Chapter 16: Part 16
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***
The excited girl walked over and stood exactly in front of me and looked at my face.
- It's you, isn't it?
I tilted my head to my shoulder doubtfully.
- Well, I'm me, but what 'You', you mean?
She blinked, and her look became puzzled. And she has beautiful eyes, you can see a kind of sight in them, even though the eyes themselves are yellow in colour. She is tall, almost as tall as I am, and I have stretched out and am now almost a metre tall! And this is despite the fact that in present-day Japan the average height for a man is one metre seventy-two. Pink hair, slightly unkempt and shoulder-length....
- You're the Izuku Midoriya who created and patented the nanobot technology, right?
- Yes.
- Cool!
Her face was too close to mine and Tsuyu thought the same, as she quickly got behind the girl and placed her palm on her mouth, pulling her face away from mine.
- You're too close to my boyfriend. Okay still getting my permission but so brazenly, in front of me.....
- Э?!
The girl took a couple of steps back and shifted her gaze to Tsuyu in surprise.
- You, what are you talking about?
- Don't pretend...
- Eh... you can't even make a joke anymore.
She sighed.
- ''My name is Mei Hatsume, I'm a student of class 1-H, Support Faculty. What brings you here?
She glanced first at Tsuyu and then at me, and only at the very end at Momo.
- Well, I and Tsuyu actually don't need anything.....
I shrugged my shoulders.
- We came here just to see. Whether it's worth spending time here, or if the lab at home would be more preferable.
- And how?
I looked around disappointedly.
- It's... poor....
May looked at me with an extremely surprised look.
- Not that I had much more equipment at home, rather less, but instead of the same lathes, milling machines, and other machines....
I nod towards the machines I was talking about.
- ...I have a small universal CNC machine. Of course, I can't make something global like on these machines, but it will be enough to service suits. Although I must admit that I haven't switched it on for about a year, like other machines.
- You haven't?
- Yeah. Nanites are everything. All machining and assembly is now done by a colony of nanites. All I need is material and a programme of drawings. Then the nanites will do it all themselves.
- Listen.
Momo came to me.
- Can you make a suit for me?
- The same...
I nodded at my bracelet.
- Well... I don't know...
She shrugged.
- ...if we agree on a price....
I looked at her thoughtfully.
- On the whole, I'm okay with it.
- Hey! What's the point of a support faculty?! Let me do it for you.
- You'll make me a nanite costume?
Momo looked at the girl with interest, and she looked away embarrassed.
- Well... no... the technology is complex and we still have a couple of years of investment to make the first versions of nanites. Simply because we can't do it with the equipment we had before.
- Well, Izuku can do it.
- Well...
Mei pouted.
- That's not fair! Who am I going to make babies for?!
- Pfft! Babies? You call your creations babies?
- Yeah...
Mei looked at Tsuyu confusedly.
I sighed.
- ''Tsuyu, don't push it. Everyone has their own weirdnesses...
- Like what?
She threw a glance at me.
- Well, for example, I start making jokes out of excitement... and not always successfully and not always within the confines of the joke. She--
Nodding at May.
- ...calls her creations babies, while you, in particularly emotional moments, begin to quack, conveying the full range of your feelings.
Tsuyu gave me an embarrassed, slightly displeased look.
- What are we here for... will you give us a tour?
I shifted my gaze to Mei.
- Aha!
Well...
What can I say?
I jumped to conclusions. As it turned out, the room we entered was a sort of training room for the newbies. So they could get a feel for making hero gear. In other rooms there were 3D printers, CNC machines, and what not! Optical, electronic, X-ray microscopes! Welding machines!
- You know.
I leaned against the wall and looked at May thoughtfully.
- ...I had jumped to conclusions. Yuei has amazing facilities for the development and production of hero outfits.
- Yes!
Mei was glowing with happiness at that assessment.
- And I think I'm going to come here often, because making little things with nanites is like hammering nails with a microscope.
- I'm glad you realise that. But in order for you to be here, or rather to be allowed to work on the equipment here, you need access. It's written on your academy grounds pass and issued by your mentor, Earthworks Hero: The Loader.
- How do I find him?
- He should be here soon, he had a couple of second-year students.
I nodded understandingly and made my way to the waiting area. In which the girls and I waited for the hero. I spent most of the waiting time talking to May, and she was an interesting enough person to talk to. She knew a lot, knew how to do a lot, aspired to more than she had now.
- So...
The loader sat down across from me.
- I'd like to be authorised to work in the development department. I'm willing to take on the maintenance of not only my suit and Tsuyu's suit, but Momo's suit as well.
I was given an attentive look.
- Just them?
I shrugged my shoulders.
- I need time for my training as well, and I also continue to study.
- Well...
The loader shrugged.
- I don't mind... a lot of people know about you in scientific circles, so I don't doubt your knowledge. Neither do I doubt your skills... but you wouldn't refuse to help me if anything, would you?
- Of course not. Not to my own detriment, but if I have the time and opportunity, I'll help, I'll give you a hint...
- All right. Give me your pass.
I gave my pass to the hero and he reached his computer and quickly entered me into the database, thus allowing me to work with complex equipment.
- What do you think you should do first?
I shrugged.
- For starters... Momo wants to buy a suit like mine and Tsuyu's, so I'll have to do the math and give her an estimate. Let her think about whether she needs it or not.
The hero nodded.
- And while she thinks about it, I'll take care of auxiliary equipment for myself and Tsuyu. There's a lot to do, and time is short....
- Not enough?
- There's never enough time. How much time do I have left until the end of my training? Three years? In that time, I need to finalise the style I started with the Cats. I've got to work on my tricks, refine them and then work on them again, so that I'm ready for graduation. And not just me, but Tsuyu as well. The loader nodded his head again.
- Need any help? Maybe we already have the equipment you need?
I looked at my interlocutor thoughtfully.
- We need electric shocks, but not the usual ones.....
- Hmm?
- Bracelets, but they should transmit the charge to special pads on the fingertips, as well as be able to shoot darts... We also need a few knives, and it is better to build claws into the same wristbands.
I scratched my cheek thoughtfully.
- I also need a means of travelling fast. Spiderwebs are nice, and flying on them is awesome, but I need something more....
- Fast?
- Yeah...
I sighed.
- Something like a surfboard, but with engines to take off and fly through the air quickly without interfering with traffic or causing accidents.
- Well...
The loader scratched his cheek.
- May?
- I'll do it!
- You don't mind, do you?
Now he looked at me.
- Of course not! I'll tell you more, if I'm satisfied with her work, I may well supply the academy with some of my designs in ready-made form... polymers... alloys... medicinal compositions... nanites programmed to heal....
- This...
The loader clenched his fists in excitement.
- ...with such possible gifts, it's no shame for me to take on your requests.
- No! I'll do it! You've already given them to me!
I grinned.
- Master, give her a chance...it's not like anyone's chasing you away...just keep an eye on her and give her some guidance....
He grinned.
- Yes, you're right... of course getting what you described would be great, but it's more important to make Mei into an expert.
- Shall we make a list of what I, Tsuyu and Momo need?
- Aha!
Mei was extremely excited, and when I discussed our needs with her, I realised that I wouldn't have to take care of the equipment myself. Mei's going to go out on a limb to get the right to service our suits and equipment. And if the suits don't have to be serviced, the equipment will...
As I left the sanctum sanctorum I realised that if I ever decided to start my own agency, May would definitely be in it....
Definitely.
Better yet, I'll find an agency I can join that I can drag Tsuyu and Mei into. Yeah, that would be better...
And Momo.
Well, if she wants to come with us, I definitely won't chase her, but I won't insist or make cunning plans either.
Yes...
It's decided...
I grinned and went home.
*** In the principal's office. ***
- И? What are you doing here?
Nezu looked at his former student with disapproval.
'Hrum-hrum-hrum-hrum.'
The carrot the girl was chewing in three bites literally disappeared and after a few more seconds was chewed and swallowed.
- I want to be a teacher.
- No.
- Why not?
One ear of the girl ducked her head slightly.
- You're not cut out for that job. You don't know how to hold back at all...
- So what?
- You don't get it, do you? You're a tough guy to stand up to, and these students...
- Please...
The girl tried to make as pleading a face as possible, still completely unaware of how soon her life would change.