Navek and xpegasus present
A My Hero Academia Fanfiction
My Super Robot Academia
Chapter 1: Resolve and Comradery
Twelve Years Ago…
A tired salaryman walking home late at night was a dime a dozen sight in Japan. Even more so, considering how plain this man looked. He looked like your average, unassuming salaryman with a mop of curly black hair, black eyes, and a smattering of freckles across his face and dressed in a business suit. But even this late at night and with how tired he was, the black-haired man had a song on his lips as he took the elevator to his apartment, the thought of his lovely wife and adorable son putting a smile on his face.
'Wonder what Inko's making tonight.' he thought as he reached for his keys. He opened the door with a smile and exclaimed, "Guess who's home!"
"Oh, welcome back, Hisashi," the man's wife, Inko Midoriya, said. Her face was strangely expressionless as she cooked dinner. Hisashi could tell that something was wrong.
"What's going on, honey?"
Inko abruptly stopped chopping vegetables. A tense, awkward silence filled the room as she looked at her husband. "It's Izuku," she began, her voice unsteady. "When we went to the doctor's appointment, he said…" Inko was nearly in tears but forced herself to continue. "Izuku isn't a late bloomer. He's Quirkless."
"What," Hisashi exclaimed, eyes wide with shock. "But he— but we both— are they sure?" Inko nodded. Hisashi went silent. He slumped into a chair, his head in his hands as Inko rubbed his shoulder. "H-How is Izuku doing?"
Tears almost spilled from Inko's eyes. "He…he's been in his room, just watching that All Might video on a loop."
"…I'll go talk to him," Hisashi said. As he made his way toward his son's room, Hisashi felt a heavy sense of dread building in his chest with every step. He could already hear the familiar audio from the other side of the door. Slowly, Hisashi opened the door. The room was dark, the only light coming from Izuku's computer screen.
"Because I am here!" Just as Inko said, Hisashi found their son watching his favorite video of All Might's debut.
"Hey, little guy," Hisashi said as he approached the chair Izuku was sitting in, unable to see his face. "Mom told me what happened today. How are you feeling?"
Izuku slowly turned in his chair. Hisashi saw a sight that broke his heart; tears flowing freely down his son's face and Izuku trying to put on a smile despite his unmistakable sadness.
"D-Dad? Can I s-still be h-hero? Even without a Q-Q-Quirk…can I still be like All Might?"
Hisashi reached down, hugging his son. "Izuku, you can be whatever you want to be," the black-haired man replied, his eyes beginning to water. Izuku's smile flattered, and his tears began to stain his father's suit.
"B-but how am I…what can I do…without a…w-without a…" The child could barely finish that sentence before just sobbing into his father's embrace. They stayed like that for an hour until little Izuku cried himself to sleep. Then, after tucking his son, Hisashi left the room, where he saw Inko waiting for him.
"Is he gonna be...alright?" she asked.
Hisashi ran a hand through his hair and slumped against the wall. "I don't…god, out of all the kids this happened to…" he said before looking back at their sleeping kid. "…it had to be the one who wanted to be a hero more than anything in the world."
The next morning, little Izuku woke up. He was feeling a bit better…but only slightly. And he definitely wasn't looking forward to pre-school that day.
What would his classmates think of him being quirkless? What would Kacchan think?
The green-haired boy lay in bed for the next few minutes, looking up at the All Might poster on his ceiling, before he heard a knock at his door. "It's open."
The door opened, and Hisashi walked in. And Izuku noticed that his dad wasn't dressed in his usual business suit, which was weird since it wasn't Sunday.
"Hey, little guy. You don't have to worry about going to preschool today." Hisashi said. "Mom's making some breakfast if you want."
"Okay."
A few minutes later, Izuku was sitting at the dining table, absently poking his grilled fish and rice with a down look on his face.
"So…you got anywhere you want to go today?" Hisashi asked.
"Not really," Izuku replied, his lightless eyes never leaving the breakfast he continued to poke. Hisashi and Inko shared a worried look. They knew that Izuku was going to feel down, but all of life seemed to have been sucked out of him. Hisashi hated seeing such a defeated look on his son's face. A little kid like Izuku should never have such a devastated look on his face. He had only seen that kind of look in his co-workers, who were utterly defeated by their workload and life. Hisashi himself had that look before…and that's when an idea came to his head.
A few minutes later, Izuku was sitting on the living room couch, his father browsing through the DVD/Blu-Ray cabinet next to their TV set. Little Izuku knew his dad collected pre-quirk era shows but had never actually watched any of them. Hisashi picked a Blu-Ray set and placed the disk in their player. As the player loaded, Hisashi grabbed the remote and sat next to Izuku.
"I know this might not be what you had in mind today, but whenever I'm feeling down, this stuff always cheers me up." The black-haired man said as he handed the Blu-Ray set to Izuku. The little boy saw there was a man in a weird costume and some scary lizard-looking guys. But the thing that stood out the most on the cover art was a red & white robot holding a tomahawk and the title.
"Getter…Robo?"
"Yup. It's a personal favorite of mine." Hisashi said with a smile as he pressed the play button. Izuku watched as the show began. He saw the man on the cover with two other men in costumes and saw three jets combining into the titular Getter Robo. And then…the theme song kicked in.
GAN, GAN, GAN, GAN!
For the next hour, the two Midoriya men watched the older anime, Hisashi, with a look of nostalgia and familiarity, while Izuku was intrigued. The green-haired boy watched as the evil Dinosaur Empire started attacking humanity with the terrifying Mechasaurus'. He saw the hot-headed Ryoma, the cool Hayato, and boastful yet cowardly Musashi (though Izuku could understand his fear of lizards) coming together to pilot the titular Getter Robo. The action, the music, and the voice acting; it was all so different from the kid's shows he usually watched. And as the fights ramped up in the 2nd part of the opening two-parter, Izuku felt himself growing more and more excited. An excitement he only felt before when watching videos of All Might.
As the credits for episode 2 played, Hisashi was happy to see a smile on his son's face. "So, did ya like it?"
"Uh-huh!" Izuku said with an enthusiastic nod.
"Well, we can keep watching Getter Robo if ya want…or we can check out some of the other super robot shows I got."
"There's more shows like Getter Robo?!" Izuku asked.
"You better believe it, little guy," Hisashi said, Inko looking on with a smile as her two special boys started their marathon.
Izuku and Hisashi spent the rest of the day watching a variety of super robot shows or even tokusatsu shows with giant robots within them.
Exkaiser, Super Robot Red Baron, Mazinger Z, Gaiking, J-Decker, Kiramager, Gaogaigar, Raijin-Oh, GoGoFive, Dekaranger, and a bunch of other shows. They sampled the first two or three episodes of each one, and Izuku was blown away by the variety of action and unique characters. Sure, some parts scared the little boy a bit (especially concerning villains like Dr. Deviler). Still, overall, he was having a blast. But as they watched a fight between Kiramajin and a Rugby monster, a question burned in Izuku's mind.
"Hey, Dad."
"Ya?"
"Why do you keep calling these robots super robots?"
"Well, that's what they are," Hisashi said. "Basically, these machines are like giant mechanical superheroes."
"Oh, so like if All Might was a giant robot."
"Exactly!"
That comparison made plenty of sense to Izuku. Most pro-heroes had super moves, some of them like All Might shouting them out. And that seemed to be the case with all the super robot pilots within the shows as well.
By the end of the day, the melancholy Izuku felt from this morning was long gone. And unlike last night, when his parents tucked the little boy into bed, he definitely felt better.
"I had a lot of fun today. Thanks, Dad." Izuku said, giggling as Hisashi ruffled his hair.
"Glad to hear it."
"Night, sweetie," Inko said before kissing his forehead.
"Sweet dreams, kiddo," Hisashi said as he turned off the light, Izuku's All Might night light being the only thing illuminating the room.
As his parents left, Izuku's mind was still thinking about all the cool robots and battles he had seen earlier throughout the day. They were almost as cool as the real-life heroes he admired. In his mind, he thought about the comparison his dad had made. And more and more, that comparison clicked in Izuku's head. A robot could be as inspiring and heroic as All Might. If only someone could make one.
And then…that's when it all started to click in Izuku's head.
The Getter Robo was created by Dr. Saotome.
The Rescue Mecha the GoGoFive used was created by their father, Dr. Tatsumi.
The Super Robot Red Baron was built by Kenichiro Kurenai.
J-Decker was an invention of the Brave Police.
While some mechas like Exkaiser or Kiramejin had alien or mystical origins, many super robots were created by ordinary men without any kind of superpower. Just their raw intelligence.
With a pep in his step, Izuku got out of his bed and headed to his desk, turning on the desk light and pulling out an empty notebook and pencil. Yesterday, he had been at his lowest point. His dream of being a hero was seemingly impossible now that he was confirmed quirkless. But now, thanks to his father's attempts to cheer him up by sharing his love for giant robots, Izuku had an idea for how he could be a hero.
Super Robots were fictional, but the same could be said about superheroes before the age of quirks. Izuku lived in a world where the fantastical was ordinary. And as he wrote down all the ideas going through his brain, a thought that would set the course of his life manifested. He thought about how the doctor said that his dream of being a hero wasn't ever going to happen.
'Maybe I can't become a hero like All Might…but I can build a hero just as great as him!'
The world was unaware of it now, but this was the origins of something fantastic. Something that would change the face of heroism as their society knew it. And it began with a little boy's new dream.
Two years later…
"Just make sure you don't lose Mr. Astro."
"Okay, mom!" Izuku said as he took his remote-controlled robot and ran towards the playground, Inko sitting on a nearby bench. As she watched her son playing with his robot toy, the green-haired woman had a soft smile on her face. Two years ago, she was worried that her little green bean would be devastated. But ever since the day Hisashi and Izuku spent watching super robot shows together, she had rarely seen her son with that horrible, distraught look on his face. In fact, that day seemed to spark an interest in robotics in him.
Inko was a bit miffed to have another robot fanatic in the family. At the very least, he could give Pretty Cure a try. But then again, as long as her son was happy, that was all that mattered to Inko. But even still, in the back of her mind, she was worried for Izuku and his future.
It was clear that he still wanted to be a hero. But in her mind, Inko couldn't really see how that was possible. Hisashi was always onboard for encouraging their son's dream, regardless of his lack of a quirk, but Inko couldn't help but worry. Hero work was one of the most dangerous jobs on the planet, even for those with amazing Quirks like All Might, Endeavor, or anyone in the top ten. And that was the field her little boy wanted to go into, without any kind of superpower.
As much as she hated thinking like this, there was a small part of her that kind of hoped that Izuku would grow out of this. And she hated feeling like that.
But speaking of Izuku, the green-haired boy had made his Mr. Astro walk all the way to the slide. "Alright, up you go!" Using the controller, Izuku made Mr. Astro put its arms on the slide and had the idea to push the robot toy up to the slide. As he played with the toy, Izuku was trying to pay attention to how it moved and wanted to figure out how it did. So he pushed the movement stick on the controller. Mr. Astro pushed itself up so that its feet were slightly off the ground…but it couldn't move.
Izuku stared at the robot in confusion. He kept moving the lever back and forth. But no matter what, Mr. Astro couldn't seem to push himself up the slide.
"It's probably the shoulder joints." Izuku turned and saw a girl his age walking toward him. She had bright pink dreadlock-like hair, bright golden eyes, and was clad in a yellow t-shirt, blue overalls, and a pair of sneakers.
"The shoulder…joints?"
"Yup! Walking toys like this aren't made to do complicated stuff like what you're trying to do." The girl said with a bright smile. "Their joints are built specifically to just move around, and they aren't really made for anything extreme."
"Huh. I guess that makes sense." Izuku replied, finally letting Mr. Astro down. "So, he would need better shoulders to move up the slide?"
"Well, not just that." The girl picked up the robot toy and moved its stiff legs a bit. "This guy would need articulated limbs in order to do that. So these little cuties aren't really walking; they're waddling."
"Ar-ti-cu-late." Izuku repeated, having never heard that word before. "What about the rest of him?"
"Hm." The girl put a finger to her lips as she looked over the toy. And that's when Izuku noticed her eyes had strange lines that moved around. "I mean, the limbs are probably the most important part of making it more agile. The torso and head are fine…but just kind of boring to look at."
Izuku shook his head in agreement. "You're pretty smart."
The girl crossed her arms in pride. "My papa says I'm a certified genius!"
"So this is where you ran off to." The two kids turned and saw a pre-teen boy with light purple hair and amber eyes, dressed in a light blue t-shirt and yellow shorts. "Mei, you shouldn't just approach a stranger like that."
"But I wanted to know what he was doing with his toy." The girl, Mei, replied with a pout before turning to Izuku. "I'm Mei Hatsume, by the way!"
Izuku smiled and held his hand out. "Izuku Midoriya; nice to meet ya!" The two shook hands and continued to talk about how to make his robot toy cooler, completely ignoring the older boy, who simply sighed and took a seat on a bench next to the one Inko was sitting at.
"Your little sister?"
"Yup." The boy said. "I'm Koshin Hatsume."
"Inko." The woman said as she watched Izuku and his new friend talk and play. At the very least, the future could wait. Right now, she was content with watching her little green bunny and the pink girl go about their day.
By the time the sun had started to set, Izuku had learned that Mei's family had recently moved to Musutafu. The two siblings had gone out to explore and get familiar with their new surroundings. They even learned that Mei was going to the same elementary school as Izuku.
"See ya tomorrow, Izuku!"
"See you then, Mei!"
Izuku and Mei went home that day, walking alongside their respective chaperones, happy to have made a new friend. And little did they know that this was simply the beginning of a life-long bond.
The next day at Aldera Elementary, Mei was introduced as the new student in Izuku's class. And naturally, the pinkette gravitated to sitting with her new friend. After a few hours, lunchtime rolled by, and Izuku and Mei were eating in the cafeteria.
"Oh, Mei, looky here," Izuku said as he pulled out his notebook. The title read: Super Robot Ideas. Izuku handed the book to Mei. She opened it to see several crudely drawn sketches of dozens of super robots in action poses and using cool weapons.
"You really like robots, don't ya?" The green-haired boy gave an excited nod in response.
"Someday, I'm gonna make a super robot!"
"Really? That's so cool!" Mei said with just as much excitement. She pulled her own notebook out of her backpack called Future Babies. She opened it up and showed Izuku the contents, including drawings, schematics, and even notes on various gadgets.
"Woah! That's a lot of gadgets." Izuku replied. "Is that a jetpack?"
"Yup! That's gonna be a future project since Papa said I can't handle anything flammable until I turn ten." Mei said with a bit of a pout. "But I still got ideas for plenty of other babies!"
"Babies?" Izuku asked with a tilt of his head, confused by Mei's choice in terminology.
"So why do you want to build a robot?" Izuku smiled, but before he could explain…
"Oui, new girl." The two turned their heads and saw a boy their age with wild dirty blond hair and red eyes, dressed in the same elementary school uniform as them. While Mei didn't know him, Izuku sure did. "You probably shouldn't be hanging around with Izuku here."
"Kacchan…" Izuku said with a sad tone.
"Why not?" Mei asked.
"Because he's a Deku," Kacchan explained as he looked at the notebooks on the table, one that he recognized and chuckled. "So he's showing you that dumb robot idea of his."
"It's not dumb!" Izuku yelled back. "I'm gonna build a robot that's just as strong as All Might!"
"Quit lying to yourself." Kacchan sneered before looking at Mei. "This loser's got no quirk, but he thinks he can build a dumb robot to make up for it. You hang around him, and everyone gonna think you're a loser too."
"So what?" Mei answered, surprising both Kacchan and Izuku. "I already got Izuku as a friend, and he thinks my babies are cool. I don't care if I make any more friends: Izu's the only friend I need." She then glared at Kacchan. "And who's to say Izuku can't use a robot to become a hero? Plenty of real heroes use support gear, so it would just be like using a big piece of gear."
"B-But…he's Quirkless," Kacchan replied, taken by genuine surprise.
"Again; so?" Mei said as her expression turned sour, her golden eyes glaring at the dirty blond boy. "My papa and mama say that if as long as you put in the effort and don't give up, even the most far-fetched dream can become a reality."
Before Izuku knew it, his eyes began to water up. For the past two years, he had endured so much ridicule. Every time he told anyone about his dream of building a robot and using it to become a hero, they would laugh at him and call him a Quirkless idiot dreaming an impossible dream. Even worse, his best friend became the biggest jerk of them all, often being the first one to insult the green-haired boy's ambitions. It was one thing for classmates he didn't even know that well to make fun of him. The fact that the harshest words came from someone he admired stung even more.
But here was Mei, this near-stranger he had only met yesterday; not only did she refuse to scoff when he talked about his robot ideas, but she also said he could be a hero. She didn't care if he was quirkless.
"T-Thank you, Mei," Izuku said as tears flowed from his eyes.
"Tch. Whatever." Kacchan said as he walked away. "Have fun being a loser, Crazy Eyes."
Mei stuck her tongue out before turning back towards Izuku, who was trying to wipe the tears from his eyes, but the water kept coming out.
"That guy was a butthead," Mei said, making Izuku chuckle. "He so doesn't deserve a cute name like Kacchan."
"Oh, that's not his real name. It's actually Katsuki Bakugou." The boy replied. "I just call him Kacchan."
"Well, 'Kacchan' is gonna be dead wrong when you become an awesome hero."
"...you really think I can be one?"
"Of course!" Mei said before holding Izuku's notebook open. She flipped through it, showing all of the different drawings and notes, pages upon pages of them. "You've definitely thought about this loads of times. I can tell just by looking at these that you're super-duper passionate."
Sufficed to say, the last two days and the following week, Izuku enjoyed having someone he could undoubtedly call his friend. The two energetic elementary schoolers would spend time at and away from school talking about ideas for robots and gadgets.
Life at Aldera Elementary went on as normal. But then, a few days later…
"I still can't believe you got a ghost rare." One of Katsuki's two buddies (one with wings) said as the explosive blond walked with a ghost rare All Might trading card, holding it up like it was the Holy Grail.
"What can I say? I'm just that lucky." Katsuki said with a smirk, thinking about how he could rub his new card in stupid Deku's face.
"Can I hold it?" The other kid with long fingers asked.
"Hell no! I don't want your germs al-OOF!" The red-eyed boy was knocked onto his butt like he had just walked into a wall, hearing the sound of a bento box falling onto the floor. Katsuki looked up and saw a kid about three times his size with short blue hair and yellow eyes staring down at a bento box he had just pulled out of his locker. "Watch where you're going, dumbass!"
"...you made me drop my bento."
"You shouldn't be standing in the middle of the hallway like a freakin' wall," Katsuki shouted, only for the huge boy to stare blankly at him, seemingly showing no emotion in his eyes. "Quit staring at me! Are ya retarded or somethi—"
Without warning, the taller boy picked Katsuki up by his head, making the blond drop his All Might card as he failed around.
"That was cheeseburger steak, my favorite. I was really looking forward to having that for lunch."
"LET GO OF ME, YA GIANT DUMBASS!" Katsuki shouted as he held up his hands. Sparks began to fly out of his palm before he created a small explosive in the air, causing his friends to flinch, yet the bigger kid barely reacted. "IF YOU DON'T LET GO OF ME, I'LL BLAST THE HELL OUT OF YA!"
But the taller boy did nothing. In fact, Katsuki could swear he felt the grip around his head becoming even tighter. "Okay, you asked for it!"
Katsuki grabbed the boy's wrist and let off an explosion from each hand. But to the shock of Katsuki and his buddies, the boy's arm wasn't hurt at all, like the blast didn't even happen. Hell, the boy looked like he barely registered the explosion at all.
"That wasn't very nice." The taller boy said as he squeezed Katsuki's head harder, causing the smaller boy to get out a pained yell.
Around the same time, Izuku turned the corner when he heard an explosion, and he saw Katsuki being held by his head.
"H-He's crazy!" The winged boy yelled as he and the long-fingered boy ran away. Izuku watched, his body shaking as Katsuki continued to try to use his explosive quirk to make the bigger boy let him go. But no matter how many explosions he let off, the bigger boy would let him go and kept squeezing his head tighter and tighter. And there was no one else in sight to help.
Sure, Kacchan had been a real jerk to him for the last two years, but even someone like him didn't deserve to get his head crushed like a grape. And in his worry, Izuku quickly wondered; What would All Might do in a situation like this? What would the Getter Team, the SSI, or the Brave Police do?
Only thinking for a second, Izuku got his answer. He sucked his breath in and charged ahead, tackling the bigger boy from the side. But the boy simply looked down, unphased as Izuku attempted to punch his sides.
"Let Kacchan go!"
"Deku?" Katsuki asked, genuinely surprised. However, the bigger kid was less than impressed and slapped Izuku away with enough force to leave a bruise on his chin. Tears from the pain welled up in Izuku's eyes, but he simply got up and wiped them away before glaring at the big guy.
"I said let him go!"
"He bumped into me, made me spill my food, and he's been doing nothing but yelling and exploding at me." The large boy said with all the interest of a bored supermarket employee. All while he continued to squeeze Katsuki's head harder and harder, making the blond cry in pain. "He deserves this."
"No, he doesn't!" Izuku shouted back. "Ya, Kacchan's a jerk, but he doesn't deserve to be hurt like that."
The green-haired boy charged again, but he was smacked on his back again…and again…and again. But no matter how many times Izuku was knocked down, he kept getting back up, determined to help the boy he once considered his best friend.
"What the hell's going on?!" The three boys looked and saw two teachers approaching them.
"These two are annoying me," the emotionless boy replied.
"Yamamoto, let go of that boy right now, or you'll be in serious trouble!"
Yamamoto sighed, finally letting go of Katsuki, who fell to the group and clutched his pained head.
"We're gonna have a serious talk with your parents, young man." One of the teachers said while the other helped Izuku and Katsuki to the nurse's office, both boys were being treated for bruises.
"Just relax and wait until your parents arrive." The nurse said as she left to take care of other business, leaving Izuku and Katsuki sitting on opposite beds, bandages applied to their bruised areas.
"I really hope Mom's not gonna be too mad at me," Izuku said as he rubbed his wrist while Katsuki grumbled.
"You're an idiot." Katsuki spat out, to Izuku's surprise.
"I was just trying to hel-"
"I didn't need your help!" Katsuki screamed. "I didn't need your help that day at the creek, and I didn't need your help today! I'm not some weakling who needs a Quirkless Deku like you looking down on me!"
Izuku was hurt and confused until he remembered what the heck Katsuki was talking about. About two years ago (a few weeks after Izuku's quirkless diagnosis), the two and some other boys were out on a bug hunt near a creek. While the troop was walking across a log, Katsuki slipped and fell into the water. So naturally, Izuku was concerned that his friend might've hurt himself.
But when Izuku tried to help him up, Katsuki knocked his hand away and yelled at him. And things started to connect in the green-haired boy's mind. After that day, the relationship between the two boys soured significantly, with Katsuki basically becoming a bully.
"Kacchan…you're not a weakling," Izuku replied, looking right at Katsuki. "You're so cool and brave, even if you're angry all the time. And you got one of the coolest quirks I've ever seen."
Katsuki was quiet before speaking up again. "Then why did you-"
"Because I was worried about you!" Izuku cried out. "I just wanted to make sure my best friend was okay, not because I was looking down on you!"
The explosive blond boy was surprised by his old friend's outburst.
"I don't need help. I'm strong." Katsuki grumbled.
"Kacchan, even strong people need help." Izuku retorted. "Remember when All Might fought Dr. Desmadon in London?"
"Oh, yeah." Katsuki thought to himself as he recalled one of All Might's most notable battles against a mad scientist with a devolution quirk who wanted to turn all of Europe into dinosaurs. But the Symbol of Peace didn't fight the mad doctor and her army of dinosaur men alone. Instead, he was joined by the Knight's Calvary, the UK's top superhero team. After the villainess was defeated, All Might spoke about how no hero, no matter how powerful, should never be afraid to ask for help when dealing with evil.
The blond boy said nothing for a while, his arms crossed and his brow furrowed as he thought about something.
"You still want to build that hero robot?"
"Y-Ya," Izuku replied, a bit confused. "Not just build it; I'm gonna pilot it too."
"Then you better make it sturdy enough to protect your squishy butt," Katsuki replied, confusing Izuku a bit more as the blond laid down on the bed and turned away from him.
Later that day, after a discussion between the three boys, their mothers, and the principal, Izuku, Kacchan, and Yamamoto were let off the hook after the boys apologized to each other (or forced to apologize through gritted teeth in Katsuki's case). The next day, Izuku told Mei about what had happened. The pink-haired girl was a bit concerned while the two were enjoying their lunch on a bench.
"Sounds scary."
"It was," Izuku said. "But if I want to be a hero, I gotta be brave."
But before the two could continue, they heard footsteps approaching. They looked up and saw Katsuki walking towards him, bento in hand.
"Hey." The blond said, scratching his cheek a bit. "Is it cool if I sit with you guys?"
"That depends if you're gonna be a butt," Mei said without hesitation.
"I'm not a butt! You're a butt!"
"Hey, don't yell!" Izuku said before smiling at his old friend. "Sure, you can sit with us, Kacchan."
"Okay." And the explosive boy did just that. There was a bit of awkward silence between the three as Katsuki opened his bento, but Mei decided to talk again.
"So…Izuku says you got an explody quirk. How does it work exactly?"
"Oh, he sweats netro…niatro…" Izuku said, trying to think of the word.
"I sweat nitroglycerin," Katsuki chimed in.
"Ya, that's the word! He sweats that, and then he can ignite it to make explosions."
"Okay." Mei thought about it for a second. "But what if you try to fight when it's really cold outside? You probably wouldn't have enough sweat."
"Huh." Katsuki thought to himself. "Maybe I could just wear heavier clothing to work up more of a sweat."
Mei quickly pulled out her notebook and began to draw something, surprising both of the boys. Her hands were moving so fast that they were practically a blur. "Or…" She showed the page to the two, showing a costume that had some kind of panels inside it. "...you can put in a heating system that you can turn on and off."
"That's…that actually sounds cool!" Katsuki with an excited look on his face. For the rest of their lunch period, the three kids talked about ideas for different hero gear, with Katsuki even saying ideas he had for Izuku's robot (though Izuku thought that adding six Gatling guns to each shoulder was a bit excessive). While the three chatted, and even after they went back to class, Izuku honestly felt like his short life had become brighter and brighter. Not only did he have his new best friend Mei, but his best friend was actually talking to him again without calling him a Deku.
And when school ended, Katsuki joined Izuku and Mei on the walk home. Izuku felt like he could do anything now.
Neither of the three knew it at the time, but the three of them would grow up to make one hell of an impact in the world and also help change the three of them for the better. But that would be a story for later. For now, they were just three elementary school kids talking about cool heroes on the way home.
Chapter 2: Coding for Dummies
Life went on for Izuku and his friends. Before they knew it, elementary school had passed them by, and the three were now in their first year of middle school. Over the years, Izuku, Mei, and Katsuki were basically inseparable. Of course, there were still some kids who made fun of Izuku and bullied him for his lack of a quirk…but they always tried to make sure to do it when the greenette was alone, lest they also deal with an explosive backlash…or a weird invention messing with them for weeks.
"See you later, Mom!"
"Bye, Inko."
"Bye, boys. Have a good day!" Inko said as Hisashi and Izuku left for work and school, respectively. The Midoriya family had changed quite a bit in the last few years. Hisashi was the least different, though he often smelled like aftershave since he found having any kind of beard to be unbearably itchy and a fire hazard. Inko had gotten a bit chubbier over the years due to inactivity…and because she often snuck some melon bread when her boys weren't looking. And Izuku had grown up to be about as average as a twelve-year-old could be in terms of physique. He was somewhat on the scrawnier side but still in relatively good shape.
After walking some distance, the two Midoriya men said goodbye, with Hisashi heading to catch the bus to get to his office and Izuku walking towards the nearby residential area to pick up Katsuki. Finally, the greenette arrived at the Bakugou household, where he was greeted by a woman who looked like an older and feminine version of his friend.
"Morning, Aunt Mitsuki."
"Heya, Izuku. Come on in." Izuku was lead in by Mitsuki to their living room and saw Katsuki cooking something in the adjoining kitchen.
"Mornin', Kacchan. You almost ready to go?"
"Ya, give me a minute." Izuku looked and saw that the explosive blond was making two bentos. While it was hidden by his middle school uniform, Katsuki was in far better shape than most of his peers, Izuku included. With the U.A. Entrance Exam a mere three years away, Katsuki began to take his training very seriously. Not just by practicing his Quirk but also by getting into shape. As such, the middle-schooler was developing quite a muscular physique. He was also about a few inches taller than Izuku by now.
"You're making two of them again?"
"He's been up early making lunch for his girlfriend," Mitsuki said with a smirk, making her son scowl.
"Ah, that's sweet, Kacchan," Izuku said with a knowing smile.
"SHUT UP! How many times do I have to spell it out: Crazy Eyes ain't my girlfriend!" Katsuki shouted back. "I just know for a fact that she's probably been tinkering all night and forgot to make herself lunch. And I need to be the responsible one and make sure she doesn't keel over since you can't cook for shit, Deku!"
"Hey, I can cook!" Izuku retorted.
Katsuki gave Izuku a dirty look. "Microwaving Katsudon doesn't count!"
"He's got ya there, Izuku," Mitsuki chimed in, making Izuku pout.
A few minutes later, both Izuku and Katsuki were heading toward the Hatsume residence. But when they turned the corner, they saw a familiar face leaning on a nearby telephone pole. It was none other than Mei's older brother Koshin. The purple-haired boy had grown up to be rather handsome and was wearing his high school uniform, holding his bag in his hand as he continued to look around.
"Mornin', Koshin!"
"'Sup, Pretty Bo-" Suddenly, Koshin leaped at the boys, slapping his hands over their mouths to shut them up.
"Shush!" He whispered. "They'll hear you-"
"Senpai!"
"Ko-baby!"
"Hatsume!"
"Aw, shit," Koshin grumbled as the middle schoolers looked and saw three high school girls approaching them. One of them was a tall yet shy-looking girl with short red hair. The other was a blonde, long-haired ganguro girl. And the shortest of the girls had brunette hair in a bun, glasses, and a surprisingly muscular physique.
"Oh, it's those catty bitches."
"Kacchan!"
"What? It's true."
The brunette looked at Katsuki before addressing Koshin.
"Hatsume, you shouldn't be associating with delinquents."
"Who are ya calling a delinquent, you bespectacled bitch?!" Katsuki shouted. "I had a near-perfect attendance record last year!"
"Exactly, near-perfect," the brunette said with a scowl. "A punk like you is a bad influence for someone like Hatsume."
"Hey, hey. Don't let Miss Gorilla Arms tell ya what to do," the blonde said as she grabbed onto Koshin's arm, causing his face to turn red. "You can be friends with whoever you want, Ko-Baby."
"Miyako! You're a little too c-close." Koshin stuttered out as he tried to ignore the feeling of the blonde girl's bosom against his arm.
"Oh? What's wrong with being close?"
"M-Miyako! Y-You're making Senpai uncomfortable!" The shy redhead stuttered out.
"Kotori's right!" The brunette said as she pulled Miyako off of Koshin. "That's borderline harassment!"
"U-Um…I wouldn't go that far, Tagumi," Kotori responded.
"The hell's your problem, gorilla arms?" Miyako said as she glared at the shorter girl.
"Stop calling me that, you hussy!"
While the two continued to trade insults and Kotori looked on in worry, Izuku and Katsuki noticed Koshin sneaking to the nearby manhole, putting a finger to his mouth as he climbed down the sewer pipe and put the manhole cover back. The two boys stared before noticing that the girls had stopped arguing.
"Hey, where did Ko-Baby go?" Miyako asked as she and the other two girls looked around.
"He went that way," Katsuki said as he and Izuku both pointed in the opposite direction of the manhole. The three girls ran off like wolves chasing a deer while the boys continued towards the Hatsume house.
'Koshin's really got it rough.' Izuku thought to himself. And this was true. Koshin was always a polite and friendly boy. And as he grew to be a handsome young man, he ended up becoming really popular with the ladies…which also included some really intense ladies. Soon enough, the two finally reached a two-story house with a large garage.
And the two were met with the sounds of tinkering and a welding torch going to town on some metal. It was a cacophony they had become intimately familiar with. Katsuki grabbed the handle and slid the garage door open, and was greeted with the sight of Mei Hatsume. She was clad in her usual outfit of a black tank top, her 'specialized' goggles over her eyes, welding gloves, long pants, and boots. The pinkette had also changed a bit in the last few years, becoming as tall as Izuku, and even started to develop a bit in terms of curvature. Except for her chest. And she was in the middle of welding a plate onto a cannon-like object before noticing the sun's rays hitting her face.
"Oh, Izuku! Kacchan!" Mei said with a bright smile as she slid her goggles off. "You guys really came over crazy early."
"It's 7:30 in the morning," Katsuki stated, making the pinkette pause as she looked behind her friends and saw the sun.
"…huh, so it is."
"Mei, have you been up all night again?" Izuku asked.
"No," Mei said with a pout and crossed her arms. "Stupid Koshin won't let me stay up past eleven when Mom and Dad are on a trip."
"Okay, good." The greenette replied, only to see the smirk on his eccentric friend's face.
"But nothing says I can't get up early when inspiration strikes!"
"...how long have you been up?"
"Oh, don't worry. I got a solid three hours of sleep."
"THAT'S BARELY ANYTHING, MEI!" Izuku exclaimed while Katsuki face-palmed.
After a few minutes of letting Mei clean up herself and putting on her school uniform, the three childhood friends were soon walking toward Aldera middle school.
"So, was that cannon thing what you're gonna bring to the expo?" Izuku asked.
"That's top secret, Izu," Mei responded. "Speaking of the expo, how's Skelly coming along?"
"Oh, it's going great!" Izuku said with an excited look in his eyes. "I think I finally got the kinks worked out, so he should be ready just in time."
"So ya finally fixed its wobbly wrist?" Mei asked, getting a nod in response.
"You were right about the computer paste. It worked like a charm."
As the two continued to talk tech, Katsuki just watched with a bemused smile. There was something comforting about hearing these two energetic nerds he called friends just geeking out over the smallest stuff.
"You coming to the expo, Kacchan?" The pinkette asked.
"Nah. I'm gonna try getting some training in over the weekend."
"You sure? It's probably gonna be a ton of fun," Izuku asked.
"Ya, for tech nerds like you guys." The blond replied, making Mei narrow her eyes at him.
"Didn't you get all excited when you finished those grenade gauntlet blueprints?"
"That's different! That's hero stuff, so it's automatically cool."
"Hey, our work is hero stuff, too," Izuku replied.
"...well, I ain't as nerdy about it as you guys are." Katsuki retorted.
"Oh, come on, Kacchan," Mei said as she patted his back. "They're nothing wrong with being nerdy."
"Says you."
Izuku chuckled to himself as the three continued their little back and forth before arriving at Aldera Junior High. And just as he had been doing for the last week, he would be counting down the hours until the weekend. After all, if everything went according to plan, his dream of being a hero would be that much closer to becoming a reality.
That following weekend…
Dozens of students, their friends, teachers, and parents gathered in the gymnasium as the Aldera Junior Science Expo had officially begun. Any scientifically gifted youngster from the school district could show off a science project, be it chemistry, robotics, or physics; any branch of science was welcome. Some did it for extra credit, others hoped to get the attention of anyone handing out a scholarship, and some just wanted to show how smart they were.
Izuku was one of these young inventors as he, Hisashi, and Inko were busy setting up his booth. Which consisted of an upgraded office chair with foot pedals, a foldable keyboard & two joysticks attached to it, a closed fold-out display sitting on a table, and something human-sized covered in a blue sheet.
"Alright, looks like everything's good with the chair," Hisashi said as he gave it a test swivel.
"Thank you, dad," Izuku said as he attached his phone to a speaker set.
"Are you nervous, sweetie?" Inko asked.
"...a little bit."
"Just remember to breathe in…" Inko said as she demonstrated. "…and breath out."
"Right," Izuku said, taking in a short breath before calmly getting it out.
"Don't worry about it, kiddo," Hisashi said with an excited grin. "You're gonna knock their socks off."
"Hey, Izuku!" The Midoriya family turned and saw the Hatsume siblings approaching them, with Koshin holding a camcorder in his hand. "Looks like you're all set up."
"Pretty much," Izuku said as he noticed the camera. "Recording it for your parents?"
"Yup, Dad would never let me hear the end of it if I didn't record this little gremlin's special day." Koshin joked before ruffling Mei's hair, much to her irritation.
"Well, we better go get a good view," Hisashi said before offering the pre-teens a thumbs up as he, Inko, and Koshin made their way.
"Okay, let's do our best, Izuku!" Mei said as she held her hand out.
"Right!" The greenette said as the two high-fived. While the two went back to their booths, Inko, Hisashi and Koshin tried finding a good vantage point.
"Yo! Guys!" The three turned and saw Mitsuki, her husband Masaru, and a grumpy-looking Katsuki standing next to his folks, with the Bakugou matriarch waving at them.
"I'm so glad you could make it, Mitsuki," Inko said to her oldest friend.
"Nice to see ya, Masaru," Hisashi said as the two fathers shook hands. "Glad you could make it too, Katsuki."
"No problem," Masaru said with an easy-going smile.
"I'm here under protest," Katsuki grumbled.
"Oh, it's not gonna kill ya to show your friends some support," Mitsuki said with a disappointed look.
"Woo-hoo," Katsuki said with as much passion and excitement as a bowl of plain oatmeal. "Is that enough?"
"When did he become such a smartass?" Mitsuku whispered to herself, making Inko sweatdrop at the obvious answer.
Soon enough, the expo began, with the judges going to each booth and allowing the young scientists to present themselves and their inventions. An hour or so went by, with some showing off elaborate volcano simulations and electric roller skates, others showing the bare minimum for the extra credit opportunity. Finally, a pair of judges came to Mei's booth, and the pinkette wearing a headset with a microphone.
"Tell me, good people: have you ever wanted to grab something from a far distance, but you can't quite reach it? Well, have I got the solution for you!" Mei went to her display table and pulled off the curtain, showing a hand cannon with a dial on top of it and a screen right under it. "Say hello to the Hatsume Industries Grab Cannon!"
Mei grabbed her invention and lightly pushed the trigger, allowing a padded claw attached to a malleable steel pole to slide out of the barrel. She then moved the hand to grab a pen out of a judge's breast pocket, waving it in front of his impressed face.
And while Mei continued to demonstrate the Grab Cannon, another group of judges approached Izuku's booth.
'Alright, here it goes.' Izuku said before addressing the judges. "The field of robotics has long been considered a niche among most scientific fields. Any robot built nowadays is often used to test equipment meant for hero work, provide menial tasks for researchers, and let's face it; even the most top-of-the-line robot tends to be a bit on the clunky and awkward side. But what if I told you there could be a robot just as strong and versatile as even the most powerful heroes?"
This got the judges and crowds intrigued as Izuku reached the certain. "Ladies and Gentlemen, say hello to the future of robotics!"
The greenette pulled the curtain, revealing a robot about the size of an adult male. It was all frame, no armor, giving it a skeletal appearance. What was immediately noticeable about the robot was that each individual finger was articulated, the shoulders and thigh joints were circular, and the wires were integrated into the framework.
"This is Skeletron, a prototype frame that'll give any robot the same kind of freedom of movement we humans take for granted," Izuku said as he took a seat in his special chair, flicking a switch on the keyboard to remotely turn on Skeletron, its optics taking on a blue glow.
The greenette took hold of the joysticks and moved the right joystick in a circular motion. In response, the robot began to move its shoulder in the same kind of circular motion, impressing some of the audience.
"As you can see, every part of Skeletron's frame has been designed to stimulate human movement," Izuku said before using the left stick to move Skeletron's left arm up. Next, the boy pressed the trigger, turning the robot's wrist 360 degrees. "And it can even perform motions we can't pull off."
Just to show off, Izuku typed some commands into the keyboard, and the fingers on Skeletron's rotating wrist began to move up and down. That earned a few 'oohs' and 'aws' from the crowd and even some of the judges.
"Alright, now I'm going to have to ask you all to stand back a bit, so I can show you Skeletron's full range of motion," Izuku warned. The judges did just that, and Izuku pressed a music icon on his keyboard. This activated his speaker-attached phone, which began to play some rhythmic music.
(Music Que - Overnight Sensation by TRF)
hatachi yasokora ja jinsei no MOCHIBESHON (motivation)
mi ni tsuitara kibun mo shirakeru dake dashi
Izuku got to work, moving the joysticks and pressing on the foot pedals. And to the amazement of the audience, Skeletron began to dance. There was little to no stiffness in its movements as Izuku piloted the machine in tandem with the beat of the music.
tomodachi mo douryou mo shigeki o uketsutsu otagai RAIBARU
"He actually picked that song," Inko said with a giggle.
"Don't blame our son for having good taste," Hisashi said. "Besides, Mitsuki seems to like it."
"Hell yeah, I do!" The blond woman said as she shimmied with her shoulders. "This shit is my jam!"
Masaru chuckled at his wife's enthusiasm while Katsuki held his head in his hands.
'God…Buddha…whoever the fuck is watching; please just do me a favor and kill me right now.'
Izuku continued this dance routine for a while…but he quickly began to notice something was off with Skeletron's movements. Each movement started to become more and more exaggerated, and they also began to become less fluid. And no matter what motion Izuku did with the joysticks and foot pedals, Skeletron's movements became more and more erratic, something that the audience was beginning to notice. Suddenly, Skeletron began performing movements other than what Izuku commanded it to do.
"Um, j-just a few technical issues. N-Nothing to worry about!" Izuku said nervously as he tried entering a few commands to fix the issue. But if anything, that made Skeletron begin to move more erratically until its motions resembled that of a spastic child, frightening the judges as they took further steps back.
If that was the end of it, Izuku probably could've salvaged his presentation. But unfortunately, Skeletron began jumping and landing on other presentation booths, causing the kids, parents, and judges to flee from the insane robot. Though there were some rubberneckers recording the robot and its creator freaking out on their cellphones.
Katsuki honestly felt bad that Izuku's invention was going haywire, but his eyes widened when he saw it heading towards Mei's booth, and the pinkette was too invested in showing off her invention, despite Koshin and the judges looking towards Izuku's robot.
"Crazy-eyes, look out!" Without even thinking, Katsuki ran and leaped towards Mei, grabbing and rolling with the pinkette while the judges and Koshin ran as Skeletron demolished Mei's booth. "Izuku! Shut the fucking robot off!"
Seeing no other option, Izuku mentally said 'screw it' and pressed the emergency shutdown button. It worked instantly, with Skeletron's optic shutting down…and the robot falling to the floor face first.
"Ow, I almost got clobbered," Mei commented before looking down at Katsuki with a smile. "Thanks for saving me, Kacchan."
The blond's cheeks turned red before he threw the pink-haired girl off him, much to her dismay. "W-Whatever. I ain't saving your oblivious ass next time."
While that happened, Izuku was trying to salvage whatever dignity he had left. "Obviously, we got a few kinks to work out," Izuku said, chuckling nervously at the judgemental looks he was getting from the adults while noticing that some of the audience was laughing and recording. "Oh, boy."
"Yikes." Mei thought to herself as both she, Katsuki and the other members of their families were concerned for the young greenette.
As the next few days rolled around, news of Izuku's blunder began to spread through the district. And it wasn't long before memes, and YouTube videos of Skeletron's failed performance began to circulate around the web, as well as making their way into quite a few 'fail' compilations.
Sufficed to say, as he laid facedown in his bed on the following lazy Wednesday afternoon, Izuku was feeling pretty down about himself. For the last few days, Izuku was the laughing stock of his grade. More than a few classmates mocked him by mimicking Skeletron's sporadic moves, no matter how many times Katsuki told them to fuck off.
'Maybe I can just move to another country and start over.' Izuku thought in an overdramatic fashion. 'Who knows? Maybe Spain needs a new dancing sensation.'
He then heard a knock at the door. "It's open," Izuku replied thought, his voice slightly muffled by his pillow.
"Hey, Izuku," Inko said as she opened the door, a bit saddened to see her son in this state. "Listen, I know you're still down about…you know. But I was wondering if you would do me a small favor."
Izuku sat up. "Ya sure. What is it?"
"I'm still in the middle of cleaning, so I was wondering if you could take that welcome basket I made for our new neighbor."
'Oh, right. That happened.' Izuku thought back. Over the last week, the Midoriyas had noticed that someone was finally moving into the apartment on the opposite side of the floor. And wanting to be neighborly, Inko made a bundle of snacks to welcome the new tenants, even if they never talked to them again. "Alright, I'll do that in just a second."
"Thank you, sweetie," Inko said before kissing Izuku on the cheek.
A few minutes later, Izuku was walking across the hall, still clad in his middle school uniform as he carried a basket full of various treats. The boy knocked on the door, tapping his foot as he waited for their new neighbor to open the door.
Eventually, someone did answer, an older woman of Korean descent. She had a lazy, almost ragged appearance, what with her graying black hair tied in a loose side-ponytail, the red t-shirt with the word 'Manowar' written in English, black shorts with torn up ends, bare feet, and the uninterested look within her brown eyes.
"I ain't lookin' to buy anything, kid." The woman said right to the point.
"Oh no, I-I'm selling anything," Izuku said as he held the basket. "I'm Izuku Midoriya. My family lives in the apartment down the hall. We just wanted to give you this and welcome you to the building."
The woman looked at the basket, staring at the dango in particular. "Eh, sure."
As Izuku handed her the basket, the greenette noticed the woman's eyes narrowing at him. "You know, you look really familiar, kid."
"I mean, you've probably seen me when you were moving in-"
"Oh, wait!" The woman said with a snap of her fingers. "You're the kid with the dancing robot!"
'Of course.' Izuku said with a sigh. "Ya…that's me."
"Sorry about that, kid." The woman said. "I mean, it was going well for a bit, but whoever you got to program the thing was a bit off the mark."
"…I programmed it."
This made the woman raise an eyebrow. "Bullshit."
"Huh?" Now that confused Izuku.
"You're like what? Eleven?"
"Twelve, actually." The greenette said, getting a bit more nervous at the look his new neighbor was giving him.
Moments later…
Inko hummed to herself as she moped the floor, only stopping when she heard the front door open. "So, did you giv-" Inko's train of thought came to a screeching halt at the sight of their new neighbor standing next to her son.
"You must be his mom," the woman said in between bites of dango.
"Y-yes," Inko sputtered, taken aback by the woman's demeanor. "Um…hello, Ms…."
"Professor Eun-Ji Lim," the Korean woman said.
"Professor?" Inko parrotted, caught off guard by the disconnect between her title and ragged appearance.
"Mom! Professor Lim said she could help with Skeletron!" Izuku said with an excited look in his eyes.
"Hey, I said I'd give it a look over. Don't know how you got 'helping you out' from that." The woman said. It honestly amazed her how quickly this kid went from nervous to ecstatic after she told him she knew a bit about coding, and could probably give him a few pointers.
Though she had to admit, the little guy was adorable with how excited he was. And even someone like her couldn't really say no to such an earnest boy.
Inko was unsure of how to feel about her son bringing a stranger into their home…but then again, if this Professor Lim was suspicious, well, people usually don't expect a random object flying at their head.
Izuku brought Professor Lim to his workroom, which also doubled as extra storage for whatever nerdy merchandise any of the Midoriya's bought that couldn't fit into their rooms.
Skeletron stood in the center of the room, wires attached via a computer tower under the nearby work desk. All across the desk and around the floor were various bits of scrap metal, circuitry, and gears that no doubt went into the robot's creation. Lim even saw smaller robots on a shelf, which she would later learn were earlier experimental toy robots Izuku made when he was younger.
"So this is him, huh?" Professor Lim asked, getting a nod from Izuku. "Aight, let's see what's under the hood."
Izuku turned on his desk computer and brought Lim to his programming software, allowing the woman to see the wall of coding that made up Skeletron's operating system.
"Okay, this is exactly what I thought: this coding is shit," Professor Lim said tersely. "It's no wonder he went crazy at that expo. This code is so clunky and inefficient that it got all turned around when it tried to execute commands until it got stuck in an endless loop."
"Ya, I know," Izuku said with a sigh.
"How did you learn to code?" Professor Lim asked.
"Mostly YouTube videos and beginner books I got from the library," Izuku said. Really, that was all he could do to learn about coding. It wasn't like his elementary or middle school offered classes like that. "So it's pretty bad, right?"
"Objectively, yes." Professor Lim said. "But the fact that you were able to even put this shit code together without any kind of formal education and somehow made it work for a bit…kid, you're some kind of mad genius."
"Really?"
"Kid, college students would struggle to put something even this shitty together," Lim said before putting her hand to her chin, thinking about something for a moment. "Tell ya what, if you keep bringing me that delicious dango your mom makes, I'll teach you everything I know about coding."
"You will?!" Izuku asked, and when Lim nodded in return, the greenette couldn't help himself but hug the older woman, no matter how much she protested.
Later that night…
Higari Maijima, otherwise known as the pro hero Power Loader, crashed on his couch with a thud and tired sigh. The life of a professional hero was not for the lazy nor the faint of heart, even for a lesser-known hero like him.
Just today, he helped Deatharms stop a collapsing building, saved some workers trapped in a dam that got caught in a villain fight, and helped in a construction project he was aiding on the side. Overall, the orange-haired man just wanted to sit down and relax. To do so, he pulled out his phone and opened the YouTube app. Maybe a funny meme or game review would take his mind off of things.
Before going to his subscriptions, Higari checked his recommendations, and one particular video caught his eye. It was labeled Dancing Robot Goes Apeshit. He figured that would probably be good for a laugh.
But what he clicked on was so much more than that. As the video showed the skeletal-like robot flailing, Higari shot up from his couch.
The comments said it was a hilarious flop, but for someone like Higari, he saw something amazing. Yes, the robot's movements were jerky and erratic, but the way it moved was seamless! While it still had the natural stiffness of a mechanical being, the way its limbs, shoulders, and legs moved were more fluid than anything he would expect a middle school student to make. Hell, it took him up until eight years ago to come up with something that smooth.
When the video showed Izuku's panicked expression, Higari paused the video, his eyes focused on the greenette.
'I don't know who you are, kid, but I'm gonna find out.'
Sunday…
It was pretty quiet in the Midoriya household. And after a busy week at the office, that was exactly how Hisashi liked it. Izuku was in his room, studying some of the coding notes that Professor Lim had made for him, and Inko was sleeping in. So that left Hisashi building a model kit on the living room table while Gaiking played on the tv as background noise. And he was currently tackling one of the most annoying parts of kit building; the stickers.
'Come on. Steady hand.' Hisashi thought to himself, his tongue out as he slowly moved a q-tip holding an eye sticker towards the head of his High-Grade Gundam Leopard. But right as he was about to carefully apply the sticker, he heard a knock on the door that caused him to spit some fire and drop the q-tip. 'Dammit!'
The knocking continued, and Hisashi sighed as he put the q-tip on the table. "I'm coming. Look, if you're trying to sell some tissues, we already got so-"
Sufficed to say, when Hisashi opened the door, he wasn't expecting to see a short, hunched-over man with messy orange hair that covered his eyes, long arms, thick dark orange fingers, and a white t-shirt with the English word 'HOLE' written on it.
"Hey, so is this the Midoriya residence?"
Hisashi wearily eyed the man. "...who's asking?"
"I'm here to see…" The short man pulled a piece of paper out of his pocket. "...Izuku?"
That immediately set some alarm bells in Hisashi's head. And without hesitation or even a word, he slammed the door in the stranger's face.
"What the-Dude, what the hell?!" The short man said as he banged on the door. Hisashi opened it again and glared at the shorter man.
"I don't know what you want with my son, but you better leave before I call the cops!" Hisashi shouted, smoke starting to come out of his mouth.
"Woah, no need to panic! I just want to talk to the kid-yeowch!" The man held his foot in the door to keep the Midoriya patriarch from it in his face again and regretted it as the door slammed against his foot.
"I'm gonna keep doing that if ya don't leave!"
"Just give me a sec—OW—to expl—AGHH!" The short man said through cries of pain as Hisashi relentlessly bashed his foot with the door.
"Dad? What's going on?" Izuku asked as he walked into the living room.
"Nothing. Just trying to get this creep to leave."
Izuku looked at the aforementioned 'creep,' and his eyes widened. "Dad, stop! That's Power Loader!"
"What?"
'Oh, thank Buddha,' Power Loader thought, relieved that the slamming stopped.
"His real name is Higari Maijima. He's a Pro-Hero!" Izuku exclaimed.
"Huh. Impressive, string bean," Higari said. "Almost no one but my friends recognizes me out of costume."
"Well, you have the same height, hunch, and hair color that you have in costume. Your voice isn't that different from when it's spoken out of a filter. And well, there's no mistaking those fingers." The green-haired boy said with a hint of pride. Sure, Katsuki would've called Izuku a nerd for that little bit of deduction, but how many teenagers could claim to recognize one of their favorite heroes out of costume?
Hisashi, in the meantime, pulled out his cellphone and looked up a picture of Power Loader. And his jaw went slack. It was just as Izuku said; the hunched man he had been trying to shoo away was a dead ringer for the Pro-Hero…a Pro-Hero he had repeatedly slammed in the foot. Small embers leaked out from Hisashi's mouth before he quickly got on his hands and knees.
"I'M SO SORRY, MR. MAIJIMA! Or would you prefer Mr. Loader? AH, IT DOESN'T MATTER! I'M SO SORRY I WAS SO RUDE! PLEASE FORGIVE ME!" The black-haired man said, repeating bowing as sparks of fire spewed out of his mouth.
"DAD, BE CAREFUL! YOU'LL LIGHT THE CARPET ON FIRE AGAIN!" Izuku comedically shouted.
'Again?!' Higari thought before speaking up. "Look, no hard feelings. And honestly, I probably could've handled that better."
"…maybe a little," Hisashi whispered. "But wait a minute; what do you want with Izuku?"
That certainly threw the greenette for a loop. Why would a professional hero be interested in him? After all, he was just some random kid from a random middle school. What had he done to earn any kind of atten—Oh! Izuku's face turned into a frown.
"It's because you saw that video from the science fair, isn't it?"
"Just about," Higari said but saw the look on the kid's face. "But ain't here to bust your chops over it, greenie. In fact, it's pretty much the opposite."
This day just kept getting more surprising for Izuku.
A bit later…
"Huh. So that's it."
"Ya." Izuku said as Inko brought some tea to the coffee table and took a seat next to her son. The conversation between the middle school student and the pro-hero took an interesting turn. Higari mostly asked Izuku about all the components and techniques he used in order to build Skeletron. But the subject soon turned to why Izuku built a machine like that, asking if he had an interest in Support or Robotics. Naturally, though, the green-haired boy admitted that he wanted to become a hero, building and piloting a super robot suit to make up for his lack of a Quirk and how he would be aiming for UA High School. "Skeletron's basically a prototype for the inner-skeletal structure the final model is eventually gonna have."
"And have you started on this final model?"
"N-No," Izuku replied but then pulled out his notebook. "But I did draw up schematics for it."
Izuku handed his notebook to the Pro-Hero. As Higari looked through the book, it was hard for any of the Midoriyas to read his expression, what with his hair covering his eyes. After looking through it, Hajire spoke again.
"You know heroics is a dangerous line of work, right?" Higari stated, causing Izuku to flinch. "I've seen it way too much these days. Kids see flashy heroes on TV and think it's all fun and games. But they don't realize that what I, what we do, is quite possibly the most dangerous job on the planet."
And then, Higari turned his head at an angle allowing the Midoriyas to see a scar across his orange eye. "I've seen shit that still gives me nightmares. Good people dying at the hands of a maniac, or in a rescue operation that spiraled out of control. And they usually had some kind of quirk to fall back on. So, Izuku Midoriya, knowing all that, do you still want to be a hero?"
This made Izuku tense up, looking down at the trembling hands in his lap. The boy wasn't ignorant of the dangers inherent to his dream job. And unlike many kids his age who only saw Pro-Heroes for the fame and glory, Izuku learned about the dangers heroes face in their line of work. The stuff he read and saw was just as, if not more, haunting than the stuff he had seen in super robot anime or tokusatsu.
The heroic duo Water Hose were killed by a criminal calling himself Muscular just a few weeks ago. Fatgum had recently been hospitalized after his part in saving people from a collapsing building. Eraser Head was constantly dealing with drug dealers hopped up on Trigger. And he had lost count of how many near-death scenarios All Might had faced down.
But even with his parents and best friends constantly giving him support for his dream, there was a part of Izuku that doubted his dreams. A part that believed the kids who taunted him at school were right, and his dream of being a Quirkless Pro-Hero piloting a super robot was impossible. But Izuku knew in his very core; that this is what he was meant to do.
"I know it's dangerous," Izuku said, his eyes brimming with determination. "I know that I'll be put in harm's way. And that it's especially gonna be an uphill battle for someone like me. But I've always known that in, in my heart, I want to be a hero. I want to be the kind of person that makes people feel safer just by being there. And I'm going to make that dream a reality, no matter what."
Hisashi and Inko felt a sense of pride in their boy's declaration. Sure, they had always been worried about their son's safety when it came to his dream, but they were always there to support him. And to everyone's surprise, Higari started to let out a good-natured chuckle.
"Now that's the kind of answer I like to hear!" Higari said with a smile. "Alright, kid. I'll help ya out."
Izuku slowly blinked in confusion. "…what?"
"Well, if you want a working mecha suit in time for U.A.'s entrance exam, you're gonna need some help. And who better to teach ya how to build an awesome robot than a certified genius like me?"
This…this couldn't be real, Izuku thought to himself. A professional hero…was offering to help him achieve his dream.
"You…you want to help me? You think I can make it, even if I'm…well…"
"Izuku, my Quirk just lets me dig better. You think anyone around me thought I could be a hero," Higari's face turned into a genuine smile. "Us underdogs gotta watch out for each other."
Izuku had tried from sadness plenty of times in his life. But this, well, the boy couldn't help but let out tears of joy.
After giving Izuku a chance to calm down and wipe his tears, he and Higari spent the day having the first of what would become regular brainstorming sessions, with Hisashi and Inko giving ideas when they could. It was around 10pm by the time they finished, with Izuku having filled out three new notebooks full of ideas for his super robot. He even had a few more possible names for it.
"Alright, you get some sleep, kid," Higari said as Hisashi and Inko escorted him to the door. "We'll chat after school tomorrow."
"Right!" Izuku attempted to bow in respect but ended up yawning instead, the adults having a good chuckle from that. "Good night, Mr. Maijima."
As Izuku walked towards his bedroom, Hisashi and Inko continued to chat with the pro.
"You really meant all of that?" Inko asked.
"Of course. Why would I spend the last hours chatting with the kid if I didn't think he had potential."
"I guess, well, we always thought our little Izuku was special…but I think almost every parent thinks that about their kid," Hisashi said while rubbing the back of his head. Inko, however, had a concerned look on his face.
"Mr. Maijima, did you mean what you said about hero work being dangerous?" Higari understood where Inko was coming from and nodded. "Well then, do you think you can keep an eye on Izuku? He's got a good heart and is incredibly kind…but he can also be stubborn and reckless."
Hisashi nodded in agreement. They had lost count of how many times Izuku tried to protect other kids from bigger and stronger bullies. Katsuki and Mei always tried their best to keep Izuku out of harm's way, but they couldn't always be around.
Higari placed his fist over his heart. "You have my word: I'll do all I can to protect the little greenie until he's ready. And I'll make sure that robot of his is strong enough to protect him too."
As Higari made that pledge to his parents, Izuku laid down in bed, excited for what would happen next. He put his notebooks away but also noticed the phone he left on his desk had a few unanswered text messages. He opened them and had to hold back a laugh.
Kacchan: Deku, what the fuck?! Auntie told the old hag you spent the day chattin' with an actual pro?! Dude, why the shit didn't you let me know?!
Mei Mei: OHMYGOSHOHMYGOSHOHMYGOSH! YOU MET POWER LOADER! I'M SO JEALOUS! PLEASE TELL ME YOU GOT HIS AUTOGRAPH.
Izuku could already tell he was gonna have to deal with a lot from his energetic best friends tomorrow.