A Spark of Ingenuity

Chapter 10

Today was going to be a great, no, one of the best days in her life. Things had changed a lot, way faster than she thought she would be ready for. Ochaco thought her life was going to be hard, especially after all her effort she failed to get into the hero course for her school of choice. UA was great, and the general studies would still give her a good enough reputation on a resume.

But, after suddenly being picked out to work for one of the fastest growing tech companies, directly under the mother of the founder of Spark Industries, that was what gave immediate results she never dreamed of.

Getting ready in her newer, bigger, fancier apartment picked out by Miss Bakugo, Ochaco still went with a casual outfit her parents would be familiar with. Ever since the interview, Katsuki Bakugo had followed up on his words and got her parents construction business a work contract that threw them out of poverty.

Now on her first day off from school she was going to visit them. That's all they knew, not her new job, not her close connection to the top of the business and the mind behind it, and not all the privileges that she was still getting used to.

Today she would tell them, show up normal but with a tap of a button summon one of the nearest Spark Industries autonomous vehicles to take her parents on a shopping spree that would never have been possible with an entire year's income.

Part of her felt a little guilty, because she was going to casually spend so much money she had yet to grow accustomed to. On the other hand, she wanted to see what it felt like to spend money without worrying about looking at the price tags, and to give back to all the risk her parents put themselves in to send her to this school.

Placing on her sneakers, Ochaco double checked herself on the mirror near the front door before preparing to take a step out and enjoy her day off of school and work.

Until the phone rang, coming through the built-in speakers in the house. That was also something she wasn't used to.

Pulling out her work phone, one much fancier than the flip phone she kept for personal use (for now) she saw it was Miss Bakugo.

"Hello?"

"Hey Uraraka." The woman then laughed a little. "It's a video call by the way, all I can see is your ear."

"S-sorry!" She hastily snapped the phone away from her face, to see the woman in her business attire sitting in a private plane. "Um, what can I do for you?"

"No no, you're fine. I'm the one who should apologize calling even though you have plans."

"It's alright." Ochaco resigned herself to potentially canceling on her parents. That's one of the things with a job like this, you never really had a day off. The money was worth it though, and it never took more than a few hours out of her day. "What do you need?"

"Not much, I'll be flying in later today to take Katsuki somewhere but I don't like the fact that I can't stick around for his birthday."

His birthday….that was today?

She doesn't recall anyone mentioning it, but she feared that she forgot an important thing she had to take care of for it. He was a rich kid, so a big party was expected right? Was she supposed to organize that?!

"Hahaha!" The woman let out a hearty laugh as Ochaco's whirlwind of panic became obvious. "Don't worry, it's something he doesn't care for when he could spend his time tinkering. But, if you have some time I just want you to make sure he isn't alone today. Last year, well we didn't have a chance to celebrate with him."

Last year, wouldn't that be?-oh, that was when he was being held captive.

"I'll take care of it." Ochaco was already going back to her closet, finding her more appropriate clothing to go to work. "Um, what do you think he would like as a present?"

"It's hard picking out gifts for him ever since he realized he has enough money to spoil himself whenever he wants." Mitsuki confessed. "But there are some things he forgets about that he still likes. For example, he listens to music all the time so we took him to a concert one year. He didn't even try running away to get back to work. Don't think about it too hard, just find a way to make sure he isn't wasting away in his lab."

"Ok." Ochaco pulled out the outfit from the closet, one she hadn't had a chance to wear yet. Most of the time now she was in her school uniform when working. "Anything else?"

"If you struggle to find something to do, just have him tag along as you go and visit your folks. I'm sure he could have some pleasure discussing his plans for expansion with your parents."

That isn't something she considered, or something she could admit she was entirely comfortable with. "Ok, I'll keep that in mind."

"Odds are Izuku is going to swing by to do something with him anyways, so you just have to hold out until he shows up to take over. Thanks again, you're a lifesaver."

She would accept the compliment, even if she hasn't really saved a life compared to Izuku or Katsuki. Still, she would do what she could even if it wasn't much.

Standing outside the home, Ochaco expected the Bakugos to be living in a mansion, one that could dwarf warehouses, maybe even a private skyscraper. She did not expect a suburban one story home that wasn't much bigger than a small convenience store. The only thing that made it bigger was the garage attached to it, and even that wasn't very much.

"Liz." She spoke aloud, because if this was a Bakugo home then it had to be monitored by the super AI. "Is this the right place?"

"Yes." The computer's voice spoke from near the doorway, Ochaco spotting a tiny camera over the doorbell, making it seem like any other home security system. "Katsuki Bakugo is currently in his room, but I would advise caution."

Caution? Oh, he was probably making something inside that could blow up a city. That sounded more like him. "Alright, so he's in the garage?"

"No, he is currently in the living room but…Apologies, I can't seem to properly articulate my concerns for Katsuki at the moment. Just be mindful that he may be in an emotionally volatile state. For this purpose I am not disturbing him and delegating intervention into your hands."

More so than normal? What got him so pissed off this time that even his digital assistant couldn't calculate how much? Dang it, maybe no one wished him a happy birthday yet and he was angry about it. She should have brought him a gift or something.

Bracing herself, and her ears for potential yelling, Ochaco opened up the front door to step into the doorway. As she took off her shoes, she could see most of the living room and the kitchen area that was still matching the standard middle class vibe.

It was quiet, really quiet. No loud music, no hammering away at some metal, no shouting.

It was silent, except for the singing.

"Happy birthday to you." It was a girl's, but the audio was pretty scratchy for the quality of tech that the Bakugos had.

"Happy birthday to you." Ochaco stepped further inside, seeing a head of puffy blond hair over at the couch looking towards the television.

"Happy birthday dear Katsuki." Finally she could see what he was watching, a low quality camera recording in a dim and dirty environment, crates and scrap piled all around the background. In the center, sitting upon a worn cot near a small fire, was a boy she barely recognized.

Katsuki Bakugo, pale, thin, and heavy bags under his eyes wearing the near equivalent of rags. The tips of his fingers were almost touching the fire pit, desperate to keep themselves from being frozen.

"Happy birthday to you." The girl behind the camera finished, holding out a small ration bar towards the boy. "Come on, open up your gift."

"Fine." He rolled his eyes as he accepted it, opening it up to reveal a frozen block of calories. "Yippee, more tasteless saw dust."

"Oh come on Katsuki, it's birthday cake flavored. Besides, we don't really have time to do anything other than work, eat, and try to get some sleep."

"But time to fix up an old prequirk ipod?"

"You're going to thank me one day for bothering to record these moments." The camera was placed down against something, allowing Ochaco to see who it was. Melissa, wearing a coat with holes and frayed ends, sat down near Katsuki, the two sharing what little warmth there was as they shared the miserable excuse for a meal.

Ochaco winced as she heard how their teeth clacked against the bars, fighting to even get a single bite. Sure there were times the best she could do was a cup of microwaved ramen but that seemed like a privilege compared to that.

"So how does it feel to be fourteen now?" Melissa adjusted her cracked glasses, peering over towards Katsuki.

"When I turned thirteen I launched my arc reactor, announced my company, and we were riding roller coasters in a private amusement park. I had everything, I could do anything, and we weren't rotting away in this freezing shit hole. So compared to then, being fourteen sucks."

"At least she was alive." Katsuki on the couch spoke aloud, Ochaco taking a few steps closer to try to get a gauge on what he was thinking, what he was feeling while watching this memory.

"I liked your last birthday too." Melissa stated, trying to lighten the already heavy mood. "I found out you weren't just an asshole."

"Even if I am just an ass, I'm a great ass." Katsuki spoke in humor she never heard him use with anyone, except maybe Midoriya sometimes. "That's why so many people kept kissing up to me."

Then he winced on screen, his hand moving towards his chest on instinct but Melissa stopped him.

"Let me take a look." She said, Katsuki opening up his shirt to reveal a mangled mess of wires and random pieces stitched together in the open compartment of his chest. Two larger cables were sticking out on the sides, reaching down towards a car battery that did not look like it should be working. "Just a faulty fuse, let me clean it up."

"Pause." Katsuki stated, the video coming to a halt as he stretched his arms above his head. In one of his hands, Ochaco gasped as she saw his arc reactor in hand with no signs of light and clearly broken parts.

Hearing her, Katsuki snapped himself around with his free hand pointed towards her. Crimson metal from around his forearm shot out to encompass his hand with a glowing circle in his palm whirring to life. Ochaco flew her hands up in surrender at the weapon pointed towards her, which did not seem to leave.

"Liz, you up?"

"Yes sir."

"Did she pass security checks?"

"She did, I can confirm that this is indeed Ochaco Uraraka. Your mother will be upset if you 'fire' her."

"Then how the hell did she sneak in here without an announcement?!" Katsuki finally lowered his hand, the contraption collapsing back onto his forearm.

"I lacked a proper understanding of your current condition, and needed outside verification without alerting you-"

"Damn it." Katsuki cursed, Ochaco lowering her hands as she noticed that there was still a glow under his shirt, dispelling her previous worries. "I never programmed you to let others spy on me without permission., or even with permission. I'm going to have to look over your logic history and give you an update."

"Understood."

"Um, hey." Ochaco announced herself, still trying to wrap her head around everything. "Sorry I didn't speak up but, I didn't want to interrupt your video."

"Right, that." The boy waved his open hand to turn off the tv. "Don't mention it to anyone."

"Ok. Sorry you had to go through that."

"Didn't I just say not to mention it to anyone?" Katsuki walked over to the kitchen, opening up the fridge and combing through its contents. "Whatever, it's in the past. You want anything?"

"I'm fine, I had a smoothie on the way over." It was so weird for her to be employed by the Bakugo name, where they were innovators with the best technology to where she could ride in a self-driving car with its own automated drink maker and dispenser, only to be inside their home that was as normal as could be.

And then there was Katsuki, who was somehow connecting all of these different lives.

"So." The boy took out a soda, which she never saw him drink. "I'm gonna assume my mom sent you over?"

"Yep." She answered, knowing that if he was going to spend his birthday reminiscing on one of the worst times in his life she would make this birthday as could as it could be, like someone did last year for him. "So get dressed, because we're going out."

He cracked open the can, taking a swig but studying her with an inquisitive eye. After downing it in one go, quietly letting out a belch in his mouth, he stepped up to her holding his empty can with an unreadable expression. "Weren't you going to see your folks today?"

Puzzled and caught off guard, Ochaco had no idea that he knew. She never told him, and she couldn't imagine him asking. "Um, yes. But how did you-"

"Let's go see them then." Katsuki tossed the empty can over to the waste bin before setting the lifeless arc reactor onto the side table. "I have a few things I wanted to go over with them anyways."

Wait, she hasn't even told them yet! Before she could share that vital piece of information Katsuki was already in his room, leaving her alone with so many thoughts to stew over. Man, this wasn't just a birthday, it was going to be a surprise party for everyone it seems.

Well, on the bright side, her parents would believe her with Katsuki himself coming along. Now all she had to do was think of a birthday present for him, even though there wasn't anything she could think of that he didn't have.

Her hand reached for the side table to just brush by it as she walked by, her fingers tapping against what was left on it. Looking down, she saw the broken piece of technology resting there, definitely an arc reactor but worn, broken, and long since lifeless. Picking it up, she rolled it over in her hands to further examine it.

"When did he make this one?"

"Miniaturized arc reactor mark one was created during sir Bakugo's captivity, and was eventually damaged beyond repair during the New Year's Spark Industries' attack. It kept him alive long enough for him to be transported to I-island for a replacement to be installed."

So, that means this one was in his chest during some of the hardest times of his life. It, kept him alive through all of that. No wonder he couldn't let go of it, but he should take better care of it than treat it as his favorite paper weight.

"Hey Liz."

"Yes?"

"I have an idea but, I don't know how to make it."

"The garage has a functional fabricator and assembly to create basic components or projects. I'm sure it will satisfy your needs."

So there was some fancy super expensive tech hidden in the home. Ochaco knew there had to be more to this place to fit the needs of Katsuki Bakugo.

They had originally waited inside their small apartment, then they decided to wait outside, then they went a step further and went to the train station they knew their daughter would take to get to their home. Lately things have been incredibly well for the Uraraka family. Not long ago Spark Industries had given them an incredible offer to their slowly failing construction business. While only a couple of the simple projects of gutting out mall space and installing smaller shops were just beginning, they had paid them upfront, and even more so in order to grow their business to the point they could handle major work that would inevitably come with the ever growing tech industry.

While they had put lots of that money into their savings just in case is was too good to be true, the husband and wife had prepared some spending money to take their daughter out with and give her the things they always wanted her to have.

"You think this is too sudden?" The mother questioned, wearing one of her nicer sweaters for the occasion with no stains.

"What's too sudden?" Her husband, wearing his cleanest carhartt jacket questioned.

"I mean, we told her we got a good contract but if we take her out do you think she'll be suspicious?"

"Of what?"

"This all seems too good to be true, so maybe she'll think we're overextending ourselves, or trying to make up for how she didn't get into the hero program or-"

"Hey." He quickly grasped her shoulders, halting the woman's ramblings of paranoia. "It's alright. We can take it slow, just start off on a normal trip to the stores and let her set the pace. It's not like we're renting a limo or anything."

"Mom, Dad!" Their daughter's voice shouted out towards them, but not from the stairs leading to the train station. No, it came from behind.

Turning around, they saw their daughter stepping out from the back of a car, a very nice car. One that might not draw attention to it unless you saw the subtleties of its quality, or the logos that signified it to be a Spark car.

"Ochaco?" The man looked back up to the station, trying to reexamine where exactly their daughter was coming from. "How did, why are…what?!"

They both braced themselves as they were enveloped in a hug from their daughter, flicking their eyes between her and the car that was still waiting there on the street.

"Honey." Miss Uraraka suddenly worried that maybe they were going to have the opposite issue of their daughter learning they now had some money. "Did you rent a driver without asking us?"

"Oh no, there's no driver." A self driving car?! Those costed way more! "Well, technically Liz but she's an AI."

Instinctively the parents felt their insides freeze at the idea of how much it would cost for just this single luxury, way more than they ever were able to take home. They took a glance at one another, both confirming that they did not agree with this and that they would have to regrettably turn their daughter's 'gift' away.

"Um, Ochaco." Her mother began, the daughter looking up towards her worried parents. "We know we said that we had a lucrative contract with Spark Industries but, this is probably outside our budget."

"Oh don't worry about that, it's just one of my perks."

Her perks? Of what?

"Come on." Ochaco grabbed their hands, tugging them along to the awaiting vehicle. "There's a lot I have to catch you up on about my job."

"Your job?" They both asked, because they don't recall their daughter ever mentioning a job before. Most higher end schools didn't even allow their students to have jobs, and they didn't expect UA to be an outlier given how demanding it could be.

They almost thought maybe it was a prank, that maybe someone in Spark Industries had given her a false impression about her relation to the company.

"And what exactly is your job?" The father asked just as Ochaco stepped inside the SUV.

"They weren't really clear about that part." Ochaco said, making their suspicion of her getting tricked or scammed rising to be a genuine concern. "But I haven't been fired yet have I?"

"Just as long as you don't mess up my labs." A voice that sounded both eternally agitated and casually relaxed spoke, the parents just outside the car and now questioning who on earth was stringing along their daughter through this money guzzling scheme.

"You're the biggest danger to your labs." Ochaco retorted as she found her place inside, waving for her parents to come in. "Hope you don't mind but, I have a friend tagging along with us for his birthday."

Who exactly was in the car? Well, when they stuck their heads in they nearly had a heart attack when his face answered their question.

"Don't worry about a gift." The one and only Katsuki Bakugo said, sitting right behind the driver area facing towards the rear, wearing a simple pair of jeans and some rock band shirt with a tech jacket with several pockets. He took off his red shades, allowing them to confirm it was really him.

Wordlessly, they stood there, just staring as Bakugo began to realize one little thing.

"You didn't tell your parents you work for me?"

"Would anyone believe me if I just said 'oh hey, my job is to constantly visit Iron Man and make sure he actually remembers he's not a robot.'" Ochaco's blatant disrespect, the fact that THE Katsuki Bakugo did not get upset over it, the fact that their daughter was close to the one who on a whim could decide whether they have a job tomorrow or not, it was too much for them to even be able to think.

"Well come on in." Ochaco patted the wide seating area next to her, her parents dumbly following the command and taking a seat. "Katsuki wanted to talk to you guys anyways."

Besides the fact that the genius billionaire boy wanted to personally talk to them, there was another shocking factor they just learned about. "You're on a first name basis with him?"

"Well, there's a lot of Americans in the company." Ochaco realized that it definitely came across that they had really close ties to one another. "Also, I technically work for his mom so it just makes things easier."

"It does." Katsuki agreed before looking over at the parents, before a scary grin came across his face. "So, what kind of dirt do you have on Ochaco that I can use against her when she's being annoying."

"I'm not annoying!"

"Half of the things you say annoy me."

"Only because half the things I ask of you are to take a shower!"

"I don't sweat so I don't need to take a shower more than once a week!"

"Maybe if you didn't spend all day rolling around in motor oil!"

"I hardly ever work with motor oil!"

As the two began going back and forth, the two adults just rotated their heads back to one another as they began to fully understand where they were, and what was happening.

They realized that their daughter would never go hungry again.

The armory vault doors opened up, and just as Izuku expected Katsuki was present. What he didn't entirely expect though, was for him to have company and not ignore them to favor working on his suit or another new invention.

"You seriously tried to take my parents to Vegas?"

"You were the one who said we should go somewhere for my birthday."

"And you decided on Vegas instead of a nice restaurant nearby?"

"My jet could have gotten us there and back before-"

"That's not the point." She put her face in her hands, sitting in the stool near the computer Katsuki typed away while on his feet, staring up towards the large monitors. "I can't tell if you think this is normal behavior, you're trying to show off, or you're purposely intimidating them."

"Am I intimidating Izuku?" Katsuki suddenly asked, making the boy flinch as he realized he just arrived without saying anything.

"Midoriya?" Ochaco popped her head up, smiling brightly at the boy's arrival. "Oh hey! You showed up!"

"Um yeah, were you waiting for me?" Izuku kept the present tucked under his arm, a small but simple package wrapped neatly by his mother.

Instead of answering, Katsuki swiped away at the holographic data to close his work. "Good, you're here. That means we can do something fun before I have to go spend my birthday working."

"Work?" Ochaco sat up before turning her seat towards the boys. "I thought all you had scheduled today was dinner with your mom?"

"It's a company dinner. Spark Industries technically launched on my birthday so that means I have to show up or I'll get an earful from my mom, Stane, and everyone else that showed up for the chance to suck up to me." Katsuki scowled at the idea of needing to spend his time listening to more people yammer away, feeling entitled to his attention and a piece of his business.

Maybe he should have listened more to his dad about all the responsibilities of starting a company.

"You can come if you want." Katsuki still invited them, in case they had an interest in such a thing. "It won't be as formal as the last get-together but it's still gonna be boring as hell. Even if Stane decided to hold it on his yacht."

"He has a yacht?!" Ochaco shot up from her seat. "Do you have one?"

"Kacchan doesn't like getting wet." Izuku answered as he walked towards the boy, presenting him the gift that he had been keeping tucked under his arm this whole time. "Happy birthday."

Katsuki didn't hesitate to accept it, ripping off the wrapping paper and unfolding the fabric to reveal a t-shirt, one modified with a hole in the center of its chest with a durable ring. The now fifteen year old teenager pinched the base fabric between his fingers, deciphering the slightly more durable and very flexible portions that didn't stretch out the main printed designs on the front.

In short, it was a custom made band t-shirt just for him, allowing him to move freely without ruining the design and keeping the reactor in his chest exposed.

"Thanks." Katsuki immediately went to remove his own t-shirt to immediately put it on, getting the jacket he had laying to the side suddenly thrown at him from behind.

"Get changed in the bathroom!" Ochaco yelled.

"It's just a shirt!" Katsuki yelled back, changing faster to not keep himself exposed to the girl. Now that he was dressed, Ochaco dared to look and see the form fitting graphic tee.

"That's really cool." She complimented, still curious about one thing. "Though how come you left a hole in the front?"

"Sometimes he needs to connect his reactor to his armor directly." Izuku explained as Katsuki retrieved his tech jacket from the floor and put it on, but leaving it open to keep the shirt exposed. "Especially during basic tests that need him to take it off and on repeatedly, and wearing the undersuit isn't necessary for lots of those and-"

"It's annoying to change a bunch." Katsuki cut Izuku off because he knew that he would start in an endless ramble that Ochaco couldn't follow. "You made this outside the labs?"

"I had some spare time in class." Izuku smiled proudly, glad that Katsuki appreciated his gift.

Getting up from her seat and joining the duo more enthusiastically, Ochaco eyed the shirt further. "So what's the band?"

"Starset." Izuku shared as Katsuki walked to the exit of the armory. "It's in every one of his playlists."

"Come on you two." Katsuki called out to the others. "If we're gonna go to I-island before the dinner we gotta go now to actually enjoy ourselves."

Out in the middle of the dark expanse of the night, the ever shifting water of the ocean reflected the clear night sky littered with stars. The mirrored image of the dots of light danced over the ripples, all around the current celebration of one person's accomplishments.

Stane's personal vessel was large enough to host the event, where there were plenty of individuals who wanted to have a more relaxed evening but still sought to get a larger cut of Spark Industries.

Katsuki stood off to the side to observe the many faces chatting away under the string lights, wearing his tech jacket under his sharp suit. He still wore the shirt that Izuku gave him under it all, but he didn't feel it was a good idea to expose his arc reactor around those he couldn't trust fully.

He saw Whitney was here, wearing something more akin to a swimsuit than a dress and trying to pull Izuku off towards the pool. Katsuki wasn't sure how to feel about the girl throwing herself at the quirkless boy at every opportunity but if it was a bad thing then Izuku needed to tell the bitch to fuck off.

Off to another area, he saw Ochaco staring wide eyed at the grill where a chef was preparing her meal with flair and talent, hungrily eyeing its contents. She seemed more out of place than Izuku, but she was slowly growing accustomed to the life of luxury.

"Have you talked to everyone yet?" His mother approached from the side along with David Shield.

"You expect me to talk to everyone?" Katsuki scoffed, eyeing some of the 'escorts' accompanying some of the CEO's that Spark Industries had partnerships with. It was tempting just to cut them off completely.

"I expect you not to look like you're about to throw yourself overboard." Mitsuki snarkily replied, before adorning a gentle smile. "It's your birthday, enjoy yourself."

"Speaking of." David Shield reached into his pocket, grabbing hold of something and keeping a firm grip around it, hesitant to relinquish it. "This….this belonged to Melissa."

The man unfurled his fingers, revealing a pen. Katsuki recognized it, because Melissa had a very particular habit of making the most out of her tools and only wanting to use her own. This pen had been very worn, but it was also well cared for and repaired many times over. It would have been easier to just get a new pen, but that wasn't Melissa's way.

"Thank you." Katsuki accepted it, putting it in his front suit pocket and confirming it was secure. That couldn't have been easy for the man, the weight of the simple gift was a lot for the two of them.

"There you are Katsuki." Now interrupting the sacred moment was Obadiah Stane, and he wasn't alone. Joining alongside the bald man was someone with a hairline that was about to mirror Stane's. "We thought we'd find you off being the center of attention on your birthday."

"It's a pleasure to meet you again Bakugo." The man gave a short bow, exposing his impossibly long and sharpened nose. "We didn't get much of a chance to talk earlier this year, given what occurred."

"Mister Yotsubashi." Katsuki simply greeted, recalling that rather unpleasant meeting before. "I take it you haven't given up on Spark Industries?"

"Oh no." The man allowed a sincere grin to cross his face. "In fact, being there and seeing you in action made me even more confident in the role that Spark Industries will play in the near future. The world has rebuilt itself on the foundation of quirks, but right now people are questioning if Spark Industries will be remaking our society into Iron Man's image."

A twitch came across Katuski's brow, somehow offended by the unknown but clearly underline meaning in the man's words. "And what kind of image do you see?"

"I don't know if I've seen enough to make that judgment yet."

There was a rising tension that all could feel, Katsuki wasn't backing down from whatever silent challenge was being thrown his way but some of the other adults knew to end it.

Stane just let out a laugh as if it was somehow amusing, patting Katsuki's shoulder to involve him in the humor. "Oh I wouldn't be so hasty about the Iron Man, he's still in school after all. But if you want to shape that image when he graduates then maybe we can-"

"I am Iron Man." Katsuki interrupted, pulling himself out of the mind games. "The suit and I are one, and no one can own me."

Yes, he might have just lodged a giant wedge between Spark Industries and Detnerat but Katsuki wasn't going to let these people step on his toes and treat him like he was too young or inexperienced to fully involve himself in the tech world.

Just as he was about to find another place to be quiet, another familiar face suddenly crossed his path.

"Bakugo." The voice of a fellow hero student called out, Katsuki glancing over to see that Momo was also here, and again she was wearing another questionable outfit. "Um, may I ask for a moment of your time?"

The girl didn't seem very comfortable with it, and peeking over her shoulder Katsuki saw her parents not so subtle staring.

"Followme." Katsuki pointed his jaw up towards one of the higher floors of the massive boat, Momo stepping in line with him as they went to find a new place to have some privacy from overzealous adults.

"I apologize." Momo sighed as they came up to the balcony that overlooked most of the party. "My parents have been, rather forceful of the idea that they could potentially inherit Spark Industries through me being close to you. Between the New Year's party, your revelation of being Iron Man, the fact that my original dreams and goals aligned with your recent actions and your enrolment into UA, it's all-"

"I get it." Katsuki waved it off, already having pieced that her parents were trying to play matchmaker with billions of dollars on the line. There were a lot of flaws in their logic, and how things were becoming coincidence was not helping. "I mean, I don't really get it but I still get it."

"Um, yes. Anyways, how are your classmates?"

Well it was hard not to just blurt out how disappointing they were, the supposed top hero candidates of his generation couldn't bother to actually listen or get over themselves. "Short sighted is the nicest thing I can come up with."

Due to her own disciplined upbringing, Momo could relate to a similar perspective. "Well, I can't say there are many people as ambitious as yourself. From what I hear most of your classmates, and many others in the school, are intimidated by your presence."

"I'm flattered." Katsuki shot out, leaning over the edge to look down upon the many guests who had come to flaunt themselves or ride on his glory. Almost every crowd he was a part of he didn't enjoy, but at least at UA he could excuse the students' ignorance and incompetence for their lack of experience and responsibilities.

"Um, Bakugo, there is one other reason why I've been trying to have a chance to talk with you." Momo began, folding her arms in on herself as she began digging up some regrets. "It's concerning the night we met, I made some assumptions that-"

"Sir, I've got urgent news."

Katsuki backed away from the railing, immediately turning his back to the girl as he pulled out the red tinted shades from his pocket that spoke up. Slipping them over his eyes, he allowed the HUD to materialize. "What is it?"

"There's been a security breach at Mos Eisley train yard, and I believe that crates containing one of Spark Industries' property is the target."

Really? The night just got a little more interesting, Katsuki deciding to patch into some of the cameras to see that there was some interference. "Call in nearby heroes, and see if you can re-patch those cameras to get these guys on tape. How come they popped up on your radar?"

"The interference matches one of the device descriptions specified in project 'search and destroy'."

That was still running, his goal of wiping out all the tech that Wolfram had him and Melissa make in that dirty cave had resurfaced. Once Katsuki had taken out all of Wolfram's branches and eventually the man himself he believed that was going to be the end of it. But, those unanswered questions, how his jet was taken down, who was upgrading and disabling the booby traps in the cave tech, how Wolfram was able to replace one of the engineers, how his reactor in Japan had been heavily modified through its production right under his nose, whoever was behind them could very well still be operating.

"Cancel the call to the heroes." Katsuki walked away from Momo, marching over towards the stairs and heading to the other end of the yacht cutting through the crowd. "Make one to Power Loader instead, and bring in the jet."

"This is an obligatory reminder that I do not recommend any action that would be dangerous, illegal, or damaging to you and your company's image."

"And I'm obligated to ignore that." Katsuki suddenly found an arm halting him, the boy glancing over to see Izuku standing in his way.

"What's going on?"

"Something personal." Katsuki pushed by, now gaining a few stares from his obvious urgency as he power walked through the rest of the party. Just as he was reaching the helipad the roars of his smaller, more private jet began to shift its engines to point down to allow it to slowly hover down towards the durable landing zone.

"Hey!" Ochaco was now hollering towards him, running up to match Izuku's concerned gaze. "What's going on? Are we leaving?"

"Do what you want." Katsuki stated as he ascended up the ramp into the jet. "I'm leaving."

"With the jet? Then how are we supposed to get back home?"

"I'm not taking the jet." Was the last thing Katsuki said before he went out of sight, heading towards the back of the passenger area until he came across the most secure area in the plane. It opened up for him, revealing the plating of red and gold being mechanically disassembled with its pieces awaiting for its creator to step inside and dawn the armor.

A slower chapter, but this is before we're going to get into quite a bit of action so I thought this would be a good calm before a storm.

Thanks to the few who left a nice review or comment to this story, after the last chapter I didn't initially get much of a response and I thought that maybe the story was going to die. But, upon seeing your words and your love reignited some of the passion I have for this concept and how I really want to write more of it.

Partly because I cannot for the life of me find any good Iron Man fics to satisfy my desires.

I've started to come up with some subplots and some underlying conflicts to build upon, this way I have more to work with than just Iron Man Katsuki handling MHA canon content. Let me know if there's any Iron Man plots, villains, or other content from the franchise you'd like to see involved and how you think it could fit in with the story.

Thanks for reading. Any errors in spelling or inconsistency please point out.

Only Iron Man content and MHA will be used for this story. No other marvel characters will be used.

PowerPufferfish: I'm really glad you brought that question up because you made me start to revisit my ideas for other companies in Iron Man and MHA and how they have behind the scenes conflicts with one another. Now I've got a good rough diagram of their goals, their associations, and what resources they'll use.

I know I wanted some characters to have shadow companies behind them, but it wasn't fitting together until now. Thanks a lot for the question and ideas to get my brain working out the general details.

As for 1-A, I'm going to start making that a focus to find a way to connect Bakugo to them, and we do have the USJ coming up that will put the class in a life or death scenario that will either make or break them.

HaloZealotDemon: Part of a subtle detail I always liked about MCU Iron Man is how he made upgrades to each of his suits based on the flaws he encountered or the battles he faced. I plan on making it more apparent in this story.

Glad you love the building angst and poorly hidden trauma, it's something I always end up putting a decent amount of effort into because I enjoy it too.