It was Izuku's first day at Maigito Middle School, which he would be attending along with his cousin Setsuna. The two twelve-year-olds were dropped off by Izuku's mother, who reluctantly waved them off after a rather teary goodbye. Izuku's new junior high was gigantic, easily three times the size of his old elementary school. Maigito was apparently extremely well-funded according to the local forums, which was at least in part due to the school's proximity to Yuuei. In fact, many famous Pro Heroes were actually alumni of both institutions.
Izuku and Setsuna made their way through the enormous school grounds, occasionally slowing down so that he could mentally consult a digital map he'd loaded on his phone. There was a tangible sense of anticipation in the air as they passed dozens of other restless children. The keen, eager atmosphere was very different from the bored resignation that Izuku was used to from his old elementary.
"I still can't believe that they put us in different classes," Setsuna grumbled as they walked. His cousin had been complaining about it on and off for about a month, ever since they'd found out their class assignments. Izuku was in class 1-B, while his cousin was in 1-C.
"There are five seventh-grade classes this year, Setsuna-chan," Izuku wearily reminded her; they'd gone over this several times already. The green-haired boy was wearing an official Mutant Quirk variant of the Maigito school uniform, which let him poke Setsuna gently in the side with his mechadendrite. His cousin bared her teeth at him, but at least she wasn't sulking or complaining anymore.
They eventually reached Izuku's homeroom, where Setsuna unexpectedly pulled him aside. "You'll come find me in the cafeteria during lunch, right?" she asked, eyes narrowed suspiciously. "Promise me you won't just hide in your homeroom, Midoriya Izuku."
Izuku squirmed a little under Setsuna's knowing gaze. He would usually spend lunchtime on his phone in elementary, looking up hero news or simply immersed into his Quirk. That wasn't hiding, right? "I've got a bento from Mom, so I don't need to spend money on lunch," he said after a moment's thought.
"It's not about buying lunch," Setsuna whispered. "This isn't your old school, Izuku, and it's the start of junior high. Everyone's new today, so you should really try to make friends and stuff."
He honestly didn't really see the point in socializing, but Izuku didn't mind doing something small like this for his cousin. Besides, it wasn't like he couldn't use his phone in the lunchroom either. "Fine, I'll come sit with you in the cafeteria," he relented. Setsuna beamed, giving him a wide, sharp-toothed smile before skipping down the corridor to her own class.
Taking a deep breath to steady himself, Izuku entered class 1-B. He felt slightly self-conscious at being the potential center of attention, but his new classmates barely paid attention to him. Everyone was mostly chatting amongst themselves or lost in their own thoughts, bar one or two students in the front row who threw curious glances his way. Their homeroom teacher had yet to arrive, so Izuku quickly made his way to the very back of the room to claim one of the few remaining desks.
Both of the students sitting on either side of him had very obvious Mutation Quirks. The boy on his left resembled some kind of mammal, an otter maybe, with thick, velvety-looking brown fur covering his body. He was quite short, only coming up to Izuku's chin at the most, and had a patch of cream-colored fur running from his chin down his neck. The otter-student appeared to be deeply absorbed in a thick book, which Izuku could see was titled 'Pleistocene megafauna of the South American continent'. He probably wouldn't appreciated being disturbed, so Izuku left him alone and turned to his other neighbor.
This boy was as tall as Izuku's other neighbor was short, standing at least five and a half feet tall or more. He had six arms connected together by a thick web of skin, and his head was elongated slightly beyond the human norm. In addition to his own sleeveless version of the school uniform, the student was also wearing a mask which covered his entire mouth and neck.
His neighbor nodded courteously after catching Izuku's eye, the blunt end of one of his tentacle-arms morphing into a mouth. "Shoji Mezo," he introduced himself simply.
"Midoriya Izuku," Izuku bowed in return. "Uh, forgive me Shoji-san, but do you mind if I ask about your Quirk? It's a bit strange, hearing your voice like that."
"Not at all," Shoji replied, still using his tentacle-mouth. "I must admit I am curious about yours as well, Midoriya. How about a trade? I'll answer any questions you have about my Quirk, if you'll tell me more about that metal tendril of yours in return."
Izuku tended to forgot how strange the mechadendrite might look to someone who had never met him before. Come to think of it, that was probably similar to how Shoji felt with his own Mutation Quirk. Izuku said as such, and managed to describe his Quirk and his mechanical arm to the taller boy without breaking out into a long-winded explanation.
"I see," Shoji said thoughtfully. "Well, every one of my Dupli-Arms function as an extension of my body. As you have seen, each one can manifest a copy of a basic organ which works just as well as the original. Eyes and ears are the most useful, and mouths of course for speaking," he chuckled softly. "I can even form more arms using my Quirk, although it is difficult to maintain control over more than seven or eight at the same time. Unfortunately, training to increase this limit has not been going well for me."
"Is that why you only speak using your Quirk, and not with your mouth like this?" Izuku asked. "As an exercise to improve your control?"
Shoji's eyes crinkled in what Izuku assumed was a smile. "I choose to hide my face because many people find it disturbing," he explained. "It is a personal choice," he added quickly, correctly interpreting Izuku's frown. "I strongly believe that my own personal comfort is secondary when considering the potential suffering of others."
Their conversation was interrupted by the arrival of their homeroom teacher, at least five minutes after the second bell had rung. The man was – well, he looked like an enormous tree dressed in human clothing. A treant, Izuku's mind supplied. The tree-man strode to the front of the class, each movement deliberate and unhurried. "Greetings, young ones," he said in a slow, resonant voice. "My most sincere apologies for being late. It is a pleasure to meet you, new students of Class 1-B." He brought his hands together in a clap which shook the room, causing the front two rows of students to flinch. "I am Mokuzai Atsui," he bowed stiffly, exposing a crown of greenish-red leaves. "Your parents may know me as the former Pro Hero, Bregalad. Please address me as Mokuzai-sensei."
Izuku quietly accessed his phone with his Quirk, using the internet to search up Mokuzai Atsui and his hero name. His new homeroom teacher had retired as a Pro Hero thirty-nine years before Izuku was born, which explained why he'd never heard of the tree-man before now. Come to think of it, thirty-nine years was before even his mother was born, wasn't it?
"Now then, what was it that I was supposed to do?" Mokuzai rumbled. "Getting dressed? No, I've already done that. Going to homeroom, why, I'm already here. Hmm – yes, now I remember. Class 1-B, why don't we get started by getting to know each other?"
One of the girls sitting in front raised her hand. "But sensei, what about orientation? We need to know what is expected of us as students of this great institution! After all, we only have three years until our high school entrance exams." Left unsaid was that nearly everyone in the school would be vying for the vanishingly few spots at Yuuei, aiming to pass its notoriously difficult admission tests.
"Do not be hasty, my child. I promise, all shall proceed in its own good time." Mokuzai smiled, then pivoted slowly to address the short girl sitting closest to the door. "Please, introduce yourself to the class, and then tell us something about yourself. Perhaps your ambitions, or your hobbies. Or perhaps your Quirk. We shall be together until you graduate, after all. I would like all of you to get to know each other."
The first student quickly got to her feet. "Good morning sensei, good morning classmates. My name is Hanashi Shizuka, and I'll be in your care." She bowed deeply to their homeroom teacher, then again to the rest of the class. "My dream is to become a journalist like my mother, and, um – oh, my Quirk makes small objects float slowly around me when I sing."
Next up was a chubby boy, who was only slightly taller than Hanashi. "I am Sumohito Daichi!" he announced to the class. "My Quirk is called Iron Head, and it lets me overcome any challenge with my indestructible skull!" he boasted. "I proudly declare that I will become a Pro Hero, just like my illustrious uncle!"
More than three-quarters of the class said they wanted to be heroes, in fact. Not surprising for middle school students, let alone one so close to Yuuei. Izuku didn't really pay attention to the introductions, apart from scribbling down his classmate's Quirks in a fresh notebook while mumbling quietly under his breath. He didn't notice Shoji silently keep an eye on him with a tentacle, the taller boy's head remaining politely turned towards whichever student was speaking.
The student sitting in front of Izuku suddenly stood up, pulling him out of his thoughts on a potentially interesting Quirk interaction. "Kodai Yui," the girl said simply. "My goal is to become a Rescue Hero." She abruptly sat down again, leaving most of the class nonplussed at the briefness of her introduction. Mokuzai simply gestured to the next student, until eventually it was the turn of the fur-covered boy sitting to Izuku's left.
"I am Tamakawa Okojomaru!" he said loudly. Standing up, Tamakawa was about as tall as Izuku was sitting down. "My wonderful Quirk is known simply as Bear. Yes, Bear, not any other kind of animal, furry or otherwise! My most sincere ambition is for the world to recognize the importance of bears!"
And then it was Izuku's turn to stand up before the class. "M – my name is Midoriya Izuku. I'll be in your care," he bowed, turning slightly red from being the center of attention. "I like to build things, like my mechadendrite here." He waved with his mechanical arm at his classmates, most of whom were eyeing it curiously. "My ambition is, um – I guess I'd just like to help others in whatever way I can."
Shoji took over from there, standing up as Izuku sank gratefully back into his seat. "My name is Shoji Mezo, and my Quirk is called Dupli-arms. I too would like to help others in any way that I can. Thank you."
Mokuzai went through a short briefing on the school and his expectations for the class once the introductions were finished. He led them to the opening assembly at around ten in the morning, where they were introduced to the rest of school staff. The principal, an old man named Nigiyaka, was almost comically enthusiastic about welcoming new students to Maigito Middle School. All of the other seventh-grade classes were there, including Setsuna's 1-C. His cousin stuck her tongue out at Izuku when he spotted her in the crowd, sitting next to another green-haired girl.
The welcoming assembly and orientations took up the entire first half of the day, and soon it was time for lunch. Izuku grabbed his bento and trudged towards the cafeteria, nodding politely at Shoji who seemed content to eat in their homeroom. Setsuna had already found a table, sitting with two – no, three other students. One girl had green, thorny-looking hair – Izuku belatedly recognized her as the person who'd been sitting next to his cousin earlier – while the other appeared to be invisible. The third student was a boy, taller than Izuku and thick with muscle that strained against his uniform.
"Izuku-kun! Over here!" Setsuna called out unnecessarily. Izuku plodded towards the table and sat down next to his cousin. "Right, introductions: the invisible girl is Hagakure Toru, Big McLargeHuge over there is Sato Rikido, and our fellow greenette is Shiozaki Ibara. Sato and Shiozaki are with me in 1-C, and Toru-chan's been a friend of mine since fifth grade."
"Hello, I'm Midoriya Izuku," Izuku bowed politely. "It's nice to meet the three of you."
Shiozaki returned his bow with a courteous greeting of her own, while Hagakure waved her empty uniform sleeves around excitedly. "So you're Setsuna-chan's cousin, huh? I can see the resemblance. You're like a cuter, male version of her!" the invisible girl giggled.
Izuku couldn't stop himself from blushing, of course. "We're second cousins," he said automatically, although literally no one seemed to care about their precise familial relationship.
"Tokage mentioned your robo-tentacle thing, but seeing it up close is really something else," Sato commented. "You must be really smart to have built something like that, Midoriya."
Hagakure's uniform bobbed in a way that indicated she was nodding, and even the stoic Shiozaki looked like she was interested in what he had to say. "I had a lot of help," Izuku replied almost defensively, a bit self-conscious at the attention. He wasn't sure if mentioning Power Loader would be considered showing off to his peers, so he decided to leave it at that.
"Don't sell yourself short," Sato snorted. "Personally, I wouldn't be able to build something like that even if you gave me all the help in the world."
"I'm sure you have your own talents, Sato-san," Shiozaki said primly. "You mentioned that you prepared your own lunch, correct?"
Sato shrugged, but didn't argue the point as he resumed eating. His lunch was ridiculously well-organized, with carefully proportioned bits of food arranged methodically in a sectioned bento box.
"Do you have to watch what you eat because of your Quirk?" Izuku asked curiously. It was the simplest theory for why Sato would portion out his meal like that.
The brawny student nodded, flexing one beefy arm. "Yea, my Quirk makes me bulk up whenever I consume a certain amount of sugar. Dr Ishikawa said my body's insulin response is really high or something, so I try to eat low GI foods which I prepare myself. I really need to ration out any carbohydrates I consume in order to maintain my blood sugar levels."
"Ah, I see. High insulin levels would definitely promote cellular uptake of glucose and the synthesis of glycogen, increasing the risk of hypoglycemia," Izuku muttered. He cringed when he realized he'd spoken out loud, but no one at the table seemed overly bothered by it. Setsuna and Hagakure just laughed, Shiozaki delicately raised an eyebrow, and Sato himself only gave Izuku a bit of an odd look.
"Sounds about right," the muscular boy shrugged. "You're probably more familiar with this sort of thing than I am, Midoriya."
"Izuku-kun's obsessed with Quirks," Setsuna interjected happily. "He's really good at all that strategic thinking and analysis and stuff."
"I'm not obsessed," Izuku protested. "Quirks are just interesting! Besides, I know you peek at my notes when I'm not around, Setsuna-chan. You keep doodling little drawings and stuff in the margins!" His cousin didn't answer, instead replying by cheekily sticking out her tongue at him.
Their conversation was interrupted by a floating red hat, which did a spiralling loop-de-loop around Hagakure's transparent head. "Hello, Emily-chan!" the invisible girl cheered. "Is Yanagi still eating in our homeroom, or would you and your sister like to join us here?" The hat didn't answer, instead bobbing shyly back and forth in an indecisive motion. It finally did an apologetic twirl around Hagakure before speeding away out of the lunchroom.
"Is – is that a ghost?" Setsuna asked. She looked rather worried, which was definitely not a common thing for her. Izuku hid a smirk; all those late nights watching pirated horror movies on his computer were finally catching up with his cousin.
"Emily-chan's a sentient Quirk," Hagakure explained. "She's the power of one of my classmates in Class 1-D, Yanagi Reiko. Emily-chan's really fun to be around, always cracking jokes and stuff, although her sister is much more introverted."
"You can talk with her?" Izuku asked excitedly, quickly toning it down when Shiozaki gave him an amused look. "Uh, I mean I've met Yanagi-san and her Quirk before, and I couldn't manage to hear her at all."
"Sure!" Hagakure answered brightly. "Emily-chan and I are pretty similar after all, what with our transparenceness, even if she doesn't have a physical body like I do. I guess she just finds it easier to relate to me!" The invisible girl giggled, an empty sleeve coquettishly covering up where her mouth would be. "She really loves practical jokes, too. I can't wait for when she starts pulling pranks on people."
Setsuna still looked rather doubtful, which morphed into relief when the bell rang and they all dispersed for their afternoon classes.
- BREAK -
Izuku had been hit by the inspiration for another implant, a reinforced structural support that would be attached to his spine and ribcage. He'd called it a cyber-mantle in his notes, although Izuku had no idea where the term had come from. This metal framework was designed to provide a stable attachment site for any future augmentations to his body.
His mother had taken less convincing this time; Izuku had wisely focused on how the cyber-mantle would support his back and protect his internal organs from injury, rather than on its primary function as an anchorage point for further implants. Still, she'd insisted on getting everything approved by Power Loader once again, and Izuku was only too happy to have another excuse to visit Yuuei's Department of Support.
The teacher was busy grading submissions from the first-year support class when Izuku entered his workroom. Izuku immediately took the chance to gawk at their creations while Power Loader went through his design documents. "Nice work, Midoriya," he commented. "I can't help but feel you're moving a bit too fast with all these implants though. Try not to replace half your body with metal until you're older, eh?"
"This would only be my second implant," Izuku frowned. "And it's perfectly safe, Maijima-sensei."
Power Loader held up a hand, forestalling Izuku's protests. "Relax, kid. I just feel like you shouldn't be so quick to augment yourself like this." The retired hero tapped the gleaming bionics set into his chest and shoulder, which was a bit of an unconscious habit from what Izuku could tell. "I doubt you'd want to look like me by the time you're in high school."
Izuku grinned sheepishly and tried to change the subject. "I've finished my robot design," he said casually, using his Quirk to transfer another set of files to Power Loader's computer. "Oh, uh – I think I mentioned it during our first meeting – "
"You did," Power Loader confirmed, flicking through Izuku's newest set of drawings. "Once again, excellent work. It's much more complex than any of your previous designs. In fact, I'll probably need a few days to go through it properly myself. Based on first impressions though, I'll need to submit a proper materials request to the principal for something this sophisticated."
"What does that mean, sensei?" Izuku asked with slight trepidation.
"It means we'll need Principal Nezu's approval for this project," Power Loader explained. "Sorry Midoriya, I know that's not what you want to hear. I'm the head of the support department, but even I can't go around approving everything myself. We can't go around building advanced, high-tech robots for no reason, especially since you're not officially a Yuuei student. Or at least, not a Yuuei student yet," he added.
Izuku nodded, his mind already racing with ideas on how to overcome this potential obstacle. Maybe he could convince Dr Tsubasa to sponsor it or something.
"But I'm sure you're keen to get started on your new implant," Power Loader interrupted his train of thought. "Let's get you settled in, Midoriya." He brought Izuku to a series of different workshops, all of which were already full of people scurrying around inside.
"In case you're wondering, there's a week to go until the end-of-term exams," Power Loader explained. "Students always end up rushing to meet the deadlines for project submission, first-years especially. Lab space is at a premium during these periods." The teacher turned to Izuku, who could feel his glare even through the ever-present excavator claw helmet. "I expect things to be different for you when you're my student, Midoriya."
For the first time in his brief time at Yuuei, it seemed like they would not be able to find a space for Izuku to begin his work. "Well, there's always lab one-gee eighty-eight," Power Loader said thoughtfully. "My students tend to avoid it because I assigned Hatsume Mei there. She's the same age as you, another prodigy. Very similar to you, in fact, only more… eccentric."
"I don't mind, sensei," Izuku told him. Frankly, he didn't care who he shared his workspaces with because he never spoke with them anyway. It was the work that was important, not talking and socializing.
"Good. Hatsume's a bit of a handful, but I think the two of you will get along just fine." The retired hero brought Izuku to a rather secluded workshop, located next to one of Yuuei's dedicated fire stations. It was on high alert for some reason, the drones inside buzzing with activity when Izuku brushed against their simplistic software routines.
They entered lab one-gee eighty-eight, where one of the workstations was obviously in use. Izuku could see sparks and light flickering from behind a deployed welding shield.
"Hatsume!" Power Loader called, causing the sparks to stop flying. A female figure clad in thick technician's overalls appeared from behind the shield, lifting her welding mask to reveal disheveled pink hair framing a soot-stained face.
"What's up, sensei? I haven't blown anything up today, if that's why you're here," Hatsume grinned. She came to a halt when she noticed Izuku, staring unashamedly at the shorter boy. "Who's the newbie?"
"Hatsume Mei, this is Midoriya Izuku. He'll be sharing the lab with you," Power Loader introduced them. Hatsume simply grunted a dismissive, half-hearted greeting before disappearing back behind the welding shield. "Right, rest of the workshop's free for you to use, Midoriya," Power Loader sighed. "I'm off to take a break before I have to do more bloody grading."
"I hope your marking goes well, Maijima-sensei," Izuku bowed.
Power Loader came to a halt right next to the exit. "Piece of advice, kid," he said conversationally, "Don't go around making babies with Hatsume until you're older." Izuku jumped as a soft boom rattled the windows, although he couldn't see any signs of a fire or explosion. No alarms were ringing either, yet three firefighting drones immediately rushed into the room. "Scratch that, no making babies until you're married, Midoriya," Power Loader called, slipping through the open door.
Izuku was too flustered and confused by the bizarre message to do anything more than stare as the robots swarmed Hatsume's welding shield. The drones blasted everything down with some kind of gaseous firefighting agent, despite the complete lack of a fire. Probably halogen or carbon dioxide gas, given the lack of residue.
Hatsume popped up in front of one particularly zealous robot, flailing ineffectually at it as the drone continued spraying the workbench long after its companions had stopped. "Stop that!" she yelled, "You're dirtying up my cute babies!"
The firefighting drone brandished a nozzle menacingly at her. Izuku automatically stepped forward, laying a hand on the machine and touching it both physically and mentally with his Quirk. "Thank you," he soothed the irritated automaton, "But there's no fire here. There's no need for you to stay." Amazingly all three robots complied, bowing their heads as they exited the room. The one he'd touched seemed almost reluctant to leave, though.
Izuku breathed a sigh of relief as he turned back towards Hatsume. She seemed to be looking at him in a new light, scanning him up and down, her eyes lingering on his mechadendrite in particular. "Not bad," she remarked, drifting uncomfortably close towards him for a better look. "Excellent articulation, end effector's a bit bulky though. It's not as good as my super cute babies of course, but not bad at all."
The girl seemed to have absolutely no sense of personal space. Izuku discreetly scooted backwards, but Hatsume simply matched him step for step to stay right in his face. Her crosshair-shaped irises stared curiously into Izuku's green eyes. "Midoriya Izuku, right?" she asked, "How'd you get Moe, Larry and Curly to back off like that?"
"M – my Quirk," Izuku squawked, blushing fiercely at Hatsume's closeness. He grimaced mentally and fought to get his embarrassment under control. "My Quirk, T – Technopathy, lets me talk to machines," he elaborated with only the slightest hint of stuttering.
"Your Quirk lets you talk to machines?" Hatsume asked in a strange voice.
"Anything that runs on electricity," Izuku confirmed. He slowly edged away from the pink-haired girl, who had suddenly gone very, very still. "Uh, Hatsume-san, are you alright?" he asked, once he'd retreated to a safe distance.
Even with the physical separation, he wasn't prepared when Hatsume suddenly exploded into a frenzy of excitement. She grabbed Izuku by the scruff of the neck and almost dragged him to the back of the lab, where her creations were scattered haphazardly across several workstations.
"Talk to my babies!" Hatsume ordered, eyes sparkling as she pulled Izuku towards a pair of large metal boots. "Tell me what they're saying!"
"Hatsume-san, my Quirk doesn't work like that," Izuku tried to elaborate. "Machines communicate with code and binary. They don't actually say – "
"Just repeat what you did with the robots earlier!" she interrupted eagerly. "You can do that, right?"
Izuku took one look at Hatsume's earnest expression and sighed, turning towards the boots. A quick check with his Quirk nearly gave him a heart attack; according to their internal readouts, each boot held nearly two gigajoule's worth of energy-dense fuel compressed in canisters near the heels.
"Hatsume-san, that's – you built that?" Izuku spluttered. "The amount of propellent – it's totally unsafe! How did you even managed to fit all that fuel in there?"
"My super cute babies are all one hundred percent Hatsume made, guaranteed!" Hatsume cheered. "There's no such thing as too much power with my inventions!" The girl put an arm around Izuku's shoulders, an enormous, maniacal grin stretching across her face as she leaned closer towards him. "I admit, I wasn't sure if you were lying at first. But it's true, you talked to my baby! You can talk to machines! Midoriya, you've gotta tell me what my rocket soles are saying!" she yelled.
Hatsume's closeness was extremely distracting. Izuku found it difficult to concentrate with her body so close to his, barely managing to stammer out a sentence as she waited with eager anticipation. "Um, t – they said – "
"Yes?" Hatsume demanded.
Izuku focused on the boots, trying to come up with something which sounded plausible to the pink-haired inventor. "Uh – Hatsume-san, your babies said – they said 'hello'," he told her. That was totally believable, right?
"'Hello'," Hatsume said flatly. "Really. Are you sure, Midoriya? Was it the left or the right boot which said that?"
Hatsume didn't sound convinced at all! "Um, the left one?" Izuku quickly hazarded a guess.
"Then what's the right one saying?"
The metal boots seemed to wait in silent judgment as Izuku furiously racked his brain for an appropriate response. "It said – um, the right one also said 'hello," Izuku finished lamely. He cringed as soon as the words left his mouth, internally berating himself for being such a terrible liar.
Hatsume became very quiet once again, still holding on to Izuku with an iron grip. "That's fantastic!" she suddenly shouted, right into his ear. "Midoriya, you've got to tell me everything my babies are saying!" The maniacal inventor dragged a shell-shocked Izuku to her next invention, a lightning-powered rivet gun. According to her, it was an essential part of her set of tools which worked in the middle of a thunderstorm. Izuku hastily made up another platitude, which caused Hatsume's grin to grow even wider.
There was a certain theme to Hatsume's creations. A can opener which used explosives to open multiple cans simultaneously, a rocket-propelled parachute 'to get to the ground faster', a lawnmower with an inbuilt flamethrower attachment for incinerating grass cuttings – in fact, the only one of her inventions that didn't fit the mold was a modified spanner wrench.
"Hatsume-san, that's just a wrench." Izuku furrowed his brows in confusion, before his eyes widened comically. "Hatsume-san, why did you put rocket fuel into a wrench?"
"To wrench things faster, of course," Hatsume announced gleefully. "Come on, we still have a dozen babies to go through!"
"H – Hatsume-san, I should really get started on my own work," Izuku stuttered, struggling as he tried to free himself from her grasp. She didn't look like much, but the girl was tremendously strong for someone his age.
"I'm not letting you get away so easily, Midoriya!" Hatsume growled, pulling him even closer to her chest. "After this, you're going to help me make a dozen new babies!"
Izuku blushed furiously at both his compromising position and her choice of words, but held firm despite his embarrassment. "M – Maijima-sensei said I can't make babies until I'm older," he quickly told her. "No wait, until I'm married!"
Hatsume's eyes narrowed. "He did, did he? Right, change of plans. We're going to find Power Loader, right now!" The inventor dragged a feebly protesting Izuku out of the workshop, barging her way into Power Loader's office. "Sensei! Your super cute students have arrived!" she shouted. "We need your help!"
Power Loader stared blankly at the two students through his helmet, coffee mug in hand. He had obviously been working his way through an enormous stack of unmarked scripts. "I guess it's time for another break," he remarked calmly to himself, setting the mug aside. "What can I do for you, Hatsume? Why are you dragging Midoriya around like a lost puppy?"
"We're here to get married!" Hatsume announced. "Midoriya and I are going to make lots of super cute babies together!"
Izuku nearly fainted with embarrassment. "W – wait! I'm too young to get m – married!" he squeaked.
"You hear that Hatsume? Midoriya says he's too young to get married," Power Loader repeated solemnly. "What makes you think I'm certified to officiate a marriage ceremony anyway?"
"You're an ex Pro Hero," said Hatsume dismissively, as though that explained everything. "And our infinite love for technology transcends all ages!"
Power Loader's mouth twitched, and Izuku realized with horror that the teacher found his predicament amusing. "Tell you what, Hatsume, why don't you go find Midnight in the teacher's lounge?" he said casually. "I know for a fact she's got the proper credentials for this sort of thing. I'm sure she'll be more than happy to marry the two of you after you explain the situation to her."
"Right! Thanks for the help, sensei!" Hatsume cheered. Power Loader simply grinned, chuckling as he watched her drag Izuku away to his doom.
- END -
A/N: I'm not a fan of the vast majority of OCs. That's not to say there won't be any, but their roles will definitely be limited in any story that I write. I know it's unrealistic to have lots of future UA students together like this, but I'd really prefer to write about canon characters instead of a bunch of OCs, especially as these OCs would mostly have to disappear once Izuku reaches high school.
Izuku himself is still a bit of an introvert, even with a different backstory. He definitely prefers the company of machines rather than people.
I might've gone overboard with the Hatsume bit, but I regret nothing! SPOILER ALERT: they don't actually get married ;)
Thanks for reading, and I hope you enjoyed the chapter.