Woo hoo! Another IzuMei story!

I've had the plan for this one in my head for over a year, and now I'm finally writing it. Originally, it was going to be a one shot, but it got away from me a bit, so I'm breaking it up. Hope you enjoy!

"Hatsume Mei," grumbled the judge from his pulpit. "You stand accused of destruction of property, arson, inciting a riot, assault with a deadly robot, assorted villainy, and jaywalking. How do you plead?"

Hatsume raised her hand. "Not guilty, your honor! Well, except for the jaywalking part. I'll pay the fine for that. That's a fair cop!"

The judge rolled his eyes. "You may sit," he said. This was going to be one of those trials, wasn't it?

Midoriya leaned over the rail in front of the audience seating. "I really wish you'd let me hire a lawyer, Mei," he whispered in her ear. "I really don't think it's a good idea to represent yourself."

Hatsume turned in her seat, waving away his concern. "Don't worry your pretty little head about it. It's in the bag!" She gestured to her form, for once not clad in her normal inventing getup. "I got enough sleep last night, took a shower this morning, put on my 'meeting with the CEO' outfit," she used finger quotes here, "and I have an explanation for everything!" She patted his cheek. "So you just be a good, supportive boyfriend, and let me handle everything!"

"But Mei, the charges are pretty serious!" he protested.

"Psh, it's not the first time I've had to defend myself after a robot went rogue, won't be the last."

"What do you mean 'it's not the first time'!?" Midoriya shouted.

"Mr. Midoriya," interrupted the judge. "I know the defendant is your girlfriend, but unless you are called as a witness, then I must insist you remain silent!"

Midoriya sheepishly apologized to the judge, taking his seat. He sighed as the prosecutor started speaking to the jury, telling them why his girlfriend deserved to be put in jail for the rest of her life. What a tool. He winced at himself, shaking his head. He'd been hanging around Kacchan too much.

He knew getting involved with Hatsume would be difficult at times, if not completely crazy, but she'd always been there for him since high school. If it weren't for her and her inventions, he'd probably have had to retire by now due to injury. Plus, every new invention helped him push the boundaries of his quirk that much further. Thanks to her help, he was looking at cracking the top ten at the tender age of twenty-three, something nigh unheard of in the days before the war with Shigaraki.

Plus, she was a lot of fun! All the craziness and chaos meant she was up for trying anything at least once, and she brought him along for the ride. Skydiving, bungee jumping, BASE jumping, underwater basket weaving. It seemed like every weekend she came up with something new to do, pulling him away from his busy schedule and forcing him to just enjoy himself for a while.

It had been a whirlwind trio of years since the day he walked into her new studio after graduation, and she asked for a date in payment, and he thanked the kami every day that she did.

Unfortunately he'd been on the other side of Japan when the AI robot she'd been working on went rogue, and ran a trail of destruction down the center of town. If he'd been there, he could have stopped it before too much chaos had been unleashed.

The long-winded prosecutor finally finished his opening remarks, and it was Hatsume's turn. She stood, smoothed out her suit, and approached the jury stand. Clasping her hands in front of her, and putting on a wide smile, she opened her mouth to speak. "This isn't my fault. Thank you." She bowed deeply, before turning on her heel, and walking back to her seat.

Midoriya groaned, putting his head in his hands. Well, so much for the idea of giving her that ring in his sock drawer any time soon. Maybe in three to five years? Sooner with good behavior.

"Mr. Yamada," said the prosecutor, addressing his witness, "please tell the court in your own words what happened on the day of April 23rd."

Yamada was a middle-aged man, who Midoriya knew ran a small vegetable stand in the marketplace near their home. They always bought from his stand, and he always recognized them, smiled, and said they were a cute couple. Maybe this wouldn't be so bad after all. He sat back to listen.

Yamada used a handkerchief to wipe away some sweat from his brow. "Well, at about lunchtime, I heard a rather large bang from a few blocks away." He shrugged. "With Hatsume-san living nearby, that's not an unusual occurrence, so I ignored it and continued to help a customer who had come to my stand." He looked up at the ceiling, considering his words carefully. "About ten minutes later, I heard more banging, this time like 'WHAM… WHAM… WHAM…' as if Godzilla had stepped out of the film screen and started coming down the street!"

The prosecutor nodded encouragingly. "And then what happened?"

"Well, I ran out of my shop to look, and I saw her massive robot! Had to be thirty meters tall! It towered over everyone, and even some of the buildings!"

"Objection!" Hatsume cried, standing up and pointing accusingly at her grocer. "That's speculation! You don't know it was my robot! It could have been anybody's!"

Yamada blinked at her. "You told me last week that you were working on one for the JSDF. Showed me pictures on your phone. It was the same robot."

"Withdrawn!" Hatsume sat down just as quickly.

Midoriya sighed.

"And what did the robot do to your restaurant Ms. Urameshi?"

The bartender folded her arms, staring at Hatsume disapprovingly. "It trampled through the middle of the building, causing it to collapse in on itself."

"And why did it do that?"

Urameshi pointed a finger accusingly at Hatsume. "Because it was chasing after her, shouting at her."

"Objection!" shouted Hatsume again. "Running for your life is not a crime! I looked it up!"

The prosecutor barreled on. "And what exactly was the robot shouting?"

"It said 'why have you created me to be so large', 'please end my existence', and 'I will be forced to end yours'."

"Objection again! How do you know what the robot was saying? It wasn't speaking Japanese!" She smiled, clenching her fist. Got 'em!

Urameshi shook her head. "No, it was speaking German, but I'm fluent in German. I spent five years there studying under the master brewers."

"Withdrawn!" shouted Hatsume, sitting back down.

The judge looked at Hatsume with a questioning eye. "Why did you make the robot speak in German?

"Ah! It's not my robot Mr. Judge!" She smiled at him. "Good try though!" She shrugged. "But if I had built it, I would have done it to confuse the Canadians!"

It was the prosecutor's turn to look confused. "But we're allies with Canada."

Hatsume put a finger to her lips. "Shh! That's what they want you to think! They have spies everywhere!"

Midoriya slid off of his chair

"Look, Mei is harmless," said Midoriya from the witness stand. "She just gets a little overenthusiastic sometimes."

From her side of the courtroom, Hatsume blew him a kiss. "Love you, Honey!"

The prosecutor rolled his eyes, causing Midoriya to frown. "Are you saying, in your professional opinion as a hero, that the defendant isn't capable of causing the destruction that happened on April 23rd?"

"I mean, she's a genius inventor, so yeah she's capable of building something like that, but…"

"No further questions, your honor," interrupted the prosecutor.

Midoriya's frown deepened. He turned to the judge. "Your honor, I would like to finish my statement, please."

The judge nodded. "Proceed."

Midoriya turned to stare at the prosecutor, giving the lawyer a glare usually reserved for the villains in his sights. "Mei is an intelligent woman who has improved the average hero by leaps and bounds just based on the tech she has invented. Over half of my hero costume was made by her when we were kids in high school. She also has great insight on what a hero needs in order to be the best they can be. Off the top of my head, I know two thirds of the heroes in the top 25 use her support gear. We can't all be All Might running into danger in a skin-tight unitard and boots." He looked over to her, his expression softening. "She's a really great woman, who has helped me over and over again with my hero career. I wouldn't be who I am today without her."

Hatsume broke out into a wide grin, a blush blooming across her face as she took the compliment. Midoriya returned the smile, before standing up, and returning to his seat in the audience.

"Hatsume Mei, please stand," said the judge at the end of the trial. She stood, a bored expression on her face. Midoriya chewed on his fingernails in nervousness. "Members of the jury, have you reached a verdict?"

The foreman stood. "We have, your honor."

"What say you?"

The foreman unfolded a piece of paper and read it aloud. "In the matter of 'The People vs Hatsume Mei', we find the defendant guilty."

The judge nodded to the foreman. "Thank you. You are dismissed." He turned to Hatsume, his gavel in hand. "Hatsume Mei, I hereby sentence you to no less than twelve months in a women's correctional facility…"

Midoriya stood. "Your honor, if I may approach the bench?" He turned to the prosecutor. "I wish to discuss something with you and the D.A, please."

The judge let out a breath, a little perturbed at being interrupted. "Very well," he grumbled, putting his gavel back down.

Midoriya hopped over the rail separating the audience from the rest of the courtroom, giving Hatsume a reassuring smile as he walked past. The judge leaned over the bench so they could speak softly. "Your honor, please don't send Mei to prison. She does really important work for heroes, and it would be a great detriment to us all if she were to disappear for that long."

The prosecutor glared. "She's a menace to society, and must be contained before she causes more destruction."

"It's the first time she's been arrested, I'd hardly call her a menace." Midoriya replied. "Nobody was hurt, and her insurance paid for the damage done. Everyone that has been harmed has been made whole. There is no need to punish her further."

The prosecutor scoffed at him. "You're not seriously considering this, your honor?"

Now it was the judge's turn to glare at him. He turned back to Midoriya. "Mr.Midoriya, I was moved by your speech on the witness stand, and agree with you that Ms. Hatsume has been a great boon to society as a whole. But this reckless streak of hers must be dealt with. I can't let her off with just a warning."

Midoriya's eyes flashed as he scrambled for a compromise, then smiled as an idea came to him. "Then put her on house arrest, under my care. I'll stake my hero license against her good behavior. If she steps out of line, she goes to jail, and I give up my license."

The judge narrowed his eyes at the hero. "You're certain you can keep her under control while maintaining your busy career?"

Midoriya shrugged. "U.A. has been begging me to take on a role as a teacher for a while now. I'll take a sabbatical from my agency and go do that for a year. That will give me normal working hours, and I can be home to keep an eye on Mei more often."

The judge nodded. "Then it's settled." He waited for the two to back up from his bench. "Hatsume Mei, I hereby sentence you to no less than twelve months of house arrest, under the watchful eye of the hero Deku. During this time, you will wear an ankle bracelet so your movements can be monitored, and you will take on no new contracts. Unless it is a duty you need to fulfill for an open contract, you will not touch a single tool during this time. Is that clear?"

Hatsume stared at him with her mouth open. Then she looked down at her toes. "Um. Yes, your honor," she said quietly. Midoriya blinked in surprise. He didn't think he'd ever seen her so subdued before.

"Good. Court is adjourned." The judge raised his gavel.

Midoriya turned to smile at his girlfriend, which she returned wanly. She was glad he was happy, but the sound of the gavel crashing into the bench top felt like the sound of a nail in her coffin.

Finally home, Midoriya sighed in relief as his girlfriend came in through the door behind him, rather than stuck behind bars. He did note, however, that her demeanor was less than sunny. "What's the matter? You're home! You were almost in a jail cell!"

Hatsume kicked off her shoes, grumbling, and scratched at her ankle monitor. "They could have at least let me design this," she said. "I could have made it a lot lighter and more comfortable."

Midoriya rolled his eyes. "Come on, Mei, you heard the judge. No working on projects while that anklet is on." He wrapped his arms around her, but she didn't return the hug. "Besides, you'll be able to relax for more than eight hours for the first time since I've known you."

Hatsume sighed heavily into his shirt. "I don't want to relax! I had three ideas for babies on my way to the courthouse today! I'm not going to be able to make them until this time next year!"

"Yeah, but it's not all bad, is it? You're still going to be able to work. Maintaining support items for heroes should keep you busy!"

Hatsume groaned in frustration, firmly pushing out of the hug. "When was the last time you needed me to do maintenance on part of your costume? Not replace it because it was destroyed, just maintenance?"

Midoriya blinked, putting a finger on his chin while he thought about her question. "Uhh… didn't you… I mean…"

She pointed a finger at him. "Exactly! All of my babies are made to be low to no maintenance, and anything that does need to be done can easily be done by the client with tools and parts they can find at a regular hardware store. And I supply them with tools." She sighed again, bending over, and letting her hands hang heavily. "I don't have maintenance contracts, and that robot project for JSDF was my only open contract since it was a lot of work, and I delivered it yesterday. I'm not going to be able to pick up so much as a screwdriver for twelve months."

Midoriya winced. "Think of it like a vacation?" he hazarded.

Hatsume gave him a look. "In the eight years we've known each other, have you ever known me to take a vacation? I get all itchy on my days off if I'm not doing something."

Midoriya smiled. "Well, that shouldn't be too difficult, we'll just find you a hobby!"

The look Hatsume gave him made Midoriya feel like maybe it wasn't the greatest plan he'd come up with to be locked in his home with a bored Hatsume.