"Hey dad, could you look at this?" David poked his head into the small workshop he'd had built for Melissa. With her growing skills it seemed right to give her her own space to build and learn. He didn't expect to find her hunched over a bulky and clunky mask. She held it out to him, beaming. "I think it's finally done! Could you help me test it?"
"Of course," He pulled up a chair and began to examine the mask a little closer. It was built to cover the lower half of a person's face, with vents on either side of the face. Flipping it around he found an adjustable strap and air filter. "Ah, is this a gas mask?"
"Sort of! Its a present for my friend. It's part of a set." Melissa pulled out a box of busted prototypes from under the workbench. "I think I figured out why they keep spontaneously combusting."
David wished he hadn't left his safety goggles in the other room.
He cleared his throat and held the mask a bit further away from his face. "So this friend of yours, does this have to do with their quirk?"
She stopped rummaging through her partially assembled gadgets. "Actually... he's quirkless. I'm making the gear so he can use it to protect himself."
"Melissa," he set the mask aside and pat her on the head. "I'm glad that you have been talking to someone else about this, but I'm sure that your friend doesn't need something so complicated. Besides, you'd need to patent this first. Support gear needs a liscense to be used by the general public. Your friend could get in trouble if they got caught without one."
Melissa's shoulders slumped in disappointment at that. "Oh, I forgot. I was just so excited to make him something useful..."
Without missing a beat, David flashed her a smile to grab her attention. "How about we go visit your friend? I'm sure they'd love to see what you've been working on."
In a flash, Melissa's cheerful demeanor returned. "Yeah!"
"So, where does he live?"
"Japan."
"… Let's get the patent first.
Inko peered into the empty computer room, noticing the dim light of the open chatroom. She slipped into the room and closed the door behind her so that she wouldn't be disturbed when Izuku returned from his playdate. The chat seemed to be inactive, the last messages seeming to be about some pro heroes from different corners of the world. There were a few shaky clips of hero battles here or there but the chat was mostly talking about the heroes use of their quirks.
She continued to scroll up and saw a picture of a mangled hunk of metal. The other person in the chat said; 'The present blew up again ;('
Izuku responded by telling them; 'you should try focusing on another project, maybe you're just stuck.'
'but I want to finish this! once its dine you won't have to worry about that bully anymore!'
Inko froze. Was this person talking about making actual Support gear to give to Izuku? He was only six! That was incredibly dangerous, who did this person think they were? One by one, possible outcomes flew through her mind, each one getting more and more disastrous. She closed her eyes and took deep breaths to calm herself.
Once she managed to steady her nerves she continued to look through the chat, noticing quite a few more mentions of Support gear and the other person confessing to live of I Island. Curious, Inko searched up I Island.
'I Island is an artificial moving city constructed by the leading Support Companies from around the world. It was constructed as a project city that is run entirely off of renewable resources and is home to the world's top scientists. Quirk Scientists who live there work closely with heroes all over the world. The HUC base of operations is located on the island. The security system on the Island is state of the art but the companies still employ heroes to act as security for special events such as the I Expo.'
She heard the front door open and exited out of the browser. "Inko! I'm back and I brought your kid!" Mitsuki said something that she couldn't hear, apparently to Izuku.
"Oh, Thank you Mitsuki!" Inko closed the door to the study as she left, locking it.
The blonde woman looked exhausted. Izuku slipped past Inko and made a beeline for the bathroom. She blinked in confusion at his behavior. "What happened?"
"Ah," Mitsuki crossed her arms. "They had a bit of a... disagreement."
"What about?" Izuku was normally so well behaved. Her mind briefly reminded her of the 'bully' the person Izuku was speaking to mentioned. She smothered the thought. Not Katsuki, he was Izuku's closest friend!
"About that... Katsuki started it. Izuku was being an angel like always but Katsuki mentioned his... condition."
Inko flinched, guilt surfacing. "I... see. Thank you for looking after him."
Mitsuki waved goodbye and left. Once she was gone Inko took a deep breath to calm herself. Izuku had probably seen enough of her tears...
She turned and saw Izuku heading to the computer room with fresh bandages on his hands. "Izuku? Can we talk for a bit?" He seemed a bit confused but he still obeyed. Inko knelt down to his level. "Izuku, I saw you were talking to someone on the computer earlier... Who were they?"
"It's just Melissa, she's... like me." Izuku didn't meet her eyes.
"You can't trust someone just because they said they're Quirkless. They could be lying... what if she want's to hurt you!" Inko felt the fear from earlier well up again. "What if she's lying about who she really is, Izuku? It's too dangerous."
"No mom, she wouldn't. She's my friend!"
"I thought Katsuki was your friend."
"Why would Katsuki want to hang out with a Quirkless nobody?" Izuku sounded bitter.
Her heart squeezed in her chest. So Izuku went to Melissa before her... She didn't even know what her own son was going through. Did he not trust her? Did she fail him so badly? "Izuku... She was making you support gear... It's because of Katsuki isn't it."
He said nothing.
"Why didn't you tell me? I could have talked to Mitsuki about it... I wouldn't have sent you on playdates there if you'd spoken up."
Izuku rubbed his arm, ashamed. "... But you like Auntie Mitsuki. I didn't want to mess that up for you..."
"Izuku..." She scooped him up. "I... If you want, we can see about transferring schools for you. Please just talk to me about this." She felt the shoulder of her shirt become damp as Izuku sobbed into it.
'A phone call... is here! A phone call... is here! A phone call... is here! A phone...' Toshinori barely glanced at the caller id when he answered, knowing there were only a few people who had this number.
"Hello?"
"Toshi?" David asked. "It's been a while!"
"Dave! It's been so long, how have you been? How's Melissa?" Most people would probably feel a bit awkward talking to their Ex after such long radio silence, but the pair still had an amicable relationship. Besides, they were both very busy people.
"Ah, She's actually the reason I'm calling! See, she made a friend! and I was planning a trip so she could meet them in person."
"Were you hoping I'd tag along as back up?" Toshinori began thinking over his schedule for the next few weeks, trying to find a good spot to make time for them.
David laughed. "Am I that easy to read? I can' t help but worry you know. So, will you?"
"Of course, Old friend! I'd love nothing better than to see you both again!"
Toshinori exchanged a bit of small talk with him before ending the call. He sighed and returned to his computer. A few keystrokes later and an email to one of his friends in the police department was on it's way, requesting some information on the person Dave had told them they would meet. it was the least he could do to help them.