"Mei! Let little Hero-kun go! He's not going to be able to test out all of the babies we've been working on if he's unconscious."

Hatsume stepped into the doorway after her daughter, a pair of goggles like Mei's hanging around her neck. "What are you teaching him, Aizawa? All that work I've been doing is going to be for nothing if he can't even defend himself from an attack by my daughter."

Aizawa hummed, adjusting his scarves. "Does your daughter attack all your customers, or just the ones her own age?"

"Fair point." Hatsume allowed, pushing the door completely open behind her. "Come on, Mei. I'll let you do the honors if you let him go now."

Mei held on for a moment longer, arms tightening around Izuku's shoulders, before skipping back to stand by her mother. "We'll have a lot to talk about once I've introduced you to all your new toys, Izuku!" She paused, her yellow eyes glinting as she tilted her head to the side. "Is it alright if I can you Izuku? I feel like we can just skip all of those boring steps and jump right to the good parts of our friendship! Is that okay? You can tell me if it's not!"

Izuku had never heard someone who rambled as much as he did, and for a moment he understood what it must have been like for everyone around him, the stream of words with no filter hurled at him so quickly he felt almost overwhelmed by the force of Mei's personality. She watched him closely as she talked, grabbing his hand as she walked backwards into the shop.

Mei was nervous, Izuku realized suddenly. Just as nervous as he had been when Hatsume had first mentioned wanting to introduce them. Could it be that she was just as in need of a friend as he was?

"Same with the babies! My mother gave me the list of items you gave her, but I made a few tweaks here and there. If something doesn't work for you now or when you try them out later, you can always bring them back. I'm sure you'll need to make adjustments once we start at Yuuei, but that's still ages away isn't it?"

Aizawa followed Izuku inside, and Hatsume closed the door behind them.

Maybe Izuku and Mei had that in common- the struggle of being interested in a subject no one else cared about. The challenge that came with trying to slow down when his thoughts ran ten times faster than he could speak or when he knew he should stop talking but the words kept tumbling out anyway. Izuku had been on the receiving end of glares and bullying for years for oversharing about his interests in heroes and the mechanics of quirks. Maybe Mei had been through the same thing, maybe she hadn't. But Izuku couldn't help but do the one thing he wished someone else had done for him.

He smiled. "Izuku is fine. Aizawa-sensei said you designed one of the support items?"

The inside of the shop looked almost exactly the same as it did the first time Izuku and Aizawa had visited. Projects still scattered the room in various states of completeness. None of them seemed like the same ones as before, although Izuku could only guess what the hunks of metal and wires would end up being when they were finished. Unlike the last time though, Hatsume did not lead them through the maze of a room towards her office.

"I have all of your stuff set up in our testing room. Thought you might want to try it out once before you leave, just to make sure it's what you were looking for," Hatsume said, gesturing towards a door at the end of the hallway directly across from the front door. "Like Mei said, we can make whatever adjustments you need. Within reason, of course. Nothing that would defy the rules of physics or anything like that. Obviously."

"Obviously." Aizawa agreed.

"But Aizawa-sensei!" Izuku said, adding a whine to his voice as Mei pulled him towards the door. "How can I be a hero if I can't even break the laws of physics?"

Aizawa rolled his eyes as Mei laughed. "If you have to resort to something like that to fight, then I'll have failed in my duty as your teacher, Midoriya."

"Besides," Mei added, opening the door to reveal a set of stairs that led down into what must have been the basement, "that's what support items are for. We can't break the laws of physics, but we can definitely bend them enough to put that big brain I'm told you have to good use!"

Reluctantly, Mei let go of Izuku's hand as they started down, the narrow staircase making it impossible for her to maintain her grip and walk at the same time. Instead she bounced, hands on Izuku's shoulders, after him as the four of them entered the workshop.

The room must have spanned the entire length of the shop, stretching out at least fifty feet. A long wooden table covered in completed support items ran the length of one of the brick walls while the other was covered in targets and posters of old villains, their faces barely recognizable because of the scorch marks that littered the faded paper. Another table stood just inside the door, covered by a black sheet. Izuku felt his pulse jump.

"That's exactly what you think it is, Hero-kun!" Hatsume said, slinging an arm over Aizawa's shoulder which the pro hero slipped out of with barely a movement. Hatsume pouted at him before turning her attention back to Izuku. "Once you left the other day, I had to bring Mei into this. She's applying to go to Yuuei too, and you need the best of the best if you're going to be ready for all of the challenges that old bastard they call a principal is bound to throw at you."

Hatsume paused, glancing at Aizawa. Aizawa stared back as Hatsume's eyes widened. "What? No protest from the pro? I just insulted that manipulative jerk you all like to defend so much, and not a single comment about respect? Nedzu must have seriously messed up this time if you aren't stepping up to bat for him. What'd he do, Aizawa? Insult your cats?"

Aizawa didn't answer, instead glancing at Izuku for a moment before meeting Hatsume's curious expression.

"Ah. So he did insult one of your cats. The man should know better than that by now," Hatsume said, reaching out to grab the edge of the sheet. "I'm sure he's going to regret that decision isn't her, eh Aizawa?"

When the pro hero didn't answer Hatsume's grin grew. "Well then. Let's move on to the real reason the two of you have stopped by today, although you can guarantee I'll be asking you more about that situation later. "

Mei danced around Izuku to stand on the other side of the table, her eyes gleaming. "You're going to love them, Izuku. And can you imagine? The first quirkless hero using my products! That's bound to get me some attention before I even set foot in Yuuei!

"Are you ready to see your new toys, Hero-kun?"

Izuku edged closer as Hatsume whipped the cloth off with a flourish, his eyes widening as he saw the objects covering the table, too many for him to even know where to begin until his eyes were drawn to something yellow laying back against the brick wall. "Is that-"

"I took your suggestion about having something to hold all your gear seriously," Hatsume interrupted, picking up the belt and handing it to him. Izuku took it from her gently, his hands trembling. "The material is lightweight, but it should hold up to almost anything you can throw at it. I got in contact with one of my old Yuuei friends who works on pro heroes' uniforms, and she said that if you somehow manage to damage that she would treat me to lunch. This was after I warned her about your previous misadventure, so you should be fine there. Once we go through all your other new gadgets you can decide where you want them. Each pocket is also equipped with a fingerprint lock. Doesn't slow down the time it would take to open it, but this way if you lose it or it's taken no one else will have access to your gear unless you clear their print too."

"Impressive, huh?" Mei added, leaning over his shoulder to watch as he turned the belt over in his hands. "As for the color, I picked that out. Thought it would be appropriate, all things considered."

The belt was, of course, the exact same shade of yellow as Aizawa's goggles. Izuku looked up at his mentor in awe, gauging the hero's reaction to the subtle reference to his uniform.

"It's a good color, Midoriya," was all the hero said, but the warmth in his voice was unmistakable. Izuku beamed.

"We can put that aside until the end, if you'll just hand it back, Hero-kun. I'm sure you'll want to check out the rest of what Mei and I have prepared for you, right?" Hatsume asked. She took the belt back from him, replacing it carefully against the wall before reaching for the next item on the table. "You had talked about wanted something that could create a low level explosion. Something to act as a distraction? Well, this is about to be your new favorite thing."

Hatsume held up a small container filled with six red balls about the size of coin. "These explode on contact as long as you use enough force. I worked it out so that dropping them isn't enough to set it off as a safety measure. And the explosion isn't much. Like I said when we talked the first time, there are a lot of restrictions on items like this if you aren't in a certified hero course or don't have a provisional license, but these should get the job done for what you need now. We can always up the strength later if you want."

She handed that container to Izuku before reaching for two others that looked identical to the first except for the fact that one was a dark purple while the other was a bright, sickly green. "Once I got started on those, it was easy to set these up as well. They're color coded so that you can keep them separated, and they all work the same way except these are on a short time delay. Just throw them and wait a few seconds for the effects. The purple ones are delayed explosions while the green ones cause a smoke screen."

"They don't smell very good either," Mei added, still looking over his shoulder. "Super helpful against anyone whose quirk increases their senses."

"Want to test one out?" Hatsume asked, the pointed look in her eyes reflected in her daughter's face. "Make sure the effects are what you wanted?"

"You just want to watch something blow up don't you, Hatsume?" Aizawa's voice was flat, his expression telling Izuku he was already resigned to the situation.

"Well duh!" Hatsume answered cheerfully. "I didn't get an extra degree in chemistry in order to make explosives just to not watch my products at work, Aizawa-san. We won't test one of the green ones since I'd rather not have to deal with that clean up today, but go ahead and try the red ones. I have some other packs for you to take with you anyway."

Nodding, Izuku popped the package open, letting one of the balls roll into his open hand. "It feels like.. Clay?"

"The putty I used is actually pretty similar to the kind kids play with, with just a little extra punch." Hatsume put her hands on Izuku's shoulders, maneuvering him until he stood in the middle of the room facing one of the peeling targets before he could say a word. "Don't worry about hitting the poster. I may have given you the maximum amount of fire power given the circumstances, but that still isn't a lot comparatively. This is where I test most of my projects. The walls can take it."

Izuku looked back at Aizawa who still stood by the stairs, Mei grinning smugly beside him. "You don't need my permission, Midoriya. Go ahead."

Hesitating for just a moment longer, Izuku shrugged before launching the mini explosive towards the target. Hatsume had said there were restrictions on the support items he could have. Hatsume had claimed that she couldn't give him anything too dangerous yet.

Hatsume had left him utterly unprepared for the explosion that sounded as the ball collided with the wall, hitting just outside the edge of the target's circle.

"Yes!" Mei yelled, startling Izuku as he watched the poster sink slowly to the floor, knocked from the wall by the force. "That was awesome, Izuku!"

"What was that?" Izuku's voice shook as he spoke. The explosion hadn't been too powerful, if he were being honest. It was nothing like what Bakugou could produce on his own. But it was so much more than anything Izuku had been expecting.

"That was an explosion, Hero-kun! I thought you would be fairly familiar with them by now, what with that classmate of yours."

"That's not-I meant-"

"Oh!" Hatsume said, lifting a finger as she suddenly understood. "You were thinking of something that was a little more noise, a little less fire weren't you?"

Izuku could only nod in response.

"I mean, I can do that if you want, but-"

"No!" Izuku rushed to interrupt. "These are perfect! I just wasn't expecting it. These would definitely come in handy. Better than what I had been thinking, I just didn't know I was going to be allowed something like this?"

"It sounds stronger than it really is. You won't be able to do too much damage with them, but whoever you're fighting won't know that until it's too late. Aizawa? These good with you?"

"I see no problem in Midoriya using those, although we will have to work on your aim," Aizawa answered. "You were close to the target, but you can't always count on close being good enough."

"And there you have it!" Hatsume grinned. "Ready for the next thing?"

"Let's show him mine next!" Mei said, excitedly.

"I told Mei about your grappling gun idea since you mentioned getting the inspiration from one of those old comics," Hatsume started as they headed back to the table.

"Which we definitely need to talk about later!" Mei interjected.

"And she was actually working on something similar, although I think her idea was a little too bulky for what you're needing."

Mei pouted. "It'll work perfectly in certain rescue situations, but it won't give you the freedom of movement you'll need since you won't have a quirk to back you up."

"So we went with this instead. I based it off of Mei's compression system with a few changes of my own."

The item Hatsume picked up next was shaped roughly like a hair dryer with thin sheet of plastic covering the end. "It's in safety mode right now, which is why the window is closed. Press this button," she explained, showing Izuku a small red dot on the side, "to switch it on. When the button switches to green you know you're good to go." As soon as Hatsume hit the switch the color flipped, and the window popped open as the plastic retracted. "After that you just aim and pull the trigger to shoot and flip the lever underneath to pull the hook back."

She turned it off before handing it to Izuku. "I know we talked about something that could help you move from place to place, but I'm still trying to work out something that meets the safety protocols while not limiting your freedom of movement. It may take some time, but for now you can work with this. It's perfect for hitting targets, moving objects, that sort of thing. I'm sure that big brain of yours can figure out a dozen different uses I haven't even considered."

"High praise, Hatsume-san," Aizawa said, taking the grappling gun from Izuku and examining it himself.

"Only the best for your student," Hatsume responded with a wink. "And I don't need to remind you that this is one of those borderline items. He's not allowed to use it if you aren't with him."

Aizawa looked up from the gun to stare at her, his gaze flat.

"No, I didn't think so," she said quickly. "Just making sure."

"You can test that one later and let us know how you feel about it," Mei said. "We took it to an training facility to make sure there weren't any problems, but there's not really anything in the shop at the moment that would work to test it on."

"I'm sure you have a better set up at your mysterious training place than we do, right Aizawa-san?"

"I'll let you know how it goes."

"Much appreciated."

"Almost everything else on your list is restricted until we start at Yuuei," Mei said, "but I like the way you think. Escrima rods with a charge? Grappling guns? I'm going to have so much inspiration thanks to you!" She threw an arm over his shoulder, just like her mother had done to Aizawa earlier. Izuku didn't brush her off.

"Speaking of, we have one last thing for you today," Hatsume said, picking up a pair of familiar looking rods. "I know you already have your own, but these have been adjusted to the weight they would be once I add the tech for the charge so you can go ahead and get used to how they feel." She held up a pair of black gloves as well. "And these will make sure you don't accidentally electrocute yourself once you get it."

"I-" Izuku didn't know what to say. "This is all amazing. Thank you so much Hatsume-san...Mei-san."

"None of that!" Mei said, poking him hard in the side. Izuku flinched from her touch, but didn't move away from the the arm still thrown over his shoulder. "Mei. Just Mei. We're going to be great friends, right? So cut the honorifics out."

"And there's no need to thank us. Helping heroes out with their tech is what we do. Just make sure you send other heroes our way when you wow them with what you can do," Hatsume said. "It will be a pleasure working with you, Hero-kun."

They only stayed a few moments after that, Mei making sure to plan another meeting with Izuku outside of the confines of her mother's shop so they could talk about "something other than business" as Mei had said.

Izuku couldn't stop smiling the whole way back towards the apartment.

"I'm going to take this stuff with me, Midoriya," Aizawa said when the complex finally came back into view. "I want you to meet me at the warehouse tomorrow after school, and we'll go over your new schedule and regimen then. I told you before, but I want you to forget about the test. Focus on the demonstration and getting ready for school. If you think I've been hard on you up until now, it's nothing compared to the work you've got ahead of you. Think you're ready for that?"

"Of course, Aizawa-sensei!"

"Now we have some time before Hizashi gets here. I want you to tell me everything you can about the items you got from Hatsume and what they can be used for. We're going to make sure you understand what you're dealing with before I let you near those explosives again. Understood?"

Izuku grinned, mirroring Aizawa's grin.

"Then let's get started."

AN:And this is the end of what I consider Part 1! Next week's chapter will start after a time skip.

Thanks to everyone who commented on the last chapter! I love seeing what you all think!