It was the last day of UA's summer break. The League had a lot of work to do, but most of those plans and work didn't involve Toru. Her job had been completed. She had investigated new members, solidified an alliance with three new members (although in Dabi's case she believed that was unsteady).
Kurogiri brought Toru back to her household in the evening, 9 pm sharp, so they could have the maximum amount of time with her, even if they couldn't be open about the fact that she was there. He handed her the homework he had completed, politely.
"So…How did you truly feel about Compress, Twice and Dabi being introduced to you?" Kurogiri asked.
"I don't need to feel anything. But my observations likely mirror your own. Meeting Twice was useless since his ability didn't work on me anyway. If I had done just a little more observation into the nature of his quirk, perhaps I could have figured this out and avoided leaking such an important secret to him." Toru admitted.
Kurogiri nodded. "It wasn't your fault though. Twice has never met an invisible person before so we didn't know it wouldn't work. And he's a good person to know even without being…necessarily helpful."
"I don't agree. He's overly friendly and wants to prove his usefulness no matter what. He clings to the league like it's life or death—" Toru stated
"Like someone else I know." Kurogiri muttered under his breath.
"But overly friendly doesn't help me remain a secret. And to be a good spy I need to be a secret. It was my mistake to not do more strict quirk observations." Toru admitted. "I investigated Compress a decent amount, at least."
"And Dabi?" Kurogiri asked.
"It doesn't matter what I investigated about him. Master already knows everything." Toru tried to keep the bitterness out of her voice about the hard work she had put in.
"Do you trust them?" Kurogiri asked.
"Master trusts them. And that's all that matters." Toru pointed out. She didn't need to think for herself. "Why are you even asking me my opinion? You know I don't have one."
Kurogiri paused. She couldn't see his form since he was just a portal currently. She could just see the wisps of dark clouds drift in the air to signify that he was thinking. "I was hoping…That with more people surrounding you, you might have gained some thoughts of your own, and grown into a person."
"You know I wasn't a person last year during my year of middle school. Being around heroes won't change who I am." Toru reminded him.
"I wasn't speaking of your hero classmates. I was talking about the league. The atmosphere that they've taken up with new members…Well, it's kinda like a family, isn't it?" Kurogiri asked.
Toru didn't answer. She had no concept of what that was.
"As Shigaraki's caretaker it's my job to observe, same as you. But I was…hoping if you were introduced to a few members, you might have been dragged into that family. I suppose it couldn't happen though." Kurogiri sighed. "As you say you must remain a secret, so you can't form real bonds."
"You're Shigaraki's caretaker, not mine. You don't have to act like you're worried about me." Toru reminded harshly. "We are observers, nothing more. And from my observations, the new members aren't the league's family. They're pieces; pieces that Master can use against All Might. Thinking of them as your friends will just hurt you, Kurogiri, if this plan fails and they all get arrested." Toru reminded.
"No, they aren't my friends. I just…observe them and take care of them." Kurogiri agreed. "It just still puzzles me how you can be less human than me. I'm not sure if it's right."
"You don't need to think, neither of us do." Toru reminded.
The doorbell of Toru's house started ringing, repeatedly. That was weird. There were no deliveries that should have been for her house. None of her school friends knew her address. UA's staff did, but there was no precedent for them visiting the student's homes in the middle of break.
Was it someone lost? Perhaps Toru should ignore it.
"You should leave, Kurogiri. I need to get dressed so I can deal with that." Toru told him sternly.
Kurogiri didn't seem willing to leave, having not finished their disagreement. "What if that's some hero from UA who's been sent to observe the student's houses? I should remain here if I need to portal you away. I believe your safety is important to the league as a whole—" He went into a spiel.
Toru went through her dresser to find some cute girl clothes to quickly put on. "I will be fine. You being here will make me guilty almost immediately. I can handle this." She told him.
Black smoke drifted towards her. "…What are you doing?" Toru stopped organizing a cute outfit.
"I was going to cover you with a dark cloud to give you privacy to get dressed. I'll hide and teleport away once I know you're safe. My job was to teleport you home safely and neither of us do half-done missions. You know All for One would not approve of it." Kurogiri reminded her.
Did Kurogiri always have an ability to cover people while they got dressed? Toru couldn't remember seeing him use that, but she had never seen Shigaraki get dressed. Perhaps he had finally gotten uncomfortable watching nothing put on clothes.
I thought he was just a warp gate, but I guess he has other aspects to his quirk too. Toru thought.
She didn't argue anymore and got dressed. She went downstairs to deal with the doorbell. Kurogiri's portal hid on the ceiling.
The doorknob was now jiggling as if someone was trying to break in.
A burglar? Really unlucky day for them…Kurogiri will portal them somewhere they'll never return from. Toru thought. They really should have chosen literally any other house, even if Kurogiri wasn't there, Toru could have eliminated some average robber on her own.
She opened the door quickly, about to strike, but was surprised to see a familiar face crouched down and tinkering with her door lock.
It was Mei Hatsume, bobby pin in her mouth and crouching with some screwdrivers. Once the door lock and door were removed from her, she stopped tinkering and looked up.
"Oh! Good! I thought perhaps you hadn't heard the doorbell. I thought it was a good idea to enter the house and greet you there if you couldn't hear. I really should make a baby for lockpicking instead of trying it myself though." Mei laughed.
Toru raised an arm behind her and made a gesture for Kurogiri to leave. Mei didn't seem to notice. She walked outside to speak to Mei closing the door behind her so Mei couldn't enter her house.
I know she didn't try to break into my house out of something malicious. She just lacks knowing that's not something people usually do. Toru thought.
"Um…Mei, I'm glad to see you…But could you not try to break into my house in the future if I'm not there please?" Toru begged. Mei might discover something suspicious if she decided to do a full-scale investigation.
Mei smiled as if she didn't fully realize what the problem was but could tell Toru really meant the plea. "No problem! Strict parents or something?"
"I just don't like people breaking into my house. Most people…Uhh don't, in fact." Toru admitted.
Mei's smile fell for a second as if she had done something wrong.
"I might not be home when you come by after all! I'd hate to miss you." Toru tried to smooth things over.
"Oh!" Mei pounded on her fist. "Good point. And you might have been busy. When I'm working on my babies, I'm in my own little world. I got it! No breaking in, ever!" She yelled as if she had cracked a code.
No social skills, I see…Toru didn't actually mind the fact that Mei was all too up in her face and lacked social skills. If she hadn't studied social skills, she would likely lack them herself. Maybe she felt like Mei was closer to her real level than others based on that.
"Um…Wait, I never told you where I live, Mei. How do you know my address? Sorry…I'm just still very surprised to see you." Surprised was the understatement of the century.
"I asked Power Loader to get your address from the faculty staff office before vacation started." Mei confessed.
I see UA's giving out student's personal information if other students ask. That's not fishy at all. Toru thought to herself. Honestly it was really concerning. "You could have just asked…" Toru pointed out. Not like I would have given it.
"I told Power Loader about how you were my pet project!" Mei seemed to dive into an explanation of why UA had given her Toru's address. "He wasn't super thrilled about me designing you a hero suit since I don't have my provisional design license—for designing in emergencies, and work studies, but then I told him that if I couldn't visit you over break I guess I had to work at UA the whole break on your costume-And he told me it wasn't a crime to visit a friend and gave me your address." Mei explained.
So, in otherwards, she threatened him, and he was so afraid of the idea of Mei staying at school for a month he handed her my address and allowed her to do what she wanted. Toru translated. Still didn't really answer why Mei was here at 9 pm at night.
"Were you really willing to stay at school for a month to work on my costume?" Toru asked, "What about your family? Wouldn't they miss you?"
Mei waved a hand, "I love them lots and lots, but they understand when I have to do something more important." She shrugged.
And I'm…More important? No wait, working on my costume is. It's Mei's passion project now. Toru didn't mind that, a part of her was grateful that Mei really was going to help her. Was she here for more measurements?
"You know, Mei, you can just call me when you want to visit me instead of breaking in as a surprise." Toru pointed out, preferring to be prepared next time.
Mei looked directly at her, "I forgot I had your number!" She laughed. "It's always surprising to know a girl's given me her number!"
Sometimes Toru didn't understand Mei, but apparently many people didn't. I hope she doesn't mean that in a sad 'she has no friends' way. She's smart and cool and a lot more genuine than me. So, she should have a ton more friends than me.
Toru rubbed her arm. Had Kurogiri left yet? There was an awkward silence between them since Toru still wasn't exactly sure what Mei was here for.
"How do you get a provisional design license, so that you don't get in trouble working on things for me?" She asked, trying to break the silence.
"I complete this huge design test that's held twice a year. It's something you have to take in the support test, but it's apparently really hard. I heard you have to complete obstacle courses while making something out of just the materials required and there's some sabotage—" Mei was speaking excitedly. "No first year has ever passed!"
"Then I'm sure you'll be the first, with your talents." Toru complimented.
Mei beamed from ear to ear.
"Why's the licensing so tough?" Toru asked.
"Since there's so many support course companies they want to discourage more popping up, so they limit the number of new costume designers so that there's not a huge unemployment spike for that career path." Mei explained. She set down a bag she was carrying and started fumbling through it.
Should I just ask her what she's doing here? But…If she says she just wants to see me what do I say? That's not a crime and wouldn't be a problem if not the fact that Kurogiri almost portaled her above a cliff dropping her to her doom…Toru wasn't sure how to ask Mei what she was up to while discouraging future visits- for both their safety.
"Found it!" Mei finally said, having thrown various prototypes of things on the ground. Toru wasn't exactly sure what any of them did. One was a nail clipper that looked like it had been merged with a laser pointer, one was a huge glove, another was half a metal boot.
Mei pulled out two socks, not the same length and a plain white. There were strings coming out of one of them, it wasn't the neatest sewing job. One was thigh high, the other just above the knee. Even though they looked a little messy they were thick, probably warm.
"Aren't they just amazing? These are Number #1!" Mei bragged about her socks. She then practically forced them into Toru's hands.
Toru blinked as she looked at the socks. Why is she giving me socks? Is it my birthday? I forget what fake date I put in as my birthday…I think it was June and it's July. "Um…Thanks?" She didn't know what to say.
Mei frowned picking up on the confusion in Toru's voice. "Oh!" She slapped her head. "Can you see them? If you can see them that means you don't know…"
See…Wait…Are they invisible? Had Mei managed to do it? Thread her hair into a material and create an invisible clothing that Mei couldn't see but Toru could? "Omg. Mei, did you do it? Did you succeed?"
Mei grinned and blushed, scratching at her cheek. "Well, I'm not at the level of making real designs for your clothes, but I think I managed to make socks. This is just the first of what's to come."
"Thank you so much, Mei! These are amazing!" Toru was just happy she could wear anything.
"Don't you compliment me yet! A Hatsume product wouldn't just be invisible socks, although that's amazing in itself. I sewed in material that's light but defensive to keep your feet from being bruised easily when you're sneaking around while minimizing the footprint you leave. They're also made to keep you warm in cold weather, and resistant to fire!" Mei rambled and bragged.
"Wow…That's honestly amazing. That's more than amazing. This is phenomenal! The first invisible support item!" Toru was ecstatic.
"Of course, I haven't tested them yet…But I'm sure they work fine! Ha ha ha!" Mei laughed confidentially.
Anyone else would be extremely worried with those words, but Toru was just grateful the impossible was being granted to her. It didn't matter that the socks were mismatched or ugly, they were something she could wear. Was the emotion she was feeling happiness? Should she silence it or allow herself to feel grateful to Mei?
I don't have to risk cutting up my feet now on a mission. She added extra things that I didn't ask for to protect me. Even…If I don't matter, Mei Hatsume truly will be the greatest support item designer who ever lived. Toru thought.
She let herself embrace the mask that she was wearing. She opened her arms and hugged Mei tightly in gratitude so that perhaps Mei could see what wasn't illustrated on her face. "I don't care that you haven't tested them, these are amazing!"
Mei's face turned a little pink at being hugged. Perhaps she wasn't used to that reaction from her experiments. "That's why I had to come, Toru, with no warning. I had to show you them. I just finished them, and they make me so excited. I thought you would be excited too!"
"I am!" Toru agreed. She could tell now that Mei looked a little dirty, a little tired like she had worked herself non-stop on these. She didn't shy away from the dirt. That was hard work after all.
Mei pushed her off, grabbing her shoulders. "Well! Let's not wait! Try them on!" She demanded. "I want to see you in my new baby!"
Toru took off her socks and shoes outside, still a little too wary to invite Mei in. The house she lived in was fully furnished and designed so not to appear suspicious, but it didn't look fully lived in. It was like a dollhouse instead of a real house. And although Toru wouldn't worry about that with Mina, Mei was much smarter than her.
Toru put the new socks on and did a little spin to show them off to Mei.
"Oh! Oooh! I'm sure they look amazing on you!" Mei clapped. "I can't see them at all just like intended! Do they fit? I wanted to know if they fit so I could do adjustments immediately!"
"They fit, but they don't exactly match. One comes up to my knee-" Toru grabbed Mei's hand to show her where her knee was.
"Oh yes…Hmm… I wasn't very aware of your proportions, but you're definitely right it only comes up to the knee." Mei felt around her knee, having no regard for the fact that people didn't usually feel up someone's knee.
Toru didn't mind. She had brought her hand there after all. For some reason Mei touching her didn't bother her as much as other people.
"And the other comes up to my upper thigh-About here." She grabbed Mei's hand again and brought it to that height.
This time Mei did blush a little, she still felt it to mentally figure out where it was.
"Do you want them at the knee or thigh?" Mei asked.
"I'd prefer the thigh honestly. It offers more protection. Makes me feel a little less naked! Oh, but you don't have to fix them if you don't want to! I like them fine the way they are, even if they are mismatched!" Toru reassured her.
"Half the fun is fixing old things and making them better! I'm more than happy to revise it!" Mei beamed. She paused. "I'm sorry…I uhh…Couldn't make you underwear. That's the thing that you really need, right? And it's what really would make you less naked…Although that's not a whole lot better than fighting naked!" Mei laughed.
"It's all right—" Toru reassured.
"More complicated clothing has multiple holes and without my eyes I kept managing to make multiple holes. I rely on my eyes a lot and I need more practice on sewing blind. So, I thought socks would be easy. Oh! But I guess a skirt is easy too. I heard that's something people suggest as a beginner's sewing clothing. But it's harder to move in a skirt than pants so I don't know…I don't really like them all that much, but I guess you might—" Mei was rambling.
"I'm happy wearing whatever you design for me. I have no preference and give you full creative control." Toru said. It wasn't just because she trusted Mei, she literally didn't know what she wanted to wear.
Mei beamed. She was still rambling. "So, the problem with underwear is I don't really know much about them! I went to an underwear store and tried to touch all the ladies's underwear but didn't know your size and eventually someone called a hero on me, but the hero left after I told them it was for SCIENCE—" Mei was rambling.
Geez. She must have gotten a lot of weird looks. Mei likely didn't notice them. But who would be so awful to call a hero on her? Blind girls exist and need to touch underwear—and some underwear is scratchy. I bet the hero left when they realized she was just a girl and not some perverted old man. Not that Mei would have realized that. But what a terrible thing for someone to do just because she looked 'weird'.
"Anyway, can I borrow some of your underwear? I came by your house for that too! So, I can get to know your size and all." Mei said having a serious expression and straight face. She stared at the door behind Toru, waiting to be invited in so she could pillage Toru's clothing for inspiration.
Her request is understandable and would benefit me. But…I don't want to let her in. Her mind was circling in paranoia at what could be left out of place that Mei's masterful eyes would pick up on. Wisps of Kurogiri's smoke? Her secret storage door under the sofa? It was too dangerous.
"Sure. Let me just go get you some of my clothing." Toru told Mei. She put her hand up to stop her from following. "My parents don't let me have guests at home anymore after I threw too wild of a party in middle school. I'll be real quick."
Mei nodded. "Okay! I just need your clothes! I don't need to go into your house!" She fully believed Toru's story.
Toru felt a bit bad for lying. She dashed inside her house and up to her room.
Kurogiri was gone. He must have had enough common sense to see that it was a high school age girl at Toru's door and must have been one of her fake friends. She was glad for that. She really didn't want him spying on her and Mei.
She grabbed various items of clothing in her dresser. All sorts of things so Mei could accurately memorize her size. A few of them she hadn't yet used in her game of pretend and still had the price tags on them, so she tore them off.
She put the clothes in a bag and ran downstairs to Mei. "Here!" She handed her the items.
"Thanks! This will be very helpful!" Mei smiled. "I can't wait for these to be the prototypes for my next babies hehehe."
Toru didn't comment on the over-the-top laughing. I hope she doesn't get in trouble with her family for bringing some girl's clothes and just her clothes, home with her. Mei's family likely knew what type of clothes their daughter wore, and it wasn't anything like what Toru had handed her.
Mei took the socks she had created back so she could make the revisions at home. "When I give these to you again, they'll be perfect!" She boasted. "And then you'll have…at least something of a hero costume."
"Since you're unlicensed do you want me to make them part of my hero costume secretly? And then when you pass your exam I can be like 'I'm wearing a Mei Hatsume design ohoho!" Toru fake laughed in performance.
Mei kept grinning from ear to ear. "That'll help! Don't want them to be taken away!"
Toru nodded. "I'm good at doing these secretly." She assured. "This will be a secret between us, for now."
Mei grabbed Toru's hand and gripped it, like the pact had been made. "I've never had a secret with a friend before! Well, I've never had a friend before, so this will be exciting!" She looked super excited.
She's never had a friend before? Why? Mei's lived a normal life unlike me…Toru's lip trembled, although Mei couldn't see it.
Mei's hand reached up to pat Toru's head. Even without the facial expressions she had somehow picked up on her pity. Perhaps Toru's hand had tightened. "It's all right. I just didn't have friends because I was busy working on my babies. Nothing to be sad about."
I wonder if she was ignored by her peers…Mei is a little weird, she was probably too much for them. "It's an honor to be your first friend, Mei."
Mei smiled. "See? I'm fine now! I have you. And you let me create new babies. You're my muse! Who else can say their friend doubles as a muse?" She chattered.
I haven't had any friends either, Mei. If it makes you feel better. She had friends in class A, but she considered them fake. They were for the mission. Her relationship with Mei wasn't required of her, but she still tried not to consider her a full friend. People had friends. She didn't. Still, she felt similarity to Mei.
"I'm sure you'll have a lot more friends in the future, Mei. Like Midoriya…Uraraka, Tokoyami…Iida." Toru named all the people Mei had interacted with at the sports festival. She wasn't sure if Iida would stop being angry at her, but Midoriya and Uraraka were a good bet.
Mei nodded hurriedly. She could probably do that. "I should probably get going! Oh, before I forget can I have more hair? For practice?"
Toru chuckled. Mei handed her a pair of scissors she had already prepared, and Toru handed her some more hair.
"Thanks! Excited to see you again when school starts!" Mei waved. And with that she was gone.
I hope she has a good time with her experiments. And…Hopefully I'll still be alive to see her when school starts. Toru thought.
The camp raid was upon her. She shook thoughts of Mei out of her head.
Yay! Finished all the summer break chapters before surgery.
Anyway this chapter is here because I had to update the Mei plotline and she hasn't been in the story for awhile since she's not a part of class A and thus it's harder to squeak her in.
In my original chapter before edits Dabi was here! He had followed Toru home because he found her suspicious because even if Shigaraki said she was the league's spy he didn't trust her because she was in Class A (with Todoroki) anyway he picked a fight with her and the two fought mirroring the battle between Todoroki and Toru earlier in the first combat exercise, so that Toru could use the techniques she thought she would use against Todoroki if it was a real battle. All for One stopped them though via a phone call with Dabi and then his connection with Dabi was revealed.
I changed the order of things though and cut that. For example, the Todoroki family house visit originally took place AFTER that, but I moved it up to during the investigation phase and then the only way Toru wouldn't have outed Dabi as a Todoroki was via All for One's orders.
Anyway, I hope the edits and rearranging of scenes flows better than my original idea. Rip to the Toru and Dabi fight though.