Ugh, losing most of my writing hours sucks, but I finally finished the chapter properly. Now I'll go try to finish MFLA so it can come out tomorrow ;)
Before we start though, I am going on vacation next week, so no chapter of any of my stories will come out until the week after (so the 22nd-23rd for this fic). Just so you know.

(XX)

Kyoto was a lot more different from Tokyo than Izuku had imagined. The city looked smaller, but it also looked ancient. Where Tokyo was a bustling city of skyscrapers and modern apartments, Kyoto alternated between modern buildings and ancient constructions, dating to far before the Age of Quirks. His history book had explained that Kyoto had been spared from both most of the wars before the Dark Age, and in the Dark Age of Quirks itself.

Of course, their direction right now was toward one of the modern buildings. A brand new office palace, constructed just two years before, the Hatsume Tower was the new office center of Hatsume Steelworks. And, from what Izuku could gather, the building also included the secret labs where Alien support items were built.

The building was in a modern area of the city, with other buildings of the same kind nearby. Tall, with lots of glass and cement, and a little area of greenery between the entrance and the parking lot. A large metal plaque on a stone near the entrance read 'Hatsume Steelwork Headquarters – founded 21XX'. The kanji for Hatsume Steelwork were also on a large standard nearby, along with the company's symbol of a large golden crosshair, and the symbol, made of metal, also stood on top of the entrance, with the words 'Hatsume' and 'Steelwork' in metal on both sides.

The inside was as well decorated and the outside. The hall had tiled floors and a large desk, along with seats for any guest waiting. The first thing they did was scan the room for their target, but of course it couldn't be that easy.

"Hello, welcome to Hatsume Steelwork, how can I help you?" The receptionist seemed nice enough, her smile not too tense or unconvincing. Hado had kind of bludgeoned the fact they were supposed to notice that kind of thing in Izuku's head, so Izuku was doing his best to keep up.

"Hello! We have a meeting scheduled with mister Hatsume?" Hado pulled out her ID – the normal one, not the HASC one – and slid it across the desk "I'm Nejire Hado, and this is Izuku Midoriya."

The receptionist seemed a bit skeptic, but she kept a professional, neutral expression as she looked at the PC screen and started going through what Izuku assumed was the company owner's schedule. She frowned for a moment, before nodding. "Of course, miss Hado, mister Midoriya. You can go up to the tenth floor, mister Hatsume will receive you as soon as possible."

As she said that, she slid the ID back to Hado and they quickly thanked her, before entering the elevator and following her instructions. They found themselves in another, smaller waiting room. A secretary with brown hair and eyes gestured for them to sit down on a pair of small sofa and offered coffee, tea, or water. Before they could even answer, however, a man with long black hair covering his eyes slammed the door of the office open and marched toward the elevator, sparing a single glance to both teens before storming inside.

"Well, that didn't go well." A man with pink hair commented, exiting from the same office. His beard was of the same pink color, and his eyes were gold colored, with the iris shaped like a crosshair, "Miss Tamashi, could you send a polite mail to our guest? I'm still willing to work with Feel Good in the future, if he feels more amenable."

"Of course, sir." The secretary bowed.

"Good, and please bring us some… coffee? Tea? For our guests."

"A tea." Midoriya said, after Hado did the same, and then they entered the office. The place was clean and well decorated, but Izuku noticed the oddities here and there. On the walls were several pictures of the man sitting behind the desk, except in those pictures he was wearing a simple mechanic outfit and fixing a car, or standing with a group of a dozen people in front of a workshop. On the shoulder of the man sat a little girl, not older than four or five, with the same pink hair.

"We took that picture… uh, was it nine years ago?" He commented, noticing Izuku's stare, "Time sure flies."

"Uhm, sorry, I…"

"Relax, that picture is there for a reason. I like showing where I came from." He smiled again, fondly, though Izuku noticed a hint of… sadness? Melancholy? It was hard to say. "I wonder if things weren't easier back then. At least I didn't have to deal with Alien crimes."

Hado and Izuku looked at each other, then back at mister Hatsume. "We are sorry for involving you."

"I'm sure you are. Don't worry, I worked with the HASC in the past and I know the drill. You are usually… enjoyable to work with, anyway. I always deal with you personally for a reason. This is less about the ongoing cooperation and more just… general grievances with my past self. If I knew back then that I'd have to deal with groups like Detnerat or the Conglomerate, I'd have told myself to go back to fixing car engines." He sighed, "Do you have the codes?"

Izuku nodded and pulled out a document, just as miss Moko entered and served tea to both teens. The man quickly inputted the code into the PC, frowned, and typed them again. "Weird…"

"What is it?"

"The code works, but it's not… entirely correct?"

Hado glanced at Izuku, who in response shook his hands defensively, "Wait, I took the right code. We even double-checked."

Hado, just in case, pulled out her own copy and compared it with Izuku, while mister Hatsume typed a few more commands in the computer. She nodded, and sent Izuku an apologetic look. He nodded, noticing mister Hatsume's frown deepen.

"So, this model is two years old. That's nothing unusual, if anything it's fairly new. We usually suggest bringing it in every two years for a check-up, but this one still hasn't." He shook his head, "Why do people never listen to the mechanic?" He muttered.

"And the problem?"

"Ah, right. See, the code is supposed to include information on the specific mechanic that built this, and the workshop that worked on the pieces. The problem is, the code is… not correct."

"Maybe a worker was fired and…"

He shook his head. "No, this code is wrong because it's mine, and the marked workshop has been closed for three years." He gestured toward the picture again, "We moved out of the building when the production started to grow. It was… pretty emotional, and I still own the place, since they were our first proper headquarters, but it should be impossible to break in. It was reinforced by the HASC, only the keys can open those doors. You could run a truck against them and the truck would be the one coming out worse for wear."

"So someone broke into one of your buildings, connected to your servers, and has been making products through the Hatsume Steelworks license?" Hado asked.

"It seems so. We never noticed because all the sales were registered and the money always arrived, without exception." He seemed to be fully engrossed now, ignoring the two to keep his eyes on the PC, "Whoever this is, they haven't been making a penny off their work."

"Unless they get paid a portion in cash." Izuku pointed out, "Then they can cover up their tracks."

"… Possibly, but why would someone even bother to spend more money with this other person? It's not like a black market sale. The product is registered and can be tracked like the ones we make normally. The identity of the mechanic is not essential, though in your case it would be useful. The workshop ID also can't be faked, so they have to be working from there." The man scratched his head, "This is a really weird situation, frankly."

"Actually, sir." Everyone turned toward miss Tamashi, who smiled, "I think I might know a very simple answer."

-x-

The workshop was a large building, though far smaller than the new headquarters of Hatsume Steelwork. From outside, it didn't look that well-kept. The building was basically a warehouse surrounded by a large parking lot and a short stone wall with a rusty gate as its only entrance.

The garden was filled to the brim with what Izuku could have generously called garbage. Mostly metallic waste, ranging from broken down cars that had clearly been dismantled for pieces down to a box of rusty nails. "This place is a health hazard," Izuku commented, before glancing at Hado, who was eyeing warily all the broken metal. "Right Hado?"

Hado shook her head, before moving her eyes away from it. "Mh? Yeah, definitely. Sorry, I got distracted for a moment."

Izuku was about to ask why when Hado pointed at a wooden sign that had been affixed at the front of the door.

"Hatsume Steelwork Original Branch. Open." Izuku read.

"Well then, let's go." Hado replied, and they both walked in the building.

The inside was a lot different from what they had first expected. From the picture, they had figured the place was large, but from inside it looked massive. In fact, he could have sworn it was bigger from the inside than from the outside, though that had to be an optical illusion.

… Probably.

Izuku put the thought aside as he watched the rest of the room. On a far corner was a large pile of what seemed to be discarded gear, probably more stuff that was getting dismantled for parts. Meanwhile, the rest of the room was oddly clean for what was supposedly a workshop ran by a single person.

In the center of the room was a woman, that seemed to be completely oblivious to the two Agents' presence. Instead, she was busy humming a theme Izuku didn't know while she worked on the machine she had already almost completed, what looked to be a pair of mechanical arms. Judging by the shape of the attachments, they weren't the same kind of model needed for Devilfish' body, instead seemingly meant for an alien with very small arms.

"Miss Hatsume?" Hado asked, but to no avail, Hatsume completely engrossed by her work.

"Mei Hatsume?" Izuku asked again, but the girl didn't deign them of a single glance. They looked at each other, unsure of what to do, when she smiled and stood up from her workbench.

"Ah, and that's done. Next…" She turned around, and that was when she spotted them. Izuku looked at her. She had to be around Izuku's age, maybe a bit older. She had the same pink hair and crosshair eyes as her father, and was wearing working clothes that had signs of both burns and car oil.

Then she was on them, inches from their faces. "Customers?!" She asked, "What can I do for you?! I can make anything! Except weapons, they won't let me make that kind of babies..." She looked Midoriya up and down, and Izuku noticed the crosshair seemed to refocus slightly, before her eyes stopped on the Orgue. "Oh my gosh, is that a Replica Orgue?!" She grabbed the object – and his arm – with an almost feral smile on her lips, pulling Izuku closer as she moved the arm to eye height. "Industrian tech is sooooo cool! Can it use both the Piercer and the Slasher? I hear older models could only do the Piercer. Is it a modified one with the Shielder and the Breaker too? Oh, can you customize it to add more weapons? But it only creates hardlight emissions at close range, from what I remember, so maybe you should add a ranged option... Oh, this is such a cool baby! So many possibilities!"

"I-Uhm-Well-" Izuku managed to say between questions, otherwise trapped in Hatsume's grip.

"Uhm, miss Hatsume…" Hado tried to chime in, Izuku too busy trying not to turn into a tomato as Hatsume had dragged him so close he was basically eye to eye with her. Apparently, the girl had no concept of personal space.

"One second!" She turned Izuku's arm around and observed the locking system of the Orgue, "Cool… It's magnetic, but there is also a mechanical component that ensures even an EMP or similar wouldn't be enough to take it off the wielder. And the material is... Industrian, so resistant to shock and heat. Oh, I really want to dismantle this baby and check what's inside…"

"C-Can we not talk about dismantling babies?" Izuku asked.

Hatsume seemed to freeze at the words, turning back around. "Ah! Sorry, I guess I got too interested in the baby you are carrying around." She turned to Hado, "Do you have any?"

Hado shook her head, and Hatsume frowned. "Oh, you need one?"

"No. My name is Nejire Hado, from the HASC."

"Hi! My name is Mei Hatsume, director of Hatsume Steelwork's Original Headquarters!" Hatsume replied without skipping a beat, her hand moving forward to shake Hado's. Her work gloves were covered in grime, though, so even Hado was hesitant to shake it, even if after a second she beat back her reaction and shook the hand.

"How did you become the Original Headqaurter's 'Director'?" Hado finally asked.

"Oh, that's easy. When I was eleven, I asked my dad 'Dad, can I go see the old place?' and he went 'Yeah, sure, just ask Tamashi for the keys'. Then I asked miss Tamashi, and she gave me the keys, making me promise to return them when I was done with the place."

"And then you walked in and just opened the place?"

"Nope! Actually, I really wanted to just look around at first. But then a guy walked in, and he needed a fix to his support gear. He had all the required registrations, and… I guess he never got the memo about the Headquarters moving? But he looked in real pain, so I figured, helping him isn't that big of a deal, right?"

"… And he let an eleven-years-old work on his arm?" Izuku asked in disbelief, clearly beating Hado only by an instant.

"Hey, I was twelve." Hatsume defended, "But really, it wasn't that big of a deal. I learned everything from my dad, and while it took… a few attempts, I managed to fix it using the scraps left behind from when the place closed. Then I realized that doing this stuff without paperwork was a problem, so I checked the old PC and logged into my father's work account." She pointed at her eyes, "When I was younger, I figured it out by spying on him with my eyes, and he never changed it."

"Isn't it illegal to do… that?" Izuku asked.

"I mean, I had permission to use the place, since dad said 'Go whenever you want, it's closed anyway'. As for my work, it's all legally registered. It's like I'm my dad's ghostwriter really. But like, cooler because I make babies instead of 'auto'biographies."

Izuku leaned toward Hado, "Is this… legal?" He asked in a whisper.

"Maybe? I guess her father could press charges, but the HASC only cares about the fact the gear is registered." Hado whispered back, before smiling and turning toward Hatsume, a smile on her lips. Izuku noticed she seemed to be taking a liking on the hyperactive girl. Admittedly, Izuku did too. She reminded him of Hado when she was in a good move, always talkative and ready to ask question after question. "So, Hatsume." Hado showed her a picture, "Do you know this guy?"

"Nope!" She replied, and Hado blinked, "Sorry, I just don't remember faces that easily. But if he had a baby I made, then you can be sure I remember them."

Izuku pulled out his phone and quickly showed her a picture of the Support Gear, and Hatsume nodded, "Yep, that's my baby! A bit beaten up but seems fine overall." She stared at the picture, "Do you have one of the inside? I was always worried the connections of the tentacle with the left leg were a bit underprepared…"

Hado tilted her head, "Can I ask you how you learned to build all this?"

"Mh? Oh, my dad let me come here to watch him work since I was a child. I've had a wrench in my hands basically my whole life." She replied joyfully, a glint in her eyes "I loved this place. It was so warm, so bustling with work, so…" She looked around, and a shadow of sadness passed over her face, before she turned around and smiled again, "But never mind that! What do you need?!"

"Ah, right." Hado explained the situation, and Hatsume nodded thoughtfully.

"Mh… Well, I can't say no, can I? Alright, I will do it." Hatsume smiled, "He still hasn't come around though, so for now you will have to wait."

"That's fine with us." Hado replied, "The HASC thanks you for your cooperation."

"It's no problem! Actually… Would you like some extra stuff? I can make support gear for both of you."

"We don't really need it…"

"Nonsense! Weapons aside, people can always use more babies!" She rushed off, before coming back with a large metal object, "Here, try this." She said, pushing the object in Izuku's hand. Izuku studied what seemed to be a motorcycle helmet, and then glanced at Hado, who shrugged.

Sighing, Izuku put it on.

Instantly, the screen of the helmet lighted up, and Izuku looked around. A series of informational windows started appearing as he looked at various objects in the room, and even as he looked at the people there.

'Name: Nejire Hado. Date of Birth: October 6. Age: Sixteen. Gender: Female. Height: 162 cm. Quirk: Wave Motion…'

'Name: Mei Hatsume. Date of Birth: April 18. Age: Fifteen. Gender: Female. Height: 156 cm. Quirk: Zoom…'

'Product: Arkovian Arms. The Arkovian species has underdeveloped upper limbs that make it harder to fit on Earth. For this reason, special mechanical arms are developed to…'

"What is this?" Izuku asked.

"This is a prototype of a new invention of mine, a Scan Helmet! Right now it only uses information it collects from the internet or from the Hatsume Steelwork database – nothing private, just products information – but in time it will grow to become a wonderful thing! With this, a person can get all public available info."

"This is amazing!" Izuku said, before frowning, "It's also… really warm… Hot… Hot! Hot! Hot!" Izuku felt his head start to rapidly warm.

"Izuku!" Hado shouted, grabbing the helmet and pulling it off his head. His hair was smoking and Hado immediately had to drop the helmet herself, though Hatsume immediately caught it.

"Ah, yeah, I still need to figure out the cooling mechanism."

"You almost set my partner on fire!" Hado shouted, pointing at Izuku's fuming head.

"Yeah… Sorry about that. Say, want to try something else?"

"No!" Izuku shouted, putting out the last fire in his hair, before noticing Hado hadn't answered. "Hado?"

"I was kind curious…"

"… I'm not offering myself as a guinea pig anymore." Izuku countered.

"Awww…" She seemed disappointed, shaking her head, "Alright then. So, miss Hatsume, we are going to leave. Please call if anything comes up." She handed her a copy of her phone number, "Also, your father asked us to tell you 'You are in big trouble, missy'."

Hatsume deflated instantly, the smile disappearing from her lips for the first time. "Ugh, I knew he would find out sooner or later."

"How did you handle school anyway?"

"Mh? Oh, I worked from home, all you need to do is show up to school for the exams and you are set." She casually replied, "All I need to do is picking an high school that will let me do that." She looked at them, "Where do you go?"

"Oh, we are from an highschool in Tokyo." Izuku replied. Of course, there was no way he was going to mention Ondereno specifically. Hatsume seemed nice, but they weren't exactly allowed to reveal that.

"Ah, that's too far for me. I need a school here in Kyoto, to keep working here." She gestured toward the building.

"I see." Izuku smiled, "You really like this job, uh?"

"Yup! I've loved mechanics since I was a child, when I built a working helicopter from a stack of construction blocks."

"… You did what?"

"I mean, it only floated a few centimeters from the ground, that's not so impressive." Hatsume replied. Izuku and Hado looked at each other. "But yes, I've always enjoyed it. Support Items, in particular, are amazing. The idea of something ensuring a safe, enjoyable life for Aliens and civilians alike, it's so commendable. If only I could also expand in the Heroic Support market…" She shook her head, "But nah, Aliens are already plenty, I can't imagine having to work on Support Items for Heroes too. It would probably kill me." Her stomach grumbled, "Speaking of which, I should really eat something before I pass out from exhaustion. I've been awake for sixty-four hours straight, so that's gonna happen soon."

"You what?!"

"Coffee is my one true lover!" Hatsume shouted, "Goodbye, and if you want a support item make sure to swing by!" And with that, she rushed off, headed to an office on the side.

"Should we be worried?" Izuku asked.

"I don't know." Hado reply, "She is nice though."

Izuku had to wonder for a moment what a meeting between Hatsume and Hado in her out-of-work attitude would look like.

He wasn't sure even he could handle that many words per second.

-x-

Their next objective was looking for the apartment. Douraku's lead seemed solid enough, even if he couldn't name the right apartment. "It has to be that one, right?" Hado asked.

"By the river, with a window facing it, and a place that doesn't do many identity checks on the residents…" Izuku looked at it. The three stories building wasn't much different from the apartment complex he lived in, really, though the area of the city was a bit poorer apparently. "I guess it's the best candidate."

"Good. Stake out it is then." Hado replied, looking around, and noticing another apartment complex nearby. Since the river curved lightly right there, the apartment complex was a bit further west, and Izuku realized why she was picking it. With that angle, they could keep an eye on the windows on the river side too, enough to at least see someone sneak in and out.

Hado carried both of them on the apartment complex's roof, then pulled out of her purse a set of high-tech binoculars, handing one to Izuku. "Heat vision and night vision?" Izuku asked.

"Yup. Since this is our best candidate for an apartment, we need to keep an eye on it all day, and we better be able to see what's going on at night. I have something else we can use if we confirm he is here, but I figure it can wait. We will give it a day, before we try that."

Izuku nodded, and watched Hado setting herself down, eyes on the apartment complex through the binoculars. After a moment, he did the same.

For a while, neither spoke, focusing checking every window in sight, even if to no avail.

"So…" Hado finally asked, "That Hatsume girl. What do you think?"

"She seemed nice." Izuku replied, "Very excitable, but I'm used to that." He had with a smile.

Hado made a pouty face, but it devolved quickly into a smile. "Yeah, I guess you are used to it. I try to hold it back a bit during work though."

"Probably the right thing to do." Izuku replied, "I also try to mumble less out loud."

"Really?"

"Yep. I figured I should… put in the effort, you know?"

"Well, not mumbling the investigation out loud would be useful, yes." Hado replied with a chuckle, as they went back to their watch.

"So, why did you join the HASC?" Izuku asked.

"Mh?" Hado looked at him for a moment, before turning back.

"I mean, I joined because I can do… this, even as a Quirkless person. This is… Probably the closest I will ever be to a Hero, right? Saving people, fighting bad guys, I couldn't really do this in any other way, right? But you have a really cool power, you are strong, and kind, and…" He trailed off, "I was just wondering why."

Hado nodded, "Right. Well, the truth is… I didn't have a lot of options. I could have tried to become a Hero. I want to help people. But when I was told to choose what I would become, I could only think of one thing?"

"What is it?"

"Why do we come here?" She asked, "We Aliens, we come to Earth for different reasons. Some are sent, like me. Some buy or are granted passage. Some are running away from something. But the point is, we all come to Earth seeking refuge. Seeking a home." She shook her head, "And not everyone finds it. Some never feel like they fit in. Some don't understand the culture of this world. And some…" She shook her head, "Even this mission, it only exists because we have let the Aliens resentment grow. They think they can do better than the HASC and the government, so they join any organization that accepts them. I'm convinced we can do better. That we can do more. But this can't change from the outside. A Hero can't change this. But the HASC Director? They can do a lot."

"You want to become the Director?"

"Or to help someone I agree with become that. There has never been an Alien Director before. But if I can help someone become that Director, someone I trust, I won't feel like being sent to Earth was a mistake." She looked at him, "It's a distant dream, for now. The Director is named by the Chiefs of the various offices, and I am still a greenhorn. I'm far from having a role that would allow me to help in the choice. But one day… One day I will raise through the rank. And I will find the right successor for the Director. Someone that shares my ideals."

Izuku looked at her. The determined look in her eyes, and the way she seemed so sure of what she wanted of her future.

What did he want from his future? He had joined the HASC because he wanted to save people and fight Villains, that was through. He still wanted to be a Hero.

Was that right? Was he supposed to keep wishing for that? Hado was looking ahead at a future that was in ten, twenty years, and she was marching towards it. She knew what she wanted to do, and she had already decided who she was going to be.

Izuku didn't feel like he was doing the same. He was stuck, holding onto the same dream he held onto for years, even as he tried to tell himself he had let go.

And he wasn't sure if he was ready to do that.

With a sigh, he turned back toward the apartment. 'Maybe the answer is something I will find in time.' He thought. 'Maybe.'

-x-

It took almost twenty hours, with the two sleeping in turns to keep up their watch twenty-four seven, and Hado leaving at one point to come back with food, blankets and pillows she bought in a nearby store, before they finally got a call.

"Hello?" Hado asked.

'Miss Hado? It's me, Hatsume.' The girl said, 'Things are happening in my family, but my father says I should stay until this affair is concluded, so we don't get in the way of the investigation, and I just got a call. They left an order for the new model, and an address to deliver it.'

"What's the address?" Hado asked, and Izuku held his breath.

A moment later, they looked back toward the apartment complex. Same address. They were on the right track again. And they wouldn't fail this time.

(XX)

And we will leave it here. At least one of my fics won't leave my readers on a big cliffhanger.

So, speaking of this chapter, I guess the big thing to bring up is the difference with Hatsume Steelwork and Hatsume herself. Well, for Hatsume herself is not much really, she is the same impulsive, focused, machines-making girl... Just with an Alien focus that runs in the family instead of her Hero focus. No what really changes about Mei is her backstory and future. I dropped some... I think fairly heavy hints in what she wants, but we will see more of it later.

Also, Hatsume's dad secretary is Moko Tamashi, the 'last person saved by All Might' in canon.
That is absolutely unimportant and just my habit of using literally any named character, but I wanted to mention it.

And we get something more on Nejire too. Something about her past and her goals, for now. And, of course, talking about future means talking about Izuku's future too, and where he is now. Long way to go to finally become a proper Agent, my boy.

I mentioned it before, but while this story isn't a harem by any stretch of the idea, this story will revolve a lot around various MHA girls and their position in this AU. It's more of a coincidence than anything, the girls just happened to line up with the roles I wanted to portray (and is not like boys won't be included) but it's something I find funny and so I decided to mention.

See you in two weeks (well less really, since this chapter came out so late...)