Chapter 21: The Show (Part One)
"I'm going to throw up. I feel like I'm going to throw up. Then die. I'm going to die. One hundred percent expire right here. Donate my organs to the hospital than burn me, please."
"Damn it, Deku, would you chill out?" Katsuki snaps where he is pressed close between the other boy and the truck door. Haganehato Mottai offered to use her big truck to help transport the kids and Izuku's inventions to the UA campus some time ago. Inko would have come, but she couldn't fit, what with all three kids pressed in tight to the front seat while Mottai drives to their right.
The months leading up to the UA exhibit had been filled with experiments, inventions, and jittery excitement. It had been stressful not telling anyone about it, or keeping certain pieces of information to themselves in Shinsou and Inazumi's cases, but now it was happening and Izuku's anxiety was betraying him.
"Kacchan, I want you to have my All Might merchandise. All of it. It's yours. Mashi, you can have all my video games and pop culture stuff," Izuku continues, acting like Katsuki had never said anything.
"Oh shit, maybe we shoulda killed him earlier," Mashi deadpans, leaning around Izuku to smirk over at Katsuki. The blond snorts and Izuku smacks at the girl's arm, shooting her a glare. She shrugs at him and leans back, smooshed between Izuku and her mother. Even Mashi, with her massive patience for Izuku's freak-outs, had her limits. She would never snap at him, never get angry, but the sass levels were certainly escalating.
Not even five minutes into the two-hour-long drive to UA's campus and Izuku had begun to mutter and, to put it simply, freak out. He was actually going to his dream school, he had been INVITED to his dream school, to show off his inventions. They were all excited, energy bouncing around the car, but quickly Izuku's energy had turned dark and worrisome.
What if he messed up? What if he couldn't speak? What if they didn't take him seriously? What if they didn't like him? What if he destroyed all his chances of ever getting into the hero world and ended up falling into a deep depression, quit building, and ended up a homeless and broken man with no one to blame but himself?
"No sir, none of that," comes a strong voice and a big, callused hand lays on top of Izuku's curls. Mottai ruffles his hair, properly messing up the nice braid Inko had put it into, and though she keeps her attention forward on the road, she cracks a smile and glances down at the panicking boy. "No gettin' stuck in that big ole head o' yours. You guys're gonna do great!"
"You don't know that!" Izuku nearly cries, frantically trying to fix his hair.
"Sure we do!" Mashi grins as her mother brings her hand back to the steering wheel.
"We have no evidence to support that claim," Izuku retorts, falling back on the language he used while doing a scientific report or for some of his experiments. It was familiar and relaxing. Well… familiar. Nothing was relaxing right now.
"We're fucking awesome, that's your evidence," Katsuki barks, arms crossed over his chest, leaning more against the door of the truck as they finally drove into the city. His red eyes were glued to the window, a slight sparkle to them as he watched the buildings go by.
"That isn't an actual fact, it's an opinion and—Mashi please let me fix your hair! Please!" Izuku's attention moved from one childhood friend to the other, eyes desperate as he takes in the many loose strands of hair from the redhead's otherwise nice hairdo.
"Nah, it's cool," Mashi shrugs.
"I am begging you here!" Izuku near cries.
They were all dressed up for the event. This was big and after some messages that came through Aizawa they knew a lot of executives and corporate people would be there. This was a chance to show off their tech and hopefully get their names out there as an inventing team and future heroes in training.
With the money the Midoriya's were saving up they'd been able to get the three kids new outfits for the occasion. Izuku's growing hair sat in a heavy braid against his back and he wore a nice, white suit, buttoned at the front, with a black shirt underneath, a bright blue tie – tied by his mother this go round – and dark brown loafers.
Mashi's hair had also been braided and then bobby-pinned into a curl against the back of her head. She, as expected, refused to wear a dress, so she had also gotten a suit, a black one that she kept unbuttoned with a bright green button up, a black bowtie, and nice black boots.
Katsuki's hair didn't look much different than it ever did, there really wasn't much one could do with the untamable hair, but his suit seemed to stand out the most. The pants were black, but the jacket was orange, suede of all things, with a slightly shiny black collar, a white button up, a black tie, and black oxfords.
They all looked spectacular, even if Mashi's hair kept falling loose, and they hoped they'd make a good impression. When they got to the more labor-intensive demonstrations they did plan to change into more appropriate clothes, but for now they were dressed for success.
At least Izuku hoped it would be success. He hated all the waiting, his nerves just about ready to shoot him through the roof of the car. He tried to remember that Aizawa, Hizashi, and Nemuri would be there to support him. He tried to remember that Mashi and Katsuki would be by his side the entire time. He tried to remember everyone was going to fully understand he was a child unfamiliar with any of this.
He was going to be okay.
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He was NOT OKAY.
Izuku nearly threw up for real when he saw the UA building come into view, the pure excitement and nervousness mixing together in a cacophony of noise in his head and his gut. It only got worse as they got closer and Mottai finally pulled the truck up to the front gates, parking the car. There were people standing in front to greet them.
Three were familiar – Eraserhead, Present Mic, and Midnight in full costume – but there were a few more Izuku had certainly never met. All the heroes were familiar, Izuku had sections in his notebook for all of them, and there were a few businessmen as well, but it just made the mishmash of excited anxiety grow worse. He wanted to meet all of them, wanted to ask so many questions, but at the same time the awareness of how ridiculous he might look crept up his very spine.
"Don't nerd out on us, Deku," Katsuki hisses, hand already gripping the door handle, ready to hurry out.
"Oh, now it's worse," Izuku ducks his head, eyes wide, lips in a tight line.
Mashi reaches over him to smack Katsuki's arm none too gently. "Fucker, watch your shit mouth!" she snaps and Katsuki rolls his eyes at her.
"He needed to hear it," he snorts, shaking his head and turning back to the door, pushing it open.
"Literally did NOT," Izuku groans but suddenly his left, human hand is being taken and he's pulled to the side. Katsuki drags him out of the truck with him quickly and they find themselves hidden away, the truck between them and the entry gate and all those heroes.
"Yes you did. Do not nerd out. Do not show weakness. We are in their turf now and we need to show we are fucking worth their attention and respect!" Katsuki jabs his pointer finger into Izuku's chest, an intense look in his eyes. They had been close in the truck, but with Izuku's freak outs he hadn't noticed how his friends might be handling things. Now, this close and momentarily shaken from his own head he saw the stiffness in his friend's shoulders and the very minute shake to his lips.
Was Katsuki telling Izuku all of this, or himself?
Either way, it was a decent enough pep talk coming from the explosive boy, and for now… for now Izuku would accept it. So he nods his head, setting his shoulders despite their shaking, and tries to take on a serious expression. No messing around, this was serious.
"Or, like… these guys are fully aware we're fuckin' twelve and probably don't give a shit?" Mashi says, leaning out of the open door, one of her brows raised as she looks at the boys. Izuku clears his throat at that, shoulders immediately falling. Right… This wasn't life or death either.
"Hey! I'm thirteen, fuckface!" Katsuki snaps back at the girl as she fully hops out of the truck. She sets her hands on her hips and sneers back at him.
"Congratulations," she says dryly.
"You're a little snippier than usual," Izuku observes. Had his fretting really worn down her patience that much?
She turns her head towards the genius, eyes still pretty sarcastic, and replies immediately, "I'm terrified out of my fuckin' mind so I'm masking it with sarcasm and witty remarks. And yes, I wish I was kidding."
"I wouldn't call them witty," Katsuki smirks, earning another look from Mashi who then, as form of response, blows a raspberry at him.
"Good to see you all so lively!" The comment makes all three kids yelp and look up in shock. Standing on the top of the truck is a tiny, familiar figure smiling down at them.
"Shit… that's Principal Nedzu," Katsuki hisses in awe and Izuku remembers this is the blonde's first time meeting the UA principal. Honestly, despite having already met him, the spike of giddiness still erupts through his own body.
"Hello young man, you must be Bakugou Katsuki," Nedzu smiles at Katsuki and Izuku hears the boy make a tiny, itty bitty noise when the principal addresses him by name.
"Yes, that's me!" Despite his obvious excitement Katsuki's voice is strong and confident, ready to take on anyone.
"Well, it is very nice to meet you," Nedzu nods his head like a small bow in greeting.
"Do you need help getting down from there?" Mashi questions, brows furrowed, one hand up to block the morning sun.
"I got him," comes a rough voice as a hero comes walking around the truck, coat billowing in the wind at his entrance, "feet" making clicking noises with each step. The, quite frankly creepy, mask of the hero hardly bothers Izuku as he all but vibrates at the appearance, realizing who he is immediately.
Ectoplasm reaches up and easily lifts and moves Principal Nedzu back to the ground. The principal straightens his suit but Izuku's attention is entirely on the hero now in his presence.
"Oh my gosh… Ectoplasm! The Clone Hero!" he squeals, but stumbles when Katsuki quickly elbows him in the side. He looks back at his friend, perturbed, but at his friend's glare he straightens up and takes a deep breath, trying to calm down. "I am a really big fan," Izuku continues, more in control of himself. He hears Katsuki snort behind him but ignores that.
This was Ectoplasm! An amazing hero with an amazing quirk… and amazing similarities to Izuku. He could see the prosthetics under the coat replacing the pro hero's legs and he felt a lump build in his throat. They were hardly high tech at all, even high end prosthetics on the market couldn't claim much, but that made it all the more amazing.
This hero was like Izuku and he had made it.
He was amazing!
Ectoplasm grins down at him… probably… Actually Izuku can't tell, but he's going to go with grinning, and the green-haired boy giggles. Actually giggles. "I've heard a lot about your accomplishments, Midoriya-san," the pro hero says and Izuku could melt, he really could. "Would a few clones help in moving some of your gear inside?"
"Yes!" Katsuki is the one to reply and Izuku looks back at him, one eyebrow arched. Mashi is giving the blonde a similar look to his side. Right, as tough and cool as he was trying to look, Katsuki loved heroes too. Almost as much as Izuku.
Both Ectoplasm and Principal Nedzu give a laugh at the excitement. "Very well, then," the pro hero nods and turns away.
"Why don't you three go introduce yourselves to everyone while we get everything inside," Nedzu suggests, smiling pleasantly at the kids and waving a paw at them as if to shoo them off.
"Definitely!" Mashi exclaims, grinning eagerly. While she didn't have the same hero fever that Izuku and Katsuki had she still seemed eager to socialize to the best of her ability. She begins to run towards the front of the truck, turning around it quickly, but then pokes her head back around to look at her friends. "One of you guys come with incase I say the wrong word!"
"Do you mean when?" Katsuki smirks, hands going into his pockets as he turns to follow the redhead, also eager to meet all of the heroes and begin getting his name out there.
"I hope you choke on a hot chip," Mashi deadpans, glaring at the blonde as he joins her. His smirk turns into a sneer and he shoves her as they both disappear around the truck.
Izuku doesn't join them, though, not yet. Instead he turns back towards Nedzu, smiling weakly down at him.
"Principal Nedzu… I wanted to say thank you for this opportunity. I have no idea how I could ever make it up to you," he says, his voice a little breathless as he thanks the amazing animal that was making this entire thing possible.
Nedzu laughs gently, smiling back at Izuku, his paws held behind his back. "You can repay me by becoming an amazing hero and saving lives. How does that sound?"
The words make Izuku choke and he has to duck his head and look away so Nedzu doesn't see the tears welling up in his eye. "That—" Izuku stops himself when his voice cracks. He takes a deep breath and shakes himself out. "That sounds good," he finally manages.
Izuku jumps and looks up when he feels a small paw lay on his human arm. He looks at Principal Nedzu, whose face has become soft and sincere. "You are a remarkable young man, Midoriya-kun, I could tell that when we first met, and you have done so much already. It would be a waste to wait until high school for the hero agencies to see what you can do."
This time Izuku can't reply, too choked up, but he does manage a watery smile and a strong nod. He had never asked for this opportunity, but Principal Nedzu was giving it to him anyway and he couldn't be more grateful.
"Th-thank you for your help, Ectoplasm!" Izuku calls when he finds his voice again and begins to follow after his friends' path.
The hero, surrounded by a few of his clones who are working on moving boxes of Izuku's gear from the back of the truck, turns and "smiles" back at the green-haired boy. "I look forward to seeing everything you do, Midoriya-san," he replies, nodding. "After all, 'when you're quirkless the possibilities are endless.'" Ectoplasm offers a wink with that then turns back to the task at hand.
Izuku's brows furrow in confusion.
That saying sounded familiar, like déjà vu, but from a dream. A blur of a memory, perhaps, from long ago, distorted by time.
He shakes his head. He could take that apart at a later date. For now he had heroes to meet.
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Mashi and Katsuki are already talking excitedly to the group of pro heroes and businessmen by the time Izuku makes his way over. Katsuki is trying to keep up a cool façade, focusing mostly on the heroes, but he can't stop grinning. Mashi, surprisingly, has zeroed in on Present Mic instead of talking to everyone, the two yammering at each other animatedly.
"There you are." The voice startles Izuku, focus moving from his friends to the man now standing by his side. Immediately Izuku is smiling brightly up at Aizawa, the man looking tired, his hands in his pockets, half-lidded eyes down on the green-haired boy. "You all look… dapper," Aizawa notes, glancing over at Mashi and Katsuki as well.
"Thanks," Izuku smiles proudly, straightening the collar of his jacket. He felt nice dressed up like this. He had never had the opportunity nor funds before.
The pro hero hums in response and looks over his shoulder. "Before you go meeting everyone else, someone asked me if they could speak to you first," Aizawa says, looking back down at Izuku.
"Someone? Who?"
Aizawa tilts his head slightly, mouth hidden by his capture weapon, considering how to reply to that. "An acquaintance," he decides to settle on.
"A friend!" comes a strong, joyful voice as a man in white armor bumps shoulders with the dark, tired man. Izuku's gaze turns to him and for a split second he can't identify him, shock filling up all the space in his head like a slap to the face. It hardly lasts a second, his eyes widening comically when he recognizes the hero outfit.
"I-I-I-Ingenium!" Izuku stutters, his breathing quickening and heart pounding in his chest. This… Was this for real?!
"Hey there, buddy," Ingenium takes off his helmet and tucks it under an arm. The other then raises in a wave and his face lights up with a bright, familiar smile. A safe, heroic smile.
Aizawa glances between the two for a moment before looking at Ingenium with furrowed brows. "You know him?" he questions. Apparently he hadn't been given the memo, which made sense… Neither Inko nor Izuku liked to talk much about The Incident, and he never pushed. He knew it was hard, knew it was traumatic. It was enough that he knew what Izuku had to live with everyday of his life, he didn't need to know where it came from.
"Sure do! Midoriya here is the second bravest kid I know! Right after my little brother, anyway. Sorry, he's just gotta come firs—oof!" Ingenium is cut off as Izuku rushes forward and collides with his chest, hugging his arms around his torso tightly and crying loudly into his armor. "Aw, kid…" Ingenium says quietly, dropping his helmet so he can wrap an arm around Izuku and squeeze him back, the other hand coming up to ruffle his green curls.
Izuku can't believe it. Can't believe this is actually happening. It had been so long ago, half his life ago, when Ingenium had rescued him from a crumbled, ruined building, giving him a second chance at life. It had been a dark, awful time, but Ingenium had been a brilliant light in the whole ordeal. Izuku had only met him once while in the hospital and had always looked back with guilt that he couldn't have thanked the hero properly.
And now here he was.
"You saved my life," Izuku wheezes against Ingenium, unable to pull away and show the mess his face most certainly would be. He didn't care about keeping up appearances right now. He was a twelve-year-old kid meeting his own, personal hero again for the first time in six years. He was allowed to cry. "You saved my life," he repeats with more emphasis, almost in disbelief, like this had all happened yesterday and was fresh in his mind again and he couldn't believe he had survived. "Thank you!"
"You saved him?" questions Aizawa off to the side, his voice sounding a bit more surprised and thoughtful than his usual, bored tone, volume lowered.
Ingenium ruffles Izuku's hair again and chuckles solemnly. "I did. A hero battle dropped a building on the poor kid. He did most the work, though." Izuku snorts at that, the tears beginning to pull back and he can breathe again. "He was the one that held on. Bravest and scariest thing I'd ever seen," Ingenium continues.
There's a long pause that follows before Aizawa lets out a gust of air like a punch to the gut and says quietly, "He has a habit of doing that."
When Izuku finally manages to pull away enough to look up he looks over towards Aizawa first, seeing the man staring back at him with an expression he can't quite place. He looks thoughtful and… like he was honored, but not for himself. He was smiling just a tiny bit, too. It made Izuku feel overwhelmed but happy.
"Zuzu scares the crap outta us all the time!" Mashi's voice is cutting in and Izuku looks backwards. The redhead and Katsuki are approaching, both giving Ingenium varying looks of curiosity and amazement.
"He's certainly something else," Ingenium laughs brightly, the arm that had been hugging Izuku moving to gently lift the genius's right arm. "This is amazing, by the way! You replaced this?"
A blush creeps up Izuku's cheeks as he looks away bashfully, smiling and flexing his robotic arm. "I did."
"When he was nine!" Mashi adds excitedly, grinning from ear to ear.
"By himself…" Aizawa also comments, not sounding quite so happy. In fact, now he is frowning, displeased at the memory. While the Arm incident had hardly been as bad as the Eye and Spine attachments, it had still been a rather stressful time for a lot of people.
"I was there!" Mashi huffs, pouting over at Aizawa.
"That's hardly better," Katsuki sneers over at her, rolling his eyes when she pouts only deeper. He hadn't been present for the whole thing, had been banned from the Midoriya household at the time, but had heard plenty about it later.
"You guys are a hoot," Ingenium chuckles as finally Izuku steps back towards his friends, eyes stuck on the speed hero. His chest felt light and twisted all at once, his whole being buzzing.
"Why did you come here today?" Izuku asks, his attention glued to Ingenium.
"Well… Principal Nedzu sent out a few messages to some pro heroes about this event. Said we could come and see a young genius showing off the tech of tomorrow, maybe offer internships or deals if we wanted. When he said WHO you were, well, how could I resist?" Ingenium explains, smiling brightly, before his eyes widen and his mouth forms a small "O" as he remembers something. "Right! How could I forget? I brought a surprise guest, too!"
Izuku's head tilts in curiosity at that, brows furrowing. Katsuki mumbles a quiet, "I hate surprises," behind him while Mashi begins bouncing excitedly.
Ingenium grins even brighter than before, looking eager over something, and then turns to yell back over his shoulder, "Okay Tenya-kun! You can come over now!"
The last thing Izuku expects is a mini version of Ingenium to come rushing over, his whole body moving robotically, at an unnatural speed that leaves a cloud of dirt in his wake. He is also wearing nice clothes, similar to the businessmen, but he has to be close to Izuku, Katsuki, and Mashi's age. Instead of dress pants he has on nice shorts to give room for the exhaust pipes sticking out of his calves, he had on rectangular glasses, and… well… he just looks like a tiny man.
He's taller than all three of the other kids and comes to a stop right in front of Izuku, between he and Ingenium. "Hello there, Midoriya Izuku-san!" the young man says firmly and clearly, leaving no room for misunderstanding. Izuku jumps in surprise at the volume, focused entirely on the newcomer, not noticing Ingenium's big smile.
"Uh, hello…?" Izuku offers slowly, leaning away a little, concerned for his safety. He wasn't worried this boy would try to hurt him, Ingenium had brought him, but he seemed very… passionate. Like maybe he'd get too excited and hit something by mistake.
"Hello!" the boy repeats and suddenly his arm is raised, moving from the shoulder, and a hand is presented to Izuku. "My name is Iida Tenya! I have heard about you from my big brother and if my big brother sees you so highly than so shall I!"
Izuku blinks at the hand held straight out at him, a little too high to shake comfortably. Slowly he raises his right hand to shake anyway and can't help but think his actual, robotic parts move less robotically than this boy.
"Tenya-kun, relax," Ingenium says but he sounds like he's on the verge of laughter. Right… Ingenium had mentioned a younger brother six years ago. This must be him.
"No, no…" Mashi whispers, her voice breaking a little, "He's perfect the way he is." Izuku looks over to her, a brow arched, and sees she has her hands partially over her grinning mouth, trying very, very hard not to laugh.
"What is up with this guy…?" Katsuki whispers, his own brows furrowed and eyes wide in disbelief and irritation at the noise.
"It's nice to meet you, Iida-kun," Izuku says, turning back towards the newcomer. The little brother of Ingenium, probably had a similar if not identical quirk to his brother based on the engines in his legs, and had an incredibly… intense presence about him.
"Hi there! I'm Haganehato Mashi, but call me Mashi! It's better. That's Fire Cracker over there. Don't mind him, he was dropped as a child," Mashi greets, stepping directly up to Izuku's right side, grinning more joyously than necessary at Iida.
"Bakugou Katsuki," Katsuki snaps, glaring at Mashi as he too steps up to Izuku's left side, his arms crossed and scowling. "Stop with the stupid nicknames."
"Only when you do," Mashi smiles sweetly back, cackling when Katsuki only growls and turns away from her.
The new boy immediately snaps his arms to his sides and bows deeply from the hip over and over again at speeds Izuku worries he'll end up pulling something. Or give himself a headache…
"Hello Haganehato Mashi! Hello Bakugou Katsuki! It is very nice to make your acquaintance! I have heard you are integral to the demonstrations today?" Iida replies as he finally stands up straight.
"Hell yeah we are," Katsuki straightens up his back a little, head held a little higher, sizing Iida up more closely. His red eyes scan the other boy's form, trying to determine what possible threat he may pose in… whatever Katsuki has running through his mind.
Iida pauses, mouth twisting slightly at Katsuki's language, but doesn't deem it quite bad enough to comment. "I look forward to it, then!" he goes on, just as cheerful and loud as before.
"Oh my god," Mashi whispers, "Can we keep him?" Izuku smacks lightly at her arm, trying not to smile too big at her obvious entertainment that seemed to be Iida Tenya.
"Speaking of…" Aizawa cuts in, drawing their attentions to where he stands beside Ingenium, looking just as tired and emotionally disconnected as usual. "We should head onto campus and get this started."
Ingenium nods. "Right! Don't want to keep anybody waiting. Come on, Tenya-kun. We can talk to them later," the armored pro hero smiles brightly one last time before he slips his helmet back on and waits for his little brother.
"Of course, nii-san!" Iida nods, movements snappy. "I will see you all inside!" he says to Izuku and his friends. It is only when he smiles now that Izuku realizes he hadn't been smiling this whole time, an intense, serious expression forced onto his young features. Though he seemed to have hit puberty a little early, he still had enough baby fat to make the adult expression comical.
"See you soon," Izuku agrees and watches as Iida quickly joins his brother and the two head to the gate. The rest of the pro heroes and businessmen appear to have already head in as well save for the Ectoplasm clones working on moving all of the gear carefully inside.
"I love him," Mashi says the second the brothers are out of earshot.
"I fucking don't," Katsuki growls, glaring after the pair. "What the hell was up with him, acting like that? Was he trying to impress somebody? He think he's better than us?!"
"The way Ingenium says it, that's how he always acts," Aizawa says, pulling out some eye drops and applying some generously. "It's tiring to watch," he sighs.
"He's like the human embodiment of when you haven't slept so long you cycle back to hyper!" Mashi chirps and finally their little group begins walking as well, grabbing a few smaller boxes of Izuku's gear as they go.
"He's like a Bop It and a calculator fused into a person," Katsuki huffs and despite his obvious, irritated tone Mashi laughs at it.
"A friend-shaped person!" the redhead chortles loudly, laughter bright and head thrown back. "Oh my god I love him so much! I want to be his friend so bad!
"I thought he was rectangle-shaped," Katsuki snarks, smirking, while Izuku tries not to laugh too much. It was true, their new acquaintance was certainly a character that would be the subject of conversation for some time, and he did seem very friendly, but Izuku had hardly gotten to talk to him. He would love to do so later.
At least Katsuki and Mashi were getting along.
"He had the personality of a tiny dog greeting their human when they come home!" Mashi sighs dramatically.
"But the body of a robot…" Katsuki rolls his eyes. "Hey, Deku! Take him apart for us and tell us what's up with him would'ya!"
"I am not autopsying a random, and altogether very nice, person," Izuku deadpans, but can't hide his small smile.
"You kids have weird conversations…" an Ectoplasm clone comments as he passes by, making Izuku squeak and blush. Well… he wasn't wrong.
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"H-hello, everyone," Izuku begins, voice higher than he would like it as he looks over the small gathering of heroes and business representatives. They're all watching him. Staring into his soul.
They had moved to a field on the campus with plenty of room to set up his gear. It looked to originally be used for track and field activities, but most of the equipment had been moved out, replaced now with a few tables for Izuku to lay out his first group of inventions.
The first round of presentations would mostly be small and non-combative, meaning Katsuki and Mashi would be sitting out, and Izuku was beginning to regret that decision. Mostly because he wished they were up here with him to support him as he spoke, but also because they were standing in the crowd, to the side, with Mottai, Aizawa, Hizashi, and Nemuri. Mottai had her phone up to film, probably for Inko later, and Mashi and Hizashi are giving him two thumbs up with matching grins.
Not really helping at all.
"Y-yes, hello…" Izuku says a little quieter, swallowing. If he just got going maybe the momentum would help? "My name is Midoriya Izuku… But, you probably already knew that," he whispers the last part, hands fidgeting. This was a nightmare.
"You got this Izuku!" Mottai calls, grinning behind her phone, and Izuku feels his face heat up. She sounded more like a soccer mom at a game than anything else.
"I most certainly agree! You are doing spectacularly, Midoriya-san!" Izuku's face turns even redder as now Iida, the boy they had only just met, is also offering loud words of encouragement. Ingenium has taken his helmet off again and is grinning as he looks away, certain to start laughing if he looks down at his brother.
"Th-thank you very much…" Izuku mutters, just loud enough to be heard, but very obviously embarrassed. "Right, so… I-I am here to show you some of my intentions—"
"Inventions!" Mashi calls, only making this entire thing worse.
"Yes, inventions, sorry… tongue got a little twisted, there," Izuku tries to smile, trying desperately to keep things lighthearted so he doesn't entirely begin freaking out. It seems to work a little as a few of the adults chuckle warmly at his comment. It's hardly boisterous laughter, but it certainly helps.
This was fine. He could do this. He just had to find the right flow.
"O-Okay!" he tries yet again, clapping his hands together, the noise it makes not sounding quite like a clap thanks to the material his right arm is made out of. "I wanted to show you all some of my smaller inventions now. Things that may be helpful on a day-to-day, or if integrated into other objects." This was going better. Now that he was talking he felt more relaxed. He could never resist an opportunity to share his science knowledge, after all.
He glances at Principal Nedzu, front and center of the group, and when he receives a smile and nod Izuku turns around towards the table of inventions.
He shows off little builds first. A snap bracelet that doubles as a bookmark, a cat toy that moves on it's own and is fueled by impact force, a phone-shaped but clear device used to scan and identify plants, a thermos that immediately purifies water upon filling. He shows them the POMs in a variety of colors, though Aizawa would always have the original.
These smaller inventions are passed around so everyone can get a look and see how they work, a murmur emerging as they consider what could be done with some of these.
Next is the Racuum, immediately catching the businessmen's attention at the adorable housekeeper, and Izuku makes a point that he built this with the assistance of Katsuki, who is turning a bright shade of pink. When asked by Cementoss if this idea could be integrated into a larger bot for city cleanup Izuku smiles brightly and pulls up a video on a nearby screen set up on the table.
The video playing shows off his Bendies, all iterations. He couldn't bring the large, building bots – they were too large and bulky, even the newer models – and shows how they can both help clean as well as build. He warns they are very slow, however, and at the current moment it was still better to use human workers unless the situation was dire.
He shows off a robotic lemur called the Hanging Helper after that. Its arms and tail are longer than its real life counterpart and it could climb and hang around on most objects thanks to its lightweight. Its job? To easily move around and deliver tools or any other small object to people. Izuku used it constantly while at his workstations, needing that extra pair of hands when the others weren't present or didn't know which tool matched which name.
Izuku decides not to show off the EAARDs. The EAARDs technology he still feels uncomfortable sharing…
And finally he finishes up by showing them the samples of Hera he brought with him, showing how he uses the metal variations for his bots and how versatile the more rubber-like forms are for other applications. He looks over the men and women in suits in particular and lets them know he already has a sports company using Hera for their equipment, and another company, specifically for outdoor activities, still considering.
When they break for a moment, done with this round of presentations, Izuku nearly collapses, all the tension he was holding in his body suddenly being released.
An ache was beginning to form in his back and he knew the stress was beginning to get to him and he would need to rest this evening. Even with the help of his robotic parts sometimes things just needed to naturally take a breather.
"I'm so tired," Izuku mumbles as he steps over towards the group of people he knows. Mashi pops up at his right, grinning at him, while Katsuki stands in front, arms crossed.
"You did a good job covering it up, then," Nemuri comments, a hand on her hip, and she winks at him when Izuku looks up at her. "You're doing very well so far," she adds on with a smile.
"Take your time!" Hizashi suggests loudly, his face suddenly popping into Izuku's vision, much too close for comfort. "No need to rush or anything, kiddo! You had everybody wrapped around your little finger!"
"Yeah?" Izuku questions, glancing over where some of the attendees talk amongst themselves or speak in hushed tones over their phones. They seemed busy, trying to sort out what they wanted to do with what they have been presented.
"Certainly!" The three kids jump in unison as Principal Nedzu seems to appear out of thin air in the middle of them. Mashi grips at her chest and leans against Izuku while Katsuki looks up at the sky, taking deep breathes. The intellectual animal just smiles around at them, not looking very apologetic.
"I have asked them to refrain from making any offers with you until we are entirely done, but you have certainly piqued their interest," Principal Nedzu assures while Izuku gets his own heart back down to a steady pace.
"And it only gets better from here!" Mashi adds brightly, throwing an arm around Izuku's shoulders. "Next up we have the combative thingies!"
"They won't know what hit 'em!" Izuku arches a brow at Katsuki's posture when he says that. He looks like he's ready to fight someone, hands flexed and crackling with tiny explosions. He looked more like he was ready to fight their audience rather than impress them.
But that attitude was infectious and soon Izuku is grinning over at his explosive friend, near glowing himself. "No they will not!"
"Damn right!" Mashi laughs, throwing a fist into the air, also jumping on board the hype train. "Now let's go get changed and give these guys a real show!"