"Is anyone in here?" Rei's voice inquired into a dark room from the doorway leading into U.A.'s Support Department workshop, the Development Studio.
"I'm still alive...!" The weird and almost drowsy sounding Hatsume called back from the far back, hidden behind the station farthest from the entrance.
"Hmm... Well, that's wonderful to hear..." Omura teased as he stepped inside, a grin forming on his lips as he reached to the wall rack to his right, taking a black bracelet to wear on his left wrist, whilst adjusting the strap of the pouch that ran around his body over his right shoulder.
"I'm almost finished with my work here, I'll come to you in a moment-!" the girl shouted again from the distance.
Omura gave pause for a moment and stood in place with a thoughtful expression.
"I'd rather not Hatsume-Chan, take as much time as you'd like!" he called back into the darkness as he fastened his bracelet to his wrist. Turning to the Lieber that was strung up on the walls to the right with iron strings, suspended slightly with its feet resting loosely on the floor.
The damages it sustained in battle had already been repaired diligently with the use of his quirk and a few extra raw materials.
The support department was decided to be the storage of his suits and machines for their safekeeping, and he was thankful for it. It meant he would be able to more reliably look them up and down for maintenance and was ensured with their security.
He turned on his heel and faced the darkness of the hall, and with his left hand held out level with his chest, an almost mischievous smile came across his face.
The snap of his fingers echoed loudly in the dark quiet hall, which was followed immediately by the workshop's lights on the ceiling turning on, lighting up in rows that stretched fat across the space above.
Every one of them was made to light up, almost in a wave-like manner originating from where Omura stood.
"Aahh!" The terrified yelp coming from the distance really was everything he hoped for when he did it, Hatsume's habit of working with her 'babies' dwelling inside complete darkness was something he wanted her to stray from.
With rapid breaths taken to adapt, Hatsume managed to calm herself. And when she did, she took a single wrench from her station and hurled it over towards Omura's general direction in retaliation for his offence.
The wrench didn't really have sufficient enough velocity to reach even half the hallway, so it landed on the ground harmlessly although it did so with a numbing clang.
Omura laughed along with his steps as he made his way over to Sesame.
Clicking his finger two times in quick succession, the workstation powered up with the whirl of the fans coming to life.
"Alright Sesame, open up project Lieber for me." He reached out his arms and rested atop the steel table's edge.
"Of course..." The interface replied and began bringing forth a render of the armour.
"Whew-hoh... I really need to reserve myself from creating something obscene during fights..." he buried his eyes into his arm and sighed. That single moment he decided to create the stretch of long metal arms to hold Sato in place took a heavy toll on his Battery, snatching away a solid 13% on the single stroke.
The reason the battery was even usable during the Entrance Exam was that he recharged it with every tallied robot he took down, taking some energy from their batteries to fill his own while still leaving enough for the rescue bots he made after so they could still function.
"Though, to lighten the overall skeleton, and improve response time in the motion sensors... and work out on a viable power source with a high power density..." with a steady flow of magnetism, he pulled in the nearest swivel stool and moved it behind him.
"Well, this is my kind of work, and my work is fun... and the Inertial Shields worked exactly as intended," he said while scratching the back of his head, trying to be optimistic with it all as he took his seat.
Even though there were a few hiccups along, the proof of concept was clearly present. The Combat Classes with All Might were not meant to test himself or the abilities of his quirk, they never were. Only to see if his armours and his engineering held up to the school's standard for heroism.
So as he sat there on the stool, the thought that he was capable of constructing things that made him on par with the toughest in his class made him equally glad and excited.
"Alright, Sesame, label this project as... um..." he thought for a moment, and absently his eyes wandered to his watch on his left wrist pushing against the table.
"Well, how about 'Wednesday'?"
"I have detected an existing file of the same name." the interface spoke up, and a prompt displaying the item of concern flashed across the canvas.
"Have it overwritten, and label that file with the tagline; 'dash', 'A'."
The canvas got cleared as the prompt went away, its new name changed to 'Wednesday-A' and was stored away. Rei didn't know what the item was or where it came from. Bearing the image of a small yellow chicken, designed to look like a small chubby toy, it was a complete oddity.
It definitely wasn't his, and if it belonged to Mei she would have labelled it as 'Baby' with a corresponding number to tell it apart from the others.
"Please remind me what I used for the Lieber's inner framing." Rei nodded and stood straight as the computer brought him the data.
"Stainless steel frames with copper wiring, the spine is high carbon while the outer layers are regular steel coated with Titanium-Carbide."
"Alright... alright," Rei had marched over to his empty suit, strung up with wires against the wall from its shoulders. "How about we try to maintain the framework, and replace the entirety of it with Nitinol."
"That would cut down the weight of the entire frame in half."
"That's good," Rei nodded along as he ran his palm through the Lieber's chest piece, "We can be faster, aiming for velocity which squares up rather than mass which only multiplies."
"Making the changes... now."
"Line the core of the Nitinol with Argentan for the wiring... and lose those copper ones. Take the actuators and increase their maximum voltage capacity to double."
The armour rendered on the canvas behind him spinning slowly around as parts were deconstructed and reconstructed in holographic detail.
"And about that power source..." Rei muttered to himself and tilted his head slightly to the left to ponder.
About a week prior, he had begun fabrications and experiments on the TIFR within the school. His design for sustainable fusion, and though he met with setback after setback; he was adamant it would be possible.
Deuterium samples obtained from Yaoyorozu's quirk were a big help for practical tests, but each failed to generate more energy than it needed to cover for the electricity it used up.
"My options seem very limited... so, either I use the Graphene for a high-density battery, or I stick to using Carbon-polymer supercapacitors." The utility to the quick discharge rate of a supercapacitor was exactly what he needed to make it work with his quirk.
But not so much for the actuators of a power suit, which would realistically thrive under steady currents rather than massive but short bursts.
"Rewire the storage of power, have it 2 pairs of high-density and super-capacitors arranged in opposition to one another while still remaining connected." He turned around and made his way back over to the table, making points, snaps and gestures in the air with his hands.
"Place one on the lower back, and one directly in the chest-piece."
"Understood. Making the changes... now." immediately as it responded, the interface made away with the old battery arrangement and replaced it with the new one.
Rei looked intent for a moment, staring into the canvas as it swirled around for a while, taking notes in his head and making sure every change was implemented as prompts flashed across the canvas.
"It helps no one to be redundant, but I hope redundancy solves for this problem..." he cracked up and appeared very amused by his joke, releasing a short and snorty laugh kept mostly to himself.
Reaching his hand out to the right, he snapped once and a whirl came forth in wait for a command.
"And Sesame, lift the spirits of the morning. It's too quiet for a workshop," he called out while turning to something that looked like a mic in the very corner of the room. "Also make it a surprise, if you would..."
Silence drowned the room for a few seconds as Omura looked aside to inspect his tools, the only sounds were those of Hatsume's tinkering in the far background and the whirl of the holograms and projections.
And while Omura wanted, he was tapping his feet on the floor to count the moments away.
Then came in the sudden and unexpected whine of a woodwind instrument, the reeds dominated the room. Springing up while embellishing itself on its tme, thoroughly accompanied by the occasional snare of a trombone.
Rei frowned at first in thought, unsure of what he was listening to, but when it finally clicked in his head, his eyes became wide and he turned to look in awe towards the track player.
Carrying on for a few more sets, the whine ceased and the rhythmic and steady beat of the drums took the track.
"That is... that is very unexpected." He breathed out heavily with a laugh and looked upwards to shake his head almost disbelievingly.
"But I wanted a surprise, and... that is a very good one." he acknowledged with a gratifying smile, rocking along to the music that played from the speakers that surround the studio.
Making his way over to his stool, he faced the holographic canvas as he took a seat, stepping in tandem with the tempo of the percussion.
"Hey, what's that you're playing?" Hatsume's head peeped over the confines of her station, curious to that name of the song Omura so suddenly decided to envelop them in.
The song seemed... eccentric, and maybe a tiny bit embellished. Somehow exactly the kind she imagined Omura was the type to listen.
The tall blonde boy couldn't hear her voice over the sound of reeds though, and Hatsume released a breath through her nose and made a pout with her mouth.
Turning to discard her work for now in favour of witnessing Omura design something, she got up from her station and left the 'Baby' she was working on.
Staying up the night like usual, she was a bit tired and her eyes hurt. Both from natural soreness and the over-use of her quirk.
Coming out of the brown and yellow checker blanket Omura had given her, she placed it decently atop her worktable, covering her trinkets and tools and made her way over to the boy who appeared to be focusing intensely at the canvas by which he worked.
Humming as cheerful a tune as her tired state could allow, she walked over to Omura approaching from behind him.
"What're you working on?" she asked lightheartedly, coming to rest her chin over his left shoulder from behind.
Omura seemed to jump slightly and turned to look at the girl in disapproval of her antics. To which she grinned and giggled innocently in response.
"Well, it's an upgrade for a new suit." He addressed after a sigh, "I think I'll call it 'Wednesday', is it a good name?" he smiled at her almost like he was fishing for confirmation that it was a good name.
"Wednesday...?" She confusingly uttered and her words hung in the air, "Isn't today a Wednesday?" she got up and straightened herself where she stood, looking to the boy with her brows creased slightly.
"Yes, exactly." Omura nodded enthusiastically along, "It fits with the theme of progress, maybe through the week? It's honestly just coming together as I go along."
"Oh, well..." her expression became void for about two seconds, after which a bright smile suddenly beamed,
"I like it!" she exclaimed, and Omura cheered her on for agreeing with him.
"Haha! It's great isn't it?" the boy smiled brightly as well, "I only thought about it spontaneously, but with further contemplation, I find it has a lot of meaning behind that name, and-"
"Oh I don't know about that," Hatsume interrupted before he spoke further, causing him to pause. "I just think it sounds really cool," she stated with a carefree, buoyant smile.
"Eh- oh, oh..." Rei's expression fell, and his mood dropped slightly as the girl turned back to the holographic render.
He had come up with an entire paper's worth of reasons behind the naming in his head, fully prepared to share them with her. But she just stopped him before he even had the chance. Just like that.
And as Hatsume absently mindedly paced around the worktable, she hummed to herself once again.
"Are you going to change the outer plates?" she looked the render up and down, even making to climb on top of the table lying on her belly to get a closer look, a bit unwilling to use her zoom due to the state of her eyes.
"I... already did, the framework and the outer plates are now a composite of Nitinol and Tungsten alloys." Rei shifted in his seat and cleared his throat.
"Wow, you got rid of a lot of weight..." she noted, seeing the display for the suit's ultimate weight (total of the suit itself along with the pilot inside) to be down by almost 45 kilograms.
"Platinum-Titanium would have been a great protection against firearms, but the advantages of higher density meant more weight to move around." A smile came back, and he leaned forward resting his elbows on his knees,
"Maybe I may have traded ballistics durability for more or less weight to haul, I'll just make up by improving the Inertial Shield technology."
From the corner of his eyes, he noticed that Hatsume seemed to be in a barely held state of erratic twitches, bouncing up and down in place and smiling at him weirdly, like she had something important to tell him.
"Yes?" he gestured for her as he shifted his gaze.
"You could alternate the overlay of materials to keep the higher density, you know?" She stated confidently in an almost smug tone,
"Sandwich the Platinum-Titanium between two plates of the other metal you're using. I'm doing just that now on the baby I'm working on!" she stuck her nose up and her eyes closed as she seemed proud, gesturing repeatedly to herself with her thumb.
"Huh..." Omura's mouth curved downward and he looked to the canvas with a nod, "Yes, it could work." he turned back to her and gave her an impressive smile.
"Ehehe..." she grinned as she got to her knees, resting her head on the table while she looked at the holographic image of the suit.
And as silence fell upon the both of them, a memory surfaced as he looked at her from across the metallic work table.
"Ah, Hatsume-chan, will you come over here?" Omura suddenly requested.
"Eeh...?" Mei eyed him curiously as he began fishing around the small pouch hanging around his body. Getting to her feet with little difficulty, she slowly made her way over to the boy, rubbing her right eye on the way.
"I knew that you'd be tired... so I thought I'd brought you this." Omura shifted his sights between his bag and the girl beside him, Hatsume waiting for whatever he had to give her and swaying side to side in place.
And with a dramatic gesture, Rei proudly held out a 75 grams serving of a Meiji Milk chocolate bar. A promise of a cocoa delicacy lay inside the paper wrapping which was held inches away from Hatsume's face.
It took a moment for her to register what it was, but when it finally clicked she immediately snatched it in her hands and it seemed even seeing chocolate was enough to get her psyched as all apparent drowsiness disappeared.
"I saw it this morning on my way to school. Now, don't go eating it all at once alright-?"
"This is a challenge, isn't it?!" Mei suddenly beckoned which caused Omura to jump in his seat once again. Despite her wording and abrupt outburst, she was beaming with a smile.
"What?" Omura barely had the time to blurt out.
"You think I'm slacking off! No, no this won't do at all!" though now the smile was more of a crazed one, and she dramatically accused by pointing at him.
"Mei...?" the boy questioned her sanity at the present moment, having reached a hand to shake her from her shoulders. But before he had the opportunity to do so, she ran away, quick on her feet back to her workstation.
"I'll gather all my tools and work without breaks for the entire day!" He heard him scream as she took her seat, "I simply won't stand to be a disappointment!"
Omura looked on blankly and wondered what came over her. Was she so deprived of sleep that her screws became looser, or was it the chocolate?
"Ha ha ha!" Her bellowing laughter echoed through the building, maybe even the whole school which was still relatively quiet overall as it was so early in the morning.
The automated metal door slid open behind him as he sat there slightly hunched with a fantastical dividend look on his face.
"Good morning, Omura-san." the voice of Yaoyorozu alerted him of her presence as she stood outside the doorway with a large paper bag in her hand.
"Huh...? Oh- of course, come in, come in..." He quickly made to recover, clearing his throat as he swivelled around on his seat.
"It's a busy morning?" she stepped inside where Omura could see she was in her uniform, wearing the pale white jacket of U.A over her shirt.
"It's not unusual," He sighed a little heavily, gesturing with his eyes at the pink-haired girl munching away at a chocolate bar in the distance. "Hatsume was a bit tired so I gave her some chocolate to shake herself up."
"Oh, my..." Momo looked off a bit worried, a hand coming up to cover her lips. "I sincerely doubt it's healthy for her..." she turned back to Omura with a bit of concern.
"She gets by... anyway, what are you doing here so early in the morning?" Omura lively addressed as he pushed on his legs and readjusted himself on his seat, "A commission for the support department?"
"Yes actually, that's exactly why I came." She nodded in confirmation and reached inside the paper bag that she carried, "During our combat practice with All Might-Sensei, my costume received a little burn on the top left side of the vest from one of my flash grenades."
She pulled out the red coloured vest part of her costume and showed it to Omura, who nodded along keenly as she showed the smear of burnt fabric. But before anything more, Omura first needed to ask.
"The damage was a bit minuscule in scale so I thought I would bring it here to fix it. And... I forgot to bring it in for inspection yesterday." she explained before he spoke up to ask the question on his mind.
"Ah... I see- wait a minute," Omura frowned and reeled back his head a bit perplexed, "You forgot?"
She nodded quickly and looked away, perhaps a bit embarrassed, "Huh, that's a rare occurrence, I think... But well, alright... bright it here, I can see to repairs." he shrugged dismissively and called for her to approach with a gesture of his hand.
Swivelling around on his stool, he elected that he didn't wave away his work on the Sesame Canvas.
"I'm sorry if this is bothering you..." she apologised quickly in a timid manner, "I'm sure I must have disturbed you and your work with-"
"No no, nonsense." Omura amended and Yaoyorozu halted as she placed the red jacket on the table, "It's thanks to you, with things like this, that I get to be not lonely."
Yaoyorozu's face was a bit blank as she contemplated what Omura implied with that comment. The blonde seemed to be very lax about it too, simply gathering and arranging his tools on the table.
But after a while of awkward silence, Omura's head tilted and he squinted.
"... This morning, I mean... that I don't get too lonely this morning." He turned back to her and nodded brief, before immediately turning back and taking inventory of his tools.
"Ah- right, of course," Yaoyorozu said with a little involuntary giggle, and swiftly placed the burnt vest on the table before stepping back to give Omura space to work with. Standing there with her hands together in front while standing very straight.
"I also supposed you'd have a mind for inputs to potential upgrades..." she suggested for him, tipping her head slightly forward.
"Uhuh... well I don't yet," He shook his head a bit dishearted, and the girl's brows creased, "Your original designs were straightforward and functional, you knew exactly what you wanted so that was a relief for us."
"I can't think of anything now, but I'll give it time." he said then turned back to briefly give her a tiny smile.
"Hmm... It's only light smidges on the surface, it must have been searing if it boiled away the Nomex." he observed and turned back to his classmate behind him, "Did you get burns during that?" he asked with a bit of concern showing.
"Oh... not at all, Omura-san. The high collar and vest protected me from all the heat coming off of that grenade," she explained in a reassuring manner, bringing one hand up to her side to make a waving gesture. "I didn't get touched at all."
Omura looked her up and down for a second, and his frown softened,
"That's good to know..." Rei expressed as he saw someone looking into the workshop from the doorway, peeking in from the side, "Hmm...?"
"Hoh ho, Omura...? Yo ho! what's the name of this song man?" Kaminari asked as soon as he entered the room after peeking in from the side of the doorway, "It's totally my jam!" he rocked along and seemed ecstatic like he was tethering on the verge of breaking into dance.
"Do I... I think I know this song?" Jirou interestingly asked herself as she followed closely behind him, twirling idly with one of her jacks as she entered and looked around.
Perhaps it was the music that lured them here, the enigmatic and feverish sounds emanating from the east side of the building that they decided to investigate before going up to their classrooms.
And when they came to where they heard the music was, Omura thought of the perfect game to play with the four of them gathered.
Why not let them indulge in a game of trivia about this music and its story, maybe they'd be surprisingly knowledgable.
"Oh- Well then, I'll give you both three guesses," Omura eagerly offered to Kaminari and Jirou, "if one you guesses correctly, you'll earn the right to brag about it."
"Aw man, sweet!" Kaminari, ever the musical enthusiast saw an opportunity to prove himself, "I'm so gonna win this, bring it on!" he folded his arms in front of him and flashed a devilish smile to Jirou.
And just in time to aid in its recognisability, the lyrics finally came in.
"Concrete cold face...?" Kaminari repeated after in tune as they came and went. And after a brief pause for consideration, he grinned and rubbed his palms in front of him excitedly.
Yaoyorozu and Jirou turned to him as he appeared ready to state his answer.
"Alright, alright... for my first guess... I pick Pink Floyd!" Kaminari closed his eyes and reached towards the ceiling with one finger held up high, absolutely certain he guessed right.
"No." Omura simply responded and Kaminari collapsed to the floor, his knees hitting the ground with him dramatically holding his head down, quite easy to envision a giant text that said 'Shame' looming over his body. "You guess again,"
"... L-Led Zepplin...?" Kaminari meekly turned up from his prone, looking up to see Omura still busily working with something on the table.
"Wrong... again," Omura said with a little hesitation mixed with amusement.
"Hounghough-!" It seemed Kaminari buried his head even deeper in despair, and even Yaoyorozu couldn't help but let out a small giggle at his distress. Some yellow sparks even started to run through his blonde hair.
"Don't hurt yourself, man..." Jirou advised dejectedly but it was clear it would not get through to him.
"Aaarrgh!" Kaminari seemed to find new strength in his feet, standing straight as he pointed directly at Omura's back.
"James Brown!" he strangely blurted out of nowhere. Prompting everyone in the room to look at him in silence, to which he slowly shrunk and curved himself into a ball.
"Well, there's a saxophone to be sure, but I'm confused why you would ever think of him... " Jirou shook her head as she looked down at Kaminari, unable to help but feel sympathetic for him.
They all nodded their agreement with her statement, even Kamaniri himself who was rubbing his arms up and down.
"But... the bassline arrangement is unique, and the song uses many different types of woodwind instruments. So it's clearly progressive rock for the genre."
"It's a challenge, isn't it?" Omura urged in a playful manner, hoping she would be a bit more knowledgeable regarding these things.
"I know this song..." she actually appeared quite invested in the little game, perhaps invigorated after seeing how hard Kaminari lost she wanted to avenge it.
Twirling her jack, again and again, her frown deepened and furrowed with every second until finally, her eyes shot wide.
"Hah! It's... 'A Man, A City'!" she gasped with a snap of her fingers, looking up with her eyes flaring bright. Quite a rare sight.
"King Crimson, 1969... In the Court of the Crimson King." Omura laughed along in delight and a little reverence and turned back to see a glazed-looking Jirou.
"Very good, Jirou." He congratulated her and gave her a rather convincing thumbs up to go with.
"Wait, seriously?" Kaminari was suddenly standing again, an almost disbelieving look on his face, "King Crimson?"
"You know them?" Yaoyorozu spoke up with that question, having been a bit unsure about things regarding the band's significance.
"I mean... well, I've heard of them but I've never listened to any of their stuff..." Kaminari disconcertedly rubbed the back of his head, "They're one of those bands with a "cult-like" status, you know? A lot of acclaimed tracks with a tiny following." he eagerly shared, having his arms held out to his sides.
"Debatably small for the time," Rei added as he took a forceps-like tool from the box beside him.
"Right, right..." Kaminari seemed to take note.
"Didn't they immediately break up after their first album?" Jirou budded in, shifting her eyes between the group in hopes of an answer.
"They immediately broke up after its release, but they reformed after some thinking. They didn't want to disappoint all their new fans," Omura chimed in, appearing strangely knowledgable with the band's history,
"But who wouldn't reform... It would be very sadistic of them if they refused."
Momo giggled at their discussion while reaching up to cup her cheek,
"You all seem very invested in music culture." She observed and they collectively turned to her with unreadable expressions.
Omura spoke first,
"This one's a little special, one of my favourite songs ever came out of this album." the boy seemed proud as he closed his eyes and stopped for a second.
"Though, it's all I have to talk with these two..." He admitted with a cheek, swivelling around on his seat to present Yaoyorozu with her vest as he finished patching it up. "And I love to converse."
"Wait, so... you learned all about music and culture just to make conversation with us?" Kaminari admiringly asked, immensely grateful that Omura had been so devoted in becoming their friends.
"No, I also really like music too..." Omura abruptly elaborated to the other blonde with his face and tone a bit dry.
Kaminari's smile turned to a flat line, and his eyes became a little empty again.
"Oh..." he said, turning his head down.
"Anyway," Jirou quickly interrupted, sparing Kaminari from any more embarrassment, "I never would have guessed you'd be one to listen to progressive rock bands, Omura-san..." she shook her head a little, maybe a bit disheartened.
"You wouldn't have?" Omura quirked a brow with a short giggle.
"Not me, personally. I'd listen to punk and pop rock, you know? The more intense ones who really rile you up." she stated with rare enthusiasm coming from her.
"Yes, you assume would," Omura addressed with a nod.
"My favourite ones are; heavy rock," Kaminari chimed in, puffingly gesturing to himself with his right thumb, "And anything electrical!"
"What about you, Yaoyorozu-san?" Rei turned around from his seat and looked toward the dark-haired girl standing by the table.
"M-Me...?" she looked around with her hand on her chest, a bit taken back by the sudden question.
"Oh yes, we've involved anyone but you so far. It would only be fair," he tilted his head slightly and looked intrigued, but frowned as he seemed to remember something, "Wait a minute, I forgot..." he said in recollection and his attention turned far.
"Hatsume-chan, would you like to join us?" He lightly called for her, and they all paused waiting for a response.
"Ha ha ha!" her laugher somehow overpowered the music, and miraculously echoed through the room, prompting them to look on in disbelief.
"That's a no, so it really is just you that we haven't asked." Omura turned back and settled down on his seat, reaching out to the workstation's middle to unclip a latch.
"I-... erm..." she seemed unsure of an answer as the boy took her jacket from the table to give it back to her, holding it out.
"Yeah, Yaoyorozu's musical tastes must really be exotic as well, like Omura!" Kaminari pointed back and forth with his other hand in his pocket, and Yaoyorozu still seemed at a loss as she took the vest from Omura's hands.
"Well, I wouldn't exactly call it exotic..." she stated with a small giggle.
A small silence hung in the air as Yaoyorozu just stood in place for a long minute.
A dreadful and awkward moment only stopped when Omura cleared his throat,
"If you dread sharing it that badly... we won't push no?" he said dismissively as he turned back to his station to organise and put away his tools.
Unsure of what else further to do, Jirou was first to leave with a shrug as she pulled at her bag, while Kaminari stayed stiff for a second longer, giving a salute before leaving as well.
And as Omura hummed along with the track that was playing, she looked down at her hero jacket to see that Omura had done a most masterful repair.
There was no sign of damages or tampering, looking entirely like a new suit she would make herself with her quirk.
The reason she didn't just make a new hero suit for herself was that the damages were so insignificant that she rather it just got fixed.
"Why don't you go, for now, we could always talk during the rest of today." he offered, bringing her out of her trance.
"Of course," she said with a nod and placed the jacket in her bag before she made to leave.
And as Omura turned back to his table, she reached the doorway and stopped.
"Oh, and Omura-san...?" Yaoyorozu remembered something from yesterday concerning the boy behind her.
"Apparently, there's a teacher who wants to meet with you. I stumbled upon him as I arrived at the gate," she turned back to face him.
Omura frowned, "Do you know which one?" and seemed fairly curious with his tone.
"Headmaster Nezu," She said with an evenhanded nod before she turned and left, leaving behind her the boy whose eyes became wide from his surprise.
Omura looked onto the empty doorway as it closed behind her with a heavy clang, having remained open for the entirety of the conversation he and his classmates had held.
"Ha ha ha!" the jolly laughter of Hatsume rung through the room once again as Omura's expression turned to one of careful contemplation, lips forming into a slight curve.
Omura stood outside the door to the Principal's office, a doorway of two sliding panels with one overlapping the other.
He had already knocked and was currently waiting for a response.
"Do come in..." the soft and well-spoken voice of the Principal called out from inside.
Omura reached out and pulled away, looking up as he moved the door aside to gaze inside the office.
He came face to face with the mouse and saw that he had been sitting on a puffy-looking swivel chair behind a large black desk.
Further back, the walls that lined behind the principal were of solid glass, overlooking eastward to the city and road down from U.A.'s main building.
Various trinkets decorated the room here and there, a rack for trophies, some paintings, and a globe. Anything someone would expect from a headmaster's office.
Two wooden chairs and a table with a niche little chessboard set up next to one of the windows caught his eye.
All the pieces standing by were arranged quite neatly basked with the light of the sun coming in from the large window beside them.
"Come, won't you have a seat?" The pure white mouse gestured in an adorable fashion from his seat with a bright smile.
Omura took the queue and made forward, walking up across the sofa set and coffee table to take a seat on the cushioned chair propped up to Nezu's desk.
"What was it you wanted to talk about?" he asked first as soon as he plopped himself down.
Nezu looked surprised but soon came over it, reaching to take a sip from his cup of tea.
"Ah, I was told you could be pressing," he said, to which Omura smiled a little, "But first, you must have a drink."
The boy looked to the side and saw that the mouse had already prepared a cup of tea for him. "My treat," the mouse added.
"How did you know I liked my tea with milk?"
"Drink up now, you can ask your questions later." The headmaster nudged the air and pointed at the boy with his tiny teaspoon, where Omura released a sigh and softly chuckled with amusement.
"Alright, alright..." he smiled and reached out to take the cup, and swirled it in his hands once he picked it.
Omura couldn't stop wondering what it was that the teacher wanted with him. All so suddenly calling him to his office to have a talk for seemingly an important reason.
So as Nezu closed his eyes while he took in a big gulp, Omura did the same though his eyes never shut or left the principal, too busy with his thoughts to be perfectly honest.
Nezu was always an oddity, awfully cheery and always seemed to know more than he let on. There was a certain astute behind his smile.
"I've always wanted to have a little chit-chat with the famous Golden boy," Nezu spoke first after his gulp, "I've always heard that you were brilliant, and you did not disappoint."
"I'm... grateful?" Omura narrowed his eyes with a faulty smile.
"I've also heard you can be difficult to manage as a student."
"I think I'm reasonably cooperative..." Omura answered after a brief pause, a little unsure with his tone.
"No, you see," Nezu waved his paw, "It's not that you yourself are difficult. It's only that you seem too bright for most."
Omura's frown lightened, and he lifted his face up a little.
"Many of the staff have grieved to me that they don't think you're benefiting from us at all. That you think you don't need them to learn about basic schooling, only heroics." the Mouse explained with a small sigh, "But they rather not have you be singled out from the rest as that may lead to petty spite and rivalries."
"From me?" Omura asked with his voice raised a little in pitch, conveying his confusion.
"From your peers." Nezu elaborated, accompanied by a gesture from his paw to ferment his point.
"But... you should have known that would have happened, Principal Nezu." Omura tilted his head forward, scanning the Principal's scarce features up and down, "So why did you approve my appliance anyway?"
"I have my reasons, and I won't tell them yet." Nezu quickly said with a cheeky smile.
"Hm hmm..." The boy released a short breath as a smile tugged at his lips.
"However, I'm hoping you will to me," Nezu quickly spoke up and got the student to turn away his head, a bit puzzled, "Just between the both of us, what was your reason for coming to U.A.?"
The principal saw as the boy's eye changed, from a sharp scanning look to blank, then seemingly to relief.
"Huff-... well, aside from being one of the coolest places for me to attend," Omura started with a light giggle, to which the Principal laughed as well, "It's a potential that I wanted to reach."
Nezu's smile faltered, replaced with a glancing frown when the boy's expression changed once more.
"I have been fortunate, and I have been thankful. I want to make the world a good place to live, and I know it will be hard." Omura's eyes fell to his teacup, where the brew swirled around in a circle, "But I have a belief for how I might do it,"
"And, how is that?" Nezu eagerly pushed on, even leaning slightly forward.
"The belief that every brilliant mind has the will, and capacity to become a force for good." Omura turned up to the Principal who fell silent and watched the boy closely.
"That's why I came here, to work together with remarkable people." the boy's smile came back and he made to drink his tea, "And charming characters..."
"Like you! for one example." he stopped his arm to say, before finally following through, "I could give another one."
Nezu hung open his mouth to say something but was unable. The boy seemed very sure of himself and his goal that there was really nothing to say.
"You seem to have given a lot of thought to this?" the mouse sighed as he reached for his tea.
"It's no secret I hardly sleep..." Omura said while wiping his mouth dry, "I can keep awake for days on end because of my quirk." Omura buoyantly stated with a gesture of his hand.
"Though, now that I think about it... Do I even need to sleep to function?"
"Young Omura?" The principal said to regain the boy's attention before he continued.
"I'll try it this week. And I'll be sure to tell you my results." Omura nodded and got up from his seat.
Standing in place, he straightened his jackets and uniforms while padding away, Rei flashed a smile to the Headmaster,
"So, that was all you wanted to ask me?"
"For now..." Nezu responded simply, and Omura looked a bit dry to the walls from the principal's short answer.
"Alright then, Principal Nezu. I'll be leaving now." the boy bowed a little, and turned on his heel into a walk to the sliding doorway leading out.
"Won't you stay for a moment longer? You still have half an hour until classes would start." the little mouse looked with an almost hoping smile.
"Well, it makes sense to me to have some spare time." the boy turned his head back to say and continued marching.
Nezu followed the boy with his eyes, the sight of his retreating form became more distant with every step.
Somehow, the Principal wanted a way to talk for a little longer with the boy but he was sure it would be pushy if he simply called for him back.
But then his eye caught something from the corner of his vision, and a smirk immediately formed across his face.
"Do you play?" Nezu chimed up innocently and pointed his paw towards something on the right wall.
"Hmm?" Omura turned around as his hand gripped the door, looking at the headmaster first before shifting to the thing he was pointing at.
"Oh, you would not want to play with me..." the boy quickly tried to dismiss with a laugh as he shook off his head.
"Well, maybe I would," the mouse chided, "We won't know it until we try."
Rei hesitated, his feet pattering with his hand hanging loose on the door handle. His face to the floor, he finally shook his head and released a flimsy chuckle as he looked back.
"Alright, Principal Nezu. I'll play... but just one game." He tried to say firmly with a finger pointing at the Principal who nodded in glee and understanding, "Promise you won't make me late for class."
"Wonderful, and you won't be late I assure you. I'll give you... about a minute before I win." Nezu walked over to the set and claimed one of the tall chairs closer to where he was.
"I might give it less than half of that."
"Aw, you're too kind young Omura-"
"I'm speaking for myself." Omura interrupted with a flash of his eyebrows as he sat down, but the smile on the principal's face didn't falter.
"... Daring statement for someone so young. Oh, you inspire me, young Omura."
And as they sat down across from one another, they made themselves comfortable in their seats. Omura received the black pieces while Nezu got the White.
"Are you ready?"
"You're the one who has to make the first move," Omura said in response and gestured with an open palm.
"Ah... of course."
And they played, and as such the conversation reignited between them.
'Omura...' Aizawa said in thought as he walked through the quiet halls of the school in the morning, it was still fairly early and not enough students had arrived for the building to be truly bustling with activity.
Ever since he had seen Omura during the entrance exams, he had always done to remark on not just him, on everyone.
He had confidence mixed with a slight awkwardness that made him stand out, even among the eccentric standards of students in the hero course because he was usually so cordial.
He would not lie, Omura was a model student. He always made time and attention for classes and did everything they put up for him with not really any complaints, or incidents.
And when classes were over, he was usually seen walking over to the Development Studios in the Support Department to work on independent projects and commotion from the student body they received, despite him not being a member of the support course and its dealings.
He just went there to help for whatever reason, seemingly just because he could.
Omura was a weird student.
Usually, most would grumble when given extra credit work, but here the boy was giving it to himself.
"Aptitude for technology... perfect recall..." idly he ran through the boy's traits that made him such a great learner and student. "He's too smart to not know the hero course isn't for him."
Why doesn't the boy just invest himself in engineering or support gear development? The hero course, as much as he would like not to say it, turned out what was best described as celebrities for the public.
Granted, they were celebrities that could fight, but most of the children and even their own students just wanted a slice of that pie.
Aizawa was always exempted from that world, he preferred to do his part under the surface, forever serving as a force for good away from the eyes of the general public.
People like him, were the ones who really wanted the best for everyone, regardless of what treatment they received in return; like All Might, one of very few who lived up to his image.
And exactly like Omura.
He knew the boy was the type to help with no apologies, he would not usually say this about a person but Omura was a bright light, with a still very optimistic and idealistic view of the world.
Hero work could be tough, and it would be unfortunate if that light was just simply wasted before it could warm anyone.
But then again, he of all people knew very well that the world could always use more heroes.
"Yes, yes, it was very fun. I'll come again tomorrow!" Aizawa turned up as he heard that voice. Awfully cordial and lively with a tinge of awkward dragging.
The boy waved once before he shuffled in place as he slid the door closed, gripping the handle from one hand to the other. It was at this moment that he finally saw his teacher walking up to him.
"Oh, good morning Aizawa-Sensei." he greeted into a bow as he turned on his heel.
"What are you doing up here?" the man asked in clear bewilderment, finding one of his students strutting out of the principal's office was not what he expected from the morning.
"I was called... Called to have a talk."
"By the Principal?"
"Yes."
"Hmm..." the man grunted with a dry face as he stood in place, almost refusing to move which caused Omura to be visibly confused at first before it progressed to discomfort.
"... Well, I'll be going now..." the boy quickly said with a nod and shifted, turning away from the man who followed the boy with his eyes as he walked away.
"Hmm..." the man grunted again, and it was only until Omura walked away a few meters that Aizawa's dry eyes left him.
"What did you have to say to him, principal...?" Aizawa's sights then turned to the Principal's doorway, wondering why the mouse suddenly wanted to have a talk with the golden boy.
And his frown deepened as he walked up to knock on the principal's door.