Chapter Two: Hard Work and Babies

Across the city of Musutafu, Izuku and Mei were standing at a garage entrance that was nestled between two abandoned-looking factories on the opposite side of town that Izuku was used to. The dingy nature of it made him extremely nervous.

T-This seems like the kind of place a villain would hide out at, Izuku thought, looking around almost constantly as Mei set down the box in her hands and began to fiddle with a nearby panel.

"I chose this place for my workshop because there's lots of places to pick up scrap," Mei explained, then looked over at the nervous Izuku. "It's totally void of villains, because they were drove out a while ago!"

Those words should've helped his nervousness, but it just made Izuku tense up more as he learned that villains were there at some point and could come back.

"Are you... sure they're gone?"

"Ehh, it's fine either way," Mei told him as a spark flicked from the panel and the garage began to open loudly. "There we go~ Security should be down now."

Izuku stood and watched as the garage door opened, eager to see what Mei's workshop was like- However, he jumped in surprise as the girl suddenly popped up in front of him, staring him down.

"Thanks for the help, but I'd never show my workshop to just anyone!" She snatched the box from his hands, sliding the one she had set on the floor back into the garage with a kick, before jumping back inside and grabbing the garage door, slamming it down forcefully.

Izuku was left there a bit stunned, blinking at the garage door. The Sun was starting to set, leaving an orange glow over the city.

I need to get back home soon or it'll be dark, but today was... I can't just...

Taking a deep breath, Izuku stepped up to the garage door and raised a hand to knock, steeling his nerves before finally knocking on the metal surface-

However, before his knock could hit, the door suddenly lifted up instantly, and he screamed out in surprise as Mei was standing there looking at him, not even flinching as he nearly hit her, stumbling back as he pulled his hand away.

"Oh, so you are still here, I figured as much. Well, tell me why!"

Mei leaned in closer and closer to Izuku, who was put on the spot. He had to think of something fast, but the suddenness that Mei seemed to always bring to the table had him in a jumble.

"I-I, well, you see I... I want to see... More of what you do... Because y-you seem... Really interesting!" Izuku accidentally shouted that last part out in his nervousness. Talking to girls wasn't something he had ever really done, and luckily Mei wasn't a typical girl- But still, any social contact was a bit hard for him to handle at this point.

"Interesting? Well I am a masterful inventor of course, so you've got quite the keen eye," the girl said, moving back a bit and smirking at the boy, pointing at him. "But how can I trust that you're not just here to steal my babies?"

"I didn't even know who you were til today—"

"That doesn't cut it, there's people out there doing way crazier things than faking a meeting," Mei cut him off, crossing her arms and looking away, shaking her head. "So as far as I'm concerned, you're just another thief!"

Izuku's mouth hung open in disbelief, as he tried to wrap his head around the girl in front of him. Hatsume Mei was truly an enigma, acting very erratic and fearless in any situation. It was nearly impossible for Izuku to understand her actions or read her face, because she was almost always smiling and talking loud and proud- But he quickly began to realize something.

He respected that. The ability to be proud of yourself and what you do, and what you stand for.

Izuku smiled slightly. "I... don't have a quirk, I'm pretty useless in most things because of that."

Mei's smiled dropped as she looked at Izuku, seeing his demeanor change slightly as he clutched at his chest, containing his nervousness a bit as he spoke, looking at her with rising confidence.

"I would never try to copy someone else's work just to get ahead, I... I just want to know if it's possible, to become a Hero without a Quirk," Izuku spoke, the orange sunlight cascading in from behind him, as Mei watched him. "Seeing you and how confident you are, it's... inspired me!"

Izuku bowed politely to the girl, but all Mei could do was burst out into laughter, which made the boy look up at her in confusion.

"You're always suuuper polite, but that won't get you anywhere if you plan on struggling your way into the Hero business," Mei said through her laughter, turning and motioning for him to follow her. "I see you're not lying, but in case you are somehow getting past my hunches-"

She looked back at him seriously. "Just know I'll totally kill ya' if you mess with my babies."

Mei's workshop was a very long, wide garage that was made narrow due to the amount of stuff littered all about. Boxes, metal pieces, and complete devices were piled up onto shelves and onto each other up until the very end of the room, where several desks lay with more room around them to move about.

"You... made all of this stuff?" Izuku couldn't help but look around at all of the devices, not a single clue as to what any of them did.

"Yup! Over the past decade pretty much," Mei said as she approached one of the desks, setting the two boxes they had brought down on it, then popping off her boots that had finally stopped sparking, placing them on the desk as well and instantly getting to work, fiddling with the bottom using a screwdriver. "They get less functional the closer you get to the entrance. The ones nearest to my workspace are my super super coolest babies!"

Izuku watched Mei begin to work, before his eyes trailed over towards something interesting on a nearby pile of scrap. He picked it up in his hands, examining its curved metal body and two metal rods sticking out of it. Compared to a lot of the things around, this one seemed to be made out of cleaner, sturdier material.

"What is this-"

One of the metal rods slid inside of the device automatically, and a whirring noise began to become louder and louder as Izuku stared down at it, fear rising in him. Suddenly Mei slapped rushed over and slapped it out of his hands, the device skittering across the ground before it began to send out bolts of electricity to the metal objects all around.

Izuku panicked and backed up as far as he could, careful not to touch anything metal around. "T-That seems dangerous…"

"Could you not do that," Mei spoke, walking over and simply grabbing the device with her gloved hand. The device began to smoke and turned off, as she examined it, before sighing and tossing it into a nearby pile of junk. "Well...You killed it. Are you happy with yourself?!"

Mei walked back to the desk, slamming her fist down on it. Izuku wasn't sure what to say, scratching his head and looking away.

"I'm sorry… I—"

He was taken off guard as Mei suddenly lit up again, happily smirking as she rushed towards him and began to measure him with a measuring tape she had grabbed from the desk. Before Izuku could do anything about it, Mei stepped away, nodding to herself.

"Right right, that'll do," she said to herself as she began to rummage through the box of scraps they had brought with them.

"What was that for?" Izuku watched as she began to methodically lay out the pieces of her previous failed experiment, a thoughtful expression on her face.

"Well," Mei began, grabbing some goggles and putting them on, "Since you killed my baby, I think I'll have you test something for me."

Test! Izuku couldn't help but remember how Mei had supposed 'blown herself across town' with her last test. That walk from the school took us nearly an hour… Wait, what time is it?

Izuku looked around for a clock of some sort, not daring to touch anything. Somehow that was the one gadget that was not present in the workshop, but based on how low the Sun had gotten when they arrived, he could only assume it was about to be dark out.

I should really go, but this is a rare opportunity, he thought as he gazed at all of the heaps of stuff around. A peak at what I can do if I believe I can make it!

"Done!"

As Mei called out, Izuku snapped out of his thoughts and looked back at her, shocked to find that she had reassembled the failed experiment from before. It looked like a metal backpack with two wings on either side, with downward-facing jets on either side. She wiped sweat from her brow as she gazed at it, smirking, then shot a glowing look over at Izuku.

"This is how you'll repay me~"

All Izuku could do was gulp.

"Don't worry about it, I made the modifications to fix it for sure this time~"

Mei's words weren't very encouraging as Izuku wore the device outside of the workshop, sweating nervously.

"I-I don't feel like this is a good idea," he spoke up with a shaky voice.

Mei let out a laugh and patted the device on his back. "That's why we test things!~"

How's that supposed to make me feel better?! Izuku thought.

"So you just have to hold onto the straps and clutch the button righttt there," she pointed out to him. The front metal straps of the device only had one button on each side. "When both are held down, it'll propel you up depending on how hard you press it. Go on!"

Izuku looked at the buttons and nervously clutched the straps, letting out a slow breath to try to calm his nerves.

What am I doing…?

He pressed the buttons softly, and felt his body jolt up. He let out a yell of shock, closing his eyes and flailing his legs a bit as he felt the ground leave him.

"Hey! It's working great!"

Izuku opened one eye, then the other as he saw that he was hovering only a couple of feet above the ground. Mei was beaming at the sight. He looked over at the two engines on either wing of the device, seeing a sort of faint blue glow emanating from them, with no sight of flames or smoke or anything.

"H-How does this work?" Izuku didn't dare move much, but he found he was easily able to turn in mid-air to face Mei.

"Oh, you know, magnetic propulsion and stuff, simple," she answered, walking around him to examine the device in action. "By now this is when it failed and sent me sky high!~"

Hearing that. Izuku let go of the buttons and let himself drop to his feet. Sighing at the relief of the solid ground beneath him.

"T-That's amazing… How do you get to the point where you can make this stuff so easily?"

Mei chuckled and pointed towards her head. "Lots and lots of hard work and no sleep!"

That's… Just a normal thing someone would say about anything, he thought, staring at her in disbelief. If she can do anything she wants by applying herself fully, then so can I!

After removing the device and handing it to Mei, Izuku cleared his throat to speak up.

"I was wondering… Um… How does the Support class work exactly?"

Mei was already fiddling with the device as she answered, "Hmm well they make the costumes and devices and training equipment for the Hero students, but that's not the reason most are there."

"There's another reason..?"

"Of course there is! The fame and fortune that comes from being the #1 inventor, the #1 costume designer, and the #1 support Hero," Mei exclaimed excitedly.

"Support hero? That's—" Izuku put a hand to his chin, thinking for a moment. "Is something like that possible?"

Mei shrugged, looking up at the sky that was being filled with stars as the sunlight finally faded away.

"There's lots of heroes out there whose abilities don't do much in a fight~ My own quirk is the same way, so I use it to my fullest for what I do!"

"I-I see, I…. I should get going, before it gets too late," Izuku said with a small smile.

"Huh, I guess so. I might need another power nap soon," Mei spoke with a yawn, which she brushed off as she let out a chuckle, still fiddling with the hovering device. "Oops, I didn't quite fix the issue. This baby was a few seconds away from a repeat failure~"

Izuku didn't even want to think about nearly being blown up, so he said his goodbyes and left.

I would've never thought about other ways to be a Hero before, he thought on his way home. With inventions like that, couldn't anyone become great? Maybe not as a great as All Might, but…

When he got home, Izuku simply explained he helped someone with school work, before quickly heading up to his room.

Something was filling his mind now, and he couldn't get it out. He set his bag down and took out his hero journal, flipping to the page where he had detailed his own Hero costume.

I want to be as strong and dependable as All Might, Izuku thought as he stared at the drawing, taking a pencil out. But what if I could go beyond that? I could help everyone!

Furious scribbling occured from Izuku's room for the next while, only pausing when he went to eat dinner. Izuku didn't stop himself til he couldn't move his hand anymore and collapsed onto his nearby bed, falling asleep for the night.

On the next page after his Hero costume, Izuku had drawn something new, something that now seemed more achievable than ever to him—

His new path to being a Hero.

Midoriya Izuku

"Support Hero Suit"

To Be Continued

Next Chapter: The Path to U.A