[One year and 4 months later – Hatsume's residence]
Rays of sunshine peeked through the curtains of Mei's room, reflecting upon the metallic silver body currently being used as a cold body pillow by a drooling eleven-year-old girl.
Beep, beep, beep!
The sound of an alarm came from inside Metal's body, breaking through the silence of the bedroom. "Ngh... Metaaaal, shuut up..." Mei said in a raspy voice as she let go of Metal and turned to face the other side while pulling the blanket above her head.
Clang... Clang.
The heavy sound of Metal's feet landing on the floor echoed through the room as the machine stood up from the bed before turning to look at his creator.
"Metaal! Give that back!" Mei exclaimed as she crawled towards Metal, trying to reclaim her blanket from the robot's grasp.
Mei tried to resist by grabbing onto the door frame, but despite being bigger than the robot, her efforts turned out to be useless.
[Hatsume's residence – Kitchen]
"I'm thinking Mik—"
Clang, clang, clang.
Miku Hatsume paused her singing and glanced up from the kitchen sink before turning around. Upon doing so, she found Metal standing there, staring at her with his bright red eyes/lens. "Good morning, Metal, did you have a good rest?" Miku asked as she grabbed a nearby hand towel and dried her hands.
"Ah, Mei probably got that trait from me..."
Miku let out a small giggle before putting the hand towel back on its hook. "Anyways, you remember what you have to do today, right?"
The older female let out an approving hum. "Exactly, usually letting her stay in the basement would be enough, but this is a good chance for her to get some sunlight. I don't want her turning into a basement dweller."
Thud, thud, thud.
Metal turned around at the sound of footsteps. Seconds later, little Mei appeared at the entrance of the kitchen. The pink-haired girl was wearing a black T-shirt with a small All Might logo in the center, courtesy of her father, along with baggy grey pants and some white sneakers. Her hair, as always, was a wild mess of dreadlocks.
"Huh? What kind of question is that?! Of course I did!" Mei said while crossing her arms and pouting at Metal.
"You should have more faith in me. I am your creator, after all," the girl said as her pouting turned into a smug expression.
"Are you calling me dirty?! Why you—"
Miku watched with amusement as her daughter scolded the small robot before letting out a small sigh at Mei's attire. At first, when she heard the news of her baby being a girl, she was so excited about dressing her little daughter in all sorts of cute clothes, but as the years went by the woman realized that trying to dress Mei in little skirts and dresses was futile.
The pink gremlin would get oil or even scratches on her legs, a product of her obsession with tinkering. The long dresses wouldn't last a day, as they would get caught on whatever surface Mei zoomed by, making the fabric tear apart.
In the end, Miku had no option but to let her husband pick their daughter's clothes. Sadly, her husband's selection process consisted of throwing anything that seemed comfortable into the shopping cart and calling it a day.
[Shirogane District – Playground – Metal's POV]
Metal stood behind Mei, pushing the pouting girl on the small swing. "Metal, why do I have to be outside?" little Mei asked, kicking the sand every time Metal pushed her forward.
"But I want to go home! There are so many babies I could be making right now, or even upgrading you! I have so many ideas!" Mei argued back to her small creation, trying to convince Metal to let her go home.
Mei let out a huff before jumping off the swing and facing Metal, who grabbed the chain so the seat wouldn't hit her in the face. "Then I command you to let me go back home!" the pink-haired girl exclaimed as a triumphant smirk formed on her face.
"Wha? B-But I'm your creator!"
"Y-Yes but... uhhh... I-I..." Mei stammered as she tried to think of an answer.
"...Meanie! Pbbbt!" was the response that came out of Mei's mouth as she stuck her tongue out towards her robot companion.
"Whiskers! Get down from there!"
The small duo turned to look in the direction of the voice. Standing outside the playground area below a tree was a woman with short purple hair and glasses. She was wearing a shell top and a pencil skirt along with tights, though her most prominent feature were the long appendages hanging from each of her earlobes.
[Scanning...
Data Found: Mika Jiro — User Designation: Neighbor
Gender: Female
Estimated Age: 31–36
Quirk Threat Level: Unknown]
[Mika Jiro POV]
"Psst, psst, come here..." Mika said as she extended her arms towards the orange cat currently standing on a branch.
Just a few hours earlier, her elderly neighbor had knocked on her door asking if she could watch over the cat. Mika, in her kindness, accepted, thinking it wouldn't be too hard until she forgot to close a window, and now she found herself in this situation: standing below a tree looking like a fool while the cat just stared at her as if she were a being below its level.
'This is what I get for being a nice person,' Mika thought bitterly as she lowered her arms and kept her eyes fixed on the cat. 'What do I do now?... I can't leave Whiskers here, but I have to start preparing dinner before Kyotoku and Kyoka come ba—'
Thud, thud, thud.
Mika's thoughts paused at the sounds of footsteps behind her. Turning around and looking down, she found the small robot that often helped with her lawn along with the youngest Hatsume standing side by side looking up at her with curiosity.
"Helloo!" Hatsume's voice came from beside her creation just a moment after.
'I wonder if I'll ever get used to that voice,'
Mika shook her head before answering. "Hi there, small ones," Mika said before giving Metal a small pat on the head, before doing the same to Mei.
"You have no idea..." Mika replied before following it with a sigh. "I left a window open by mistake and the little troublemaker jumped out. I've been chasing it around for fifteen minutes until it decided to climb this tree." Mika said while gesturing behind her shoulder at the cat currently licking its paw.
"Oh, oh! Metal can help!" Mei knocked on Metal's head with her knuckles. "My little baby is perfectly capable of handling a situation like this!" the small girl announced while puffing her chest out.
"Your little baby?" Mika tilted her head slightly to the side while looking at Mei.
"Yep! I made him, you better remember that! He's going to be the one to spread the name of Hatsume Industries!"
'She made him?' Mika thought in surprise before chuckling in amusement.
'Her father graduated U.A.'s Support Course, didn't he?... I'm sure he's the one that made the little guy and his daughter is just bragging... still, it's pretty adorable anyways.'
"Ah, well if you say so, little Mei," Mika gave Mei's head another pat before turning her gaze towards Metal. "Well, Metal, I trust you to help me with this problem."
"Wait! Wait! Wait! You can't 'eliminate' the cat!"
'Since when do robots have a sense of humor?!' thought Mika as a bead of sweat traveled down her face.
Meanwhile, Metal tilted his head back to stare at the cat currently sitting on a branch. In return, the small pet stared right back at him.
Mika, alongside a grinning Mei, watched as Metal stepped forward until he was right in front of the tree trunk. Then the small robot slowly started climbing the tree, his clawed fingers burying into the tree bark without issue until he reached the height of the branch the cat was currently resting on.
Slowly, Metal extended his arm to grab the cat by the skin of its neck.
Hiss!
The orange cat suddenly stood up and hissed at Metal before jumping forward onto the robot's face to try and scratch him. Metal, not expecting the sudden impact, fell down on his back into the grass below while the cat slowly walked towards Mika and rubbed against the woman's leg.
"Ah! Thanks, Metal!" Mika said as she picked up the cat.
Metal slowly got up from the grass before focusing on Mika.
"See?! I told you Metal could help!" Mei laughed as she moved to give Metal a few smacks on his back. "Ow! Why is your back so hard?!"
"Ah... right, tehee!"
Ring, ring.
A sudden noise came from Metal's speakers, making the two females stare at him in confusion. "I received a signal from Ms. Hatsume. It's time to go home," Metal said after a few seconds.
'Is he a smartphone?!'
"Finally! I can get back to my babies!" With that, Hatsume sprinted towards the direction of her house with Metal quickly following behind her.
Mika watched the two small figures go while petting the cat in her arms. 'Quite the odd duo, indeed...' the woman let out a soft chuckle. 'I would love for them to be friends with my little Kyoka, but she's terrified of Metal...' Mika thought with amusement while remembering the face her daughter made when she saw Metal standing in their front yard cutting the grass.
'Maybe letting her see that pre-quirk era movie was a bad idea?'
[Hatsume's residence – Mei's POV]
The front door opened as a pink blur entered the house. "I'm back, my babies!"
the small girl quickly walked in the direction of the basement's entrance, already daydreaming about the newest things she could make.
'What should I try making today? A grapple gun? A slime shooter? Oh! A grapple gun made of slime. Maybe I could attach it to Metal!'
"Surprise!!" said two voices at the same time, startling Mei and making her turn in the direction of the noise.
Standing there in the living room were her parents. On the small coffee table was a chocolate cake with twelve little candles on top alongside a small envelope sealed with a red logo.
'Ah! Today is my birthday?! I completely forgot about that...'
Clang, clang, clang.
Suddenly Metal appeared behind Mei and put a little birthday hat on the girl's head.
The robot then proceeded to stand beside Mei's parents.
"Come on, kid, aren't you going to open your present?" Kyosuke said as he gestured towards the envelope on the coffee table. "I worked my ass off to get th—OW!"
"Language."
"Yes, ma'am."
Mei giggled as she watched her father rub the top of his head before stepping forward. Upon reaching the center of the living room, Mei grabbed the envelope in her small hands. Without and waiting for a moment, she ripped it open.
A small disc fell off the envelope, landing on the table with a soft thud.
"Huh, where is the letter?" asked the girl as she reached to grab the small item. Though, before her fingers could touch it, a projection materialized above the small disc.
'Oh? A projector inside such a small piece?! I wonder if I can break it open to see how it w—'
"Hello there, Mei,"
Said the figure on the projector, making the girl's thoughts come to a halt as she focused on the recording.
"What am I? A mouse? A bear or a dog? I'm the principal of U.A.! First of all, let me congratulate you for your birthday. I hope you have a great day with your family! I'll make this short so you can enjoy the rest of your day."
"You see, your father has been trying to schedule a meeting with me for weeks, which he was able to achieve a few hours before you see this recording. And let me tell you, what he showed me in that meeting was quite interesting!"
The small principal stared straight at the camera as if he could actually look into the other side.
"I saw some very intriguing recordings of your little robot friend. While U.A. is no stranger to advanced technology, I can tell that your creation goes beyond the regular machine, plus considering how young you are... well, it was quite the surprise."
The small creature paused for a moment to take a sip out of his tea cup before continuing.
"But what caught my attention the most were the plans your father described to me. It seems you wish for your creation to enter the Hero Course while you aim for the Support Course, right?"
Nezu let out a short cackle before stopping himself.
"To be honest, that is quite the spot you put me in. After all, Metal is not a human, but neither is he a support item that needs his user to be there. Also, one could argue that you're filling two spots at the same time..."
'Does that mean Metal won't be able to take the exam?'
Mei's mind went wild thinking about alternatives, some of them not very legal, thankfully the small rodent (?) spoke up again.
"So I came up with a simple solution! I won't allow you to take the Support Course exam, but if Metal is capable of passing the entrance exam for the Hero Course like a normal student, then I'll let you enter the Support Course while Metal goes to the Hero Course. That way you won't be filling two applications, right? And if your creation can win its spot among all the other aspiring heroes, then it's safe to assume you're more than qualified for the Support Course! Anyways, I'll leave you be now. Enjoy your birthday. I'm excited to see what you'll do in the future."
With that, the projection flickered before turning off completely. Mei stood still for a moment before quickly throwing her arms around her father's waist to grab him like a koala. "THIS IS THE BEST DAY EVER! Thankyouthankyouthank you!"
'This is it! I just have to keep working on Metal and I'll be able to reach my dream!'
[Metal's POV]
Metal watched from the sidelines as Mei kept firing words at her father. Suddenly, a small birthday hat landed on top of his head making Metal turn around.
"Happy birthday, Metal!" said the older female as her smile became softer.
Metal said while staring up at Miku's green eyes.
"I know, that's why me and Kyosuke decided that from now on your birthday will be the same day as Mei's, so brighten up!"
The woman giggled as she tapped Metal's forehead with her knuckles.
"Enough with the Ms. thing." Metal tilted his head to the side in confusion as he watched the woman crouch down to his height. "We're family now, aren't we?" Miku said with a soft smile.
<...Yes, Grandma.>
"...I changed my mind. You can keep calling me Ms."
[Changing Designations...
Miku Hatsume: Creator's Mother -> Grandma.
Kyosuke Hatsume: Co-Creator -> Grandpa.
Designations Changed Successfully.
---
Adding Date To Internal Calendar: Birthday - April 18...
Date Added Successfully.
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Software Instability: 20% -> 35%]