Chapter 59: Blitz UNO
Izuku glanced down at his notebook, then back up at the display. "I'm… way over my head."
Today was a special day and Izuku was starting to wonder if he should have had a better idea what he was doing before deciding to swing by the mall, on his way to hang out with his friends.
"Definitely, definitely should have thought this through before showing up." A quick glance at the time made him flinch. He was short on time and needed to figure something out. He cursed himself for not getting specific in his notes under One Week Anniversary Gift Ideas.
Flowers, cards, chocolates, mochi, tea, jewelry… Izuku paused and did a double check on the jewelry prices. He fished out the money he had on hand.
Okay, don't think I can swing that today.
Still, there were so many choices. And Ochako deserved them all. Izuku just couldn't see himself handing Ochako a card and saying thanks. It just didn't seem enough. He could go for chocolates, but wasn't that a thing he should be doing on White Day?
Izuku started pacing, eyeing the shelf with all the gifts and baskets to hold them in. Some others in the store snickered, patrons went out of their way to avoid the weird kid. Workers started wondering if they should kick him out, since he was really weird.
"Ooooh, I know that look! That's the look of a young man in love!" Came a swooning, gushing sing-song voice.
Izuku blinked, his thoughts broken by the new voice. He turned, a blush on his cheeks ready, not to deny anything, but to wonder if he was really so obvious. Though it took him a second to reply since when he turned and didn't see anyone, he had to look down.
Beaming up at him, was a short, curvy woman with bright raspberry pink hair, tied into extremely large pigtails. Her large eyes seemed to sparkle and she had a bright flush to her cheeks while she smiled up at Izuku, looking like she was enjoying the little show he had been putting on.
"Gentle, Gentle look, isn't he adorable! Oh, to be young and in love is the best."
A very refined man hurried around the aisle, doing his best to keep up his appearance, while also looking strangely on edge. "Y-yes La… Honey. But let's not use our… private names too openly, hmm? We've only just started, but you never know who those viewers are."
The young woman looked up at the man, gasped, and covered her mouth.
Izuku wasn't sure if he had just heard something he wasn't supposed to hear. Though the man didn't seem too upset, just smiling down at the woman, stroking the top of her head and whispering soft kind words to her, which got her swooning.
Such forward public displays of affection were a rare sight. But the way the two seemed so intimate with each other, Izuku felt a little jealous. Since Ochako wasn't there for him to get to do all that to her.
"Now L… Honey." Oh, how the woman swooned. "What was it you wanted? Was it the flowers or…?"
"Gen…Hubby," the man stood a little straighter at that name, "he was so lost, I just had to show you."
"Ah! A fellow man looking for trinkets and gifts to woo the heart of a young love." The man wiped a tear from his eye. "It moves this old-timer to see the younger generation thrown into the fires of passion."
Honey frowned. "You're only thirty-one."
Hubby flinched. "Dear, please don't say the number."
Honey just turned her attention back to Izuku. "So, so in love," she smirked, "but so clearly lost. What can the greatest love expert in the modern age do to help!"
Strange as the whole situation was—it wasn't like it was normal for random strangers to stick their noses into things like this—Izuku wasn't about to turn down some advice from a couple that clearly had some of that magic Izuku wanted. "W-well, it's our one week anniversary and I wanted to do something to celebrate. I'm just… not sure what to get her."
Honey rubbed her chin, pink eyes sparkling. "Hm …" Then she snapped her fingers. "Propose!"
Smoke exploded from Izuku while Hubby fell back, all refinement gone, and bounced off the floor. "H-Honey!"
Ochako blinked and looked up. "Huh?"
It was like the universe itself just tapped her shoulder.
"Bu bu bu, we gotta form our agency and even before that there's graduation and and and our licenses too!" Izuku started sputtering and stuttering. "I can't can't just propose now!"
Hubby, back on his feet, blinked at those very specific things and took a second to get a good look at Izuku. "Young man… you wouldn't happen to have been on T.V. recently, would you?"
Izuku, back to what could pass as normal, nodded. "Um… maybe the sports festival."
Hubby, sucked in a sharp breath. "Ah. Yes. Now I recognize you." Even Honey was giving Izuku a strange, almost guarded look.
Hubby leaned down, so he could whisper something to Honey, who nodded, before whispering something back. Then she frowned and motioned over to Izuku. Hubby scratched his head, but nodded.
"Young man, I apologize but Honey here has reminded me that if we delay any longer, we may miss our reservations. However, it wouldn't do to leave without offering some advice!" He exclaimed at the end.
Honey nodded vigorously. "When showering someone you love with affection, never be restrained! Go all in! Everything you do, should make the person you love feel swept away."
"What's your school's motto? Plus Ultra, right?"
Izuku's eyes went wide as he nodded. Oh, that made so much sense.
"And," Hubby scanned the shelves. "If you're looking at teas, I'd recommend this Gold Tips Imperial."
After offering their advice, the two made a hasty retreat while Izuku, taking their words to heart, picked out the largest basket the store had, and started filling it. Honey peeked around the corner to see this, and cheered before a hand pulled her away.
After putting a good bit of distance between themselves and Izuku, Danjuurou slumped against an alley wall and let out a huge sigh. "Too close!"
Manami nodded, looking worried and guilty. "I'm so sorry, Gentle! I just saw that kid fretting and—"
Danjuurou put a hand on her head, calming her down with a smile. "It's okay, La Brava. It's not like you could have known." Manami latched onto Danjuurou, cooing at the petting. "Plus, it's not like the boy recognized us."
That got Manami to pout. "I gotta do more to get our videos more viewers."
"I'm sure you'll figure it out."
Relaxing, the pair caught their breaths, and then happily went on their way. Though both were a little disappointed that they weren't going to get to learn how the advice they gave to the young man would turn out. After all, it wasn't like they would ever run into him again.
"Soooooo, what is it?"
"Touch it."
"Fuck you."
"Language please, we are on school grounds."
"This is my fucking room, you don't come in here and play the language card."
"What if Midoriya brings Eri?"
"…He's not, is he?"
"Kinda losing focus here, kero."
"Right. The thing."
The group all turned to the, for lack of a better word, red drone that was hovering in the middle of Himiko's living room. The main body almost passed for a cockpit, if not for the size. Maybe a baby could fit inside. To the side, large 'wings' with circular openings hummed softly as the propeller-less devices kept the thing in the air. It was about the size of two student desks put together long ways. The main body was red, with everyone noting the strange wrapping patterning to the metal. The front, which could be the canopy, was black and glass-like. Overall, it looked like a spaceship belonging to a small alien race.
Mei pulled out some tools. "Imma take it apart!"
"How about we don't piss off the flying potential death bot?" Hitoshi begged.
"And it was just… here?" asked Shouto, looking over at Himiko.
"It was hovering outside my window."
"… And you what? Let it in?"
"…"
Ochako rubbed her brow. "You called the teachers, right?"
"…"
Mei beamed. "Wow, even with multiple government agencies that don't like you, all of which have drone tech, you really don't care. You're so edgy."
Himiko blinked, looked at Mei, then the drone. "Oh… Right."
As a whole, the group of kids all took a step back. Mei however, just waltzed over to it, and walloped it with palm like she was trying to get an old T.V. to work. The drone's circular engines whirled to keep it floating. Himiko pulled Tsuyu with her as she hid behind Ochako, getting an annoyed 'HEY!' from the girl. Then the black screen started to glow.
"Welp, this is how we die, everyone!"
The light flashed, before suddenly a holographic projection came from the glowing glass and before the group, Melissa stood in front of everyone, waving excitedly. "Hi everyone!"
"Melissa?!" Ochako gasped. "What? How?"
The life sized projection smirked. "How do you like it?! I told you I'd be able to hang out with everyone."
Himiko glanced up. "Oh no, yeah, this is clearly normal. Instead of getting on a call, you send a fucking death drone to my living room!"
"Exactly! Phone calls are so last century. This works so much better."
The lack of denial of the 'death' part of that sentence was a little alarming.
Over the week since Melissa was added to the chat, everyone had been very active in talking. Izuku and Ochako had made some phone calls as well. Overall, everyone had put in the effort to make sure Melissa felt welcomed, even if she lived on the other side of the world.
Well, almost everyone. Mei and Melissa's 'chat' often devolved into schematic comparisons of their inventions and lots of 'friendly' back and forth over the different responsibilities a person in the field of item support should have.
But apparently Melissa had decided that video chats and text messages weren't going to cut it anymore. Especially for these game days. So, she did the only logical thing. Build a drone, stick a camera and holographic projector inside and send it flying around the world so it would be at Himiko's in time for game day.
Yup, totally normal.
The group only had a few minutes to compress this new normal, going back to prepping snacks and drinks, before there was a quick series of knocks at the door that got a grumble from Himiko. "I swear to god, if that's Midnight 'seeing if we need anything,' I'm stealing all her batteries."
Shouto frowned. "Making Midnight-sensei have to get up to change the channel seems like a very tame way for you to get revenge, Toga."
The silence as so many heads turned to look at him was audible.
"Hmm, Toga must be learning to not act out as harshly. Her rehabilitation must be making even greater strides," Tenya said with confidence.
More heads. The holographic display of Melissa looked at them. "Do… Do hero families in Japan go out of their way to shelter their kids?"
Hitoshi made a point of moving away from the other boys in the room. "I'm not affiliated with them."
Ochako rubbed her brow. "Please. Please, can we just let Deku be the innocent one. I don't think I can deal with you two acting like he does."
"Stalwart and brave?" Shouto asked.
Himiko promptly decided that dealing with Midnight was way more appealing than trying to deal with two young men that really should know better. Opening the door, Himiko was ready for whatever Midnight had to say. She was not ready for who, and what, was actually at the door. "What in the god damn fuck?"
"HAPPY ONE WEEK ANNIVERSARY OCHAKO!" Came the cheer from behind what could only be described as the largest god damned gift basket in the whole world. Stuffed to the brim with treats, and an ungodly amount of flowers, how Izuku had gotten it through any of the doors to get into U.A. was a mystery. Ochako froze, the bag of chips she had been getting ready to open floating out of her hands.
"Wha wha wha huh?!"
"Oh my god, Midoriya is one of those boyfriends," Melissa said while trying so hard not to break out into a fit of laughter.
"Uraraka is doomed, kero."
Izuku looked past the wall of flowers at Melissa's projection, and the drone. "Oh, cool!"
Himiko slapped her face into her hands. "Of course that's his reply."
"D-Deku, what is all this?" Ochako gasped as Izuku, with the biggest grin, walked over and handed her the basket, into her now wide stretched arms. "Oh, it's heavy!"
"It's your one week anniversary present, Ochako," Izuku beamed happily. Practically bouncing on his feet as Ochako took the basket and set it down on HImiko's tiny dinner table. When the plastic groaned under the weight, everyone not Izuku wasn't sure if they should take a step back to get out of the crash radius, or get ready to try and save anything.
Ochako began pulling items out, and was left stunned at the mountain she was starting to form from everything. "Deku this is too much! There's like so… Oh, mochi!"
"Well, that changed her tone," Hitoshi deadpanned while Shouto nodded.
Himiko just shook her head. "Okay, cute. But like who does this?"
"Yes, who would think that showing their partner such genuine love and affection could be such a good idea, kero." Himiko flinched back as Tsuyu was suddenly just beside her. Looking at her. With those big frog eyes. Unblinking.
"… Oh shit."
Long dramatic pause.
"Kidding, kero."
Back to Ochako, and now that she had unearthed all the gifts that had been buried under the small forest of flowers, with some petals in her hair, she looked back at Izuku, touched, but also a little panicked. "Deku, this was so sweet, but I didn't get you anything."
Izuku waved that off. "Oh, I didn't expect you to."
You could hear several sharp sucking hisses from the group, with Melissa slicing at her neck, trying to get Izuku's attention. Izuku blinked, played back what he just said, and realized. "Wait! I don't mean that in a 'you aren't considerate' way! I mean more, 'this wasn't a planned thing' kind of way!"
Many thumbs up were given at that save.
"So you like it?" Izuku asked, voice brimming with hope. Ochako walked over and gave him a loving kiss on the cheek. And you would think she'd just used her Quirk on him as he floated around the room looking so happy.
Once things had settled down, and Ochako had hissed at anyone going near any of her mochi treats, the group of friends were able to start their game day. The game of choice, Uno. Even though Melissa had sent the drone, it couldn't hold cards. So they still had to play on their phones or tablets. So when getting everything set up, rules had to be selected.
"Wait, rules? What rules? It's Uno," Hitoshi said while stuffing a handful of chips into his mouth.
"Seven-Zero: When someone plays a seven, that player must swap hands with another player. When anyone plays a zero, everyone rotates their hands in the direction of play," Izuku read off.
Melissa snorted. "Oh, that sounds fun."
"I have never heard that in my life. That can't be real, kero." Izuku held up his phone, with the rules of the match on them as she set up their lobby. Sure enough, it was an option.
"More rules can only enhance something," Tenya said with certainty.
Izuku nodded, clicking the rule confirmation. "Stacking plus four and plus two cards?" Thumbs up all around. "Okay, then I think that's everything. You all should get you invites and we'll be good to go," Izuku said excitedly, looking forward to some relaxing fun with his friends.
-Five Minutes Later-
"WHAT IS THIS GAME?!" Himiko yelled in complete fury as she was buried under a non-ending stream of cards. None of which she could play. "ARE YOU SERIOUS?!" More cards kept getting added to her hand. "GIVE ME A GREEN CARD! WHAT ARE YOU DOING, HOLY SHIT!"
Mercifully, a green was finally pulled from the deck, and Himiko could play it.
While she seethed, Shouto casually put down a green reverse card. Izuku had his hands over his mouth to fight back the laughter. "Oh no, don't do it."
Ochako didn't give a fuck and was openly suffocating from laughing so hard as the cards started getting drawn again, right into Himiko's hand.
"I DON'T HAVE A GREEN!"
More cards kept getting added.
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!"
-Thirty Minutes Later-
"FUCK YOU YOU ZERO PLAYING BITCH!" Himiko shrieked as once again, everyone's hands were rotated and her three card hand was now up to ten.
It was still their first game.
Stress eating had reduced their snack reserves to under half.
There were four knives sticking out of the walls and one buried in the floor.
Himiko had only thrown two.
Shouto was not impressed with Himiko as she swiped at his throat. "After that stunt you pulled earlier, did you think I was going to let you gain an advantage?"
"Stunt I pulled earlier?! THAT WAS OVER TEN MINUTES AGO!"
"I'm well practiced at holding a grudge."
Izuku had to turn away so no one saw his face at that line. At the same time, Ochako leaned over. "Hey… so we may want to try to cool things off." Izuku glanced at the knife in the floor. Driven in up to the hilt. "… Stop looking at that."
"I'm just saying—"
"Nothing. You're saying nothing."
Izuku cleared his throat. "So, cool things off?"
"Yeah, something to distract everyone before things get out of hand."
"Okay… Why me?"
Ochako shrugged. "I dunno. You're good with coming up with plans on the fly."
Izuku nodded, and gave this some thought. It'd have to be something drastic, and done soon. If another seven got played, or heaven save them, another round of plus four stacking, someone might actually get murdered.
Okay, brain, we need to make this a good one.
"Oh, did you guys know me, Ochako, Tsu and Toga are kinda in a trial proto poly thing."
Suddenly there was silence.
Good job brain!
While the room looked at Izuku, with varying levels of 'what the fuck' shock, then towards the rest of the quad, Himiko was doing her best not to laugh, Tsuyu was unreadable and Ochako was rubbing the pounding headache she was now dealing with. "I didn't mean that, Deku! You can't just say it like that!"
Izuku looked at her plainly. "You clearly didn't have a better plan, plus how else should I have told them about us?"
Ochako puffed up, a finger pointing at him. But her expression went blank as nothing came to mind. Finally she just turned back to the game. "So, whose turn is it?"
"Whoa whoa whoa, I'm sorry, you're going to need to back up and explain."
"Wait, are we surprised by this?"
"I think? I just go with the flow at this point."
"It is none of our business what type of relationship they are in. But if you're going to announce it you should do so properly with great detail."
"Wait, poly was an option?!"
Izuku blinked at that last one, buried under his other friends' reactions. "Hmm? Did you say something Melissa?"
Melissa's hologram flickered as she pulled at her collar and laughed. "Me? Noooooo. Nope didn't say anything… Oh look, it's my turn, I'll just put this green down." Melissa ignored that Himiko was giving her the side eye.
At the very least, Izuku's sudden relationship news did bring down the open hostility in the room by a few notches. For the next few hands around the table, the four more or less caught everyone up to speed. Tsuyu telling them that she had started crushing on Himiko since the USJ attack, got more than a few head nods from the original squad. Overall, things were good. No one pushed too deep into things, accepting that the four were trying things out, but also focusing on themselves at the moment.
Things were good.
-Twenty Minutes Later-
Things were good-ish.
No more knives had been pulled, and Hitoshi had only been frozen a little bit. The issue was, every time Mei moved, either to grab a drink or a snack, she would get very close to the drone. Melissa did not want Mei near her drone. A battle of support item inventors was starting to brew. In other words, two of the three crazies in the room were starting to rattle their sabers at one another.
It started off with small questions. Materials used in construction. The type of propulsion used. How the holographic projection worked. How the hologram copy of Melissa seemed to see from the hologram's eyes and not from a camera from the drone. That last one Melissa explained with AR glasses. Mei glowered at the floating drone while the projection of Melissa beamed proudly.
"This paperweight flew all the way here, huh?" Melissa's brow twitched as Mei lifted her hand to rap her knuckles against its side, only for it to hover away. "Nah, I wouldn't trust something so shoddy looking. I could have just built a projector here. Much more reliable."
"Shoddy?!" It could easily be a trick of the hologram, but it looked like some steam was coming from Melissa. Making Izuku and Ochako shared worried looks, both wondering if Melissa got peeved off enough, that she might lose control of her transformation. They both had to hope that the feed would cut away before anything got revealed.
"Plus, what are you supposed to do with this now? No chance U.A. lets an outside drone stay on campus. Were you going to guilt trip Midoriya or Uraraka into taking it home?" Mei shook her head shamefully. "Talk about not understanding a person's basic right to privacy and personal space."
Oh, how everyone in the room turned to look at her after that remark. Himiko leaned over. "Did she just…?" Tenya cleared his throat and shook his head. And maybe for the first time ever, Himiko listened to him.
Melissa ground her teeth, and promptly decided to go full American and get very proportional with Mei. Her hologram display brought up a website, listing off global patents. "I'm hearing a lot of talk from someone with… oh, no patents of their own. Would you like me to list mine?"
Mei stood up and glared up at Melissa. "Big talk from someone that scrounged her daddy's scraps to make herself look good. Talk to me when you make something yourself."
Izuku quickly moved to pull Mei back, because while he was sure there wasn't a real risk, he did not want to see if Melissa had put weapons on the red drone. Mei however wasn't done. "And what happened to that little piece of tech you gave him, huh? Oh right, it broke. Nothing I've made for Midoriya has broken like that! Ha! Check and mate, I'm the best!"
Hitoshi then decided he didn't want to live anymore. "Wait, didn't the crest you made for Midoriya combust after he took it out into the field for the first time?"
Melissa's smug laughter was drowned out by Izuku's panicked screams as Mei tried to feed Hitoshi his phone.
With some coaxing, and a lot of begging, Izuku finally felt safe in letting Mei sit and letting the game continue on. But Mei was still giving Melissa the stink eye even as the game continued on.
Hitoshi shook his head. "Man, anyone ever tell you you're a little possessive? Is this just a thing with inventors who make hero support items?"
Himiko, after her run-ins with the support students in the Development Studio, felt she had a pretty good answer for that. But it was Shouto that decided to answer, which was sure to go well.
"Women are very territorial."
Tsuyu tapped her chin. "Women or women inventors?"
"According to the T.V., yes."
Hitoshi sighed. "… Dude, you really need to stop using your sister's soaps as your one source of information on women."
Shouto nonchalantly just pointed at Ochako.
Then Himiko.
Then at Mei and Melissa.
Hitoshi nodded slowly. "Okay… but they're weird and got crazy mixed in." Hitoshi thumbed over at Himiko. Tsuyu croaked angrily at that last part.
Himiko patted her on the shoulder with a smile. "You're just proving him right, you know."
Mei was still glaring at Melissa, but chose to address this smear campaign against her. "I am not territorial. Even though Midoriya is my client, I'm going to let Uraraka date him and take up more than her fair share of my baby making time."
Tenya coughed to hide the fact he got up to walk away, while Hitoshi scooted over away from the group. Shouto had to be pulled back by the two, since he didn't seem to realize that he was in the blast radius. Izuku wished he could join them, but got the feeling that any movement on his part, would leave him eviscerated. Himiko leaned in, chin in her hands, looking on, fascinated. Tsuyu was guessing how many people she'd be able to pull away before things kicked off.
Melissa, might have pressed a record button.
Ochako didn't immediately respond to that. It seemed like the information was having a hard time getting into her brain. But when it did, her body twitched, and her head jerked up. "Hold on, what do you mean you're letting me date Deku?" Angry Ochako was starting to stir. A few in the room had had angry Ochako come after them. None of which wanted to get between her and Mei.
Mei, either oblivious to the danger or just not caring, kept going. "In order for Midoirya to function he clearly needs stability. As his girlfriend you'll be able to provide for his emotional and physical needs adequately enough. So I'm willing to allow you the extra time."
Ochako was still angry, but she had to tilt her head to the side for that one. "… Huh?"
Mei just shrugged. "I'm perfectly capable of fulfilling Midoriya's carnal needs. But that gets in the way of the baby making I care about. So I'm letting you deal with those pesky needs."
Putting down her phone, Himiko folded her hands in front of her and took a deep, calming, breath. Her hands tilted forward so that her fingers were pointing at Mei. "Okay. No offense, but there's no chance you know jack shit about anything Ochako does for him. You wouldn't be able to fulfill shit."
Ochako nodded in agreement, crossing her arms in a huff. The pair were calling Mei's bluff. Mei looked between the two. Then glanced over at Tsuyu and saw she was giving her a skeptical look as well. Without a word, Mei put her tablet down, and moved over to Izuku so she's kneeling behind him. The poor boy was a little confused but any words of dissuasion were lost when Mei leaned over his shoulder and cupped a hand to his ear so she could whisper things to him. Her hand made it so no one could hear or read her lips.
But even though no one can understand it, they can hear the hushed, hungry, hurried tempo of her voice. And as she talked, Izuku's eyes were wide and dilated, his face getting redder than Shouto's hair and his breaths putting out enough smoke that cooler heads would worry he would set off a fire alarm.
Then, like nothing had happened, Mei pulled back, went back to her spot and picked up her tablet. All eyes however were on Izuku, who was sounding more and more like a squeaky toy. It was clear, whatever buffer he had grown after his vacation with Ochako had not prepared him for whatever Mei had whispered to him. The poor boy was traumatized, his mouth moving, but very little was being said. It took several tries for him to even get out two words.
"I-i-i-into-o-o wh-wh-where?!"
Mei, sounding like she was talking about the weather, just explained, "Well, it's the best spot after all. That way, things stay on track without the wrong kind of babies coming into things."
Izuku died. He died right then and there. So it was extra impressive that the dead boy was making a very concerted effort to keep his legs crossed while sitting on the floor.
Himiko didn't know whether to be impressed or horrified. "I don't fucking believe this. You know about—?!"
"Sex? Yeah." Mei again was acting like this was no big deal. "How do you think everyone in the support department gets so much work done without worrying about silly things all the other classes deal with?"
Tsuyu's head fell to the side. "Huh?"
Tenya's hands chopped violently. "Are you implying that our fellow students in the support courses are all taking part in debaucherous acts?!"
Melissa however was looking up at Mei in alarm. Not that the other girl noticed, or cared. "I mean, if someone's feeling backed up, you don't want their work to suffer. So we all agree to help each other out if someone needs to relieve some pressure. Keeps everyone happy and able to keep creating. It's a pretty common thing with people in the hero support departments. Everyone does it."
The squad, or at least those still able to function, all just stared at Mei in utter shock. Then slowly, they turned to look at Melissa. Because Mei had said something at the end there. Making it sound like this wasn't just some local thing.
Melissa started and stopped several times as she tried to say something. Before she facepalmed and shot Mei the dirtiest look. "Just because people like us joke about it being an open secret, doesn't mean you're supposed to tell other people about it." Seeing that she might have to clear some stuff up, Melissa turned back to the group. "Okay. It's not what you think."
"That the people in hero support item development are all part of a global sex club?" Himiko asked. "Cause I'm really debating switching careers right now." She felt a shiver run up her spine and a quick glance saw that Tsuyu and Ochako were giving her none-too-pleased looks. "Er… kidding."
"It's not that. But, um… it's also… not not that." Melissa was struggling, and was sooo tempted to just end the call. "It's a thing, but it's not like a thing everyone uses. It's more like a support system for inventors. But everyone has a way they deal with their stress."
"I just make more babies. Best thing for feeling overworked is to do something you love," Mei said with a thumbs up.
"And I like to work out. There's a gym I go to to really work up a sweat." She added a little flex. Even though she wasn't big, her clothes still bulged in just the right spots to show off her muscles.
"… So you must be stressed out a lot then. Bad sign for someone that's in our field," Mei said, completely unimpressed.
When the drone started making very alarming noises, it took the whole group to get everyone settled back down.
It took some time, and some opening of windows to air out the room, before everyone was ready to get back to the game. Which was still in its first round. Any questions directed at Izuku about what exactly Mei had said were ignored.
Hitoshi put down a reverse card and shook his head. "I gotta say. Was not expecting to learn some dark secrets today."
"I'm going to pretend I didn't hear any of this," Tenya said as he put down a card. "The inner workings of the support department are beyond anything I want to understand."
"Is this why they're always staying late after school?" Shouto asked. Earning a handful of chips thrown at his face.
"What we've learned is that the support department is like Vegas. What happens there, stays there, kero."
"Except when Mei is concerned," Himiko chuckled.
Melissa pointed at the group. "No one goes talking about anything alright. We inventors don't need sexed up crazies trying to get lucky when we're trying to make stuff that keeps you all alive."
Hitoshi held up his hands. "I don't want your whole profession coming after me, thank you very much. Your secrets are safe. I think we all agree, anything said in here, won't leave."
"Because no one would believe us," Shouto finished, getting a few chuckles from the group. "Did I say something funny?"
Hitoshi waved it off. "Now, unless anyone else wants to suddenly drop another bomb on us, I'm ready to win this game."
Ochako glared at the game display and the two cards Hitoshi had in his hand. "Someone play a zero."
"What, and give you his hand? Hell no," Himiko said with a laugh. "Your move Izuku."
Without missing a beat, "I have another Quirk I haven't told you all about. It's called One for All and it was All Might's before he gave it to me just before I arrived at Hosu City. Oh, I'll play a seven, and take that hand, Shinsou. Thank you very much." Izuku paused while looking at the hand. "Oh, and it's haunted."
There was complete silence in the room.
"I'M SORRY WHAT?!"
"DEKU!"
"KERO?!"
"HOLY SHIT REALLY?!"
"ARE YOU INSANE?!"
"EXPLAIN YOURSELF MIDORIYA!"
Everyone was screaming. Except for Shouto and Mei. Shouto was just nodding to himself. "I was right." While Mei was completely unphased and just waiting for someone to play their card. "Huh, that didn't take as long as I thought it would."
Hitoshi turned. Looked at her. Then looked at Ochako, noting that her alarm wasn't so much over the bomb, but the fact that Izuku had said something in the first place. His hands shot up, making a T. "Time! Time out! Time right the hell out! Why does it feel like not everyone is surprised for the same reason?!"
Seeing that there might be a problem with that, Izuku quickly moved to step in. "Um, Ochako, Toga, Hatsume and Melissa kinda know." A few looks went to Melissa in shock. "Um, there's a very good reason why she's in on it. Oh! Kacchan knows too… It's a whole thing."
Izuku then noticed that Tsuyu was looking over at Himiko, not Melissa like the others. "Tsu." Izuku kept going, "This was something she was asked to keep a secret. By me. So if you're going to be mad, be mad at me."
Tsuyu regarded Izuku evenly. Her normal unreadable features made Izuku a little nervous. Honestly, he hadn't planned to tell everyone like this. Yes, he was planning on telling them. Before summer camp if he could. But, it just popped into his head that everyone was here. Why put it off?
"I'm not mad. But I would like an explanation, kero."
Izuku was like eighty percent sure Tsuyu wasn't mad. But that other twenty percent got him talking. As this was the fourth time going through it, the first with Himiko, the next Mei and Katsuki, then Melissa, he was getting pretty good at summarizing and laying out exactly what the deal was. By the time he was done, he was pretty sure he had covered everything. So now he had to wait to see how everyone took the news.
Tenya apparently had decided he was going to be the first to say something, as he stood up, and pointed a hand at him. "Midoriya! It was extremely irresponsible of you to latch onto All Might as you did! If he wasn't able to intervene then that villain may have escaped and caused even more trouble!"
"Okay, really? We just learned about an immortal villain, that All Might isn't going to be a hero for much longer, a Quirk that can be passed down and gets stronger every time, and that it's legitimately haunted, and you're focusing on that." Hitoshi rubbed his face. "Yep, okay then. Sure. Fine. Okay. Yeah."
Shouto leaned forward while Mei gave Hitoshi a drink to help him calm down. "So what happened in Hosu City. And the reason Hatsume's device broke, that was One for All. All Might's power."
"Deku's power," Ochako corrected. "But yeah."
Tsuyu tapped her chin. "Was there a reason why you told other people and not us?"
Izuku flinched, but at least it seemed like Tsuyu wasn't directing any ill will towards Himiko. He'd hate it if he was the reason their relationship had issues. "Ochako was with me from the start. I told Toga because after I learned about her past… well, I figured her knowledge of the darker side of the world might be helpful. Hatsume I really should have told right after I got it, since she's making my support items, but All Might's warning about keeping One for All a secret, even if I didn't agree completely with it, still is pretty strong advice."
Tenya nodded. "One doesn't just ignore advice from a hero like him."
Tsuyu seemed to accept that. "But what about Melissa and Bakugou?"
"Er, I can explain mine. I'd known about my Uncle's condition for a while. Just not the cause of it. At least not completely. I happened to overhear Midoriya and him talking and it seemed like Midoriya was a cause. So I sorta… kinda… confronted him… There might have been some threatening too."
"As for Kacchan." Izuku scratched his neck. "Without getting into the specifics, we got into a fight before our term final. During which he laid out just how bad of a job All Might and I had been doing at keeping things a secret. Also how I was starting to monopolize his time."
That got a few frowns from the group, especially the newest members of the One for All club, as they had all expressed some negative feelings on that subject, but had never meant for it to be brought to Izuku's attention.
"So given that, it just felt like it was time to rip the bandaid off that whole thing."
"So what made you decide to tell us?" Shouto asked.
"I've been thinking about it for a while. I was going to say something before we all went to summer camp. But…" Izuku shrugged. "I guess when Shinsou said anything said in here is safe, it just… kinda came out. I mean, I know I can trust everyone here, so it just… made sense to finally say it."
Tenya bowed deeply. "As your friend, I am deeply touched by your trust, Midoriya. And will endeavor to help you in the quest you've undertaken."
Hitoshi pointed at him. "What he said."
Tsuyu sighed. "Part of me wishes you had said something earlier, Midoriya. Would have made some of the strangeness around you make sense. But I'm glad you were going to tell us anyway. So no hard feelings. I can tell you've been nervous, kero." Izuku laughed lightly at that.
"It certainly puts things in a clearer picture. As your friend I'll look out for you. But if anything, this will only push me to overtake you all the more," Shouto said.
"Yikes, I haven't seen that since the sports festival," Ochako chuckled.
Shouto looked at Ochako calmly, then at the group. Izuku arched an eyebrow before they shot up. "Wait. H-Hold on. You don't have to—"
"You did say that Shinsou said this was a safe place to talk," Shouto replied. "My father had me from a Quirk marriage to surpass All Might. His single-minded drive to have an heir caused my family a great amount of pain. My mother especially, to the point she had to be put into a ward. After she did this to me." Shouto touched his scar.
It took a lot of time to process that.
"So, is it just a thing that fathers with fire Quirks are assholes?" Himiko asked.
After some back and forth, with everyone being extremely careful with their questions, the mood in the room was back to normal. Himiko's crass question sorta being the signal that everyone could breathe.
"I'm not like my father," were the instant replies from Shouto and Izuku.
Melissa had her arms crossed. "I had a feeling that guy was no good."
"That he's so high on the billboards is a disgrace."
Ochako wrinkled her nose. "Why'd you decide to intern with him after everything?"
Shouto sighed. "Despite his many failings as a father, the truth is he got to his spot being a very good hero. Plus, I needed advice for my fire."
"That guy needs a reality check. Bet he wouldn't be so popular if some facts got out to the public," Melissa grumbled darkly. Some in the room were a little surprised by the venom dripping from her voice. She blinked when Shouto gave her a serious look. "What?"
"We've seen how bloodthirsty the reporters around here are. They wouldn't be satisfied with just questioning my father. My brother and sister, my mother would be fair game as well. I'd like to avoid that."
"Ah. Right."
"Sounds like you took the news a little personally," Mei observed.
Melissa crossed her arms. "I tend to hold heroes to a certain standard."
"Because All Might's your uncle?" Tsuyu questioned.
"Many would hold All Might as the gold standard that all heroes should emulate. But having family connections would make that comparison all the more intense. As I'm sure Melissa looks up to her uncle, I too look up to my brother," Tenya said with a definitive nod.
Melissa was silent. But she still had her arms crossed and her face was scrunched up, like she was thinking really hard on something.
Izuku caught Ochako's eye, as the two shared cautious looks. Two bombshells had already been dropped today. There was no way Melissa was going to make it three. She wouldn't just reveal a national secret that she's been forced to hide. Something made easy since she didn't really have friends until Izuku and Ochako entered her life, found it out, and then dragged her into their squad of weirdo's.
The hologram suddenly went nuts, Melissa's form disappeared as it all went to static. The projection flickered into a large cloud before it resharpened. The projection suddenly got much much bigger as a new figure sat amongst everyone. Even sitting on the floor, her head was above the few sitting on the bed or in chairs. "I hold other heroes to my standard actually."
Tsuyu looked up, straining her neck to stare up at the new form sitting with them. Hitoshi just threw his hands in the air. "Yeah, okay sure! What?!"
Shouto just said the first word that came to mind. "Big."
Izuku cleared his throat. "Um, this is our friend we made at I-Island. Melissa Shield. Also known as America's number one hero, Star and Stripe."
Mei's eye twitched as she muttered something along the lines of it not being fair that Melissa got to make babies and field test them herself. She'd kill to be able to do that.
Tenya's arm shot out, chopping with enough force to fell a tree. But he was cut off when Himiko leapt to her feet and pointed. "Isn't this the bitch that kidnapped Izuku!?"
"I see, so you were working to try and help Melissa continue to protect her identity." Tenya nodded as he summed up Izuku's answer to his question regarding the events of the villain attack.
"That's right. The whole thing was my idea. So if you're upset, please direct anything at me. Not Melissa."
Melissa frowned. "I'm a big girl Midoriya. I'm also a professional hero. Yes, if things started to get too out of control I would have stepped in. But I would have been fully responsible if things didn't go how we planned."
Izuku shook his head. "I dangled the idea of you keeping the life you've been trying to protect. So it was—"
"Oh my god, please stop!" Himiko tugged at her hair. "You're both naughty so can we please not deal with the two of you playing the blame game!"
This would have been the third time Izuku and Melissa tried to take full responsibility for the decisions made during the night of the attack.
"Yeah, we get it. Fall on your swords later, I got an important question here," Hitoshi said. "Am I on a list now?"
"Define 'list.' Cause everyone is on some kind of list."
"No no no, don't play coy. I want to know know if I gotta worry about American special ops suddenly busting down my door because I know some state secret now."
"… So who's turn is it now? Midoriya went—"
"Oi!"
Melissa scratched at her neck. "Look, if it makes you feel any better, you're probably already on a few governmental agencies short lists because you're friends with Toga. So really, this isn't anything new for you."
Ochako blinked, then shrugged. "Oh, then we really don't have anything to worry about, huh."
Hitoshi pointed at her. "Don't you dare try that BS with me!"
Shouto looked at him. "This is all your fault anyway. You should be accepting your responsibility instead of trying to just pass the bucket."
"How do you figure that?!"
"Weren't you the one that said no secrets would leave the room?"
When everyone around him nodded, Hitoshi threw his hands up. "Oh right! Like I could have predicted that suddenly everyone was going to just unload in the middle of our game. Right, that's totally on me." He then glared at Izuku. "Okay. Are you done?"
"Eh?"
"You and yours. Are you all done?"
"Why are you asking me?"
"Because you're connected to all of these."
"Harsh." Izuku looked away when Hitoshi gave him a disturbingly good version of Aizawa's glare. "Okay, maybe a little fair."
Ochako snorted. "A little." When Hitoshi turned to look at her, she pointed back at him. "Don't even try."
Hitoshi promptly went back to punching in his weight class with Midoriya. "Look. I just want to play a normal game."
"Is a UNO game that's lasted an hour without a winner still normal, kero?"
"A normal-ish game. So unless anyone else has some world-shattering confession they want to get off their chest. Let's pick up our cards, so I can win this game. Because Midoriya must have forgotten he still had sevens in his hand, so I'm taking my cards back."
Izuku blinked, then winced.
"My mom got locked up in Tartarus," Mei suddenly cut in.
For the first time, everyone in the room got to experience the shock of learning something new.
Unlike the others, no one screamed or shouted in surprise. The room was still and quiet as they all turned to look at Mei, who looked surprisingly normal after what she had just said. Subdued, absolutely. But she wasn't acting like someone would, with the stigma of being related to a villain. Especially one that was locked away in the country's highest security prison.
A few glances around by some in the room confirmed that unlike the other instances, none of the usual suspects in the group knew a damned thing.
"Your mom's a villain?" Izuku asked. A little shocked he'd even had a voice to speak. Sure, his dad sucked, but this was on a whole other level.
Mei shrugged, but didn't deny it. "Yup. A pretty famous villain too. Or I guess, a pretty infamous former hero would be a better way to put it."
That got a few confused looks, but while they looked at each other questioningly, Mei saw Izuku didn't look all that confused. Or at least, not in the same way. She saw recognition in his eyes. So she reached up into her hair, and began twisting some of her pink dreadlocks around her finger. As she did, small flecks of pink dust coated her hand. She kept going until a small chunk came off and she held out her hand towards Izuku, offering it to him. Izuku held out his hand and Mei dropped it while she got up. "Going to borrow a towel."
While she was up, everyone looked down at what she had deposited into Izuku's hand. It was a small elongated cylinder with a narrow end. If they hadn't seen it come from Mei's hair, they would have said it looked like it was made of hardened plastic twisted together. Mostly pink, but with several small strands of purple. But regardless of color, or how it was made, it was hard to argue that what Izuku was holding was a large caliber bullet.
"Oh my god." Izuku knew. He knew what this meant. He didn't react when Tsuyu reached down to pick up the bullet so she and the others could get a better look and feel of it. With wide eyes, Izuku turned to find Mei, scrubbing her head with a damp towel by a running faucet in Himiko's little kitchenette. A towel that was getting stained pink.
"Your mother is Lady Nagant."
Mei pulled the wet, dye-stained towel off her head, and for the first time, showed people her natural hair. The pink majority was the same, but twisting around her dreadlocks, were streaks of vibrant purple. She flashed him a thumbs up. "Bingo. Hero dork wins the prize." She held up the towel. "I have to redo my hair pretty regularly. My hair isn't made of keratin, it's more like resin. So the dye just coats everything, and doesn't actually… dye it. I make sure to carry some packs if I have to redo it on the fly."
Izuku recalled the pink dust when Mei twirled her hair.
Himiko was looking at Mei, in shock. "Holy crap. You're not joking. You really are her daughter."
Mei didn't seem surprised that Himiko knew who her mother was. "Stain?" Himiko nodded.
Tenya's head snapped up. "Hold on. During the whole… confrontation with Toga from before. With the reporters and…" Tenya trailed off. Suddenly not sure if he should mention the name.
"Saito," Himiko stated evenly.
"Yes… With Saito. Didn't one of the reporters confront All Might about someone called—"
Mei nodded. "Yup, about Lady Nagant. My mother. Yeah, that was really weird. I'm surprised you caught a clip of it, since it got buried so fast."
Tenya agreed. "I only saw the clip on the news once. After that, it did seem like everyone was eager to change the topic. I assumed the subject matter wasn't one they wished to cover."
Mei saw some confused looks. "There's a lot of conspiracies around it, but the long and short is, my mother was a hero who ten years ago killed a fellow hero in an argument. And got thrown into Tartarus."
"A hero that killed another hero, kero?"
Hitoshi hissed. "Shit."
"Yeah, not exactly something you just go around bringing up, huh," Mei said with a shrug.
Izuku reached back over, and picked up the bullet Mei had made. "I thought you said your Quirk was Zoom? That you could see really far away."
Mei walked over and knelt in front of Izuku, leaning in and laying hand on her cheek, so her fingers formed a little V on either side of her eye. "What do you see, Midoriya?"
Izuku looked at Mei's eyes, at their bright yellow color and, "Crosshair-shaped irises." Izuku gasped. And, despite the serious subject, Izuku felt a twitch, his obsession with Quirks making him ask, "Wait, does that mean you have your mother's Quirk?"
Mei smirked and bent her right arm up, so that her hand was up to her shoulder. A cavity opened where her elbow was. A long barrel wrapped in muscle and sinew, along with a rifle stock of hardened organic metal slid out from the opening. The organic sniper rifle was as long as Mei was tall. From the angle she deployed it, she almost scraped the ceiling. Around her, there were several audible gasps.
"Unlike Mom, my scope is in my eyes. She told me to just say that was my Quirk and that's been the story I've gone with ever since."
"Why lie though?" Ochako asked.
Mei frowned, as she retracted the rifle back inside her arm. "For my protection. Mom had lots of enemies even before she got locked up. Better if not a lot of people know about me. Some might decide to hurt her through me. Plus there are people that do know that would rather I not go around telling."
"Who does?" Shouto asked.
"The Hero Public Safety Commission, Tartarus, you guys… Oh, and probably Principal Nezu, but I haven't asked him."
Tsuyu tilted her head to the side, finger on her chin. "You didn't mention your father?"
"Oh, foster care. No idea who my biological dad is. Last time I asked mom, she said it was a one night stand where they were both a bit too drunk to remember to put on protection."
Ochako's face scrunched up. "Your mother told you that?"
Himiko chuckled darkly. "Boy, the competition for the worst parent of the Dekusquad is really heating up. Got my Bitch Ass Parents, Mr. Eugenics, Papa Douchebag and the Literal Gun."
Mei puffed up. "My Mom is a great mom. She always was straight with me. Always had great advice when I came for visiting hours. Supported me when I started making things, by taking other things apart."
"Your mom… the traitorous hero? Who's been locked away for over ten years? Is a great mom?" Hitoshi tried not to have too much of an attitude, but boy was that idea hard to swallow.
"Just because my mom was a trained killer and it got her thrown in jail, doesn't mean she's a bad mom. The two things are not mutually exclusive." There was a defensive tone to Mei's voice that made it pretty clear this was a subject she was not going to be swayed on.
Tenya frowned. "Trained killer? Heroes don't… what?" He noticed both Himiko and Mei giving him looks.
"Tenya, Stain told me stories. There are people that know about Lady Nagant. She had one hell of a body count."
Mei nodded. "Mom worked for the Hero Public Safety Commission's old guard. Old days, old rules, that kind of thing. And her Quirk was a gun. Even if she hadn't told me she had killed people, I'm a smart girl."
Melissa regarded Mei carefully. "You seem rather calm about the whole thing."
"She told me all this stuff when I was little. Like I said, straight shooter. I've had years to come to terms with it." She paused and looked at Himiko. "Oh, something I've wondered." There was a nervous shudder that went through the group. Mei asking Himiko anything was normally bad, so this special situation could not be good, at all. "Do you think if my mom killed people when I was in the womb with her, that means I have a kill count too?"
Himiko gave that some thought. A disturbing amount of thought for the other normal people in the room. "I ... don't think it works that way. So no street cred."
"But it should be shared since I'm an accomplice."
"I think that makes you more of an accessory."
"That doesn't sound as cool."
Izuku cut in as things felt like they were getting a little off track. Clearly Himiko was feeding the wrong things here, so he circled back to something that had caught his attention earlier. "So wait, not even the teachers know about you? What about Power Loader?"
"As far as I know, none of them know. Maybe Principal Nezu has told them, maybe he hasn't. I haven't asked. Never seemed important enough to."
Izuku wasn't sure he followed. "Didn't seem important?"
"'A person's Quirk doesn't dictate who they are. People are more than their Quirks, after all.' I meant it when I said that after our match. I'm not interested in using my Quirk. My dreams are my babies and all the sponsorships and endorsements they'll bring. I'm not a fighter. I'm an inventor. I'm here for a reason, same as all of you. Bringing it up would probably just complicate things for me."
"Then why tell us though?" Ochako asked.
"Well, you're my friends. And after everything else that was spilled today, I'm not just going to sit here and not tell you all. It's not the most comfortable thing to share but," Mei motioned towards Shouto with a smile, "I guess I couldn't let Todoroki be the only one to share some family drama."
Words of encouragement came soon after that. Promises to be there for her if she needs anything. Promises that they would keep things between them. What was said here, stayed here.
Mei laughed. "Yeah, probably best that. Since the Hero Public Safety Commission was one of the groups I meant when I said people that didn't want any new Lady Nagant stuff getting out. I got the feeling from Mom that anything that could bring attention back to her would be bad for the Commission. And what's bad for the commission is bad for the people they're upset at." Then like a switch, Mei changed gears. "But anyway, let's get back to the game!"
Silence followed that. Then a wail of frustration as Hitoshi buried his face in his hands. "DID I JUST GET ADDED TO ANOTHER SHORT LIST?!"
Izuku reached over, and patted him on the shoulder. "Look at the bright side."
"WHAT? BRIGHT? SIDE?"
"…"
"…"
"You got those seven cards, so you'll get your good hand back." Izuku smiled brightly, up until a bowl of chips was emptied on his head.