This document beta'd by kylekatarn77
18: Who's On First
Sometimes two people find each other with broken foundations, and they build something together as a team to make a foundation that is indestructible.
-Swapna Rajput
"Right. That's enough for today," Aizawa said, wrapping his capture weapon back over his body.
Groaning, Izuku forced himself from his back into a sitting position from the dusty blue mats on the floor of Gym Gamma. Shinso just sank down into a squat, breathing hard. Both boys were battered and bruised after over an hour of hard full contact sparring with each other and Mr. Aizawa. They'd finally graduated from learning how to take a punch to learning how to both give and receive, though it was a painful process.
"Aww, you didn't even let Izuku use any of our babies," Mei complained.
Aizawa glanced at Mei, frowning slightly. He typically gave the impression that he was faintly irritated with Mei, though Izuku had noted he always asked where she was whenever she didn't attend. "Anyway, I'm giving you next week off. With final exams, I want you focused on your studies."
"Thank God," Shinso groaned. "I feel like I haven't studied at all."
"Well, you have Sunday to remedy that. And I'll say this: if you fail, I'm not going to allow you to attend the summer training camp."
"Summer training camp?" Izuku asked, suddenly perking up.
"The Hero course classes are going to be attending a special week long training camp in the forest. I'm considering allowing the three of you to attend," Aizawa stated.
Mei looked up. "You mean, I get to come too? But I'm not training to be a hero."
"You're essential to Izuku's training, considering you've basically substituted for a quirk in his case," Aizawa said with a shrug. "When the others are undergoing quirk training, I expect the two of you to be stress testing the equipment in the field. If you're not there to help with repairs and modifications, there's no real point to Izuku coming. So, you both have to pass your exams."
"Even English?" Mei prodded.
Aizawa just stared back with his blood shot eyes, and Mei let out a long sigh. "Fine, I'll actually study this time. I did last year with Izuku anyway so I remember how."
"Of course you never had to study before," Shinso grumbled. "I suppose you're just naturally talented at everything."
"Nope! I'm really bad at English and I'm not very good at fighting. Do you remember when Bakugo beat me up? That was really painful!" Mei said cheerily.
Shinso blinked. "I suppose that's what I get for complaining. What about me, sir?"
"You've got plenty of ways you can work to improve your quirk. The number of ways you can control people. Disguising your voice with that voice modulator Mei's making, and so on."
"Will there be a workshop for us?" Izuku asked curiously.
Aizawa nodded. "We're bringing in things special for you. Give a list of what you think you'll need to Maijima and he'll make sure it's there. Oh, and bring things to help the other first years with their own quirks. It's a good opportunity to work with them to create helpful gear."
"You really seem to be going out of your way for us," Izuku said nervously. "I don't want to inconvenience you."
"Not at all. There's some things going on in the background. You know about Stain and the League of Villains?" Aizawa asked.
Shinso blanched. "Yeah. The message boards have discussed it endlessly. Rumor has it the League is recruiting, and they've found some really nasty characters to join up with them who support Stain's ideology. Rumor has it they have both Muscular and Moon Fish now."
"Really?" Aizawa said, sounding interested. "That's something I haven't heard. Come by my office later. I'd like to talk to you about where you're getting this information, Shinso. It would be good to have."
"It's just a bunch of people I know online from when I used to frequent some shady places. I still communicate with them," Shinso admitted, looking rather guilty.
"Sounds like you've managed to cultivate your own little information network. That's valuable to any hero. Like I said, come talk to me after school. For now, the two of you go get healed up with Recovery Girl before class today," Aizawa ordered. "I've got exams to write."
"Hey Shinso, want to study with us?" Mei asked as they left Gym Gamma.
Shinso glanced at Mei, eyebrows raised. "Wouldn't you rather spend that time alone with your boyfriend? I'm not going to hang out with you two if the study sessions are going to turn into make out sessions."
"What's the point if you're not trying to make out what the math answers are? Do you already know them?" Mei asked, slightly confused.
"That's not...sure. I'll study with you. Beats doing it on my own, I suppose," Shinso said with a sigh. "As long as you don't mind, Midoriya. I suppose you don't know what a make out session is either?"
"Um, not exactly. Mei and I...we uh, well, Mr. Aizawa said nothing past first base and we've sort of been sticking to that," Izuku mumbled.
"We don't like baseball anyway. Mr. Kan got really upset when I tried to give the baseball team a rocket bat so we don't try to play it anymore," Mei told Shinso.
"You know, the funny thing is, that's really not the most complete non sequitur you've told me this week," Shinso remarked. "When and where are we having this little session?"
"Um, we could meet at my place," Izuku offered. "My mom always makes snacks and stuff and she said she'd like to meet you after seeing us work together at the sports festival. Maybe tomorrow afternoon?"
"Sounds good," Shinso agreed. "My grades aren't too bad but I really don't want to miss out on this summer camp deal. It's our chance to really integrate with the Hero Course and prove ourselves to them personally."
The study sessions went well. Mei as usual found them boring, but Shinso was a hard worker who kept his focus. It was also fun, just hanging out with friends. After they were done, they watched another terrible movie, this time a Japanese Dub of Batman and Robin from back in the 20th century. At first Shinso looked irritated at Mei and Izuku's running commentary, but once he realized the movie was a complete disaster he joined in with gusto.
Shinso nodded at the screen and grinned wickedly at Izuku. "Mei, do you think you could make a hero costume like Batman's for Izuku?"
"Probably," Mei said with a shrug. "It doesn't look that complicated."
"Make sure his has nipples on it," Shinso said, putting his hands over his own chest. "It really ties the piece together."
"Sure, as long I can make your costume look like Poison Ivy's," Izuku shot back. "You'd look great with eyebrow extensions and blue eyeliner."
Shinso gave Izuku a murderous glare, then burst out laughing, and everyone joined in.
"A Bat Credit Card? Seriously? His power isn't being rich!" Izuku complained later.
"I think it is!" Mei laughed. "I did the numbers on all the stuff he's got, and even considering today's technology his own jet and custom car would be billions of yen! He's not even a good detective in this movie, he's just some rich idiot!"
The next day exams began, and at first Izuku was nervous as always, fretting over each answer and biting at his nails and pencil. But then he'd hear Mei humming away in the background, and glance over to see her working away, relaxed and confident as always. It calmed his nerves somewhat, and despite how busy he'd been, Izuku felt fairly confident in the answers he put down.
Like Mei, Shinso didn't seem nervous at all in their lunch and after school cram sessions, spending a good bit of his time sniping at Mei and Izuku both.
"Seriously, Izuku. You write with these?" Shinso asked, holding up a gnawed pencil with thumb and forefinger. "It looks like a rat got at it. You just like the taste of them or what?"
"N-nervous habit," Izuku admitted, feeling embarrassed.
"And Mei, do you have to keep humming? Some of us are trying to think," Shinso complained.
"I know. That's why I do it," Mei replied, and kept right on humming.
Shinso tried to look irritated, but Izuku saw the smile tugging at the other boy's mouth. He was starting to realize that sarcasm and pithy remarks were how Shinso expressed affection. Shinso also left a box of gum for Izuku with a note that read, "Always helps me." It made Izuku smile, and Mr. Maijima turned out not to care if Izuku chewed gum as long as he properly disposed of it.
The most important exam though wasn't the pen and paper one, but the evaluation Mr. Maijima gave of the items created over the course of the semester. Izuku saw for the first time the gear that his classmates had been working on, and was shocked at how basic it seemed to him. They had sewn costumes for the Hero Course students and modified them, or made small devices like basic radios or other gear. Mr. Maijima praised some of it and gave pointers to all of them, ranking the students by their contributions to the class. Then, he called Izuku and Mei up to the front.
"Now, you all remember at the start of the semester when I told you all to come to these two for help? Well, I've noticed most of you haven't been doing that. So, now you're all about to see just what they've made."
"That's so not fair!" Kata complained. "They're both super geniuses! Midoriya even won the sports festival with that robot. They had to have someone help them, how could two kids even make something like that?"
"It's not a robot!" Mei snapped. "The Power Suit is an exoskeletal strength and agility enhancing platform with built in modular systems!"
"And we did build it!" Izuku said, feeling somewhat offended that anyone would imagine that Mei would lie about something like this. "Look, see, we took off the front panel here. Now, the power source is a modified new line Mitsubishi double reaction plant that produces…"
Izuku walked the class through the electrical systems and wiring of the Power Suit, from the main engine that used both a battery back up and a double reaction plant, to the separate power banks that each modular hook up in the suit used. He also described how the electrical systems were integrated into the control scheme, and the neural interface along with vocal commands that could activate the systems. "It took a long time to work the bugs out. We're still chasing a few, sometimes if I have a stuffy nose or pitch my voice wrong it takes the system too long to respond and we still get a cascading error if you string more than three commands in a row that results in it skipping every other command. Um, that's about it from my end. Any questions?"
Izuku finally looked up from the Power Suit, and saw the class staring at him with open mouthed shock. Kata's eye stalks had retreated most of the way into his head. Mr. Maiijima developed a sudden coughing fit, turning his face away. Izuku caught a gleam of humor in his eyes though.
"Right! Now I'll explain the hydraulics, servos, and motorized assists! You see, the suit amplifies the user's motions, using the sensors along with a haptic feedback mechanism. The tricky part is not over-applifying the users motions in a way that could cause harm. Izuku has a lot of bruises and sprains from that! Now, the hydraulics here are made out of a special alloy we created, using a mixture of…"
Mei went on well past the end of school bell, but none of the others left. Mei even called them up to examine different subsystems and help her open various panels to examine the guts. By the time they were finished, even Kata was suitably impressed. "And...and you made this all on your own?" he kept asking.
Mei never got annoyed with the question, but always answered, "No, Izuku helped me! He made this part in the machine shop, and this one he modified slightly to allow the wiring to house better, and here he-"
A part of Izuku was shocked to realize just how much he had contributed to the Power Suit. As Mei repeatedly stated, "I could build some super cute babies on my own! But to build the most amazingly cute ones like this I need Izuku's help! It's always best to have a partner! Even if yours won't be as good as mine because I already took Izuku."
When Mei finally wound down, Mr. Maijima had the others return to their seats. "Now, I want you all to understand, what Mei and Izuku have built is so far above what I would normally expect from students that I won't hold you to that standard. At least, not this semester. But now, you've seen what's possible. Next time around, I expect to see something truly incredible from you all. And remember: even if Izuku and Mei are the weirdest of this odd bunch, you can learn something from them. Dismissed, final grades will be posted tomorrow."
For once, Mr. Maijima kicked Mei and Izuku out immediately, stating that he needed to finish grading the projects and didn't want them banging around. They left with the others, but instead of ignoring Izuku and Mei as usual, their classmates crowded around and asked questions about how they could improve their own designs.
"Well, um, your radio set wasn't bad, but I noticed the batteries you were using were a bit underpowered. Maybe if you tried-"
"Look, you can't just make something normal! It has to be super cute! So when you make the costume, remember that baby is for that person! Look up their quirk, but don't just think about how they use it now! Think about what you could make their quirk do if you made something especially awesome for them!"
They chatted with their classmates for several minutes, until everyone had to leave for dinner or other events. Izuku and Mei headed back to her house, as Mei was determined they spend at least a little time working on one of their projects.
"I have a surprise for you!" Mei said as they entered into her workshop. "Ta-da! Behold, Super Cute Baby number 189! I call it Rice CRISPR!"
She pointed to a large boxy device with several trays and holes in it. Several of the holes had glass tubes filled with clear fluid in them. Izuku walked over, and on the screen he saw a series of letters and numbers. Most of the letters were seemingly random patterns of A, T, C, or G, and after a long moment, it clicked.
"It's a DNA sequencer!" Izuku gasped. He turned to Mei, stunned. "You built an entire gene sequencer on your own?"
"Well I had to read a few things online and study a few articles, but once I figured out the basic process it only took me a few days to find some old medical testing junk and modify it! Daddy drove me out to the dump and we spent two hours finding some for me to cannibalize! I did it on Sunday before our study session."
"Mei, what is this for?" Izuku asked, baffled.
"To figure out what Togata's quirks are, obviously! Now, I need some of your DNA," Mei said, grabbing Izuku. She pressed her face close to his, her breath on Izuku's mouth.
Somehow, Izuku responded without thinking. He opened his mouth slightly, and pressed his lips to Mei, drawing her close. She instantly molded herself to him, wrapping her body about his. Her goggles dug into Izuku's forehead, but he hardly noticed. They were about the same height, so Izuku didn't have to bend down or up at all. After a long moment, Izuku had to pull back, gasping for breath.
Mei was panting as well, her face suddenly flushed. "I-Iazuku."
"S-sorry," Izuku muttered, trying to take a step back. But Mei was clinging to him tightly. "I...I didn't mean to-"
"Me neither," Mei admitted. "That wasn't what I meant though. I didn't need your DNA in me. I meant this." Mei held up a cotton swab, and Izuku realized she had meant to use it to scrap the inside of his mouth.
"O-oh, oh God! Mei, I'm so sorry!" Izuku stammered, again trying to separate himself, but Mei clung even tighter.
"No, that was nice. We should do it again," Mei said. And immediately locked her lips onto Izuku's again. This time, Izuku fell onto the floor, knocked off balance by the sudden onslaught. Thankfully he fell into a pile of Mei's laundry, which meant he was only slightly stunned. Mei just pressed herself onto him harder, continuing this kiss far longer. More than a little DNA was passed between them, until Mei suddenly drew back.
Before Izuku knew what was happening, she'd poked the cotton swab into his still open mouth and gave it a thorough swirl. Then she stood up, took out a fluid filled vial, and dropped the cotton swab into it before inserting the whole thing into one of the holes in her homemade gene sequencer.
"There!" Mei said happily. "Now I have a control group!"
"W-what?" Izuku stammered, his mind still reeling. He let out a gasp of air when Mei jumped on top of him.
"You don't have a quirk! So I can use this to isolate the QR.16 gene!" Mei explained as she tossed her goggles aside and lay down on Izuku's chest. "It's going to take a few weeks I think. I already have mine, daddy's, mommy's, the brats, and Hari's in here. Also Togata's and Shinso's, I grabbed some of their hair."
"Oh," Izuku said, slowly folding his arms about Mei. "Um, sorry about that. I, er, didn't mean to steal your first kiss."
"I don't think you can steal my first kiss, I kissed mom and dad a lot when I was little," Mei said, grinning as she looked down at Izuku. "But it was nice. Can we do it again?"
"Yes," Izuku whispered. And moved his head up to meet Mei's again.
So, of course, that was how Mei's brothers found them when they ran in to call both of them for dinner.
"EWWWW!" they screeched in unison.
"Mom, dad, Izuku and Mei are kissing!" Hiroki yelled as he ran out.
Komaru made gagging sounds as he watched Izuku scramble to stand up, which Mei wasn't making any easier as she tried to throw her laundry at her brother.
"You're not supposed to be in here!" Mei yelled. "This is mine and Izuku's room!"
"Izuku, you got Mei's undies on your head!" Nikiwa laughed as he dodged a smelly shirt. He ran off after his older brother, still taunting Izuku and Mei.
"Oh no," Izuku groaned. "Your dad is going to kill me."
"He better not, I looked it up. That counts as first base in baseball. Why did no one tell me baseball was so much fun? But why do you need so many players on a team? That seems really complicated and I wouldn't want to kiss all of them," Mei complained.
That made Izuku blush an even deeper red as he quickly removed Mei's laundry from himself and dropped it back on the floor. To his surprise, neither Mei's mother nor father nor even her sister came to yell at them, and when they made their way up to dinner no one aside from the still sniggering boys seemed to think much of it.
At last, Komaru glared at his father and demanded, "Aren't they going to get into trouble?"
"Were their clothes still on?" Mr. Hatsume said, his eyes on his plate.
"Well yeah," Komaru said, scrunching up his face. "But they were kissing."
"They're teenagers who are dating. I'd be worried if they weren't doing that with some regularity," Mr. Hatsume said. "Mind your own business."
"That was actually the first time!" Mei said excitedly, which made her father and sister cough and splutter, but her mother let out a long suffering sigh. Izuku wondered if he could crawl under the low table and die.
"Well it was really gross," Nikiwa commented. "You shouldn't do that where people can see."
Mei glared at her brother. "Maybe brats shouldn't come into my laboratory!"
"I thought it was your workshop?" Nikiwa complained.
"Well now I'm doing biology and chemistry so it's a laboratory!" Mei huffed.
"Just as long as all your experiments keep your clothes on," Mrs. Hatsume said, a small smile on her lips.
"I always wear proper PPE in the lab! And so does Izuku!" Mei protested. She then shook her head. "But we had to take the goggles off to kiss. They got in the way."
"That seems very practical," Mr. Hatsume said faintly. "Just, um, make sure you're not using the, um, other kind of protective equipment."
"You mean gloves? But that could contaminate the samples!" Mei protested, a horrified expression on her face.
"We, um, we'll keep it at first base," Izuku managed, his face feeling as though he'd been out in the sun for a week.
"Now that's something I never thought I'd hear," Hari chuckled. "My little sister learning how to play baseball. I thought you hated sports."
"It was actually very fun. You should try it sometime, Hari! Maybe you and Togata or Shinso could play! I bet they'd be good at it," Mei mused.
Now it was Hari's time to blush, and Mr. Hatsume to burst out laughing. "I think maybe your sister has more experience than you think, Mei," he said, wiping tears from his eyes.
Hari looked down and muttered something Izuku didn't catch, but Mei clearly did.
"Well if you can't find the right person to play with, you should meet some of my friends! I bet they'd be good at it," Mei prompted.
"So, what are your plans for summer?" Mrs. Hatsume said brightly. "I know you have that summer camp, but what else will the two of you be doing?"
"Oh, that's easy! We're going to isolate the quirk gene and figure out how Togata got two!" Mei explained. "I still think he got his from All Might."
"Togata is All Might's son?!" Hari said, looking up in shock. "I thought...didn't you say he was the student training Izuku? He's Lemillion, right, the guy who captured Stain?"
"Yeah, he's super cool!" Nikiwa said eagerly. "You can bring him over so we can meet him, right?"
"T-t-they're not related," Izuku explained hastily. "Um, Mei just noticed that Togata's quirk seems to be manifesting similarly to All Mights."
"And they're both blond with funny eyes!" Mei added. "I bet if I got some of All Might's DNA I could prove their quirks are the same! Maybe he is All Might's son!"
"You should totally bring him over!" Komaru exclaimed. "He can sign my action figures and comic books!"
"He's really funny, he always makes jokes," Mei went on. "And he's really strong! I'm still a little mad he beat up our super cute baby though...but he did use our foam to do it so at least he showed how our babies are both amazing!"
"Wow. Funny, strong, and famous? I'm not usually into younger guys, but at least tell me he's 18," Hari sighed.
"Hari, he's still in school," Mrs. Hatsume said sternly. "You're much too old for him."
"I'm only 20," Hari grumbled. "I'm not a Christmas Cake yet."
"There's cake? Where? Is it caramel? I love caramel, you know that!" Mei said eagerly.
That resulted in Hari actually baking a cake with Mei's frantic encouragement. As Izuku well knew, anything that Mei made herself would be the sort of thing Izuku wouldn't feed to a sick dog, let alone himself or his girlfriend. Mei would scarf it down happily enough if she were hungry though, which meant that Izuku made sure he did all the cooking. Mei seemed to think combining different things that tasted good at random was fine, then laughed that it tasted awful and ate it anyway.
As for Hari, she simply followed the directions on the box of cake mix, competently combining ingredients and following directions, though not in any inspired way. Izuku helped out; he was no culinary genius but Hari trusted him not to try to put in shoyu or cayenne pepper because he liked them in isolation, so why not in a cake?
Mei left after a few minutes to go back to the workshop, leaving Izuku and Hari alone in the kitchen.
"First kiss huh?" Hari said, carefully putting the cake into the oven and closing it.
"Um, yeah," Izuku admitted. "She, um, wanted my DNA, and, well, she was really close and I thought-"
"Please tell me that isn't a metaphor," Hari groaned.
"No, um, she wanted to swab my mouth," Izuku explained as he stirred the pot he was using to make the caramel frosting. "I'm, er, the control group. Since, you know, I'm quirkless. She's trying to identify the genes that create quirks. Um, Shinso and her had an argument. She thinks somehow All Might gave his quirk to Togata so he has two now."
"Well I'd say that's impossible and she's being silly, but frankly I've seen her make so much stuff I would have sworn is impossible I'm not going to rule it out," Hari said.
She sighed, leaning against the wall in the small kitchen. "You know, when I was a kid I dreamed about having another quirk. Sure, mine is useful and all, but well, it's not cool. I can't fly or shoot lasers or turn into a monster or whatever. I never seriously wanted to be a hero like you do, but I daydreamed about it. Being quirkless...I can't imagine what you went through going up. Hard enough getting made fun of because my eyes look different."
"It was...bad," Izuku admitted, tapping the spoon on the side of the pot to get off the caramel mix. He put the lid on, letting it simmer for the prescribed time. "You know who Bakugo is. Well, he...he seemed to take offense that I existed sometimes. I-I wanted to be friends, we'd been friends when we were little, but...but he saw I was weak."
"You're not weak now," Hari said, poking Izuku in the ribs. That made him gasp in shock, and she laughed. "I'm not gonna lie, my sister picked out a hottie. You're not really my type, being a quiet nerd and all. You were a stick when we met, but damn if you didn't turn out to be a beefcake. You've got a lot of muscles on you now. I hope Mei appreciates it."
Izuku flushed and looked away, unsure of how to answer. Hari sighed. "Sorry. Don't mean to embarrass you, Izuku. It's just...I'm happy for the two of you. I mean, I worried about Mei. A lot. I had friends growing up. Sure, some kids made fun of me, but I fit in, especially with the kids who joined the automotive club. Even had a few boyfriends over the years, though nothing serious like the two of you. Now I spend so much damn time working I don't feel like I have the time for it. My last boyfriend turned out to be a real jerk, and...and you don't need to hear about my life. I'm the big sister, I'm supposed to give you advice, right?"
Izuku nodded, and Hari continued. "You know how Mei is. And that she has a hard time getting along with people. Seeing you come along, and now Shinso and this Togata...it's great. Mei has friends now. It'd be nice if she ever found some other girls to hang out with, but I'll take what I can get."
"Um, she hangs out with Ashido and Jiro at school sometimes," Izuku said. "They're in the Hero Course, but they come by the workshop to talk about their costumes and stuff with Mei. Mei made some gear for both of them, and I helped out their friend Kaminari with his quirk. They'll be at the summer camp, so maybe-"
Hari put her hands on Izuku's shoulder. "Izuku, if you can somehow get Mei to have a few girlfriends who she can hang out with that won't treat her like a freak, I give you my permission to marry my little sister."
Izuku went pale, then red, then pale again, his mouth opening and closing silently. Then he suddenly let out a yelp. "The frosting!"
Thankfully, the frosting hadn't burned, and after a little while they were indeed able to serve up a delicious caramel chocolate cake for dessert. The cake tasted good, and it was fun to eat with Mei's family, but the dessert made Izuku think of his taste of something sweeter, and that thought only made him blush.