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Haven't been here in a while, Tenya thought as he pushed open the door to Lightly Labs. I hope she's not too busy. The room around him begged to tell him she was. Mei had always cared more about efficiency than social conduct, and the design of her lab made no attempt to counter that. Upon walking in, Tenya had been met with a mostly-open floorplan that was by no means welcoming to the average passerby. Not that it was openly hostile, of course, but the space was tailored to Mei's habits and, by default, made nearly zero sense to anyone else. Everywhere he looked, Tenya saw engineers and interns working on different projects. He knew from previous visits that this floor was where blueprints were drawn up and mock-ups built.
Beside the door where he'd come in was a desk much smaller than the ones the engineers were using, occupied only by a bubblegum-chewing teenager and her laptop. The girl wore noise-canceling headphones, despite this being the quietest floor, but she still looked up when he approached.
"Welcome to Lightly Labs, sir. How can I help you?"
Tenya bowed respectfully and lifted the case at his side. "Hello, miss. Is Hatsume here? I just need a quick favor."
"I'm sorry," the girl said. She didn't seem surprised that someone wanted to talk to Mei. "Hatsume-san is working on a big project right now and asked not to be disturbed."
Of course. Midoriya's suit. It was almost done, from what he'd heard, but he was sure Mei would be frittering about every detail until it was in Midoriya's hands. Maybe even past then. He shouldn't bother her with his suit. He could use his backup until she was done.
"Of course," Tenya said, attempting a polite smile and hoping it looked gentle and not intimidating. The girl looked confused. He let his face fall back into a straight line. "Would you be so kind as to pass along a message for me? Tell her Tenya Iida needs his costume fixed the next time she's free."
Tenya was halfway down the street when someone caught his arm. He turned to see it was the girl from Mei's lab, red-faced and panting.
"Hatsume-san says—" she took in a gasping breath— "to come on up."
Taking the elevator at Lightly Labs was truly an incredible experience. Sitting in the middle of the workshop, its tempered glass windows offered a perfect view of every floor as he ascended. Each level was dedicated to different kinds of work. Hero suits, support items, tinkering stations, testing spots, and robotics all had their own areas. With how fast the elevator was, Tenya could only catch glimpses of work here and there, but all of it enthralled him. Seeing pieces pulled out of a forge, tested for flight capabilities, fixed after a tumble—he remembered why Mei loved it so much.
Mei was at the top floor, behind a locked steel door without a window. Tenya took a deep breath and knocked.
"One second!"
The response was instantaneous. Something crashed, and he heard Mei swear. He held back a chuckle. Then the door was open, and Mei was in front of him, and his mouth went numb.
"Hey." Her grease-covered face lifted into a grin. "Been a while, Legs."
"I— Uh— Yeah—" was the best he could manage. His usual elocution always seemed to fail him when she was around. "It's good to see you, Hatsume."
Mei pulled him inside and shut the door. Immediately, the smell of metal and unbathed human hit his nose. After years of knowing Mei, this no longer surprised or bothered him.
"I told you just to call me Mei. It's way easier."
He watched as she walked back to her project—he had been right; it was Midoriya's suit, and it was on the floor. The source of the crash, perhaps?
"So!" She sat with crossed legs and flipped her goggles on. Tenya averted his eyes just in time to avoid the burst of light as she blowtorched a seam. "Whaddaya need?"
"Ah, yes." There was a desk in the corner, crammed with empty coffee cups and spare parts. He set his case on the chair. "The cooling mechanisms in my costume got overloaded today and gave out. I was wondering if you could possibly fix them. When you have the time, of course," he added, gesturing to Midoriya's suit.
"Why wouldn't I have time?" Mei was adjusting wiring in the arm now.
Tenya blinked. "Isn't this suit top-priority?"
She laughed. "Oh, definitely! It's almost done, though, and I want Melissa to check my work before we send it out, anyway. I'll just work on yours while she does that. Should be an easy fix!" She grinned again, giving him a thumbs up around the wrench in her hand.
His tongue felt numb again. Her hair, despite being tied back, was tangled. He wanted to detangle it with his fingers for her—to help, of course! Just because he knew if she let it get too tangled, she'd cut it off instead of brushing it, and he liked how her hair flowed around her shoulders—
He swallowed and shook himself. Absolutely ridiculous.
"Thank you very much." He didn't offer to comb her hair. He just bowed and met her bright smile with a polite nod. Mei's eyes remained on him as he walked back to the door. Before stepping out, he paused. "You should really take a bath." Surprise flickered across her face, but the door was already clicking shut behind him. Heat rose past his collar and into his cheeks. Why had he said it like that? Why had he said it at all? He knew she probably wouldn't care, but that had been rude, right?
~
Ten years ago, Tenya had met Mei for the first time outside the support course classroom. Not very long after, she had tricked him into being a walking advertisement for her gadgets during the Sports Festival, something he had resented her for at the time.
She'd been so high above him, even then.
He wished he'd been more willing to set aside their differences and accept her apology sooner. Instead. . . .
"Hey, Legs!" Mei ran up to him, stained as usual with grease and oil, and holding a box much too big for her. "I've got this new prototype, figured you might wanna—"
He lifted a hand. "No, Hatsume, I'd rather not be your billboard again."
"Wow, Iida! Harsh!" Uraraka fidgeted with her backpack straps beside him. She, Midoriya, and Tenya had been walking out of the school together when Mei ambushed them.
Mei didn't waver. In fact, her grin widened and she raised the box even higher.
"You'll change your mind when you see this bad boy! My baby's got everything you—"
"Again, I must decline." He adjusted his glasses. Could she really not see his distaste for her? "I'd prefer it if you didn't come to me with these things in the future."
"Aww, but—"
He didn't stick around to listen. After a moment's hesitation, Midoriya and Uraraka ran to catch up with him.
"You still haven't gotten over what happened at the Sports Festival, huh?" Midoriya asked.
"Hatsume undermined my integrity and made me a laughingstock for her own gain. I was completely embarrassed."
"That's true, but hasn't she apologized?" Uraraka leaned forward as they walked, tilting around to keep eye contact with the resolute Tenya.
"A girl like her doesn't change," he said staunchly. "She can't even remember my name!"
~
Tenya's phone buzzed on the counter. A call from Mei; was she already done with his suit? It had hardly been a day! He dried his hands on a dishtowel and picked up the phone. Her face beamed up at him from the screen. He didn't answer.
"You should really take a bath."
The phone kept buzzing while he finished the breakfast dishes. He'd wear his backup suit today. He didn't have time to pick up his real one before patrol.
At least, that's what he told himself.
All day, his phone stayed at his agency while he patrolled the streets in an old suit. Tensei was by his side, helping just like he had when he was the agency's lead hero. They had just delivered a lost child back home when Tensei spoke up.
"What's on your mind, Tenya?"
"Is it that obvious?" He smiled ruefully at his brother.
"It is when I've known you for almost twenty-five years. What's going on, little brother?"
Tenya sighed. The sky above them was a brilliant blue. Nearby, several children laughed and played in a park. Warm spring air danced around them, tossing tree branches in a gentle dance. Between cracks in the sidewalk were tiny pink flowers poking their petals through. Flowers the color of. . . .
"Tenya?"
Tenya looked at his brother. "Sorry, but . . . I'm not sure," he said, smiling and laughing a little. "I'm just a little distracted, I suppose. I'll be fine." His stomach curled as he remembered Mei's phone calls and what he'd said to her just the day before. How could he talk to her now? How could he not?
Tensei nodded. "Alright," he said. "But if you figure it out, let me know. I'm here for you."
Tenya had thirteen missed calls from Mei by the time her got home and checked his phone. It was late now—too late to pay her a visit. Surely Lightly Labs would be closed, anyway. He could go tomorrow.
He did not go tomorrow.
Mei didn't call him, either, except for once in the morning. He'd felt a surge of anxiety when her name popped up on the screen, and left his phone at home.
When he got back, his phone was silent on the counter. He took a cold shower, and thought about avoiding Mei. The water couldn't get cold enough.
~
Tenya's suit had been broken back then, too, in the fight with Midoriya. He'd had to go to Mei to get it fixed, even though he still hadn't liked her.
"Geez, what'd you do to it?"
Tenya felt his face flush. "It's just what happens in battle! Can you fix it or not?"
"Pshaw, of course I can fix it. I'll get it back to you in two days, tops."
He turned to leave without saying anything else, teeth grinding together too tightly to be split apart even for a 'thank you.'
"It's cool if I make some modifications, right? I've had my eye on this suit for a while now!"
"What?" Why was she smiling at him like that? "Just— just fix it! Please!" Somehow, he managed not to use his Quirk in his hasty escape.
True to her word, Mei had him come get his suit only two days later. She hadn't changed too much, thankfully; just made it more aerodynamic and improved the cooling system.
"Ta-da! Isn't it cool? Don't you just totally love it?"
"It will suffice," he said, packing it into its case. "Thank you, Hatsume."
"No sweat, Legs! And hey, you can just call me Mei, you know!"
"I will when you remember my name." He straightened and adjusted his glasses. Without warning, she was in his space grinning like a madwoman.
"Come back if you have any more issues, 'kay?"
Even back then, his heart had flipped traitorously at the way she smiled at him. When he tested out his costume, he knew with sinking certainty that he'd never go to another mechanic.
~
It was late. No one else was in the lab. Mei sat alone, working on the suit for Midoriya. By all accounts, the thing was done. Even Melissa said so. They just needed Bakugou to do one more round of testing, and it would be good to go.
She kept working on it, changing nothing but tinkering all the same.
Mei hated texting. She was bad enough at reading people without an extra layer of obfuscation. But Tenya wasn't picking up his phone, so. . . . She sighed and sent, 'Suit's ready. I'm at the lab if you want to pick it up tonight.'
A minute passed.
Five. The sky was so dark.
'O.K.'
Her stomach flipped. She'd get to see him again soon, and—
And what? He'd been dodging her calls. Even if she wasn't good at reading people, that was a pretty clear sign.
For the first time ever, thinking about Tenya Iida made Mei . . . sad. He'd never made her sad before, even before they were friends. Even in the years where they'd hardly spoken, she'd never been sad. But now—after what he'd said, after the days of being ignored—now she didn't know what else to feel. Nothing—and especially no one— made her feel like this.
Her phone buzzed with a text from him, and her heart leapt into her throat.
'Be there soon.'
Her phone hit the floor with a clatter. Her head was in her hands. She wasn't crying, but god did she want to. He shouldn't make her feel like this. Not anymore. She didn't even know what this was. All she knew was she'd missed being around him, and it hurt that he didn't seem to miss her.
~
In their third year at U.A., Tenya had started dating someone. He might have brought whoever it was by the workshop once or twice, but Mei didn't remember what they had looked like. Name, face, gender—it had all slipped past her. She hadn't even looked at them. Like she hadn't wanted to see him with. . . .
Mei was working alone. Tenya hadn't come in to visit her in a while. He'd been hanging around, asking about her projects and watching as she tinkered. It was kind of surprising to realize she missed that. She wasn't bothered, not really, but there was this strange . . . expectation she had for him to walk in and start listening to her yap about why she was using a certain metal or how she was grounding the wires for a project. It was a small absence, but one that gnawed at her until it felt huge.
Those two months were lonely. Not that she'd ever admit it. Mei Hatsume didn't need other people. She hardly needed to be a person, herself. She just needed her robots, her inventions, her babies. That was all she needed.
Until Tenya walked in, and then she needed him again. For her work, of course. Talking things out to him made double-checking everything easier, and his stupid—sorry, naive—questions sometimes made her look at things from an outside perspective. That helped. Improved the overall quality of her work, even.
"—and I broke up," Tenya was saying when she tuned in.
"Sorry to hear that," she said, even though his face hadn't been pulled down even a little and she wasn't sorry in the slightest.
"It's alright."
They both sat at her workbench, her huddled over the shell of a new support item, him leaning over her shoulder to get a look.
"So what are you working on?"
And just like that, it was as if nothing had changed.
~
Tenya opened the door. She'd left it unlocked for him. She glanced up when he entered. His hair was wet, like he'd just showered. She looked back down.
"Hello, Hatsume." He stopped across the desk from her. She lifted one hand from the glove of Midoriya's suit and pushed Tenya's case over to him. "Thank you." He didn't move to take it.
"Mm-hmm."
He was quiet. Neither of them spoke, but he didn't turn to leave. Mei's heart was going too fast. She wasn't looking at him, but she could feel him looking at her.
"What is it, Iida?" She thought she might hurl.
"I . . . I apologize." His voice sounded rough somehow, like he was struggling to get the words out. "For what I said the other day. I wasn't thinking."
"It's fine. I did need to shower." She focused very hard on turning and unturning a screw without stripping it. Her goggles were smudged. She needed to clean them, but that would mean taking them off. That would mean looking away from the glove. She couldn't look away from the glove, or she might—
"Look at me."
She froze.
"Please, Mei. I want to see your eyes."
Slowly, she looked up.
His fingers, so rough and calloused from years of training, were gentle when they lifted her goggles off her head. Then her goggles were on the desk. She could feel his pulse through the pads of his fingers when they touched her cheek. His eyes met hers, and for just a moment . . . widened.
"Oh."
"What?"
She had barely gotten the word out before he was kissing her, and she was kissing him back without even thinking about it. So this was why his absence bothered her, why his silence felt like drowning. This was why she couldn't stand being away from him, and why being close was worse. They were just two idiots taking too long to fall in love.
"Tenya—"
"I know."
Somehow, he ended up on her desk. She wasn't sure how he'd gotten there; he was much too big, but she didn't care. She straddled his waist, hands in his hair, and kissed him. His glasses were halfway up his forehead. Something fell from the desk—his case? Midoriya's glove? She'd fix it later—when he reached up to move them.
"Mmph— Mei— My glasses."
She pulled back long enough for him to toss them aside and for them both to take in huge gulps of air. Then she was on him again, with his hands on her hips. He tasted like heaven.
Thank god I took a shower.