Flea

Chapter Twenty Two

"I know internships are exciting because of the connections you'll make in the hero community. But-" a crooked grin broke through her professional sheen "-my motto has always been 'scholarships not relationships.' Words to live by."

Kaminari buried his head in his hands.

"You're going to turn me into a nerd aren't you? I never wanted to be a nerd."

"Nonsense," Maeve said airily.

"Everyone wants to be a nerd deep down, it makes life far more interesting. I'm just going to make sure you have a good enough understanding of electrical principles to be able to use your quirk effectively. It's surprising you haven't managed to kill anyone yet with the way you're randomly zapping stuff. That I know of," she admitted with a wink. Kaminari fidgeted.

"Can I talk to my parents about it first? I do think I want the operation, but it seems like kinda a big decision."

"Of course, I wouldn't expect you to know right now. Just get back to me by the deadline for internship requests and it will be fine. I'm impressed by how calm you are. If it was me I'd be a mess," Maeve commented with a smile.

"Well, if you've been brain damaged this entire time... Wow. If you were any smarter your head would probably explode. What even is your IQ?" Kaminari asked.

Maeve's smile widened into something more cheeky.

"Let's just say I've had multiple organisations approach me wanting my eggs. I'm the female equivalent of a sought after high IQ sperm donor."

Kaminari blinked several times, Maeve's oddly proud expression remained unchanged every time his eyes reopened.

"Wow, I really... Wasn't expecting that response. Er, Congratulations?"

Her smile wavered and he suddenly realised her poker face was shattering as she held back snorts of mirth.

"Sorry, just remembering dad's expression when we got the letters. I was 12, he was furious." Maeve descending into hoots of glee at something Kaminari really couldn't see as funny. He wasn't sure if this was all a massive joke or she was genuine and it was confusingly awkward. Maybe once he got a brain upgrade it would make more sense. Or at least she'd seem less clinically insane. He couldn't believe he'd been excited to be alone in a room with a hot nurse. Mineta had whispered different ways of tricking her into performing mouth to mouth resuscitation as he was called out of the classroom, but that seemed like a very long time ago now.

"Anyway, you should get back to physics. There's a lot to think about already, so I'll leave you to make a decision in peace. But if you or your family have any questions, feel free to drop in or flick me a text."

Kaminari nodded and was almost at the door when she called,

"Oh, let Midoriya know he can come straight in."

As the lightning haired boy called to his anxiously waiting peer, he suddenly realised he hadn't checked if Maeve had taken up the offers of egg donation. It seemed like a rude thing to ask. Surely not, though. The world couldn't handle any more of her than there was already.

***

"Refuse to heal me??" Midoriya squeaked, twisting his hands together in a panic. Maeve cheerfully inched a box of tissues across the desk towards him. She calculated the waterworks would commence shortly and regretted not pulling out her raincoat.

"It's not you, Midoriya, it's me. Actually no, that's a lie, it's definitely you. I'm not going to keep reassembling your body like a gruesome jigsaw every time you have a training session. It's not fair on either of us and more importantly, it's not fair on the people I could be using the energy to save instead. I already find this job frustrating. Do you know the percentage increase in cancer rates since quirks first appeared in Japan?"