And now on to chapter twenty.
I apologize for the lateness of these chapters. Family issues and car problems kinda stole my attention for a bit, and even while writing this I'm on edge.
But enough about me, let's get into the chapter!
)=(
Izuka opened her eyes groggily. Her hair was partially in her face, filtering the sunlight that trickled into her room even further.
The young woman smiled as she thought of the days events. Even more, she thought about Mustard.
The young man was still asleep beside her, his arm laid over her hip, with his hand coming to rest upon her stomach.
As she gave a yawn, she heard the young man chuckle.
"Finally awake?"
Izuka nodded. "How long have you been up?"
Kiken brushed the hair gently from Izuka's face. "About a half hour. But I didn't want to wake you up."
Izuka blushed as the young man leaned over and kissed her cheek.
"What time is it now?"
Kiken looked at the alarm clock upon Izuka's bedside table. "Almost Seven. We have another hour."
Izuka stretched as she picked herself up. "Enough time to shower and eat… Come on."
The young man chuckled and stood up, before helping Izuka to her feet. "You go shower. I can make eggs."
"My oh my, has someone been practicing?"
Mustard shrugged, a smirk on his face. "That'll be for you to decide. Now, come on."
Izuka nodded and picked out a towel, before going to shower. Kiken walked to the kitchen and began beating some eggs as he heated his pan.
As the butter he placed upon the cast iron surface finished melting, the young man poured in the beaten eggs.
As the eggs began cooking, Mustard quickly roasted a few slices of bread. He stirred the eggs around a bit, making sure to scramble them evenly.
As the young man placed the food onto two plates, Izuka walked down the stairs, working on combing her hair.
"You have been! You've definitely been practicing!"
Mustard chuckled. "It's eggs and toast. The only thing I've practiced is keeping the eggs fluffy."
Izuka nodded. "Well… it's really good."
"Thank you. Now, I'll go shower. Where are the towels?"
Izuka pointed her fork upwards. "Second cupboard up top. Can't miss them."
"Thanks."
After showering and getting dressed, the two left to get to UA on time.
"You think your professor will be lenient?" Izuka smirked.
"Well, even if I'm a bit late, I should get there before her. She tends to arrive ten minutes after class is supposed to start."
"Nice. Come visit me in the support lab by the way. I think I've cracked a helpful mystery for you." Izuka smiled, pulling into the student parking lot.
"Will do. Now, let's get running!"
Mustard and Izuka leapt from the truck and made a mad dash towards UA's main building. Mustard managed to squeak into class right on time. His professor had not yet arrived, as he had said.
Izuka, on the other hand, blitzed into the support lab. Power Loader fell over as wind tore through the room.
"THE HELL WAS THAT?"
"Oops, sorry sir. I was running a bit behind." Izuka chuckled.
'That speed wasn't normal… eh, maybe she was testing a gadget.'
"Right. You're in here all day, right?"
Izuka grinned. "Yep! I have a few projects to work on, and a few quirks to synthesize!"
"Well let me know when you figure it out."
Izuka skipped over to her workbench and began doing some tests on Touya's DNA. While some of the longer tests ran, she fiddled around with a different project.
Through a bit of research, Izuka had found that Mustards Hair acted as a filter. Ideally, if he had facial hair, it would allow him to produce gas in the way he wanted, without killing himself. However, because he didn't have facial hair, that was a slight issue.
Izuka had replicated the chemical makeup of her boyfriends hair and used it to create a gas mask. She just had to put the finishing touches on it, and it would be compete for him.
On the side, Izuka had also gained two other quirk samples. One was from a student in support, who's quirk let them instantly find the measurements of an object. The other was from Aizawa.
The man had given Izuka his quirk so she could figure out how to counter its drawback of dry eye. Izuka hadn't come up with a solution.
On the surface, Aizawa's quirk seemed simple, but it's workings were extremely complicated. While the studies she had performed on the mans DNA yielded some incredible breakthroughs, figuring out more about those breakthroughs in one day would be near impossible.
'Fundamentaly, Humans evolved to have the quirk factor, a fifth amino acid in the strands of DNA. However, there is also a sixth component, one put in place to limit powers and keep them safe for the host body to handle… an anti quirk factor.'
Izuka looked down at a sample of Aizawa's cells.
'Every part of his body, except his nervous system, is devoid of quirk factor. His quirk is more psychic control… But it's limited to one thing. One extremely complex thing…'
"You doing okay over here?" Power Loader walked over.
"Yeah, just working on a side project for Aizawa while my main projects DNA runs a bit."
"Okay, before the Aizawa thing, what tests are you running?"
Izuka gestured to a machine at the back of the room. "This one machine you got through your grant, it tests cellular resistance. By modifying it, I can have a sample of skin cells be changed to any type, and test their resistance all at once."
"And how does that work?" Power Loader asked, looking at the machine.
"Cells in the Human body all contain the same DNA. They only use certain parts of it. By having the cells change which sections of DNA they read to produce newer cells, you can change the reproductive function. It's an incredibly delicate process, but you can cause skin cells to divide into a skin cell and a bone cell." Izuka nodded. "I'm testing Touya Todoroki's bone cells for flame resistance."
"Interesting… what are you hoping to find?"
Izuka sighed. "Well, I thought if his quirk destroys his own soft tissue, what about his bones? I might be able to use my findings to create a much higher level of fire resistant gear."
Power Loader nodded. "Okay. Now, what about this project for Aizawa?"
"The guy asked me to see if I could figure out a way around his side effect. Mainly the dry eye."
Power Loader nodded. "It's always been his biggest weakness."
Izuka nodded. "Well, his quirk has led to scientific discoveries beyond what i was imagining. I'm talking peace prize tye shit."
"Language. Anyways, Explain."
Izuka nodded. "I've honestly already written down a hundred pages on the topic, so I'll give you the main stuff. In the quirked human body, we have four amino acids that make up our DNA. Then, we have the fifth, the quirk factor."
"It's what gives us our powers, the alignment of quirk factor in our DNA." Power Loader nodded.
"Yes. But, I have discovered that there is also a sixth. It's so similar to the quirk factor in every way, except its function, I understand how it could be glossed over. A stabilizing agent, but also a limiter."
"An anti quirk factor… Miss Midoriya, this is-"
"Groundbreaking. I know. Unfortunately, before I focus on that, I have a few more things to figure out with Aizawa's quirk."
"I'm sure he'd understand if you took a bit longer." Power Loader suggested.
Izuka shook her head. "But that's the thing. I want to finish his request so I can get a better sample of his quirk. I've already deduced it's full function, but I have a theory."
"Okay… shoot, what is it."
"The quirk factor and anti Quirk factor. The way that Aizawa's quirk works is that whatever body is in his line of sight gets confused between the two. Instead of the body activating the quirk factor, it's activating the opposite." Izuka nodded. "And because of that, there's no power."
"So what's your theory?"
"The quirk tricks the body into activating the anti quirk factor, but this anti quirk factor is so similar to the quirk factor, what if it gives the opposite power?"
"So, like a switch…" Power Loader nodded. "On one side, a quirk that gives heat vision, on the other, freezing vision."
"Exactly. ,I can't determine it just yet, but maybe, I might be able to make a bigger breakthrough than the whole anti quirk factor breakthrough."
Power Loader nodded. "I'll leave you to it. Once you're done, I can help you publish your work."
"You would do that?"
The professor nodded. "Of course. You just cracked a code on quirk limits that has been stumping scientists for centuries. If I didn't help, how could I call myself a good teacher?"
Izuka smiled. "Thanks professor. Before you go get your daily coffee from the teachers lounge, can you deliver these to Aizawa?"
Izuka handed the man a pair of classic Eraserhead goggles, but there were thin lenses in between the slots.
"It's a prototype until I get a better sample. I'll need recovery Girls help for that, as I need part of one of his nerves. Anyways, this will allow him to focus the effect of his vision so that he can blink without the effect going away for a few seconds. Hopefully that'll keep his dry eye from acting up to the same degree."
Power Loader nodded. "I'll bring this to him. Il aso tell him that his quirk led to a big breakthrough. He'll be in touch."
"Thank you sir."
"No problem. Now go study that fire quirk resistance. It also seems pretty interesting."
Izuka smiled and set her Eraserhead data in a secure case, before stowing it in her lab locker.
The young woman returned to her machine and retrieved the data from Touya's cellular study.
'So, I was right about his bone cells. They can sustain damage from his quirk better than the rest of his body. If I can synthesize a fabric made from the metal alloy I talked with Mustard about, and add the flame resistance aspect of his bone cells with some type of additional polymer… I can do this!'
Izuka began to create the uniform from scratch, weaving it entirely from tungsten steel alloy. The inner layer of the uniform was thicker than normal by just the tiniest fraction, as well as heavier.
Izuka began working on the boys shoes.
'I can most likely increase their durability by embedding a bone plate in the shoe's sole. I might be able to get away with a bit more if I can make cartilage from the cell replication printer.'
Izuka's favorite machine sat in the corner of the lab. It was a 3D printer that printed organic material, such as bone. Printers like it had been used in hospitals for many years in order to get perfect segments of healthy cells for bone marrow transplants.
Izuka had built a machine that could take cells and cause them to reproduce rapidly. After hooking it onto the printer, she had a nigh infinite source of bone to use.
"Let's see here… just switch the setting to cartilage…"
The printer whirred to life, producing a thick sheet of material for Izuka to use. The young woman grinned and got to work, using the cartilage as the rigid, yet flexible body of the shoe. Finally, the cleats were done.
'Unfortunately, these one's don't have the pressure point design, but I decided it would be better for him to have a pair of cleats that wouldn't melt off of his feet.'
"Midoriya! I'm here for the uniform!"
Izuka turned to see Touya. "It's lunch time already?"
The boy rubbed the back of his head. "I got let out of class early. I thought it would be the perfect opportunity to check in!"
Izuka nodded. "I just have a few more things to complete on the shirt and shorts, and you should be good to go. Would you mind trying out the shoes?"
Touya pulled the cleats on and kicked his feet a few times.
"Comfy…"
"Try putting your quirk into them." Izuka suggested.
"They'll be destroyed!" Touya blinked worriedly.
"Do you have no faith in me? I did some research on your quirk. They won't be destroyed. In fact, I'd be surprised if they got a scratch on them."
The boy shrugged and activated his quirk. Fire blazed to life upon the cleats.
"Woah… it's warm… I can tell that the flames will be hot to touch, but they aren't burning the cleats, or hurting my feet!"
"Well, the second part is because you're channeling your quirk through an object. The first is because of the shoe design. I made it out of synthesized bone."
Touya's face fell. "Do I have dead people on my feet?"
Izuka laughed. "No! No! I took your DNA and used it to generate bone plates for the soles of your cleats, as well as cartilage for the stiff support!"
Touya wasn't listening. "Oh my god… I have dead people on my feet…"
"TODOROKI!" Izuka shouted, snapping the boy from his trance. "You don't, stop being an idiot."
A ding came from across the lab, and Izuka ran over with a grin. "Finally! Sorry, it was a bit delayed because I had to change the filament. Some idiot thought it was a great Idea to print with a lead and titanium bonded solution. Idiots."
Izuka handed Touya his new uniform. It was heavy, but the young man could tell that it was made with him in mind.
"Here." Izuka smiled. "Try your quirk on it."
The boy smiled and set the uniform on a flat metal surface, before blasting it with a fireball.
The uniform came out unharmed. Touya's eyes sparkled.
"You have to incorporate this into my suit!"
"I will do my best." Izuka chuckled. "Anyways, there it is. Go and enjoy your lunch dude!"
Touya smiled. "Would you mind if I came to hang out with you and Mustard some days? It beats the kids who want to be friends with me because of my dad."
Izuka smiled. "Sure thing man. Just don't be surprised if I kiss Mustard, we are dating."
"I could tell." The boy chuckled.
"Now get out of here!"
)=(
Alright, chapter twenty is done!
I've had a lot of fun devising quirk biology and cracking through some discoveries. Explaining quirks at the cellular level is always interesting for me, because I get to come up with actual science.
Anyways, I'll make a note around chapter 25 or 30 that details the entirety of Aizawas quirk. It could be later than that though, depending on how things pan out.
Anyways, until next time!
Sushui Out!