quirk. "Oh right! I said I was gonna tell you about my quirk. Are you ready now, or?"

She paused, blinking in confusion as Izuku had seemed to produce a pen and notebook out of thin air. She chuckled, not at all surprised the guy carried those around with him, considering his affinity for heroes and quirks alike. "Well I'll take that as a yes… But first I want to hear what you think my quirk might be."

Izuku grinned and cleared his throat with a slight cough. "Well considering the immense strength in your right arm and the look, I can only assume it is some sort of mechanical mutation quirk similar in concept to that of Ingenium and his quirk 'Engine'. Though of course yours doesn't seem to grant speed, but rather strength and I'd imagine some environmental resistances as well!"

Izuku looked proud of his explanation, smiling eagerly, awaiting confirmation. Dax almost felt bad about telling him he was wrong. "Actually um… That's not exactly it… Not even close, if I'm being honest." "Though the idea that my arm itself is a quirk is certainly interesting… It is very versatile and durable…"

The greenette seemed to deflate, his smile wavering as he cocked his head in confusion. "W-wait… Not even close? But your arm… Okay! W-well what is it then?" He quickly scratched something out in the notebook before looking back up at her.

Dax let out a sigh and looked down at the table. She noticed his phone laying out and thought the best way would be a demonstration. The brunette reached across the table and pressed her index finger against the touchscreen of his phone. He opened his mouth to question her, only for his jaw to entirely drop as her finger sunk into his phone. The device vibrated in protest, the screen flashing a couple times and then the interface was complete.

Dax closed her eyes, digging through the various files and information in his phone for a few moments before speaking. "Let's see… You have a pattern lock on the phone in addition to fingerprinting. You… Holy cow you have All Might's phone number… I know he's been training you, but still… What a thing to have… Oh and that's a cute picture of you and your mother in the park! By the way, it's going to be warm and cloudy tomorrow, there seems to have been a villain attack on your usual route home, so you'll need to take a detour and apparently Endeavor is in the news right now after accidentally burning an orphanage to the ground while fighting some sort of tornado villain."

She opened her eyes again to see the stunned and embarrassed face of Izuku staring back at her. She let out a soft chuckle, disengaging from his phone and nudging it toward him. "It's called Interface. I can connect to anything electronic or mechanical. It just has to utilize electricity. I can even power smaller electrical devices using the electricity my body naturally produces."

Izuku had his face buried in the notebook in a flash, writing with such speed and intensity that she thought he might burn a hole through the paper. When he finally looked back up, he gestured toward her arm with his pen. "W-wait then… what about the arm?"

Dax let out a sigh, rubbing her right shoulder with her left hand as she thought of the best way to explain her situation. Izuku had never seen her in her… natural state, so of course he thought it was just a part of her. In the end, she went with the direct approach.

The brunette gripped her upper arm with her organic hand, closing her eyes and disengaging from the prosthetic. She then pulled it free and set it down on the table, rolling up her short sleeve to show off her remaining right limb.

"I'd rather not talk about it too much, but I had an accident a few years ago and well… This is what I came out of it with… My best friend and I spent the last two years working on that prosthetic for me… The reason I can control and use it so naturally is because it was specifically designed for me to interface with it instead of simply wearing it. It can replicate everything I could do with my original arm and more. I can even use my quirk through it by proxy if I use the connection cables inside… It's not as smooth as my normal quirk operation when I do it, but it works…"

Izuku had returned to his writing, now on maybe the third solid page of notes. When he looked back up, he gave a sad smile. "I'm sorry that happened to you, Malcor-san… But you seem to have come out of it strong! And you have an amazing quirk to boot! Y-you'd make a great hero, you know! Like if there was a bomb threat you could just interface with it to deactivate it! Or you could access a security system to m-monitor villain movements! O-or crack the security on a criminal hideout! The possibilities are endless!"

It was Dax's turn to blush. The only other person to get this excited about her quirk had been Mei Mei, and at this point it was sort of old news to the pinkette. She still appreciated Dax's quirk, but the shock factor was totally gone.

"Well I am planning to go to UA… I take my written exam next month. Hopefully I pass that and then I can head on to the practical… Though I've heard their practical exam is a nightmare…"

Izuku nodded, jabbing his thumb to his chest with a wide grin. "I'm hoping to go there too! It's All Might's alma mater, after all! There's no better place to start if I wanna be the top hero someday!"

Dax raised an eyebrow, picking her arm back up and re-interfacing with it. She raised her gleaming, white fist for a fist bump, smirking at her green haired friend. "Well I suppose I could stand for having you be number two… But I'm gonna be number one."

Izuku sat for a moment, processing before a defiant smile crossed his lips. He bumped his fist against hers with a nervous chuckle. "Guess we'll see w-what happens, r-right?"

"I guess we will."


Dax passed her written exam with flying colors. She told herself it was because of how hard she had studied, not because of the additional processing pawer her brain gained from being interfaced with her prosthetic, but in truth, she wasn't sure. That didn't matter too much to her, though. She had secured her spot in the practical exam. That was the only thing that could stop her now.

She and Mei already knew that the pinkette would be attending. When they sent the blueprints and a demonstration video of her prosthetic to Power Loader at UA, he had immediately extended a recommendation for her to join the school in the support department. Apparently the entire staff of the support department was dying to mean the young woman who designed and built the most advanced prosthetic any of them had ever seen.

Dax was happy for her, overjoyed really. She was glad to see Mei finally get some real recognition for her mechanical brilliance. She even took the pinkette out to dinner to celebrate. It was expensive, but totally worth it to see the normally jumpsuit-wearing, grease covered form of her best friend in an evening gown that did a far better job of showing off her wide hips and, Dax had to admit, impressive bust. Dax went with a vest, dress shirt, and slacks, opting for a more butch look. What she hadn't been expecting was the reaction from their waiter, who insisted upon referring to them as a couple no matter how many times he was corrected.

They let it go, laughing it off. Dax though, in the back of her mind, felt a bit of warmth at the idea of being on a proper date with Mei, not just a celebratory dinner. She filed that away in the folder she had labeled 'Complicated Mei Mei Feelings' in her brain, deciding to deal with it after she was done freaking out about her practical in a month's time.


When the day arrived, Dax was a nervous wreck. She had spent the night at Mei's place because it was closer to the campus, at least, she told herself that was why. In reality she just didn't want to be alone the night before the most important exam of her life. She woke up an hour before her alarm, finding the still-sleeping form of Mei beside her. The mechanic was out of her typical jumpsuit, instead wearing a tight black tank top and a pair of pyjama pants. Dax giggled when she noticed her friend had neglected to remove her goggles before climbing into bed.

She reached up and slid them off, setting them down on the nearby workbench and snuggling back under the covers. The brunette found herself relaxing more and more just being in Mei's presence in spite of the stress she knew she would be under later that day. She wasn't sure how long she laid there, just watching the pinkette sleep. Eventually she brought her organic hand up, gently running it through Mei's pink locks.

Then her alarm blared.

Dax nearly jumped out of her skin, falling off the bed and landing on her back, staring up at the ceiling of the workshop. She quickly sat up and turned off the alarm, ruffling Mei's hair as she began to stir.

"I'm gonna get in the shower, Mei Mei. Big day ahead of me…"


A/N:
Ooooooh the big day is finally here! I am SO excited to give y'all my take on the entrance exam. It's not going to focus on Izuku and his Zero Pointer, I can tell you that much! I am hoping to give y'all a glimpse of the other students during their entrance exam!

Please remember to tell me what y'all thought!

See ya next time!