What better time of your life to have an existential crisis than at 14 years old? Kinbena Iida sat at her desk in her bedroom completely devoid of ideas as her forehead repeatedly fell down against the wooden surface, hoping to activate something.

Her last year of middle school was coming to a close and she wanted to make a decision. One that would impact her career, and her entire life.

"I'm not getting anywhere sitting here." She thought as she stood up from her chair and walked out into the living room. Almost on cue, although not the best time for her personally, her father burst through the front door.

"I have returned from my hero shift!" He announced as he set his coat up on its hook. "Kinbena!" He smiled wide and gave her a hug, with a quick peck on the top of her head.

"Hey, Dad." Kinbena smiled and partially hugged him back.

"Where's your mother? Working in the garage again?"

She snorted. "You ask that like she'd logically be anywhere else."

Tenya Iida smiled and patted her shoulder. "Sure your mother has her hobbies, but it's not all she does."

Kinbena shrugged.

He marched over to the garage door and peeked his head inside, only for a large puff of black smoke to greet him instead of his wife. His lack of surprise expressed that this was a regular occurrence at the Iida residence. "Any luck today, my love?" He asked as he cleaned the soot from his glasses and face.

Emerging from the smoke stood Kinbena's mother, Mei, who immediately began to help him clean off, although she was much dirtier. "Hello, Teny! And no. This darn baby has been extra fussy. Just refuses to budge."

"What'cha working on anyway, Mom?" Kinbena asked.

Mei whipped her head around excitedly. "I'm redesigning my old jet-powered thrusters and making them nuclear!"

Tenya flinched hard. "You WHAT?!"

"Oh don't worry, babe. The only thing I'm having trouble with are the rotors. They can't get up to speed quick enough so they blow right off the machine as it turns on!" Mei sighed. "And here I thought you considered me the smartest person you know."

"Being smart and being careful are too very different things, love." Tenya frowned. "And you're only one of those."

As they continued their conversation together, Kinbena was drowning in thought again. Ever since she was little, she always forced her mom to turn on the TV so she could watch her daddy fight crime and rescue people in his iconic shiny, hero suit. It was equipped with many functioning features courtesy of Mei, and surprisingly few gadgets, at the request of Tenya. But at the same time, she always loved helping her mother out with her inventions. Thanks to the union of Mei Hatsume and Ingenium Hero Agency, both of their works grew very successful, and popular. And it made their daughter popular too, although she didn't like that part of it.

The issue was, she didn't know what she liked MORE. The idea of becoming a hero just like her father, and continuing the Ingenium lineage, or focusing on Support like her mother. She herself was born with the Quirk: Target, which allowed her to lock her focus on anything, and if she needed to get to the point of interest, she had smaller engines growing out of her thighs and shoulders. With additional support gear from her mother, she could even fly if the point of interest was up in the air. It would be a waste of a Quirk if she only spent her days inside of a workshop building away at whatever. But the idea didn't feel like a total waste. She preferred isolation away from people. Just her and her tools, and her brain.

She also knew how important her family legacy was, and she respected it and wanted to uphold it just as her father did. To become Ingenium is something she's always wanted to do. To feel the wind blowing past her as she zipped through the streets or in the air. It felt free.

She was born with many gifts, but given only one path to choose, out of her options.

"Kinbena?" Her father asked.

"Hm?" She snapped out of her thoughts and looked into his eyes.

"I asked 'how was school today?'" He inquired.

"Oh! It was fine. We uh... We had a placement exam." She frowned. "Why did I admit that?"

"A placement exam?" He repeated. "Now now, if it's UA you want to go to, it's not necessary. Your reputation alone in school will get you a recommendation."

"W-Wait. It's not the school. It's..." She stopped herself. Both Mei and Tenya noticed this and looked at each other. After a moment of silence, they nodded as if they had a whole conversation telepathically.

"...What?" Kinbena asked.

"Kini, do you really think we haven't noticed what you're going through?" Mei asked her as she gently grasped her daughter's hands.

"Why just the other evening, your mother and I were laying in bed talking about how you would literally run from the garage over to the gym trying to talk to both of us after school." Tenya added.

Kinbena sighed. "I love you both so much. But I don't know whether to become the next Ingenium, or to follow my dreams of becoming a great inventor like Mom."

Tenya placed his large hand on her shoulder. His thumb gently brushed over the engine exhaust sticking out of the back. Even though it was a piece of an engine, it was still a part of her and she could feel it. "What does your heart tell you?"

"...First and foremost that I love you, Daddy." She hugged him. "And maybe I do want to take on the Ingenium name, but right now I think I want to stay in the garage with Mom."

Tenya looked over to Mei, who joined them both in their family hug. She shared a kiss with her husband.

"I'm very proud of you. But let me tell you something." He broke away to meet her eyes. "Your future is not predetermined by anything. If you want to invent, you can invent. If you want to be a hero, you be a hero. And frankly, your mother is my hero. Without her work, I wouldn't be where I am today."

"Are you sure you want to tell her that story?" Mei asked him.

Tenya nodded. "Support workers are just as important as the heroes they build for. Years after high school, back when your mother and I first started dating, I was sent to a district where a dangerous criminal organization was getting desperate. Desperation and criminals do not mix well."

He went on. "Anyways, the higher ranked heroes were away in other parts of the country, leaving me and a handful of other heroes to disarm them. But one of them took a heavy dose of Trigger, and his Quirk started leveling the buildings around us. I was able to get everyone out of harm's way, but I wasn't fast enough for myself. A large piece of rubble fell on to my legs and I thought I lost them..."

Mei hugged him from behind, almost hiding her face in his back.

"Your mother had gifted me with a set of outer armor for my suit made from a lighter alloy that could bounce off objects almost like rubber. Despite the large heavy piece of building on me, I was fine. A little bruised of course, but I was able to finish the mission. It was also the first time I accepted one of her inventions for myself."

"It was a birthday gift. You HAD to accept it." Mei cocked her eyebrow up at him.

Tenya chuckled. "Yes, yes. But it was after that, that I realized I loved your mother and I was eternally grateful for her."

"Your invention saved his life." Kinbena concluded. "Support workers are heroes too."

"We sure are." Mei winked as she flexed her biceps like Rosie the Riveter. "It's just like my friend Ochako says: 'Who saves the heroes?' Ironic that she is also a hero."

"Wait, Uravity?" Kinbena asked.

"Perhaps if you decide to take the hero route, you could intern with her." Tenya winked.

"But like your father said before, it's your choice. And we've seen plenty of people in our day change careers and it turned out great for them." Mei added.

"So there's no reason to be ashamed or scared." Tenya assured her. "We love you, no matter who you become."

Kinbena smiled as tears filled her yellow eyes. "Oh! Thank you so much, you guys!" She ran up and hugged them again.

She still technically had time to decide who she was going to be, but for now, on the placement exam, she wrote: "Support Course".