Author's Note: In this chapter, Izuku's problems begin to solve themselves, amigos. Comer con gusto!
6: Friends (1)
Subsequently, Izuku was sent home along with his mother after the meeting with the faculty of U.A. Academy. Toshinori did not join them as they had hoped, the blond man still arguing over the internship that Nezu wanted to put him into. However, his mother was not so thrilled with the idea either. It was later that the boy found out that his mother had decided to start taking therapy sessions at U.A. for reasons that she wouldn't tell him, simply asking for his trust.
As Recovery Girl had instructed, he rested for the remainder of the day, however, when morning came, he was at it again. He left a note for his mother telling her that he was going down to the beach to do a little more cleaning. He had no intention of doing any heavy lifting, though. In his arsenal of oddly powerful aliens was one that he had been wanting desperately to try since he found out what the creature did.
He wasn't sure that the Support Course could create the Proto-Tool that he needed, but he was certain that this new form could. However, when he got down to the beach, he found that he wasn't alone.
If it were anyone else, he would have been fine. If it had been an adult woman he would have been fine. However, the person that was at Dagobah Beach, rummaging around through the many piles of garbage, was a girl. A very filthy, very cute girl right around his age.
He was hesitant to do anything except watch what she was doing. She was up to her elbows in trash, looking through the various appliances and even old vehicle parts that had been left at the beach. Behind her were several milk crates worth of parts she seemed to have scavenged. And just to be clear, she was extremely cute. Thick, pink hair, golden eyes that looked like they had some kind of crosshairs as pupils. Normally, he wouldn't be the type to ogle a girl's body, but this particular girl made that impossible by the way she was dressed.
From the waist up where she was wearing a set of coveralls with the upper portion open and tied around her waist, she wore nothing, absolutely nothing but a sports bra. And it left very little to his imagination.
On top of her head was a set of goggles while her hands were covered by a thick pair of welding gloves.
Due to his experience with girls, and much of it being rather unpleasant, he probably would have just stood there and waited for her to leave on her own, but Murphy's Law decided that that wasn't good enough when the boy saw the pile she was rummaging through begin to lean. "Watch out!" Without even thinking about it, he dialed in on Fasttrack and transformed. The feline alien blurred across the sand and snatched the girl up right as the pile of garbage fell and crashed to the ground where she had been a moment before.
Fasttrack looked down at the girl in his arms, who was blinking owlishly up at him, right before a huge grin spread across her face, "Hey, thanks!" She grinned, "That would've been super painful if you hadn't grabbed me!" She said before she gained a slight blush, "But, ya mind?" She pointed toward her chest, "Kind'a tickling me here, Mr. Furry."
Fasttrack looked down and, shockingly, turned completely white when he saw that his left hand was squished into her breast. "Oh, gosh, I'm so sorry!" The feline yelped as he took his hand away. The girl was quick to grab at his shoulders to keep from falling. "Oh, uh, oops!"
"No biggie!" The girl giggled as she swung down from his arms and patted the feline's shoulder, "Not like you're some kind'a pervert, right?"
Fasttrack shook his head, "Of course I'm not!" He said vehemently, "I just didn't want you getting crushed under all that metal." He frowned before tapping the symbol on his chest, and changed back, "Uh," said the less confident boy, "W-what were you d-doing anyway?"
The girl just smiled wider, "I was getting more parts to make more of my precious babies, of course!"
"B-b-b-b-babies!?" Izuku blushed several shades of red, then paled remarkably fast, "Wait, you don't mean real babies, right!? 'Cause I know you can't make kids outta scrap metal!"
She giggled, "Nah, I don't mean baby-babies, I mean my babies!" She said as she reached into her pocket and pulled out some kind of gadget, "I'm aiming to be the best Support Gear inventor in the country! So I've always gotta be on the lookout for new materials to use to make them!"
Izuku then smiled, "Wow, that's so cool! Are you aiming for U.A.'s Support Course?"
The girl beamed at him, "Better believe I am!" She placed her hands on her hips, and thrust her chest out, which of course made the boy blush, "You're looking at the next big name in Support Gear, the name's Mei Hatsume!"
"Oh," a bead of sweat ran down the boy's head at the girl's enthusiasm, "Uh, I'm Izuku...Izuku Midoriya." The boy introduced himself, "Um, I hate to ask, but do you mind if I use some of this junk for my own gear?"
Mei gave him a flat look, "First you grope me, now you wanna steal my treasure trove?"
"Th-that was an accident!" The boy tried to defend himself, "And besides, I've been cleaning up this place for months, and never - "
"So it was you taking all the junk from this place!" Mei shouted and poked him in the chest, "I had my eye on a really good refrigerator with a motor in prime condition, but when I got the time to come and get it, I find it gone, and now I know why!" The fact that she was getting in his face was bad enough, but the girl was getting really close to him, so much so that her breasts were now brushing up against his own chest.
"Wait, wait, wait, wait!" Izuku was steaming out of ears, his face flaming red, "Before we get into that, could you please back up a bit?!"
Mei blinked, "Huh?" She looked down and noticed their predicament, "Oh, sorry 'bout that." She backed away, "My dad always tells me I need to learn some bondarries, but I've never known where to put them." Much to Izuku's embarrassment, she actually palmed both of her lethal, to him anyway, weapons. "You're the first boy that's ever seemed to care, 'cause the others sure didn't mind."
[I bet they didn't!] Izuku blushed, "Ah - ahem, I'm sorry, by the way," he said, bringing her attention back to him, "I didn't mean to steal from you. I didn't even know that anyone else came here."
Mei shrugged, "Eh, I don't care that much, but I did really want that motor," she tucked her arms behind her head, "Anyway, you said you came here to use some of this stuff yourself, right?" Izuku nodded, "Well, I don't own any of this junk, and I sure don't own any part of this beach, so I can't say much else besides better luck next time."
Izuku sighed in relief, "Well, maybe you can help me after I'm done?" Mei looked at him in interest, "I'm kind'a going off of a plan my mentor gave me...one of several, I guess," he showed her his Ultimatrix, which made her eyes shine like diamonds. What he did next nearly had her drooling as he pulled up the 3D schematic for the Proto-Tool. "This is what I wanted to build."
"Oh, wow!" Mei cried as she bounced forward to get a better look, "This is beautiful! Your mentor must be a genius! This is way beyond anything I've ever seen outside of the I-Island Expo!"
Izuku nodded as the girl marveled, "Yeah, and once I was finished, I was gonna have to test all the features it has," he said bashfully scratching the back of his head, "Though, I'm not much of a techie."
Mei beamed at him, "Hey, no biggie! I'd love to get my hands on this big beautiful piece of hardware!"
Izuku smiled before nodding, "Okay, then I'd better get to work," he smiled as he selected the right form on the Ultimatrix, he was about to slam down, but then he looked at the girl, "Uh, Mei, you might wanna cover your eyes?" He suggested.
Instead, she pulled her goggles down before nodding. He slammed down the dial, and transformed. In the scrawny boy's place was a creature with a black exterior with green stripes that resembled circuitry all over him. Instead of a face, there was a green circle on his head which she took to be his eye, "Upgrade!" His eye flashed when he spoke.
"That is one impressive Quirk!" The girl said in amazement as she raised her goggles back to her forehead, "Weren't you a kind'a blue kitty speedster a minute ago?"
Upgrade nodded, "Yeah, but my...Quirk, lets me change into different mutations of myself. The gauntlet you saw me using lets me select what to change into, and also initiates the change." The mechamorph said, though he felt bad about lying, he felt that she would probably have a melt down if he told her that it was alien technology.
#7 - Upgrade: This ooey gooey blob is a actually a hive of small cell-like nanites. He can merge with any technology he comes into contact with, and enhance it into Ultra-Tech that is beyond human understanding. It doesn't matter how big it is, if it's tech, then this Galvanic Mechamorph can control it with one touch. And he's programed with technology from hundreds of planets, and can replicate it all at will, all he needs is fuel for the fire, so he has to consume mountains of metal. He can also fire an energy beam from his eye, but be careful, because if even a bit of acid touches this big blob, he goes completely haywire!
"Now, let's see how much I can do with all this junk," Upgrade said while Mei stood back and watched as the mass of nanomachines seemed to melt into a puddle before slithering over to the pile next to the one she had been picking through.
"You know, this kind'a reminds me of a really old movie I watched," she mumbled as the blob of nanites rose up and engulfed the pile of garbage. Instead of growing in size like she had thought he would, Upgrade seemed to be getting smaller as he reduced the garbage into materials to be used for later inside his body, however, he did spit out not one, not two, but three of the rifle-like tools. "Oh, my!" She giddily moved to pick one up as Upgrade went back to his normal size.
"You can have one of them," Upgrade said as he came over to her as the girl beamed at him, "Call it an apology for unintentionally stealing that motor you wanted."
Mei gave a squeal of happiness before she hugged the big blob, which caused the green lines on the alien to turn red. "This is great! I can't wait to test this baby out!" She said before taking aim at a trash pile, "Say, what did you use for an energy source?" She asked out of curiosity.
"I had a formula from my blueprints that allowed me to construct an energy crystal," Upgrade said before tapping the symbol on his chest, changing back to Izuku, "It shouldn't ever need a recharge."
Mei giggled and took a test shot. Her aim was just a little off and she ended up firing too high of her intended target, which happened to be a microwave oven, and hit a cinder block sitting above it. The block fell from its perch, and smashed down near the bottom.
BEEEP
Both teens jumped at the sound before Izuku stepped forward, "I-Is that a car?!"
"One way to find out!" Mei surged forward and started tossing garbage out behind her.
Izuku laughed as he shielded himself and he tried to get in closer to help her dig, "Careful! You're gonna get buried!" He reached for the Ultimatrix, "Let me get it." He selected Upgrade one more time, and changed.
Mei stepped back as the large mechamorph turned to goop and spread himself over the garbage pile again. "You're not gonna eat it, right?" She asked with a hint of worry in her voice.
"Of course not," the mechamorph said as the pile began to shrink, "I'm just gonna make a few adjustments."
Mei waited for a moment, giddy with excitement when the mechamorph left the buried car. "Oooooh, it's gorgeous!" Mei squealed, "This is so great!" She ran to the driver's side and jumped in. [1]
Izuku turned back to normal, "Wait a minute! Do you even have a license?!" He asked as he went and scooped up the other Proto-Tools.
"This is technically a support item, so it's not an issue!" She said as she found the ignition, Izuku had made it a push-start. With a press of the button the engine roared to life, "Oh, man, listen to that motor!" She practically moaned out.
"Hey!" Izuku yelped before he dove into the car just as the girl threw it into gear and stepped on the gas. "Do you even know how to drive!?"
Mei just cackled as she gunned the engine up the steps. Izuku held on for dear life as he was bounced up and down before they leveled out. "I've been working on cars since I was a kid!" She boasted, "I know the ins and outs of mechanics better than even my dad!"
"Yeah, but do you know how to drive?" Izuku repeated his question while fumbling with his seatbelt.
Mei shrugged, "Sure, my dad let me drive around the block all the time," she said before stepping on the gas again, "Besides, I grew up watching old shows like Dukes of Hazzard, and Fast and Furious!"
"Those are not good references for safe driving!" Izuku yelped as the tires squealed against the pavement.
僕ぼくのヒーローアカデミア
Inko had left earlier than Izuku had that morning, missing the boy completely, so she didn't know that her son was currently potentially breaking the law...yet. However, she was attending an early meeting at U.A. with Hound Dog.
"I'm sorry for coming in so unexpectedly," she apologized to the furry Hero/therapist.
Despite his looks, the man was very polite, "There's no need to apologize, Mrs. Midoriya. I'm quite happy to have you here with me today," he said as she took a seat across from him on a plush chair, "Now, Recovery Girl gave me a few details about your condition, but I'd like to hear what you think about it?"
Inko sighed, her hands in her lap clenched tightly, "To be honest, I never really thought of myself as someone with a mental problem."
The therapist gave a small shrug, "Most never do unless someone else points it out, Miss." Hound Dog replied, "But are you willingly admitting that you have one?"
She nodded slowly, "I thought it over last night while in bed." She frowned, "Whenever I'm not working, I'm keeping myself very busy. The only time I actually relax is when my son is around."
"Mmhmm, it's common in most cases to feel comfortable around family," he said in agreement, "But you sound as though you're overworking yourself?"
Inko gave a small chuckle, "Truth be known, I never really take long breaks." She said, "If I sit down for too long in the break room and no on is there, I sometimes get chills, or in start trembling."
Hound Dog wrote something down on his notepad, "And I would reason that you've experienced nausea, too?" She nodded, "Classic signs of autophobia." He sighed, "Now, and feel free to not answer if you don't feel comfortable enough, but Recovery Girl said something about you having an estranged husband?"
"Hisashi," she nodded, "we grew up together, though he was from the local orphanage, and I was from a small family." She smiled fondly, "He was a year my junior, and he used to stick to me like glue." The scratching of Hound Dog's pen drew her attention.
"Please, continue," he encouraged.
"Well, he, like our son, had high hopes of being a Hero," she said, "But both of us had fairly weak Quirks, so he settled for a General Studies course in high school. Neither of us went to college with it being so expensive, but he did propose to me straight out of school."
"Did you have any other friends from your childhood other than your husband?" Hound Dog asked.
Inko brightened, "Yes, I had Mitsuki," she smiled widely, a positive sign from Hound Dog's perspective, "She was...well, she still is quite a character." She giggled, "She had the biggest personality out of anyone I'd ever met, even among Pro Heroes." She sighed, "She...she didn't...doesn't...care about my husband."
"No?" He asked in interest.
She shook her head, "She never liked him," she admitted, "Whenever they were around one another, they were always butting heads over one thing or another." She chuckled, "She even said once that she'd marry me herself just so I wouldn't have to marry him."
Hound Dog smiled under his muzzle, "She sounds like a good woman."
"She is," Inko said happily, "Her husband's a bit of a surprise, though, because he's her polar opposite"
Hound Dog nodded with a small snort of amusement, "But you and your husband obviously married." He pointed out, "How did he treat you?"
"Oh, he was never abusive toward me," Inko said, "We went out sometimes. Kept in touch with Mitsuki, and some other friends from school." She sighed, "He wanted children as soon as possible." She put in, "He told me he wanted a big family."
"But you only have the one child?" Hound Dog asked, uncertain.
Inko looked down at her lap sadly, "Yes...I had several miscarriages before my little Izuku came along," she smiled at the thought of her son, "And he was born two months early."
"And how did your husband treat these times when you miscarried?" He asked, beginning to draw a conclusion in his head.
Inko thought for a moment, "He was always devastated whenever we lost a child," she said, which she thought to be natural as she had taken it as hard as he had, "But he always said that we would try again."
"And I take it that he didn't wait very long?" Hound Dog pressed, and saw the woman start to look uncomfortable, giving him the only answer he needed, "Erm, let's talk about his time raising your son, shall we?"
Inko smiled and readily told him, "When Izuku was born, Hisashi was over the moon, not only because our first child was a boy, but he kept saying that our boy was going to be a great Hero someday." Inko's smile began to droop a little, "And Izuku loved Heroes. He particularly loved watching the video of All Might's big debut."
"And Hisashi encouraged him at every point," Inko went on, "But...when Izuku started to get to the age when his Quirk was supposed to activate..." she shook her head, "I watched that boy try so hard to use either his father's Quirk or mine, but there was nothing he could do to activate it." Hound Dog he had a feeling he knew what was coming, "During that time, we...we tried having another child, but I had another miscarriage and the doctor told me that having anymore children would be nearly impossible...Hisashi seemed to lose interest in us after that."
"In you, or your son?" Hound Dog asked.
"Both." She relented.
Hound Dog set his pen down, "I think I have enough information," the man said, "But the question is, do you?"
Inko nodded as she mulled over all that she had spoken about, "Hisashi...basically wanted me for my Quirk...didn't he?"
"That would be my guess," Hound Dog said, "When he found out that his only son was Quirkless, and that his legal wife was incapable of bearing anymore children, he most likely requested the overseas job himself."
"And found another woman," Inko said, "He just wasn't willing to go through all the trouble of divorcing me." She said, "And I believed him when he said that he would come back whenever he could...but it's been eleven years."
"And you've been afraid of admitting to yourself that your husband was never coming back," Hound Dog said, "Here's what I want you to do, Ms. Midoriya: call your husband up and ask if he would like a divorce."
Inko looked alarmed, "You think I should?"
Hound Dog nodded, "In no sense of the word marriage is it healthy for a couple to be separated for so long without even a single word to each other." He explained, "And I'm willing to bet that he'll either see the sense in it," he said, "Or, if he's the man that I think he is, then he will get angry. If he does that, then you'll need to assert yourself a little more."
"But I - "
"You've readily admitted that he likely has another woman, or women, in his life," Hound Dog said, before reaching into his suit's pocket and withdrawing a business card, "That is the name of a very good lawyer, and he works very cheaply. Bring his name up with your husband if he gives you trouble."
Inko took with a little hesitation, "Is this going to help me with my..."
Hound Dog nodded, "It will be the first step in the right direction," he promised, "It may not feel like it, but it will be." He said, "And though it may seem cruel of me to ask, but you should try being alone for short periods of time. But let someone help you. That friend, Mitsuki, I think, would help you greatly."
Inko smiled as she placed the card in her purse, "Would it be alright to ask her for support while I'm doing this?" She asked, referring to the divorce lawyer.
Hound Dog huffed out a laugh, "Mrs. Midoriya, I can honestly say that, if she's anything like what you've told me, then you'd have to beat her off with a stick to stop her from being there for you."
Before she could say anymore, Inko's phone rang. "Oh, dear, I'm so sorry, I thought I'd shut it off before coming in," she said as she fished the phone out of her purse. "Toshi...?" She blushed slightly as the man across from her chuckled, knowing the man personally, "H-Hello?"
"Inko? Where are you?!" It was Toshinori, and he sounded frantic, "I tried going by your apartment, but there was no one there!"
Inko was surprised by his urgency, "I'm at U.A. right now," she told the man, "What's the matter, I thought Izuku was - "
"That's the problem," Toshinori said, sounded exhausted, "Izuku's been arrested...for a joyriding."
"He...Did...WHAT!?"
僕ぼくのヒーローアカデミア
Toshinori drove by the school in order to pick Inko up and drive them both to the Mustafar Police Department where her child was being held. According to Toshinori, whom Izuku had called in confidence, which was teenager speak for Please don't tell my mom!, he and another student had been down at the beach while Izuku was trying out a new transformation, and attempting to build his support items when both of them had stumbled upon an abandon junk heap of a car.
In their excitement at its repair, the two of them had driven off.
No damage was done, thank heavens, but that didn't mean that they hadn't gotten stopped.
"Technically, the car can be counted as a piece of Support Gear considering that Young Midoriya rebuilt it himself, and it has defensive and offensive features," Toshinori explained as they pulled up to the station, "But the girl forgot that they would need a few things before driving it."
"Like a license?" Inko grumbled.
"Actually, no," Toshinori said with a dry chuckle, "If it's a drivable support item, you get a license as soon as you get it certified." He remembered the extravagant car that his long-time friend and former partner, David Shield, had used. "No, the problem lies in the fact that the car, while being rebuilt after it was abandoned, needed a salvage title, and they also needed to apply for the proper paperwork for a large, potentially dangerous Support Item."
Inko groaned as Toshinori put his little truck in park, and got out so that he could open the door for her. She thought he was kidding, but apparently the only way the passenger's side door would open was from the outside. Which meant he had to open it for her. [That's an excuse if ever I heard one.] She thought fondly of the man's antics.
But the moment he opened the door, and her heels hit the pavement, she put on her best Mom Face, and stalked up to the station...
Five minutes later...
All of Inko's anger had gone flying out of the window. Why?
Because her son had made a new friend. A new, female friend. And to add to the fact that not only was the boy able to pay the necessary fee for a salvage title himself, and fill out the necessary paperwork, but he was also set on giving the car to his mother.
That little fact, however, had sparked quite the heated argument between himself and the very attractive rosette he was with, "But you could add on so much more to the car that would make it the perfect pursuit vehicle!" Mei had complained when the boy offered Inko the car, "You're just trying to get outta the dog house with your mom!"
What made the argument all the more amusing was the fact that Izuku, her timid little angel, was actually arguing right back just as heatedly, "You can't blame me for that!" Izuku shouted right back, "I seriously thought we were gonna go to jail when we got pulled over!" The boy was clearly frazzled beyond the norm since they were practically nose to nose with each other and it didn't seem to fluster him, "And you even talked about pulling a Bo Duke on the guy!"
"I was just kidding!" Mei whined, "I'm gonna be the top Support Item producer in Japan, if not the world! You really think I want jail time on my resume!?"
Inko and Toshinori watched the exchange in slight amusement, "It's kind'a hard to stay mad, now, isn't it?" Toshinori asked.
Inko giggled, "Not for me it." Inko said with a very misleading smile on her face, "But I suppose I can let him off just a little easy, this time."
Toshinori chuckled, "You like the car, don't you?"
"..." Inko gained a small blush to her cheeks, "We can talk about it over that bite to eat you mentioned."
僕ぼくのヒーローアカデミア
Ultimatrix Playlist #1:
#1 - Fasttrack
#2 - Water Hazard
#3 - Ultimate Echo Echo
#4 - ?
#5 - ?
#6 - ?
#7 - Upgrade
#8 - Big Chill
#9 - ?
#10 - ?
[1] DX Mark 10 - the DX Mark 10 retains its color scheme but its appearance has been remodeled to resemble the Acura DN-X concept car.
Author's Note: If the therapy session needs a little work, let me know so I can fix it :p Also, much love for Hatsume! Izuku has three new proto tools, and a new friend. Next, part 2! Wanna see it? Ya know what to do! Adios Amigos!