Summary/disclaimer Time for another chapter of Metallic Melody. Enjoy the 2300-word chapter. I don't own MHA Shonen Jump, Kohei Horikoshi and a few others do.

Mei LOVED creating gear. She enjoyed the fact that there was constantly new tech thrown into the world. She wanted nothing more than to invent until she fell dead.

There was nothing more than the cybernetic upgrades that were inserted into her new classmate's body. It was enough to make her explode.

She looked at Hikaru who seemed ready to prepare for the fact that there was something on the table. She started to think of the dozens of ideas that all centered on this topic in question.

"You've had a lot of experience in cybernetics, right?" Mei asked while she started to blink to herself. "I can see a few modifications on your back. I doubt it's easy by yourself." Mei added to which he nodded towards her.

If there was one thing, he'd give respect to? It was her expertise in machinery or certain types of cybernetics. She was smart, he'd not lie about that in any way shape, or form.

"It wasn't. I had to get a doctor to help. They almost deformed my spine." Hikaru stated with a frown as he shook his head. "These types of cybernetics… One made by a quirk. They seem far more…. Symbiotic." Hikaru added with an angry scowl replacing the frown.

"They're interlaced with your nervous system?" Mei questioned as her friend nodded. "Then they're not removable. That would… Oh, now I can see why they're not the best thing in your case." Mei put in which there was another nod from her friend.

He tightened a screw. There were so many pieces of tech for him to look upon and improve. It was simply part of what he enjoyed doing, however. The better the resistance? The more he enjoyed this sort of work. you didn't enjoy something if it was easy to do.

He sighed as he watched more sparks fly from the weapon which made him sigh. Why was it so hard to simply create a power source without damaging it?

He frowned as he thought. Why didn't he seem to be bothered by the weapon in question? Was his skill so terrible that he had no real ability to craft a way to power the instrument of destruction?

'Damn it. why is creating a reliable power source so hard to do? It's like it WANTS me to keep failing. I'm so damn annoyed by it day in and day out. It's so damn annoying when it comes down to it. I don't know what to do next.' Hikaru stated while he frowned to himself.

If one was to look upon the sight and noticed that the cyborg was more worried about the petite woman behind him? He'd probably be mocked or laughed at for the least. He wondered what was to happen next.

Still? It wasn't like he had no reason to be when it came down to it. Mei seemed off and yet she had been all over him with research tools and constantly analyzing him when she hadn't been sure what a cyborg quirk that she didn't seem to understand.

"So." He heard as he heard the voice next to him as he frowned to himself. "Whatcha working on?" Mei asked before he started to roll his eyes.

He felt her arms go across him as she leaned over him. He tensed up as he felt the woman rest her chin atop his head.

"Still the power source," Hikaru said while he raised his eyes towards her as he mentally frowned.

'How the hell is this woman human if she's this crazy? Seriously. She's acting like I'm a puppy who constantly needs to be babied.' Hikaru mentally added before he felt her arms reach out.

Before he was able to speak? She had already pried it from his mechanical fingers as he waited for her to say something. He sighed before she pulled herself away and started to check it.

"There's a short in the circuit," Mei said while she hummed to herself. "See? Along with the power relay. It won't work properly if that's the way it is. There won't be enough power to entirely make it operate at full capacity." Mei stated as Hikaru blinked to herself.

"Really?" Mei heard as she pulled her goggles down across her face. "Wait. There?" Hikaru asked to which he sighed to himself.

She was rather interested in this when it came down to it. She saw the potential in it. Mei also saw the flaws in it and how they seemed to bother Hikaru who was able to say little.

Hikaru looked at Mei while he frowned to himself while he cleared his throat before he looked at her. He tapped his fingers on his arms and legs before he pondered what she wanted to do.

"What do you want to do next?" Mei heard Hikaru ask before he was mentally prepared for what she'd do next. "Do you want me to see something or anything similar?" Mei heard from Hikaru stated before he ran a hand down his temples and prepared for something to happen.

Still? He was rather thrown off by the rest of this topic when it came down to it. This woman wasn't going to stop trying to get in his way despite his best attempts to get her away from this plan. He felt it better to simply allow her to do what she felt she needed to. If he was to do something to throw her off from him? She'd probably only grow more interested in him and what he had created when it came down to it.

There was also the fact that he was rather interested in what she was able to do next. He cleared his throat and prepared mentally for his plan. He wanted best to understand what she wanted to make anyway. He mentally prepared for what she was to throw at him.

"Come here," Mei stated while Hikaru slowly started to walk toward her. "See the seams? The core isn't running properly since no circuit goes directly to the core." Mei said while she ran her fingers across the object in question.

The cyborg simply stared at her with interest and had cleared his eyes of any dust that was in them. He wanted best to be able to handle this and yet? She was rather thrown off by this plan in question.

"And what exactly is the best way to fix it? The seams are also to let the heat out. It gets too warm? It will either melt itself down or explode and I don't want to explode. Do you want to explode?" Hikaru asked to which there was a smile.

"Not blowing up was something that I want to be," Hikaru added with a smile to himself before he cleared his arms of all the dust that ran across it.

She was rather eager to do more work on what to do next. He was rather interested in what to do next. He hummed and tapped on his arms in a metallic melody which made him wonder what to do if she fixed it. He cleared his throat and pondered how best to remedy it.

"Then how about we fix the plasma circuits and let it vent with the core?" Mei asked which was met with a sigh. "What? Don't want to fix the thing that can easily be fixed with enough time and effort?" Mei asked with her head tilted.

"You're only going to help me if I let you work on it too, aren't you?" Hikaru questioned before he sighed as he realized she wasn't going to let him get onto his work.

The shake of her head she happened to give only cemented this. Hikaru sighed and crossed his metallic arms across his chest. If she was to work with him on this? He had stopped caring, about the fact that she seemed to be interested in.

"Yep," Mei responded as she turned the piece of technology over in her hands. "This will be rather fun if I'm honest. It's not often I get a challenge like this." Mei said while Hikaru rolled his eyes and seemed to take the piece of tech and stared at her.

"Fine, let's see what's wrong with it and see if we can fix it up," Hikaru said while he crossed his arms and sighed at her as he brushed off his metallic limbs. "What needs to be worked on first?" Hikaru said while he rolled his eyes and cracked his fingers.

This was to be interesting if he was honest. At the least, it was to give him some sort of advantage now. He watched as Mei pried off the back of the cybernetic limb before she lowered her goggles over her eyes. He'd question what she was possibly doing, but he'd be distracted by her as of the second if he didn't focus properly. He watched as her goggles appeared to conjure some sort of target-like radicle. He'd ask more about it, but he was still so surprised about her as of now.

'She's smart when it comes down to it. I'm not sure if she can fix everything, I need help with it now. Honestly? I don't know what to say if she's this good at doing something like this. It will at least be rather interesting to see what she manages to come up with. It should be fun at the time if I'm not to lie to myself.' Hikaru thought before he started to properly bond with her.

He cracked his fingers and waited to see what she came up with. It was only a matter of time before he honestly seemed to find what she had been working on. Mei was odd, yet she was a genius from what little he seemed to know about her. It hadn't been hard to see something that had been brewing in her mind. She wanted to know what he was creating, and it had simply been part of her methods to try and understand what he had been doing.

Part of him honestly found that more amusing than he believed it should be. He watched as she started to crack open the limb and gaze into the cybernetic bits which made it tick. She seemed to be taking a somewhat satisfying interest in what she had seen inside.

"The power circuits aren't wired right. You're drawing too much power into trying to lift your arm rather than anything else." Mei said to which Hikaru only raised an eyebrow. "See here? The circuits aren't providing enough power to the rest of the unit. They're not working properly. That's why I keep trying to fix it." Mei said which made Hikaru hum and tap on his metallic arms as he sighed to himself and only rolled his eyes at her.

"And the fix is?" Mei heard from Hikaru as he seemed to raise his eyebrow. "Too much power and it will explode into thousands of pieces. I don't want it to break under its weight. It's not easy making a better more efficient power core. The first electricity-based one that I had created? It didn't properly supply enough energy for it to work if I'm honest. Electrical power isn't enough to get it to work. We both know that when it comes down to it." Hikaru said while he rolled his eyes and sighed to himself.

She raised an eyebrow at him as he cleared his throat and brushed off his armor. She hummed and placed it down before she slowly moved towards his back. He was about to argue against her but decided it wasn't worth it.

"What are you doing?" Hikaru asked before he felt her tap his spine.

"Your quirk is like the glove. That's the problem. Your equipment or tools or weapons from the quirk, they're powered by your bioelectric energy, yes? The pumping of your heart is what gives them the power to do this?" Mei asked which got a slight nod from her friend as he seemed to ponder where she was going with this.

"Yes?" Hikaru said before Mei rolled her eyes and smiled.

"Then don't try that. Your heart is stronger than any power generator. Any of my babies have internal power cores and even they don't constantly recharge." Mei said before she tapped her arms on the wall and seemed to ponder what to do next as she tilted her head to the side. "If your body has a cybernetic quirk? Then your body probably shifted to match. You won't run out of power if your heart is pumping because it will simply be able to pump more blood. That's like trying to give a dam more juice when it's already using an ocean for power." Mei said to which Hikaru could only roll his eyes at her.

"Then what do you suggest? I've tried other power cores. They almost always run out of power, or they break. Too little energy? The unit burns out. Too much energy? It will explode like a grenade." Hikaru said which made Mei smile.

"What's wrong with a few explosions, hmm?" Mei asked which made him smile.

"Your insane." Mei heard which made her tilt her head.

"Oh, most people call me that. I'm not really. I just really like making new babies."

Author notes

Phew. Another chapter is done! I want to point out that the next chapter will be delayed a bit. I had accidentally deleted this week's stories so I had to do some from scratch. The next chapter is in 2-10 months and will show both Mei and Hatsume working on their project and will be 900-6500 words.