Shouta glared at the three students standing in front of his desk. The first, Bakugo, was glaring at the wall, his hands stuffed into his pockets. The second, Hatsume, was staring him down, her arms crossed in front of her. And the third was Midoriya, he was staring at the floor and fiddling with the hem of his shit.
All three of them were guilty of giving him the largest headache he'd experienced in a long time. Well, two were the chief cause of the headache the third was just caught in the crossfire. "First things first, tell me what happened back there."
Both Hatsume and Bakugo started trying to talk over the other as they told their side of the story. He caught a few words but not enough to make sense of it all. He slammed a fist onto his desk and growled out, "one at a time."
They stopped talking, Shouta gestured to Bakugo. "There I was, minding my own damn business training when suddenly this" Bakugo pauses. Shouta suspects that Bakugo was about to call Hatsume a derogatory name, but he obviously has the good sense not to do so in front of a teacher, "crazy chick comes out of nowhere swinging her wrench and threatening to cave my head in."
Shouta could believe that, from what he saw Hatsume was more than ready to hospitalize the kid, although what for he wasn't sure yet. But he had a feeling that Hatsume, while impulsive, wouldn't resort to physical violence without a reason of some kind. Knowing Bakugo, he did something that pissed her off, and it may have something to do with what Midoriya told him earlier.
"Okay," Shouta nodded, "Hatsume? Do you have anything you want to say?"
"Yeah," barked Hatsume, "I did it, and I'll do it again if he so much as breathes near Midoriya."
Protective? Huh, he hadn't pegged her as the protective type. He remembered that Power Loader mentioned the two were friends, he guessed on the bright side of all of this Midoriya had at least made one friend. And having a connection in the support sector of all places was going to come in handy one day.
"Why did you attack Bakugo?" Asked Shouta calmly. This answer, whatever it was, would guide his next steps.
"Simple," replied Hatsume, "the little pissant destroyed my friend's sketchbook. It's like his favorite thing in the whole world, and I know that if someone destroyed my baby's, er, inventions I'd want to bust some heads."
So, this was about the thing Midoriya spoke with him about, interesting. This was making some sense now, Hatsume found out her friend was getting bullied and stepped up to deal with it. A noble goal, just done in the wrong way. He didn't have the authority to deal with something this potentially serious, but there was one person who did, "I see, in that case this issue needs to be taken to the principal."
The reaction from all three of them were different, Bakugo looked surprised before glaring harder at the wall, his fists clenched, Hatsume shrugged nonchalantly as if she didn't care who'd be judging her actions, and Midoriya went wide eyed with unhidden panic. Did he think he was in trouble for this?
Maybe he had something to do with this but doesn't want to admit it? Although he doubt's Midoriya's the scheming type, he's a good kid, he just doesn't seem like a 'people person.' Shouta slowly rose from his desk, "Follow me," he was getting too old for this nonsense. Why couldn't teenagers be more reasonable?
He took them to the principal's office, the whole walk there Midoriya had this nervous look on his face as his eyes darted across the hallway. Clearly the kid didn't have good experiences with authority figures in the past, which could mean one of two things, the authority figures were not exactly the pinnacle of human behavior, or that Midoriya was hiding something.
A small part of him thought the second option was the most likely, students aren't nervous about meeting a principal if they're not in trouble, but he reminded himself that this was Midoriya, this kid looked nervous when he talked with just about anyone.
Before Shouta could knock on the door to Nezu's office it swung open on its own, inside sat the Principle, paws holding up a cup of steaming tea, "Why hello Eraserhead, what do I owe the pleasure for a visit?"
Shouta walked inside, doing his best to remain stoic, Nezu had this way of being able to make you seem like you were being examined under a microscope. Even if Shouta was here to dole out punishments for other students, he felt like he was the one being scrutinized. Undoubtedly the three students were probably feeling that same pressure he was, probably more.
Midoriya looked a little freaked out now, his hands trembling slightly as he followed after Shouta, Bakugo had lost the glare, his hands clenched tight as he was obviously fighting back a fight or flight response.
Hatsume Mei however, looked as cool as a cucumber. Not even flinching when she met Nezus eye. 'Just what is up with this girl?'
"Ah, hello again Mrs. Hatsume, and I see Mr. Midoriya and Mr. Bakugo are here too, it's a pleasure to finally meet you both," Nezu had that small little creepy smile that hinted at how predatory he could be. It sent shivers up and down Shouta's spine just seeing it.
Hatsume raised a hand, "Sup teach." The pure gall. Shouta couldn't decide if she was brave or foolish but he could admire the unwavering way she faced Nezu. If only she was in the Hero course.
Midoriya flinched at the smile, but managed to stammer out "hello Principle Nezu, it's nice to meet you too." Bakugo averted his eyes, fists balled but didn't reply.
Nezu hummed, putting down his teacup and said, "I've been meaning to have a meeting with you Hatsume, ever since Powerloader sent me the estimated cost of your project, I've had questions. Two tons of Chromium cobalt nickel alloy, One and a half tons of ceramic, one ton of titanium 5, a half ton of Carbon nano-tubes, and a ton of polymer-487, along with a variety of various microchips and over ten miles of wiring. Am I missing anything?"
"Five pounds of deuterium and tritium. Although I could get away with around 10 pounds of hydrogen," replied Mei.
"Ah yes, those items," Nezu regarded Mei with his beady eyes, "Tell me, what do you plan on making with those particular materials?"
Mei responded rather enthusiastically, "A fusion reactor capable of generating several hundred thousand megawatts to power a 20 meter tall mech. Why? Do you want one?"
Shouta was sure he heard that wrong. No way was a second year student wanting to create a nuclear reactor. And he was beyond certain that Nezu would outright refuse.
"I see. Well, Powerloader did say you were rather ambitious. Very well Mrs. Hatsume, I'm looking forward to seeing this project, I'll approve your list in full." Oh. oh. Shouta had forgotten that Nezu delighted in chaos. Having a student try to make a nuclear reactor on campus was definitely something he'd do.
"Thank you very much sir," Hatsume chirped, giving Nezu a bow.
How come he gets a bow?
"Well, now that matters settled, tell me Eraserhead, what's this visit about? I'm sure it's not about Mrs. Hatsume's project." Nezu turned those beady, soulless, eyes on him.
Shouta cleared his throat as he said, "Well, it does Involve Hatsume, she got into a fight with Bakugo, because he reportedly has been harassing Midoriya." A simplistic explanation of what was happening but it got the ball rolling at least.
"I see. Mr. Midoriya?"
Nezu turned to look at Midoriya who squeaked out a "yes?"
"Has Mr. Bakugo been harassing you?" asked Nezu, a cold calculating look in his eye.
Midoriya seemed to hesitate for a moment, shooting a glance at Bakugo before taking a deep breath and saying in a shaky voice, "Yes sir."
Nezu leaned forward, propping his arms up on his desk. "Can you provide me details Mr. Midoriya? For example how Mr. Bakugo here has been harassing you."
Mirodiya stammered out, "Well, um, he um, he's been saying that I don't belong here and stuff, and umm, he's been pushing me against walls, and he's burned two of my sketchbooks, and he called Mei a, a, a, b word."
"And how long has this been happening?" asked Nezu.
"Since second grade," replied Izuku faintly.
Nezu leaned back in his chair, the predatory smile gone. Shouta was momentarily stunned, it's been going on that long? Why hadn't anyone else taken notice? Surely someone else had seen what was happening, surely Midoriya would have gone to someone, anyone and said something!
Perhaps he had, that explained things. Why he was so cagy around teachers and his classmates or nervous about meeting the principal. People had noticed and done nothing to stop this, he'd done nothing to stop this. He'd failed one of his students.
Again.
"Mr. Bakugo, is that true?" asked Nezu, his voice like ice. Bakugo flinched, but didn't reply, "I'll take that as a yes then." Nezu turned his on Hatsume, "And am I to assume you attacked young bakugo here when you found out these details?"
"Yeah, Midoriya's my friend. Bakugo destroyed his sketchbook. I know how much that thing meant to him, and for someone to destroy it just, pisses me off." Hatsume clenched her fist as she glared at Bakugo.
Nezu was quiet for a moment, his paws drumming a pattern on the desk as he thought, "Well, your heart is in the right place. But I can't allow students to attack each other regardless of the reason, two days of suspension for you Mrs. Hatsume."
All things considered, she got off light. "That's fair," answered Hatsume with a shrug.
Nezu turned on Bakugo, "As for you young Bakugo, a week's suspension minimum, and I'll be speaking with your parents. If I hear of any more harassment coming from you, I'll increase that suspension by another week."
"That's not fair!" protested Bakugo, "a weeks suspension? I never hit him or nothing, all I did was tell him that he didn't belong here! That tramp threatened to cave my skull in and she only gets two days?!"
"All students are welcome here Mr. Bakugo. We do not discriminate based on background or quirks. Mr. Midoriya could have arrived here quirkless and penniless and we'd have still accepted him, provided he met the minimum standards we set in place." replied Nezu coldly. "I will also be speaking with your father Mrs. Hatsume."
"Aight" replied Hatsume, seemingly unbothered by the whole situation. Not even batting an eye at Nezus cold unblinking beady little eyes. "I'll let him know to expect a call or text or home visit or whatever."
Shouta decided that if there was one gremlin in this school he could respect, it would be Mei Hatsume. He could see why Midoriya would hang around her. Hopefully some of that pure gall would rub off onto him.
"Very well, you three may go." As the three students made to leave Nezu called out, "oh and Mr. Midoriya, I'm truly sorry this happened while attending UA, if you ever need to speak with someone I'm sure Erasurehead or any of the other teachers would be happy to help you."
Midoriya froze, a stunned look on his face, before he bowed deeply to Nezu, sniffling out "thank you very much sir. I'll keep that in mind." He straightened and marched from the room.
When the door closed, Nezu spoke, "it seems your fears were right."
Shouta sighed, he had mixed feelings about this. Glad that he was able to at least do something, but also angry that it took him so long to notice. "I wish I hadn't been."
"I agree," hummed Nezu, "a promising hero candidate such as young Bakugo doing such things to a fellow classmate, saddens me. Any suggestions on what we should do with him?"
Shouta raised an eyebrow, hadn't they already doled out a punishment? "I don't follow."
"Giving young Bakugo a week's worth of suspension may not be enough." Nezu spoke slowly, "I want to try to reform him, if at all possible, before expelling him."
Shouta considered it for a moment. No doubt Bakugo would make a fine pro-hero one day if you based it on combat skills alone. The kid was smart too, one of the smartest in the class even.
But he was also a stupid teenager who acts more on hormones than logic.
He'd known plenty of teenagers that had been jerks only to gradually transform into relatively stable adults who managed to get their act together. Shouta himself was an excellent example.
"How do you suggest we go about doing that?" Asked Shouta curiously.
"I'll leave that to you Erasurehead, he's your student and you know him best," answered Nezu.
Shouta sighed, 'fantastic.'
As they walked back towards the support studio Izuku looked down at the floor, wondering why Mei had attacked Bakugo. He knew why, he knew it was because Bakugo was being an ass, but he didn't know why Mei cared.
But he was also too nervous to ask. Was she being serious when she said he was her friend? Surely she was, he couldn't think of any other reasons why she'd get that angry, more angry than he'd ever seen her get, about this.
Did he consider her his friend?
He was certainly more friendly with her than anyone else he knew. He hung out with her more than anyone else. So by all definitions, she was his friend. It wasn't the first time he considered anyone a friend. Bakugo at one point in time was that. A few people in middle school he'd thought were friends for a time.
But it felt different with Mei. Like a breath of fresh air. With all his past friends he had always held back some, guarding his words, adjusting what he said to best please their sensibilities. He had wanted them to like him.
But with Mei he felt like he didn't have to work at making her like him. He'd never held back his speech with her, never really thought about what he should say in order for her to like him more, he'd just said what was on his mind.
And she didn't seem to care that he liked to draw, or that he cooked his own lunches, or that he was a pro-hero fanboy. He felt like he could be himself around Mei. So, all things considered, even thinking about this logically, there was only one conclusion he could come to.
Mei was his friend. He felt his heart thump just a little faster, a pleasant warmth radiate from his center. The world looked just a little brighter, sounds just a little clearer, life seemed just a little sweeter.
"Not a bad punishment," grinned Mei, "After all this gives me more time to work on my babies."
Izuku rolled his eyes, of course she'd use this as an opportunity, "You're not worried about your Dad being angry?"
"Him? Nah, he probably won't care," Mei shrugged, "Hell, he might even be proud. I got into a fight in middle school once and Dad bought me a new welding kit."
Izuku frowned at her, she never seemed like the type of person to pick fights with people. Then again he didn't know a whole heck of a lot about her. Thinking about it though, he could see why she'd get into a fight, purely due to her eccentricities. "What did you get into a fight about?"
"Oh, some kid tried to take one of my babies, so I punched them in the nose," chirped Mei. Izuku gave her a side eye, 'note to self, don't touch her inventions until told otherwise.' Mei grinned, "Got detention for a week for that."
When they arrived at the support studio they were met by Power Loader, "what in the hell were you thinking?!"
Mei shrugged, "mostly that I was going to shove someone through a window?"
Power Loader threw up his hands, "Damn it Hatsume, you can't just go around threatening to beat up people. Even if they deserve it." Power Loader sighed heavily, putting his hands on his hips, "I already heard from Nezu that you've been suspended for two days. So as of now I can't let you into the workshop. You can come back next Tus-"
Mei interrupted him with an indigent shout, "What? Kicked out? You're kicking me out? You can't!"
"I just did" fired back Power Loader, "Your access card to get on campus has also been temporarily revoked so don't even think about trying to break in."
Mei sputtered, "I would never!"
Power Loader gave her a blank, unbelieving look, before turning to Izuku, "Make sure she stays out of trouble, kid."
Izuku nodded before stuttering, "Uhh, yes sir"
"This isn't fair! I have projects to do!" argued Mei.
"Do them at home," replied Power Loader.
"Well, um, I don't have the necessary tools to work on them at my house!" Continued Mei.
"Bullshit, you built those anti-gravity devices at home," Power Loader crossed his arms.
Mei pouted, crossing her arms, slumping slightly, and whined "It's not fair."
"Oh yeah? Well life ain't fair kiddo." Fired back Power Loader. He jerked his head at the door, "Midoriya, go get your stuff. And make sure to grab Hatsumes stuff too."
"Right, yes, sir," stammered Izuku as he scurried past Power Loader. He hurried over to Mei's workbench, grabbing his bag, then looking around he spotted another bag he realized might be Mei's. He grabbed it and saw the mark 2 drone sitting on the bench, parts strewn about it as if only mostly assembled. He quickly grabbed it, stuffing it into his bag along with the parts and hurried from the room. If he knew Mei half as well as he thought he did, she'd want something to work on.
When he left the room he found Mei and Power Loader glaring at each other, "Come on teach let me at least work on something for the rest of the afternoon!"
"No Hatsume, for the last time, go home," growled Power Loader.
"Come on Mei, I got your stuff," interjected Izuku.
"Not until he lets me get at least one of my babies," replied Hatsume, not breaking eye contact with Power Loader.
Izuku tugged on her sleeve insistently, "Come on," he nodded his head back to his backpack, trying to subtly give a sign he grabbed something.
She glanced at his backpack, eyes narrowing then seemed to get the hint, "Okay fine, I'm leaving. Happy?" She turned and marched off, muttering about how unfair things were.
"Not particularly" grumbled Power Loader as he shook his head, "I really picked the wrong week to stop smoking."
When they were finally out of earshot of Power Loader, Izuku felt Mei tug on his backpack, opening it and grinned when she saw what was inside, "Nice." She zipped it back up, patting his backpack proudly. "Let's skedaddle before Powerloader notices."
There was a noise behind them, a door slammed open, "GET BACK HERE YOU BRATS!"
Mei grins devilishly, "Race you to the entrance," before she started running down the hall. Izuku was about to protest, after all he was the one lugging around almost 40 kilos worth of stuff when he saw the seething face of Power Loader come around the corner. He started running after a cackling Mei.
Izuku came to a stop, leaning over putting his hands on his knees as he gulped down lungfuls of air. His backpack straps digging into his shoulder but miraculously was still intact.
"Ha ha! I won I won I won! You are slow you are slow! Ha ha ha!" Mei grinned, pointing at him. He recognized the teasing tone, he'd heard it more than once. But this was different, it didn't have the same sting. If anything it causes him to grin. "You owe me a prize now Midoriya."
Izuku chuckled as he slung his backpack off, "no trophies here sadly, but here's a consolidation drone." He pulled the drone from his backpack, handing it to Mei.
"Ah ha! My baby!" She took the drone, cradling it in her arms, "real quick thinking, grabbing it."
Izuku scratched the back of his head, "no big deal, it was a spur of the moment kind of thing."
"Still, thanks man. This will give me something to do for the next couple days," replied Mei seriously. She slipped the drone into her own backpack, then slung it on. Then with a sigh she said, "boy I am hungry. I'm thinking ramen sounds good. Real spicy ramen, like melt your face off spicy."
So she likes spicy food huh? Good to know. He'd have make sure to remember that. He watched her go, mumbling about where she should go for Raman. He turned to look back through the entrance of the school, he didn't want to go back inside, but the school day wasn't over just yet. Almost, but not yet.
"Hey! You coming or what?!" Yelled Mei as she waved at him.
Izuku was momentarily stunned, she had expected him to come with her? Sure she had been suspended but he still had a responsibility to attend the rest of his heroics class. Not that there was much time left anyways.
Then a part of him argued that he was already off campus, if he went back now, he'd be there for maybe ten minutes before the class was dismissed. It would be a waste of effort to go back now.
So, with one last look at the school, he jogged after Mei, quickly catching up. "Do you like your Raman spicy?" Asked Mei.
Izuku shrugged, "sometimes? But not like, super spicy, just a mild heat."
"Shame, I'm gonna have to fix that," there was an uncomfortably predatory grin on her face that Izuku did not like at all. His fears, it turns out, were well founded. The raman shop that Mei had insisted on going to had a logo where someone's mouth was on fire. "Come on, what are you, chicken?" Smirked Mei as she opened the door, the tinkling of a bell over them.
Izuku followed nervously, putting on a brave face as he stammered out, "N-no. I'm not chicken."
They took a seat at a booth, Mei humming as she perused the menu, "How about a wager?"
He did not like that smirk, not one bit. "Uhh, what kind of wager?"
"Simple, if you manage to eat an entire bowl, I'll let you choose where we go next ya?' Mei smirked, tapping the table calmly with a finger.
Izuku felt his heart skip a beat, this was way too similar to some of the manga he's read. 'Nope nope nope, just friends hanging out after school. Yeah. that's all.' He cleared his throat, meeting her eyes, "You're on."
"Atta boy!" Grinned Mei, "Yo two Hell Bowls please!"
'I'm sorry what? Hell bowl? What the hell have I gotten myself into?!'
A few moments later two bowls were placed in front of them, the broth was a deep red, he could see chili flakes swimming in the broth, even the noodles looked red hot. To top it all off there was a shriveled up small chilli nestled against the slices of pork. The steam stung his eyes and nose, just being near this thing was making his stomach twist. Mei licked her lips grabbing her chopsticks and said, "Oh yeah this is gonna be good."
She slurped up some noodles, and let out a contented sigh, "Oh yeah, that hits the spot."
Following her example he took a pair of noodles and slowly brought it to his mouth. He closed his eyes, quickly slurping down the noodle. He tasted a mild sweetness, he opened his eyes in surprise, looking down at the bowl, 'Oh, that's not too bad, maybe a touch of heat but overall no-OH SWEET BUDDHA!' The only way he could describe what he was feeling was that someone had punched his mouth with a chainsaw.
He coughed, spluttering as he struggled to suck down air, snot ran freely from his nose, tears streaming down from his eyes. He needed milk, water, anything! He grabbed the water brought and chugged it down, the stinging pain lessened slightly, but only for a moment before returning full force. He could hear Mei laughing loudly, see her doubled over in the booth clutching her stomach.
"You good kid?" asked one of the cooks with a massive grin.
Izuku felt his pride as a man on the line, he fought to control his coughing, holding up a thumbs up at the cook. Before reaching up to grab his chopsticks again, he won't lose that easily to this bowl from hell. With shaking hand he fished out more noodles, sucking them down quickly, hoping that the stinging pain would be lessened if he did.
It didn't.
It very much didn't.
His mouth wasn't on fire, it was the whole volcano. How the hell can Mei eat this stuff so easily?
Mei was already halfway through her own bowl, and he'd only gotten a few bites. When she finished she let out a contented belch, her face flushed red as she pushed her empty bowl away, she'd even eaten the pepper! "You good buddy?" Her cat-like smirk brought him no end of frustration. She knew very well that he was not alright.
Izuku eyed his bowl, panting as he fought against the desire to just throw up. He wasn't going to finish this was he? No, he concluded, no he wasn't. Swallowing his pride, he pushed his own bowl away, "Nope, I can't, that's as much as I can handle."
A few moments later a cook came by, picking up the bowls, "No shame kid, be proud." He nodded to a far wall, "you did better than most." On the wall there's pictures of various people with crimson faces, some with vacant expressions, others in an ambulance.
He and Mei paid for their bowls and left, "What the heck was in that?"
"Carolina reapers," chirped Mei, "The hottest pepper known to man." Izuku gave her a hard stare, she set him up! Mei just grinned back, "And since you lost, you gotta go where I want." Izuku internally groaned and was resigned to an afternoon being towed around from store to store.
Izuku was both pleasantly surprised and not surprised at all when Mei dragged him to Mustafu's beach. The beach currently covered in mountains of junk and scrap. He should have known that Mei wouldn't be content doing normal things a girl her age would. He should have remembered that Mei isn't like any of the other girls, and would instead enjoy picking through rusted out cars more than looking at cute dresses.
She strolled through the trash piles, hemming and hawing at various items. She pawed through piles of trash, pulling out various items and handing them back at Izuku to hold. Everything from small corroded pieces of metal to sand covered circuit boards. He doubted any of the electronics worked anymore, but he also wasn't a genius inventor, so what did he know?
Mei's impromptu salvaging mission ended several hours later just as the sun was starting to set, "Alright, I think this'll do me for a while." grinned Mei, hands on her hips as she examined the haul of salvage in Izuku's arms. He struggled under the weight of all the scrap, unable to see around it, 'thank god.' He felt the weight ease as Mei lifted nearly half of the scrap from his arms, giving his aching back a slight reprieve.
"Come on bud, let's get these back to my workshop!" Mei chirped as she started walking back up the hill and away from the beach. Izuku adjusted his grip on his load and followed after. He saw some people shoot them odd looks as they walked down the street, arms full of trash, Izuku felt his face heat up in embarrassment, feeling self conscious about being seen doing this by all these people.
Mei however didn't seem to notice or care, she just talked about ideas for her next invention, some sort of laser generator or something. When they finally arrived at her house Mei dumped her armful of scrap on the front lawn, Izuku followed her example, setting his load down next to her pile. Mei grinned and nodded, "Fantastic, thanks Midoriya."
Izuku nodded, rubbing the back of his neck, "Yeah, no problem Mei." He felt slightly awkward continuing to stand there in her front yard, uncertain of what to do now. He felt like he needed to break the silence, "Hey, umm, so, we're friends right?"
Mei nodded, "Yeah? I thought it was obvious."
Izuku felt that familiar warmth from earlier in his chest, "Yeah, so, cool, so umm, like, I don't want to sound weird, but umm, when's your birthday?"
Mei regarded him for a moment, then said, "Actually it's today."
He felt as if his stomach dropped out, he was too late, he should have asked earlier, "Oh, well, um, happy birthday."
A small smile appeared on Mei's face, "Thanks Midoriya."
Izuku fiddled with the hem of his shirt, "Hey, um, since we're friends, you can, um, you can call me Izuku, if you want to." The words came out strong at first, but as he spoke his voice started to fail him, at the end coming to a murmur. It felt awkward just saying that, why the heck did he even say it in the first place? Would she think he was coming on too much? Was he coming on too much? Was it weird? Probably, maybe even a little creepy. God why did he say that?!
Mei furrowed her brow, experimentally saying, "Izuku," sounding out each syllable as if testing it. He fought down an embarrassed flush. She chewed on her lower lip as she continued, "Huh, that is faster and more efficient. But maybe a nickname would be better. Mido? Izu, Zuku? Mizuku? Idoria? Zudoria? Mizuku? Huh, I'll workshop that and get back to ya." Mei nodded, seemingly coming to a decision.
Izuku didn't know if he would particularly enjoy being called some of those, but it was a right side better than the other nickname he'd been called before, A thought crossed his mind and before he could stop himself the words tumbled out of his mouth, "In that case, maybe I should start calling you Hatsu, or something."
Mei snorted, "Or something? You threatening me, Zudoria?" A wry smirk appeared on her face.
Zudoria? What a ridiculous nickname, fine, she wants to play this game he'll be happy to play back, "Yeah, yeah or something, like, like, like," okay, maybe he couldn't play this game. "Like, Mei mei!"
Mei paused, okay, maybe he'd said something weird. But before he could even attempt to retract the name Mei let out a howl of laughter, "Mei Mei? That's the best you got? Mei Mei?" Mei wheezed as she tried to catch her breath, "Oh jeez I almost wet myself." She patted his shoulder, "You gotta work on your naming skills my dude. Get creative."
Izuku flushed with embarrassment, "Right, yeah."
When Mei finally stopped laughing she grinned, "Well, its been a blast, but I don't wanna keep ya, I'll go get this stuff put away an-"
Mei was cut off by the front door of her house crashing open, "Mei Arabella Hatsume!"
Mei froze, letting out a whispered, "oh shit." Mei went pale.
Mr. Hatsume glared at Mei, his arms crossed, "Get your ass inside and explain why I got a call from your school letting me know you're suspended!"
"I gotta go, I'll umm, I'll see you later," she shot an apologetic glance at him, "Maybe."
She turned, hurrying inside under the stern glare of her father. When she disappeared inside that stern glare turned on him, causing him to flinch back. "You should get home young man, it's getting late." The door closed with a slam. And Izuku's shoulders slumped, he hoped that Mr. Hatsume wouldn't be too hard on Mei. He wished he could have done anything to lessen the degree of her punishment.
He lingered there for a moment longer, before he turned and headed for home. His mom would worry if he stayed out much later. When he arrived at the door to his apartment he heard talking inside, two voices, both feminine. One was his mother, he didn't recognize the other one, it sounded muffled even though the thin door and walls.
He took a steading breath unsure of why he even felt so nervous, before he opened the door.
At the creek of the hinges swinging open the conversation between his mother and the other woman stopped, both tuning their heads to see who entered. "Izuku," said his mother in a whisper.
The other woman it turned out was Mrs. Bakugo, who was also on her knees in front of his mother, her eyes red and puffy. She hurriedly stood, smoothing out wrinkles in her skirt. "Izuku," she didn't meet his eyes, instead she stiffly bowed to him, "I'm sorry, about Katsuki. The school told me everything."
Izuku felt his heart skip a beat, unsure of what to do, he gently said, "no no, you umm, you don't need to-"
"Yes I do. It's a mothers job to look after her children. Make sure to teach them right and wrong, and I failed. I'm sorry. Please, forgive me," there was a slight quiver in Mrs. Bakugo's tone as she spoke.
Izuku had no idea what he was going to do, he'd never had anyone apologize like this to him, seeing someone almost at the point of prostrating himself at his feet, felt wrong to him somehow. He took a breath, letting it out slowly, "Its, it's not your fault Mrs. Bakugo. Please, you don't have to apologize."
Mrs. Bakugo straightened slowly, her eyes pointedly avoiding his, locked on the floor to her left, "Still, I feel like some responsibility is mine and you and Inko have my most sincere apology nonetheless. I'll make this right, I promise I will." She took a slow breath, then turned to face his mother, "Inko, I'm certain that if I were in your position, I'd have probably hit me by now."
"Mitsuki," his mother said softly, reaching out to take Mrs. Bakugo's hands in hers, "You're one of my oldest friends, I'd never hit you. Do what you feel like you need to do, but I forgive you." There were tears welling in her eyes.
Mrs. Bakugo sniffled, before throwing her arms around his mom, "Oh Inko, I don't deserve friends like you." His mother chuckled dryly through her tears as she gently patted Mrs. Bakugo's back. After a moment the two let go of each other, a small smile on Mrs. Bakugo's face, "I should head home now, I've got a brat to set straight." She turned, heading for the door, as she passed Izuku she paused, "If Katsuki does anything, let me know and I'll set him straight."
Izuku nodded, although he wasn't sure if he meant it.
The door shut behind Mrs. Bakugo with a *clack* leaving him standing in the hall, facing his mother alone. He felt a sudden pressure as the room dropped a few degrees as she gave him an intense look. "Izuku, why didn't you say anything to me?"
"I-" Izuku paused, not able to look his mother in the eye, hollow excuses springing to his mind, he considered them for a moment, but decided against it. "I don't know."
His mom bristled, "You don't know?" She put her hands on her hips, "You don't know? You kept this a secret from me for gods only know how long, why didn't you come to me about it? I could have done something!"
Izuku stared down at his shoes, he could have, but at the same time this was his problem to deal with, not hers, "It's not your problem to deal with." He regretted the words the moment they came out of his mouth.
"Not my problem?! Izuku I am your mother, it's my job to protect you," her voice raised in pitch as she spoke, steadily becoming more emotional. "What is it? Do you think I'm incapable of helping you?"
'Yes' "No, no mom, I just, It was my burden to bear. If I'm going to be a pro-hero, I need to be able to stand up for myself." He clenched his fists tightly, "And I didn't want to worry you."
"Didn't want to worry me? Well, I'm worried now." His mothers tone had softened, "Izuku, honey, all I want to do is help you, and I can't help you if I don't know."
He felt his heart ache, tears welling in his own eyes, he didn't like lying to her, he never did. But for some reason he can't stop himself, he hates when she's sad. A small part of himself fought back, 'no, it's not like she could do anything. And if she somehow did, and Bakugo found out, then the situation would have only gotten worse.' He mentally quashed that thought, pushing it back into the corners of his mind.
"Yeah mom, I know," replied Izuku softly, that small part of him rolling its metaphorical eyes in response.
"Good," said his mother, "now, you've got some explaining to do mister" she put her hands on her hips, expression changing to a serious stare, "who the heck is this Hatsume Mei I heard about?"
He felt his face heat up slightly, oh geez, "They're a friend."
"So what? Are you making friends with people who attack other people? Just what kind is school is UA?" Asked his mom, her voice rising slightly in volume.
"Mom! Mei doesn't go around attacking people!" At least, he was pretty sure she didn't.
"Well today they did," his Mom pointed at him, "and don't think I hadn't noticed every time you come home from this, Hatsume characters house, you have bruises and you walk like an old man."
"That's because I'm training mom! Mei's helping me learn how to fight!" Izuku felt a flair of annoyance.
His mom regarded him for a long moment with a stony stare, "then why the heck are we paying for you to go to UA? Aren't they teaching you how to fight?"
They….hadn't really done much on that front. Most of their training was physical exercises. They'd done a handful of drills and combat exercises, but nothing actually requiring skill.
"Well, yeah, a little," Izuku scratched the back of his head.
"A little? Only a little?" Demanded his mom before sighing, "well. I guess they know better than I do about all this. But why do you feel the need to learn how to fight before your teacher thinks you do?"
"I need to learn eventually, might as well start sooner rather than later," answered Izuku, that and Mei had affectionately described his fighting style as 'wet noodle drunken fish.' If he was going to keep pace with his classmates, he needed as much training as he could get.
"But why not learn from someone who can actually teach you? How old is Mei anyways?" Demanded his mom.
"Mei's, 17," replied Izuku. Almost saying 'she's' which would have opened a whole different can of worms he didn't even want to touch yet.
"Well, they don't seem qualified," grumbled his Mom, "I take it there in the pro hero course at least."
"No, Mei's in the support course. Sh-they're actually my support tech," Izuku hoped that his mom didn't notice the slip up.
By the narrowing of her eyes, she did, "hold on young man. Mei is a she?"
There's no weaseling out of this, is there? Might as well bite the bullet. He nodded, "Yeah."
His mom was quiet for a moment, seemingly internalizing this new development, "and, this Mei Hatsume, is just a friend? A friend who you routinely go to her house on weekends? A friend who, I would bet, is who you're making all those lunches for?"
He. Was. Screwed. "Yeah?"
"Uh huh," his mom nodded slowly, "I see, and is Mei the reason why you came home late?"
"Yeah?" Replied Izuku hesitantly.
His mom crossed her arms, "so what's her favorite food?"
Izuku gulped, he could guess where this line of questioning was going. He stuttered out, "spicy food."
"I see, when's her birthday? What did she like to do in her free time? Does she have any favorite music?" The questions came thick and fast. His mothers demanding look compelled him to answer.
"Umm, well, she likes inventing, and any loud music, and her birthday, was, today," he braced himself.
"Oh? So it was today eh? Did you get her a gift?" Asked his mom pointedly.
"….no. I didn't know until today," said Izuku quietly.
"Hmmmm," his mom tapped her foot, "well, we're just gonna have to fix that huh? You said she likes to invent things right? Well, how about this weekend we go find something for her, then you can introduce this Mei Hatsume to me. Hmmm?"
It felt less like a suggestion and more like an order. He sighed as he nodded, "yeah, mom. Yeah that sounds good."
"Good. Go get cleaned up for dinner," his mom turned, a small smirk on her face as she into the kitchen.
And scene!
First things first, I'd like to apologize to anyone with experience in material engineering. I'm no engineer. And while I will try to be, erm, somewhat realistic with how stuff works, I don't have much processing power left in meh brain for it. I've been busy learning how soil does soil things.
But, like, Google is my only source for this stuff too, so if it bothers you too much, let me know.
Also, out of sheer curiosity, would anyone be interested in starting a Discord server? I'll host since I brought it up, but I've seen other authors start one for their stories and I'd think it would be neat if we started one too. If not, I completely understand.
Whelp, that's all she wrote (for now.)
Toodles!
(👉ﾟヮﾟ)👉