Disclaimer: I do not own My Hero Academia. This really is a labour of love.
Izuku Midoriya, or rather his Double, was pumped. Second day at U.A., and he was already hyped and ready for action! Phase Two of the plan seemed to be coming along nicely so far. With Mastermind having attacked while he was at school, he'd created an alibi just in case somebody was planning to track him down.
The pair of them had really enjoyed the new knowledge he had gained, with Double being more excited then when he'd been experimenting on Erasure's energy signature. After school, he'd decided to switch with the real Midoriya. A quick word to his - their - mother about after school work and they were able to make the switch.
Real… Double frowned. Maybe thinking of the 'real' Midoriya was an annoying prospect but it was accurate. There was definitely a clear division of 'clone' and 'real.'
But enough about that! With a cheery wave to Mei and Mayumi, everybody sat down, ready for the day to truly begin.
Power Loader greeted everybody and made the role call. Then the regular classes started.
Support's classes focused primarily on helping their students become the best creators they could. Izuku had breezed through the material in school, then devoted a lot of attention to researching off the Internet. U.A. was going to teach both of him so much!
–
Chemistry
Double whistled when he saw his lab partner Kagaku work, seeing the taciturn girl mix chemicals together with a hawk-like eye. When she glared at him, he hurriedly returned to his work. "S-sorry… you're really good at this!"
"I have to be. The chemicals I make within my body are extremely hazardous and have to be carefully monitored." She briefly looked away. "Your friend seems to be having fun."
Double looked over at Mei as she cackled, Udekiki trying to keep her under control. Out the corner of his eye, he could see Power Loader slowly reaching for a fire extinguisher. "She'll be fine!"
Kagaku did not look convinced.
–-
Mathematics
Support's mathematics course was perhaps closer to engineering or physics then regular high school mathematics. Focusing on the principles of stresses and electricity, the material was specifically chosen for its applicability for their chosen discipline.
Mochizuki glared at the textbook, slumping in her chair. "Maths is hard," she groaned in Nedzu's voice.
Next to her, Mei grinned. "Don't worry, prospective minion! Let's see what you're having trouble with."
Without changing position, Mochizuki pushed her paper over. Mei scanned it, then put it back down with a huge grin. "I see! Yeah, that one's hard. So, for this one, you're gonna need to do this…"
The rest of the room boggled at her. She stared at them all. "What? If I can't make good calculations, then I can't make my babies the best ever!"
Everybody got back to work after that. Mayumi just sighed, used to dealing with Mei's eccentricities.
–-
Modern Hero Art History
Double and a couple of other boys flushed when they saw who was teaching them. Midnight gave them all a grin. "So! Welcome to Modern Hero Art History."
She paused, looking over the class. "Now, I'm gonna guess the biggest question you've got on your minds."
Chiba raised her hand, a bored look on her face. "Yeah, I was kind of wondering why we needed to take this class."
Midnight frowned. "Asking a question like that so impetuously…" she suddenly grinned. "I like your honesty!"
She slapped the whiteboard. "Basically, because it's not enough to make the best stuff on the market! You've got to understand aesthetics and branding. You guys in Support have a duty to help the Heroes become Super Heroes after all."
She levelled a steely gaze out at the students. "Now, what would you say is the difference between a Hero and a Superhero?"
Double had a huge grin on his face. Midnight got it! Standing up, he yelled, "Presentation!"
Midnight's own grin matched his own as she wrote the word down in huge letters. "Hell yeah! You get it, don't you?"
Murakami gave a thumbs up of his own, glitter shining in the air. Next to Double, Kuroyami gave a shaky grin of his own.
The rest of Hero Art History was a bit plainer, mostly regarding the Superhero designs of old, as well as current style trends in the market. Double took copious notes, making sure that the Endeavour keychain was properly recording everything.
–-
Lab Time
Double had a huge smile on his face. When the original had talked about some of what he'd gotten up to yesterday, he'd been so excited to see it with his own eyes!
The Support Labs at U.A. were designed with close to the best equipment and materials that Japan had. Computer screens displayed changing graphics of the latest designs. The testing range for costumes had various bullet holes and scorch marks littered all over it, clearly the product of some intense testing.
Mei and Double glanced at each other. "So, Izu, ready to work on the best baby possible? Hatsume-Midoriya industries style?"
For an answer, he rolled up his sleeves. The blueprint was there, as were the materials. All that remained was to put it into practice. "Let's do it."
—-
Yesterday…
Power Loader considered lab time to be the most important lesson that the Support Course had to offer. A generic catch-all term for the various different tracks of Support to work on their specialities, the Labs at U.A. were some of the largest in the country and had a large budget. "As first year Support Students here at U.A., what I hope you learn here is how the industry works as a whole. As part of helping you understand how to create excellent Support Gear," he gestured to the briefcases in front of each student, "we will be examining the support gear of the First year Hero Students."
The class murmured, twitching. Power Loader gave them all a stern look. "Just to head any possible tinkering off, we will not be making any improvements to the gear without approval."
More than a couple of students groaned. Power Loader shook his head. "These items have already been made to order, and the other Support Classes need to examine them as well. So we're going to be looking at these items in small groups. The blueprints are provided as well, so there is no need to dismantle the items."
There was some grumbling from the class, Mei and Izuku grumbling the loudest, but they agreed.
"I wonder whose Support gear you're working on, Mei," Izuku chattered, amiably snapping his case open. "Oh! Maybe you've got Kacchan's!"
Mei grinned. "Your friend who makes explosions? That'd be fantastic!"
"Oh, no." Mayumi glared at her friend. "I heard 'explosions' and Mei possibly working on it. Absolutely not. You guys nearly levelled the lab yesterday without anything like that!"
Mei waved her off. "Explosions are part of progress! Anyway, I don't have the explosive guy's stuff anyway. I got some guy called Iida." She snapped the briefcase open, giving out a small shriek of joy when she saw the armour inside.
There were similar cries of happiness all across the classroom. "Shinsou? Oh, he's put in a request for a voice changer that isn't electronic! I like him already!" Mochizuki crowed in Midnight's voice.
Izuku looked at the name on his briefcase. "Aw, that's a shame. I'm working on a… Hagakure? Yeah, Hagakure."
He snapped the briefcase open, a happy smile on his face. Then it turned to a frown. Slowly he pulled out the gear inside - a pair of gloves and shoes. He turned them over in his hands, looking for something that would help. "Um…"
Mei looked over at it. "That's weird. Where're the other babies?"
"I don't know, this is all I got…" Izuku rummaged around, eventually getting the description. "W-well, let's see what her Quirk is."
He pulled out his notebook, and looked over the description. "Oh! Invisibility! It makes her entire body invisible, meaning that a regular costume would be a hindrance. Hm, it seems based on the Quirk registry that it's some form of heteromorphic Quirk. A Quirk like that would be perfect for an underground intelligence style Hero, allowing for an infiltration into a Villain's hideout, faking out other Villains, setting up takedowns with other Heroes…"
Mei looked at the gear with a grin. "So… she's running around naked."
Izuku sighed, putting the gloves and boots back into the . "Y-yeah. Which, obviously… why not apply for a suit of some kind?"
The thought of a girl running around naked… he flushed tomato red. A high pitched whistling sound came from his mouth.
Mei shrugged, not looking away from the high tech armour she was working on. "Maybe she likes running around nude?"
That statement caused Izuku to turn an even brighter shade of red. "I-I-I-"
With that last stuttering exclamation, Mei looked up from her project, patting Izuku on the back rapidly. "You alright, Mido?"
Izuku took a shuddering breath. "I-I'm fine! Just…" he frowned. "A friend of mine mentioned that he had a lot of trouble with his Quirk - and he got a suit made of his hair so that he could stay in costume. Why didn't she get something similar for her Hero outfit?"
"Maybe she didn't know it was an option," Mayumi supplied.
If that was the case… Izuku frowned. An idea popped into his head. He raised his hand. "Sensei!"
Power Loader came over, clearly interested. Midoriya gestured at the gloves and shoes. "So…" he started. "This student - Hagakure - her Quirk's Invisibility, and heteromorphic, and… well, her costume is just a pair of gloves and boots."
Power Loader turned the items over in his hands. A frustrated sigh left his mouth.
Izuku fidgetted. "So, um… I was wondering if I could… work on something to help her? It's fine if I can't!"
Power Loader sighed, frowning. "Should have expected this. Sometimes clients don't write down everything that they need, mostly because they don't know it's an option. It's easy to get complacent with some stuff like this."
He set the gear down, turning to Izuku. "Thank you for bringing this to my attention. You can help work on it for some extra credit. As part of it, we are going to have to get a hair or skin sample to make a proper suit."
Izuku blinked. "...well, I do have an idea for Support gear already," he murmured.
Power Loader blinked. "What were you thinking?"
Izuku hummed, pulling out his notebook. Hatsume looked over his shoulder, crosshairs narrowing. Idly Izuku sketched out a blueprint. "Well, this was something I thought about… I just never had the budget or equipment to make something like this!"
Well, not legally anyway. Giran's contacts hadn't yet been able to find enough nanoparticles to make what he desired. He still had hope, though!
He stopped at that thought. "Ah, Majima-sensei… um… would it - would it be okay? Do we even have this stuff?"
Power Loader looked over the blueprint, humming as he checked the materials half scribbled up. "I see the angle you're aiming for. I do believe we have the necessary materials for it - so many students have tried to create their own invisibility cloaks that some metamaterials are, at least, easy to acquire."
He levelled a stern glance at the pair of them. "You're going to be on a tight timeframe for making something like this. Are you both going to be able to-"
Mei waved him off. "The chance to make an invisible baby… what an opportunity!"
Power Loader looked between the pair of them uneasily. "Follow the safety protocols. It's going to take some time for a full re-do of the costume, and you will need approval from both the student and the company to make a modification like this."
Izuku and Mei nodded, not really listening.
The rest of that period had been spent grabbing equipment and the proper materials. They'd rushed out to grab food then ran back to the labs. They hadn't just been working on the proper metamaterial, they had also been working on a proper control mechanism and power source to allow the materials to go from visible to invisible.
After the day was over and with it the free period devoted to extra lab time, Power Loader had to make sure they left the building.
Mei scrabbled at the ground, tears pouring down her face. "Mayumi, you can't do this to me!" She wailed as Power Loader dragged her out.
Mayumi shook her head. "Nope. You need to go home, Mei!"
"This is inhumane!"
Izuku wasn't faring much better, his face a picture of misery as a pair of robots manhandled him out of the lab. "Please, let me stay! I've never had a budget this big before!"
—-
In front of him, the promised metamaterial seemed to shine in the light, The double grinned. "Hatsume, I think we're onto something!"
Mei looked over at his workbench, then grinned. Across the room, Mayumi threw herself under her workbench, the rest of the class watching in confusion. "Well, let's try it out!"
With a manic grin, the double clicked the switch. The fabric in front of them sparked, glowed…
A sixth sense for failed experiments tingling, Izuku hurriedly threw himself under the workbench just as it exploded. As the smoke cleared, Mei just grinned. "Hell yeah! Nothing like an explosion in the morning to wake you up!"
Power Loader ran over. "You two-!"
Mei waved him off. "Hey, that was unpredictable!"
Double popped back up. "We're on the right track! Nanolenses and particles are the key to this! We just need to stabilise their power output!"
Hand on face, Power Loader groaned, "the pair of you are either going to kill me or make me the happiest teacher on Earth. I don't know which."
Mei and Double traded grins. "Back to it!"
—-
Lunchtime
The cafeteria at U.A. was immense, the double of Izuku concluded. Even with how exclusive U.A.'s academic policies were, the place looked like it could house an army. Maybe it was for relief of emergencies?
In the line, Double grinned, holding his tray. The real Izuku had described Lunch Rush's food as 'nearly as good as Mum's.' With all of his memories of Mum's cooking, Double couldn't see how that was possible. But had he actually tasted that cooking? He didn't think he'd actually eaten with Mum…
"Hey, Midoriya!"
The double blinked, turning around. "Oh, Ryouri, how can I-"
An object was shoved under his nose by the round boy., "Shut up. Taste this."
Double blinked, squinting at it. "...that's a rock. Covered in… is that teriyaki sauce?"
That only caused the fatter boy to scowl. "I know it's a fucking rock! I'm working on my cooking here! Taste it!"
Double reviewed the information the real Izuku had written down for him. A mental note pinged. "S-sorry! I-I forgot you could make anything edible with your Quirk!"
Ryouri snorted. "Got your head in the clouds? I reckon it tastes good, but I want a second opinion."
Double took the rock in his hand. Against all good sense and reason, he took a bite. Rather than break his teeth and cause severe pain, the lump of granite in his hands crumbled like a cookie. He chewed, eyes wide. "Oh, wow."
Ryouri grinned. "I know right?"
He kept chewing. "It's kind of gritty, and the rock itself tastes a bit weird, but the teriyaki sauce just makes it all work!"
"I added some extra ginger and chilli in there!"
Double swallowed his mouthful. "Wow. Do-do you mind if I keep this?"
The larger boy shrugged. "Keep it! I've got a bunch of teriyaki pebbles to hand out. Gotta make sure it's up to snuff for Lunch Rush's standards!"
Double waved him off. "Good luck!"
After a few minutes, Double had his lunch. Taking a bite of curry and rice, his eyes shot wide open. Izuku had been right - it was nearly as good as Mum's. Close enough to make no odds.
I'm so glad I chose not to get katsudon. I don't think I could handle it being close to Mum's cooking.
—-
One quick meal later and he was back in the lab with Mei, continuing to work on the special fabric, at least until the robots dragged them back to their regular lessons. Double's mind was filled with ideas to improve the materials they were working on.
The rest of the day passed in a blur, each teacher bringing out an initial fanboy reaction before Double got used to working with them. After one last stab in the school labs, and the Double was heading home, meeting up with Kacchan. "Kacchan! How did the Heroics class go?"
Kacchan was oddly quiet, glaring at him with no small amount of venom. Double gave him a smile. "Did… it not go well?"
For a few seconds, Kacchan stayed quiet. "Damnit… goddamn Half and Half…"
Double blinked. "Half and Half?"
That got Kacchan going, the explosive teen just glaring at nothing in particular as he ranted. "Fucking - we had this whole 'fight indoors thing' from All Might, right? Where we have to get a nuke from these terrorist fucks, and we got this whole 'grading system' based on some bullshit criteria."
Double's heart skipped a beat. "Ohmigosh, you met All Might! How is he in person - did he sign anything of yours - did he shake your hand because if he shook my hand I would never wash it again-"
Kacchan scowled. "He's alright."
Double translated that from Kacchan to regular Japanese. "So, what happened?"
Kacchan kicked a pebble. "What happened? I fucking won my battle, because I'm just that great! But then, the goddamn American with her bullshit strength Quirk she can barely control smashes a hole through three floors! Like it was nothing!"
His glare was dark. "And then there was that fucking Half and Half bastard, and his Quirk that hit an entire goddamn building! And then Ponytail, with that fucking ridiculous creation Quirk - "
He lapsed into a dormant silence, Double following beside him. Double hedged his bets, still a bit wary of Kacchan. "So… I mean, you're not calling them extras-"
"Fucking damnit!"
With no small shock, Double could see tears in Kacchan's eyes. "I can't beat them like this! Shit! I can't measure up to that Half and Half bastard! Even if I won my trial, I couldn't have beaten that fucker if I was going one on one!"
Double smiled shakily. Internally, alarm bells were ringing through his head. He had to think of a way to cheer up his archnemesis, fast. "W-well, Kacchan, they-they've all gone through the same trial you did-"
"I fucking know that, Deku!"
Looking at Double's face, Kacchan stopped, taking a deep breath. "Well, whatever!" He gave Double a glare. "From here on out, I'm gonna fucking crush them all!"
Internally, Double gave a sigh of relief. "Of course you will, Kacchan! Say, if you need any help with Support gear or need improvements, I can give you a hand…"
The pair of them sloped off to the train station, Double chattering happily and Kacchan shooting off sharp responses. There wasn't a stated apology, but Double could see from a slight change that Kacchan regretted it. Well, Double would take that.
—-
Unseen by either boy, a tall purple haired teenager watched them leave, the other students who weirdly tolerated him walking to the station. "That's a first," he muttered.
Next to him, Uraraka blinked. "What, Bakugo swearing?"
Shinso shook his head. "I was talking about him actually, you know… being civil. For him, anyway."
In the two days they'd known him, Bakugo had proven to be rude, violent and sweary. That he'd also proven to be talented as a fighter seemed somewhat unfair. The Heroics lesson with All Might had been… interesting, with Bakugo, Melissa and Todoroki each being movers and shakers in their class.
Melissa simply smiled. "Ah, so that's 'Kacchan.'"
Chuckling, Shinso kept walking to the station. "Yep, sounds like-" his ears caught up to his brain and kicked it. His eyes widened. "Wait, 'Kacchan?'"
Melissa nodded. "Well, I met that other student before - you know, the green haired one."
Uraraka nodded. "Right, the plain guy!"
With a warm smile on her face, Melissa continued. "Well, he's not that plain. His name's Midoriya Izuku, and he's a really nice guy. He mentioned that he had a friend who was going in to Heroics - a 'Kacchan.' Guess Bakugo fits the bill."
Iida chose to butt in, gesturing animatedly. "Whoever Bakugo is friends with, it isn't any of our business! Gossip like this does not befit students in the Heroics course!"
Shinsou grinned, hoisting his bag on his shoulder. "Probably, dude. But you gotta admit it's surprising that he has a friend at all."
Iida spluttered a bit. "All I meant was-"
Uraraka shook her head. "Well, Kirishima's befriended him, right?"
"Somehow," Melissa shrugged. As the rest of them talked around her, Melissa frowned, glancing down at her fist. The improved Full Gauntlets had worked - they hadn't immediately torn apart from the full force of using her Quirk. But she knew that it was a stop gap measure - she still couldn't modulate One for All yet. Even the experience of Shinsou's Brainwashing hadn't helped her consciously dial it up.
She would have to figure something out.
Still, with Uncle Might and friends, she was sure she could do it. It wasn't as if there was going to be a Villain attack or anything.
—-
In a well kept bar in Kamino Ward, a lanky figure glared at a purple, misty man. "There aren't enough mobs here. Why aren't there more?"
Kurogiri sighed, polishing a glass. "Shigaraki, I have tried to tell you-"
"You put the word out on the street about the League of Villains, right?"
"I did, sir, but-"
A laugh interrupted their conversation, a large muscular Villain snorting into his beer. On his barstool, Shigaraki stilled. Kurogiri sighed. "Shigaraki-"
Shigaraki stalked over. "What's so funny?"
The muscular Villain just laughed a bit more. Going by his flushed cheeks, he'd had a few too many beers. "Well, it's just… League of Villains? Really? You gonna steal some cakes or something?"
Shigaraki's head tilted. From what Kurogiri could see of his face, his murderous rage had shifted to murderous confusion. "What?"
"Let me guess - you're gonna go onto a plot with a 'Keep off the Grass' sign and walk around as part of your evil plan!"
Shigaraki stared straight ahead. Then, viper quick, he gripped the table next to the other man's arm. The villain's laughter quickly stopped as the table cracked and crumbled to dust. The other villains in the bar backed away, clearly terrified yet unable to flee. Annoyed, Kurogiri pulled out a dustpan and brush, set aside for this kind of emergency.
Shigaraki leaned forwards, gripping the Villain's arm with a pinky outstretched. With a curt gesture, Nomu loomed behind the other Villain, cutting off his escape. "Hey. Do you mind telling me what's so funny?"
As the Villain turned a pale green colour and tried to pull away, Shigaraki leaned forwards, teeth bared. "I want an answer."
The hapless Villain whimpered, "W-what? You-you haven't heard of the… the League of Supervillains? They're-they're losers, and I thought-"
Shigaraki glared at the man, who "League of Supervillains? Who the fuck are they?"
—-
AN: Whoo, this one took a while. I wrote out a lot of it, then I was unsatisfied, rewrote it and now it's all better!
There is real science on this, and I'll link to the articles soon.
Please comment - it keeps me warm in this dire winter.
Next time, we elect a class president!
