Author's Note 1: My Super Robot Academia is a non-profit fanfiction series.

My Hero Academia is a property of Bones, Funimation, and Kouhei Horikoshi.

Any original characters or concepts are owned by Navek and xpegasus.

Please support the official release.

Chapter 2: Coding for Dummies

Life went on for Izuku and his friends. Before they knew it, elementary school had passed them by, and the three were now in their first year of middle school. Over the years, Izuku, Mei, and Katsuki were basically inseparable. Of course, there were still some kids who made fun of Izuku and bullied him for his lack of a quirk…but they always tried to make sure to do it when the greenette was alone, lest they also deal with an explosive backlash…or a weird invention messing with them for weeks.

"See you later, Mom!"

"Bye, Inko."

"Bye, boys. Have a good day!" Inko said as Hisashi and Izuku left for work and school, respectively. The Midoriya family had changed quite a bit in the last few years. Hisashi was the least different, though he often smelled like aftershave since he found having any kind of beard to be unbearably itchy and a fire hazard. Inko had gotten a bit chubbier over the years due to inactivity…and because she often snuck some melon bread when her boys weren't looking. And Izuku had grown up to be about as average as a twelve-year-old could be in terms of physique. He was somewhat on the scrawnier side but still in relatively good shape.

After walking some distance, the two Midoriya men said goodbye, with Hisashi heading to catch the bus to get to his office and Izuku walking towards the nearby residential area to pick up Katsuki. Finally, the greenette arrived at the Bakugou household, where he was greeted by a woman who looked like an older and feminine version of his friend.

"Morning, Aunt Mitsuki."

"Heya, Izuku. Come on in." Izuku was lead in by Mitsuki to their living room and saw Katsuki cooking something in the adjoining kitchen.

"Mornin', Kacchan. You almost ready to go?"

"Ya, give me a minute." Izuku looked and saw that the explosive blond was making two bentos. While it was hidden by his middle school uniform, Katsuki was in far better shape than most of his peers, Izuku included. With the U.A. Entrance Exam a mere three years away, Katsuki began to take his training very seriously. Not just by practicing his Quirk but also by getting into shape. As such, the middle-schooler was developing quite a muscular physique. He was also about a few inches taller than Izuku by now.

"You're making two of them again?"

"He's been up early making lunch for his girlfriend," Mitsuki said with a smirk, making her son scowl.

"Ah, that's sweet, Kacchan," Izuku said with a knowing smile.

"SHUT UP! How many times do I have to spell it out: Crazy Eyes ain't my girlfriend!" Katsuki shouted back. "I just know for a fact that she's probably been tinkering all night and forgot to make herself lunch. And I need to be the responsible one and make sure she doesn't keel over since you can't cook for shit, Deku!"

"Hey, I can cook!" Izuku retorted.

Katsuki gave Izuku a dirty look. "Microwaving Katsudon doesn't count!"

"He's got ya there, Izuku," Mitsuki chimed in, making Izuku pout.

A few minutes later, both Izuku and Katsuki were heading toward the Hatsume residence. But when they turned the corner, they saw a familiar face leaning on a nearby telephone pole. It was none other than Mei's older brother Koshin. The purple-haired boy had grown up to be rather handsome and was wearing his high school uniform, holding his bag in his hand as he continued to look around.

"Mornin', Koshin!"

"'Sup, Pretty Bo-" Suddenly, Koshin leaped at the boys, slapping his hands over their mouths to shut them up.

"Shush!" He whispered. "They'll hear you-"

"Senpai!"

"Ko-baby!"

"Hatsume!"

"Aw, shit," Koshin grumbled as the middle schoolers looked and saw three high school girls approaching them. One of them was a tall yet shy-looking girl with short red hair. The other was a blonde, long-haired ganguro girl. And the shortest of the girls had brunette hair in a bun, glasses, and a surprisingly muscular physique.

"Oh, it's those catty bitches."

"Kacchan!"

"What? It's true."

The brunette looked at Katsuki before addressing Koshin.

"Hatsume, you shouldn't be associating with delinquents."

"Who are ya calling a delinquent, you bespectacled bitch?!" Katsuki shouted. "I had a near-perfect attendance record last year!"

"Exactly, near-perfect," the brunette said with a scowl. "A punk like you is a bad influence for someone like Hatsume."

"Hey, hey. Don't let Miss Gorilla Arms tell ya what to do," the blonde said as she grabbed onto Koshin's arm, causing his face to turn red. "You can be friends with whoever you want, Ko-Baby."

"Miyako! You're a little too c-close." Koshin stuttered out as he tried to ignore the feeling of the blonde girl's bosom against his arm.

"Oh? What's wrong with being close?"

"M-Miyako! Y-You're making Senpai uncomfortable!" The shy redhead stuttered out.

"Kotori's right!" The brunette said as she pulled Miyako off of Koshin. "That's borderline harassment!"

"U-Um…I wouldn't go that far, Tagumi," Kotori responded.

"The hell's your problem, gorilla arms?" Miyako said as she glared at the shorter girl.

"Stop calling me that, you hussy!"

While the two continued to trade insults and Kotori looked on in worry, Izuku and Katsuki noticed Koshin sneaking to the nearby manhole, putting a finger to his mouth as he climbed down the sewer pipe and put the manhole cover back. The two boys stared before noticing that the girls had stopped arguing.

"Hey, where did Ko-Baby go?" Miyako asked as she and the other two girls looked around.

"He went that way," Katsuki said as he and Izuku both pointed in the opposite direction of the manhole. The three girls ran off like wolves chasing a deer while the boys continued towards the Hatsume house.

'Koshin's really got it rough.' Izuku thought to himself. And this was true. Koshin was always a polite and friendly boy. And as he grew to be a handsome young man, he ended up becoming really popular with the ladies…which also included some really intense ladies. Soon enough, the two finally reached a two-story house with a large garage.

And the two were met with the sounds of tinkering and a welding torch going to town on some metal. It was a cacophony they had become intimately familiar with. Katsuki grabbed the handle and slid the garage door open, and was greeted with the sight of Mei Hatsume. She was clad in her usual outfit of a black tank top, her 'specialized' goggles over her eyes, welding gloves, long pants, and boots. The pinkette had also changed a bit in the last few years, becoming as tall as Izuku, and even started to develop a bit in terms of curvature. Except for her chest. And she was in the middle of welding a plate onto a cannon-like object before noticing the sun's rays hitting her face.

"Oh, Izuku! Kacchan!" Mei said with a bright smile as she slid her goggles off. "You guys really came over crazy early."

"It's 7:30 in the morning," Katsuki stated, making the pinkette pause as she looked behind her friends and saw the sun.

"…huh, so it is."

"Mei, have you been up all night again?" Izuku asked.

"No," Mei said with a pout and crossed her arms. "Stupid Koshin won't let me stay up past eleven when Mom and Dad are on a trip."

"Okay, good." The greenette replied, only to see the smirk on his eccentric friend's face.

"But nothing says I can't get up early when inspiration strikes!"

"...how long have you been up?"

"Oh, don't worry. I got a solid three hours of sleep."

"THAT'S BARELY ANYTHING, MEI!" Izuku exclaimed while Katsuki face-palmed.

After a few minutes of letting Mei clean up herself and putting on her school uniform, the three childhood friends were soon walking toward Aldera middle school.

"So, was that cannon thing what you're gonna bring to the expo?" Izuku asked.

"That's top secret, Izu," Mei responded. "Speaking of the expo, how's Skelly coming along?"

"Oh, it's going great!" Izuku said with an excited look in his eyes. "I think I finally got the kinks worked out, so he should be ready just in time."

"So ya finally fixed its wobbly wrist?" Mei asked, getting a nod in response.

"You were right about the computer paste. It worked like a charm."

As the two continued to talk tech, Katsuki just watched with a bemused smile. There was something comforting about hearing these two energetic nerds he called friends just geeking out over the smallest stuff.

"You coming to the expo, Kacchan?" The pinkette asked.

"Nah. I'm gonna try getting some training in over the weekend."

"You sure? It's probably gonna be a ton of fun," Izuku asked.

"Ya, for tech nerds like you guys." The blond replied, making Mei narrow her eyes at him.

"Didn't you get all excited when you finished those grenade gauntlet blueprints?"

"That's different! That's hero stuff, so it's automatically cool."

"Hey, our work is hero stuff, too," Izuku replied.

"...well, I ain't as nerdy about it as you guys are." Katsuki retorted.

"Oh, come on, Kacchan," Mei said as she patted his back. "They're nothing wrong with being nerdy."

"Says you."

Izuku chuckled to himself as the three continued their little back and forth before arriving at Aldera Junior High. And just as he had been doing for the last week, he would be counting down the hours until the weekend. After all, if everything went according to plan, his dream of being a hero would be that much closer to becoming a reality.

That following weekend…

Dozens of students, their friends, teachers, and parents gathered in the gymnasium as the Aldera Junior Science Expo had officially begun. Any scientifically gifted youngster from the school district could show off a science project, be it chemistry, robotics, or physics; any branch of science was welcome. Some did it for extra credit, others hoped to get the attention of anyone handing out a scholarship, and some just wanted to show how smart they were.

Izuku was one of these young inventors as he, Hisashi, and Inko were busy setting up his booth. Which consisted of an upgraded office chair with foot pedals, a foldable keyboard & two joysticks attached to it, a closed fold-out display sitting on a table, and something human-sized covered in a blue sheet.

"Alright, looks like everything's good with the chair," Hisashi said as he gave it a test swivel.

"Thank you, dad," Izuku said as he attached his phone to a speaker set.

"Are you nervous, sweetie?" Inko asked.

"...a little bit."

"Just remember to breathe in…" Inko said as she demonstrated. "…and breath out."

"Right," Izuku said, taking in a short breath before calmly getting it out.

"Don't worry about it, kiddo," Hisashi said with an excited grin. "You're gonna knock their socks off."

"Hey, Izuku!" The Midoriya family turned and saw the Hatsume siblings approaching them, with Koshin holding a camcorder in his hand. "Looks like you're all set up."

"Pretty much," Izuku said as he noticed the camera. "Recording it for your parents?"

"Yup, Dad would never let me hear the end of it if I didn't record this little gremlin's special day." Koshin joked before ruffling Mei's hair, much to her irritation.

"Well, we better go get a good view," Hisashi said before offering the pre-teens a thumbs up as he, Inko, and Koshin made their way.

"Okay, let's do our best, Izuku!" Mei said as she held her hand out.

"Right!" The greenette said as the two high-fived. While the two went back to their booths, Inko, Hisashi and Koshin tried finding a good vantage point.

"Yo! Guys!" The three turned and saw Mitsuki, her husband Masaru, and a grumpy-looking Katsuki standing next to his folks, with the Bakugou matriarch waving at them.

"I'm so glad you could make it, Mitsuki," Inko said to her oldest friend.

"Nice to see ya, Masaru," Hisashi said as the two fathers shook hands. "Glad you could make it too, Katsuki."

"No problem," Masaru said with an easy-going smile.

"I'm here under protest," Katsuki grumbled.

"Oh, it's not gonna kill ya to show your friends some support," Mitsuki said with a disappointed look.

"Woo-hoo," Katsuki said with as much passion and excitement as a bowl of plain oatmeal. "Is that enough?"

"When did he become such a smartass?" Mitsuku whispered to herself, making Inko sweatdrop at the obvious answer.

Soon enough, the expo began, with the judges going to each booth and allowing the young scientists to present themselves and their inventions. An hour or so went by, with some showing off elaborate volcano simulations and electric roller skates, others showing the bare minimum for the extra credit opportunity. Finally, a pair of judges came to Mei's booth, and the pinkette wearing a headset with a microphone.

"Tell me, good people: have you ever wanted to grab something from a far distance, but you can't quite reach it? Well, have I got the solution for you!" Mei went to her display table and pulled off the curtain, showing a hand cannon with a dial on top of it and a screen right under it. "Say hello to the Hatsume Industries Grab Cannon!"

Mei grabbed her invention and lightly pushed the trigger, allowing a padded claw attached to a malleable steel pole to slide out of the barrel. She then moved the hand to grab a pen out of a judge's breast pocket, waving it in front of his impressed face.

And while Mei continued to demonstrate the Grab Cannon, another group of judges approached Izuku's booth.

'Alright, here it goes.' Izuku said before addressing the judges. "The field of robotics has long been considered a niche among most scientific fields. Any robot built nowadays is often used to test equipment meant for hero work, provide menial tasks for researchers, and let's face it; even the most top-of-the-line robot tends to be a bit on the clunky and awkward side. But what if I told you there could be a robot just as strong and versatile as even the most powerful heroes?"

This got the judges and crowds intrigued as Izuku reached the certain. "Ladies and Gentlemen, say hello to the future of robotics!"

The greenette pulled the curtain, revealing a robot about the size of an adult male. It was all frame, no armor, giving it a skeletal appearance. What was immediately noticeable about the robot was that each individual finger was articulated, the shoulders and thigh joints were circular, and the wires were integrated into the framework.

"This is Skeletron, a prototype frame that'll give any robot the same kind of freedom of movement we humans take for granted," Izuku said as he took a seat in his special chair, flicking a switch on the keyboard to remotely turn on Skeletron, its optics taking on a blue glow.

The greenette took hold of the joysticks and moved the right joystick in a circular motion. In response, the robot began to move its shoulder in the same kind of circular motion, impressing some of the audience.

"As you can see, every part of Skeletron's frame has been designed to stimulate human movement," Izuku said before using the left stick to move Skeletron's left arm up. Next, the boy pressed the trigger, turning the robot's wrist 360 degrees. "And it can even perform motions we can't pull off."

Just to show off, Izuku typed some commands into the keyboard, and the fingers on Skeletron's rotating wrist began to move up and down. That earned a few 'oohs' and 'aws' from the crowd and even some of the judges.

"Alright, now I'm going to have to ask you all to stand back a bit, so I can show you Skeletron's full range of motion," Izuku warned. The judges did just that, and Izuku pressed a music icon on his keyboard. This activated his speaker-attached phone, which began to play some rhythmic music.

(Music Que - Overnight Sensation by TRF)

hatachi yasokora ja jinsei no MOCHIBESHON (motivation)

mi ni tsuitara kibun mo shirakeru dake dashi

Izuku got to work, moving the joysticks and pressing on the foot pedals. And to the amazement of the audience, Skeletron began to dance. There was little to no stiffness in its movements as Izuku piloted the machine in tandem with the beat of the music.

tomodachi mo douryou mo shigeki o uketsutsu otagai RAIBARU

"He actually picked that song," Inko said with a giggle.

"Don't blame our son for having good taste," Hisashi said. "Besides, Mitsuki seems to like it."

"Hell yeah, I do!" The blond woman said as she shimmied with her shoulders. "This shit is my jam!"

Masaru chuckled at his wife's enthusiasm while Katsuki held his head in his hands.

'God…Buddha…whoever the fuck is watching; please just do me a favor and kill me right now.'

Izuku continued this dance routine for a while…but he quickly began to notice something was off with Skeletron's movements. Each movement started to become more and more exaggerated, and they also began to become less fluid. And no matter what motion Izuku did with the joysticks and foot pedals, Skeletron's movements became more and more erratic, something that the audience was beginning to notice. Suddenly, Skeletron began performing movements other than what Izuku commanded it to do.

"Um, j-just a few technical issues. N-Nothing to worry about!" Izuku said nervously as he tried entering a few commands to fix the issue. But if anything, that made Skeletron begin to move more erratically until its motions resembled that of a spastic child, frightening the judges as they took further steps back.

If that was the end of it, Izuku probably could've salvaged his presentation. But unfortunately, Skeletron began jumping and landing on other presentation booths, causing the kids, parents, and judges to flee from the insane robot. Though there were some rubberneckers recording the robot and its creator freaking out on their cellphones.

Katsuki honestly felt bad that Izuku's invention was going haywire, but his eyes widened when he saw it heading towards Mei's booth, and the pinkette was too invested in showing off her invention, despite Koshin and the judges looking towards Izuku's robot.

"Crazy-eyes, look out!" Without even thinking, Katsuki ran and leaped towards Mei, grabbing and rolling with the pinkette while the judges and Koshin ran as Skeletron demolished Mei's booth. "Izuku! Shut the fucking robot off!"

Seeing no other option, Izuku mentally said 'screw it' and pressed the emergency shutdown button. It worked instantly, with Skeletron's optic shutting down…and the robot falling to the floor face first.

"Ow, I almost got clobbered," Mei commented before looking down at Katsuki with a smile. "Thanks for saving me, Kacchan."

The blond's cheeks turned red before he threw the pink-haired girl off him, much to her dismay. "W-Whatever. I ain't saving your oblivious ass next time."

While that happened, Izuku was trying to salvage whatever dignity he had left. "Obviously, we got a few kinks to work out," Izuku said, chuckling nervously at the judgemental looks he was getting from the adults while noticing that some of the audience was laughing and recording. "Oh, boy."

"Yikes." Mei thought to herself as both she, Katsuki and the other members of their families were concerned for the young greenette.

As the next few days rolled around, news of Izuku's blunder began to spread through the district. And it wasn't long before memes, and YouTube videos of Skeletron's failed performance began to circulate around the web, as well as making their way into quite a few 'fail' compilations.

Sufficed to say, as he laid facedown in his bed on the following lazy Wednesday afternoon, Izuku was feeling pretty down about himself. For the last few days, Izuku was the laughing stock of his grade. More than a few classmates mocked him by mimicking Skeletron's sporadic moves, no matter how many times Katsuki told them to fuck off.

'Maybe I can just move to another country and start over.' Izuku thought in an overdramatic fashion. 'Who knows? Maybe Spain needs a new dancing sensation.'

He then heard a knock at the door. "It's open," Izuku replied thought, his voice slightly muffled by his pillow.

"Hey, Izuku," Inko said as she opened the door, a bit saddened to see her son in this state. "Listen, I know you're still down about…you know. But I was wondering if you would do me a small favor."

Izuku sat up. "Ya sure. What is it?"

"I'm still in the middle of cleaning, so I was wondering if you could take that welcome basket I made for our new neighbor."

'Oh, right. That happened.' Izuku thought back. Over the last week, the Midoriyas had noticed that someone was finally moving into the apartment on the opposite side of the floor. And wanting to be neighborly, Inko made a bundle of snacks to welcome the new tenants, even if they never talked to them again. "Alright, I'll do that in just a second."

"Thank you, sweetie," Inko said before kissing Izuku on the cheek.

A few minutes later, Izuku was walking across the hall, still clad in his middle school uniform as he carried a basket full of various treats. The boy knocked on the door, tapping his foot as he waited for their new neighbor to open the door.

Eventually, someone did answer, an older woman of Korean descent. She had a lazy, almost ragged appearance, what with her graying black hair tied in a loose side-ponytail, the red t-shirt with the word 'Manowar' written in English, black shorts with torn up ends, bare feet, and the uninterested look within her brown eyes.

"I ain't lookin' to buy anything, kid." The woman said right to the point.

"Oh no, I-I'm selling anything," Izuku said as he held the basket. "I'm Izuku Midoriya. My family lives in the apartment down the hall. We just wanted to give you this and welcome you to the building."

The woman looked at the basket, staring at the dango in particular. "Eh, sure."

As Izuku handed her the basket, the greenette noticed the woman's eyes narrowing at him. "You know, you look really familiar, kid."

"I mean, you've probably seen me when you were moving in-"

"Oh, wait!" The woman said with a snap of her fingers. "You're the kid with the dancing robot!"

'Of course.' Izuku said with a sigh. "Ya…that's me."

"Sorry about that, kid." The woman said. "I mean, it was going well for a bit, but whoever you got to program the thing was a bit off the mark."

"…I programmed it."

This made the woman raise an eyebrow. "Bullshit."

"Huh?" Now that confused Izuku.

"You're like what? Eleven?"

"Twelve, actually." The greenette said, getting a bit more nervous at the look his new neighbor was giving him.

Moments later…

Inko hummed to herself as she moped the floor, only stopping when she heard the front door open. "So, did you giv-" Inko's train of thought came to a screeching halt at the sight of their new neighbor standing next to her son.

"You must be his mom," the woman said in between bites of dango.

"Y-yes," Inko sputtered, taken aback by the woman's demeanor. "Um…hello, Ms…."

"Professor Eun-Ji Lim," the Korean woman said.

"Professor?" Inko parrotted, caught off guard by the disconnect between her title and ragged appearance.

"Mom! Professor Lim said she could help with Skeletron!" Izuku said with an excited look in his eyes.

"Hey, I said I'd give it a look over. Don't know how you got 'helping you out' from that." The woman said. It honestly amazed her how quickly this kid went from nervous to ecstatic after she told him she knew a bit about coding, and could probably give him a few pointers.

Though she had to admit, the little guy was adorable with how excited he was. And even someone like her couldn't really say no to such an earnest boy.

Inko was unsure of how to feel about her son bringing a stranger into their home…but then again, if this Professor Lim was suspicious, well, people usually don't expect a random object flying at their head.

Izuku brought Professor Lim to his workroom, which also doubled as extra storage for whatever nerdy merchandise any of the Midoriya's bought that couldn't fit into their rooms.

Skeletron stood in the center of the room, wires attached via a computer tower under the nearby work desk. All across the desk and around the floor were various bits of scrap metal, circuitry, and gears that no doubt went into the robot's creation. Lim even saw smaller robots on a shelf, which she would later learn were earlier experimental toy robots Izuku made when he was younger.

"So this is him, huh?" Professor Lim asked, getting a nod from Izuku. "Aight, let's see what's under the hood."

Izuku turned on his desk computer and brought Lim to his programming software, allowing the woman to see the wall of coding that made up Skeletron's operating system.

"Okay, this is exactly what I thought: this coding is shit," Professor Lim said tersely. "It's no wonder he went crazy at that expo. This code is so clunky and inefficient that it got all turned around when it tried to execute commands until it got stuck in an endless loop."

"Ya, I know," Izuku said with a sigh.

"How did you learn to code?" Professor Lim asked.

"Mostly YouTube videos and beginner books I got from the library," Izuku said. Really, that was all he could do to learn about coding. It wasn't like his elementary or middle school offered classes like that. "So it's pretty bad, right?"

"Objectively, yes." Professor Lim said. "But the fact that you were able to even put this shit code together without any kind of formal education and somehow made it work for a bit…kid, you're some kind of mad genius."

"Really?"

"Kid, college students would struggle to put something even this shitty together," Lim said before putting her hand to her chin, thinking about something for a moment. "Tell ya what, if you keep bringing me that delicious dango your mom makes, I'll teach you everything I know about coding."

"You will?!" Izuku asked, and when Lim nodded in return, the greenette couldn't help himself but hug the older woman, no matter how much she protested.

Later that night…

Higari Maijima, otherwise known as the pro hero Power Loader, crashed on his couch with a thud and tired sigh. The life of a professional hero was not for the lazy nor the faint of heart, even for a lesser-known hero like him.

Just today, he helped Deatharms stop a collapsing building, saved some workers trapped in a dam that got caught in a villain fight, and helped in a construction project he was aiding on the side. Overall, the orange-haired man just wanted to sit down and relax. To do so, he pulled out his phone and opened the YouTube app. Maybe a funny meme or game review would take his mind off of things.

Before going to his subscriptions, Higari checked his recommendations, and one particular video caught his eye. It was labeled Dancing Robot Goes Apeshit. He figured that would probably be good for a laugh.

But what he clicked on was so much more than that. As the video showed the skeletal-like robot flailing, Higari shot up from his couch.

The comments said it was a hilarious flop, but for someone like Higari, he saw something amazing. Yes, the robot's movements were jerky and erratic, but the way it moved was seamless! While it still had the natural stiffness of a mechanical being, the way its limbs, shoulders, and legs moved were more fluid than anything he would expect a middle school student to make. Hell, it took him up until eight years ago to come up with something that smooth.

When the video showed Izuku's panicked expression, Higari paused the video, his eyes focused on the greenette.

'I don't know who you are, kid, but I'm gonna find out.'

Sunday…

It was pretty quiet in the Midoriya household. And after a busy week at the office, that was exactly how Hisashi liked it. Izuku was in his room, studying some of the coding notes that Professor Lim had made for him, and Inko was sleeping in. So that left Hisashi building a model kit on the living room table while Gaiking played on the tv as background noise. And he was currently tackling one of the most annoying parts of kit building; the stickers.

'Come on. Steady hand.' Hisashi thought to himself, his tongue out as he slowly moved a q-tip holding an eye sticker towards the head of his High-Grade Gundam Leopard. But right as he was about to carefully apply the sticker, he heard a knock on the door that caused him to spit some fire and drop the q-tip. 'Dammit!'

The knocking continued, and Hisashi sighed as he put the q-tip on the table. "I'm coming. Look, if you're trying to sell some tissues, we already got so-"

Sufficed to say, when Hisashi opened the door, he wasn't expecting to see a short, hunched-over man with messy orange hair that covered his eyes, long arms, thick dark orange fingers, and a white t-shirt with the English word 'HOLE' written on it.

"Hey, so is this the Midoriya residence?"

Hisashi wearily eyed the man. "...who's asking?"

"I'm here to see…" The short man pulled a piece of paper out of his pocket. "...Izuku?"

That immediately set some alarm bells in Hisashi's head. And without hesitation or even a word, he slammed the door in the stranger's face.

"What the-Dude, what the hell?!" The short man said as he banged on the door. Hisashi opened it again and glared at the shorter man.

"I don't know what you want with my son, but you better leave before I call the cops!" Hisashi shouted, smoke starting to come out of his mouth.

"Woah, no need to panic! I just want to talk to the kid-yeowch!" The man held his foot in the door to keep the Midoriya patriarch from it in his face again and regretted it as the door slammed against his foot.

"I'm gonna keep doing that if ya don't leave!"

"Just give me a sec—OW—to expl—AGHH!" The short man said through cries of pain as Hisashi relentlessly bashed his foot with the door.

"Dad? What's going on?" Izuku asked as he walked into the living room.

"Nothing. Just trying to get this creep to leave."

Izuku looked at the aforementioned 'creep,' and his eyes widened. "Dad, stop! That's Power Loader!"

"What?"

'Oh, thank Buddha,' Power Loader thought, relieved that the slamming stopped.

"His real name is Higari Maijima. He's a Pro-Hero!" Izuku exclaimed.

"Huh. Impressive, string bean," Higari said. "Almost no one but my friends recognizes me out of costume."

"Well, you have the same height, hunch, and hair color that you have in costume. Your voice isn't that different from when it's spoken out of a filter. And well, there's no mistaking those fingers." The green-haired boy said with a hint of pride. Sure, Katsuki would've called Izuku a nerd for that little bit of deduction, but how many teenagers could claim to recognize one of their favorite heroes out of costume?

Hisashi, in the meantime, pulled out his cellphone and looked up a picture of Power Loader. And his jaw went slack. It was just as Izuku said; the hunched man he had been trying to shoo away was a dead ringer for the Pro-Hero…a Pro-Hero he had repeatedly slammed in the foot. Small embers leaked out from Hisashi's mouth before he quickly got on his hands and knees.

"I'M SO SORRY, MR. MAIJIMA! Or would you prefer Mr. Loader? AH, IT DOESN'T MATTER! I'M SO SORRY I WAS SO RUDE! PLEASE FORGIVE ME!" The black-haired man said, repeating bowing as sparks of fire spewed out of his mouth.

"DAD, BE CAREFUL! YOU'LL LIGHT THE CARPET ON FIRE AGAIN!" Izuku comedically shouted.

'Again?!' Higari thought before speaking up. "Look, no hard feelings. And honestly, I probably could've handled that better."

"…maybe a little," Hisashi whispered. "But wait a minute; what do you want with Izuku?"

That certainly threw the greenette for a loop. Why would a professional hero be interested in him? After all, he was just some random kid from a random middle school. What had he done to earn any kind of atten—Oh! Izuku's face turned into a frown.

"It's because you saw that video from the science fair, isn't it?"

"Just about," Higari said but saw the look on the kid's face. "But ain't here to bust your chops over it, greenie. In fact, it's pretty much the opposite."

This day just kept getting more surprising for Izuku.

A bit later…

"Huh. So that's it."

"Ya." Izuku said as Inko brought some tea to the coffee table and took a seat next to her son. The conversation between the middle school student and the pro-hero took an interesting turn. Higari mostly asked Izuku about all the components and techniques he used in order to build Skeletron. But the subject soon turned to why Izuku built a machine like that, asking if he had an interest in Support or Robotics. Naturally, though, the green-haired boy admitted that he wanted to become a hero, building and piloting a super robot suit to make up for his lack of a Quirk and how he would be aiming for UA High School. "Skeletron's basically a prototype for the inner-skeletal structure the final model is eventually gonna have."

"And have you started on this final model?"

"N-No," Izuku replied but then pulled out his notebook. "But I did draw up schematics for it."

Izuku handed his notebook to the Pro-Hero. As Higari looked through the book, it was hard for any of the Midoriyas to read his expression, what with his hair covering his eyes. After looking through it, Hajire spoke again.

"You know heroics is a dangerous line of work, right?" Higari stated, causing Izuku to flinch. "I've seen it way too much these days. Kids see flashy heroes on TV and think it's all fun and games. But they don't realize that what I, what we do, is quite possibly the most dangerous job on the planet."

And then, Higari turned his head at an angle allowing the Midoriyas to see a scar across his orange eye. "I've seen shit that still gives me nightmares. Good people dying at the hands of a maniac, or in a rescue operation that spiraled out of control. And they usually had some kind of quirk to fall back on. So, Izuku Midoriya, knowing all that, do you still want to be a hero?"

This made Izuku tense up, looking down at the trembling hands in his lap. The boy wasn't ignorant of the dangers inherent to his dream job. And unlike many kids his age who only saw Pro-Heroes for the fame and glory, Izuku learned about the dangers heroes face in their line of work. The stuff he read and saw was just as, if not more, haunting than the stuff he had seen in super robot anime or tokusatsu.

The heroic duo Water Hose were killed by a criminal calling himself Muscular just a few weeks ago. Fatgum had recently been hospitalized after his part in saving people from a collapsing building. Eraser Head was constantly dealing with drug dealers hopped up on Trigger. And he had lost count of how many near-death scenarios All Might had faced down.

But even with his parents and best friends constantly giving him support for his dream, there was a part of Izuku that doubted his dreams. A part that believed the kids who taunted him at school were right, and his dream of being a Quirkless Pro-Hero piloting a super robot was impossible. But Izuku knew in his very core; that this is what he was meant to do.

"I know it's dangerous," Izuku said, his eyes brimming with determination. "I know that I'll be put in harm's way. And that it's especially gonna be an uphill battle for someone like me. But I've always known that in, in my heart, I want to be a hero. I want to be the kind of person that makes people feel safer just by being there. And I'm going to make that dream a reality, no matter what."

Hisashi and Inko felt a sense of pride in their boy's declaration. Sure, they had always been worried about their son's safety when it came to his dream, but they were always there to support him. And to everyone's surprise, Higari started to let out a good-natured chuckle.

"Now that's the kind of answer I like to hear!" Higari said with a smile. "Alright, kid. I'll help ya out."

Izuku slowly blinked in confusion. "…what?"

"Well, if you want a working mecha suit in time for U.A.'s entrance exam, you're gonna need some help. And who better to teach ya how to build an awesome robot than a certified genius like me?"

This…this couldn't be real, Izuku thought to himself. A professional hero…was offering to help him achieve his dream.

"You…you want to help me? You think I can make it, even if I'm…well…"

"Izuku, my Quirk just lets me dig better. You think anyone around me thought I could be a hero," Higari's face turned into a genuine smile. "Us underdogs gotta watch out for each other."

Izuku had tried from sadness plenty of times in his life. But this, well, the boy couldn't help but let out tears of joy.

After giving Izuku a chance to calm down and wipe his tears, he and Higari spent the day having the first of what would become regular brainstorming sessions, with Hisashi and Inko giving ideas when they could. It was around 10pm by the time they finished, with Izuku having filled out three new notebooks full of ideas for his super robot. He even had a few more possible names for it.

"Alright, you get some sleep, kid," Higari said as Hisashi and Inko escorted him to the door. "We'll chat after school tomorrow."

"Right!" Izuku attempted to bow in respect but ended up yawning instead, the adults having a good chuckle from that. "Good night, Mr. Maijima."

As Izuku walked towards his bedroom, Hisashi and Inko continued to chat with the pro.

"You really meant all of that?" Inko asked.

"Of course. Why would I spend the last hours chatting with the kid if I didn't think he had potential."

"I guess, well, we always thought our little Izuku was special…but I think almost every parent thinks that about their kid," Hisashi said while rubbing the back of his head. Inko, however, had a concerned look on his face.

"Mr. Maijima, did you mean what you said about hero work being dangerous?" Higari understood where Inko was coming from and nodded. "Well then, do you think you can keep an eye on Izuku? He's got a good heart and is incredibly kind…but he can also be stubborn and reckless."

Hisashi nodded in agreement. They had lost count of how many times Izuku tried to protect other kids from bigger and stronger bullies. Katsuki and Mei always tried their best to keep Izuku out of harm's way, but they couldn't always be around.

Higari placed his fist over his heart. "You have my word: I'll do all I can to protect the little greenie until he's ready. And I'll make sure that robot of his is strong enough to protect him too."

As Higari made that pledge to his parents, Izuku laid down in bed, excited for what would happen next. He put his notebooks away but also noticed the phone he left on his desk had a few unanswered text messages. He opened them and had to hold back a laugh.

Kacchan: Deku, what the fuck?! Auntie told the old hag you spent the day chattin' with an actual pro?! Dude, why the shit didn't you let me know?!

Mei Mei: OHMYGOSHOHMYGOSHOHMYGOSH! YOU MET POWER LOADER! I'M SO JEALOUS! PLEASE TELL ME YOU GOT HIS AUTOGRAPH.

Izuku could already tell he was gonna have to deal with a lot from his energetic best friends tomorrow.

Author's Note 2: So now we meet Izuku's two mentors. Expect some fun interactions between Professor Lim and Power Loader in the future.

Next chapter, we're gonna jump ahead some more…and the next chapter title should give you a hint on who's gonna appear. So get excited!

Next Time: The Gravity Girl! Please remember to read, favorite, and review!

See ya next time!