The next morning, Midoriya got to class extra early. It was his turn to clean up after class the night before, but he'd had to rush off to his internship job and hadn't been able to do it. He knew he could do it quickly in the morning before class, and wouldn't get in trouble with Aizawa, especially if he juiced his speed a little with his quirk.

He opened the massive door to his classroom, and stopped, startled, when he saw he wasn't the first person to arrive that morning. Jiro was sitting at her desk towards the back of the class, her notes spread out across her desk. Obviously she was here to do some last minute studying before a test.

There was also another girl facing Jiro whom Midoriya didn't recognize from the back. She was wearing a UA uniform, but her short dark hair didn't match anyone in their class. It was shaved close to her scalp on one side and the back, then longer, nearly down to her chin, on the other side in a cute pixie cut. Maybe she was a student from one of the other classes?

Puzzled, he approached the pair. "Good morning, Jiro-san!" he said. "How are you this morning?"

Jiro looked over at him and smiled. "Hiya, Broccoli Boy!"

Midoriya chuckled. Jiro always seemed to have a new vegetable-themed nickname for him whenever they spoke. He pointed his thumb at the other girl. "Who's your friend?"

Jiro's eyes widened, before she slapped a hand over her mouth, giggling uncontrollably behind it. Midoriya raised an eyebrow in confusion, only to gasp in surprise as the girl in question turned around to face him.

"Hello, Midoriya-kun," said Yaoyorozu. Her eyes were cast down at the floor, and a blush turned her cheeks pink. A hand came up to play with the hair on the long side of her head. "Is it… is it that bad?"

Midoriya had to pick his jaw up off the floor, before he shook his head violently. "Nononono! That's not it at all!" he assured her. "I just didn't recognize you from behind!"

Jiro got herself under control, though she was still grinning widely. "I was just saying that her new hairstyle was bitchin'. Don't you agree, Midoriya?"

Midoriya had to use context clues to determine that "bitchin'" was a good thing. "Y-y-yeah!" he managed. "It's really great!"

Yaoyorozu's blush darkened, but she smiled, and picked up her head. "Thanks," she said.

"So, what prompted the change?" he asked.

Now her face lit up. "Mei and I have settled on a design for my new hero costume, so I needed to get it cut for raw material. I'm going to the development studio later today to deliver the hair, and to get measured for my new suit."

"Oh!" replied Midoriya, caught up in her excitement. "Yeah! She mentioned she was working on something with you the other day. That's really exciting! I've actually got to go down there myself this afternoon to have some repairs done. Mind if I join you?"

Yaoyorozu nodded. "Sure! The more the merrier!"

After their morning classes, the pair made their way down to the development studio. They chatted aimlessly but amicably about school, their internships, finals coming up, until Midoriya suddenly stopped walking as the massive vault door came into sight. Yaoyorozu made it a few more steps towards the door before she noticed her companion had stopped, and she turned to look at him curiously.

Midoriya chuckled, putting a hand behind his head. "Sorry. It's just that… It seems like every other time I come down here, the door is blown off its hinges by an explosion, and Hatsume is thrown by the explosion directly on top of me."

Yaoyorozu stared at him, for a second, before she let out a rather unladylike snort, and began to giggle. "Is that why Iida shudders whenever someone talks about coming down here?" she managed after a second. Suddenly she sobered, putting a finger to her chin. "Although, that does sound like her. I had to create a fire extinguisher the first time I came down here."

Midoriya joined in her laughter. "Still, it's kind of silly isn't it? Expecting that to happen again?"

"Oh, of course," said Yaoyorozu, nodding seriously. "It would be extremely silly to expect it to happen for a third time…"

"Uhh…" Midoriya looked up, and started to count on his fingers. "More like… fifth time? Yeah, I think that's right."

Yaoyorozu doubled over with laughter.

"Still," continued Midoriya. "Why don't you go first?"

Yaoyorozu straightened. She put on her most serious face, though the corners of her mouth still twitched with the effort to keep from laughing. "Of course!" She bowed deeply. "I shall protect my lord from the scary girl who is ten centimeters shorter than him!"

Midoriya rolled his eyes, but accepted the barb. With a final chuckle, Yaoyorozu approached the door, grabbed the handle, and began to pull. "See?" she said. "Nothing to wor—"

There wasn't a blast, so much as a "whoosh" from inside the studio. As Yaoyorozu opened the door, it was suddenly pushed open by a flying object slamming into it.

As the object collided with her, Yaoyorozu realized it was a person, flying out of control using some sort of support item. Heroic instincts kicking in, she wrapped her arms around the person, pressing their head into her chest, and twisted in the air so that they hit the ground rather than fly further down the hall. She tucked into a roll, still protecting her charge from as much injury as possible, before her back slammed into the wall

Yaoyorozu let out a "whoof" as the air was forced from her lungs, and a groan of pain as things settled down. She rolled over, but her arm was trapped under her rescuee's back. She lay there on top of them, trying to keep as much of her weight off of them as possible, though she found her face somewhat smooshed into a rather prodigious chest.

"Woo!" came the call from the person under her. "Good thing I landed on something soft!" She looked down and chuckled. "Hey there! You really oughta buy me dinner first."

Yaoyorozu looked up, and their eyes both widened as they realized at the same time who the other was.

Yaoyorozu found her voice. "Mei!" she exclaimed. "Are you all right?"

Hatsume smiled widely. "Hey Momo!"An arm came up and gave her a thumbs up. "I'm a-okay! Nice haircut, by the way. I almost didn't recognize you!" She shifted up onto her elbows. "Sorry about crashing into you. Usually that only happens to someone else…"

"Hey Hatsume," Midoriya called from down the hall.

Hatsume craned her neck to look over Yaoyorozu's shoulder. "Oh, there you are, Ten Million!"

"I thought you finished those wings last year?"

"Yeah, but yesterday I had an idea to…"

"That's very lovely, Mei," interrupted Yaoyorozu "but could we please carry on this conversation when we're not tangled up together on the floor?"

Hatsume looked back at her, a slight blush on her cheeks. "Right! Sorry about that."

They rolled together to free Yaoyorozu's arm, then she stood up, leaning down to offer Hatsume a hand up.

Hatsume's smile at the offer could have lit up a dark cavern. She took the proffered hand, and allowed herself to be hauled to her feet.

However, Yaoyorozu pulled too hard, and Hatsume found herself off balance, tumbling into the arms of the taller girl. The two shared a laugh for a moment, their arms wrapped around each other. Hatsume looked up at her. "My hero!" she said.

Yaoyorozu stared down into Hatsume's eyes. They really were quite striking; between the golden irises and the odd crosshair design that gave away her quirk. She also fit nicely in her arms. Yaoyorozu was used to being taller than most girls, and even a lot of the boys. She had about twenty centimeters on Hatsume, but she still fit right…

"Uhh… Ladies?"

Hatsume broke away from the hold as quickly as if Yaoyorozu had scalded her. Her face was nearly as pink as her hair. "Right!" she shouted, before turning to Midoriya. She pointed a thumb at Yaoyorozu. "I know what Momo is here for: to get measured for her new suit. So what brings you down here today?"

Midoriya lifted the briefcase containing his hero suit. "I need some replacement kevlar plates. Some villain with a strength enhancing quirk shattered one last night."

Hatsume considered his request for a moment, before shaking her head violently. "Nope! I'm not going to do that. Too boring!"

Midoriya stumbled. "Uhh… What…What am I supposed—"

"I'll change it out for better armor!" she exclaimed! Finally she turned, and waved them into the studio. "Come on! I'll show you what I mean!"

Yaoyorozu and Midoriya exchanged a look, shrugged simultaneously, then followed their friend into the classroom.

Despite the chaos that had happened in the hallway, it seemed like nothing had occurred inside the classroom. Sure, it was a little smoky, but the ventilation system was extra robust in this room, and the air was clearing quickly. The other students in the class barely seemed like they noticed the commotion as they worked on their own projects. Maijima looked up from a table in the back of the room when they entered, smiled and waved at the newcomers, then went back to helping the student he was working with.

Yaoyorozu and Midoriya loitered near Hatsume's workbench as she rummaged through a pile of discarded projects. Finally, she came up with a triumphant "Ah ha!" and held up a gold colored breastplate, tossing it to Midoriya.

Surprised at the unexpected hunk of metal flying at his head, Midoriya caught the armor awkwardly, nearly dropping it. Once he was sure of his grip, he bounced it experimentally in his hands. "Wow, that's light!"

"Yep!" replied Hatsume. "Strong too!" She reached behind her, pulled a pistol from the pile, quickly took aim, and pulled the trigger.

BLAM BLAM BLAM!

Midoriya had just enough time to hide behind the breastplate before she fired. The bullets ricocheted into the ceiling…

"Hatsume!" shouted Maijima. "What did I tell you about firing guns in here?"

"To call out a warning first! Sorry Sensei!"

"Don't forget next time, or your gun privileges will be revoked!"

Hatsume looked back at her classmates, shaking her head while smiling.

Yaoyorozu and Midoriya looked at her like she'd grown a second head.

"What?" she asked, genuinely confused. "You gotta be able to test to make sure your equipment is bullet proof."

Midoriya looked down at the breastplate in his hands. Sure enough, there was barely a ding in the armor. He smiled. "This is great! What's it made of?"

Hatsume shrugged. "Just a gold/titanium alloy I came up with. It's kind of expensive though, so that's all the stuff I've got. If you want me to make one for you, I'll have to reforge that one so that it fits. I'll even paint it green to make it match your aesthetic."

"Sounds great!"

Hatsume grabbed a tab on the back of her glove and yanked, pulling out a tape measure. "Then assume the position!"

A blush bloomed on Midoriya's face, before he sighed, and stood up straight with his arms out in a T-pose. Yaoyorozu looked on curiously. Why was he so obviously dreading getting measured?

Her question was answered when Hatsume absolutely draped herself all over him, pressing her chest against his back, and reaching around to measure the front. Her hands all over his chest and arms. Ostensibly, she was taking measurements, but Midoriya was blushing as if they were filming something that was required by law to have parts of it censored.

Finally she pulled away, grabbing a clipboard and writing down some notes. "All right!" she exclaimed. "It will take me about a week to get it sized correctly for you. I'll send you an email when it's done!"

Midoriya sighed in relief. "Great. I'll just… I'm going to go… have a shower now." He bowed to Yaoyorozu, before making a hasty retreat.

Hatsume shook her head, chuckling. She then turned to Yaoyorozu. "OK! Your turn!"

Yaoyorozu pulled a grimace, though she tried to hide it. She spread her feet apart, and raised her arms up into the same stance Midoriya had taken, only for Hatsume to take her gently by the hand, and lead her over to a platform against a wall. She then pranced over to a control board, and hit a few buttons. A metal loop descended from the ceiling above Yaoyorozu. As it passed her head, she realized that she was being scanned. She closed her eyes, and held still.

Finally, the loop hit the ground, before ascending back into its place in the ceiling. Yaoyorozu opened her eyes again to see Hatsume standing in front of her with a table, mulling over the information. "You can step down now," she said without looking up.

Yaoyorozu did as she was told. "Did that thing just take my measurements?"

Hatsume looked up, a big grin on her face. "Yep! To three decimal places!"

"Then why did you do Midoriya with the tape measure?"

Hatsume laughed. "Oh, did you see the look on his face when I did that? How hard did he blush? I do that with most of the guys. Never fails to get a rise out of them, and a laugh out of me."

Yaoyorozu covered her mouth with a hand to hide a laugh. "You probably don't with Mineta though, do you? The boy with the purple balls for hair?"

Hatsume's face turned haunted. "No," she said flatly. "No, I do not. Not after… the incident."

Yaoyorozu laughed harder.

Hatsume shook her head to clear out the bad memories. She held up the tablet. "Anyway, this thing tells me that we need about five kilos of hair to make your suit."

Yaoyorozu held up a finger. "Oh! Wait right there." She ran over to where she'd dropped her bag, rummaged through it, and came back with a plastic zip top bag full of dark hair. "Is this enough?"

Hatsume chuckled. "So that's the reason for the new hairstyle!"

Yaoyorozu put a hand to her head, her fingers brushing against the short cropped hair on her left side. "Is it too much? I wanted to make sure you had enough material."

Hatsume shook her head, a light blush blooming on her cheeks. "No, I think it looks super cute! But, uh…" she hefted the bag of hair experimentally "this isn't enough hair."

Yaoyorozu's face fell. "It's not?"

"'Fraid not. You've probably only got about one kilo here."

Yaoyorozu groaned disappointedly. "It took me years to get my hair to grow that long! I'm not going to have my new suit until I'm in my thirties!"

"Oh, no. You won't need to wait that long," replied Hatsume. She pointed down the row of workbenches at one of her classmates. "Just go talk to Biyoshi over there. His quirk is 'hair growth'. He can grow your hair out in seconds so we can harvest as much as we need, then get you back to whatever length you want."

Yaoyorozu's jaw dropped, flabbergasted. "But… But Tooru said she was bald!"

"The invisible girl? Nah, she was messing with you. We needed twice the amount of hair that you need for her suit, it wouldn't have worked without Biyoshi's quirk." She grabbed Yaoyorozu by the hand. "Anyway! Let's go talk to him! The sooner we harvest your hair, the sooner you get your suit!"

As they walked down the row of workbenches to see Biyoshi, Hatsume stopped so suddenly that Yaoyorozu nearly bumped into her. Hatsume looked down, brushing her hair back with her free hand. "Um…" she said, suddenly quiet. "You should keep your hair the way it is. I think it looks great."

Now it was Yaoyorozu's turn to blush. She looked down and ran a hand through the long part of her hair. "Really?"

"Yeah. Real badass."

Yaoyorozu nodded. "OK then."

If any artists are interested in drawing Yaoyorozu's new hairstyle please do and PM me a link! I desperately want to see!

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