Ayo, ayo, ayo, its ya boy, NarutoPlug, stuck at the house on Christmas break like its quarantine all over again. Staying at the house again has been pretty boring, but I've been getting work done. Also, I've broken my no soda/sweet tea challenge that I've been staying true to since my birthday in August, so that sucks. I don't even like the taste of soda anymore, but im just sick and tired of drinking tasteless water all the time that I need something to spice up my taste buds, ya dig?

I'm writing this relatively close to dropping chapter 5, but I don't have a clear definite outline to how this chapter will go. There won't be any action, that's for sure….but I'm not sure how I'm going to stretch this chapter to a relatively okay word count. Maybe I shouldn't force it and just keep it short whenever I put everything I wanted in the chapter.

Like I said in the last chapter's AU, this will be the start of the Dogu-squad, or Doguma, Hitoshi and Mei. Izuku won't play much of a role anymore until later on, but he will make some minor appearances.

Thanks for the love and support, ya dig. I appreciate all of yall.

Let's continue the story.

Minus:Negative

School Days

Freeman Doguma was on a mission.

He had to find that girl again. Mei.

That entire night, the only thing Doguma had on his mind was Mei. In the few seconds of interaction they had (which was zero because he didn't say a word to her), the pink-haired mechanic had the most dominant effect on Doguma than anyone has ever had in his life. The purity that radiated off her body nearly expelled any negative thoughts that usually clouded his head.

It was after school and the dual-quirked teen was headed right back to the workshop that he first met Mei. 'I'll just come up with a lie and say that I was interested in joining the support course. Hopefully, they give me a walkthrough and I met her and then ask to see what she's working on and go from there.'

Doguma was going over his plan in his head as he turned the corner to the hallway where the workshop was located. 'You can do this, Doguma. Talking to people, even when you don't want to, is your specialty. Just knock on the door and remain confident that-

The door to the workshop was wide open, to Freeman's surprise.

'Oh…well, that just makes things easier…'

Peeking his head inside, Doguma glanced around the room. The large workshop was entirely empty of students and Power Loader….all except of one pink-haired girl digging through a pile of abandoned gadgets in the back of the room.

'…..well then….' Thought the Freeman child as he walked in, '….this is surprisingly easy.'

"Gotcha!" Mei's head popped out of the hill of gadgets she was digging in. With a proud smile, she held up a random, machinal part. "Oh, my precious little baby!~ Don't ever run away from me again!"

One of the pieces from atop the pile fell from its resting place, heading directly down for Mei's exposed head. Doguma quickly reacted, running across of the room and catching the gear before it could hit his crush's head. "Glad I came here when I did."

"Eh?" The mechanic glanced up to see a stranger holding one of her babies. "Who are you?"

'She doesn't remember me from yesterday?' mentally sweat dropped Doguma. But he made sure to keep face. He didn't want Mei to feel his annoyance. "I just came in to see the workshop because I was interested in the support course…I saw this piece fall and caught it before it hit your head."

"Oh!" A wide, beaming smile grew on her face that made Doguma's heart rush. There wasn't any negativity in her wide smile at the slightest. "Thanks for taking care of my baby!"

'Baby?'

"No problem. My name is Fre-

Mei snatched the gear out of Doguma's hand and ran over to her work bench, totally ignoring his elevator introduction. "I could actually use this for my jet packs! I need to create a small enough cooling system that's still affective enough to cool something that makes so much heat….hmmmm?

Doguma watched as Mei went digging through her notes, trying to find a solution to her problem. 'She…..she really ignored me….and still is!' he thought, totally astounded by his existence meaning literally nothing to the mechanic.

Doguma never liked being the center of attention…but now that he wanted the attention, he wasn't getting it? '…is this how other people feel when I ignore them?...how negative…'

"I need to weld these two together to get the exoskeleton done…" Donning her goggles and an extra protective metal mask, Mei went to work, welding the two metal slabs together with her MIG welder that sparked a blue flame. "Curving them into shape will be easy, but I need to make sure they're the same size so they produce the same proportion of exhaust. Then, my baby will be flying high in the sky! Helping heroes take down….Hey…HEY!"

Throwing her welding mask off, Mei watched as her welder's flame sporadically cough until it finally dissipated, running out of fuel. "Bu-but! But I can't run out of fuel!" cried out the gear-obsessed mechanic, "Power Loader-sensei locked up all the fuel in the closet! There isn't any left for me to use to create my babies!"

Mei initial plan was to find bolt cutters to break into the closer hosting the gas for her welder but was surprised when a purple light flashed in the corner of her eye. The two metal pieces were being welding together, to her surprise, by a purple laser beam that immitted an intense heat-easily doing the job she was doing just seconds ago. "..How-

"Guess my quirk can be used for this….how positive." Excitement filled Mei's eyes as she watched the random guy next to her weld the slabs together with a laser beam produced from his index finger. "….Minus is my quirk's name….it lets me produce negatively-charged lasers from my-

"OOOOOHHHHH!" The pink-haired mechanic seemingly teleported next to Doguma and analyzed his quirk. "This is so interesting! And it's a laser? Can you produce lasers from your other fingers? Even your toes? I wonder how I can make them stronger? Maybe using mirrors or glass for the lasers to ricochet from!? Maybe I produce small gloves that has a lens inside of it, which could possibly amplify the laser since its basically light amplification that can easily be controlled into a focused point! We have lasers cutters here! Maybe if I just broke one down and understood its mechanics, we'll get your hero career started with a bang!"

"Wait, I think you're confused. I'm not in the Hero Course." Waved off the Freeman teen. Even the thought of him being in the Hero Course made him uncomfortable. "I'm a General Education student. I just wanted to see if you were okay from yesterday from that explosion as well as see what the Support Course was about since I'm interested in it."

"Oh! You're interested in support and hero equipment! And you know I about the explosion I did that made Power Loader-sensei angry yesterday? Oh my, I can already feel the creation of more babies happening!" screeched Mei.

A drip of sweat rolled down the side of Doguma's face. 'Her obsession with machines reminds me of Izuku's obsession with heroes….do I just attract people that are heavily obsessed with their goals?' he questioned himself. "…well…My name is Freeman Doguma: 1st year here at U.A."

"And I'm Hatsume Mei!" Doguma grimaced when Mei shook his hand with her grimy, oily mechanic gloves. "I'm a first year, too! I'm gonna be super amazing support girl working with all the most famous heroes! Everyone's gonna want their gadgets from Hatsume Mei! All I want to do in life is make more babies!"

"By babies, I assume support equipment and things similar, correct?"

"YES! My babies are all my greatest creations! I can work three-days straight working on my babies!"

'She definitely reminds me of Izuku…' he thought while Mei continued to rant about how great her babies were, '…and if she's just as passionate for support as Izuku is for heroes…she'll go far, for sure…..how positive...'

"Since you're interested in the Support Course and making babies, you'll be my assistant for the year!"

'-and her passion is like a bright star with no negative…just being around her…wait….what did she just say?"

"What did you just say?"

"You're gonna be my assistant!" grinned the mechanic, "Especially since there's definitely gonna be times Power Loader-sensei may accidentally lock up the gas in the closet. Your quirk will certainly come in handy for making babies! And! You'll learn by watching me!"

"Ack-well, that sounds nice and all bu-

"Let's get to work! How do you turn this bad boy on?!"

Mei literally yanked Doguma's hand to her workbench-not caring for how Doguma was lurched forward from the small girl's surprisingly strong grip. "O-Ow!?" grimaced Doguma when Mei gave his hand a couple of slaps. Minus burst to life in his right index finger in response-a strong purple laser ready for welding already burning a small hole through the work bench.

"Great! Let's get this show on the road." She threw on her iron mask and got back to welding with her organic welding tool.

Doguma gulped and nearly blushed out of embarrassment as his arm was brushed up against Mei's generous…..chest area. Based off her character, he knew she wasn't doing it on purpose, but it still felt wrong for the dual-quirked teen. '….but….it does feel soft….and large…and-gack! What am I thinking! Perversion! How negative! How negative!'

The Freeman child snatch his hand away to the confusion of the baby-making fanatic. "Listen, Hatsume-san. I…I can weld this easily by myself….maybe you can find some other parts for the contraption you plan on making?" he suggested with a shrug. "Let me handle this here myself."

"Great idea!" Mei shouted in his face. Doguma internally winced at the extreme volume she was shouting at. "You handle this, and I'll improve the schematics of the jet pack and find more equipment!"

Mei rushed to the pile of abandoned gadgets, giving Doguma a small, momentary break from the excited girl. 'She really is passionate…' he sighed as he began working on his welding job, '….but I guess I can stick around for some time…we shouldn't be here for long anyway…..it's a little past four p.m. now…' he confirmed with a quick glance at his phone, 'Yea….I'll just stay here for a while and then offer to walk her home…. I should be back at the house no later than seven p.m….Pops is cooking tonight, too. I am looking forward to that…yea…I'll be home soon...'

Time: 11:00 p.m.

'How negative….how negative….how negative…'

The mantra filled the tired Freeman's head as he continued to weld metal together for Mei. He had underestimated just how passionate and blunt the girl was. Usually with Izuku obsession with heroes, the green-haired child would take note of when his best friend was getting tired of talking about heroes and give Doguma a break. However, Mei seemed to be incapable of recognizing the boredom or fatigue Doguma was experiencing as the pink-haired girl was continuing to build her 'babies' with a bright smile on her face.

Of course, it was that bright smile that attracted Doguma to Mei in the first place, but now he knew that the girl was an absolute stamina freak that didn't believe in sleep. 'I haven't even checked my phone yet, but I know Tou-san is furious right now since he cooked tonight…'

Doguma sighed as he felt his head slow lean downward. He jerked himself back up and forced his eyes open. '….my fingers hurt…how negative…' he complained mentally. His quirk was running out of negative energy to power it by now-the once bright purple light now a thin, small and fading. 'This has to end at some point…I don't even know if I'll make the last train ride home at this pace if we stay here…'

"Ah! It's coming out so well!"

As Doguma sulked in his fatigue, Mei was bright as ever as she threw on a metallic backpack with excitement. "My Hydraulic Bracers babies is complete! Oh, I can't wait to show it off at the upcoming Sports Festival! All of the support companies will get to see my babies live-in action!" she squealed.

"Here, Hatsume-san…." Yawned the Freeman child as he approached Mei with a welded piece of metal. "This will probably go well with for the body of the jet pack you were talking about earlier."

"That's great!" she sparkled at the fine craftsmanship of Doguma's welding. "With you around, I don't have to worry about Power Loader-sensei locking up the fuel for the burners ever!"

"True but…"

Doguma stopped midsentence as realization struck him. 'Wait a second…..with me around….'

"Hatsume-san?"

"Hmm?" she said with a smile.

"Do you even know my name?"

"Eh? No. Why would I?"

"….."

Anger

Negative wasn't even activated, but Doguma could feel the bubbling negative emotion deep within him. 'She doesn't even know my name….' he thought with a blank face. 'I was doing all of this mess and she doesn't even know my name…'

Thankfully, after years of practice controlling his emotions through meditation and other calming techniques, Doguma quelled his rage to avoid a possible accident with his quirk. 'This just feels like a waste of time…' he continued, not angry-but annoyed and frustrated at his companion of the past few hours. 'I could be in bed right now, reading a book while listening to opera. Instead, I'm-

"I don't know your name, but you've been a big help today! I've gotten more done than I usually do!"

The frustration and annoyance the Freeman felt vanished the moment Mei's positively brilliant smile grew to the corners of her face; her eyes were full of pure excitement and honesty that Doguma never saw in anyone else. The passion and love she had for her machines were toxic to the negative emotions built within his mental and melted all the negativity away in an instant.

"Tch….." Doguma looked away while scratching his head, feeling embarrassed by his slightly upbeat heart rate…"…..you better be glad you're cute…." He grumbled.

"Eh? What was that?" Mei intruded Doguma's personal space – her face inches away from Doguma's own.

"I said my name is Freeman Doguma." He lied with swiftness and precision, "Please remember it next time."

"Okay! Freeman Doguma! My name is Hatsume Mei!" she screeched in pure glee.

Doguma sighed. "I know, Hatsume-san. You told me-

"Now let's get back to making babies!"

Mei's excitement to try out her new Hydraulic Bracers forcibly pulled whatever focus she had on Doguma away to what really matter to her.

Doguma sighed again but went along with it. If he was going to be around the genius mechanic, he would have to get used to her outspoken, invasive, passionate personality. "I guess we can see how it works….."

"Alright!" With a push of a button, Mei turned on the creation. The metallic backpack screeched to life with a few rumbles. "Now! Try to hit me, Treeman-san!"

'Treeman…I guess that counts as progress…'

"It's Freeman, Hatsume-san…and alright…lets try a leg sweep…"

Mei had explained earlier that her Hydraulic Bracers purpose was to automatically dodge any attack towards its user by using dual hydraulic attachments. The creation seemed very advanced and Doguma gave credit to its creator: if this could work, then heroes would be better in the field with another set of eyes watching their surroundings.

The moment Doguma stepped forward to conduct a proper leg sweep, the backpack produced the two hydraulics and, with an impressive display of mechanical power, threw Mei's body at the unsuspecting Doguma.

The result was a very unsatisfying kneecap to the Freeman child's privacy and two teenagers crashing to the ground as a smoke plum grew out of the failed contraption.

"Wow! That was fun!" Mei climbed off Doguma's pain-filled body with a bright smile, "Guess I messed something up with the wiring, but it can all be fixed! Let's go back to the drawing board and see what I did wrong!"

Doguma, clutching his family jewels, was obviously against anymore testing of Mei's creations for the day. "W-wait….Hatsume…Hatsume-san…." He heaved, trying his hardest to keep from getting angry and shedding a few tears. "Let's….let's save the experiments for another day…..we…." Doguma gritted his teeth as an intense wave a pain flooded his body, "…we're…..gonna be late for…t-the train…."

"Ah! The train! I guess we are gonna be late! Hmm….Yea, I guess we'll have to call it a day then…."

'Kami…I don't know if you exist, but thank you if you do…' Doguma prayed as he slowly stood from the ground, "Okay….I'll come back on Monday and hel-

"Monday?! No, no, no!" denied the mechanic fanatic, "Power Loader-sensei gave me permission to work during the weekend! I'll be here all-day Sunday, and you will too, my assistant!"

"…..pain…." muttered Doguma in disbelief.

"Eh? What was that?"

"…I said okay…."

'This night is almost over, Doguma….just stay positive….'

Sadly for the Minus:Negative user, Mei and his own trains were separate and leaving the station at the same time. Doguma, being the gentleman his Tou-san taught him to be since he was little, offered to walk Mei home. She agreed, not thinking much of it, and led the duo to the train station. Now, Doguma was going out of his way to make sure his crush got home safe – which he didn't have a problem with, but being out so late, being used as a personal tool, and having a kneecap crushed in his privacy and not having his father's cooking for dinner really wasn't how the Freeman child wanted to spend his evening.

To calm his growing, Doguma listened to pleasing sounds of the ocean fill his head while Mei sat beside him, going over notes for a new baby. It gave the teen a break from Mei's constant passion for making support items as they sat in silence with the occasional mumbles escaping Mei's lips as she mapped out the circuitry of her Hydraulic Bracers.

After leaving the train, the duo began the final stretch to Mei's home. Mei was still reading over some notes while walking, impressing Doguma as she avoided anything that may cause her to slip or fall through memory alone as her eyes were trained in her notes. 'She's literally the same as Izuku, just without all the negativity and self-loathe…how positive.'

"….Hatsume-san…" Doguma called out.

"Hhmm?"

"What time do you plan on being at school tomorrow?"

"Hmmmm….maybe sometime around ten in the morning."

"Well, maybe I should have your number to contact you when I'm near the school or whenever you get there."

A smooth play that made logical sense. While Doguma hardly asked others for their number since he hardly had friends growing up, he knew how to communicate to people to get what he wanted from them. A simple excuse that benefitted his long-term goal of getting to know his pink-haired crush better.

"Oh! That makes sense! Let me get your phone!"

And of course, Mei thought nothing more of it than how her new assistant presented the notion as she easily swapped numbers with Doguma. "This is great! Maybe I can swap ideas with you! Usually, I'm hesitant because I don't want anyone stealing my ideas, but I've gotta trust my assistant so that we can make more babies together!"

"Uh…yes…let's make more….babies.." he said with a bit of hesitation. If his father ever heard him say that, he would be getting a 2-hour long lecture about sex education.

Soon enough, they made it to Mei's house: a nice, regular two-story home with a gate. Mei slapped Doguma's back as a form saying goodbye and ran inside, leaving the dual-quirked teen by himself in the night.

Another sigh, which felt like the 100th time he did that in the past 24 hours, escaped the teen's lips as he began his long walk back home.

Unlocking his phone, Doguma stared at Mei's number for a few moments in the middle of the street, celebrating his small victory with a grin.

"….heh….." he chuckled, "…..how positive….."

He pocketed his phone and began his long stretch home, a small grin plastered on his face the entire walk home.

"Boy! Do you know what time it is?! It's nearly midnight! I did my good cooking today thinking that you'd be here on time but NNOOOOOOOOO! You're out there probably doing stupid stuff like looking up how to be a librarian or something! I told you: Hero or accountant! Only two options, sochi! I'm thinking we're gonna have a nice Tou-san/sochi night, watching the game and eating my delicious cooking, WHICH I WORKED VERY HARD ON SHALL I ADD, just for you not to show! If you would have just told me you'd be late, I would've gone out to the bar with my colleagues tonight before we went off to our business trip to Tokyo in the morning! Really, what's got into you! I wa-

"Father."

Doguma cut off his father's ranting as he showed the man Mei's number.

"I met a girl I like. She's in the support course. I stayed with her all evening because I got typed up working with her. I walked her home, but we took the last train on our way to her house, so I walked back home. I am tired. I am dirty. I shall go to sleep. I shall wake up and take a shower in the morning. If I take it now, I'll fall asleep in the shower and possibly drown. How negative. If you haven't, please put my food in the fridge. I'll eat it for breakfast. Thank you. Good night."

Done with his explanation of his day, the tired Doguma walked to his room and closed the door behind him.

"Hmm…" muttered the interested Gerald, "He met a girl he likes….that's progress…..it's gonna suck when he figures out that I ate his portion of dinner out of anger."

A tired Doguma stared inside the empty refrigerator; a depressing drip of sweat falling from his forehead as the space where his supper-now-breakfast should have been.

"….he ate my food out of spite….didn't he…"

Earlier that morning, Gerald had told the half awake Doguma that he was leaving for Tokyo for his usual small trip to Tokyo. The elder Freeman said he'd be back in a day or two, leaving Doguma by himself with a bit of cash for food and ran out before his child found out he ate his food from the night before.

Doguma sighed as walked to the living room to lay out on the couch. "…..do you really want to spend your Sunday at U.A. with a slightly crazy girl you somewhat like?" he asked himself.

He stared at the ceiling in quiet contemplation. While he enjoyed the sleep he got last night, he was still relatively tired from working with the support equipment-obsessed girl that is Hatsume Mei.

His phone vibrated – a text from Mei.

"Decided to get here early! Bring some chocolate to snack on if you can!" - Sent at 9:20 a.m.

"…"

"…"

"…."

"…"

"…..sigh…" Doguma marched back to his room to throw on clothes he wouldn't care about if they got dirty. "Is this what liking someone does to you? How negative….."

Hitoshi Shinso looked at his weary new friend from afar.

The Freeman child had told Shinso about how Mei had kept him locked up at the workshop studio all Saturday afternoon and the majority of Sunday. Through text, the Minus quirk user would keep Shinso informed of all of Hatsume's crazed-habits and how the girl was driving him crazy. Shinso asked why he put up with someone so troublesome – he would have left five minutes with the mechanic – but Doguma's want to become acquainted with Mei was stronger than his desire to go home: the only place where things made sense.

Hitoshi was known for his tired, stern eyes. However, looking at his new U.A. buddy, Doguma's absolute fatigue was nearly impossible not to notice based by the heavy bags under his eyes…

….and the fact that he was currently asleep on their history textbook.

"Uhh…." Iruka-sensei scratched the back of his head, unsure on how to approach the situation. Many had noticed the sleeping Doguma by now, though, the Freeman child wasn't making any noises in his sleep, thankfully. Since Doguma's story of denying an opportunity to be in the Hero Program with his historic amount of Entrance Exam points was so interesting, he was one of the more popular kids by default (even though he never wanted the attention). Iruka hadn't been with this group of kids long, but he knew Doguma would never intentionally sleep in class.

Sure enough, before he could say anything, the drowsy Freeman blinked back to life, regathered himself, and began staring out the window with his usual disinterest to everything around him. "Aah, we-well, continuing on with the lesson…" continued the scared man.

"You were really out of it today, huh…"

"…sigh….I've never reached levels of fatigue like I'm experiencing now, Shinso-san…"

The duo was hanging out outside the school during their lunch break. They found a nice, shady tree to relax under to get away from the loud cafeteria.

Doguma drained his bottle of water and rested his back against the tree with a deep sigh. "We were there from 10 to….like 9 p.m. last night…the only reason why we left was thanks to the janitor forcing us out. If not…..how negative….."

Shinso chuckled at his friend's distress. While he hadn't known the dual-quirked teen for long, he knew seeing a fear-stricken Doguma was a rare sight. "She does seem like the overly-happy, active type." He responded, "I honestly don't see what you like about her. She's loud and….actually, that's all I need to know to not like her. She's very loud."

"That is true," Freeman muttered with a weak snicker, "…but she's very…it….it's hard to put it…I just feel happy around her….that's something I haven't felt in a long time."

"Hmmm….I guess that's nice….how do you think she would feel if you told her about your other quirk?"

"Honestly, she'd probably try to find a way to amplify its abilities and I'll become her test dummy…almost like I am now…how negative…" he laughed, "….If I told her about Negative, she wouldn't judge me: she's not like that. I'm just afraid that she'd find a way to amplify Negative with one her babies….and then I'd lose control…"

"Babies?"

"Her name for her creation. Please don't ask for any more information."

"Alright….are you going back to the workshop with her after school?"

"….my body is telling me no because I'm tired. My body is also telling me to go because I like her."

Shinso patted his friend on the back, "While I can't offer you any help because that would be too troublesome….I wish you luck."

"Thanks…"

The two sat in silence-their conversation understood as finished. Now, they were just enjoying the other's presence under the shade of their new spot, watching other students that decided to come outside for lunch. Nobody bothered the two 'evil' quirked since some knew of Shinso's quirk and shunned him out of fear; others knew about Doguma's performance during the Entrance Exam and knew he wasn't to be messed with. That, or nobody wanted to talk to two strangers.

Doguma felt a nudge on his arm.

Shinso held out his open chip bag.

"Want some chips?"

"…..how positive…."

"Dreamman-san! Dreamman-san! Check this out!"

Doguma sighed as he pulled off his welding mask and walked over to Mei's table. She was smoldering wires in her failed Hydraulic Bracers together. "I think I've improved the bracers functionality now! My baby is gonna work this time!"

"It's Freeman, Hatsume-san…and I that's good…I'm guessing you want to try it out now?"

"YESS!" she all but yelled inches away from his face with stars in her eyes.

"….how negative…" he grumbled.

It was after school and the support genius and her assistant were back in the workshop creating more of Mei's babies. The previous two days seemed to have zero affect on Mei's usual-excitement as she bounced around the lab and continued her work. Meanwhile, Doguma's quirk and fingers were getting a real work out now that he had to weld all of Mei's creations together with perfect precision.

The next test of Mei's Hydraulic Bracers was for Doguma to run up to the pink-haired girl and attempt to push her. Mei assured that the support tech's sensors would accurately dodge Doguma's shove for her without a problem. "Just run up and push, Greenman-san! I know she'll work this time!"

'Freeman…how negative…'

Choosing that he had corrected her enough in the past hour, Doguma ignored his name being mispronounced and ran up to Mei to shove her. Both tech genius and assistant were happily surprised when the support item activated on time and pulled Hatsume away from the approaching Freeman. "Yes! My baby works!"

"That's actually really impressive. How positive." Congratulated the Freeman child. "This can go really far when-

The Hydraulic Bracer then decided that Mei needed to get further away from Doguma, which it had identified as the enemy, and proceed to haul Mei to the ceiling and tie her up to the air conditioning pipes. "He-hey! This isn't supposed to be happening!"

Doguma sighed once more. "There isn't a boring day with you, Hatsume-san….I'm gonna have to cut the wires with my quirk."

"But it took us so long to get them right!" she wailed, not wanting to see her baby get hurt.

"It's the only way to get you down from there, Hatsume-san."

"What is going on here?"

Power Loader, class 1-H and Mei's teacher, stood at the entrance of the studio with his arms crossed. His face was unreadable since it was covered by his large, industrial helmet.

"Ah! Power Loader-sensei!" Mei shouted from the ceiling with her ever present smile. "Good to see ya'!"

"Hatsume-san…while I am thoroughly impressed by your immeasurable passion for support items, endangering yourself daily is not a good habit to have. I can't watch you 24/7." He stated with disapproval.

"Heheh! Sorry! I thought I got it right this time!" she grinned, "But there's always next time to make my babies even better!"

By now, Doguma had cut through all the wires with Minus and caught Mei's falling body with ease. "And it seems you have a friend….we've met before, no?"

"Freeman Doguma." The dual-quirked teen bowed with respect. "We met a few days ago after one of Mei's….accidents."

"Oh, that's right. You and that sleepy looking kid."

'Oh, Shinso…'

"Correct, sir."

"And I'm guessing you're helping Mei?" he asked, "But you aren't a Support Course student."

"I came to the workshop a few days ago because I'm interested in support work. I'm a General Studies student but I didn't feel confident applying for the Support Course because I'm not knowledgeable about it. Hatsume-san was the only person in the studio, and she made me her, and I quote, 'her assistant.'"

"Makes sense. That sounds like her." Nodded the small man. "So how long have you liked her for?"

'…how negative….'

"You aren't the first person to give me that same excuse. I know how you teenagers work." Began Power Loader, "Boys and girls have come to the workshop wanting to 'watch' or 'participate' with a 'friend'. And then they become a distraction, leading to some type of problematic relationship that, overall, isn't good for my students….especially someone with such a bright future like Hatsume-san…"

"…..oh…"

"But."

"Yikes!" Mei shouted when she dropped a wrench on her foot.

"Her passion is also bad thing….as she's very accident prone and doesn't have a sense of 'self-preservation'." He continued as they watched Mei hop around on one leg while cradling her injured foot. "That girl would work herself dead if I never kicked her out when it's time go home."

"I've already experienced that, sir. I understand completely."

"Mmmhmmm…" he nodded, "Which is why I'll let you stay with Hatsume-san for now."

That surprised Doguma. He was fully expecting Power Loader to kick him out. "Really?" he questioned in surprise.

"Yes…..somebody needs to watch her while she works….make sure she's taking care of herself…and doesn't kill herself while working." He stated, "I'll allow you to work as Mei's assistant and keep up this act of being her assistant…."

"Oh. Well, thank you, sir. I really do appreciate-

"…but you need to present to me a new invention every week of your creation if you want to stay here. Those are the terms."

"YYEEEEOUUUCCHHH!" Mei had dropped another wrench on her other foot and was now jumping on the other foot as she held her newly injured foot in pain. "That smarts!"

"….deal…." muttered Doguma.

Doguma shook the smaller man's hand before he walked away, leaving Mei to the Freeman child. "Hopefully, you do learn something about support. I'm always happy to accept new students." He said as he walked down the hallway, "….just need to make sure they're serious about it."

With that, Doguma was left alone at the entrance of the workshop. Mei had all but forgotten of her throbbing feet and was digging through a drawer filled with gears for her new project.

With a sigh, Doguma reentered the studio. "What have I gotten myself into…..how negative…positive….both."

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Jeez, I really like this story.

Hope you guys like the chapter. Since the last chapter was more focused on Hitoshi, on this one I wanted to focus more on the beginning of Mei and Doguma's relationship. Being with Mei, the exact opposite of Doguma in terms of personality, will definitely lead to some comedic moments I'm looking forward to typing up for you all.

The way this story flows is defienelty different from my past works, but I really do enjoy typing it up. For one, the chapters are WAYY shorter (thank God), and I'm typing in a new way that's descriptive but also to the point. It really saves time.

I hope everyone is enjoying Doguma's character. He really is the best of boys. He just wants to live happily and quietly….but of course, U.A. is the opposite of that so yea.

The story will continue to open up more with more connections Doguma makes at U.A. You all will enjoy the growth for sure.

Also, Genshin Impact literally owns me now. This game is too addicting. Still haven't paid any money on it, but I can feel the want to continuing to grow every day, ya dig?

Make sure to follow, fav, and review! I really do appreciate it!

But yea, that's it for me.

NarutoPlug, signing out,

Like a real one should…

Trust in the Plug.