Work Text:
The support course workshop was louder than usual.
Metal clanged against metal.
Power tools whirred.
Someone shouted,
"Incoming!"
A second later...
BOOM!
A cloud of purple smoke drifted lazily out of one of the testing bays.
Power Loader didn't even look up from his clipboard.
"...Hatsume."
"I'm okay!"
Mei's cheerful voice echoed through the workshop.
"It only exploded a little!"
Power Loader sighed.
"...Progress."
Izuku stepped carefully through the workshop carrying a small box under one arm.
He'd promised Iida he'd return a borrowed wrench.
Apparently… that meant venturing into the wonderfully chaotic world of the Support Course.
"...Excuse me?"
He carefully sidestepped a robot leg.
Then a drone.
Then something he was reasonably sure had been on fire five seconds ago.
Finally… he spotted Mei.
She was lying upside down beneath a workbench.
Only her boots were visible.
"...Hatsume?"
"Mhm?"
"...Are you..."
"...Busy."
"You don't sound busy."
"I am."
There was a loud metallic clang.
"...Ow."
"You also don't sound comfortable."
"I'm making adjustments."
A few moments later, Mei rolled out from beneath the bench.
Her goggles were crooked.
There was grease on one cheek.
Her hair looked as though it'd recently argued with electricity.
She beamed.
"Deku!"
"What brings you to my glorious laboratory?"
"I was returning this."
He held up the wrench.
"Oh."
She took it.
Immediately forgot it was in her hand.
And wandered back toward the half-finished machine.
"...Perfect."
Izuku watched quietly.
Five minutes passed.
Then ten.
Mei never stopped moving.
Tighten. Test. Adjust. Scribble notes. Repeat.
Eventually...
His stomach growled.
Rather loudly.
Mei didn't react.
She hadn't even noticed.
He glanced at the clock.
"...It's nearly one."
"Mhm."
"...Lunch?"
"Mhm."
"...Aren't you going?"
"No."
She was already halfway inside another machine.
"No time."
Power Loader walked past carrying another toolbox.
Without slowing down, he said,
"She hasn't eaten."
Izuku looked over.
"...Since breakfast?"
Power Loader snorted.
"Yesterday's."
"...Yesterday?!"
"Mhm."
"She forgets."
"Frequently."
Izuku looked toward Mei.
She was happily humming to herself while tightening another bolt.
Completely unaware of the conversation.
"...Doesn't someone remind her?"
Power Loader gave him a tired smile.
"We tried."
"Timers."
"Schedules."
"Sticky notes."
"Alarms."
"She dismantled the alarms."
"...Why?"
"They interrupted her thinking."
Izuku looked thoughtful.
Then toward the vending machines at the end of the corridor.
"...I'll be back."
Seven minutes later...
He returned carrying a sandwich.
A bottle of water.
And an apple.
He placed them gently on Mei's workbench.
She glanced over.
"...What's that?"
"Lunch."
"I didn't order lunch."
"I know."
She blinked.
"...Why is it here?"
Izuku smiled.
"...Because you should probably eat something."
Mei looked at the food.
Then at the half-finished invention.
Then back at the food.
"...Hmm."
She picked up the sandwich absentmindedly.
Still reading her notes.
Still thinking about gear ratios.
Without even realizing...
She took a bite.
Chewed.
Swallowed.
Then another.
Izuku smiled to himself.
It was working.
Five minutes later...
The sandwich had disappeared.
The apple was gone.
Half the water bottle was empty.
Mei suddenly looked around in confusion.
"...Huh."
Izuku looked up from where he'd been quietly reading one of his hero analysis books.
"...Everything okay?"
"...Where'd my lunch go?"
He stared.
"...You ate it."
She blinked.
"...Did I?"
"Mhm."
"...When?"
He laughed.
"While calculating torque."
She thought about it.
Then shrugged.
"...Neat."
She immediately picked up her wrench again.
"Thanks, Deku!"
"For what?"
"The fuel."
And just like that...
She was back to inventing.
Izuku couldn't help smiling.
Maybe...
Tomorrow...
He'd bring two sandwiches.
The next day...
Izuku arrived at the Support Course workshop at twelve fifty-five.
This time...
He was carrying two sandwiches.
Power Loader noticed immediately.
"...You came back."
Izuku smiled sheepishly.
"I thought I'd check she remembered lunch today."
Power Loader looked toward the far corner of the workshop.
Mei was balancing on top of a workbench while attempting to tighten a bolt hanging from the ceiling.
"...Take a guess."
Izuku sighed good-naturedly.
"...Right."
He quietly walked over.
Without saying a word...
He placed the lunchbox beside her notebook.
A ham sandwich.
An apple.
A carton of juice.
And, because he'd remembered what she'd absentmindedly mentioned yesterday...
A strawberry yoghurt.
Then he walked a few steps away and sat down with his own lunch.
He didn't interrupt.
He didn't remind her.
He simply waited.
Almost exactly six minutes later...
Mei climbed down from the workbench.
She reached for a screwdriver.
Instead...
Her hand found the yoghurt.
"...Huh?"
She frowned.
She looked around the workshop.
Then spotted Izuku quietly eating his own lunch.
"...Deku?"
He looked up.
"Oh."
"Hi."
"You did it again."
"I did."
"...Why?"
He smiled.
"You forgot again."
She looked at the yoghurt.
Then at him.
"...Fair."
Without another word...
She peeled back the lid.
By Friday… the deliveries had become suspiciously consistent.
12:55. Every day. Lunch appeared. Mei ate.
Usually without realizing she'd started.
Power Loader watched the routine from across the workshop with growing
amusement.
"...Midoriya."
Izuku looked over.
"Yes?"
"I've worked with Hatsume for two years."
"Mhm."
"You're the first person who's figured out how to feed her."
Izuku blinked.
"...Really?"
Power Loader nodded.
"You never tell her to stop working."
"You never lecture her."
"You just..."
He gestured toward the lunchbox.
"...make eating part of the experiment."
Izuku thought about it.
"...I guess."
Power Loader smiled.
"...Smart."
The following Monday...
Izuku arrived at the workshop carrying the usual lunch.
He stopped.
"...Where's Hatsume?"
Power Loader looked up from a blueprint.
"Testing Ground C."
"Prototype mobility gear."
"...Should I take it over?"
"If you don't..."
He glanced at the untouched lunchbox.
"...she won't notice until dinner."
Testing Ground C echoed with the sound of explosions.
"...More power!"
Mei shouted happily.
A pair of mechanical boots launched her twenty feet into the air.
"...Too much power!"
She crash-landed in a pile of safety mats.
A thumbs-up emerged from the foam.
"I'm okay!"
Izuku laughed despite himself.
"...You always are."
She looked over.
"Deku!"
He held up the lunchbox.
"Lunch delivery."
Her face lit up.
"You brought it to me?"
"You weren't in the workshop."
"So..."
He shrugged.
"...I thought the workshop could come to you."
She grinned.
"...You're weird."
"I've been told."
They sat together on the edge of the training ground.
Mei took exactly three bites of her sandwich before pointing excitedly at the boots.
"Oh!"
"Watch this!"
She stood up.
Immediately forgetting the sandwich still in her hand.
Izuku gently took it before it could fall.
"...You've done it again."
"...Done what?"
"Forgot you were eating."
She looked down at her empty hand.
"...Oops."
He smiled.
"I'll hold it."
"You'll hand it back when I remember?"
"Mhm."
"...Perfect."
Later that afternoon...
Power Loader found Mei making notes in one of her design journals.
Between pages of calculations...
Material costs...
And engine diagrams...
He noticed something unusual.
Written in the margin was a tiny reminder.
12:55 – Lunch with Deku.
He blinked.
"...Hatsume."
She looked up.
"Hm?"
"You remembered."
She looked at the note.
Then smiled absentmindedly.
"...Oh."
"I guess I did."
Power Loader smiled to himself as he walked away.
It wasn't really about the lunch anymore.
For the first time in a very long while...
Mei had remembered to make time for someone else.
And somehow...
That seemed like an even bigger breakthrough than any invention she'd built that week.
By the third week...
12:55 had become an unspoken appointment.
Izuku never asked if Mei would be there.
She always was.
Mei never asked if Izuku was coming.
He always did.
Neither of them acknowledged the routine.
It simply… existed.
One Tuesday, Izuku rounded the corner carrying the usual lunchbox.
He stopped.
"...Hatsume?"
The workshop was empty.
Power Loader looked up from the opposite side of the room.
"Testing the grappling unit."
"Again?"
"It got stuck to the ceiling."
"...Again?"
"...Again."
Izuku laughed.
"I'll find her."
He found Mei exactly where he'd expected.
Halfway up a training tower.
Dangling upside down.
"...Need a hand?"
"Nope!"
She tugged harder on the cable.
"...Maybe!"
Izuku quickly climbed the stairs and helped free the mechanism.
The hook sprang loose.
Mei landed neatly beside him.
"...Success!"
"You were upside down."
"It was a successful upside down."
"...I suppose that's true."
As they climbed back down, Mei sniffed
the air.
"...Wait."
She stopped walking.
"...You're carrying curry today."
Izuku blinked.
"...Yeah."
She tilted her head.
"...Chicken katsu?"
"...It is."
"...With pickled vegetables."
He stared.
"...How did you know that?"
She grinned proudly.
"I've got a really good nose."
"...Apparently."
She folded her arms.
"...You've had something different every day."
"But today's definitely chicken katsu."
Izuku smiled.
"...You're right."
They reached the workshop.
Mei immediately reached for the lunchbox.
"...Mine?"
"Mhm."
She opened it.
Another sandwich.
A yoghurt.
A bottle of water.
And...
"...A chocolate biscuit?"
Izuku rubbed the back of his neck.
"I noticed you always reach for something sweet after you finish eating."
"So..."
"I thought I'd include one."
Mei looked down at the biscuit.
Then back at him.
"...You've been observing me."
He froze.
"...I..."
"...Maybe a little."
"A little?"
"You've eaten exactly twenty-three lunches I've brought."
"...Twenty-four including today."
"I've started noticing patterns."
She burst out laughing.
"...Deku."
"...Yeah?"
"That's simultaneously the sweetest and nerdiest thing anyone has ever said to me."
His face turned bright red.
"...Sorry."
"Why are you apologizing?"
"I don't know."
"You noticed I like chocolate biscuits."
She smiled brightly.
"...That's awesome."
Over the next few days...
The routine began changing in little ways.
Sometimes Mei remembered to bring two bottles of water because she knew Izuku always forgot after training.
Sometimes she set two chairs out before he arrived.
Once...
She actually stopped working at 12:54.
Power Loader almost dropped his clipboard.
"...Hatsume."
"Hm?"
"You stopped."
"I did."
"...Before something exploded."
"...I did."
He looked toward the workshop clock.
12:54.
Then toward the entrance.
"...You're waiting for him."
Mei frowned thoughtfully.
"...Am I?"
Power Loader simply smiled.
"...I think you are."
That afternoon, after lunch, Mei found herself staring at one of her newest inventions.
She picked up her notebook.
Instead of writing specifications...
She wrote a completely different question.
Why is lunch my favourite part of the day now?
She tapped her pen against the page.
"...Strange."
Usually… her favourite part of the day was when something worked.
Or exploded.
Sometimes both.
Now...
She realized she looked forward to twelve fifty-five.
Not because of the sandwiches.
Not because of the yoghurt.
Not even because of the chocolate biscuits.
She looked across the workshop.
Izuku was laughing quietly as Power Loader told him about one of Mei's earliest inventions that had accidentally launched itself through three walls.
She smiled to herself.
"...Huh."
For perhaps the first time in her life...
Mei Hatsume diagnosed a problem she couldn't solve with a wrench.
The side effect wasn't caused by one of her inventions.
It was caused by the boy who kept walking through the workshop doors at exactly twelve fifty-five every afternoon.
And somehow… she had a feeling this was one side effect she didn't want to fix.
It happened on a Wednesday.
12:55 came.
And went.
Mei looked up from the engine she'd been calibrating.
"...Huh."
She glanced at the clock again.
12:58.
"...That's odd."
She picked up another wrench.
Adjusted a bolt.
Checked a pressure gauge.
Looked back at the clock.
13:03.
"...Really odd."
Power Loader noticed.
"Waiting for someone?"
Mei didn't even look up.
"...No."
"Mhm."
"I'm waiting for lunch."
"From Midoriya?"
"...Maybe."
He smiled to himself.
"I thought so."
Five more minutes passed.
No Izuku.
Mei frowned.
"He never forgets."
Power Loader raised an eyebrow.
"You've noticed?"
"...Obviously."
"He's been exactly on time every day."
She looked toward the workshop doors.
"...Something's wrong."
Across campus...
Something was wrong.
Izuku was sitting in Recovery Girl's office.
A thick bandage wrapped around his left forearm.
"You strained it again."
Recovery Girl sighed.
"I told you to take yesterday's training more seriously."
"I know."
"I'm sorry."
"You'll be fine."
She smiled kindly.
"But I'd rather you miss one training session than miss six."
He nodded.
"...Understood."
Then...
His eyes widened.
"...Lunch."
Recovery Girl blinked.
"...Lunch?"
"I forgot."
Back in the workshop...
Mei stood up so suddenly her chair rolled backwards.
"I'm going."
Power Loader looked over his glasses.
"...Going?"
"To find him."
"He'll probably turn up."
She shook her head.
"...No."
"He always comes."
"If he hasn't..."
"...there's a reason."
Without another word...
She hurried out of the workshop.
She checked Ground Gamma.
Nothing.
The cafeteria.
Nothing.
The library.
Nothing.
The training fields.
Still nothing.
"...Deku?"
She wasn't even sure why she was worried.
She just was.
Finally...
She spotted Ochaco walking toward the dorms.
"Uraraka!"
Ochaco turned.
"Oh!"
"Hatsume!"
"Have you seen Deku?"
Ochaco smiled reassuringly.
"Recovery Girl."
"He strained his arm."
"Nothing serious."
"He'll be fine."
Mei let out a breath she hadn't realized she'd been holding.
"...Oh."
"He just forgot to tell anyone."
Five minutes later...
Recovery Girl's office door opened.
Izuku stepped into the corridor.
"...Hatsume?"
She was sitting on the bench outside.
A lunchbox rested beside her.
He blinked.
"...What are you doing here?"
She stood.
"You missed lunch."
He looked at the clock.
"...I did."
"I completely forgot."
"I know."
She held out the lunchbox.
"...So I brought it."
Izuku stared.
"...You..."
"...Brought me lunch?"
She nodded as though it were the most obvious thing in the world.
"You always bring mine."
"I figured..."
She shrugged.
"...it was my turn."
For a moment...
Neither of them spoke.
Recovery Girl quietly smiled from inside her office before closing the door again.
They found an empty bench outside.
The afternoon sun warmed the courtyard.
Izuku opened the lunchbox.
Inside...
The sandwich was slightly squashed.
The apple had a tiny dent.
The yoghurt spoon was upside down.
And the drink was the wrong flavour.
He smiled.
"...It's perfect."
Mei laughed.
"I've got absolutely no idea how you organize lunches."
"I build jet-powered boots."
"Apparently sandwiches are harder."
"They're a different engineering discipline."
She burst into laughter.
As Izuku finished eating...
He looked over at her.
"...Can I ask you something?"
"Mhm."
"Why did you come looking for me?"
She tilted her head.
"...Because you were missing."
"...That's all?"
She blinked.
"...Isn't that enough?"
He looked down at the lunchbox in his hands.
Then back at her.
Slowly...
A smile spread across his face.
"...Yeah."
"It really is."
Mei smiled back.
She still wasn't entirely sure when "Lunch Delivery" had stopped being part of her daily routine...
And "Seeing Deku" had quietly become the thing she looked forward to most.
But sitting beside him in the afternoon sunshine...
Watching him eat the slightly wonky lunch she'd packed...
She decided she didn't really need to know how it had happened.
Some inventions didn't need explaining.
They just… worked.
A month later...
Lunch had become as much a part of the workshop as the sound of power tools.
12:55.
Every weekday.
Like clockwork.
Power Loader no longer questioned it.
He simply scheduled practical demonstrations around it.
"...No testing between twelve fifty-five and one-fifteen."
One of the first-year Support students blinked.
"...Why?"
Power Loader looked toward the corner of the workshop.
"...You'll see."
Wednesday arrived.
12:47.
Izuku's phone buzzed.
He frowned.
An emergency training exercise.
Mandatory. Immediately.
"...Oh."
He looked toward the lunchbox he'd packed that morning.
Then quickly typed a message.
To: Hatsume
‘Running late today.
Sorry.
Please don't wait for me.
Make sure you eat.’
He hit send.
Then sprinted toward Ground Gamma.
Inside the workshop...
Mei's phone buzzed loudly beneath a pile of blueprints.
She picked it up absentmindedly.
Read the message.
"...Huh."
Power Loader looked over.
"Everything alright?"
She nodded.
"Mhm."
"Deku's busy."
"He'll be late."
She carefully placed her lunchbox back into the workshop fridge.
Then returned to tightening a bolt.
One o'clock came.
Power Loader noticed the untouched lunch.
"...Hatsume."
"Hm?"
"You know you can eat."
"I know."
She continued adjusting a circuit board.
"...Then why aren't you?"
She frowned slightly.
"...Because he's not here yet."
Power Loader stared at her.
"...He literally told you not to wait."
"I know."
"...You're waiting anyway."
"...Yes."
"...Why?"
She looked genuinely confused by the question.
"...Because lunch starts when Deku gets here."
Power Loader slowly removed his glasses.
"...Right."
He decided not to say anything else.
Some realizations… people had to reach on their own.
It was almost two o'clock when Izuku finally hurried into the workshop.
"...Hatsume!"
She immediately looked up.
"Oh!"
"There you are."
He stopped in front of her.
"I'm so sorry."
"The exercise ran over."
"I should've-"
She held up a hand.
"...You're here now."
He blinked.
"...Yeah."
She walked over to the fridge.
Pulled out the lunchbox.
And placed it on the workbench between them.
"...Good."
"Now we can eat."
Izuku looked at the unopened box.
Then back at her.
"...You waited?"
She nodded.
"...Obviously."
"...Mei."
"You could've eaten."
"I know."
"...Then why didn't you?"
She tilted her head as though the answer was self-evident.
"...Because lunch isn't my favourite part anymore."
He smiled.
"...It isn't?"
She shook her head.
Completely oblivious to what she was about to say.
"...No."
She opened the lunchbox.
"...You are."
Silence.
The workshop became impossibly quiet.
A wrench clattered onto the floor somewhere in the distance.
Power Loader slowly looked up from the engine he'd been repairing.
"...Well."
He muttered under his breath.
"...That's one way to confess."
Mei froze.
The sandwich she'd just picked up stopped halfway to her mouth.
"..."
"...Oh."
Her eyes widened.
"...OH."
Colour rushed into her cheeks.
"I-I didn't mean-"
"I mean, I did mean-"
"But not like-"
"I mean, maybe like-"
Words completely abandoned her.
She started gesturing wildly with both
hands.
"The variables changed!"
"My brain skipped the planning stage!"
"I accidentally said the inside thought!"
Izuku couldn't help laughing.
Not at her.
Just because...
It was the most wonderfully Mei thing he'd ever witnessed.
"...Mei."
She stopped talking instantly.
"...Yeah?"
He smiled.
The same gentle smile she'd come to look forward to every afternoon.
"...I think you're my favourite part of the day too."
For once...
Mei Hatsume had absolutely nothing to say.
Power Loader quietly picked up his toolbox.
One of the first-year students looked over.
"...Sir?"
"We're moving to the other workshop."
"...Why?"
Power Loader smiled.
"...Those two have got something much
more important to build."
The next afternoon...
12:55 arrived once again.
Izuku walked through the workshop
doors carrying lunch.
Only this time...
There was just one lunchbox.
He placed it between them.
Mei looked inside.
"...One?"
He smiled.
"I thought..."
"...sharing might be easier."
She looked up at him.
Then smiled so brightly it could've powered half the workshop.
"...That's efficient."
"It is."
They sat shoulder to shoulder on the edge of the workbench.
Sharing sandwiches.
Swapping yoghurt flavours.
Quietly debating whether chocolate biscuits counted as an essential engineering resource.
Around them...
Machines whirred.
Tools clanged.
Something exploded in the next room.
Neither of them even looked up.
Power Loader walked past, smiling to himself.
After weeks of watching lunches
become routines...
And routines become feelings...
The final piece had clicked neatly into place.
Some inventions changed the world.
Others...
Simply made one person's world a little brighter.
And somehow...
Those could be every bit as extraordinary.