13 year old Izuku was humming as he screwed on the capsules for his explosive and stun pellets onto his Utility Belt. Inko came into his room to see her son at his workbench, finishing up on his shoes.

"Izuku, dear, aren't you done with those?" Inko asked her son before warning him, "You'll be late for school,"

"I know, I just need to tweak this a bit." Izuku replied, modifying his belt.

Inko knelt down behind her son with interest. She never understood what he was doing but it was always nice when he explained it all so enthusiastically to her. So, she asked, "I thought you were done with this?"

Izuku nodded, "I was but I just created an awesome new pellet! I need to create a compartment for it."

"Don't the pellets go on your gauntlets?" Inko asked.

"They do, but it doesn't hurt to have some backups on me," Izuku replied, "Plus, the gauntlets have a loading system. I still need to carry extra ammunition on my belt."

"Ok dear. But do hurry up," Inko said as she stood up, "And don't go testing them again, please." she warned. Izuku giggled silently as he knew exactly what his mother was talking about.

It started after the presentation at his school. Even though his Rocket Shoes had earned plaudits, the teachers were vehement in trying to prove that he had cheated in some way. Needless to say, the teachers disregarded his achievements. At first, the Midoriyas were very upset with this, causing Inko to have several meetings with the principal in hopes of trying to change his opinion on Izuku, but it was for naught. Izuku, however, had a very unique and different take.

You see, Izuku had understood that if the teachers refused to acknowledge his Rocket Shoes, they definitely wouldn't be acknowledging the fact that he made the chemical pellets and even his very own gauntlets could be considered invalid. And he really did need some test subjects. And thus, over the course of 2 years, Izuku had perfected his equipment by using it on the school bullies. Not that it deterred them from trying, which was all the better considering his brain was continuously coming up with ideas.

The first few times, the principal had tried to punish him but Inko had dug him out by pointing out that if the teachers were certain Izuku couldn't create the rocket shoes, he couldn't do this either. His mom was so fucking cool.

Izuku's favorite one had to be the stink bomb. Simple, efficient and no way of it being tracked back to him. But as much as he loved it for all its elegance, it was simply too easy to make and Izuku wanted to test some of his more outrageous ideas.

Today's special would be a combo of stun and explosive pellets. He couldn't wait to get Bakugou with them! Katsuki had started to keep his distance ever since Izuku had turned his classmates into live experiments with his pellets. He was an asshole, sure, but Izuku couldn't refute that he was smart enough to know the Quirkless innovator's capacity. Today, however, was the last day of school and he knew Bakugou would be squirming to get his hands on him, and then, he'd have the perfect opportunity to retaliate.

Izuku added the final touches to his pellet, coating it slightly in plastic to make it inert, and avoid any unwanted reactions with it. He had learnt his lesson after having a volatile explosion pellet blow up in his face a few months back. Not that it bothered him.

Izuku looked up at the clock. Crap! He really was late now, "I'm going now, mom!" he yelled as he grabbed his phone and slammed the door behind him.

"Izuku!" Inko yelled after her son but he was long gone. The mother shook her head as she wondered what to do with the uneaten breakfast.

Inko shook her head, sighing, "That boy." She sat down to eat her breakfast, hoping Izuku took her advice to heart.

"You divide the number 4 before multiplying it by 6 squared…"

Izuku was feeling fine today as he read a calculus book. Sure, his sweet and lovely classmates would give him flowers you'd get at a funeral, they would express their kindness through playful punches and teasing insults, but it was worth it because today is the last day of his favorite middle school, Aldera Junior High…

...if you couldn't tell, that was sarcasm.

The teacher noticed that Izuku wasn't giving his full attention and threw his chalk at him. Izuku was not startled at the least and just caught it mid-air, "Can I help you?" he asked as politely as he could.

The teacher's eyes narrowed darkly, "Pay attention, Midoriya!"

"I am."

"Oh really? Why don't you do these math equations?" The teacher smirked, hoping to see this worthless child embarrass himself. Izuku just stared at equations for a brief moment before looking back at his calculus book.

"12.5 for the first question, 42 for the second, and 89 for the final one." Izuku replied in a bored tone, noticing how shocked the class and teacher was, except for Bakugou, who was scowling at him. The Quirkless Inventor had done far complex math and physics equations for his inventions. This was a cake walk. "Do you actually have something that's on my level or is this the best you can challenge me with?"

The teacher snarled, "OUT!"

Izuku glared at his teacher with disgusted eyes, "Why?"

"For talking back! Now, before I call the principal, get out!" The teacher yelled. Izuku fumed quietly before closing his calculus book and walked out of class, who were laughing as he did so. He didn't want to risk detention. His time was far too valuable for that.

Izuku examined the pellets that he had brought himself with care. It was the last period of the day and Bakugou would be walking out any moment now. He couldn't wait to humiliate him in front of everyone.

Sure enough, the bell rang and the school's front doors opened with a bang as Bakugou walked out, yelling, "Finally, the stupid classes are done! I won't have to be hounded by extras like you anymore!" he jeered.

"At least we aren't as bad as him!" A boy from the back jeered, pointing at Izuku who didn't seem to be bothered.

"Big words from someone who begged the teachers for pass marks." Izuku replied venomously, causing the boy to scowl and step forward, but Bakugou was already planning on kicking Izuku's ass.

"Whatever, Deku!" Bakugou yelled, "You should have run away while you had the chance, you Quirkless motherfucker!" he grinned, cracking his knuckles.

Izuku looked shocked. "Wow, I can't believe it, Kacchan! You're smart enough to use a 4 syllable word. Wanna cookie?" He mocked Bakugou, treating him like a pet.

Bakugou fumed and launched himself at Izuku with his explosions. Izuku had no problem dodging it and swiftly launched his pellets.

Izuku closed his eyes, and covered his ears. The pellets exploded with a blinding white light, and released a substantial amount of sound. Izuku opened his eyes to see Bakugou and his bully group writhing in pain.

Izuku grinned with victory, "Not very useless now, huh Kacchan?" he mocked.

Bakugou growled and painfully opened his eyes, catching Izuku in his vision, "DEKU!" he yelled and rushed at Izuku who simply grinned and ran out the gates. He climbed up a metal fence, ran up the adjacent wall and landed swiftly on the other side.

"Better luck next time, Kacchan!" Izuku laughed and threw another pellet toward him.

Bakugou's eyes widened as Izuku high-tailed it out of there. The flash of the pellet could be seen, even though Izuku was walking in the opposite direction.

Bakugou was blinded, gritting his teeth in frustration as he failed to beat up Deku on the last day of school. He should've known that that bastard had a few tricks up his sleeve.

I'm gonna fuck your shit up, Deku, Kacchan declared to himself as he wiped his eyes, the blinding light slowly ebbing away. Just you wait. Just you fucking wait.

Izuku had laughed at what he did with school bullies as he headed home. Not only was he free from school and had the pleasure to continue working on his inventions, he managed to get the drop Bakugou, which was an awesome bonus.

He sighed, calming himself and pulled out his phone. "Alfred?"

"Yes, Master Midoriya?", his phone chimed.

"What's my progress on my inventions?"

"So far, you have modified your Rocket Shoes, completed your Power Gauntlets' plasma storage system, and the pellets for your Utility Belt.", the A.I. listed off.

Izuku nodded his head. "I see. Looks like I'll have to tackle the Light Rods next."

"Indeed, Master.", Alfred responded.

Izuku reached into the apartment, heading to his unit before locking the door behind him. "Mom, I'm home.", he called out to Inko, who was on the phone but looked and nodded her head to her son.

Izuku headed to his room and started looking at his blueprints for the Light Rods. As he knew, this was going to be the project that would be the most laborious, not because he didn't know how to make it but because this invention is going to be the one that tests him with how much of his limited resources he has to create it.

This might take longer than I expected, he thought to himself, smiling in dread at trying to figure this out.

"Izuku!", he heard his mother call him. Putting his phone and blueprints down to head to the kitchen, where he saw his mother holding a joyful expression.

"Yeah, mom?", the Quirkless prodigy asked.

Inko clamps her fingers together, ready to tell her son. "I got some news about your father.", she informed him.

Izuku perked up. "Does that mean he's coming here for the summer?"

"I'm afraid not, sweetie."

He slumped back into his chair. "Oh."

"But he does have something planned for you.", Inko insisted.

This made Izuku excited. "Really?"

Inko nodded her head. "But you have to go get your clothes, your blueprints, and anything else that'll be important for you." She gives him a suitcase and briefcase for him to put his stuff in.

Izuku got up and went into his room and folded up his clothes, rolled up his Light Rods blueprints, grabbed his inventions, and put his phone in his pockets. After moments of getting himself ready, he came back to the kitchen to see his mother grabbing her car keys, humming happily.

Izuku raised an eyebrow at her. "Are you gonna tell me where we're going?"

She shook her head. "You'll see when we get there."

With that, Inko and Izuku headed to the car. She drove through an unfamiliar route making Izuku wonder just what his mother was planning. Izuku tried to read the signs on the road to see where he was going but the car was moving too fast to get a proper read.

As Inko made a final turn, Izuku realized where they were; the airport. A lump formed in his throat, it couldn't be. There was no way, right?

But it was as he expected. Just as Inko parked the car, Izuku heard a knock on the window. He turned to see his father smiling through the glass. Izuku squealed and swiftly opened the door before jumping into his father for a hug.

Hisashi laughed, "It's nice to see you, too little man," he ruffled his son's green hair. Inko smiled seeing the scene and joined in the hug as well. The family stayed like that for a while, enjoying the warmth of each other.

After a significant amount of time, Izuku pulled away with tears coming down his eyes. "How come you didn't tell me you were coming!?"

"It was meant to be a surprise," Hisashi grinned affectionately.

"Are you sure you can't stay for a day or two?" Inko asked her husband.

"No, sorry honey," Hisashi apologized, "The program starts tomorrow."

Izuku looked heartbroken, "You're leaving already?!" he wailed.

Hisashi smirked, "Yes, but I'm taking you with me!"

"R-really?" Izuku asked. He couldn't believe it! His father never had time to spend with him. It was always an excuse that was given about his work at the university. "That's great!" he jumped with excitement, "But then, what's the program?" Izuku asked his father, confused.

"Have you heard of I-island?" Hisashi asked, a smirk etched on his face.

Izuku nodded, "Of course I have! It's heaven for all inventors!"

Hisashi nodded, "Well, they have a summer program for young, aspiring inventors such as yourself. I thought it would be a perfect fit for you."

Izuku had sparkles in his eyes and hugged his father tightly again, "Thank you dad."

Hisashi smiled happily, "It's the least I can do. Now come on, you don't want to miss the flight!"

Izuku nodded rapidly before turning to his tearful mother, "Is mom coming?" "I'm afraid not. I-island only lets one guardian come with you," Hisashi said.

"Oh," Izuku was a bit disappointed. He turned nervously to his mother, "Are you going to be alright alone?".

Inko laughed, "Of course I will! You two go and have some fun alright?" She shooed her ecstatic son away.

"You bet!" Izuku laughed as Hisashi grabbed his son's luggage and entered the airport. Inko waved at the two of them with a smile. I hope you can get Izuku to actually smile, she thought sadly as she looked at her husband and son heading inside the airport.

"We don't need to go through customs?" Izuku asked as Hisashi was waived through security, "Nope. Inventors will obviously have normally banned materials with them. Just leave your stuff here and I-island will take them on a separate plane and check them before handing them over.

Izuku clutched his inventions tightly, he didn't feel comfortable giving his work to someone else. Hisashi noticed the concerned look on his son's face and smiled comfortingly, "Relax. No one's gonna steal your ideas. It's a taboo among inventors," he said.

Izuku relaxed slightly but was still hesitant. Nevertheless, he had faith in his father and handed all of his inventions to the I-island official before boarding the plane. As he went onto his seat next to his dad, he stared at him for a moment, taking in the fact that he's actually here talking to him.

Hisashi chuckled, ruffling his son's hair. "Still thinking it's all a dream, little man?"

Izuku blushed and laughed a bit, not knowing what to say. "Can you blame me? I really thought you'd be stuck in America, Dad." He developed a forlorn expression as he looked down at his hands. "All of my greatest achievements, Dad….you weren't around for. When time passed, I was getting scared that we'll only be close through the few phone calls and video chats that we make."

Hisashi developed a sad expression as well, understanding where he was coming from. He grabbed his son's shoulder, being gentle yet firm.

"Well, know this, Izuku.", Hisashi said to his son as he had a serious expression. "All the times I wasn't there, all the times I couldn't make it, and all the times I had to set back….I want you to know that all of those times were to help get you this opportunity. I'm truly sorry for the times I wasn't there for you when you needed me. I just hope you understand that I'm here now."

Those words made Izuku cry even harder as he hugged his father, who had some tears coming down his smiling face.

As the plane went up into the air, the Midoriyas took this time to catch up, from hearing how Izuku created his signature inventions and his A.I., to them laughing at him beating Bakugou and pranking him with his pellets (this will be their little secret from Inko), to Izuku cringing at how Hisashi met Inko in their youth and how intimate they were, which led to Hisashi telling his son about the birds and the bees, much to the Quirkless Inventor's displeasure.

"I'm not sure I asked this dad, but what do you teach at your university?", Izuku asked, curiously as he ate his granola bar.

Hisashi hummed as he ate his bagel. "Good question, son. I teach anthropology, history, and mythology."

"Why those subjects, if you don't mind me asking?"

"It's fine, Izuku. Never feel afraid to ask me questions. Anyway, those subjects are tied into three things: culture, human truths, and the values behind humanity.", he explained, wiping his mouth with a napkin. "With history, you learn the rise and falls of many empires, the successes of those who helped push humanity forward, and what you can learn from the past and apply it properly to the present. Anthropology is the same way but it ties into the biological aspects as well the social norms around it. And for mythology, the many absurd stories of triumph and tragedy hold important lessons hidden within said stories, even understanding the mindset of certain groups of people through said story. In fact, the very idea of heroes originated from mythology."

That intrigued Izuku even more. "Really?" The patriarch nodded his head, smirking at his son's interest. "Can you tell me some?"

Hisashi then explained the many tales that he knew of: the labors of Hercules, the Journey to the West, Ragnorak, the tale of King Arthur, and Japan's various folklores. Needless to say? Some of these stories made Izuku develop new ideas for his technology.

They were so engrossed in their conversation that they didn't notice that they were close to the island until the announcement, "We are extremely sorry for the delay caused by the wind. But, we will now be landing. Fasten your seatbelts."

Both Izuku and Hisashi looked surprised, "I didn't even realize we were delayed." Hisashi smiled sheepishly. Izuku chuckled. The plane landed and the pair disembarked to find a man waiting for them, "Midoriya-san?" he asked.

"Yes." Hisashi acknowledged.

"I'm here to take you to the briefing for the program. We must hurry, we're awfully late!" the man said as he pushed them into a car. The man drove them quickly to their destination and led them to the auditorium.

Izuku and Hisashi quietly sneaked in as the ceremony had already gotten underway. They took their seats. Izuku stared at David Shield with stars in his eyes. David was his favorite inventor, and the fact that he was All Might's sidekick was a bonus.

"To sum it up." David reached the end of his briefing, "You will work in teams of 2. Any project we believe is exceptional will be part of the honorary system." David showed the projection of the reward systems that got all the young inventors excited. "The 3rd place winners will have the opportunity to have provisional licenses for a whole year." That got everyone murmuring with intrigue. "The 2nd place winners will have provisional licensing as well as 100,000 dollars for any project of their choosing." Izuku was shocked by that. If he manages to get 2nd, he could have the money to make his armored suit. "And for 1st place winners? They will have the opportunity to create any project of their desire, with all the resources of their island at their disposal! You will have two months to perfect your innovations. Good luck!" he said loudly as the mic cut off. This made everyone in attendance ecstatic for their projects they plan to make, even Izuku was jittery.

It wasn't even a second after the briefing, that a pink-haired girl stood on her chair and began yelling her head off, "MIDORIYA IZUKU! IS THERE A MIDORIYA HERE!?" Her loud voice made all the families (except a pink haired woman) around her look at the young inventor weirdly.

Izuku was taken aback as his father chuckled, "I think she's calling you, son."

He gulped, "Maybe it's someone else."

"With the same exact name?" Hisashi looked unimpressed, "Come on, just go and talk to her." He pushed his son slowly towards the girl.

Izuku gulped and spoke slowly and meekly, "H-hi, I'm Midoriya Izuku."

The girl stopped screaming and jumped down the chair, "You look scrawny." the girl said.

Izuku spluttered as a pink haired woman shook her head, "Hatsume, don't be rude!" she warned.

"Sorry mum." the girl replied, "I'm Hatsume Mei!" she said and reached for a handshake, "I'd like to pair with you and make babies!"

Izuku gawked at Hatsume, wanting to sink to the ground. Hisashi looked horrified and gaped at Hatsume. Mei's mother, Toko Hatsume, looked outraged, "HATSUME! How many times have I told you not to say that!"

Hatsume's cheery smile did not waver but she did clarify, "My babies are my inventions!" she explained to her mother before turning to the nervous Izuku, "So, what about it, wanna team up?"

Hatsume?, the Quirkless Inventor thought. As in Hatsume Industries? This must be their daughter. He concluded to himself. "Why do you want to team up with me?" Izuku asked warily.

"Well, I kinda opened your suitcase instead of mine and found your A.I." Hatsume said sheepishly, tapping her fingers together. Izuku looked angry, he didn't appreciate strangers messing with his inventions. Hatsume noticed the look and quickly defended herself, "I didn't steal anything. It just had A.I written on it. I haven't seen anyone make such an intricate A.I, and I'd like to use it too. So, maybe we can team up and share resources?"

Izuku raised an eyebrow. "What resources do you have that I can use?", he asked.

"Well both of those piles are mine." Hatsume pointed to a massive pile of metals, chemicals and anything else they might need.

Izuku had stars in his eyes, looking at the amount of material Hatsume had and grinned before shaking Mei's hands, "You got yourself a deal!"

The parents had made Izuku and Hatsume freshen up first before entering their discussions on their projects. Hisashi insisted on chaperoning, mostly because he felt the Hatsumes might turn against Izuku if they found that he was quirkless.

Hisashi had left the two to their devices but had left a crack open just in case.

"So, what project are you going to be working on?" Izuku asked.

"Well I've always wanted to make a jetpack. People have made them already but I want to build a really compact one." Hatsume said, "What about you?"

"I was thinking of Light Rods."

"... Light Rods?" Mei asked slowly for clarification.

"Mhm."

Mei groaned, "Izuku! You're a genius with your A.I and you want to make a glow stick with all these resources?"

"It's not a glow stick!" Izuku defended, he blushed in indignation.

"What else can it be?"

Izuku huffed and drew open his blueprint, "I'll have to use graphite, tungsten and polyphenylene sulfide plastic to store the energy plasma. It's not sharp but more of a blunt, hot object. But...", Izuku drew a wire across the picture of the rod, "If I can carry a current through it, I can supercharge it to slice anything!"

Hatsume whistled, "Hmm, looks like you do have a plan, shortie."

"Hey!" Izuku shouted back.

Mei ignored him, "By the way, my quirk let's me see things under greater magnification. Does your quirk have any special ability?"

Izuku gulped for a moment. He should have known something like this was coming. Izuku started to panic a bit, what if Mei refused to work with him and stole his blueprint since he's quirkless?

Mei cleared her throat and waved her hand in front of Izuku's face. Izuku realized he'd been silent a bit too long and slowly spoke, "I'm quirkless." he said in a hushed tone.

It took a second for Mei to register Izuku's words but afterwards, she laughed, "Aw man, that's great!"

"G-Great?"

"Yeah! So many famous inventors don't get recognition because it was their quirk that made it easy or that they can make support items tailored exclusively to certain types and blah blah. But you! You don't have a quirk to begin with! You can make anything that can help you! Man you're so lucky!" Hatsume squealed/explained, amazed that her partner was able to make something that didn't revolve around his nonexistent quirk.

Izuku was taken aback by Hatsume's perspective on his situation. A smile slowly creeped across his face as he learnt what it meant to have a proper friend (?) and not someone like Katsuki, "Yeah, I guess I am lucky."

Meanwhile, Hisashi overheard the conversation and smiled. It was nice to see someone accepting Izuku outside of his family. He knew how hard it was for Izuku back home, so even if he could have someone by his side for 3 months… it would be a success.

More than a month had passed since the duo had started working on their projects.

"Argh, why won't you fly!?" Mei groaned at her prototype.

"No luck here," Izuku sighed, "I cannot understand how to wire this properly. I mean if I heat it up, the resistance increases, and then the current won't flow and the rod cools down again!"

Hatsume looked at Izuku deadpanned, "You know, for a genius, you don't see the simple answer."

"And what's that?"

"You have a freaking A.I to help you! Use it!"

Izuku snapped his fingers like Hatsume had just revealed valuable info, "Ah, you're right," Hatsume shook her head in disbelief as Izuku used his phone and scanned his wiring system and rods into the A.I.

Alfred did a quick scan on the web and showed his results, "Using a thermistor would be perfect, Master Midoriya." Alfred said.

"Of course, how could I have missed that?" Izuku exclaimed, "If the temperature increases, the resistance of the thermistor decreases. Brilliant Alfred!"

"Hey, hey what about my problem? Hatsume asked, feeling left out.

"Oh right, Alfred, I give you permission to follow Mei's orders." Izuku waived his voice authorization.

Hatsume grinned and sat in front of the A.I with her protype to see what solutions she could get.

Izuku grinned happily, it was nice to have a real friend. Izuku had had dinner with Mei's mother and he liked her a lot too. Neither of them had any qualms that he was quirkless. Mei asserted that he was lucky to be so but the sad look on her mother's face told him that she felt pity for him.

That could be one reason why she was so determined to have him over and make him feel comfortable. Of course that didn't mean he didn't spend time with his dad. In fact, Hisashi had given both of them a lot of helpful insights on how to better develop their projects.

"Come on, what do you mean there's no error!?" Hatsume screamed at Alfred. "It would work then!"

Izuku sighed and moved to save his A.I. Mei could get very explosive when she was in a bad mood, "Hold on let me see." Izuku said and reran the scan.

He frowned as the scan came back normal, "It does look fine…", Izuku said and went for a physical examination. He nearly face-palmed as he opened one of the valves. "You forgot to put the water in as a coolant on the jetpack."

Hatsume paled. "That can't be right," she said and checked once again. She groaned as she saw that Izuku was right, "Oh man, I spent two days in that!?"

"You really are an idiot.", he deadpanned. Mei stuck her tongue out at Izuku who laughed, "Anyway, since your project is done, what are you going to do now?"

"Oh please it's far from over. This baby can only fly by itself but I still need to develop it to carry a payload." Mei replied.

"You mean a person?"

"Sure." Hatsume replied, already getting to the next task at hand, "What about you? Just gonna use the thermistor now?"

Izuku nodded, "Well I'll still need to check it but after that, I guess I will be done. Then I'll move on to the pellets I showed you."

"Cool. Are you heading out to get the thermistor now?"

"Yeah, I'll do some of my combat exercises first. Shouldn't let my skills drop. Then I'll get a thermistor and put it in and we'll see how it goes."

"Alright. Get some spare ones for me too."

Izuku nodded.

David Shield was in the process of judging all the inventions after the two month long program. Some of them were too simplistic and uninnovative, worthy of bronze he supposed. Others were impressive but lacked the flair, indeed. Perhaps with funding, they could get better with any new project they come up with. At this rate, the resources would be going toward something boring and David wanted the opposite of that.

He turned to the last table with hope and was disappointed to see nothing but a small box on it. There wasn't even anyone there. He sighed and was ready to announce what he felt was the most innovative when a disc popped out with a button on it.

David instinctively pressed it and almost fell as a loud robotic voice boomed, "Hello, I am Alfred, Master Midoriya's A.I." His loud voice attracted the scientist judges and audience to the booth to see what's going on.

David whistled. It was nothing he had seen but he wasn't expecting it from someone in such a younger age range.

The A.I continued, "First, Hatsume Mei will showcase her 'baby'." On cue, Hatsume entered flying on her compact jetpack. She flew in the air, making rotations and evasive maneuvers, impressing the audience and the judges.

"The jetpack is smaller than normal ones and is the most energy efficient one there with 90% of the fuel being put towards useful output." Alfred acted as a commentator.

There was a loud poof as smoke erupted on the other side of the field, making the crowd of people look at the source. The smoke cleared to dramatically reveal Izuku with all the scrap they had formed over the three months.

"Midoriya Izuku will now showcase his invention: light rods. Thanks to the graphite, tungsten, and polyphenylene sulfide plastic, the plasma can be contained and stored. The rods act more of a hot blunt object than a sharp one. But, the rods can be supercharged to slice through anything!" Alfred said as Izuku demonstrated by using his combat skill to spin his weapon before cutting easily through the scrap metals with skill and grace, aweing the audience.

"The rods themself can act like swords or be put together to act as a staff owing to the polarity caused by the current flow." Alfred said as Izuku formed a staff and destroyed several training dummies with his martial arts.

"And finally, the team worked together to form chemical pellets." Alfred said vaguely.

The audience did not have to wait long to understand what the A.I meant as Hatsume rotated in the air and launched several pellets and Izuku did the same with his Power Gauntlets. all of them exploded to form fireworks of different colors, captivating the audience and judges. In the middle, there was a sign that said, "Vote for Hatsume and Midoriya!"

Alfred downloaded crowd applause and cheekily played it causing David to laugh. It had been a while since he had seen such a display. It was a clear cut as to who had won 1st place and the audience and the judges knew it, "Team Hatsume and Midoriya win first place!" David announced, triggering everyone to applaud, including Hisashi, who whistled and kept yelling towards those near him that that was his son.

Izuku felt the same experience when he performed at the talent show 2 years ago, only this time, it was sincere.

Honestly, it was so much easier for Izuku to create his suit now. With Mr. Shield and his team, Izuku was able to get started on the bare bones of the project: constructing the exoskeleton of the armored suit. But the best thing about this is that he got help from individuals who knew what they were doing and respected his opinion and intelligence.

He was still kinda shocked that Mei wanted an entire lab room to herself with only a few helping hands. Oh, well. She was more than capable at making new "babies" with the resources she has now mostly by herself.

Now how am I going to handle the exoskeleton?, he thought to himself as he looked at his blueprints.

"That was a really good show," David walked up to Izuku, shaking his head in approval.

Izuku grinned and rubbed the back of his head, "Thank you, sir."

"I must say, I have never really seen anything like your light rods," David said, examining them, "How did you stop it from melting?"

"I had to make a special coolant fluid that passes around the wires inside. I nearly burnt myself the first few times!" Izuku answered back enthusiastically.

"And a thermistor as well I hope?"

Izuku nodded, "That took me a while though," he smiled sheepishly.

David gave Izuku a warm smile, "Well Midoriya, you are going to be a fine inventor. The heroes will be lucky to have you as support." David handed Izuku back his inventions.

"Support?" Izuku asked before correcting the support item developer, "I plan to be a hero myself."

David's interest in this little boy was piqued, "Come again?"

"I said I want to be a hero." Izuku replied passionately, "If I can make such awesome inventions for heroes, I can make something to make myself stronger too!"

"I wonder if that's to cover up your lack of quirk." David replied.

Izuku gulped. Why had he run his mouth? Now David would probably abstain from giving him the resources he desperately required.

David recognized the look on his face and laughed, "Relax. I have nothing against you. My daughter's quirkless too." David assured, "I was just shocked to hear what you said."

Izuku took a few minutes to realize what David had said at which point he relaxed, before getting hyped up again, "Wait, your daughter's quirkless too?"

David nodded.

"I never met someone else who was quirkless." Izuku thought out loud, "I wonder what she's like."

David smiled, "I'll introduce you two later. Let's talk about your problem first."

"What problem?"

"A licensing one." David replied. He saw Izuku's confused look and elaborated, "You see, normally, inventors get contracted by a company or make a company of their own to supply equipment to people to use. Heroes, and other professionals need their own licenses to use these said equipment. But, you plan to use your own inventions, which requires a special license, an engineering license. Your provisional license would give you enough time to test it out with whatever your suit will be making but it's only for a year. "

"Well that's no problem at all. I'll just obtain one by taking an engineering exam to get one." Izuku replied logically.

"It's not that easy. Even adults need 2 or 3 years to get one set up and the hero school's entrance exam is much earlier.", David Shield explained. Izuku's excitement fizzled very fast as his face slowly contorted into sadness. This might become a problem as the Quirkless were not able to pay for an exam on the stigma that they were intellectual incompetent in doing it. "But, I-island is qualified to set up an exam if you desire one."

Izuku looked up so fast that David thought he might have broken his neck, "You'd do that?"

"Normally I wouldn't unless it was someone with a very impressive resume, but let's just say you have impressed me a lot." David smiled, "Now, I suggest you stop your teammate from destroying someone else's inventions." David warned as he noticed Hatsume and another inventor being in a heated argument.

"Oh, boy.", Izuku groaned, but quickly ran over, "Hatsume! Don't do that again!"

David watched Izuku's retreating back with interest. He had seen many quirkless people who wanted to be a hero but most of them had given up on it, thinking that they would never be able to do it. The few that still believed did nothing to follow their dream and spent their time daydreaming.

Izuku was the first quirkless person he met, who still believed he could be a hero and had a concrete plan to do it. Did David think Izuku could do it? The evidence in front of him spoke for itself. Maybe Melissa should come and be involved, the lead engineer thought as he looked over blueprints for the Quirkless Inventor's armor. She'd have a field day with this.

For the first few weeks Izuku and the scientists were making a nickel-titanium skeletal structure for his armored suit, a good enough starting point for him to start combining metallic alloys for it: carbon fiber/stainless steel, graphite, aluminum, titanium, tantalum, nickel and tungsten. He was planning on using these certain metals to help deal with absorbing damage, be able to light enough to move around, and capable of delivering powerful attacks. Even when he wasn't working, he didn't stop studying for his exam as well as continuing his training regimen. He even took some time to upgrade his inventions he already made when he wasn't spending time with Hisashi.

Another 3 weeks came, he was able to craft up the first plating layer around the skeletal structure before he began to tailor and weave in a body glove with compression sections on top of it. That would help him feel comfortable inside the suit for as long as he needs to be in it, as well as help with decreasing the force against his body and lessen the impact internally. When that was complete, Izuku focused on the whole structure of the second layer. This required help from Mei and Melissa Shield, the daughter of David Shield. She was really impressed by Izuku's intelligence and creative flow and he respected her input when she recognized the flaws in the armor-in-the-making.

She and the chaotic genius Mei were able to help him set up the plating structure on the forearms, shoulders, shins, and the torso. Afterwards, Izuku and his group worked on setting up the maximum control, power, and movement for the armor. They did so by creating mini-hydraulics in the center areas of the elbow/knee joints as well as inside and around the forearms/shins, shoulders/shoulder blades, and wrists/ankles. They, then, created pneumatics right next to the hydraulics to help boost its strength and speed. Finally, they developed carbon nanotube springs around the major joint areas to help with the flexibility and fluidity in movement.

A few weeks passed again and Izuku, David Shield, and his colleagues focused on the third layer. This layer was going to take double the effort that the previous layers.

"This will be the hardest one.", he remembered David Shield said before they got started.

And he was right as they had issues trying to connect the third to the second: they kept struggling with putting the third layers on the biceps/triceps, hands, thighs, and feet, and some of the plating kept getting broken off or put in the wrong place. But, eventually, they managed to get through that setback and managed to set up air ducts around the elbow/knee joints and wrist/ankle joints.

The final layer was the easiest as Izuku focused on the heavy plating for the neck and head area of the armor, as well as focus on the details on the helmet and gauntlets. Once that was taken care of, he focused on the complete wiring of the suit which was a lot easier said than done if it weren't for the other scientists helping. He installed a system for Alfred to be within the suit to help with the subroutines, plasma generators in the arms for energy dispersion, setting up nodes on the soles of the armor, getting it ready for propulsion, and even setting up a coolant system for the inside. All that was left was to make a power core for the suit, to which Izuku picked lithium ion batteries for it.

The weapons weren't hard to make as since Izuku practiced on his previous inventions, he could replicate it on the suit. With the suit being done, the innovative Midoriya focused on crafting another set of Light Rods and Utility Belt, as the feet of the suit had rocket propulsion set up and the forearms had the same machinations of the Power Gauntlets.

All that was left to do was make the colors, which Izuku, David Shield, and his colleagues took care of. The process was a lot quicker than people thought as they painted the suit emerald green, dark green, red, black, and white aesthetically onto the armor but the paint would take a lot of time drying completely.

With only a few weeks left, Izuku took some time to focus on the exam that would be starting in a few days. He took all the ample time to study. He was so focused, his dad had to remind him not to overwork himself.

He got out of his and his father's room at the residential center before reaching the I-Tower. I can do this, he told himself to expel any negative thoughts and jitteriness. I just need to focus.

He walked towards the tower before heading inside and to head to the designated exam room. He went to the elevator before finding the room.

"Room 315, Room 315, Room 315…", Izuku repeated as he got out of the elevator, walking on the third floor before seeing the room he's looking for. "Oh, there it is."

He went inside the room to see Melissa Shield proctoring for the engineering license exam, much to his surprise.

"Melissa?"

"Good morning, Midoriya.", David's daughter greeted with a smile before handing him the exam. "Here's your exam and you'll have 2 hours to complete."

Izuku took the exam and sat at a desk with a pencil in hand. He started the exam, acing through the questions he thought were easy and working through the questions he thought were the hardest. It stayed like that until he reached the final written parts. Those were the most complicated in his opinion, but he was able to get the whole exam done before...

"Times up, Midoriya. Please hand in your answer sheet and book.", Melissa Shield informed Izuku, who did what he was asked. "Thank you. You'll get the score through the mail as soon as possible."

Izuku headed to the door before looking back at his blonde proctor. "Hey. Melissa.", he asked, getting her attention as she collected his work. "How come your dad didn't proctor me like he said he would?"

Melissa shrugged as she frowned. "He got busy checking on you and Mei's projects before making sure they got approved. That and he got an important call to deal with."

Izuku nodded before waving goodbye. "Well, then. Have a nice day, Melissa."

"You too, Midoriya.", she waved back.

Izuku left the room before heading back. Melissa left the room too, taking Izuku's answer book and sheet to her father. The 15 year old couldn't help but think about how impressive it was that Izuku was able to create his own suit of armor to make up for the superpowered genetics that he had lacked.

She can't help but wonder how far he'd go in the world of heroics. Hopefully, he can show everyone what he's capable of. Maybe, just maybe…..

I could become a hero too, she thought to herself, wistfully. If Izuku can achieve making a suit of armor that was impressive in its own right, who's to say that she couldn't try to make one for herself.

A week later, the I-Island Summer Camp concluded and all the families had left.

The Midoriyas were getting onto their assigned plane after Mei had pestered Izuku to give each other's phone numbers, so they could keep in contact or even help each other with projects. He would say that he managed to make a friend, but she was a chaotic force that decided to pick him as one she would torment, much to his displeasure and to his father's humor.

The trip back was a rather smooth one. The plane slowly landed down on the runway at the airport. The father and son got off the plane and headed inside the port.

"Is my mom coming to get me?", Izuku asked, grabbing his suitcase and backpack.

Hisashi shook his head. "Unfortunately, your mom is working overtime at the hospital. She won't be back until no later than 9:30."

Izuku turned to look at his father, noticing the forlorn expression on his face as he looked at his phone. For that one summer that they shared, he was able to be a lot closer to his old man. He remembered how he and Hisashi were watching some classic movies like Bruce Lee flicks, Lord of Rings, Star Wars, even old superhero films. How Hisashi would get comically nervous when sparring with his son. How they played games. They spent their best time together as father and son.

But like most things, all the good times had to come to an end.

But can't it last for a little bit longer?, Izuku thought to himself, clutching his suitcase tightly. He knew his dad had to go back to the States but couldn't he stay for just one more day?

"Dad?", Izuku asked.

Hisashi looked up from his phone to see his son holding a melancholic expression. "Yeah, Izuku?"

"Can you stay for at least one more day?", Izuku pleaded as he had some tears falling from his face. "Just for tonight?"

The patriarchal Midoriya looked at son. Maybe one more day wouldn't kill him. The university doesn't start until next week and today was Monday. But he would be swamped for a bit when he gets back.

Spending time with the family for one night or being prepared for his class?

Hisashi inhaled before giving his puppy-eyed son an answer.

It was 9:00 as Inko felt exhausted when she turned off the ignition to her car. She got out before grabbing her jacket and keys to unlock the front door to the apartment complex. She walked upstairs to the 4th floor to head her unit.

Now she expected Izuku to be inside already either making food for her or writing in his notebooks on new heroes he found on TV or online.

Imagine her genuine surprise when she saw not only her son cooking but also Hisashi there helping. Both of them turned from the cooking katsudon to greet the tired mother.

"Hi, Mom!", Izuku smiled.

Hisashi waved his spoon. "Hey, Inko. You came right on time."

She looked shocked as she went inside the unit, closing the door behind her. "Hisashi? I thought you were leaving for the States."

The patriarch shrugged as he placed the bowls for the Midoriya family. "After our little man asked to stay for the night, I figured why not? I can always do my teaching plan later."

Inko processed what her husband had said. A small part of her is worried if he would get in trouble with his work.

But the majority of her was joyful that he was here now with her and Izuku.

"Well…", Inko smiled at Hisashi. "I'm happy you decided to stay with at least for one night."

After saying "Itadakimasu", the Midoriyas enjoyed their food and recalled the events that occured on Summer Camp with Inko being intrigued, laughing along at either Izuku or Hisashi's embarrassing moments, and even how he impressed David Shield.

Everytime, Inko and Izuku ate dinner, it always felt good for them to talk to one another. But tonight, it felt even better with Hisashi because in a way, he filled a piece that was missing in the puzzle.

Even as everyone went to sleep, the atmosphere in the house felt lighter than any other night.

For Izuku, he had his supporting father close to him, even when he's in the room right next to him. For Inko, she was in the warm and loving embrace of her husband.

It had been a week since Izuku had gotten back from I-island, his father having left much earlier. He was in a good mood. School hadn't started yet so Izuku didn't need to deal with Bakugou, and his memories with his father had kept him in high spirits.

Izuku had already thrust himself into his work, having gotten so many different ideas from his conversations with Hatsume and kept working on his Hero Analysis. He was still mapping out the blueprints for some support items he wanted to design and sell when the doorbell rang.

Izuku's ears perked up and he rushed to open the door, "It's finally here!" he yelled excitedly in his mind as he slammed the door open, "Midoriya Izuku?" the man asked.

Izuku nodded.

The man looked skeptical considering how short Izuku looked but shrugged, "Here's your package and mail from I-island. Just sign here and I'll hand it over to you."

Izuku's hand shook from excitement as he hurriedly signed the form, before grabbing his mail.

"Thank you, so much." he squeaked, giggling in excitement after him as the man left after pushing the massive crate inside with his dolly. He then hurriedly grabbed a crowbar and went to open the door, "Mom! Come on, it's finally here!"

Inko looked a bit confused but tried her best to match her son's enthusiasm. Izuku propped open the crate and Inko stared in amazement, "Is that-"

"Yup," Izuku replied, "This, mom, is my magnum opus!"