"Good morning, Ms. Inko."

Yu reached out and shook Midoriya Inko's hand as she took a seat at the corner booth. She returned it with a smile. "Good morning, Yu, and please, you don't have to refer to me as a 'Ms'." They were meeting in a cafe near the new shopping plaza in Musutafu. Yu was sufficiently dressed up to avoid being recognized with an elegant pair of sunglasses to boot. Inko was dressed in scrubs, underneath a pale cardigan.

"No problem, Inko." She quickly followed up with, "How's Midoriya?"

"Recovering, slowly, steadily." She then asked, "Have you contacted him at all?"

"Since he was discharged? A text or two, but…" Yu rubbed her cheek. "Well, it's all been kinda chaotic since Woods has been… out of commission." She sighed, "I didn't realize how much he patrolled, and people where he usually did patrol have been… jumpy. Lots of false alarms."

"Are you doing okay?"

"Tired, but I'll be fine." She offered, "How are you?"

"Going back to work has been… fulfilling in its own way," said Inko. She cleared her throat. "What do you know about U.A?"

"Uh… It's one of the most prestigious schools in the country… Um… a bunch of Pro-Heroes, usually alumni, teach there," Yu answered. "I actually had an interview set up with one of the teachers about Heroine costumes, but after the whole—well, you know."

"Hm…"

"Why do you ask?" she asked.

"Izuku received an offer to attend U.A. by its principal," answered Inko. "Since Recovery-Girl works there and all…"

Yu nodded, "But, he's already attended Shiketsu for over half a semester."

"And, he's made very good friends there…"

"So, why consider U.A.?"

Inko was quiet for a moment before saying, "Has Izuku informed you what happened when the Hero Killer attacked Ingenium near Shiketsu? Or rather, what happened after?"

Yu shook her head before Inko laid out everything that had happened that day of the Sports Festival. As she told the story of how her son encountered the Hero Killer, her face reddened and tears welled up in the corners of her eyes. In spite of the offer to stop, she persisted. She told the Hero about how Ingenium was saved, Midoriya was hospitalized, and mostly… how the school responded.

"I can understand the thought process, but…" Yu shook her head. "You're worried about how they'll treat him now."

Inko sighed, "I've been waiting for the Principal's call. Some long-winded reason as to why he has to be punished, but… nothing."

"Maybe, they won't."

"Maybe." She shook her head. "I'm just… worried." She fidgeted with her cup. "If he's going to continue this, he needs a place that will actually support him. Look out for him."

Yu rubbed her cheek. "Well, Shiketsu has been helping us keep his name out of the media."

"But is that because it's the right thing to do or just for their own self interest?" she questioned.

"That…" Yu trailed off. "So, you think U.A. is a safer choice?"

"The Principal himself invited him." Inko frowned, "It has to be, right?" She blinked, "W-Wait… that boy…"

"What?"

Inko almost scowled, "A boy that used to bull— " She seemingly corrected herself. "A boy that I don't want Izuku anywhere near attends U.A. now."

"Bad influence?" offered Yu.

"Something like that," was admitted.

After a beat of silence, Yu nodded, "A rock and a hard place…"

"I just want what's best for him…" murmured Inko.

"That's natural…"

"There's a part of me that doesn't want him involved in any of this, but…" Her head fell back, rubbing her brow. "There's a part of me screaming that he'll get involved anyway. That… his best chance at being alive and happy would be trusting someone…"

"U.A. or Shiketsu…" murmured Yu.

"No… Not them…" muttered Inko. Her eyes met Yu's. "What do you think?"

She blinked, "Me?"

Inko offered, "U.A. or Shiketsu? Hero Course or Field Support or none of it…"

"But—But, why me?" she questioned.

"I told you. My mind is… too muddled…" She sighed, "I just… I want a second opinion."

Yu leaned back in her seat as flickers crossed her face. "Me… I…"

"I heard your voice on the news," said Inko. "When he was… When he was dying… I heard you." After wiping tears from her eyes, Inko's eyes met Yu's. "I trust you."

"I…" She took a deep breath. "Okay… okay…" She leaned forward. "Just… let me think."

Inko lowered her head. "I am sorry for this."

"Don't be," countered Yu before she smiled. "I want to help."

-XXX-

To leave for school in the morning with her hair just right, it took Ashido Mina a long time to get ready. Half of that time was usually spent in the shower – a nice, long, hot shower. Though, nowadays, she doesn't have as much time as she used to. It was all because of the scar on her back. It didn't… react well to the pelting of hot water. However, she thought, "Recovery-Girl said that I'd be physically fine…", as she dried herself off with a towel. "Is it just… all in my head…?"

Then, she got dressed in her seasonal uniform before hesitating at the cap. Her hair was perfectly dry and beautifully floofy, and… now she had to squish and matte it down underneath a stupid hat. "The horns don't help," she muttered. The cap wasn't modified at all by the school. In fact, when she requested assistance in that matter, all that was given when she got the uniform were instructions on how to modify it herself without breaking regulations.

Mina dusted herself off, looking at herself in the mirror of her bathroom. With monsoon season rolling in, in spite of the spring heat, she and everyone else were still stuck in their winter uniforms. "This sucks…" she thought.

"I gotta be careful…" She muttered as she adjusted her black knee socks. "If my sweat turns acidic for any reason, I'll be really screwed." Once she was comfortable with her uniform, she pulled her bag onto her shoulder and started towards Shiketsu High.

Mina felt her phone buzz as she walked down the sidewalk. Once she fished it out of her bag, she found a message from her little brother. "He made it to school…" She smiled as she texted him back. "We're talking again~…! Yay~...!"

"AH—!" her messaging was cut short as she smacked into a boy's back – nearly knocking them both to the ground. She fumbled around with her phone, catching it from its horrific downfall. "I-I'm so sorry!"

Kaminari turned around, almost laughing, "Whoa there!"

"Sorry, I was…", she made sure her text was sent before tucking her phone back into her bag, "-just texting someone."

"Ah, no worries," he said, waving it off as he rubbed some grogginess from his eyes.

Mina asked, "Don't you usually walk over with Midori?"

"Ah, yeah, sometimes." He shrugged, "He, uh… had to head over early."

She frowned, "What for?"

"Didn't say," he replied.

"Hm…"

Kaminari scratched his cheek. "Hey, you doing alright? 'Cause you're a lot more… low energy than usual."

"Oh, uh…" Mina waved her hand. "Ah, it's just family stuff…" She blinked before saying, "Oh, um, Nakai got back to me! Woods is awake! Still in the hospital, but… he's awake."

"That's great!" Kaminari lightly punched her shoulder. "Sounds like the bastard that attacked you guys didn't get anything he wanted."

"Could say the same for you, right?" she offered as she nudged him back.

He pushed his hands into his pockets. "Ah… yeah… But, my asshole got away."

She stifled laughter. "Pfft!"

"Huh?"

"Is that a new Quirk you got?" she giggled. "I understand why you didn't tell any of us."

"W-What? No!" cried Kaminari. "You know that's not what I meant!"

Mina took a breath. "Can—Can you imagine what that would look like?"

"Ugh, no!" His face contorted harshly. "I don't wanna—" He heaved and gagged.

She burst into laughter, pointing in his direction.

"That's so gross!" He stumbled down the sidewalk, finding a perch against a stone wall. "Why would you put that in my HEAD?!"

Mina clutched her stomach tightly as she let her laughter roll.

Kaminari heaved again. "It's NOT funny!"

As Mina gasped for air, wiping a tear from her eye, she caught the sound of an approaching vehicle. She looked over her shoulder, and saw a long, black car pulling up along the sidewalk. Its tinted window in the back passenger seat rolled down.

"Kaminari, Ashido? Is everything okay?" offered Yaoyorozu.

Ashido smiled, "Yao!" stepping forward. "Hey!"

"Ugh…" groaned Kaminari as he pushed off the wall, stepping away. "Yaoyorozu?"

"Kaminari, you look pale," she observed.

Kaminari waved his hand. "Aw, that's just 'cause—" Mina's elbow dug into his side. "AH!"

She then excused, "He just had a bad breakfast."

"Oh…" she frowned before turning to, seemingly, the driver.

"What was that for!?" he questioned in a barely contained whisper.

"We can't tell Yao about the 'asshole' bit!" she whispered. "It's—It's too crass for her."

He muttered, "You're just embarrassed that you laughed that hard…"

"Come on, you really want to explain to her why it was funny?" she reasoned.

"Hm… no…" admitted Kaminari.

Mina nodded, almost chuckling, "Good, me too."

After some words were exchanged, Yaoyorozu pushed open the door, stepping out and onto the sidewalk. "Let me walk with you both to school." Normally, Yaoyorozu would've had her hair tucked into a ponytail or bun precariously placed in just the right place to allow for the assigned headwear. However, today, she allowed her hair to flow free behind her. She gave a concerned look to Kaminari, lightly patting his shoulder, as she walked to his other side. "Just to be safe."

Kaminari blinked, "O-Oh, thanks, Pres…"

"Please, call me Yaoyorozu," she offered. "I only wish to be referred to as Class President when acting as such."

"Are you sure you want to ditch your limo?" asked Mina.

"Limo?" she echoed. She giggled, waving her hand. "Oh, no, that's just one of the family cars!"

"One of…?" pondered Mina.

Yaoyorozu continued, "I would've offered for you both to join me, but I fear your nausea would just worsen in a vehicle."

"You're real considerate, Yaoyorozu," said Kaminari as they traveled towards the school.

She excused, "It's only natural." She then asked, "Though, if I may, how're you both doing?" Her head swiveled between them. "Your internships were particularly strenuous."

Kaminari shook his head. "Oh, I'm fine."

"Right as rain!" exclaimed Mina as she pumped her fist into the air.

"That's good to hear." She then asked, "What about Shinso? He's been frequenting the Danger-Zone in his free time quite often."

"Uh… he's just… working hard," reasoned Kaminari. "I mean, it's not too different from before the internship, right?"

Yaoyorozu considered that. "Hm… perhaps." She sighed, "I admit I wasn't paying much attention then."

"What about your internship?" offered Mina. "You were with a Hero Group, right?"

"Yes, the Wild Wild Pussycats." She nodded, "It was an interesting experience." She chortled, "For a mountain rescue group, we didn't do much rescuing, but they did teach me a lot about volunteer searches, things to look out for in the wilderness, and other such things."

"Ooh~, that sounds exciting!" cooed Mina.

"Thank you, Ashido," Yaoyorozu giggled. "And, in case I've overstepped, I do apologize for pestering the two of you." When both Mina and Kaminari unleashed a wave of denial, she held up her hand. "Please, I'm sure everyone's talked your ears off about your internships." She brought her hands in front of herself, fidgeting slightly. "I was just worried that… perhaps, you would both give a different answer in lieu of a crowd."

Kaminari shared a nod with Mina. "That's… pretty reasonable, Yaoyorozu."

"Good…" She smiled, "And you seem to be feeling much better, Kaminari."

"Uh, yeah, totally!" he laughed. "Guess talking to you makes people all better."

Mina punched his shoulder – multiple times while rolling her eyes. "Ugh, gross, yuck!"

"W-What?" replied Kaminari, shielding himself. "It's—It's true!"

Yaoyorozu giggled, shielding her mouth with her hand.

-XXX-

"So, you want to team up with me to make something new for Jirou?" echoed Uemura. She stepped away from her workstation to speak with Izuku. The workshop wasn't filled with its usual sounds of tools and materials. Instead, there was a great deal more of talking as everyone was considering the upcoming assignment. She rested the bottom of her shell against the edge of the work table, leaning against it.

"Yes."

"Hm…" She crossed her arms, raising a brow. "Why didn't you talk to me when you made the 'old' change?"

"I…" Izuku considered her question for a moment before nodding. "I made what I wanted without consideration of you or Jirou." He admitted, "The base of my work on that costume started off of yours." He signed, meeting her eyes. "I didn't talk to you because I didn't think to, and… I should've. I'm sorry."

Uemura blinked, "That… was a lot more sincere than I expected…"

"O-Oh? Um, what did you expect?" asked Izuku.

"Ah… uh…" She pushed off of the table, looking across the room. "You know what? Don't worry about it." She patted his shoulder. "It's a good thing."

"But, um, before you really agree to anything," said Izuku. "I can't really do anything… unautomated, so when it comes to manual soldering or welding or so on, I won't be able to help."

"Uh… That'll be fine." She then offered, "Where do you want to start?"

Izuku thought for a moment before nodding and shrugging, "Probably where I messed up."

"So, we need to take a look at her costume," said Uemura. "Did you put a request in for it already?"

"No, I didn't."

Uemura nodded, "That's where we start, then." The Support Course students walked over to a terminal connected to a pressurized delivery system. After a few screen taps and a text later, a familiar costume case shot down the tube before coming to a stop. Once the portion it sat in was repressurized, Uemura removed it and carried it back to her station. Then, Jirou's costume was removed from the case and settled upon a mechanical mannequin set to the Hero-in-Training's measurements.

"You just knew that off the top of your head?" questioned Uemura.

Izuku wiggled his fingers over the keypad. "I turned it into a pattern in my head; it has a rhythm to it." He explained, "It's like punching in my phone number, muscle memory. I didn't even know what the numbers actually were before I typed it."

"Why would you memorize it?" she asked.

He shrugged, "For this." He blinked, "I mean… what else would I use it for?"

"Nothing," she replied. She then cleared her throat, walking around the mannequin. "So, the costume…"

Izuku nodded.

"Okay… don't take this the wrong way," she started. "It doesn't look that great, appearance-wise."

"A bit too much function over form," he concurred.

Uemura elaborated, "Yeah, it doesn't really have that… Hero factor, and it doesn't really scream Jirou."

"Okay, yeah, I can see that," he said, putting his hands on his hips.

She then turned to her work table and the resting Support Item. "Now… Orpheus?" She bent low; her hands just gently hovered over the surface of it. "A custom, built-from-scratch electric guitar with built-in speakers that all doubles as a two-handed, electrified bludgeoning device…" She giggled as she straightened her back. "This is pretty metal." She nodded, grinning, "I completely understand why you wanted to make it."

Izuku smiled, crossing his arms. "Yeah, Jirou loved the guitar bit – not so much the axe bit."

Uemura reached over; her fingers just barely touched the scraps and scratches upon the 'business' end of the Item. "There's some damage to it…"

"Yeah, I had it when the…" he trailed off.

She looked between him and Orpheus, murmuring, "Whoa…" She turned to him. "Well, since she doesn't like it, are you gonna keep it?"

Izuku pushed up a laugh. "Ah… uh, I don't really need the guitar bit…"

"So get rid of the guitar bit," she reasoned.

"I…" His face contorted in consideration. Then, it relaxed in almost awe as something inside just clicked. "I can name it Eurydice…"

"Ooh, and they're a set!" Uemura laughed, "That'd be awesome!"

Izuku shook his head. "B-But, some other time… We gotta focus on Jirou's costume."

"Right, right…" She turned back to the costume, tapping her chin. "So…" She shrugged, "There are good ideas here, but it might be easier, and push back if you don't like it, to start from scratch."

He then just nodded, "Okay."

"That doesn't bother you?" she questioned.

"Why would it?" he asked.

"I'm basically asking you to throw away everything you made here."

He picked at the bandages around his neck. "Ah… well, I kinda did the… same. When I… remade it…"

Her eyebrow twitched, "Oh! So—so, it's like a tit-for-tat thing." As her jaw seemed to tighten, Uemura punched his bicep, "That works out fine," before stepping away.

As he turned to follow, Izuku rubbed the point of impact. "That was a little too hard to be playful…"

She rubbed her chin. "We'll need to get with her to figure out what this is gonna look like, but we can figure out how the Support Items might work out."

"Right." He noted, "She didn't like Orpheus – too unwieldy, heavy, not quite her style."

"Something lighter and easier to manage then," offered Uemura. "What's something a novice Hero can pick up and use without much training?" She pondered for a moment before asking, "Do you know what Hero she interned under?"

"Death-Arms."

She frowned, "Ugh… He doesn't use any Support Items…" Her hands landed on her hips. "Just throws punches…"

Izuku blinked, "...", before muttering, "Punches…"

"What?"

He walked over to a work table, pulling out some sketch paper. "What about… basically, boxing gloves using the weaponized speakers?" He roughly sketched what he thought of on the paper.

"Wouldn't that break her wrists?" questioned Uemura.

Considering that, he offered, "Not... if we build it into gauntlets." He drew the idea on the page. "Use them to brace her wrists and safely distribute the force."

"That could work…" She shrugged. "If she likes it."

"If."

"We'd have to shrink down the speaker a lot…" She shrugged, "The material we have is solid, but what about power? It'll lose a lot of bite."

"That'll get rid of the 'breaking her wrist' problem, won't it?"

"Ditch the gauntlet then?"

His head tilted, "Think it might be better safe than sorry."

"Fair." She patted on the table. "I guess we're working on a smaller speaker design today."

Izuku nodded, "Let's deconstruct a big one. See what we can get rid of."

"Aye, aye…" said Uemura, lightly punching Izuku's shoulder, as she walked towards the mannequin.

-XXX-

"Invited to the workshop during lunch… Feels familiar…" thought Kyoka as she made her way from the classroom to the workshop. She tucked her cap underneath her arm as she neared the heavy metal doors. With her whole body, she yanked one of them open before slipping inside.

Her head swiveled back and forth; her gaze skipping over those she either didn't know or weren't the object of her search. "Midoriya? Uemura?"

"Hey, Jirou!" Her eyes landed on the waving hand of Uemura, standing before the observational window of the testing range. "Over here!"

After exchanging a greeting, Kyoka asked, "What's going on?"

"Testing an idea." Uemura shrugged, "We're not gonna be able to work on your costume without your input. Support Arms are a different story though. Gotta get through a lot of prototypes before we have anything actually useful."

"So, what's the prototype?"

"A smaller version of the speakers you've had before," she explained. "Midoriya's setting it up for a test right now."

"Is this what you guys wanted me to see?"

"Uh, no, not really." Uemura leaned against the window's sill. "We need to figure out the direction of where we're going with your costume and Support Gear."

"Right, sure." She gestured between them. "How do we figure that out?"

"A series of questions: first, what style are you going for?" She teetered her head. "Do you want a skintight, classic suit look?" Kyoka couldn't help how deeply her face contorted. "That's a hard no."

She shook her head. "Y-Yeah, I, uh…" She let out a breath. "I mean… Don't get me wrong, there are definitely Heroes who can pull that off, but…"

"You don't think you can?"

"Think?" echoed Kyoka.

Uemura wagged her finger. "Hey, anyone can pull off whatever is properly tailored to them." The metal door to the range slid open with a hiss and out stepped, "Midoriya."

Her face felt warm. "W-Wait—"

"You think if we tailored an All-Might costume for Jirou she could pull it off?" asked Uemura.

His brow rose, "You want an All-Might costume? There'd be a lot of copyright issues for that—"

She glared into his eyes, pointing her jacks at him menacingly. "No!" She then turned to Uemura. "I… I'm not a fan of it."

"Ok, ok…" She offered, holding her hands up in surrender. "So, other than that… How about hard practical? Body armor, geared up, bulky – like Firebrand there."

"Firebrand?" echoed Midoriya with a quizzical look.

"No."

"Okay…" Uemura waved her hand. "Casual then? More akin to normal clothes than a flashy Hero costume."

Kyoka took a breath. "That… sounds nice."

"Normal clothes…" echoed Midoriya as he turned to the control panel beneath the observational window.

Uemura rubbed her chin. "Hm… Are you busy after school?"

"Uh… I don't have any plans."

She looked over. "Midoriya?"

"No, I don't," he replied.

"Jirou, why don't you take me and Midoriya to your preferred clothing store and show us what you like?"

Kyoka raised a brow. "Why a clothing store?"

"I assume you don't want to show what's in your closet to, uh… anyone." Uemura's gaze flicked past Kyoka – to the boy behind her.

"Clothing store it is."

"Good." Uemura jerked her chin to Midoriya. "You done setting that up?"

"Yep…"

Kyoka looked into the range. Beyond the internal control panel and safety glass, there was a little square object – about the size of the back of her hand. It was propped up on a stand and aimed towards a suspended brick further away.

Midoriya meddled with a few switches and dials. "Not too loud; not too quiet…" He lifted a plastic cover, unveiling a green button. "Three-second burst in… 3… 2…"

The button clicked as it was pressed down. A screech burst from the speaker, echoing throughout the chamber. The window both inside and outside rumbled and quaked, squeaking against the holds that bolted it into place. Though, that fell by the wayside as her eyes were drawn to the lifted speaker—specifically how it blew up.

"Ouch…" muttered Midoriya.

"Okay!" Uemura turned her around, ushering her towards the workshop's doors. "Don't worry about that!"

Kyoka struggled, "Wait, what were you planning on doing with that?" She questioned loudly. "Where was that supposed to go?!"

Despite the distance being put between them, she could've sworn that she could Midoriya muttering, "It wasn't supposed to be that loud…." He rubbed his chin. "Something must've been off with the control unit…" Then, suddenly, a warm, red and orange light flickered across his face from within the range. "ELECTRICAL FIRE!" he cried as he pressed a big red button underneath the panel.

An alarm sounded throughout the workshop, causing occupying students to shout, "Whey!", and, "Woo!"

After that initial reaction, some of what appeared to be older students started shouting, "SHAME! SHAME! SHAME!"

Mr. Abraham stepped out from behind his desk, silencing the crowd, as he made his way over to Midoriya.

With some extra effort, Uemura pushed Kyoka out the doors, shouting, "See you after school!" before they swung shut.

"What the hell just happened?" she muttered, shaking her head.

-\ XXX /-

AN: I didn't forget to post today. You forgot! :P

Thank you for reading and criticize away!

Update Window: May 4th - 10th

Intended Due Date: May 8th