Where on earth did she put it all?

Mei had ordered the largest steak on the menu and began devouring it along with the sides. His own meal was about the same size, and Melissa's was about maybe half the size, and it was mostly salad and soup. Mei was 5'3 on a good day and probably didn't weigh more than 120 lbs give or take her boobs. By comparison he had nearly a foot on her and over a hundred pounds of muscle and bone on the girl.

And yet somehow, she wasn't making a mess.

Looking back to Melissa the blond haired girl just shrugged, either not surprised by how much food Mei could put away or was already over it. She gave him a soft smile and took a small sip of her soup.

"So," He asked, his knife scraping against the plate. The food was good, and in theory the company was too. It just felt like they didn't exactly get along. "What big projects have you two been working on recently?"

Mei attempted to speak but ended up choking on her food as she scrambled to get a bit to drink. After a few seconds she was okay again.

"I'll go first, I'm sure Mei has a list of projects she'd love to tell you about." Melissa placed a hand on her chest in that refined way that he had seen Momo do several times before. "You've actually seen my largest project which is that bio scanner. I'm working on making it both cheaper and more portable for field purposes. Additionally, I have several smaller support items I'm working on, I've even made improvements to the tech I used in that gauntlet I gave you before."

"Oh, right, that thing was really useful. And uhh, sorry I broke it." That gauntlet had allowed him to use all of his power without destroying his arm at the time. But now that he had greater control of One for All he didn't really hurt himself too much anymore.

"Oh it's fine, it was just a prototype after all. I was actually planning on using elements of that in your costume design." She tilted her head just slightly to the side and closed her deep blue eyes to smile at him. "I'll be sure to include instructions on how to properly take it off."

"My turn!" Mei placed her glass down onto the table with a thud. Her yellow, cross-haired eyes zoomed in on him and her smile grew maniac. "In addition to larger projects like the Europa rover and custom orders for other heroes, I've been dabbling in new tech that'll revolutionize costumes! I'm going to be able to make so many new babies once I finish it."

"Oh! Now what colors are you going to want for your new suit? Do you want to stick with the green and black highlights? Or do you want to mix it up a bit?" Mei pushed her empty plate to the side and grabbed one of the napkins, scribbling away like it was a sheet of paper. He didn't know where she got the pen though.

He sat back and shook his head looking down at his plate and blinking. "I really haven't put much thought into it, I didn't really think I needed a new costume until you two offered."

"I offered," Melissa muttered her eyes sharpening and glaring at Mei for a split second before pouting. "She interjected."

"He's my client." Mei muttered back, not looking up from her scribbling. She grabbed the napkin, looked at for a second before handing it to him. "We can work out some of the details later like overall design and color."

There were three things Izuku knew about from what he was holding. The first was that he was holding a napkin. The second was that it was by far the most highly detailed blueprint he had seen, and the third was that it was the most amazing thing that he had no idea what he was looking at.

"I think it looks great?" He shrugged.

Melissa leaned over to look at the napkin as well. He could feel her presence just lingering about him, the closeness was nice. Quite nice. "How on earth do you think you're going to accomplish this Mei?"

"My newest baby! It's going to be amazing I'm almost finished with it!" Mei looked at him, her crosshairs focusing on him. "Ahh, I'm so excited. You need to come to my lab tomorrow, oh, wait, you should come tonight, that way we can get some work done on your new suit!"

"Excuse me." Melissa huffed pushing back some of her hair. "Deku still hasn't decided which design he likes better."

"Huh? Oh, right, our competition. It doesn't matter, Izuku is going to pick my design." Mei waved Melissa off like she wasn't there and like she wasn't paying for their dinner. Wait, who was paying?

"Mei," He said softly, holding a hand out to stop things from escalating.

"What is wrong with you?" Melissa glared from across the table. "You're an anti-social maniac that can't even remember the name of your own teammates, all you do is nothing but invent and be a nuisance."

"Melissa," He held out his other hand to try and stop her. Why were they fighting? This was supposed to be a nice dinner. "Please-"

"He's my client." Mei crossed her arms looking like a obstante twelve-year-old. "I've made all of his gear since we met in high school. I know that my babies will keep him safe."

"Safe? Half of your "babies" end in an explosion."

"Not the ones I give Izuku."

"But you've never made him a suit. My father made All Might's suits, and I want to carry on his legacy and make Deku's costume."

"He's not All Might. He's Izuku, and he's my client."

What on earth was he supposed to do here? They were arguing. "Can't we just get along?"

"What is he to you anyways? Why are you so obsessed with him, you probably have a hundred other heroes that would love to get a suit from you." Melissa's tone wasn't any kinder, but her voice was lower. "So why Izuku."

"I love him."

The silence that followed those three words draped over the entire world for what felt like minutes. There was a stillness in his mind, one that was on the verge of breaking as he looked at Mei, her own face a mask of serenity.

She did just say that right? He didn't mishear her. She loved him? And she said it so simply. So nonchalant, like it was nothing more than a comment on the weather. Yet it carried more weight than that. A lot more weight.

"I'm going." Mei stood and headed towards the door, not quite running, but far faster than any walk.

"Wait, Mei!" He tried to go after her but the small tug on his sleeve from Melissa stopped him. She was biting her lip. She didn't look angry or annoyed, if anything, she looked defeated. "What?"

"I just." She bit her lip and sighed. "Part of the reason why I called you out here was to see if we could start a relationship. I know this is a bad time, but I really do like you."

Really? Two confessions in one night, each coming from one of the most amazing women he knew? He had to be dreaming. Wait, dreams weren't this complicated. Dammit. "I uhh."

Melissa smiled and let go of his sleeve. "Go talk to Mei, I'll take care of the bill. I just wanted you to know that before. Yea."

"Thanks. Thank you Melissa. I- Ahh, dammit, we'll talk later." He breathed through his nose and headed out the door. It shouldn't be too hard to find Mei. She might not be tall but she had an undeniable presence about her that drew attention like flies to honey.

But I-Island was foreign to him, she could have taken any number of back routes or just entered another building. He looked down the long broad street. It was largely barren, with no sign of Mei on either end. Dammit. Why now? How was he supposed to respond to all this?

"Mei!" He cupped his hands shouting, hoping that she'd respond to him. She didn't look sad, but this was Mei, and she didn't seem like she was in love with him either. Still nothing, which way did she go? Where was her lab? Did she go back to her garage? "Mei!"

"Behind you." Mei's voice was soft and could barely be heard over the roaring wind. She was leaning against the wall of the restaurant, still in her lovely blue dress and her hair fell over one of her eyes. She smiled for a second. "Sorry about that. I guess I really do have a problem with speaking my mind."

"There's nothing wrong with that, Mei." He walked over to her and held out a hand. "Do you want to talk?"

She looked at his hand for a few breathless seconds before looking up into his eyes. "Not really."

Mei took his hand, hers were large for her size and just as callous as his. "But I think I should."

"Okay, and don't worry about Melissa she uhh, she, she understands and she'll take care of the bill." He gestured down the street. There was a rush from holding Mei's hand that he hadn't thought would be there. "Do you not like her or something?"

Mei let out a growl and a pout. "It's not that. Just the way she acts and looks at you reminds me of that other girl."

Other girl? Did she mean Ochako? It was the only person he could think of. "And that makes you not like her."

"Yea," she nodded pulling him down a different street, this one was smaller and was flanked by one of the many artificial parks that dotted the island. "I don't know when it happened. Or why. But as happy as I was making new babies, I started to get happier when I was making them for you. I didn't think anything of it and just assumed you asked for neat stuff."

"But then you started to date that other girl. That first week I didn't even make anything; That's when I realized why making new babies for you made me so happy. I liked you. A lot. You talked to me like I was human, I remembered your name, you were on my mind a lot. I wanted to talk to you more, but she was always with you." Mei took in a deep breath and held it tight for a few moments before she let it out with a defeated groan. "That's part of the reason why I moved to I-Island. To escape from hearing about you and her."

"Mei, I'm, I'm sorry, I should have, I should have talked to you more." He flinched, trying not to think about Ochako. How would things be different if he talked to Mei more back then?

She gave a laugh that was halfway to a sob and pushed some of her hair back behind her ear. "I know it's wrong but when you said that you were single today I was actually really happy. But so was Melissa. I shouldn't have noticed that. I shouldn't have even cared, but I did."

"I know, she told me before I came after you." What on earth was he going to do about this?

"That might have been why I blurted it out like that. Maybe I wanted to be the first." Mei groaned and scratched the back of her head. "I don't really know. I'm not good at this whole emotion thing, making babies is so much easier. Especially for you."

They came to a stop in front of one of the large multi storied buildings that overlooked the park.

Mei turned to him and grabbed his other hand. "But I don't think that's good enough anymore. Izuku."

She didn't hesitate. She closed the distance between them and kissed him. Her chest pressed into his for a few tender seconds. He felt it. He felt that jolt that came from kissing someone he cared about. That spine-tingling numbness that left his mind swimming in a sea of fog.

"Mei," he whispered as they parted, she bounced back down and didn't let go of his hands. That kiss must have done something because somehow Mei was even more attractive. He wanted to kiss her again. Only his thoughts weighed him down enough to stop him from doing just that.

"Sorry." She placed a single hand over her mouth, barely hiding her growing smile. "I wanted to do that to you for a while. I should have asked. You haven't even said how you feel about me."

"It's okay, I'm not mad. To be honest, I thought about doing the same to you a few times at U.A. And even when we met today. I've always thought you were attractive. But I just didn't think you were capable of human emotions like that." He squeezed the single hand he still held and smiled. The only thing that had stopped him from going further now was what Melissa said, and how he felt about her.

Mei snorted. "Me neither, but for you I am. Now I have a selfish request."

"What is it?"

She looked at the building behind them and smiled. "My apartment is up there. I don't use it much besides clothes but there's some stuff in there. Can you stay with me? Just for tonight? Or whenever you want, but I'll only ask for tonight. Please?"

This unsure, human side of Mei was downright adorable. But could he really go through with this? With things being unresolved with Melissa?

No. That wouldn't be fair to anybody.

"I'm sorry Mei, but I can't. I need to think about all this. I really want to, but I just can't. Not right now okay?" He let go of her hand and took a step back. "Go get some sleep. I'll see you tomorrow and you can show me your lab, alright?"

"Okay. I should learn what to do if you do stay over before that happens." She closed the distance between them again and leaped up, stealing a kiss he wasn't guarding. She then bounced down, heading towards her apartment. "See ya."

When he got back to his hotel room, he found it impossible to sleep.

AN: Struggled writing this. There was supposed to be more time before anybody confessed but I just couldn't do it. Still I'm happy with how this came out.