Chapter Text
During a party, Hatsume had drifted off to some of her classmates. They started to tease her about hanging out with that Tenya kid so often. She often dismissed it as her using him as her ‘test subject’ for her babies.
”Are you sure?” Kuta snickered as she teased the pink-haired inventor.
”I mean, I don’t think she likes him.” Reiko shrugged. “She calls him Recipro! That’s not even his hero name.”
Hatsume stared at the two with a slightly stunned expression. “Wait, WHAT?!.”
Kuta and Reiko stared Hatsume with equally stunned faces before bursting into laughter. “Are you serious?! You thought his hero name was Recipro the whole time?! How did you get away with this?!”
Hatsume buried her face in her hands. “I feel so stupid! This whole time I was calling him that and using him to test out my lovely babies!” She wailed loudly.
Kuta cackled. “You definitely need to go apologise now!”
Hatsume didn’t even need to hear Kuta say that. She had darted out like a bolt of lightning.
///
Hatsume wove through the crowd of students before spotting Tenya near the doorway. She gasped loudly and sprinted right towards the blue-haired student.
”Iida!” Hatsume yelled over the music as she skidded to a holt.
”Eh? Mei?” Tenya raised an eyebrow as he turned around. He was right at the exit door for the hall.
Hatsume gave one big bow. “My deepest apologies! I only realised I had been calling you Recipro all this time without knowing your real hero name! It is even worse that I used you as my tester for all my babies!”
Tenya was quick to chuckle. “No need to apologise Mei! I always thought you called me Recipro as a nickname!”
Hatsume looked up from her bow and immediately turned red from embarrassment. “Oh my goodness! That makes it even worse!”
Tenya waved a hand around to assure the pink-haired girl. “No worries Hatsume! Though I do wonder, how did you get away with not knowing my hero name for so long?”
”Ah-.” Hatsume stared at Tenya blankly. “I-… I DON’T KNOW!” She brought her hands up to her face with her eyes wide.
Tenya patted Hatsume’s shoulder with a wide grin. “Don’t worry! Recipro isn’t a bad nickname now that I think about it.”
Hatsume gave a small gasp before a wide smile grew on her face. “Whaaa! Then I’ll call ya Recipro still if you’re good with that! And you’ll still be able to get pro-made babies from me!”
Tenya gave a small grin. “That’s great to hear Hatsume!”
Hatsume didn’t know if it was the lighting outside or the fact that Tenya looked so soft right now, but something about the way Tenya said that made Hatsume flustered even more. “Whaaa! I better leave now!” Before she sprinted off, she shouted back to Tenya. “Oh yea! Your hero-gear can be tested on tomorrow!”
Tenya chuckled. “Right!”
///
On his way to the Support Department, Tenya couldn’t help but think about his friendship with Hatsume. He often wondered if it could be more. He had been visiting the Support Department more that usual since his hero-suit had been taking a lot of hits and malfunctions. That gave his the chance to chat with Hatsume, and she was surprisingly a nice girl to talk to (minus that one Sports Festival. Tenya was still annoyed about that).
But he wasn’t one for romance, right? And why should he bother for chasing girls? That was unprofessional for him! He sighed as he opened the door to the Support Department, time to shove those thoughts for another day he supposed.
”Mei Hatsume?” He called out as he peered into the room.
”Tenya! Right on time as usual!” Mei exclaimed with a grin, wiping her forehead. “Best time too! I just finished these braces!”
Tenya raised an eyebrow as he sat his bag on one of the empty workbenches. “What’s it this time?”
Hatsume giggled as she brought a finger to his lips. “Not tellin’! Just wear em on ya legs!”
Tenya gave her a skeptical look. “You did test them to make sure it doesn’t explode right?”
”Oh yea yea yea!” Hatsume waved her hand around, almost trying to brush it off.
Tenya chuckled before sliding the braces in his legs. After jogging in place and stretching with it on, he gave a thumbs up. “Nice brace! But does it do anything else?”
”Totally! My babies aren’t that boring!” Hatsume cackled loudly. “Check the switch on the bottom!” Tenya felt down on the braces and indeed felt a switch on the bottom. “When you flip that, the braces will compress on your calves and stick on the energy! That way when your engines die out from overuse, the braces can basically super charge it back to usage It also helps make your hero-suit less bulky since you can wear this with or without your hero-suit leg gear!”
Tenya gasped as he heard that. “That’s great!” He did his signature arm chopping motion as it seemed like he remembered something. “Mind if I use it during the next Hero Training?”
”Of course!” Hatsume grinned in delight. “Great way to test out my baby! I’m already planning on making multiple versions of that bad baby for other Quirks similar to yours!”
Tenya gave a sharp bow. “Right!”
Hatsume giggled maniacally. She loved her babies, that was basically all she loved to do. She had so many ideas bursting at the seams and she never had enough daylight to work. “You better leave! It’s getting late, even for you!”
Tenya scratched the back of his neck as he looked out. “Right! I’ll report back to you by nine pm tomorrow! You better go back to your dorm soon too.”
Hatsume nodded as she watched the blue-haired student leave. She glanced over to her work bench. Nah, she had plenty extra time to craft a couple more babies! She was quick to go to her work bench and start crafting when she heard a door open. Her head shot up to see Tenya awkwardly shuffle in for his bag.
”Hatsume! I insist you go back to your dorm! It is not good for you not to sleep you know?!” Tenya exclaimed as he chopped his arms up and down. “If you want, I can walk with you if you want! Just go to bed!”
Hatsume waved her hand around. “Oh no no! I do this on the daily! No need to worry about me, I leave late anyways!” She really wanted to work on her babies! They were her pride and joy and she basically had too many ideas to go to sleep anyways.
Tenya nodded, an odd look on his face that Hatsume brushed off. “Great, then I’ll see you tomorrow!”
///
Tenya walked back to the dorms, once again deep in his own thoughts. What was he trying to do? Was he trying to ask Hatsume out?! What on earth did he even want out of that? He knew Hatsume was too stubborn to be forced to leave her workbench and he knew that too.
”Tenya!” Sero called out from behind him. The blue haired student turned around with a stunned look. “Wow! I wouldn’t have imagined seeing the Class Representative out this late! Were you with that Hatsume girl again?” Sero wiggled his eyebrows with a snarky smirk.
Tenya chopped his arm up and down. “What are you implying Sero Hanta?!”
Sero cackled loudly and gave Tenya a good pat on the back. “Chill out my guy! Unless you really were, then that would be something!”
Tenya gave an annoyed look as he glanced off to the side with his face gone red. Sero gave a confused look before gasping loudly. “No way you- do you like-.”
”Hush!” Tenya hissed. “No need to shout it out loud for the whole school to hear! And besides, I’m not here to chase for girls. I’m here to become a hero.”
Sero snickered. “Goodness! So up tight!”
Tenya shook his head. “Even if I were to like her, I doubt she likes me back.”
Sero shrugged. “Don’t knock it till you try it.”
The two approached the door to the dorms. The class representative looked at Sero nervously. “Please don’t tell anyone about this.”
Sero gave a nod with a thumbs up before the two entered.