Quirkless

Chapter 45 - Coming Out

"Yeah, this is what I'm fucking talking about!" Katsuki grinned as he flexed his fingers, watching the exoskeleton move with it. It was made for his build and all variables were adjusted to his motor functions. The tubes were all visible, attached on the outside of the machinery. It was still the first prototype so aesthetics didn't really matter.

"So it feels good? You can move all your fingers?" Hatsume asked, a checklist at hand to cross out the things they need to control or adjust.
"Yeah, doesn't feel too tight, command delay is minimal" Katsuki said as he made a fist, moving his arm around a little. It was just his right arm and a small device on the side of his head, pressing on his temple. The design was minimal, but effective.

"Alright! How about mobility? Is the range okay?" Hatsume asked.
"The parameters should allow full movement"
Katsuki swung his arm around for a while, testing the limits of the mechanical joints and the way the exoskeleton was able to extend when necessary or allow parts to slide over each other when it needed to get shorter all seemed to work... Oh shit!

"Tube broke" Katsuki groaned.
"It got squeezed between some parts as they overlapped and now it's ripped"
"Good thing we didn't add the fuel yet then, like I suggested" Mitsuki commented as she walked in the workshop.

"Yeah, yeah, too dangerous, bla bla" Katsuki complained. He wanted to test with fuel but his mother decided against it. She was still officially running this operation so she called the shots in the end.
"So we need a way to make the tubes more flexible, yet firmly attached to the mechanical parts for the system to work... Can't forget flow hindrance..." Hatsume mumbled to herself as she started writing things down.

Katsuki detached the tube so it could be replaced or restored, glancing at his mom as he saw her fiddle with the bracelet around her wrist.
"You're field testing the A3B?" he asked. A3B, short for automatic autonomous assistent bracelet. It was just a working title, something that needed to be adjusted once the final product was released on the market.

"Well, trying to is more like it" Mitsuki sighed before groaning in frustration.
"I don't even have half of the activity levels pros have according to our data! This way we won't get any realistic results!"
"Why don't you let a hero course student field test it?" Hatsume suggested.

"I've tried but it's forbidden to subjugate students to experimentation or trial tests, especially when not part of the support course. Oh and it's also against privacy regulations" Mitsuki said, clearly mocking someone by doing a poor imitation of an authority figure. Katsuki frowned. He didn't know the regulations by heart, but he was sure there was some kind of way around it.

"What if someone volunteers?" Katsuki asked.
"It would be okay if they're in it out of their own volition, right? Definitely if we put something on paper"
"Think you can convince one of your previous classmates?" Mitsuki asked, raising a brow.

"If I can't get my boyfriend to wear a bracelet then I'm incapable of doing anything" Katsuki stated as Hatsume was removing the exoskeleton. She paused for a moment, seemingly stunning in place.

"You have a boyfriend?"

Katsuki froze up at that, realizing he slipped up. Well, it's not like Izuku hadn't slipped up and told Uraraka so this would mean they're even, right? Besides, Katsuki thought it was best to just roll with it, knowing Hatsume wasn't one to gossip or talk about stuff like this.
"Yeah, the one and only Bonecrusher" Katsuki answered, making Hatsume's eyes widen a bit.

"Oh so that's why you wanted to duel me to get dibs on him! Majutsu has dibs on her crush too" she chuckled. Katsuki didn't correct her by saying they weren't together back then, he just shrugged before she continued to take off the exoskeleton. They wrote some numbers down and reviewed the test results before putting the robotic arm inside the case they built for it.