Mei and Midoriya continued to talk via phone and text for the next two weeks. They'd clicked almost instantly, as Mei liked to rant about her 'babies' and Midoriya liked to listen. Mei also returned the favor, as whenever Midoriya was sent into a mumbling episode over the phone, Mei seemed to actually understand what he was saying.
Maybe it was because they both spoke a bit faster usually, but whenever they got talking, Midoriya was sure nobody else could understand with how quick their words were. One day, Mei asked if she could check out the junkyard Midoriya mentioned in passing.
He was a little hesitant, but he reassured himself that Mei wouldn't piece together that he was training to be a vigilante. After all, what was so suspicious about working out?
As soon as he heard a knock on the door, He shoved his shoes on and walked to the living room. There he found his mom opening the door.
"Ah, hello! What can I do for you?" Inko asked politely, the famous kind Midoriya smile on her face.
Midoriya could just hear Mei bouncing in place, "Hi random stranger I'm assuming is Midoriya's mom, you look just like him, anyways, I'm here for Izuku Midoriya! He said he'd bring me to this place! Apparently it might have parts for my babies!"
To say Inko Midoriya looked confused would be an understatement. Parts for her babies? What place? Who was this?
Midoriya chuckled and tapped his mother's shoulder. Spinning around, Inko seemed a little relieved that she wouldn't have to try and understand the strange girl on her own, "Hey Izuku, is this a friend?"
Izuku smiled, "Yeah! Do you remember the old beach I told you about?" He asked, bending down to tie his shoes. His mom nodded a bit and let out an 'uh-huh', occasionally glancing at Mei when she made a noise as she looked at what she could see from the doorway of their house.
"Well Mei likes to invent, so I thought it'd be a good idea to bring her down there to look through the scrap metal for parts she can use." He explained as he stood back up and grabbed his bag. There wasn't much in there aside from a water bottle, the combat book from the library and an extra change of workout clothes.
His mom smiled again, stepping back and out of the way of the door, "Oh, that's what she meant by 'babies'!"
"Don't worry, I was confused at first, too." Midoriya gave his mom a quick hug and walked to the door, double-checking that his phone was in his pocket.
The two of them kept a fast pace, stopping occasionally to look around and grab something to eat. Eventually, they made it to the beach and Mei's eyes actually seemed to sparkle.
Before Midoriya could do anything, Mei took off and started shifting through the broken devices that Midoriya hadn't cleaned up yet. A lot of the beach was still cluttered, but there was still a massive improvement.
Stifling a laugh, Izuku moved up to see what was catching Mei's attention in that area specifically. His breath hitched as he saw her pull out an obviously well-kept bag.
Midoriya cursed himself for leaving it in such an obvious place. He seriously should get better at hiding things if he was going to ever hide his identity properly. Swiftly grabbing the bag, Izuku nervously pulled it over his shoulder.
"Ah! You found it, I was looking for this, actually! It's my old- er- workout bag!"
Mei went still and silent. Midoriya immediately panicked, Mei had never been like this. A wide grin spread across Hatsume's face, "You're lying!" She giggled, ruffling his hair.
It took a moment for Izuku to remember that Mei didn't react to things like lying like other people typically would. Why, he'd maybe never know.
"Why aren't you mad, Mei?" He asked bluntly, fidgeting with his bags.
Mei bounced in place again, "Well, I'd rather you didn't, obviously, combat section boy," Midoriya let out a light laugh at the nickname Mei refused to let go of, "And I'd like you to tell me what you're hiding because I'm invested now, but if you don't tell me I'm not going to force it out of you."
Hatsume immediately went back to shifting through the pile as if the conversation never happened. Izuku felt himself smile. Is this what it was like to have real friends? He'd had ones online, but they never got too close and everyone in real life tended to ignore him because of his quirk, or lack thereof.
Should I tell her? No, she told me she wants to get into U.A., she'd probably tell the heroes.
Wait.
I'm also applying to U.A. I can't judge her reaction based on that. Plus, she said it wasn't heroics that got her interested, she said it was because of their support course and how it was rumored to be the best around. Second internationally, aside from one school specifically for support in Denmark.
Why am I so scared to tell her? Plus, if it was inventing she was into, maybe she'd help me come up with ideas for inventing my own gear. Of course, I'd do it myself, I wouldn't make her do it, but tips from someone so into it would help.
"Combat section boy, look!" Midoriya's eyes shot to Mei as his thoughts were disrupted by her call. Mei was holding a laptop. It looked beaten and battered and several years old, but the insides were probably intact for the most part.
Midoriya looked it over, "You think the parts in there might help you with your babies?" It was still weird to call the inventions 'babies', but Midoriya was getting slowly used to it. Mei nodded excitedly,, lifting it up to the sky and spinning it around to see if there was further damage.
With a calming breath of reassurance, Izuku told himself to stop being a pansy and tell her.
Sorry Parkinson.
"Mei, do you know what a vigilante is?" That was a stupid question, everyone knows what they are. He assumed he more meant it as a 'what are your opinions on them'.
Not looking up from the laptop, Mei hummed, "Mhm- well, I think they're kind of cool. There aren't a lot, there's more money and security in heroics. I mean, if they had better access to gear I'm sure they'd grab more of the media's attention."
Midoriya wasn't sure what he had expected, but he was stunned either way. He shouldn't have been, Mei wasn't the kind to insult vigilantes just because a teacher or two told her to because 'the law says so'. Laws deserve to be questioned sometimes- not all of the time, but sometimes.
"Is that what the bag is?"
Izuku squeaked in surprise, "Er- uh, Mei- heh- what do you mean?" His voice was high now. Midoriya was a terrible liar.
Mei looked up now, a broad smile on her face as per usual, "You suck at hiding things, combat section boy! Anyways, the zipper was undone and I could see the bulletproof vest! That, and there's a baseball bat and a metal pole behind you!"
Izuku looked over and, clear as day, were the weapons he sworn he'd hid. He felt like an absolute idiot now. He slapped his palm to his forehead and groaned.
"Right... Are you mad?" Midoriya asked the question cautiously.
"Nope! Actually, this is the perfect opportunity!" Mei set the laptop down gently, patted it gently, then zoomed over to Midoriya, grabbing him by the shoulders and shaking him happily.
Midoriya felt dizzy, but more confused than anything, "Opportunity? For what?"
"Well, there are restrictions on gear for heroes! If there's even a chance it could be lethal it's thrown out. It makes sense, but even capture devices are restricted heavily. If it's a device that duals as an accessory, like a choker with a light on it, no matter how simple, it has to go through as many tests as major things like flash bombs! It's kind of scary that they don't increase the tests for bigger items that are far more dangerous than a flashlight on a necklace."
Midoriya kept up as much as he could, as Mei talked at a rapid-fire speed, "What are you saying?" Izuku asked, trying not to get his hopes up.
"I'm saying if I helped you with your gear, I could have free range over what I make!" Her face changed into a dreamy one, as if looking her dreams in the face and finally being within arms reach, "Oh! Imagine how much I could experiment! I was scared once I signed up for a hero course I'd be stopped from even trying anything cool, but this is perfect!"
Midoriya was sure he'd seen literal stars in her eyes. She started to hop around and dig through the metal again, being careful of the laptop, of course, and speed talking about all she'd experiment with.
With a soft smile at her quick acceptance, Izuku moved to help his new partner in crime search.
{1534 Words}