Confessions of a Mad Woman.

Buzz-saw spinning, screw tightening, and tiny explosions had filled the developmental studio's silence. 'An average daily occurrence when you work with Mrs. Gear Head,' Power Loader thought as he carried a crate of parts over toward the tool locker, another daily occurrence that signaled that lunch was in session, something that the teacher would always be grateful for as sometimes his favorite protégé was just a little too much for him. He was starting to get worried though that maybe this work was a little too much for her, Hatsume had never really left the workshop for much other than food or taking a much needed bath but recently she had been staying in there for an entire lunch period, she would work on her 'babies' non-stop during all hours of the day, but sometimes he would come back from his break and find a surprising lack of progress on her part that would only start up again after he had returned.

Power Loader was honestly gonna have to bring it up to Nezu to both preserve her health and his sanity; or lack thereof. He admired her dedication, but this was stepping too far, and he was going to make it known as of today.

"Hatsume, you know the drill."

"Yeah yeah I'll see ya when you get back," she blurted without even removing her gaze from the project she was working on, transfixed by her latest genius.

"Hatsume, why haven't you been going?"

"Genius only eats off new idea's!"

"Ideas are not tangible food."

"Ideas are tangible enough to help create food."

"Don't loophole me."

"You do it to me."

"That's different, I actually leave this workshop."

"I do to."

"For five minutes."

"Longer than that and you know it."

"I do, I've timed you."

"And I'm the one who needs something better to do?"

A sigh escaped his lips as he walked over to her desk and lifted her invention high above her head, "Go to lunch."

"Give it back give it back," she shouted as she kept trying to grab the baby from his grasp, only to be held back by her mentor's other hand which was placed on her face.

"I will, after I know that you have gone to lunch and actually ate something that's not an explosion or someone's personal space."

"Pleaseeeee, I'll be good and eat later, I just need the lunch period to finish up this baby and practice!"

"Practice?"

"Yeah prac-uh," Hatsume immediately cursed herself mentally, she wasn't suppose to say anything about her non work related activity in the studio, she blushed as she tried to cover her tracks, "Practice my new art of uh, um something cool that will blow your socks off, if you even wear socks with those shoes, do you? I bet you do, what kind of store do you shop at for them, must be amazing since you have great taste Mr. Power Loader!"

Very few things actually surprised the hero, but this was on that list, Hatsume had never diverted her attention from baby making; as weird as that sentence sounded in his head. This was the first time he had ever actually heard that Hatsume had any other interest, he had to know more.

"Hatsume, you didn't say what this new project was."

"That's because it's so new!"

"So new that you just know that it'll blow my socks off eh?"

"Don't patronize me Mr. Helmet."

"First off, my helmets cool. Second, you better not be doing something bad in this studio, or I WILL ban you for life."

"No no no no, it's nothing terrible, its just this fantastic new baby that the public shouldn't see just yet, its so incredible that I'm sure he feels the same way!"

...

An awkward silence befell the room, Mei's face went from frustrated to dumbfounded, she really needed to take her teachers advice before she blurted out future security information.

"Hatsume?"

"…Please just…don't ask," dumbfoundness turned to shame, embarrassment, and finally sadness, her cheery and enthusiastic personality uncharacteristically left her, the fight for her baby had stopped as she resigned in her seat, turning away from her teacher with her head hung low.

"I'll go to lunch later…I just need a minute alone."

"Jeez, sorry, what's wrong," he knew, just felt that she should be the one to open up to him about it, her business, not his.

"I don't wanna say it, if it's all the same to you…I just need a few minutes to myself, I know you're concerned but I'm fine."

"Well, alright, but sad or not you still need to go, I'll give you ten minutes, if I don't see you in the cafeteria, I'm coming back," he patted her on the back, and placed her invention on the table.

"I will."

"…Hey kid," he said as he opened the door to the studio while taking off his helmet.

"Hm?"

"We've all been there, it works itself out eventually, try to not to die over it. Be a shame to let a brain as good as yours to stop because of it," he gave her a reassuring look, then stepped through the door way, leaving her to her own thoughts. She lifted up her goggles, and looked up at the ceiling, lost in her own head.

After a solid minute of wondering, she looked over to her storage locker, she proceeded to stand up and make her way over to open it up. Inside of it was: her school uniform, backpack, spare goggles, some body spray for those days where her stench nearly killed her classmates, and the one item she kept hidden from everyone a torn-up version of Izuku Midoriya's mask.

It brought her comfort during times of stress and fatigue, she was told to originally throw it away, but she honestly couldn't. A stronger bond with the green haired teen had started when one day he came in for an upgrade to his belt, and after a few minutes he started writing in his hero analysis notebook, Hatsume had taken an interest in his hobby unlike many others, this had deeply touched him. So, he let her read them, she was so amazed at the in-depth details he had given, and it helped her in crafting inventions and the two compared notes every other day they had free time.

They had learned so much about each other: hobbies, interests, cool costume changes and quirk upgrades for their classmates, but the day where she had developed romantic feelings for him is one she'll never forget.

Flashback to 2 Months Ago…

"So, this is a glove for Kacchan," Izuku asked, observing her latest baby for his friend, he was in his hero costume after having finished up a daily lesson working on his ultimate move.

"Ohhhhhhhhh yeah, it'll improve his explosion's by having extra sparks go off to stun his opponent if they dodge his attacks, I accomplished this by using some old stacks of gun powder that Power Loader let me mess witb, hehehe."

"He let you mess with gun powder," he nervously asked.

"…Yup."

"Why did that take you a sec?"

"No reason, just thinking on how cool that the sparkles would be!"

"Maybe for him," Izuku started shaking, thinking about how much damage Bakugo could do if you gave him even more power, recalling one-time Mineta had pranked the foul mouth by sticking him to the floor of the dorms…needless to say it was bit awkward to explain the hole in the ceiling from Bakugo's revenge, but not as bad as trying to figure out when the grape would actually land.

(Author: some say he's still up there, his hair balls getting stuck to a bird and he now sees the world through bird poop tinted glasses.)

"Oh come on, it'll be so cool like a fireworks show of genius!"

"Or murder."

"Your downer mood will be the only murderer here."

"Then you haven't seen what Kacchan can do in just one minute with an attack."

"Color me intrigued," she excitedly got in his face, causing him to get nervous.

"Well he uh-Hatsume should that be smoking?"

"Huh," she then turned back to her work, which had indeed started smoking, "Oh that's just natural, the gunpowder should spark alongside his explosions!"

Then fire happened.

"Kay, that's one new," she remained optimistic, unlike her friend who grew wide eyed, "Must have accidentally pulled that pin he has on it."

"Pin!?"

"Yup, just need to get the fire extinguisher and-"

Her words were cut off by Izuku quickly wrapping her arms around her and turning his body to shield her from the-

BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!

...Yeah that...

The force had blown the two to the ground, smoke filling the room, causing sprinklers to spray water on the glove. Power Loader busted into the room, quickly grabbing the extinguisher and putting out the small fire. A cleanup crew had arrived to fix some of the damages done by the incident, thankfully, no one was harmed, but Hatsume was banned from the studio for a couple days, which didn't help her already grim mood as her favorite goggles had been busted, more specifically the left lenses had cracked, and their container had broken in half alongside the strap. Izuku's mask was torn off his costume also, but this didn't bother him as much since he could simply have it fixed by turning it in like last time, he was more upset by not being able to get her away quick enough to save her goggles and thinking that the fall to the floor might have also done the damage which he was responsible for.

It wasn't so bad though, since Izuku stuck by her side through it all, even going so far as to intentionally make minor damages to his gloves and soles so she would have something to work on in the meantime, she was always happy to see him come by with something, his wanting to cheer her up had warmed her heart just as his was when she gushed about his hobby.

Eventually, her ban had been up, met with both a warm welcome and stern warning from Power Loader. Immediately after though, she jumped into her work as determined as ever, but saw that a box with a ribbon on it was placed on her desk, Power Loader told her that Midoriya stopped by earlier, asking him permission to come in before classes started to leave the gift.

Mei opened the box to reveal her goggles, no signs of damage from the explosion, looking as if they had just come out of a store brand new. A note was inside as well, reading:

Sorry I wasn't able to get you away in time, but I hope I did a good job fixing them up for you, with a little help from a few of your classmates and Mr. Power Loader. Can't wait to see what you create today.

Hope your first day back has less explosions!

Your favorite customer,

Izuku.

A tear drop hit the desk, she couldn't put it into words the sheer joy she felt for this sweet and genuine act from the best friend she had never had before. You couldn't wipe away the smile she wore if you tried.

Something Power Loader knew once he secretly saw her reaction, spying her tucking away Midoriya's torn mask into her pocket. Normally, he'd ask her to toss it, but he knew better.

Present

Hatsume was back at her desk, using her remaining seven minutes to do the activity she tried to hide from her teacher: placing the mask on a bucket, which had a drawn on smile, to practice her confession to Deku…if only she was actually good at it.

"Uh, heeeeeeeeeeeeey," she said smoothly while giving a wink and a flirtatious look. "Wanna go…somewhere and maybe…check out this amazing new net gun I've been working on-crap, no bad Hatsume!"

Attempt #2

"Sooooo come around here often, I mean it's school, so you have to come here and…learn, and you also live next to it so you kinda gotta and uh do things, ugh," she face palmed in frustration.

Attempt #3

"Your freckles are cute, wanna date me? No, no, that's too forward."

#5

"You ever read anything on Thomas Edison…No? Well- he...had better game than me..."

#12

"Remember that time I landed on you, well you wanna get that close again, uh wait no I don't mean like that! I mean our lip thingy's touching each other…THAT CAME OUT WRONG!"

# She lost count after #45…yes 45

"So is Deku like a family name or…*sigh*…nope not even close," she checked the clock in defeat, seeing that she had gotten a bit carried away, it had been fifteen minutes, "Crap, I gotta go quick!"

She quickly grabbed the mask stuffing it into her pocket, threw the bucket back into the broom closet, and ran to the door opening it…but not before taking the mask out of her pocket, looking at it with a disappointment-stricken face.

Then she took a deep breath, stepping back into the studio going to her locker to place the item down, and then…she spoke.

"Hey, uh…I know that this is sudden and I'm not exactly good at talking to people, at all really, I always get in their faces and ramble on too much about my babies, and sometimes forget that there's a world around me, but, you never found a problem with it. You listen to me, talk to me, help out with my babies, and actually WANT to spend time with me outside the workshop…whenever I actually leave hehe. You gave me a chance to be myself and didn't turn away, but supported me through all the failures and missteps along my path to be that pillar for everyone who needs me, and when I was down you were always there with that…amazing smile that puts me at ease, and lets me know everything will be okay. Just like you always wanted."

Hatsume smiled as she rubbed the mask with her thumb.

"Deep down I know, you'll do that for the world someday, and I'm happy to be that support you need to get there, like you are for me and…if you let or want me to anyway its your choice anyway no matter how-no crap uh…I'm sorry that I'm losing it right now, I'm not used to being this open really. The point is that…I wanted to say is that I…is that I…really like you Izuku, not just as my friend…I wanna be with you, would you…maybe wanna go out with me, sometime…I know that this is a lot to take in and neither of us have really done something like this before but, I think we can make it work. Right?" a moment passed before she pulled off her goggles, and looked at them, then held them tight to her, "Yeah, I know we can," she placed them down on a shelf in the locker, a look of bliss and confidence spread on her face. Feeling no, knowing, that she could do this, even if she was rejected, knowing that she could keep helping him to become a true hero was enough, she closed the locker, chuckled, then turned away from it once again to face the open doorway...

Then…

She saw him...right there at the door…holding a tray of food.

Izuku's eyes were as wide as a crater, his mouth gaped open at what he had just heard, thankfully not being present for any of the pickup lines, but did hear everything that was just said, explaining the red tint on his cheeks.

Mei was in no better shape being frozen in place, her hair if matched up to her face would blend in perfectly, her lips quivering like the ground would during an earthquake, she felt a mixture of embarrassment, fear, relief, pain, all the common emotions of any person if their crush had heard their unfiltered thoughts.

Several moments passed, before silence was broken by Midoriya.

"…I-I-I-I brought you some food…P-power Loader told me to b-b-bring you something since you haven't ate and," he stopped mid-sentence as tears started to flow from her eyes and down her face, "…I-I-I-I…"

Deku took in a breath, composed himself as he placed the tray on her desk, before opening his mouth again, "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have just stood there and listened to you without your consent…it's just that, what you said was, honestly incredible."

Mei's face calmed, the tears stopped, and her lips unquivered and simply parted in surprise as he continued.

"To be completely open with you, I've wanted to hear you say that for a little while now, or just say it myself, that probably would've made this less awkward and emotional but-agh," he slapped both his hands on his face to get back on track, smiling the way he wanted to when he saved someone, "What I'm trying to say is-"

"Wanna go somewhere after class," Mei blurted out, cutting the boy off, surprising him, but in a good way.

"Y-yeah, sure, meet outside the dorms?"

"Sounds great," she smiled as wide as she could, the two being a perfect mirror to each other's current mood, the moment ended when the bell rang to end lunch period.

"I-I-I uh gotta go back to class, I'll see you then?"

"Definitely," she wiped away the tears, then looked into his eyes lovingly, as he did the same albeit a little bashful, people had started coming down the hallway, much to their dismay, but they knew the moment would come again. The two giving each other a little wave before Izuku left her sight.

Power Loader entered the room not even a second afterword, wearing his helmet once more as well as a visible grin as he closed the studio door behind him.

"I see that it worked better than I thought, was hoping I got the timing right, got a little sad and angry that one of my students, who will not be named, was going through a tough time so I just nudged the boy in the right direction," he chuckled, "Worked like a charm-"

Mei dashed over and hugged him tightly, grinning in a way only someone who was truly happy could do. Despite feeling a little awkward at first (having never been hugged by one of his students before), he eventually gave in and hugged her back.

"Thank you," she let out through tears of joy.

"Any time kid, now…please for your teachers sake, eat something."

The End.

Authors Note: AHHHH it feels good to write again after so long, sorry its been abit, same excuse about life and all that, my schedule for writing is a mess but atleast I feel better and more centered again about my writing, I hope you all enjoy this like always and hope that it brightens your day however it can, couldn't do this without you guys and you help me so much with your responses, and I'm happy to see that my work makes you guys happy.

Hope to see you guys in the next one!