Chapter 43: Hatsume Mei I

A/N: And here we all are with a brand new perspective on things. And who else to plant the spotlight on other than this arc's lead female? Hope you all enjoy it!

Mei rocks back and forth in place, her attention half drawn on the girl in front of her, and other parts engrossed in the repairs she's currently doing to one of her babies. "Soooo…" she drawls. "You're saying that this vigilante dude didn't really do anything?"

Melissa lets out a sigh. "Not exactly… But…"

Mei's eyes flicker over to the frazzled girl sitting up against the wall. It's blatantly clear that Melissa is still distressed over the night's events, especially when considering the fact that her father was only taken in by the authorities just minutes before. She isn't really in a state to be handing out answers.

But Mei needs to know. Even if it means inflicting some temporary distress on her newfound friend. Her eyes flicker back to the panel she's patching up on her baby before she speaks up. "But what?"

Melissa drums her fingers against her leg, letting out a sigh. "I'm not really sure what happened myself, Hatsume. One moment they're standing above my—" she gulps, "my father, scolding him for his actions. And then threatening the leader of the villains. And suddenly they end up dragging both me and my father down the elevator shaft."

Melissa shakes her head. "I thought that we were in some big trouble at first. If not as hostages, to ensure a clean escape, then as Whisper's tools. I mean, that's what the other villain wanted my father for… making Quirk Amplification Devices like some sort of factory line."

"Whisper, huh?" Mei mutters to herself. Melissa ends up hearing her hushed mutterings, however.

"It's their name; at least, that's what Kendou told me. And I say 'their' because… well, nobody knows whether Whisper's a guy or a gal, apparently."

Mei hums in thought. Then she looks over at Melissa. "But he left you alone instead?" she asks, changing the subject. "Plopped you two right on the ground and made a run for it? Didn't try to do anything to you?"

Melissa slowly nods in response. "Even said that we'd be safer where we were rather than in the middle of a quirk-charged fight. I just… I don't get it." She takes a breath. "I thought that he was a villain! I mean, Kendou definitely seemed to think so! But then he maneuvers a complete one-eighty and just… leaves us alone? What did he even get from all this mess? A destroyed prototype? Other villains going to jail?"

The list of possibilities has Mei going a bit… introspective. She considers a few glaring points, reminisces on some other things; some recent, others not so much. And… an inkling of a feeling ends up crawling to the forefront of her mind.

"I don't know about you, but…" Mei trails off. "It almost seems to me that he was just trying to stop the villains. They were after your father's prototype, right? But… Whisper just ended up destroying it? Just before the villains' leader arrives? And then he just leaves afterwards, not hurting anyone at all?"

"He hurt my papa!" Melissa spits out indignantly. "Even if it wasn't physically, then mentally! I know that what he did was wrong, but there had to be some reason for it! Whisper didn't have to… have to be so cruel about it!"

"Right!" Mei hurriedly amends. "I… Sorry?"

Melissa's sudden anger hurriedly dies down. "No, sorry. I shouldn't have snapped at you. It's just…" Her face collapses to her knees. "But my father…" She sniffles. "Oh papa… Why'd you do it?"

Mei blinks, eyes flickering back and forth between her friend and her baby.

Crap. What should I do? This is why I don't do emotions! … I— Gah! Okay. Let's try…

Steadily, Mei lowers herself to the floor, sitting beside Melissa. She tentatively raises her left hand, the hovering limb indecisive in its movement. That is, until it gently rests upon Melissa's shoulder.

The troubled girl decides to let go then and there, heavy sobs filling the air. She ends up collapsing into Mei's side, clinging on to her tight.

Mei freezes, unaccustomed to the familiarity of the action and sheer abruptness of becoming part of something she never herself has been a part of, only witnessed from afar. After all, she's never had anything approaching a friend to even do something remotely similar to this.

The closest thing to a friend she's had is Michimoto. And even then, the most she's done with him is try to drag him out of the rut he was in ever since they had arrived at the island. She didn't even know what she was doing then — just followed her gut and did what she felt was right.

Because she wanted to help. It was the least she could do for the first person she could truly be herself around.

And that's why, as the moments drone by — Melissa clinging on tight — Mei slowly takes it all in. She can do… whatever it is she's doing right now.

Comforting her friend. Right,

Mei lets out a breath, nods to herself, and sets her baby down on the floor next to her. Her tinkering can fall to the side for now. There'd always be time for them later, after all.

As for that other problem that she's just recently discovered? … Tomorrow. There's always then.

Morning came surprisingly quick. Mei herself ended up dozing off with Melissa still attached to her, and by the time she woke up the sun was peeking over the horizon. Oh. And All Might was standing nearby, vigilant guard that he was watching the two sleeping girls.

It wasn't long after that more of the police had arrived. Apparently, they were done checking over the crime scene and taking the villains into custody. All that was left was questioning key witnesses — like herself — and taking in potential co-conspirators — Melissa, apparently.

The only reason they hadn't gone after her sooner was because All Might had promised to watch over her. It wasn't as if she could escape under the watch of the Symbol of Peace of all people, after all.

Mei thought that was ridiculous. Melissa's reaction last night alone was enough to exonerate the girl in her eyes. All Might shared similar sentiments: she was willing to believe it was the driving force of the pretense of him watching over a 'potential criminal.' He still cares for her, and just wanted her to have some rest after such a strenuous night.

But there wasn't anything either of them could do, (and besides, Melissa was understanding of the situation) so they let the matter go.

Her own interrogation was rather brief; all she had to do was share her own account of the night. Apparently, it helped that there was heavy video evidence of her aiding her schoolmates in their attempt in taking down the villains.

The fact that Melissa was on those same video feeds doing the same did nothing to absolve her of guilt, however. In fact, even with All Might backing her up, the police were insistent. Maybe…

Is it because it was her own father who caused this mess, or…

She shook her head. She was looking too deeply at the scenario; pulling at strings when there weren't any. Quirkless prejudice wouldn't be playing such a huge role in something like this… right?

It didn't take long for Mei to be released back to the waking world, left to her own devices. However, rather than jump at the opportunity to work on her babies, she did something else.

Her phone — Baby #74, an encrypted high speed mobile device with the same capabilities of the best computers out there, all condensed to something smaller than the palm of her hand — allowed her intensive bout of research to advance with ease.

First off, the USJ Incident. She wasn't ignorant of the event itself, of course. As a student of Yuuei, an attack on her school could negatively affect her work. At the time, she had merely looked up the bare basics, and once she concluded nothing of note would change with her time in the lab, she let it be.

But now?

"I knew that crusty guy from the mall looked somewhat familiar," she mutters as she looks at a blurry picture of Shigaraki. There are others she looks at, from that Kurogiri individual to the bird Nomu thing, to the plethora of other no-names that had been arrested.

As for Whisper… That leads to the real cusp of the issue.

Ever since she had met him, Mei had found Michimoto Jakku to be someone to keep tabs on. And this wasn't for the normal reason she'd usually keep track of someone (a possible rival, a prospective sponsor, or the like) but because of the way he interacted with her.

That day that they met at Yuuei had been the first time she'd met someone outside of her family that ended up sticking to her side for longer than five minutes. He wasn't being forced to talk to her, he hadn't fainted or scurried off, nor did he have any sense of unease, urgency, or dislike whatsoever. And that was when she knew that a bond had been formed.

After all, it was a common case of kindred spirits. He has trouble making friends and being in social situations in general, and he'd rather stick to his own devices that interact with others. The only difference between herself and him is that her condition had been built up through years of people avoiding her. She knows better than to try to make friendships at this point.

But then Michimoto fell into her lap, and stuck with her. Even when he left the school and had no obligation to contact her or even keep to his promise, he still reached out. And Michimoto has no idea how much that means to her.

And that's why she feels this urge to do the same for him. She just wished that it wasn't so hard.

For one, he gets that look on his face sometimes when he thinks she isn't looking (which is weird, because he should be able to sense these things with his quirk, right?!) And despite how often he plays it off, she knows that there's a whole load of baggage hidden behind it. And with her now knowing about his trouble in school when he was younger… The picture isn't a pretty one. The way she sees it? He's lonely, doesn't have many friends (or has a hard time letting anybody get close), or keeps everyone he likes at arms' reach. Like he's doing with her.

And then there's the other thing: him asking her to keep his quirk hidden from others. Of course, he probably just wants to avoid the stigma attached to it in relation to the vigilante-slash-villain Whisper.

Or he just wants to avoid getting arrested for actually being Whisper. But then again, if he really wanted to avoid that, he really should be more careful with the way that he presents himself.

He isn't all too good at hiding it, after all. The shady individuals that he knows, his interests in I-Island's security and subsequent hacking of it coinciding with a villain attack, his dropping out of Yuuei the literal day the USJ is attacked, and not to mention how quirk. It just took this trip for Mei to realize it.

If anything, he's lucky that he has so few relationships with anyone not a villain. Anyone not Mei would have reported him to the police long ago.

As for why she doesn't… Well, for one Nezu seems to trust him. The principal told her as such when he caught her hacking Yuuei (not that he's Whisper, but that the boy was somebody he could count on for certain things). And if Nezu trusts a nationally wanted criminal, she doesn't see why she can't.

And besides, it's not like he's done anything bad to me. Even if he has done some bad in the world. With the way I've seen him… I just can't see how he can even be a villain at all. So docile, inquisitive, and caring at times. Heck, Melissa's account of last night's events prove that he isn't all too bad a guy. Even me dragging him to All Might's gala showed that he still has some child-like innocence in him. But if that's the case…

So what is it then? The discrimination? Must be, if what he told Melissa has any credence to it. But to think that his past had been so bad to push him to where he is now… Well, she can see it, if she looks at it from the angle of when he was simply a vigilante taking down small time but still dangerous and hazardous thugs. Michimoto Jakku just wants the world to change for the better, an ideology clear as day with the wait he thinks and talks.

Mei just wonders what's going on in that head of his for him to think that he's being discreet about it when he's around him.

He probably thinks that I'm too engrossed in my babies to have noticed… Which, fair, would be the case in most other scenarios. But Michi-kun never ran away; he always put up with me. He's grown to be a friend. And because of that he's become a staple in my mind right alongside my babies. Even without this trip, I would've figured it out sooner or later.

She wants to confront him about this. She wants it all out in the open, wants to know every nook and cranny of his life story. She wants to help him, wants to understand so she can make sure he pulls through this whole thing with him coming out okay in the end.

But she can't. She knows that it'd only push him away. They aren't in any way close enough for him to consider sharing such secrets, even if she thinks otherwise on her end of things. So the most that she can do for now is simply be there for him, and wait until he's ready. And so she'll do just that.

And the first thing she'll do is make sure that he didn't get hurt last night. So she slams open the door and yells: "MICHI-KUN!"

Again, despite how much she tries, despite how hard she pushes and drags him off to things, she just can't find the right way to break Michimoto out of his shell.

Not much changed the day after the night of the villain attack. She didn't exactly know what to expect, but she was happy that things simply fell into their routine. It meant that he wouldn't run off, meant that he'd stay.

(A small, distant part of her dreaded facing a colder, more distant Michimoto. One that would've enforced her fears that he was just using her to get onto I-Island, even if his intent was a good one in the end. After all, it wouldn't have been anything she hadn't experienced before. Past 'friends' and teachers alike made sure of that. Of course, he never showed the initial signs, was even outright abrasive at times with her. But still…)

So she went as she did, building her babies, attempting (and failing) to mooch her way into the good graces of various scientists around the island. But she made careful care to include Michimoto whenever she could, keeping him engaged at all times.

She didn't know if it did anything, but she still tried her damndest to make sure he felt like an appreciated friend at her side.

Eventually, the week came to an end and the two of them were back on Yuuei's private jet and on a flight back towards Japan.

However, if his demeanor on the plane was anything to go by, Mei thinks that she did something right.

"Hey, Hatsume. Want to help me with something?"

Mei looks over at Michimoto, her hands lowering down her baby into her lap. "Mmm?"

He gestures her over, pointing at the screen of his laptop. "You've dealt with this already before, haven't you? Mind helping me out a bit?"

Curious (and ready to jump at his request — he was actually asking her for help with something of his own will, after all) she scoots over to look. She blinks, taking a bit to realize what she's looking at.

"Is that the jet's coding?"

Michimoto nods, a small smirk on his face. "That it is. Want to help kick out a certain voyeur so we can have the rest of this trip to ourselves in peace?"

"Hmph. I'll have you know Michimoto-kun, just because I want to keep tabs on you and my student doesn't mean that I'm a voyeur. In fact, if anything you're much more of a voyeur yourself, given your circumstances."

Mei's already taking the laptop into her hands and typing away.

Michimoto rolls his eyes. "And the only reason you know of those circumstances is because of all the spying going on, no?" He looks over at Mei. "See what I mean?"

Mei shrugs. "I think that you're both voyeurs."

Michimoto looks aghast.

Now, Miss Hatsume—"

"Done!"

A whirling whizz shutters throughout the entire plane, the lights flickering off and a sudden jerk shakes the whole jet.

"Ermm," Izuku mutters, "you didn't shut off the auto-pilot, did you?"

Mei takes on a carefree smile. "I did."

"Hatsume—!"

"Don't worry! I took it over myself! We couldn't keep it up if we wanted Nezu out and all."

Michimoto narrows his eyes. "Do you even know how to fly a plane?"

"Of course!" she exclaims. "I've spent years practicing with my drones!"

"Nevermind," he says, shaking his head. "Mind handing my laptop back?"

It's Mei's turn to narrow her eyes at her friend. "And do you know how to fly a plane?"

Michimoto lets out a groan. "Fine, fine. Just… navigate to my desktop and click on the file name 'Inventions for Hatsume' then. I—"

"You have more schematics for me!" Mei shrieks, already following through with his directions. She clicks on the supposed file, and instantly comes face to face with her new baby. "An artificial eyeball?" she asks.

Michimoto nods. "One that acts exactly like a natural one as well. I think that it'd be a wonderful new thing you can work on."

"Hmm… I don't know," Mei muses. "When would I really need one?"

Michimoto smirks. "You have that classmate of yours that's missing an eye, don't you? I'm sure that he'd love to have his depth perception back.

Mei tries to think of who Michimoto's talking about, but she draws up a blank. "I do?"

"Bakugou Katsuki?" he asks. "Winner of Sports Festival? The guy with the explosion quirk? He was with you guys back on your jaunt up the tower?"

Mei's thoughts shine in recognition. "Oh yeah! Explodey boy!" Her eyes bulge in realization. "I can imagine it now! Backing such a superstar, someone so engrossed in the spotlight and aimed to reach the top ranks! And, and—"

"Hold your horses," Michimoto interrupts. "There are still a few more. For example, I have some climbing gear—"

"Doesn't matter! I'm in!"

Michimoto blinks, but ends up shrugging in defeat. "If you say so. Just make sure you make some prototypes for me as well, yeah?"

Mei fervently nods her head. "If it means you'll keep supplying these, then definitely! You really are a great friend, Michi-kun!"

She's already dashing off, grabbing for her tools and enough open space to start.

She ends up much too preoccupied to notice the pensive expression on Izuku's face before it disappears.

[Arc Four: Fellowship - End]

A/N: And there we have it; short but sweet. I hope I did a decent dive into Hatsume's perspective here, even if I felt I was a bit off in characterization in some places. Guess we'll see. That being said, the next arc is coming up! Hope you're all prepared…