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Being taught by Hatsume, although stressful at times and resulting in the destruction of many outfits, was totally worth it.
Midoriya glanced at her fondly, infinitely thankful for her parents for bringing her into the world, then rushed forwards to stop her from accidently creating nitrous oxide.
She cackled gleefully.
“Thanks, Izuku. I really need to enlarge the label size on this.” She laughed.
Midoriya, however, had the perfect thing.
“Well, about that..” He sent her a shy smile and reached into his backpack.
“Once I explained to Inko what it was for, she was more than happy to give me the money for it,” He explained, pulling out a large label maker.
“I know how your farsightedness can get on your nerves, so I made sure it had a large print.”
Hatsume teared up slightly.
“Izuku..” She trailed off, and it was the only warning Midoriya got before she tackle-hugged him.
He landed on the floor with an ‘oof.’ and giggled as she attempted to crush his ribs.
They stayed like that for a while.
“Hatsumei,” Midoriya spoke up.
“Hatsumei, the project.” He warned, looking up at the unstable pile of metal that loomed ominously above them, tilting in a way that held the middle finger up to gravity.
Thankfully, the pair managed to move before an embarrassing and untimely death.
Midoriya brushed himself off.
“I’m glad you like it.”
“Like it?” Hatsume asked, incredulously,
“I would literally tear down the hero comission for you, platonically, though.”
“I might take you up on that offer some time.” Midoriya contemplated.
“Anyway!” The girl clapped her hands.
“How is your support gear going?”
Midoriya pulled out several contraptions.
“The reinforced knife is great, and I think the elbow and knee guards are cool, but I think I might need some steel capped shoes, just in case.”
Hatsume nodded thoughtfully.
“From what we know about the heroics exam, gloves are probably needed too. What do you have planned for the support course exam?”
Midoriya smirked slyly.
“That’s for me to know and you to find out.”
She shoved him playfully.
“You have to tell me eventually.”
“Don’t worry, I will.” He promised.
The school looked daunting. Seeing as Midoriya was attempting to take three exams in one day, it was hardly surprising.
Nezu had offered to spread them out but Midoriya always was one for a challenge.
Taking a deep breath, he made his way in.
First up was the general education exam. He supposed that was because the heroics was more likely to result in injury, which would stop some people from taking both.
His seat was in the back right corner; no doubt a move from Nezu to make him more comfortable. It was nice to know that he had one hero on his side.
The test itself was pretty simple, though that was most likely a result of studying instead of hanging out with his (then) non-existent friends. There were a few topics he struggled with, it was to be expected from the most prestigious school in Japan.
He finished with half an hour to spare, resting his head on the desk in the vague hopes of relaxing before the next two exams.
He faded in and out of sleep for the remaining time and left the room with his hair in a bigger mess and a red mark across his face from where he rested his head.
A glance at his watch told him that Hatsume would be there in roughly ten minutes and honestly, he couldn’t wait.
For the past five months he’d been planning his surprise for her.
When quirks came in, almost all research into space and medical issues was put on hold as there was a much larger issue at hand. Although there was biological research into quirks, especially mutant types, things created for disabled people like hearing aids, glasses and wheelchairs were left alone.
Midoriya was pissed off when he first learned of that fact, he still was. Hatsume was unable to wear glasses because they were so fragile, not to mention how they blocked her quirk.
The support course exam was incredibly important to him as he could finally reveal what he’d been working on.
He smiled and headed towards the school gate to wait for his friend.
His second exam of the day was in five minutes, and Midoriya would be bouncing off the walls if it weren’t for Hatsume’s calming presence to his left. Nezu had messaged him wishing him luck, although the principal had said he wouldn’t need it.
In return, Midoriya had sent back several cat images which resulted in Nezu sending him money, which he reluctantly accepted.
A voice called them into the testing room one at a time, in alphabetical order.
As Hatsume walked into the unknown, she sent him a grin over her shoulder, mouthing ‘Give them hell’ before the door shut behind her.
A writhing ball of anxiety grew inside his chest, practically exploding into little fragments of fear embedding in his very being as his own name was called.
Placing one foot in front of the other, he imagined that his feeling wasn’t dissimilar to those of the contestants in the hunger games.
He rubbed his hands on his trousers, attempting to get the sweat off of them. He took deep breaths and stepped inside.
There was a panel of teachers; Power Loader, Present Mic, Vlad King and Eraserhead.
The familiarity he was reassured by from seeing them was quickly washed away by the alienating feeling of seeing them in person.
His eyes began to wander as his throat closed up. There was a slight movement in the corner of his vision, right by the vent. He blinked and looked closer. Sure enough, the principal was hiding inside the metal tubes, giving him a calm thumbs up.
He smiled, and felt a blanket of calm cover him.
He could do this.
“H-hello, my name is Midoriya Izuku and today I’ll be presenting my work."
He pulled the box containing his project out of his pocket.
“Since quirks first developed, most things like glasses and hearing aids were pretty much left alone, which means that a lot of people having the skill and potential to be heroes can’t due to poor eyesight and hearing.
It’s well known that being a hero is dangerous, which means that most glasses are a hindrance due to how fragile they are. Contact lenses are an option, but the price can add up quickly.
This is why I created my own type of contact lenses. These ones here are meant for short sighted people, but I’ve also developed some for the long sighted as well.
The idea is that they copy the user’s biological structure and replicate the DNA which results in it becoming like a second, correction lens. It fuses with the original and doesn’t need to be replaced.
They are removable in emergency situations, but the point of them is that they’re permanent.
I know that Eraserhead-San,” He nodded at the mentioned hero.
“Is actually long sighted, so if you feel comfortable, sir? We can remove them afterwards if you would like.”
The hero looked hesitant until a notification came through on his phone (Midoriya suspected it was from Nezu) , most likely confirming that it was safe.
He stood up and accepted the box.
Inside were what looked like regular contact lenses.
Midoriya looked away as Eraserhead’s usual contacts were switched with his own.
The teacher blinked a couple of times to correctly fit the lenses.
“They’re more comfortable than normal contacts, and my vision seems clearer.” He reported.
“I also made sure that quirks related to the eyes are able to work through them, you can try it out, sir.”
Following his instructions, the hero activated Eraser, aiming it at Power Loader. His eyes lit up red and his hair began to float, as normal.
Midoriya looked back at the other judges.
“Any questions?”
“Why do you think that this was something you wanted to make?”
Midoriya blinked; in all honesty, he’d been expecting to be degraded for the simple idea.
“My friend, Hatsume, is long sighted. She’s also decided to go for support, but she often mixes up chemicals due to her bad vision which results in explosions.
She can’t really wear glasses because they’d break too easily and she’d forget to take her normal contacts out. I suppose you could say this is a surprise present for her.” He explained, rubbing the back of his neck bashfully.
Present Mic wiped a tear from his eye. (Although Midoriya could swear the action was only for dramatics)
“How are medical professionals supposed to tell the difference between a normal lens and your artificial ones?” Power Loader quearied.
“Well,” Midoriya began, “Although I designed these to replicate the wearer’s DNA, there is a biological barcode which is used for identification purposes.”
Midoriya leaned against the wall, exhaling gently.
“So, how’d it go?” Hatsume asked, leaning into his personal space.
He smiled weakly.
“It went.”
He reached into his pocket, pulling out the box containing the long-sighted lenses.
“Got a gift for you.” He said, chucking the container at her.
She caught it with practiced ease, opening it and gasping.
“No way!” Her jaw dropped.
“Designed so you don’t have to take them out, chameleon DNA.”
She squealed and hugged him tightly.
Squawking in surprise, he attempted to peel her off.
“I’ve still got the heroics exam to do! Please try not to break my ribs before the robots can!”
He felt a wet patch begin to form on his shoulder.
“Hatsumei..”
“Thank you! Thank you! Thank you so much!” She cried.
Midoriya patted her back awkwardly.
He heard the sound of a vent opening and looked up just in time to see Nezu jump down next to the pair.
“I must say, Midoriya-Kun, you fully surpassed my hopes for you, and you must be the lovely Hatsume I’ve heard about.” He addressed the (Unfortunately still crying) girl with a paw held out.
She wiped her eyes on Midoriya’s jumper and shook the offered paw.
“You must be the Rat Overlord that he curses constantly.”
“I must say, I’m touched that you see me like that.” The chimera preened slightly, brushing invisible dust from his suit.
“I really do despise the idea of breaking up this scene, but the heroics exam is starting in five minutes.” He gently led Hatsume away by the hand as they said their farewells.
The written part of the exam was easy enough, although Midoriya could say with definite certainty that if his hand was sentient it would shoot him in the head for the sheer amount of writing he’d subjected it to over the course of the day.
He was sitting in the hall waiting for the explanation for the physical part of the exam to bestow completely unknown knowledge that he most certainly hadn’t found out a few weeks prior into his mortal mind.
He was practically buzzing, his blood humming in his veins; undoubtedly a result of the concerning amount of energy drinks he’d chugged to avoid keeling over in the middle of the test.
Hopped up on enough caffeine to kill several horses, he was practically the living embodiment of Tangela, a writhing ball of things.
He was vibrating out of his seat by the time they were allowed to prepare. Armed with a reinforced knife and minor low-level armour, he was as prepared as he could be.
Springing on his feet, he waited for the physical to begin.
The second he heard Present Mic shout, he was off, metaphorically bouncing off of the walls as he beat the everloving shit out of poor, undeserving robots that could’ve had robot children and robot wives.
His knife tore through cables like a hot knife through butter. Midoriya was like a hurricane of hyperactive destruction; he’d lost track of points long ago yet he couldn’t find it within himself to care.
He finally managed to stop, gasping for breath as his heart attempting to escape its mortal vessel, beating so hard he was physically shaking.
There was a buzzing sound and it took Midoriya a second to realise it wasn’t in his head. A glance to his left revealed the dreaded zero pointer.
What caught his attention, however, was a girl trapped under a small pile of rocks, far too close to the metal beast.
Using what little remained of his caffeine induced energy, he sped towards her, pulling the rocks off of her before helping her up and leading her away.
“You good?” He asked, panting heavily, nearly doubled over in exhaustion.
“Y-yeah, thanks for the save.” She responded, quietly gasping for breath.
A loud buzzer sounded, indicating the end of the exam.
“I think I’m about to lose,” Midoriya began.
“What?”
“Consciousness.” He responded, promptly passing out.