apathy

mecha of science, give me the means

- chapter delay brought to you by quarantine depression and literally everyone who asked about updates/said 'please update'/told me to update/made passive aggressive comments about me not updating. doesnt work kiddos. -

Mei resurfaces out of her designing stupor the next day to chaos in the Izuku-Based Therapy Chat. Suffice to say that it starts with Hitochan sending a picture of Izukkun asleep on him as he blushes, and continues with Tsu, Monoma, and even Dadzawa roasting him mercilessly. Mei almost regrets missing it for her friends' hero costumes. Almost.

These babies are going to be fucking amazing.

Mei rightfully assumes that she will find Hitochan with Izukkun, since Hitochan is so fucking gay, so she brings both of their blueprints to the hospital with her. She busts through the door to find Iida giving some passionate speech while Hitochan dozes on Izukkun's shoulder in a reversal of roles. Izukkun isn't paying attention to their new classmate's speech either, instead staring very hard at his face like it'll make the taller boy spontaneously combust. Iida falters and stares when she enters, but her friends barely react.

"Izukkun, chillax!" Mei shouts, charging to his bedside. "You don't have laser vision yet, you know!"

"Yet?" Izukkun and Iida both repeat with very different levels of concern. Izukkun fully focuses on her, blinking so innocently she'd almost doubt he'd been trying to murder his enamored classmate via stare earlier. Iida is still looking at her in flabbergasted concern.

The things he said about her during the festival still sting, so she takes pleasure in the way he flinches back from her Mad Genius Smile as she advances on him. Izukkun mutters something about 'scarier than a fucking nomu,' something that makes the Mad Genius Smile widen considerably.

"I heard that my Izukkun only got hurt because he was saving your dumb ass." Mei says sweetly. Iida cowers in the face of her barely hidden rage. "I expect an apology."

Iida jumps back, and Mei braces for him to get indignant. She doesn't expect him to drop to the floor in the deepest bow she's ever seen. It nearly surprises her out of her rage. She can hear Izukkun sigh at the two of them.

"I APOLOGIZE SINCERELY FOR MAKING YOU WORRY." He shouts. The genuine guilt in his voice has Mei glancing back at Izukkun to share her giddiness, but he just looks more dead inside than usual. Spoilsport. "I PUT YOUR FRIEND IN DANGER BECAUSE I WAS STUPIDLY SEARCHING FOR REVENGE, AND THERE IS NO WAY I CAN MAKE UP FOR THIS SLIGHT."

The shouting rouses Hitochan from his nap enough to pry open one eye and look at the scene, though he doesn't lift his head from Izukkun's shoulder. He gives her a dead inside look that almost perfectly matches Izukkun's. Mei grins back.

"Good! Now go sit in that corner and think about what you've done!!" She commands Iida. He jumps up to follow her orders and she has to physically stop herself from laughing maniacally. That is going to be fun to explore. Instead she whips around to face her boys again, holding their costume blueprints in the air like they're her Simba.

"Oh god, she has blueprints." Hitochan groans, turning his face to press against Izukkun's shoulder. Bush boy doesn't object. "Izuku save me."

"You know that I have no power over Meimei." Izuku replies, eyes locked on the papers she's holding.

"Wow, Hitochan, rude! I guess you don't want to see your hero costume then!" Mei sniffs, passing Izukkun's blueprints to him. He immediately starts looking them over, mouth moving quickly as he reads her notes. He must be on some pretty heavy medication if he's letting that little nerdy quirk show. Hitochan glances at Izukkun's costume, then up at her.

"Wait, no, I want it." He promises, holding one hand out. He does a grabby hand at her, and Mei snickers. "Mei please. Mei I'm sorry, your work is the best and I'll never use another support company in my life."

"Passable." Mei says, already handing him the papers. She hops in place giddily. "So, Hitochan didn't give me much to go on, so I modeled yours off of Dadzawa's, but purple and armored with my new steel cloth!"

She leans over to point, ignoring Izukkun for now. He'll want to look over everything before she expositions. Hitochan follows her finger move with a sort of lazy excitement.

"You have your voice modifier, a few small time tasers, hidden pouches for smoke bombs and first aid supplies, and!! There's hidden pockets EVERYWHERE." She's vibrating in excitement. Hitochan looks over the drawings and then at her, eyes genuinely touched.

"Mei, that's gay."

"You're gay." Mei shoots back with a snort.

"I'm bi." Izukkun announces absentmindedly. Hitochan makes the cut off sound of a cat dying and Mei sighs, shooting Hitochan a look that says 'this guy? this cis bitch is who you have a crush on?'. Hitochan is too busy dying to do anything but flip her off.

"You're going to kill him." She informs her bush boy, only to get a confused blink in return. How many drugs do they have him on? Hitochan hides his face in Izukkun's shoulder again so he doesn't have to see anymore of Mei's bullying, which she huffs at. "Whatever. For your costume I went off that 'green devil' thing—you got your horns on a headband that doubles as communications and also a wireless hotspot! Plus your steel cloth hoodie, over the black body. Then, my pride and joy—"

"Have you even started building it yet, Meimei."

"A tail with a bladed point that will inject quirk suppressants and react according to your brainwaves." Mei gushes. She snatches the blueprint from him just to hug it. "It'll be the best thing I've ever built. Promise you'll take good care of my baby, Izukkun! You have to!"

Izukkun looks tired, but Mei can't tell if its exasperation, drugs, or just his face.

"That's amazing, Meimei." He praises, giving a thumbs up. He genuinely seems to be having trouble keeping his eyes open, so Mei chalks his behavior up to drugs. He even yawns. "Who can stand in our way when we have Hatsume Inc on our side...?"

Izukkun falls asleep sitting up. There's no storybook moment where he looks lighter or less miserable. His eyes just slide shut, breath evening out, and Mei legitimately thinks he's just zoned out until Hitochan lifts his own head.

"His mom said the quirk they're using to try and fix any lasting damage to his arm makes him really tired." He sighs, slowly leaning Izukkun backwards to lay down.

"I love our little disaster bisexual." Mei chirps, ruffling Izukkun's hair. God, how is it so soft?  "I'll leave you lovebirds to nap, while I go work on your new gadgets!"

"Mei—" Hitochan hisses, but she's already left Izukkun's bedside. She marches over to Iida, who looks up at her in bewilderment and a touch of fear when she gets close enough. She puts on her Mad Genius Smile and leans in to an almost uncomfortable degree.

"When are you being discharged!"

"L-later today!" Iida answers faithfully. Mei grabs his arm—the good one, because she isn't petty enough to maybe injure him again—and yanks him to his feet. If his face is anything to go off of, he's surprised that she could. Mei knows she's much stronger than she looks and she loves startling people with it. 

"Wrong answer! You're leaving now, and we're going to my house to test out some of my babies!" Mei shouts as she drags Iida through the door. "Bye Hitochan!"

"Goodbye, you nightmare." Hitochan calls back right before Mei slams the door shut.