Chapter Text
For most, a new beginning was something scary. A new home, new people, a new life. The idea of starting over is staggering. As tempting and fun as a new adventure can be, many would never actually give up everything they’ve come to know for one to begin. Mei Hatsume did not struggle with this. This is the sort of opportunity she had worked her entire life for. A chance to create something for herself, a chance to be known world-wide, to have her name uttered next to the greats of history. There was very little she wouldn’t give up for that.
The plane ride to I-Island isn’t long at all, for something so life altering, one would think the journey would be longer. Mei doesn’t even have time to finish sketching out a new design beyond a rough outline. When she lands a whole host of drones assist her with her luggage and escort her swiftly to her dorm.
Melissa Shield has spent much of her life on I-Island, after the fiasco with Wolfram last year, she flung herself into her studies, and created a new gauntlet for Izuku Midoriya just before Christmas, she never heard anything back from him though, she wonders if he broke it the same day he got it like the last one she designed. So, when she heard about a student transferring from UA, someone from the same year as Izuku she saw a chance to get intel, to learn about what had become of him. She of course accepted the role of tour guide for this new student, she reviews the file she was given on her on the way to her dorm. Let’s see, Mei Hatsume. Second Year, top student of the support course at UA. An impressive amount of completed designs. Recommendation by- Kazuki Kizuki… It takes Melissa a short pause to remember where she heard that name- Oh, the new head of- Detnerat… She feels a sense of unease as she knocks on the door. Is this girl some kind of implant of the Liberation Army???
The door opens, and Hatsume stands before Melissa, she looks confused to see her.
Melissa realizes she hasn’t said anything, and that she needs to introduce herself, she extends her hand- “Melissa Shield! I’m here to give you a tour?”
“Mei Hatsume!” Eagerly shakes her hand, and almost her whole arm free from her shoulder. “I think I’ve heard your name before.”
“We have a mutual acquaintance, I think, Izuku Midoriya?”
“Never heard of him!”
Okay, so this isn’t going great then.
“So where to first? I was hoping to see if the lab you got here is up to my specifications.”
“Every second year and above student actually gets their own lab.”
“Fantastic! Take me to mine!”
Melissa laughs, feeling a little bit nervous by this girl’s directness, “That’s sort of like the last stop, we have lots of facilities on campus you have to see first.”
“Hmm… Okay!”
Melissa leads her out of the dorms, and while Hatsume is certainly following her around, she notices she’s got her eyes glued to a small tablet she’s writing on. Designing and walking at the same time. I wonder what she’s working on-
She tries to take a peek and Hatsume actually hisses at her.
Melissa has no idea how to respond to such a reaction. She isn’t even sure if that’s suspicious, or if this girl is just strange. She is all the more curious about what she’s working on though. Even so, first stop on the docket! “This is the Common Garden! You’ll pass through here on your way to different classes all the time, and a lot of students like to spend their free time here because well, look at it.” There’s a magnificent spread of flora and digitized paths and bridges weaving throughout, every student they pass by though seems glued to their phones or other screens, Hatsume assumes it’s nothing since Melissa doesn’t make note of it. “Look, look, this is my favorite part- My papa designed this.” She hops in place three times, a circle lights up around her feet, and an AI voice speaks,
“Melissa Shield! Your next destination is The Café. Right this way.” And the circle becomes an arrow that guides them through the garden.
Melissa smiles back at Hatsume, “Isn’t that fun!”
Hatsume seems to be ignoring that, as she has an epiphany! “I know who you are!”
“O-oh?” I wasn’t keeping it a secret. . .
“You’re the one who stole my client!”
“Your client?” I don’t have any clients, what is she talking about???
“The green one! Deku!”
Melissa adjusts her glasses as she tries to understand- Oh, “Izuku Midoriya- You do know him!”
“Well duh, who said I didn’t?”
Melissa can’t tell if she’s just trying to be annoying, or if she’s seriously that forgetful. Why would she only know him by his hero name? “I wanted to ask you earlier, if he was still using my gauntlets...” saying it out loud makes her realize how embarrassing that question seems. She wasn’t that obsessed with him, she just really wanted to know if her work was good.
“Don’t know! But he did replace mine with yours!”
“Oh… Okay?”
“And I must say, your design is absolutely perfect.”
“O-oh, thank you!”
“It’s perfectly boring! But I guess that’s what some clients like- apparently.”
Oh, wow… I think I actually hate her. Not really one to show her rage, she just fumes quietly as she shows Hatsume to the Café, “This is where we eat.”
The Café is about as large as UA’s cafeteria, but rather than one master chef at the helm, there’s several pop restaurants and countless Hatsume’s never heard of lining the walls with buffet lines. The place looks like total chaos, but all of the food smells divine. She sees Melissa hop on the digitized path three times. Hatsume wasn’t so good at gaging human emotions, but Melissa was definitely pouting. She looked pretty funny. The AI voice says, “Melissa Shield! Your next destination is The Nexus.” And it gives them an arrow to follow.
Hatsume has to jog to catch up to Melissa’s pouty speedwalk. “You shouldn’t feel bad. Your design is good, it’s just… bland. I’ve been working to integrate elements of it with my own design, but I don’t know the materials you even used for that thing.”
She might actually have good feedback for me, I should hear her out. “It’s nothing that impressive, just a hyper dense carbon alloy, I made it originally for my Uncle Might, but somehow Izuku broke the prototype, so I had to get creative with my kinetic shock redistribution, which ideally should still hurt his enemies, but reduce any impact against him.”
“That thingy it does with the light, where it gets really small! What is that?”
“Oh, that’s just hardlight polymer. I use that for everything, it’s kind of my brand.” She pulls out what looks like a small tape-measure and it flashes and unfolds into a giant pogo stick.
“Does miniaturizing like that reduce the weight?”
“Well- no, but the material is very light.” She offers the stick to Hatsume.
Hatsume’s a little surprised she’s able to hold it so easily in one hand, she feels like she could throw it quite the distance if she wanted to. “I don’t get why you’d want to make your babies smaller though.” She hands it back to Melissa, unsure how to turn it back into the little cylinder.
She’s a little thrown by the term ‘babies’, but she knows instantly what Hatsume’s referring to. “Lots of reasons, practicality, transportation, discretion.”
“Being a hero is all about standing out though! If your babies just blend in to the rest of the costume no one’s gonna recognize your work! You gotta be flashier! Bigger! More dramatic!” Hatsume gesticulates wildly as she tries to prove her point.
Melissa just shakes her head, “Bigger doesn’t just automatically equal better…” The Nexus, is the transport hub for the academy, it’s essentially a train station that students can use to get anywhere on the island, but it’s bigger and fancier than any simple train station Hatsume’s been to. Lots of people are gathered around in the center, which of course doesn’t strike Hatsume as that strange, but Melissa looks worried. She pulls a bystander to ask, “What’s going on?”
The bystander is a bashful classmate, “O-oh hey Melissa- I uh- Oh we’re uh-” He points at the big TV, the lower third reads, Japan’s Number One Hero Miruko fights off the Liberation Front’s Terrorist Leader! And on the screen they see just that. Miruko appears to have the man pinned, Melissa’s of course never met him, but Tomura Shigaraki had become world famous after the Jaku Incident, and it was impossible to go anywhere without hearing someone’s opinion about the Liberation Front, even on I-Island. Then, they all see Deku run up to Miruko. He’s wearing Melissa’s gauntlets, but one of his arms is very clearly broken.
Melissa can feel Hatsume’s eyes on her.
The crowd gasps, some even scream as they see Miruko’s arm disintegrated, but she cuts it off before the decay spreads, and kicks Shigaraki away from her. Most, see this as a horrifying tragedy for the Symbol of Hope, Mei Hatsume sees this as an opportunity, and starts immediately plotting out a robot arm design. Designing the Number One Hero’s shiny new arm would certainly be quite the opportunity.
“LUNA! ARCOÍRIS!” The Symbol of Hope’s final war cry grabs the hearts of the entire world, they watch her streak across the sky with wings of prismatic lightning, and strike down the symbol of despair.
The Nexus erupts with cheers.
Melissa like so many others is moved to tears, until she finally catches a glance of what Hatsume is working on, and she sees, a chance to prove her wrong.