A Silent Kind of Strength

Chapter 13

Three months passed by quickly. Izuku continued to work his ass off. Waking early to get to the shop before it opened. Mia had insisted on him doing yoga with her for 30 minutes every morning. Apparently it helped with her insurance costs if all employees did some sort of mandated warm up and stretching routine. That, and the woman just liked yoga.

He would then help her set things up for the day and open the store. From there his mornings were designated to his lessons. Coding (hacking), software design, 3d computer modeling, and the use of most of the tools and machinery you could expect to find in a design studio. In the afternoon he actually helped around the shop. Learning inventory and how to pull orders.

And if it was a slow day Mia taught him the basics of how to sew. At first he was skeptical about the old machine she had squirreled away in the back. But then she pointed out one of the redesigns he had done for a hero he had seen on the news once. Sketched out on the back of a napkin because he had been too tired to get up and grab his notebook. He hadn't even really put any effort into it, it was just something to occupy his hands as he munched distractedly on his dinner. The costume the hero currently had was just so aweful. And he was bored. But apparently it was a good start for a real design. Because Hatsume-san was determined to make it into a real thing.

And slowly, stitch by stitch, it bloomed into existence. It was only a prototype, made of cheap cotton and spandex, with amateur hands. But he was still unreasonably proud of it. It looked cool, a black skin tight under suit with padded spots where armour would go if it was made into a real suit. Strapped holsters for weapons across the chest and arms. A dark red and black cropped jacket with a hood. And matching cargo shorts held up by a utility belt. The hero in question would never see the design. But Izuku thought it would look pretty damn cool on anyone.

Oh look, a new obsession. He was now consistently working suit upgrade and rework suggestions into any hero notes he took. Right along side his suggestions for support gear.

He still had self defense lessons every afternoon. He would jog his way over from the shop and spend the next two hours getting his ass beat. Apparently Mirokuma sensei was very unhappy with the fact that he hadn't utilized the skills he had been taught, and was determined to make sure it wouldn't happen again.

So he received bruises for getting bruises. That tracked with how his life always seemed to go.

Afterwards he would run back to the shop and take a shower before hanging out with his friends. He was always a bit sad when the day came to an end and he had to go back home to the empty apartment. At this point his mom was practically living at the hospital.

He spent most of his nights split between cramming for his worst subjects, often getting sucked down a random research rabbithole. Preparing his portfolio for the support course and business exams, god business was both fascinating and terrifying. And sending cursed memes back and forth to his friends. Whoever thought putting 3 insomniac teens into a group was a good idea made a miscalculation and should never try to pry into their late night, half hysterical, conversations.

He was really starting to feel like he might actually have a future ahead of him. And at this right he might just be able to grab ahold of it.

___

Three teens stepped off of the train. All with very specific color schemes. The pink and purple ones were wearing the same school uniform, their green friend was in casual dress. Overalls and a crop top over a long-sleeved undershirt. They chattered back and forth with each other. The pink and green ones gesturing wildly and the purple one dragging behind in their energetic wake. If a bystander was to look closely though they would see the nerves bubbling under the casual conversation. The teens were walking to the entrance exams for their dream school after all.