"Okay, ground rules for discussing my quirk in public settings." Izuku declared, standing in front of the whiteboard they had set up in Mei's garage. She herself was sitting on the floor with her legs crossed, watching curiously.

Izuku uncapped his marker pen and began to write in bold, clear letters on the whiteboard.

Rule 1: Secrecy.

He turned to face her and said "Under no circumstances are we to reveal or discuss my quirk with anyone else unless I give clear and explicit consent." He emphasised each word of 'clear and explicit consent' by tapping the board with his pen. "Any questions?"

Mei raised her hand.

"You don't have to put your-, yes, Mei?"

"What if I think telling someone would be funny?" she asked in a playful tone.

Izuku made an exasperated expression at his friend, "Still don't tell anyone, please."

Ever loyal, she gave a mock salute and responded. "You got it boss."

With a nod of approval, Izuku returned his attention to the whiteboard, continuing to write and further elaborate on the rules they needed to follow.

Rule 2: Limited Discussions.

Izuku articulated the rule, saying, "If the topic of quirks comes up in conversation, we must refrain from mentioning or hinting at my quirk in any manner, even if others are discussing their own quirks. Agreed?"

Mei took a moment to contemplate the rule before standing up and proposing, "Can I add an addendum?"

"Sure, go ahead." Izuku responded, handing her the pen and observing as she wrote down her thoughts.

Rule 2.1: Code Words.

After replacing the cap on the marker, Mei explained her idea, "In case we need to discuss your quirk in a public setting, we should come up with a set of code words or phrases that only we can understand."

Izuku nodded, rubbing his chin in agreement, "Oh, yeah that makes sense. We can communicate discreetly without revealing sensitive information…"

Mei illustrated her point with an example, adopting a peculiar accent, "Yeah, like I could say 'Nice weather today,' but what I'm actually saying is 'Izuku, your arm just transformed into a fire extinguisher'."

"I think if my arm turns into a fire extinguisher the cat's out of the bag anyway, but I get what you mean. How about we use gardening terms to refer to my quirk? We can call it the garden, and use words like plants, seeds, flowers, etc."

Mei pondered for a moment before raising a concern, "But what if I really am talking about gardening?"

"When have you ever done any gardening?"

"Fair point." She conceded. "How is your allotment? Grow any new veggies? Yeah that works!"

"I might have to actually start a garden but for now it'll keep people off the scent at least…"

Retrieving the marker pen, he began to write the last rule on the whiteboard.

Rule 3: Allies.

"If there is ever a need to involve someone else in discussing my quirk, we should exercise extreme caution and ensure they are trustworthy and will respect the secrecy." He clarified, "I can't predict that nobody will ever find out about this, but if they do, we need to be careful."

Mei held out her hand for the pen expectantly, which Izuku handed over, and watched her write.

Rule 4: Emergency Protocol.

She pointed at the board and said, "In case of a serious emergency," she raised her finger for emphasis, "One of us will signal to the other that it is necessary to use your quirk temporarily for the greater good." She looked at him with a serious expression, "Got it?"

Rubbing the back of his neck, Izuku replied "I don't, I really don't want to…"

Mei interrupted him and said firmly, "Izuku. Listen to me. I know you don't want to be a hero, but if we ever face a situation where your quirk can save someone, I'm not going to let you stand by and do nothing. Do we have a deal?"

He sighed and nodded. "…Fine, deal."

"Awesome! Now stop being boring and help me out with some schematics." she demanded, picking up and dropping a pile of blueprints on to a workbench.

—

Over their first week of school, Mei and Izuku settled into a routine of working on assignments and coursework, and testing the limits and capabilities of Izuku's burgeoning quirk. Together, they discovered that he was indeed capable of manifesting movable parts, but it took a great deal more concentration and energy than solid objects. With practice he'd become able to transform his hand into a working pair of pliers with less effort than before, but struggled with other tools. Mei had likened it to training a muscle.

"Alright, everyone here? Great." Having such a small class had made morning registration an absolute breeze for Power Loader, "Orders of business for the day, first off you need to pick a class representative-"

"I'll do it!" Shouted Yamashita, uncharacteristically chipper for the morning. It was likely she'd snuck into the workshops early to take a nap, so she could summon some tools later. "I was class rep my last 2 years of middle school."

"Anybody want to run against Yamashita?" Power Loader asked.

Mei stood up from her chair, noisily scooting it back "I, Mei Hatsume, deserve the title of class whatever it is!"

Glaring, Yamashita gruffly suggested, "We will settle this like adults! I'll rock paper scissors you for it."

"Deal!"

The stage was set, and the battlefield chosen - Class 1-H's homeroom became the arena for the hotly contested clash. The prize: The coveted role of class representative. With dramatic flair, the two combatants took their positions, their eyes locked and their determination palpable. The air charged with the electricity of competition, as if an invisible storm was brewing around them. Every eye in the room was on Mei Hatsume and Miki Yamashita. Kuri's quirk involuntarily activated, covering his head with his chestnut shell.

"1 2 3 GO!"

And so the epic battle commenced. In a flurry of lightning fast movements, the clash of rock vs paper vs scissors echoed throughout UA. The outcome was swift… The dust settled… And the war came to an end…

"It's alright Mei, maybe next year." Izuku consoled his friend, patting her on the shoulder as she hid her head in her hands.

"Great," Power Loader said, "Yamashita, you're class rep. Hatsume, you're the vice rep."

"Oh, cool," Mei responded, her spirits quickly lifting. She picked up her chair, returned it to its place, and sat down at her desk. With a friendly smile and a thumbs-up, she congratulated her opponent, "Nice job, class rep!" Yamashita gratefully accepted her praise, beaming with pride over their newfound roles.

"Next up on the agenda," Power Loader continued in his morning notes, "Sports festival."

Izuku subconsciously stopped listening, since his quirk had manifested he'd quietly decided he wouldn't be participating. It was too much of a risk, in front of a crowd that size. Not to mention all the tv cameras.

"Everyone is going to be participating this year, so we'll be having more workshop time added on to your timetables, and any gear you build for the event will go towards your final grade."

As Izuku drummed his fingers on the desk, he suddenly stopped and looked up at Power Loader with wide eyes. "Did you say everyone?" trying and failing quite spectacularly to not sound terrified at the prospect.

"That's right, it was decided that it would be unfair to single out the hero students. So students from hero, support, and general studies will all be participating, as long as they are physically capable," Power Loader explained. "The events have been revamped this year to accommodate the change, but they wouldn't tell me the specifics."

Izuku, now visibly panicked, abruptly stood up and announced, "IHAVETOGOTOTHEBATHROOM." He rushed out of the room, desperately hoping that no one would notice his hand had transformed into a chisel.

"He um…Ate some bad fish." Mei explained, helpfully.

—

Inko Midoriya stood behind the counter of the grocery store where she worked, staring out at the empty aisles. It had been a relatively slow day, with few customers and less money changing hands. In fact, the first day of the week was usually this way. As a result, she was very bored, praying something would happen to distract her from rearranging the produce for the ninth time that day.

Her boredom had reached such an extreme level that when her phone began to ring, she eagerly answered it before the second ring could even finish.

"Aldera General!" Inko greeted the caller with a cheerful tone, "Midoriya speaking, how may I assist you today?"

"Inko? It's Higari," the voice of Power Loader came through the receiver, sounding noticeably concerned. "You mentioned that I should reach out to you if there was ever anything I needed to discuss about your son, right?"

The sudden concern for her son was not the type of distraction Inko had been hoping for. With a cautious tone, she inquired, "What happened? Is Izuku alright?"

"He's okay, don't worry," Higari reassured her. "It's just that he received some news about the upcoming sports festival, and he didn't take it very well. Honestly, he seemed incredibly scared."

Inko let out a sigh of relief, her level of worry diminishing slightly. "I appreciate you informing me about this," she said with a warm smile that could be heard through the phone. "I'll make sure to have a talk with him later, it's likely an anxiety issue. You know, Higari, you're always welcome to call me more frequently. I promise I won't mind."

Power Loader stammered nervously in response, "Oh, um, uh, yes, of course. Thank you, Inko. I, uh, I have to get back to my duties now. Duty calls, you know. Um... I'll send you a text later. Goodbye for now." With that, he hung up the phone.

Inko continued to smile to herself, and turned her attention back to her work, lifted by the brief conversation with Higari.

—

In the bustling hallways of UA, students scurried about, trying to find their next classes or seeking guidance from older, more experienced peers. A tall boy, overwhelmed with panic when a first-year student asked him for directions to class 2-D, suddenly disappeared into the floorboards, evading the question altogether. Mei, however, had no such trouble navigating the school. Having recently integrated a navigation console into her goggles, she now enjoyed a full augmented reality map that not only showed her where to go but also estimated her arrival time. Confident in her newfound ability, Mei knew she had ample time to wait for Izuku.

Mei stood outside the boy's bathroom, arms crossed, leaning against the wall. "Izuku, are you okay?" she asked, concerned. "I'm not too beholden to arbitrary gender norms to not come in there, you know."

A soft, barely audible voice belonging to the green-haired inventor seeped through the wall. "Mei, I can't, um... Re-pot the flower."

"Re-pot the flower?" Mei furrowed her brow, trying to decipher his cryptic message. "The hell is he talking abou- Oh! You can't re-pot the flower!" The realisation struck her like a bolt of lightning. "…Oh. That is a problem." Mei's gaze wandered blankly down the hallway as she racked her brain for a solution.

Just then, Izuku emerged from the bathroom, his arm pulled through his sleeve and concealed inside his jacket. "I can't stop it being a chisel," he whispered, trying to be as discreet as possible. "I don't know what to do."

"Have you tried thinking about baseball?"

"Mei, this is serious," Izuku replied, worried. "I might have to tell someone about this."

Mei stroked her chin thoughtfully for a moment, deep in contemplation, as she considered the problem at hand. Her eyes narrowed, and then suddenly widened as a flash of inspiration hit her like a lightning bolt. Excitedly, she held up a finger and asked her friend, "How big is the chisel? Is it longer than your fingers?"

"No, I don't think so, anyway?" He replied, a hint of confusion evident in his voice.

Determined to find a solution, Mei began rummaging through her backpack. She pulled out various scrap pieces of metal, a wheel for some reason, a concerning number of caltrops, and a taser. After a few moments, she finally pulled out a glove that was similar to the one they had designed for Uraraka earlier in the semester.

"Here! Put this on," Mei instructed. "The chisel should fit inside one of the fingers, and nobody will be able to tell the difference!"

Cautiously, Izuku slid his arm back through the sleeve of his jacket, and with a small amount of difficulty, he managed to put the glove on, effectively concealing his transformation. To test the functionality of the glove, he gave his hand a little wave, "It looks like I broke all of my fingers."

"Then don't wave your hand!" Mei scolded playfully. "It's better than nothing, though, right? Besides, this does give me an idea for another baby…"

Staring at his odd, floppy hand, Izuku suggested, "Maybe a kevlar weave glove that prevents transformations by not giving the new shape enough room to form…"

"See, Izuku, this is why I hang around with you," Mei said, rubbing his shoulder affectionately. "Anyway, we have less than 2 minutes to get to our first class with Mr. Yagi, so we should probably get going. I don't want to make All Might upset with us by annoying his assistant." She pointed in the direction of their hero copyright law classroom, and pulled her goggles over her eyes. "Let's roll."

As they walked as briskly as they could without being called out for running in the halls, Izuku turned to his friend and said, "You need to make me a pair of those."

—

Class 1-H, for their first hero copyright law lecture of the semester, was sharing the space with a handful of students from classes A and B who had opted to take this course as an elective. Unfortunately, Uraraka was notably absent, to the disappointment of Mei and Izuku. The pair found themselves seated on either side of Tsuyu Asui.

As the students settled in, they eagerly awaited the arrival of Mr. Yagi, but he was nowhere to be found. In the meantime, the classroom buzzed with random conversations that spanned various topics, including their academic workload, their overall experience at UA, and, much to Izuku's concern, their quirks.

"J-just green hair! That's all I have, ahaha... Boy, I sure wish I had a different quirk, but nope, that's all I have!" Izuku's words tumbled out, tinged with a hint of mania.

Tsuyu, with her characteristic croak, interjected, "I actually asked if you had a pen I could borrow, ribbit." Mei, quick to come to Izuku's aid, swiftly intervened, rescuing him from potential embarrassment.

"Here you go," Mei said, extending a pen towards Tsuyu. "He gets nervous in new classes, don't worry! By the way, I'm Mei Hatsume. You're the frog girl, right? I've actually had a few ideas for ways we could improve your costume! Come by the workshop later today, and we'll discuss building some new babies!" Mei, always a salesperson, handed Tsuyu an intricately designed business card, boldly displaying her name as 'Mei Hatsume, Inventions, Devices, Gadgets and More, Workshop 1-H.' Izuku couldn't help but wonder when Mei had managed to have those cards printed, probably before she was even accepted to the school.

With a smile, Tsuyu accepted the pen and introduced herself, saying, "You can call me Tsu. And I was thinking of some ways I could improve my footwear..." Her words trailed off as their conversation was abruptly halted by the unexpected entrance of an exhausted-looking Toshinori Yagi, struggling to balance a stack of books and papers. "Apologies, got a little lost."

The majority of the class sat politely at their teacher's entrance, Izuku on the other hand looked incredibly shocked and shouted "All Mi-?! M-my stars and garters!" Realising the gravity of the situation and the danger of revealing one of the biggest secrets in all of Japan, Izuku quickly caught himself, cutting off his sentence just in time.

His outburst had caught the attention of the entire class, and he felt a mix of anxiety and worry wash over him. In an effort to regain control and make amends, he rushed to the front of the room."Are you okay Mr Yagi? Please, let me help you carry those books!"

Yagi, for his part, looked like a deer in headlights. The only person to accidentally discover his secret, and they happened to be one of his students? Hopefully Izuku was reliable and faithful, but he also dreaded the worst. This could potentially be a catastrophe for him and his hero work! He tried to act normal and thanked Izuku for the books, and was about to whisper "Maybe we should talk later", when he felt something hard and sharp in Izuku's glove as their hands briefly touched.

"My god!" Yagi thought to himself. "This boy's fingers are rock solid! His grip strength must be unbelievable!" As he imagined Izuku crushing a grip tester in his bare hands.

Izuku chuckled nervously and said "Always happy to help a friend of All Might!" a bit too loudly, placed the books on the teacher's desk and dashed back to his seat, every eye in the room staring at him with a puzzled expression.