Chapter One Hundred and Thirty-One
Mei Hatsume was a woman of few, but deep interests.
Arguably, she just had the one.
MAKING BABIES!
Or 'inventions' if you were a person who didn't take pride in their work.
'Support Items' if you were a complete buzzkill, or Power Loader, which was only a tautology approximately a third of the time!
There was nothing that could compare to having an idea, seeing if it could work, and finding a way to do something that was supposed to be 'Impossible', and 'Not how it worked', and 'A violation of armistice agreements'!
But the only laws that she cared about were the laws of physics, which half the time were more like suggestions, and the only suggestions she cared about were the ones that made her Babies better!
And, and, she'd finally found someone that could help her make Babies!
Someone who understood!
Not going 'That can't be done, Mei!' or 'That's too dangerous, Mei!' or, even worse 'Why would you even want to do that, Mei!?' but instead would go 'How about if we do it this way, Mei?' or 'Is this what you were going for, Mei?'
Someone who brought a new perspective, and, as Marcel Proust said, "The real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking new lands but seeing with new eyes."
But installing new eyes seemed really inefficient, especially because her eyes were so useful, so she'd just borrow Sparky's!
Except then someone took Sparky!
How was she supposed to be at her best if she was working with missing tools!
It'd be like trying to work without an electro-spectral welder!
Or micrometer adjustable clamps!
Or her Quirk!
And, worse, the Babies he'd taken with him had been confiscated, no, Kidnapped!
Honestly, if he hadn't been insistent, it wouldn't be that hard to create a device that could induce slight spectrally targeted molecular destabilization, and turn the man's eyedrops into something a bit… spicier.
Like isopropyl alcohol!
But Sparky had developed robust self-repair functions, though clearly his calibrations were all off, so it was up to her fine tune him just like they did their Babies!
Except… wetware had never been her specialization, waaaaay to finnicky, and it just took soo looong for the cultures to grow, and, worse, sometimes they'd do things entirely wrong, like try and eat the neighbor's cat, which really shouldn't've been in her roo- her lab anyways, even if she'd opened the window to vent the fumes a little!
Nope!
Rubber, metal, and synthetics only for her!
Besides, with Sparky's self-repair Quirk, she'd have to find a way to bypass it, or account for it, and trying to work with Quirk Expressions was just so….
Ugh.
Which is why she only dealt with the physical manifestations, though Sparky was pretty good at figuring out stuff, for example how the anti-'gravity' girl's way of using her power, which wasn't anti-gravity at all, wasn't what she thought it was by working with…
Uh…
Name…
Kohchaco?
Eh, didn't matter.
Yeah, so, new ways to use her Quirk they could then improve upon with their Babies! Not like that girl realized it at first, but, with Sparky dealing with all of the silly 'person' stuff, that meant she could focus even more on the Genotype of her Babies, while he handled the Phenotype to help their new owners use them the best way they could be!
But she couldn't do that if he wasn't working right!
And… And she didn't like the fact that he wasn't.
Not. At. All.
So, because clearly he couldn't rely on the staff, or Pinky, who the inventrix still insisted on wasn't good enough to make for a good attachment for him, though she could be worse, that meant the next time something happened, Mei was going to need to be ready to compliment his functions in the field!
Even if doing so was… really unpleasant.
"Blegh," the genius complained, leaning against the wall of her shower, muscles sore, especially her glutes, the pain in her ass… well she deeply understood the phrase now.
Her gluteus maximus and medius was fine, having worked those just hauling around her Babies, but the minimis was not used to being worked, and her piriformis clusters were sending dull aches that, because nerves, being wetware, could be inefficient and poorly designed, down the backs of her legs, and into her calves, which were also sore, but, again, not nearly as badly.
"Mei? You've been in there for a while, and I know how you don't like, er, 'wasting time bathing'," her father called out through the door. "Do you want me to call in sick at U.A.?"
What!?
And miss out on seeing Sparky!
"No! I'll be out in a few, Dad!" she called back. "Just using hydrothermokinetic processes to induce accelerated convalescence of intramuscular micro-abrasions!"
"… are you sure you don't want me to call out for you?" her father questioned. "You've been very good about going!"
Yes, because U.A. lets me work on my Babies instead of wasting time my going through useless rituals and proving I know things I already do! Mei thought, trying to think of a good quote, because no one really listened to her.
Well, no one except Sparky.
And occasionally Power Loader.
But the only thing that came to mind was Stephen Hawking's, 'Save water. Shower with your girlfriend.' Which she couldn't, because she didn't have one, though Sparky did, so maybe she could borrow her, with Sparky coming along as well, of course, for maximum efficiency!
"Meme?" her dad called, using the name her dad had called her, which, yeah, he'd meant to call her a little sprout, and it also worked 'cause of her eyes, but it also also meant Ignorance, which wasn't her at all!
"Just sore, Dad," she reassured him. "Be out in a jiffy!"
"Okay! Breakfast is ready!" he told her, leaving her to finish up, quickly running through her last stretches, forcing herself through them, rapidly getting ready, and, yep, her favorite!
A breakfast burrito, to eat on the way, and a small thermos of hot chocolate, perfect for non-diuretic caffeine and energy!
"Thanks!" she told him, giving her father a quick hug, Mom having either already left for work, or not come home from it yet, but she understood, and the Salarywoman promised to be there when she moved in, which wasn't required, but appreciated, especially as mom's approach to efficient logistical planning was second only to Mei's own!
And the inventrix had her quotes ready to go when they did!
A short train ride, and she was back at U.A., and, more importantly back to her workshop!
"I Have Arrriiiiveeed!" Mei announced, slamming the door open, Power Loader, halfway into sitting at his desk, but he'd been clear that she couldn't get there more than an hour before class started, so, at fifty-nine minutes and thirty-seconds, he had no reason to deny her!
"Morning, Hatsume," the Pro nodded, not wasting her precious time on distracting chit-chat, as she swept over to her and Sparky's table, which was technically just hers, but that's because the guy was teeeeechnically a Hero student, even though, like her, got to the workshop early.
Unlike her 'classmates' who only used the excellent facilities when they 'had' to.
Getting to work, she fine-tuned the Aux-girl's gear, which on the surface just went 'Oh, she can plug into things and make sounds? Give her speakers!'
Except it was a lot more complicated than that!
As students of U.A., the staff's Support Gear were on file, though anyone with eyes could tell it was their old loadout, not what they were currently wielding, but that meant she could pull from Present Mic's collar.
Some might say that was stealing, but those same uninspired dullards would just take his 'speakers' and put them in a boot or a glove, but, no, Mei made no bones about the fact that she stood on the shoulders of giants, and so was able to take that design, miniaturize it, concentrateit, and give it an adjustable field!
Well, that last one was still eluding her, but perhaps she needed to approach it from a different direction?
Because while Present Mic could throw out a blast, and kind of aim it, that was… sloppy.
And not the good kind of sloppy either.
Her design, with help from Sparky, used a resonance focuser utilizing magneto-oscillators to bounce the sound into itself, letting the user draw lines of fire to shape it, her partner's suggestion to add options for tighter, stronger settings. With the user's normal strength, the wide-beam would create some superficial damage, and disturb soft-tissues caught in its field to be appropriate disabling.
At the tightest setting, at the user's current capacity, it'd create a two-foot-wide beam that'd disintegrate non-Support Grade steel!
Which Power Loader hadn't been exactly happy about, but after Sparky insisted he would have the noisemaker chick go through a 'full safety briefing' with 'Body-Analogue Dummies', which Mei didn't really see the point of, since they'd just tell the Hero what it'd do, he'd signed off on it, labelling it a 'prototype' which was silly, because it'd be combat capable, but Sparky and Mina had insisted that was one of those 'PR' things.
Which wasn't Power Rating, as she'd first thought, but had to deal with convincing stupid people not to be stupid, which, well, good luck, she'd be busy making More Babies!
Working on a 'Blaster Boot', the problem was getting the variable frame array to switch and lock in, Sparky's suggestion of an analogue signal switcher between settings, since the user could modify and modulate the sounds she 'heard' had been the work-around they'd needed, and, while she hadn't really seen the need, they'd worked in relay-leads that would extend up the inside of the user's pant legs, to attach to the belt, so they could plug in at hip level instead of all the way down into the plugs on the tops of the boots, though they'd kept that port too.
It'd been a minor addition, but, walking her through why, instead of just telling her to do it because he said to, which he never did, while the Hero in question would normally be a long-range combatant, pulling her fleshy bits closer to the vest, literally, would help in close quarters, and, if a Villain saw the boot-mounted plugs, which of course they would, her Babies catching attention with their superior craftsmanship, they'd miss the girl plugging into her belt, maybe expecting a smaller buckle-speaker, when-
Nope!
Full blast!
The only problem they were having is the modular, shifting focusing frames just weren't strong enough to hold up at higher powers of sonic output, shaking themselves apart.
A solid assembly would hold, but by letting it shift and recombine, the parts that separated and reconnected would separate again.
Unless…
Did they need to just have the one array?
There was only so much room, but, having been working out herself, and hefting the boot, weight might be less of an issue than she'd originally thought.
"Hey, Power Loader!" she called out. "Is a boot power armor!"
The man, who was looking over a schematic, which, focusing, oh, right, it was the red-haired boy… Hisato, Minato, something-ato, but another boring 'I'm gonna plan some stuff and not build it' plan, just like the others, when, by building it, you learned all the pressure points, problems, and sometimes figured out even better ways of doing it!
And, from the way the man was looking at her, he'd already responded.
… Whupsie.
"Sorry, I wasn't listening," she told him. "Also, he's got the battery return lead flipped, so his cold gun will melt after three shots. Irony!"
With a deep sigh, the teacher said, "Yeah, I know. I said, boots no, pants yes. To be power armor it needs to assist with movement in a mechanical fashion."
"Gotchya! Rockets don't count!" she grinned, turning back to her current Baby, so if she redesigned it to be armor, it'd take a bit of getting used to, but she could lend the user the use of her Exerciser Exorciser to get her up to snuff, especially if Recovery Girl let her rev it up again!
Just not that much revving again, as the little old lady had threatened to make her clean the nurse's office during detention, manually, instead of working on her Babies!
Actually, speaking of rockets, hmm, she'd have to have Sparky talk to the user to see if they had any push-back, because then, well, she'd give 'Dance to the rhythm' a whole new meaning!
But she shouldn't do anything for it now, which was a pain, as she was used to making her Baby, and then finding a new owner, these Designer Babies all sorts of backwards, but, when her and Sparky made their own Support Company, they'd probably do things more this way than her way.
Though that didn't mean that she couldn't still design awesome Babies that were amazing on their own!
Grabbing her tablet, playing with some of the materials, expanding it out a bit, yeah, heavier, but with the reinforced frame, if they dropped the total available settings to three, 'Bombard', 'Blast', and 'Beam', made them separate, oh, you could do all three at once!
Only, not with the user's current on-file capabilities, but they had just gone and trained, so if the capabilities were higher… that might be doable.
And if it wasn't, the User would just need to train until they could properly hand her and Sparky's Baby!
Which would make it a bit between their two approaches, hers an 'If you build it, they will come' one, and his more of a 'tool tailored for its user' thing, which made sense, as the two of them coming together to make something better with both of their ideas was kinda their thing!
Oh, and Pinky helped with 'aesthetics' sometimes.
Like their engineering wasn't beautiful enough!
Again, Sparky's current bed buddy could be worse, could definitely be better.
Though Mei had to admit the other girl was a step above most.
Shifting the plans, the heavier boot would be harder to put on, but some extra padding here, and there, would prevent issues from sustained use, the belt-harness taking a bit of the weight, and while an extra knee-mechanism would help, that would be pants, so no.
"Not exactly Jiro's style, but with a little tweaking, it could work," A warm, familiar voice called over her shoulder, and she spun, whapping him in the face with her dreadlocks, but Sparky didn't even blink, though he was a little surprised when she hugged him, and she was too, but, she was, uh, checking him for injuries, and…
He felt… different?
Just a little, but was he… warmer?
But not injured, and, as he, a little confused, hugged her back, he replied, "You okay?"
"Great now you're here!" she announced, letting go of him enough to drag him down by his shirt, so he could see her designs better, flipping through them, outlining them, as her partner didn't argue about the changes, just asked questions, asking Pinky if the User used skates, which she didn't, but that was also an idea.
"Oh!" Mei perked up. "Gimme your gloves! I had an idea for them! I've already upgraded your sword, but a smaller version for them could work too!"
"My… sword?" he echoed, confused.
Stopping to look at him, did Sparky need another kinetic reboot to clear his memory cache?
Grabbing the Baby, and opening its case, he blinked, then laughed. "Holy shit, I forgot I even had this. I've gotten so used to not going in with my full gear, and I needed both hands for dealing with Hawks." Reaching into it, he grabbed the Support Item, seeing the additions, and, twisting it, the blade splitting apart to form two prongs, with another flick causing the interior mechanism to pop out a pellet of depleted uranium!
"… Is that a pez dispenser of death?" Mina asked, skeptically.
Showing Sparky the schematics, he shrugged, "You're not too far off. But in a good way."
"After what you reported of the I-Island kerfuffle, and how you use the move, I was thinking, you should have more than just your coin necklace!" the inventrix informed him, pausing, asking, "You're not wearing it?"
The blonde boy winced. "Yeah, with Momo's Quirk, I stopped wearing it because I didn't think I needed it anymore, but… that was stupid. I'll go fab a new one real quick."
"You do that, I'll install the reserve in your gauntlets!" Mei agreed, stripping him of them in a couple quick motions, cycling them open, and freezing.
Because they were damaged.
When they'd been repaired yesterday morning.
"Anything interesting happen last night?" she questioned, as she moved to the repair station, trying to play it off all cool like.
"We went and did some karaoke with YaoMomo!" Pinky grinned, then paused. "Oh, uh, it was kinda a spur of the moment thing, Mei. You… want us to invite ya, next time?"
"I can always sing while I work on our Babies," the inventrix dismissed. "That it?"
Working the fabricator, which was carving out the metal pieces of his new ammo-reserve from a solid block, Sparky shrugged. "Yeah, then home, sack out, head back here. Why?"
Holding up the gloves, she stated outright, "Battle damage."
And now it was her partner's turn to freeze, even as Pinky laughed, one hand behind her head. "Oh, we've been workin' on special moves in class! And you know how hard Sparky is on his gear!"
"Hmmm, more durable materials?" the pink-dreadlocked girl mused, turning back to it, looking more closely, and, there were wear patterns like it'd hit some kind of really tough stone. "Was this with Cementoss?"
"It was! Dude's kinda high-key with his Quirk, ya know?" the other girl told her.
"No," Mei replied, "but he did set up the testing area for some of the Support Class' projects."
Rolling her eyes, the pink skinned girl stated, "That's what I meant."
"Oh. Then yes, I do," the inventrix absently corrected, eyes focusing to zoom in closely on the gauntlets, which had microscopic bits of blood and burned flesh stuck to the inside, having been cleaned, but not quite good enough.
More than that, there was a bit of rock stuck in one of the fold-points.
Glowingrock.
Cementoss' Quirk was just concrete, not… quartz?
And quartz didn't glow light blue.
A quick glance at the safety meters, the radiation checker was still at zero, but, slipping to the side so her back was between the gauntlet and her partner, she grabbed a pair of tweezers and removed, the millimeter-long stone, and dropped it into a holding dish, grabbing a scanner, and…
It wasn't radioactive, but there was some kind of energy coming off of it.
… Sparky, what are you doing?
And, more importantly, why wasn't he telling her!?
Though, glancing back at him, with how silly he was being about her getting ready for field-testing, maybe it had something to do about that?
Either way, the fixes were easy, as was the installation of the dispenser in the anterior wrist section, the extra weight negligible, and, while he could use Mayo's Quirk, that had a limited feed amount, so dedicated reserves were more optimal than relying on a single multipurpose supply.
Handing the gauntlets back to him, he smiled, telling her, "Thanks, Mei, I really appreciate the help."
"Anytime, Partner!" she agreed, hesitating. "And if there's anything else you need help with, don't hesitate to ask! I, the amazing Mei Hatsume, will be happy to be of assistance to her trusted partner!"
Pausing himself, Glancing at the teacher, she felt herself hold her breath, as he asked, "There is one thing. Or, a number of things, and you don't have to, but…"
Leaning forward, she demaned, "Yes?"
"How would you like to help me outfit the rest of Class 1-A. Without Restrictions?"
She blinked, feeling her heart flutter a bit at that, suddenly very warm. "Ah, Ha Ha Ha, I, I must've heard you wrong, Sparky. You, you can't just come up and tell a girl that! It's not decent! And in front of Power Loader no less!"
Pinky frowned, "Wait, are we still talking about making stuff?
"We're talking about Making Babies!" Mei declared.
Blinking, the horned girl replied, "… Yeah, that doesn't help."
Behind his desk, the member of staff cleared his throat. "There are restrictions."
Waving it away, Sparky told her, "No nuclear devices, no molecular disintegrators, and everything needs a nominally non-lethal setting in addition to whatever else it has."
"… and?" the inventrix asked, because…
Grinning, leaning forward, he told her, "That's. It."
It was definitely getting hot in here!
"And, I'll see if I can get from noon onward off to help you with them," he added.
Did she not dry off in the shower properly? Because she felt a little… wet.
"We are going to make SO MANY BABIES!" she shouted, vibrating in place. "Oh, my mind is downright IMPREGNATED with ideas!"
"Okay now you're just doing it on purpose," Pinky commented.
"Of course I'm doing it on purpose! All ideas are on purpose, silly!" Mei smiled, Sparky's girlfriend sometimes a bit… slow on the uptake, getting lost in their conversations. "You can't 'accidentally' make a Baby!"
Nodding, Sparky agreed, "Technically, she's not wrong, as it requires a certain procedure. Well, there was one exception, a couple millennia ago, but people still haven't forgotten about it."
What? The inventrix thought, but, then again, ancient inventions were kind of sticks and rocks, so while you had Archimedes doing his thing, someone could've easily stumbled across something.
"Spar-ky!" his girlfriend groaned, before shaking her head, turning back to Mei. "So, you want me to go ask everyone if they have an ideas, while you two eggheads hatch some new gear? We know the old 1-A, but we haven't really talked costumes with 1-B. Or even seen 'em in theirs."
"That'd be great!" her boyfriend smiled, answering for the Support student. "Just make it clear we're asking for suggestions, and if we have an idea, we're probably gonna do that too, or instead, since coming up with complimentary gear that shifts their possible power paradigm a bit could be just as important as merely refining their strengths or covering obvious weaknesses, not that, with Tsu taken care of, anyone has any more of those."
"What he said!" the inventrix agreed, gleefully starting to draw up designs for Twenty-Four New Babies!
Soon enough, Sparky and Pinky had to go, and, before Mei had to go, she paused, grabbed a sample vial, and tossed the bit of glowing rock inside, because, while the call of their Babies were distracting, she wasn't a genius for nothing, and she felt that this might be the key.
After all, Sparky wouldn't have to worry about keeping secrets if she'd already figured them out!
MHA
Heading to class, I was glad I hadn't needed to lie to Mei, and while Mina kind of did… I kind of just had to go along with it, quick to move on to more productive topics. I was doubly thankful I'd cleaned off my gauntlets, a quick scrub of the collapsed gauntlets removing the… aftermath of my run in with the Fire Sages, before she'd snagged them.
We had a couple of ideas, which we batted back and forth, getting the frame for Jiro's new boots ready, and reworking the plans for them, the inventrix promising to get the parts together and curing before lunch, so we could get the working model ready for her to test after class. On one hand, the girl was definitely going to need to hit the stairmaster to use them properly, but on the other the sheer amount of Fuck You that she'd be able to utilize once she'd gotten a hold of how to use them…
Yeah, the way Mei had come up to handle this, where they gave a small boost now, but with the possibility for massive gains in capability later, was indisputably better.
Greeting the others, I was still getting used to the fact that half of 1-B was now part of our class, but the week I'd spent around them, before everything went to hell, had helped, Tokage drifting over to say hi, floating, everything from the waist down at her desk, ready to snap back when Aizawa came in to get us started.
But dealing with them all, and their occasional worried looks, was… tiring, as while I was pretty sure they weren't working for AfO, I'd heard the idea of a 'UA Traitor' bandied about, before I'd come here, and I was left to… wonder.
At least with Iroh, Zuko, and the Gaang, while I knew they weren't the ones I remembered from the show I'd watched, I could be sure they weren't working for Quirk Satan, and that… helped.
However, as we all moved to the training ground, Aizawa informed me, "Oh, Kaminari. The principal wants to have a chat with you," which caused me to stop, mid-step, unsure.
Looking to Mina, U.A. was supposed to be safe, but-
"I'll see ya after!" my girlfriend smiled, taking a moment to grab my hand and give it a reassuring squeeze. "I'm sure it'll be fine!"
Which she had no way of knowing, but, honestly, heading here from her place was more dangerous, the set time, destination, and likely route making setting up a possible ambush much simpler than trying to snipe her on U.A.'s grounds, surrounded by Pro Heroes.
"See you then," I nodded, peeling off from the others to head towards Nezu's office, the door opening as I approached, and the chimera was not behind his desk, but off to the side, seated at the side-table, sipping on tea, a cup steaming in front of the seat across from him.
"Ah, you came! Good!" Nezu smiled, closed-mouthedly. "I hoped you would."
"But you weren't sure?" I questioned, glancing about, but we were alone, probably.
Chuckling, the super-genius noted, "With one such as you, Volt-aire, nothing can ever truly be sure. But please, sit, we have things to discuss, and none of them deal with any failing on your part! I wish I could say the same, but I am, as they say, 'only human'."
He wasn't, but the dog-mouse-bear mix's smirk conveyed the joke, even as I understood what he actually meant. Slipping into the chair, and picking up the cup set out for me, sipping it, it was very well brewed sweet tea, just like I preferred, though, unlike the last time I was in this position, it wasn't drugged. "Then, what do you wish to tell me about?"
"Oh, to inform you that All for One's agents, at least his more obvious ones, have been excised from U.A.'s premises."
I'd started to take a new sip, then paused, worked through that, then finished the motion.
"His more obvious ones?" I queried, with forced calm.
Nezu nodded. "Ah, yes! The seventeen students who had been suborned by the Friends. Normally, such a measure would be seen as an unethical invasion of privacy, but between the public actions of their leader, as well as public pressure, and the additional requirements of on-site housing, meant that it was well within my power to deny them continued education based upon their parental affiliations; offering to pay for transfers to other institutions without making public the reason why helped greatly in getting them to agree as well!" the being smiled, this time with teeth.
"He had seventeen different people here working for him?" I questioned, aghast.
"He had seventeen different students whose parents had been suborned, including eight in our Hero program," the principal agreed cheerfully. "He may have more, but they are hidden well enough to have avoided detection."
Suddenly, I didn't feel so safe about leaving Mina alone. Or Mei. Or Momo. Or really anyone.
"And when you say working, you mean…" I checked.
"Their parents were either Friends, or owed that organization favors. Not enough to perform an attack themselves, but to perform minor information gathering or sabotage, like determining when All Might would be at the USJ, would be within the realm of possibility," the genius noted, conversationally. "Six of the students, it appears, only had Quirks due to that man's efforts, though, given the same is true for me as well, I would not hold it against the children."
I blinked, "Wait, what?"
Lifting a nonexistent eyebrow, the Chimera noted, "Did you think my existence a natural one? How else would you suppose an animal would receive a Quirk?"
"So that isn't a thing that just… happens?" I checked.
"Most instance of an animal with a Quirk is merely an animal that has been affected by a Quirk. One with a Quirk Factor, like myself, well, it is 'known' that there is no understood cause for them," Nezu explained. "Likely because any who came to understand the true cause was quietly removed. As for myself, I have been clear that, other than some very hazy recollections, I have no memory of my early life."
Processing that, "Ah. How… unfortunate. If you knew more, you may have had insight into how you came to be."
"Quite," the Chimera noted, taking a delicate sip of his own beverage. "If I were to hypothesize, I may say that seeing these 'Nomus', it became clear that my creators learned from their mistake with me and settled upon an alternate path of minion creation after my escape." Another sip. "At least those that survived."
"… how sharp are your claws?" I checked.
"Physically?" he questioned back, flexing a paw to extend a bone-white edge. "Not terribly. But we are both aware that the sharpest claws are those of the mind."
I considered that, idly turning my free hand into electric claws, but… "True. So, I'm here to be made aware that you have found Quirk Satan's Agents, have removed them, but there may be more?"
"Indeed," Nezu replied. "While students whose family have ties to certain less-than-legal organizations have been successfully flipped during their time here at U.A., the threat posed by a now active organization, such as the Friends of All for One, is not worth any possible gains that could be gained from turning them against those they are connected to."
"So, there are students with connections to other groups?" I checked.
The principal cheerfully affirmed, "There are!"
"… Any in 1-A?" I checked.
"Arguably, Ms. Yaoyorozu, through her parents' business dealings, could qualify," the chimera pointed out. "But those students are monitored, and, living away from such influences, will be much easier to be shown the folly of their parental figures' worldviews."
Taking another sip to process this, I finally asked, "You've been working on this dorm idea for a while, haven't you."
"Both sadly and happily, I have not been given cause to implement them," the principal agreed-without-agreeing. "However, with All Might's retirement, as well as the attack upon those under my care, I now have the opportunity to further assist my students!" With a short laugh, the being noted, "If I were able to meet Mr. One, I would thank him for the opportunity. And then rip out his throat, of course."
"Of course," I agreed, almost automatically, getting a pleased chuckle from the Chimera.
"I thought you would understand," Nezu mused. "Though, do remember, Mr. Kaminari, that we do, as they say, 'live in a society', and exposing the sheltered to reality when they are not prepared is just as likely to have them lash out upon the exposer, than on what it is that that they are being exposed to."
"Oh, right, the Trunchbull Threshold," I noted, "that can be a bitch and a half, but some people have it set to the level of rejecting petty impulse theft as being 'possible'." Then I paused, as... the what?
The knowledge, which I did not remember learning, was still there, the chimera considering that, before brightening. "Ah, yes, from Matilda! Hmm, yes, the point at which a mind rejects an unpleasant truth and seeks to silence instead of understand. That is exactly what I am referring to, and it has a term, how delightful! Though, of course, if I found a member of staff utilized a 'chokey' they would not see the next sunrise," he added cheerfully.
Kicking my thoughts into gear, I had to ask, "Um, not that I don't absolutely agree, but that seems kind of… bloodthirsty? I'm sorry, but I'm used to All Might, and-"
"Oh, no, no, it's perfectly alright," the being reassured me. "Mr. Yagi is a recent addition, and while not all staff share my… decisive nature, almost all are understanding of the realities of our world. All Might, while I have not known him for long, is… optimistic, in a way that only his incredibly power has allowed him preserve."
And there, like a loose tooth, was another truism that, as I concentrated, rose to the surface. "Mercy is the Gift of the Strong," I sighed.
"Quite," Nezu agreed, smirking slightly. "Tell me, Mr. Kaminari, have you ever considered a career in education."
The complete non-sequitur, combined with the fact that, in my old life, I was licensed to teach at a school like this one, surprised a laugh out of me, before I shook my head. "Kind of busy trying to figure out how to stop Quirk Satan from killing everyone I care about. Also, kinda young."
"I was younger than you when I began my pedagogical profession!" the chimera argued, and, at my flat look, chuckled. "That said, you humans do spend quite a while developing. Perhaps in a few years."
"Sure, check back with me then," I agreed. "Anything else?"
Taking his last sip of tea, putting the cup down into its saucer, Nezu folded his paws into his lap and informed me, "Only that you do not need to worry about the staff's loyalties, Mr. Kaminari, as I have vetted them thoroughly, and that, while it is possible that I have missed something, there is no one in the new class 1-A that you should concern yourself over." He paused. "At least in that fashion. Teenagers will always find something to worry over, though I believe we both know that your worries will be more grounded than those concerning academic assignments, possible mates, and the like. If you do have concerns, do not hesitate to bring them to me."
Finishing off my own, while I was sure that Midoriya would be aghast at the casual admissions of murderous intent, they… honestly made me feel better. However, "Eraserhead doesn't seem like the… permanently removing type."
"Oh, that's because the dead can't talk!" Nezu smiled toothily. "He restrained himself at the USJ, but at the camp, well, while your count was certainly higher, and many of your classmates learned of the realities of combat before they were prepared for such a lesson, Mr. Vlad, Mr. Aizawa, Ms. Sosaki, Ms. Tsuchikawa, and Mr. Chatora were not idle. Learning to walk the line between the two modes of confrontation is something I'll make sure is added to your lesson plans, given your experiences."
Thinking about that… "Yeah, it'll probably be for the best. They seem to be adapting pretty well, but some express instruction could help them."
"Yes, help them," the chimera nodded. "Other than your outfitting of your classmates, and this 'Battle Club' of yours, both of which I thoroughly approve of, and your taking lunch in your classroom, which I also understand, do you have anything else you wish to discuss?"
"Not really," I told him, standing up. "Thanks for talking to me. This has… helped."
With a broad, toothless smile, Nezu clapped his hands in glee. "Then I have done my job as your principal! Please, rejoin your classmates, and, while I'm sure Mr. Aizawa would not say so himself, he is appreciating the help you are giving to your fellow classmates!"
Shrugging, I replied, "Just doing the right thing. Well… Seeya!"
With a wave, which the being returned, I headed out, and back to the rest, who were hard at work, Mina pausing to give me an inquisitive look, and, at my happy nod, her bright grin was almost blinding.
Looking around, seeing Mineta looking thoughtfully at his target, which had been peppered with his balls, I moved over to talk to him about possible Support Item Ideas.
His immediate response of "Pants!" made me laugh, remembering his… unflattering costume, but, asking why, his response wasn't solely for aesthetics, leading me to summon my phone and start taking notes.
Alright, I thought, having gotten a few ideas, and 'spotting' Toru, I moved over to her, to ask if she had any ideas. "…Pants," she stated, firmly, which just made me shake my head, but she made a compelling argument as well.
Walking over to Tokage, my initial question of, "Pants?" made her look at me strangely, slap her own ass declaring she was just fine with tights, though, maybe, if they could be armored…?
Nodding, taking notes, I was glad that everything had gone so well, and my re-integration to this timeline after taking time off had been so smooth.
Though, tomorrow, we were moving into the dorms, which was going to be…
A thing.
AN: Mei Hatsume doesn't wait for life to present her solutions, she makes them herself! As usual, the next four chapters are up on Pat-reon and Subscribe-star, where we've (now actually) wrapped up this Arc!