Chapter 20: The Invitation
"I told you this was a terrible idea." Inazumi huffs daintily as he comes marching over to everyone huddled together, handing Izuku a roll of bandages.
"Inazumi-kun, please, is now really the time?" Izuku sighs deeply, near begging the pale boy not to rub this in their faces. Shinsou grunts in agreement, a wad of cotton in one hand, soaked with alcohol that he dabs at the many cuts covering Mashi's body.
"Now is the perfect time! When else will you listen to me?" Inazumi's voice cracks, obviously frustrated.
Katsuki groans loudly, louder than is necessary, and glares at the small boy. "Just shut the fuck up, you transparent extra," he growls, eyes thinning dangerously, making Inazumi shrink away. The small boy tries to control himself a moment later, standing straight again and glaring over at the explosive boy.
"I most certainly will not! This whole incident could have easily been avoided if you had just listened to me. This whole thing was—"
"Awesome…" Mashi giggles from her place sitting in one of Izuku's workshops in the clubhouse, her head laying back, cuts and bruises littering her body. Inazumi shoots her a glare, which she ignores.
"Terrifying…" Shinsou mumbles in contradiction, mostly to himself, but Izuku hears him.
Despite wearing protective gear accidents did happen sometimes. Like today.
It wasn't hard at all for Izuku to get working on Shinsou's new bike. The design and engineering of a bike was elegant for such a small device, but nothing too hard for the child genius. He'd designed, planned, and built a new bike within two weeks time. Rather than just making another, regular bike, however, Izuku had put on some of his own, personal flare. That was where the problems arose.
The bike was thin and lightweight, a sleek white, and the number of turns of the wheels corresponding with a single pedal had been increased. Problem was… he might have increased that last part too much.
They had gone to the street in front of the clubhouse to test it. Mashi, of course, volunteered to ride the test bike first, eager to experience it and to help any way she could.
They had counted down, she had begun to pedal… and she had shot straight off like a rocket. Losing control almost immediately she had swerved and crashed right into a lamppost. Katsuki had been no help, laughing at the whole thing, while Izuku and Shinsou had gathered a banged up but ultimately fine Mashi. Thank goodness for helmets.
"At least we got some good data," Izuku mumbles, but cringes when he spots Inazumi and Shinsou's disapproving looks. Not the right thing to say?
"Yeah! Data!" Mashi cheers, not at all offended. She was proud to have been of any help.
"Now we know what NOT to do," Katsuki smirks, and Izuku sighs, giving his childhood friend a pleading look to stop.
"Alright, I get it, I went too far," he grumbles, pouting as he wraps the bandages around Mashi's wrist. Nothing was broken, thankfully, a quick scan from his Eye assured him that. "'It's a bike, Deku, not a rocket.' Yes, yes, you were right," Izuku's voice lowers as he mimics Katsuki's voice. Thankfully the blond is too proud to be told he's right to get upset over that.
"Really, you don't need to do anything special, Midoriya-san. I just need a normal bike to get around," Shinsou says as he finally sets down his cotton swab and focuses on the green-haired boy, but that only makes Izuku pout more.
For the last two weeks CUT had been going great. They would meet after school, finish up homework, and then go to the clubhouse, joining Katsuki who was always already there.
In that time Inazumi had begun plotting out a "lounge" space, creating a code to upload to the builder bots on the property so they could start working on it. Mashi had further improved her gunstaff builds but mostly she and Katsuki would spar outside. Katsuki had begun planning out a new hero outfit design and was helping Izuku work out his AI ideas. Izuku had of course built the bike, but had also begun building Neko Nurse prototypes and designing his AI systems. And Shinsou…
Shinsou, at the clubhouse, had finally gotten a mattress into his designated room and begun personalizing it. He mostly tended to the plants and avoided interactions with anyone. Sometimes he got roped into a sparring match or two, sometimes he sat and listened to Izuku or Inazumi work, but mostly he kept to himself, studying, sleeping, or finding something to do.
On the other hand, outside of the clubhouse, most days he had begun following Izuku home afterwards. He very rarely continued on to his own apartment, sometimes staying at the clubhouse, but most often joining Izuku and his mother and "brother" at their home. He would train alongside Izuku, Aizawa's tutelage being strict and unforgiving. He would go out and walk with Izuku, sometimes also with Aizawa and Hizashi. He would stay for dinner and let Inko fret over him. He would help Izuku bounce ideas off of him, even if he understood none of it.
It had only been two weeks, yet Izuku felt like Shinsou had quickly integrated himself into his home life. When he didn't come over Inko always asked after him, and if she didn't Aizawa did, in his own way. A silent glance around, as if looking for someone, then arching a brow at Izuku was usually his way of asking.
They'd never done this with Katsuki or Mashi. Inazumi, who had dropped by to work on some coding once or twice, didn't get this treatment either. But Shinsou?
Shinsou needed people looking out for him, needed people to care about him and look for him and ask after him. He deserved it. And Izuku firmly believed he also deserved nice things, like a suped-up bicycle… Which he had, very obviously, gone a little too far with.
"Sorry, Shinsou-kun. I'll pull back some on the next one," Izuku mumbles, looking at the tall boy sheepishly. Shinsou doesn't smile, but his face is relaxed, which is a good sign, and he offers a small nod to Izuku, saying both "thank you" and "it's okay" in one motion.
"Uhg!" Izuku suddenly has the palm of a hand smacking over his face and he frowns against it, already knowing whose it is. "But that's so boring!" Mashi whines, lightly shaking Izuku's head. She's fully patched up now, so Izuku shoves off her hand and steps away.
"The bike isn't for you, Mashi," Izuku says flatly before gathering up the remaining medical supplies.
"Finally, people are talking sense again," Inazumi sighs, sounding relieved, a hand to his chest.
"Enjoy it now," Katsuki huffs, one brow arched as Mashi slides down the chair she's in until she flops out and lays on the floor. "It won't last long." He moves over to jam his toe into her side and she swats at his leg, grumbling incoherently.
Izuku had been frightened for Inazumi and Shinsou, uncertain how the new members of their group would integrate and if they would feel welcome and happy, but he had also worried for Katsuki. The explosive boy had grown more withdrawn for a while at the start. He was still loud and destructive, and to any outsider he may have seemed entirely unaffected, but Izuku knew him better than anyone. Knew his constant battle with loneliness. His need to be needed.
Katsuki was quieter. He kept to himself even more than usual. He was more violent with his sparring and more frustrated at every little thing, yet when he exploded it seemed to have no target. Izuku had tried to keep him included, but soon he saw he wasn't helping anything along. Katsuki would always be an important part of his life, but he needed to work through his issues on his own this time around.
Slowly but surely, after one week, he had begun to act normal again. He still mostly avoided Shinsou and Inazumi, but… honestly, that was fine. In the end Izuku, Katsuki, and Mashi would always be the originals. They had a bond stronger than anything Izuku could ever explain, and if they were the only ones Katsuki cared to stick to, and was happy about it, than Izuku was happy too. No one could force a friendship, after all.
"Now is probably a good time to head home," Izuku announces when he comes back over to their little group, used supplies disposed of and unused put back in their rightful locations. There were medical supplies all over the clubhouse. With the Destructive Duo: Katsuki and Mashi, plus all the experiments, it was important to always have some nearby. "If you're feeling well enough, Mashi?"
The redhead flops onto her back, still on the floor. She hadn't even flinched while they had patched her up. She'd hardly even been affected by the crash, just momentarily dazed before she had begun to laugh. But it never hurt to ask.
"Yeah… okay. I'm not happy about it, though," she finally replies. Izuku could tell she was at least tired from everything.
Katsuki snorts. "You try anything else you'll probably fucking die," he comments, apparently also noticing just how exhausted she seems. He pauses after he makes his comment, before smirking wickedly down at the girl. "Actually… Maybe we should try another experiment!"
Mashi immediately throws a kick that catches the back of Katsuki's legs, knocking him over and onto his back with a loud thud. The moment he's down she begins cackling and calling over, "You deserved that!"
Katsuki is springing up, ready to dive at her, when Izuku frantically slides between them, facing the blond boy, arms making an "X" in front of his chest. "No! No fighting! Going home now! Mashi! Apologize!"
"I'm sorry you suck at dodging!"
"MASHI!"
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Shinsou doesn't join Izuku at home that night. It's a little sad, but also makes perfect sense. Whenever things get a little too exciting at the clubhouse Shinsou tends to prefer to be alone entirely.
In addition Izuku isn't the only one heading back to his apartment that night.
When Mashi is over Shinsou is fine to sit back and watch, content to keep to himself but still be present. They aren't buddies, but Shinsou and Mashi get along well.
But when Katsuki comes over things can get tense. While he can be just as loud, he is also rather… antagonistic. He never outright is cruel to Shinsou, he's not really "cruel" to anyone anymore, but there's a feeling in the air that makes things stressful and difficult.
Izuku hates it. Hates that he doesn't know what to do about it. Hates that sometimes it feels like it is his fault, trying to make new friends and everything, but then he kicks himself for that way of thinking.
Maybe, once Katsuki becomes more comfortable having Shinsou and Inazumi just in his presence he will be able to bond with them. Maybe he'll even make friends with them!
"And maybe we'll one day colonize Venus…" Izuku grumbles to himself.
"What?" Katsuki questions, looking over to the other boy on the couch with narrowed eyes, and Izuku's own widen, not having realized he'd said that out loud.
"Ah, sorry, nothing. Just thinking about…" the genius boy hesitates, "Space travel?"
Katsuki sits on the other side of the living room couch, sprawled out like he owns the place, a notebook in his hands, Pumpkin curled up in his lap. He arches a brow at Izuku, looking the boy over like he's entirely insane. "Don't work yourself to death, idiot. I still need my costume's gear," he says, trying to sound bored, but Izuku can spot the edge to his voice.
The tension leaves the smaller boy's shoulders and he smiles at Katsuki, trying to show he's okay. "Careful. I'll make your gear pink out of spite," he decides to play along and the other boy scoffs, looking back at his notebook.
"I'd make it work," he says absently, and Izuku doesn't doubt it.
They sit in silence for a while longer, the only sound Katsuki's pencil scribbling on paper, Izuku's tools working at an open panel in his palm, and Pumpkin purring whenever Katsuki scratches his head.
It was an odd night. Inko had been roped into having a night off, which she sorely deserved, by Nemuri and Hizashi. She had been jittery when Izuku and Katsuki had arrived, double checking Izuku had all the ingredients for a good dinner, triple checking Izuku didn't need anything and both he and his childhood friend knew all the important phone numbers, and promising multiple times she would come straight home if they needed anything.
"You think I should make mom some kind of housekeeping bot? Make her life easier?" Izuku had wondered as they'd waved Inko out the door with Nemuri and Hizashi.
Katsuki had shut the door as they turned around, saying almost immediately, "No robot butlers, those things are creepy as shit."
"Well now I have to," Izuku pouts when Katsuki walks past him and hits their shoulders roughly together. Inko enjoyed doing things around the house, They both knew that, but her day job tended to drain her quickly, making everything more difficult when she returned home. Hopefully that would soon be a thing of the past, though.
With the upfront payment for Izuku's Hera products currently moved to savings – no one wanted to spend anything too quickly – they now had royalty payments to wait for. 2% of the company's earnings from Hera would be transferred to Inko's account on a monthly basis, and after talking to some of the representatives from the company Izuku was getting pretty confident in just how much that would be.
For now, though, they tried not to change too much in their lives. To be safe. They didn't want to make any assumptions and regret it later.
"What are you working on over there, anyway? Some new nerd device?" Katsukie eventually looks over the top of his notebook, hand falling to Pumpkin's back. It was remarkable how that cat trusted anyone, even explosive, temperamental boys.
"Please define nerd device," Izuku replies absently, because really. Everything was a nerd device to Katsuki, he really should specify.
"You: nerd," the blond begins, reaching out with his pencil to jab into Izuku's side. "That: device," he waves the pencil in the direction of Izuku's prosthetic. Once he's made his point Katsuki leans back, smirking, and his green-haired friend arches a brow at him.
"So… everything I build is a nerd device?"
"Obviously!"
"Yeah… you're getting pink gauntlets."
A pillow comes flying at his head in way of retort, making Izuku grin and giggle, peaking over at his childhood friend, not frightened by the glare shot his way. This was good. This was normal.
"Just tell me what you're working on, fucking Deku!" Katsuki snaps. The effect of his furious tone is lost when Pumpkin moves, sits back on his butt, and flaps his front paws at Katsuki's face, trying to get him to pay attention and continue his petting.
Izuku turns away so he doesn't outright laugh at that, raising a screwdriver back to the panel in his palm to calibrate a little device inside. "Just something I've been wanting to do for a while," he says, tongue poking out the side of his mouth. He's silent for a moment as he works, finishing up the new upgrade and giving a noise of joy when he's done. He sets the screwdriver down and clicks the panel closed then extends his arm towards Katsuki, palm out. There is a faintly glowing circle in his palm now and with a quick message from his brain, which takes a while to figure out, it buzzes with sudden electricity.
Katsuki's brows rise up immediately, the crackling of the electricity unmistakable. "You built a Taser into your hand?!" he nearly yells and Izuku brings back his hand to look at his palm himself. He turns the electrical charge off and on a few more times, trying to get accustomed to the necessary messages his brain needed to send to his arm in order to get it to work. It would take practice, just as everything did, but this was thankfully not too difficult.
"Yeah, basically," Izuku shrugs, examining how the rest of the hand handles the charge. He'd done some previous tests before, but this was the first time he'd fully put it into his attached hand. "It's a great defense weapon for battle. Just one zap from this thing can down just about anybody for a little bit, so long as their quirk doesn't directly protect them."
"Holy shit, Deku!" Katsuki exclaims in disbelief and Izuku slowly turns to look at him, amused.
"How is this surprising to you? How is anything I do surprising to you anymore?" the smaller boy questions. This was hardly the craziest thing he'd ever built.
Katsuki scowls at him and looks away with a huff. "Everything you do is crazy!" he bites right back, not happy for being called out like that. There's a pause between them, Izuku watching Katsuki carefully.
"Okay, so what are you working on, then?" the genius boy questions and Katsuki's head snaps over to him, eyes thinning dangerously. It didn't help the blond was so pale that when he blushed, even a little, it was clear as day. Like right now.
"It's just a stupid sketch, go away, fucking Deku!" Katsuki snaps and Izuku is smiling now. Now, what was he hiding?
"Hey, I showed you my Taser palm! It's not fair if you don't share," the green-haired boy whines, leaning forward, eyes sparkling in excitement. Katsuki had taken up sketching a lot more often lately, he was bound to have gotten better than when he first doodled his hero costume idea, and Izuku wanted to see. Was he still only working on hero stuff? Or was he doing other stuff now, too?
"Back off! I agreed to nothing!" Katsuki leans away, but is stopped from going too far thanks to the fat, orange cat in his lap. It seemed even Bakugou Katsuki wasn't immune to the "I can't move, there's an animal in my lap" effect.
Izuku takes advantage of that and flops unceremoniously against Katsuki's side, giggling like a madman when Katsuki begins cursing at him and holding the notebook as far from him as he can. Izuku knows he's the only person who gets to act this way with Katsuki. Mashi is close, but usually they end up actually fighting and grappling around, so it isn't quite the same.
The smaller boy reaches up at the notebook in vain, grabbing at it, Katsuki yelling at him to get off already, when Izuku gets a devious idea.
"Cold hand!" he yells then immediately puts the back of his metal hand to Katsuki's neck. The explosive boy lets out a very undignified shriek he will deny later, body reflexively curling away, and arms coming down to push at Izuku. The smaller boy rolls away, laughing loudly, while his friend holds his neck where he'd been shocked by the cold, glaring death at his friend.
"YOU BASTARD!" Katsuki roars, but his eyes widen comically, body freezing, when Izuku waves the notebook he'd managed to snag last minute. Mission accomplished!
Except Katsuki's hands are beginning to smoke, and his red eyes are turning to a very bad angle, and his shoulders are rising dangerously. "Dekuuuuuu," he hisses and Izuku's eyes widen. Okay, that was bad. No more playing and teasing, that was bad. Katsuki was always angry about something, but this was badangry.
With a weak, nervous chuckle Izuku slowly extends his hands, notebook out, apologetic and shaking. With a snap Katsuki is snatching it back, fury in every inch of his being, but with the notebook back he seems momentarily sated. The blond slowly turns away, movements jerky, and sits slouched on the couch, looking forward at the wall, teeth grinding. Izuku sits back up as well, also facing forward, hands in his lap.
These moments still happened sometimes. The moments where Katsuki got so angry it scared Izuku. The moments where Izuku saw the old Katsuki peaking through. They were getting farther apart, these moments, and it only happened when they were alone, but they still happened. They still happened and Izuku didn't know how to help. Or if he even should help.
No one ever got hurt anymore. It came close on occasion, but Katsuki always pulled away before it went too far, a haunted look hidden deep in his eyes.
"I'm sorry, Kacchan," Izuku whispers as the silence continues to mount, heavy and choking. He'd admit it; he'd pushed that one. The two boys could rough house a little, but that had been a tiny bit too far, stealing his notebook like that, and he would be the bigger man and admit that.
For a while Katsuki says nothing, just glaring ahead, but his shoulders had slowly begun to relax. Pumpkin had run off at some point, even that dumb cat realizing he shouldn't be nearby when things got that hairy.
"I don't like people looking at these," the blond suddenly mumbles, sounding sullen and still angry, and Izuku looks over with surprise.
"What? Your drawings?" he asks back, voice carefully quiet. Setting off Katsuki again was the last thing he wanted to do.
Katsuki offers a shrug in response, and for a while that's all Izuku gets, but then, with a shuddering sigh, he deflates, curling slightly into himself. "Fuckin'… They aren't ready yet!"
"Ready…?" Izuku repeats, brows furrowing, uncertain what exactly Katsuki meant by that. "Like they aren't finished?"
"NO!" Katsuki snaps but falters, eyes flicking around like an animal looking for an escape. "Yes? FUCK!" he raises his hands and viciously ruffles his hair, the spiky locks flicking right back into place when he lowers his arms. "I'm going to be the best hero around, you hear me?" he suddenly turns back to Izuku, pointing a vicious finger at him. "I'll be number one! Better than you, better than that red wannabe, better than even All Might!"
"O… kay?" Izuku says slowly, quickly losing track of this conversation. They had started talking about drawings and now they were on to becoming heroes. How had that happened?
"I'll be the greatest! The best in everything I do!" Katsuki goes on, voice rising, before suddenly he's looking back down at his notebook, the energy puttering out of him, and slowly Izuku began to piece things together. It wasn't that Katsuki's drawings weren't ready, it was that he believed his skills weren't ready.
Failure was not an option for Katsuki. All his life he felt he had to be the best. It had taken all the willpower in the world for him to admit Izuku was smarter than him all those years ago, but that was about it.
"Kacchan…" Izuku begins, very slowly scooting closer, nervous to set Katsuki off again, but feeling now he may have the opening. "You are… amazing! You are great at so many things. You're a natural at just about everything you try… But you do know you don't have to be a natural at everything, right?"
Katsuki scoffs, a sharp, nasty sound, but he says nothing, just staring down at the notebook in his lap, and Izuku took that as his cue to continue.
"You can have stuff that you're not perfect at, or not talented at. I think… I think it's way more impressive you're trying to better your skills anyway." Katsuki has tilted his head just the slightest bit towards Izuku now, looking over at the smaller boy through the corner of his eye. "It's WAY cooler that you saw something you weren't naturally talented at and decided you liked it enough you wanted to be better at it!"
So, so carefully Izuku scoots the final bit towards his volatile friend and bumps his shoulder. "I think you're really cool, Kacchan!"
Katsuki finally straightens up and looks over to Izuku, his expression drawn, just watching as the smaller boy beams a wide smile up at him. If a human being could sparkle, Izuku would have been in that moment, hoping to show just how spectacular he truly saw Katsuki to be.
"BAH!" the blond spits, rolling his eyes and looking away. "God! Shut up, fucking Deku, that's so cheesy!" he complains, scowling over at the far wall, and Izuku momentarily worries he's said something wrong, but than Katsuki is smacking the notebook into his chest. "Just fucking look at them already, JEEZ!"
Katsuki continues to grumble things about sappy speeches and stubborn, quirkless brats, but Izuku sees him scrubbing violently at his face, ears bright red, and the atmosphere finally begins to lighten. The genius boy keeps smiling as he opens the notebook to page one and begins to skim.
Izuku remembers the first sketch of Katsuki's hero costume. It had been atrocious. This was certainly not that.
It was hardly pro work but already Izuku saw improvement. No way this was Katsuki's first notebook. There was absolutely no way. He must have been practicing with many more before today.
It's filled with a variety of things. A lot of hero costume drawings, mostly variations of the same thing, and a lot of ideas for gear. There's also candid sketches, which Izuku lingers most on. Drawings of Katsuki's classes from his desk, some of nature, some of the Bakugous household, some of the Midoriya apartment, some of the clubhouse. Katsuki has the hardest time with people, but still Izuku can recognize familiar faces when they show up, like himself and Mashi working at the clubhouse, Shinsou asleep under a tree, Inazumi at his computer, both Bakugou parents watching television.
It's all very impressive. He could see how Katsuki could improve over time, and Izuku makes note of some of his new ideas for his hero suit, but then he runs into the most intriguing of Katsuki's drawings.
Inventions. Ideas that have nothing to do with hero work and are probably more just doodles of silly ideas, but inventions nonetheless.
"When were you going to show me any of these?" Izuku questions, eyes wide as he stares at one that looks like a laser gun. Simple, maybe, and also half of them probably aren't possible, but the fact remains…
"They're just stupid doodles," Katsuki grumbles, glaring over at the notebook in Izuku's hands. He's blushing again, but the genius boy is too absorbed in the sketches to care.
"I beg to differ!" he retorts, not looking up, as he finally comes to the sketch Katsuki had been working on today. It's another invention idea and as Izuku looks over it his eyes begin to sparkle.
It's a raccoon, but it's not. It is obviously drawn to look like a robot, and the picture depicts the creature picking up garbage and incinerating it in some kind of internal, fiery core. It's a loose, silly little sketch, and written above the top in big letters is the word "Racuum."
And it is the best thing Izuku has ever seen.
"I'm building this," he announces, eyes wide, plans already flying around in his head, and when Katsuki looks back over he groans.
"That's just a shitty idea I was going to throw out!"
Izuku looks up at Katsuki, his eyes narrowing. "Oh no you are not. I am building this! Let me build this! Come on, Kacchan!"
The blond leans away, scowling at Izuku's growing excitement. "It's just a shitty doodle! See, I knew you would react like this, you stupid nerd!"
"It is NOT just a doodle! This is spectacular!" Izuku insists but the blond just snarls and leans over to snatch back his notebook.
"Just. Doodles," he grounds out, "You're the inventor, here, not me! Leave me out of it!" Izuku tilts his head, thoughtful and considering. Was this the same thing as the drawing thing? Katsuki didn't feel his capabilities were as perfect as he would like so he was keeping them to himself? Or maybe he really did just not want to be part of that?
"Come on! Let me just build that one! Please?" Izuku presses. Maybe, just maybe, if he could build this one Katsuki would see he had promise. That ideas could come from anywhere, even doodles, and they were all worth something.
Katsuki looks away, scowl deepening, and he mumbles something Izuku can't fully catch. It sounds something like… "You have enough to do…" But that can't be right… Can it?
"What was that?" Izuku asks, voice suddenly lowering, brows furrowing in concern. He must have heard that wrong…
"I said fine!" Katsuki finally snaps, shoulders rising defensively, glaring up at Izuku, and to his dying day he would deny he was pouting, but he totally was. Izuku blinks in surprise, brows rising, but then he is grinning all over again, beginning to bounce up and down.
"Great! I'll go get my stuff to start planning!" he says eagerly and scurries off, muttering to himself as he goes.
He must have heard wrong a moment ago. Had to of. But… DID Izuku have too much to do? Working on his AI's, working on the clubhouse, working on his licenses, working on his arm upgrades, working on his friends' gear, working on the Leeches, working on the Neko Nurses, working on his self defense and cardio training, working on school, working on CUT, working on his animal bots, working on… Izuku takes a sudden breath, a hand shooting out to hold onto his desk to balance himself. Oh… that was… a lot.
Izuku looks over his desk in his room. He had a lot to do. A lot planned. Whether he had heard Katsuki right or not, it was still true. He was just a twelve-year-old kid. Genius, sure, but only twelve, with a life he should be living. Was he taking it too far? He had done it before when they had first gotten their clubhouse. Was he doing it again?
He had so much he needed to do, but rushing it certainly couldn't be helping him. Pushing yourself was important, but it was entirely possible to push yourself too far. He lectured Katsuki about it when he trained outside until his wrists nearly broke, and Mashi about it when she sparred and worked out until she nearly passed out, and Mei about it when she stayed up for days on end hyper focused on a new device.
Was Izuku being a hypocrite?
With a shaky breath Izuku picks up a few writing tools, mood suddenly mellow, and straightens his back. He stares for a long moment at all the blueprints he has strewn about or tacked onto his board, then turns around and returns to Katsuki more slowly.
"We'll just focus on this for a while!" he announces, plopping down on the floor across the coffee table from his friend. Katsuki eyes him, considering him, obviously surprised by the suddenly more subdued mood. "Yeah! Just… one thing at a time, right?" Izuku clarifies. It might slow things down for a bit, but… maybe he needed that. Maybe he needed to slow down.
"Yeah… Sounds good," Katsuki says slowly, still eying Izuku, before turning to the set up in front of him, finding it all familiar for the two of them.
It did sound good, didn't it?
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Two months later finds Izuku sitting comfortably at home one Saturday evening on his brand new couch. It's nothing fancy, but it is plush and soft and currently stainless. That last one probably wouldn't last long, but there was no telling.
The apartment is still small and cheap, but finally improvements can be made. A new dishwasher, better plumbing, new bed mattresses, and so on. Izuku's royalties had been much higher than they had hoped. With the upfront payment being 600,000 yen Izuku had hoped for something similar to that amount or even a tiny bit more per month. What they got instead was an average of about one million, two hundred thousand yen, a complete double the upfront payment, every month. Inko and Izuku had both near fainted on cue when they'd seen how much had been transferred to them the first time.
The issue was… they didn't know what to do with it all. Plus Izuku had an entire second, pending license that would only increase their monthly royalty fees. They weren't snobby people, nor needy. They liked the simple life and honestly…
Izuku looks over at his neighbor on the couch beside him, sitting upright in his sleeping bag, completely asleep. This had become their home. They had family here. They couldn't just up and leave for a "fancy" house. Just because they were finally getting paid a decent amount didn't mean they should stop being who they were.
So they'd simply improved where they already lived. Better furniture was a must, and they'd even offered to help Aizawa out a little, but he had declined. They didn't splurge, still too nervous to spend too much… at least not on themselves. Izuku had snuck out at one point and bought his mother a pretty, new tea set, and one day after school Izuku had come home to find a limited edition All Might action figure on his bed. So… yes maybe a little splurging, but for each other.
Yet still they were careful. Inko had finally left her work, but not necessarily quit. She still would go in if they needed help or someone else called out, but very quickly she was back to being a homebody, more content than Izuku had seen her in many, many years. She enjoyed cleaning and preparing her home. She enjoyed being able to go out and see Mitsuki again, or now be around Nemuri, Hizashi, or Aizawa more. And she certainly enjoyed the extra help from the Racuum scurrying about, picking up trash or vacuuming up filth.
The Racuum had been a surprisingly simple build, but was certainly a big hit. He'd made one for the Bakugou, Hatsume, Haganehato, and Inazumi households, as well as a few for the clubhouse. They had been painted the same as real raccoons, but were obviously still made of pliable but hard Hera plating. And when they were in their sleep mode they curled up and compressed into a ball.
"You're staring at it again," a voice to Izuku's side startles him out of his musings and he looks over. Shinsou is sitting down on the shorter boy's free side, handing over a glass of blueberry smoothie, a mug of hot chocolate between his own hands. Izuku really had no idea how Shinsou could drink that stuff when it was beginning to get so hot outside.
"I can't help it! I'm just… really proud of it!" Izuku replies, motioning at the Racuum across the room, currently dragging its belly across the ground, vacuuming the carpet. Izuku had all kinds of animal machines back at the clubhouse, but hardly any of them were prepared enough to go into practice.
"It is pretty impressive," Shinsou nods in agreement. They both can hear Inko moving around in the kitchen, humming a tune as she prepares a simple lunch.
"Yep. Did I mention it was actually Kacchan's original idea?" Izuku looks up at the purple-haired boy with a big, proud smile.
"A couple million times, yes," Shinsou immediately replies, tired eye looking back down at Izuku, looking bored but also with a tone of "Are you serious?"
Izuku chuckles anxiously, a little more high pitched than usual, and looks away, a blush on his face. "Ah… sorry about that…"
"It's fine," Shinsou shrugs, looking back to his mug, blowing on it before taking sip. He falls silent after that, never one to say too much, and Izuku leans back in his seat, screens flashing into his Eye's vision. He scrolls through lines and lines of code, adjusting a few things he spots, then opens up a new screen and begins typing out new codes using only his mind.
"What are you working on now, Izu?" his mother's voice cuts in as she comes into the room with sandwiches, smiling at her son when he focuses properly on her.
"Some finishing touches to the Neko Nurse systems. I have some prototypes built and ready for testing!" he announces cheerfully, setting down his drink so he can take the food offered to him. Shinsou does the same, quietly mumbling his thanks, averting his eyes, still uncertain how to properly act around a caring household. Inko smiles gently at the purple-haired boy and takes a moment to adjust a few stray hairs on his head for him, then moves on.
"That sounds good. I know you have been working for a long time on those," Inko says, stepping around the coffee table, setting a sandwich down in front of Aizawa, then moving to try to gently coax him awake.
"I've been trying to… take my time lately," Izuku admits slowly, glancing down at his food. "It IS still complicated procedures, but… I didn't want to burn out or anything."
"That's very good to hear," Inko pauses to look back at her son, smiling in approval, and Izuku can't help but smile back.
"He's still working on, what? Twenty things at once?" Shinsou says, lazily leaning around Izuku, who looks back at him with an angry pout.
"Am not!" he yelps. Sure… maybe the "one thing at a time" idea hadn't really stuck for more than a week, but Izuku was still taking his time and being more careful with his wellbeing. Both Katsuki and Mashi had seemed the most pleased out of his friends and Izuku had felt some of his anxious energy slowly fade away. "It's just the Neko Nurses, my personal AI, and some animal machines on the side!"
"Also my bike."
"Hey, I finished that a month ago, that doesn't count," Izuku grumbles just as Aizawa finally begins to awaken from Inko's gentle nudging.
"Finished what?" he yawns, not really sounding like he actually cares, but Izuku hardly pays attention to that. He never did before.
"Shinsou-kun's bike. He's trying to say I've been doing too much lately," the green-haired boy complains.
Aizawa rubs at his eyes, trying to free himself from any residual blurry vision and sleep gunk. "I thought you were taking it easier lately?" he observes, looking up and nodding at Inko as thank you for the food. He hasn't even glanced over at the two boys despite holding a conversation with them.
"Yes! Thank you!" Izuku exclaims, holding both hands out towards the exhausted man and giving Shinsou a pointed look like that solved everything.
"Though… you were just the other day muttering about building an entire suit of armor for yourself…" Aizawa finally does glance over at the boys, a single brow arched, eyes half-lidded.
"And I remember you mentioning wanting to work on some kind of… metal whips? Or were they grappling hooks?" Inko chimes in, taking a seat in a new love seat beside the couch, a sandwich for herself in hand.
"Ha," Shinsou says dryly, but still smirks down at Izuku, who throws his hands upwards as he falls backwards against the couch.
"My own family! Betrays me!"
"Don't be so dramatic," Aizawa huffs, but he hardly has any bite to his tone. If anything he was still teasing, and Izuku groans loudly in response.
When lunch is finished they relax for a while longer, Izuku going back to his coding and Shinsou and Aizawa very pointedly talking over his head and Izuku very pointedly ignoring them. When the food finally settles is when Aizawa stands, stepping out of his sleeping bag, and looking to the two boys, arms crossed.
"Alright, training time. Go get changed."
It hadn't taken long for Shinsou to begin stashing clothes at the Midoriya apartment and at the clubhouse. No one said anything since no one had a problem with it, and it certainly came in handy when they suddenly needed to go outside.
Shinsou is out of his seat first; his speed a direct contradiction to his laid back, tired appearance. He shoots a small smirk back at Izuku, who pouts. Whoever got to the bedroom first got to change first, that was the unspoken rule, so Izuku sits right back in his spot and crosses his arms, waiting.
His mood changes when he sees Inko and Aizawa exchange some kind of meaningful look, the two nodding at each other like they knew something Izuku didn't, and the genius boy sits up straighter, brows furrowing. "Izu… sweetie, could you join me in the kitchen for a moment?" Inko asks, looking to her son. Her expression wasn't bad, but it was more serious all of a sudden and Izuku can do nothing but nod.
He follows his mother into the kitchen, worry building up in his gut. Had he done something wrong? He had been doing so well keeping his mother informed and doing as he was supposed to, he thought. Had he screwed up somewhere? But where? How?
"M-mom," he begins once they're facing each other. He can hear Shinsou coming out of Izuku's bedroom and Aizawa ushering him outside, saying Izuku will be joining them in a moment. "Whatever I did, I'm really sorry."
"No no no!" Inko's eyes widen, quickly waving her hands in front of her in a panic. "You didn't do anything wrong, Izu, I promise!" That has Izuku deflating in relief, at least a little bit, but still he can't swallow the uncertainty from what might be going on.
"Okay," he whispers, looking up at his mother, his fingers fidgeting anxiously. "What's going on, then?"
Inko takes a deep breath and smiles down at her son. She looks… proud all of a sudden as she reaches to pull what looks like an envelope from behind some jars. "I already had my own little freak out when Aizawa-kun showed me this, but… yes, well, we agreed it was best to give this to you privately."
She holds out the envelope and Izuku gently takes it from her with his robotic hand. He looks up at her for a long, silent moment before turning over the envelope and looking down at it. Immediately he's freezing in place.
Printed there, on the front of the envelope, clear as day, in bright, bold colors is the UA logo.
----------
"So what all are ya gonna bring?" Mashi questions eagerly, a skip in her step, nearly dropping the box of gear she carries in her arms.
"Gosh… I dunno!" Izuku replies, just as eager a hop to his own steps.
Only yesterday had he received the letter from UA. The letter written by Principal Nedzu himself. The letter inviting him, Midoriya Izuku, to bring some of his inventions to the school campus for something of a show and tell for the pro heroes and agencies at the beginning of summer break. The letter also inviting Bakugou Katsuki and Haganehato Mashi, who were both privy to the secret identities of some of the teachers and considered "vital aspects" to Izuku's building process. The letter that had sent Izuku into a happy crying fit.
Izuku had been entirely unable to focus on training. Once his tears had subsided he'd rushed outside and nearly tackled Aizawa in excitement, giving him a tight hug, then spinning towards an entirely clueless Shinsou.
He couldn't share every detail with Shinsou. His friend was not aware of everything to do with UA. He did not know about some of the teachers like Izuku did. Honestly, Katsuki wasn't SUPPOSED to know either, it was only supposed to have been Izuku and Mashi after that monster attack so long ago, but they'd told…
Izuku hated he couldn't bring Shinsou and Inazumi, but it made sense. This was apparently about showing off some of Izuku's inventions and Katsuki and Mashi were directly tied to a lot of his gear, whether because something was designed specifically for them, or they had assisted in some process of a build.
"Who do you think we'll meet?" Izuku wonders aloud, adjusting his hold on the robotic cat in his arm, the bluish-silver of his metallic Hera gleaming off the creature's body.
Knowing about the show Izuku was expected to put on for who knows who he had spent all night working on finishing his Neko Nurse coding to hurry along to the testing phase. He had accidentally kept Shinsou up most of the night, which was why today only Mashi was joining him, their purple-haired friend sleeping back at the apartment.
"Probably bunches of guys in suits, right? From all the hero departments and shit?" the redhead at his side guesses, glancing over at Izuku.
"Well… yeah, I guess so, but I meant heroes! I know Cementoss and Thirteen are openly teachers at UA," Izuku says, thinking about all the possibilities.
"Hey, didn't that Thirteen one build that one building? The, uh… OH! The USJ!" Mashi jumps with excitement when she remembers, the box nearly tumbling out of her hands, and Izuku swiftly throws out his metal arm to hold it in place.
"Yeah, Mashi, they did," Izuku confirms, making his friend grin proudly.
"What do you think USJ stands for, anyway? Unexpected Ssssss… Ssss-yber… Jurisdictim!"
Very slowly Izuku turns his head to look over at Mashi, his expression quietly disbelieving. She looks back at him with a nervous, expectant smile. "Okay…" he breathes deeply, "Couple of things…"
"Yep I figured. Hit me," Mashi nods, accepting that she had messed up.
"'Cyber' does not start with an 'S'."
"Oh, shitfuck, I knew that!" the redhead curses at herself, cringing.
"And it's Jurisdiction, not whatever you just said. Plus, USJ means Unforeseen Simulation Joint."
"Sounds like they were stretching for something," Mashi huffs, rolling her eyes.
They have to stop talking for a moment as they finally reach the park. They were doing volunteer experiments again, with the usual message sent out online, but this time it was only Izuku and Mashi. Inko hadn't liked it too much, being asked to come into work when someone had called in sick with the flu, but they promised her they would be okay. They had done such a good job showing how trustworthy they were and it was in broad daylight, near the house, around familiar faces, and Izuku had a Taser in his hand now.
They set everything up nearby the playground equipment, Mashi disappearing at one point to clamber along the monkey bars before Izuku drags her back to help him. They greet a few familiar parents they've seen before at the park, Mashi makes faces at some of the babies in their strollers, and one baby throws a rattle straight into her face. She returns to Izuku's side, pouting, while he grins at her.
"So what's the plan, Zuzu?" Mashi eventually says, sitting on the wooden bench, legs crossed, a notepad in her hand. They have a few devices around them, this time also with a few cameras on tripods. Neko Nurse wasn't just about doing a good job; it was about performance as well. It needed to be approachable.
"Okay, so, let's run a few tests on how it moves before any volunteers get here," the genius says, eyes on prepping the robotic cat. He has it set down to seem like it is sitting. "All I want you to do is take note of anything, and I mean anything, that may seem noteworthy."
For a second Mashi is silent and Izuku looks back at her, worried. She has an eyebrow raised dubiously. "You sure I'm the best one for this?" she questions.
"Of course you are," Izuku responds without hesitation, and then offers his friend a small smile when she looks at him. "You're really observant, Mashi, more than you realize. You're perfect for the job!"
Slowly a red tinge creeps up the redhead's neck and she ducks her head, looking back down at the notepad, a smile on her face. "Yeah… okay. I won't let you down!"
"Never thought you would," Izuku keeps smiling, then turns back to the bot. He connects to it wirelessly with his Eye after a few seconds of finding the right signal in his brain to send.
Once connected he tells the Neko Nurse to power on and within a few seconds the whir of machinery can be heard and the cat bot's eyes click open to show green lights. The bot goes through a few systems checks, Izuku overseeing it, before it stands up on its own and "stretches," an action built into the machine to make it seem more realistic and approachable.
"Whoaaaaaa!" Mashi says in amazement, flopping out of the bench to shuffle over, eyes big as she watches the cat come to life. She sits beside her friend on the ground, leaning forwards in amazement. "That is SO COOL! Zuzu! It's alive! Holy shit!"
"It's not alive," Izuku laughs, nudging the girl beside him, smiling over at her. The Neko Nurse is beginning to walk, motions fluid like a real cats. "It's only running through basic motions for now. Can we focus on observations?"
"Oh. Oh right! Yeah!" Mashi is still grinning as she pulls up the notepad she had been given, flipping it open and beginning to scribble on the paper excitedly. Izuku sighs in relief and stands up to walk around the cat.
The Neko Nurse proves to move just fine. It can sit, jog, jump, lie down, and if knocked over can get back up. Its basic functions are perfect, recognition software doing exactly what Izuku needs it to. They are just about done with the necessary preparations and observations when someone calls out to Izuku.
"This is not what I was expecting at all," comes a dry, rough voice and Izuku looks up. He's standing up beside his invention while Mashi is sitting on the ground back where she started. Standing just down the park's dirt path is a taller figure in all black save for some red sneakers. His hands are stuffed into his hoodie's pockets and he's slouched forward a little.
"You went from, what was it? Leeches? To cats. Aren't you versatile."
It takes a long second for Izuku to recognize the figure, but evidently Mashi figures it out quicker. She was always better with people, after all.
"HEY! It's Sand Hands!" Mashi calls, pointing a finger at the figure. When Izuku shoots her a confused look she blinks and tries to explain. "Because he turned things to sand? With his hands?"
"He dissolved them, Mashi…" Izuku says slowly, brows furrowing, but Mashi just shrugs.
"Right! He dissolved them into sand!"
"No. No, see, he didn't, because the particle size was more like silt, not sand—Wait… No I am not doing this. Not worth it," the green-haired boy turns towards the figure who has come closer, standing in the grass a few feet away and just watching the back and forth with a mildly agitated look. "Sorry, sorry. Hello Tomura-san! I wasn't expecting to see you here!" Izuku properly greets the older boy with a bright smile.
"I wasn't expecting you'd remember me," Tomura offers back, expression slowly morphing to something unreadable and almost a little suspicious.
"You left an impression," Izuku admits, smile turning mildly nervous. He remembered a little bit about Tomura from their last meeting outside of his quirk. He had been an odd boy who had issues with heroes and a defensive, negative aura about him. Izuku had wanted to know more about the mysterious boy after he had left, intrigued and amazed, and now it seemed he was getting that chance.
"I'm surprised you're here. Are you really just out doing errands again?" Izuku pushes when Tomura offers up no further information.
The pale boy is staring down at the Neko Nurse as it walks around the immediate area. "No, I saw your request for volunteers online again and came out for it," he says dryly and he looks up at Izuku, head tilted and eyes shadowed by his hood. "I was expecting more Leech stuff. Not… this."
"We do AAAAAALL KINDS of experiments!" Mashi calls over and she scrambles to get up as if she momentarily loses control of her limbs. When she's up she comes trotting over, grinning wide and pressing against Izuku's side. She seems a little tenser than usual, the green-haired boy notices, but then she is talking again.
"So you just, like… happened upon our request again?"
Tomura stares at the redhead for a long, silent moment as if he is trying to gauge how to feel about her. It isn't an unusual reaction, considering who Mashi is, but the red gaze feels colder than usual. Izuku chews anxiously at his lip, his own body slowly tensing as well.
"I've been watching you, Midoriya Izuku," the taller boy finally says, cold gaze turning to the smaller boy instead. Izuku's eyes widen and one of Mashi's hands latches onto his human arm, grip tight and steady. They stare back at Tomura, Izuku startled and frightened, Mashi glaring and defensive. The air turns thick and hot, a bead of sweat inching down Izuku's back. Tomura stares right back, cold and harsh, head lowered so his face is cast in shadows.
It's with a single blink that the older boy changes. Suddenly his lips are twitching and his eyes are squinting, then he's snorting and throwing his head back to laugh, hood falling off. His smile is big, bigger than most, his chapped lips pulling in what looks like an uncomfortable way, but it's a happy smile. Izuku and Mashi share a surprised and confused look before facing the pale boy again.
"Oh man, you should see your faces!" Tomura says as he comes down from his sudden burst of laughter, eyes still crinkled and large, pulling smile in place.
"W-what?" Izuku stutters, too confused to voice anything else.
"After that whole Leech thing I HAVE been keeping an eye out for you online, but relax. It's only because I'm interested. Me and someone else, anyway. Who wouldn't be?" Tomura explains, shrugging nonchalantly, eyes falling back to the Neko Nurse still walking around.
"Dude, fuck you! That was creepy as shit!" Mashi snaps, stepping away from Izuku a little and glaring at Tomura, but this time it's not as dangerous a look. Not TOO dangerous, anyway. Izuku must agree with her, though. That had been really creepy.
"You said you and someone else? Who's the other person?" Izuku asks, trying to shake off the heebie-jeebies still clinging to his skin.
"My Sensei," Tomura replies and his red eyes begin to sparkle as he stands a little straighter. It catches Izuku's eye and has the younger boy also straightening up, but more out of curiosity. Oh, so this was someone important to Tomura? "He rarely goes out, however, so you just get me."
"Can we get a refund?" Mashi says dryly and Izuku elbows her, shooting her a glare.
"That's a good one," Tomura says, but there's not as much mirth in his voice anymore, his smile tightening as he throws it at Mashi.
"Right, so…" the genius boy quickly cuts in, taking a step towards Tomura, offering a smile, "You came to check out the experiment? Maybe volunteer some?"
The pale boy turns to look at Izuku again, the edge to his stance while addressing Mashi going away quickly. So quickly it makes one wonder if it was there at all. "Yes, though I'm not sure how to volunteer with a… cat."
"This is Neko Nurse," Izuku begins, smile growing big and excited as he begins to introduce his newest creation. Mashi beside him decides to play Vanna White, making big hand motions at the bot, showing it off while Izuku commentates. "It is, to put simply, a mobile first-aid kit, though it has multiple other abilities. Neko Nurse has a series of chemicals inside its body that it can combine in multiple ways to create a huge variety of medicines, tonics, antiseptics, and so on. It is also able to help distressed individuals, either after a shocking event, or someone dealing with a panic attack or psychological breakdown."
"That's… a lot," Tomura says slowly, eying the cat as it just keeps walking around, Mashi trying to follow it to keep "presenting" it. "This going to go to the heroes or something?" The question has an edge to it that Izuku doesn't like and the green-haired boy looks to the other sadly.
"Yes, but the majority of them I'd like to just… go around town. Help the small things heroes can't get to. Help people that aren't in 'mortal' danger, but still need help."
For a second something flashes over Tomura's face. Some mixture of sadness, surprise, and anger, but it's gone quickly and the boy is looking away from the Neko Nurse. "That's… good."
"I hope so," Izuku nods, voice quiet and gentle, uncertain of whatever was going through the pale boy's head. Tomura was haunted. By what, Izuku didn't know, but he could see it now. Something had happened and it was lingering… Could Izuku help? He certainly wanted to.
"So what am I supposed to do with this thing?" The snap has Izuku shaking out his head in surprise and looking properly at Tomura.
"Oh! Well… one second, let me put it into work mode."
Izuku turns back to look at the Neko Nurse, his Eye flashing colors as he connects with the bot. Mashi has stopped her previous antics and returned to stand by the two boys, her arms crossed as she waits. As Izuku slowly works out the proper commands in his brain he hears his friend address Tomura again.
"How the fuck are ya wearing that hoodie right now, anyway, huh?"
"It's comfortable," Tomura says stiffly after a beat.
"You, Sand Hands, are crazy!"
There is no response after that, only tense silence, and Izuku tries to hurry along.
When the Neko Nurse is finally put into the proper mode Izuku looks back at Tomura with a grin. "Okay! First, call out to it."
There's a pause, Izuku and Mashi stepping back to watch and take notes on the next event, Tomura seeming to consider what he was doing, before he finally calls, "Neko Nurse!"
The robotic cat perks up as if it were alive, ears followed by its head turning towards Tomura, and then it is getting up and jogging over. It sits down in front of the pale boy and looks up at his face. "Hello sir, madam, or otherwise," a feminine, robotic voice comes from the cat, seeming to surprise the human it is addressing. "You have called to me. Do you require my assistance?"
Tomura looks down at the robotic cat, then glances over at Izuku and Mashi. Both kids are grinning like fools and they both offer a thumbs up, silently telling him to go on.
"I don't know," Tomura says at length, turning his eyes back down towards the cat. He seems slightly agitated now, either at not knowing what to do or at being put in this position at all, it's hard to tell.
"That is okay," says Neko Nurse, "With your permission may I do a full body scan of you?"
Another glance at the two kids before Tomura is shaking his head in disbelief and looking skyward. "Sure, fine."
"Please reply with yes or n—"
"Yes!"
"Thank you. Scan commencing." For a second the robot's eyes begin to glow red as it looks up and down Tomura's body before it's eyes return to normal and it is looking up at the boy's face again. "Scan complete. I have analyzed that you are suffering from sleep deprivation, mild dehydration, mild starvation, and high anxiety. Please, take this for later tonight to assist in sleep and I would recommend stopping for breakfast, lunch, or dinner soon."
The Neko Nurse whirs for a second, chemicals being picked inside its body based off of Tomura's scans, mixing them together and compressing them into a solidified form. A little compartment opens up on the bot's chest with the sound of a jingling bell and Tomura kneels down to take the little pill presented to him, brows furrowed.
"Please also seek assistance from a trusted doctor to determine long term solutions for your sleep and anxiety. I hope I have been of assistance to you."
With its duty seemingly over the Neko Nurse looks forward and stares blankly ahead, waiting for further commands or duties.
"It's still a work in progress, obviously," Izuku says cheerfully as he walks over, turning Neko Nurse off and looking up at Tomura with a smile.
"THAT is a work in progress?" the boy asks, baffled and uncertain what to do, his right hand held up uncertainly with his new sleep aid between his two fingers.
"Well, yeah," Izuku nods, head tilting towards his creation. "Right now it gives just about anybody as many pills as they want, which is a big no, no. It also is unable to determine time and it is limited in how you can respond to it. The voice is also kind of cold, if I'm being honest. Approachability is a must, here."
"Right… I should have known," Tomura mumbles with a very pointed eye roll. "What about my scan, huh? What if I don't want a scan of me floating around?"
"Already deleted," Izuku quickly supplies, seeing the mounting anxiety in the taller boy, and he raises his hands just slightly to hopefully keep him calm. "When Neko Nurse is done with a patient it deletes all personal information for confidentiality."
Tomura takes a deep, wavering breath and looks down at the cat, his eyes thin. "I don't think Sensei is going to really care about this," he mumbles, but it seems to mostly be to himself. It still hits Izuku like a smack. He tries to tell himself he isn't doing this for the praise, but that still stings the tiniest bit. "Where's your friend anyway?"
Izuku straightens up in surprise, brows rising and eyes widening. His friend? Mashi? Now that he mentioned it, it had been suspiciously quiet for a few minutes now.
The genius boy looks back where Mashi had last been, but she isn't there. He looks around him at the surrounding area but sees no sign of her. She's a hard to miss girl, too… Izuku turns his gaze back to Tomura, whose head is tilted and his brows furrowed, a question in his expression but nothing more.
"When did you see her last?" Izuku asks, a waver in his voice he hadn't been prepared for. Where was Mashi? Where had she gone? She had just been there. Had… Had the monster shown up again? Had she been snatched? Was she hurt? Wouldn't Izuku have heard something though? Had he failed? He was the only one that could see that thing, after all.
He doesn't realize he's hyperventilating until Tomura is stepping forward and bumping his knuckles against Izuku's forehead. "Calm down," is all the other boy says, but it hardly helps.
"Oh, calm down? Calm down? Yes, let me magically just make myself feel better with a flick of my wand!" Izuku snaps and immediately cringes, looking away and trying to catch his breath. "I'm sorry," he chokes out, shaking his head viciously. "I'm sorry, I—"
"ICE CREAM, BITCHES!!"
The scream has Izuku's mood flipping right back to furious and his head snaps up to glare in the direction of it. Mashi is walking back towards them with a cardboard tray with three ice cream cones in it. She's grinning big, chest puffed out, her messy braid bouncing with every, chipper step.
"WHERE DID YOU GO?!" Izuku roars in a way he never has before, making the redhead stop midstep, eyes widening in shock.
"Uh… To get ice cream?" Mashi says slowly, pointing back towards the line of buildings across the street from the park. One of them is a bakery that serves ice cream during the summer, a popular place for the kids in the park.
"Why?" Tomura questions, sounding baffled and not at all angry like Izuku was. And why would he? He had no reason to worry about the idiot redhead. He didn't know about the monster that they'd fought.
"The Neko Nurse said Sand Hands was thirsty and hungry? I thought it'd be a good idea," Mashi mumbles, head down and looking up through her hair. She looked crestfallen and with a shuddering gasp Izuku tries to relax. She hadn't been snatched. She wasn't hurt. She just had terrible timing…
"You went and got ice cream…" he repeats, mostly to himself, and Mashi nods.
"Yeah… I'm sorry," she whispers, but Izuku is already shaking his head.
"You just… I got scared…" he whispers, takes another breath, then offers a smile towards the redhead. "That was really considerate of you, Mashi."
Mashi sighs in relief, happy to no longer be in trouble, her kicked puppy look going away as she turns towards Tomura and hops up to him, holding out the tray in both hands. "Take your pick! I ain't got no clue what flavor you like," she says cheerfully, indicating the vanilla, chocolate, and strawberry options on the waffle cones.
When nothing more happens Mashi tilts her head and gives Tomura a closer look. He's silent, just staring down at the ice cream, his face a mixture of shock, suspicion, and sadness.
"Are you okay, Tomura-san?" Izuku says softly, stepping a little closer towards the pale boy, brows curved in worry, his right hand raising like he's going to lay it on the other boy's arm but stopping in the air.
"You… got ME… ice cream," the other boy says softly, voice much more emotionless than his face.
"Fuck yeah I did! The Neko Nurse said you needed it, so I went and go it! Used my own money and everything!" Mashi announces cheerfully.
"I'll pay you back," Izuku whispers.
"Thank you, I'm so poor!" Mashi says just as cheerfully, though she does make a small face of emotional pain.
"That's…" Tomura begins to say something, but stops himself, and suddenly his face is shutting off from the world and he's reaching out to pick up the vanilla ice cream cone. He eyes it for a long moment, holding the cone so he doesn't dissolve it, one pinky out. After a long silence, Mashi picking up the chocolate cone and Izuku taking the strawberry one, he takes a lick and nods. "It's good."
He offers no thank you, but Mashi doesn't seem to mind, just grinning, proud of herself, then turning away to go retrieve her notepad she'd left behind. Izuku stares at Tomura in silence, just holding his ice cream cone while the other silently eats.
This boy… he was… something. Haunted, for sure, creepy on occasion, apparently not above pulling jokes on people he hardly knew, and just in general a massive mystery. Izuku didn't understand him at all, but a little, nagging part of him really wanted to.
"You know," Izuku is startled by the voice, jumping when he realizes the other boy is addressing him. "You're going to need to test your cat doctor in real situations. Dire situations, even."
Izuku glances back at the Neko Nurse, his brows furrowed, and slowly he nods. "Yes, eventually I will, once I get to a good enough stage. It'll be harder finding that latter condition, however."
"I can help."
The smaller boy blinks up at Tomura, eyes widening, not realizing how close the other had gotten. "What—"
"I'm from a… less than savory part of town. Just the way it is, right? I know great locations to bring your little robot," Tomura cuts him off, staring hard down at Izuku, who can only stare back in wonder. "It won't be pleasant, but you want your robot to be able to deal with even the worst case scenarios, don't you?"
"Of course I d—"
"Great!" Suddenly Izuku is being greeted by that creepy, too large smile and he can't help but shrink away. "Take this," something – a piece of paper? – is being shoved into Izuku's robotic hand, and he flinches from the sudden contact. "That's my online contact info. Let me know when you're ready to seriously test that thing of yours."
One moment Tomura is too far in Izuku's space, the next he's backing up, still grinning, but much more subdued. "I better head out," he says loudly, eyes glancing over the green-haired boy's shoulder, and Izuku glances back to see Mashi returning, guiltily trying to wipe off a drop of ice cream from her notepad.
"Seriously?" the redhead questions, then shrugs as she settles at Izuku's right side, bumping his prosthetic in greeting, and his fist tightens around the folded slip of paper in his hand. "Eh, well, it was cool seein' you again, I guess."
"You as well… I guess," Tomura gives Mashi a slightly colder look, but doesn't seem too agitated. He flips his hood back onto his head and turns to leave, licking absently at his ice cream. "See you around, Midoriya. Mashi."
"Yeah… bye," Izuku mumbles, watching Tomura walk away, his own feet glued to the spot.
"Friendly advice? Invest in chapstick!" Mashi screams after him, properly startling Izuku out of his stupor and he nudges her, trying hard not to laugh. "Like… A LOT of it!"
"MASHI!"