Flight was perhaps one of Izuku's favourite superpowers. There was something strangely uplifting about the ability to just… take off and go wherever he wanted. So finding out that this power was also tied to his greatest weakness?
Not great.
"Due to how complex our inner ears are, certain frequencies can affect you in a variety of ways. Some make you experience pain. Others will put your to sleep. In your case, it seems that it only disoriented you."
The fact that it was frequencies rather than volume was a bit of a relief. While he logically knew that his powers had to have some drawback, it was good to know that he wasn't going to become powerless just because of some loud noises.
It was still something that he needed to find a way around.
"Is there a way to build up tolerance to it?" he asked. "Like, if I had Kyouka-san use her Quirk on me several times, would my ears grow used to that?"
"Ignoring the fact that you just asked about deliberately hurting yourself?" mom's look indicated just how little she thought of the idea. "I don't know any Viltrumites that managed to do that."
"Nobody used that weakness against you?"
"Of course they had, Hisashi. While I was never a field agent, I heard enough stories from my friend about some worlds she visited. Many worlds have welcomed our help. But there were always those that refused," she sighed. "Sometimes, it was just greed and pride that kept them from taking our hand. And sometimes, it was the fear of change. But there was no shortage of people that tried to drive us away from helping their worlds."
It must have been hard to try and help others only to be chased away or attacked in response. Izuku was not naive enough to think that everyone accepted or even wanted help. But it still left less than pleasant taste in Izuku's mouth.
"We rarely encountered those that knew about it. Just like your classmate, most of them discovered our vulnerability purely by accident. Unfortunately, we never found a way to eliminate it. Not without compromising our ability to fly," her lips curled into a small smile. "But your dad found a solution."
"A possible solution. I may have gotten an approval from the higher-ups but I still don't have the clearance for everything HPSC got," he explained, trying to not get Izuku's hopes up yet. "Still, it is better than nothing."
On dad's screen, there were blueprints and articles and countless pages of research. All of them dedicated to various support tech items that dealt with his particular weakness. Some of them dated decades back.
"Dad, you are amazing!"
"Well, I try to be," the man blushed awkwardly. "Still, you shouldn't get so excited just yet. We have the research but none of us know how to actually build anything from these. I asked a few friends at work for their contacts. But it will be a while before someone becomes available."
"What about the support department at Izuku's school?" mom suggested. "Aren't they the ones who make things for hero students?"
"Not exactly. While the school allows its support students work on their own projects, U.A. usually goes through the same process as every other hero school."
It was a much lengthier process than Izuku expected. He used to think that a student could just write what they wanted and the school would provide it… somehow. In hindsight, it was more than a little naive to think that U.A. didn't have the proper procedures for these things.
And dad took an opportunity to educate both him and mom on the finer details of the process. It was actually fun to see dad get so invested in his lecture.
"First, a student fills out a form where they describe the general make of what they want to receive. Since most of the students are still children, most of the descriptions are pretty generic and vague."
It made sense. If someone asked Izuku to describe his idea for the gear to protect his ears, he wouldn't be able to give a particularly detailed description. He would think about some kind of noise-cancelling headphones. Maybe made of steel or something sturdy to not break easily. But that was the extent of what he could write down.
Most of his classmates were probably in the same boat.
"That's where your school comes in. Usually, it is a teacher in charge of the workshop who takes over filling in the blanks. They will do the actual schematics for tech. Sometimes, they will also need to consult with a student who made the request."
"But why?" Izuku questioned. "I mean, the teacher would obviously know more so doesn't this just stall the process?"
"Not necessarily. It is a pretty recent addition but hero schools are actually required to discuss major modifications or design changes with a student before proceeding further. One reason is, of course, to ensure that the resources are not wasted on support equipment that the student won't use anyway. Can you guess another?"
"To teach us something?"
"Yes. Or close enough," he confirmed with a small smile. "The main idea behind the practice is to help students get the better idea of what they actually want to use support equipment for. Compensate for their weaknesses? Add another tool to their arsenal? Or just look cool? Schools like U.A. give their students access to the top support equipment companies in the country. This requirement just ensures that the students have a better understanding of how to make use of this opportunity."
Dad's lesson went on for good twenty minutes after that. Things like funding of the equipment, insurance and liability issues, the inspections by HPSC as well as the potential of the agency and schools getting into prolonged arguments depending on the type of the equipment.
In short, it painted quite an unfortunate picture for the equipment Izuku wanted to request.
"Do you think the idea for his support tech will have to wait then?" mom asked. "Maybe we should look into other options."
"He can request it any time. We have the blueprints and research. But without the closer look at his inner ears and proper understanding of them, I don't think anyone could actually make something for him in the near future."
"Can I take this research to school, though?" Izuku asked. "I mean, it wouldn't hurt to ask someone to take a look."
It was obvious from his sigh how dad felt about it. From what he described, doing so wouldn't speed things up. Perhaps dad was also worried that anything that involved his physiology would tip someone off about him being an alien.
"Sure," he conceded after a few moments of silence. "Just don't get your hopes up too much, alright?"
"I promise."
-/-
As usual, the school cafeteria was filled with life and noise. People discussed their classes, latest news and everything in between. Their own small group was also engrossed in the intense discussion of which Guardian was their favourite.
Somehow, the discussion now spread to the rest of their class.
"I understand that he is no longer on the team. But I cannot help but admire Black Sampson's dedication to hero work. The man continues to operate even after losing his powers."
"Aquarus is pretty cool as well, kero. I hope to visit Atlantis one day."
"There is only one man on the team that understands the allure of darkness."
Their discussion, however, was cut short when someone slammed doors open with such strength and suddenness that the entirety of the room turned to the intruder.
"Where is Midoriya Izuku?!"
He couldn't see just who was looking for him. But she, apparently, could see him.
"There you are! Stay right there!"
There was a metallic click.
And then an explosion.
"Bakugou, contain yourself!"
"It wasn't me, four eyes!"
This time at least, Kacchan was not the cause of the indoor explosions. Instead, the entire cafeteria watched the girl with pink hair blast off into the air before she started falling down towards their table in a ball of smoke.
Asui jumped and caught the girl, wrapping her tongue around the strange pinkhead's torso and gently landing back on the floor. Everyone else was still too stunned to say anything.
Everyone except the girl herself.
"Success!" She cheered. "My explosive catapult was a success!"
"Wait, you mean you blew yourself up on purpose?" Kyouka asked incredulously. To everyone's shock, the other girl nodded proudly. "What is wrong with you? Why not just walk over here?"
"And miss out on the chance to test my baby? Never! Plus? Who is even walking these days? It is going to get so outdated soon."
"No, it's not!"
"Uh, excuse me?" Izuku interrupted before things got any more confusing for… everyone at the table, really. "You were looking for me?"
The girl stopped trying to convince Kyouka that blowing yourself up was the future of transportation. And in a blink of an eye, he was mere inches away from his face.
"The name is Hatsume Mei. I am looking forward to working with you."
"Midoriya Izuku. Likewis- Wait, what do you mean by that?"
"No time to explain, we are losing daylight!" the girl dragged him away by the hand, ignoring his attempts to get more information. "Hurry up, there are babies to be made!"
Some would say that having a pretty girl drag you away in front of everyone while talking about babies is as either a dream come true or a nightmare. Mineta certainly thought it was the former.
"Midoriya, you better tell me everything when you come back! Everything!"
On his end, Izuku wasn't sure why he let himself be dragged away. He could plant his feet into the ground and the girl wouldn't be able to move him. Then again, it felt like a rude thing to do to someone he just met.
She didn't seem like a bad person, too.
Awkward and weird. But not bad.
Although the workshop she dragged him into did remind him of a typical mad scientist lair.
"Alright, we lost a little time there but we can totally make up for it if we skip a few bathroom breaks. Now then, are you ready to make the history, partner?"
"No? What history?"
"Thehistory," she stressed the word as if it answered his question. "Wait, you don't know what I am talking about, do you?"
"No!"
"Didn't you listen to me in cafeteria?"
"You didn't say anything to me. You just… exploded onto our table. And then you said something about how walking is overrated."
"Because it is! And that's because- Wait, you are saying I didn't give you my pitch?"
"No."
"… I knew I was forgetting something. Why does this keep happening?"
Izuku had a few theories. As he looked around the place, what stood out the most were not the multiple pieces of technology or robots or scorch marks on the walls. Instead, it was a sleeping bag and an obscene amount of empty coffee mugs near it.
There was at least a dozen of them.
"Hatsume-san? Do you sleep… at all?"
"Sleep is overrated."
And there it was.
"Look, whatever you have to say, I am sure it can wait until… later?"
She pushed something into his hands. It was a pair of glasses with metal frame. The golden lenses felt thinner than normal ones and yet somehow sturdier. The white and grey temples were wide enough to cover the ears entirely.
The design was somewhat familiar. And it took him a few seconds to recognise it as one of the blueprints he sent to the support department last night.
"Did you make these for me?"
"Yup!" She grinned. "The moment I saw your request form, I knew I had to make them! Otherwise, I wouldn't be able to sleep."
"But you didn't sleep."
"Not important," she brushed it off. Then, with an excitement of a kid on their parent's birthday, the girl started to jump in place. "Come on, try them out!"
He put the glasses on. The world seemed actually clearer now. He expected everything to have a bit of a golden or yellow hue but that wasn't the case. How could he test the protection against the frequencies, though?
"Should I run and get Kyouka-san here?"
"No need," the girl grinned before tossing a few metal spheres at him. "Catch!"
He caught them. Was this part of the equipment?
And why was Hatsume running off to hide behind the wall?
"Alright… Go!"
The spheres opened up, revealing the speakers inside. He dropped them but it was far too late now.
Immediately, Izuku could feel the air shake around him with what sounded like a heartbeat but much, much louder. He could feel his head starting to ache from the sheer volume of it when it ended just as suddenly as it began.
"What was that?"
"The same frequency Kyouka Jirou used during your last exercise," Hatsume explained as she stepped out from behind the wall. "I did need to see how my baby would fair against the thing that brought down someone like you. How did it do?"
He could feel and hear the heartbeat. It was strong enough to crack the ground underneath them as well.
And yet he didn't feel sick or disoriented like he had before.
"Thank you but… How?" He asked, not sure where to even begin. "I submitted my request literally last night. How did you get approval for this so quickly? How did you even develop these?"
"Quite simple," she grinned. "I took everything in your research and upgraded it. All of those blueprints are about models for different ears and purposes. It's like they each had certain pieces of the puzzle that made individual pictures but notthe picture, if you know what I mean. So I looked at them and decided to look for the whole picture."
It made sense. Crazy enough as it is. And yet it still felt impossible.
"See these white lines? They are what I call subscans," She smiled as she pointed at the temples of his glasses. "The moment you put your glasses on, they have scanned your inner ear and memorised it. The rest of your glasses are, essentially, a miniature computer that takes in your bio-readings and your surroundings. It then adjusts the headphones to filter out the frequencies harmful to you."
So instead of looking for a way to completely block out the frequencies, she created the device that would adjust itself.
"This is brilliant! But is this really alright for me to have? I though there was a lengthy process with stuff like this."
"Only for official requests. Support Course students are free to build whatever they want as long as they got the approval of the teacher and supervision from them or other authorised personnel," she handed him a piece of paper. It had oil and coffee stains all over it. Also something red and sticky he didn't know the story behind. "You just need to sign this to show that you received it from me."
"W-Wow. I don't even know what to say!"
"I do," she grinned. "Here, sign this."
And then she handed him another paper. Unlike the first form, it was white as snow. It also had only a few words on it.
"I agree to everything?" He read out the contents of the form. "What does everything include?"
"Right, sorry, I made it right after I was finished with your glasses. Ahem," she cleared her throat. "Midoriya, you aim to be the top of the Hero Course, correct? Graduate at the top of it and then go on for that Number One Hero spot?"
He nodded.
"Well, I want the same but with support tech. I want to show the world my babies and everything that they can do for heroes. And I want you to help me with that."
"I am not really an inventor, though," Izuku felt a bit embarrassed to admit that. Even though he understood that there was nothing wrong with that, he did feel a little stupid when he looked at everything Hatsume had built. "I am not even sure how I can help you."
"I already have an idea for that. As you can see, I have a lot of babies here that need the proper love and care. But I cannot test their limits against or with other students on account of them being… Well, easy to break."
"Wait, are you talking about your babies or other students?"
"The latter. It's hard to find someone who can take all my babies can dish out and more. But then I heard about you! The boy that managed to fight a Zero Pointer on his own and all without a scratch. And then I heard about your acing your Quirk Assessment tests. That's when I knew that you would be a perfect tester for my babies!"
"So… You want me to be your test dummy?"
"Yes!"
At least she was honest. Considering that she just created a way for him to counter his weakness, it seemed like a pretty small price to pay. "Sure. That's the least I can do, I guess."
He signed Hatsume's contract. It was more a gesture of goodwill on his end. And Hatsume knew that much as she quickly tossed it off into the pile on her desk. Once she had, the two shook hands.
"Looking forward to working with you."
"Likewise."
He couldn't wait to tell mom and dad about Hatsume's invention.