A Silent Kind of Strength

Chapter 16

He once more walked onto the grounds of UA, flashing a guest pass at a camera as they made their way through the gates. Hatsume-san was once again with him as an escort and representative stepping in for his mom. Inko was disappointingly stuck doing a mandatory seminar on IV tubing and couldn't make it to the school or take any calls.

Izuku once more had the map of the school pulled up on his phone as he led the way to the principal's office all the way up on the fourth floor. He jumped as the door swung open before he could knock and peered curiously through the empty doorframe. "Come in!" A cheery voice said from inside the room. He glanced at Hatsume-san and shrugged, stepping through into the simple but elegant office space beyond.

He spotted the small, rodent-like hero off to the side of the room near a mini kitchenette. A comfortable looking set of chairs around a low table was set up for tea and they were gestured to take a seat. "The water is almost ready. Please make yourself comfortable!"

They settled in, taking two chairs on one side of the table. Izuku eyed a large stack of paperwork sitting on the edge of the space in front of him, off to the side for now. His curiosity writhed, wanting to know what was written and how it would affect him.

An ornate kyusu was set on a pot holder as the principal readied the tea. As it was poured the aromatic steam drifted around them and Izuku relaxed a bit. Jasmine again. It smelled wonderful.

"Hatsume-san. I would like to start off this little meeting by letting you know how thrilled I am that your daughter will be joining our school this coming year. She is a bright young mind and I can't wait to see her take the support field by storm." The redheaded woman smiled brightly, always happy when someone acknowledged Mei's brilliance. "Thank you Nezu-san! Mei has been buzzing with excitement since she got the letter. She can't wait to get her hands on the support studios."

He laughed quietly. "Oh I'm sure! I'm intrigued to see what of the inventions she proposed with her portfolio will end up coming into existence first."

"Oh that's easy!" She brushed off with a grin and a wave of her hand. "More than likely it will be upgrade to her kinetic energy converter. I unfortunately do not have access to one of the parts she needs for it. It's too far out of my price range. But she's already requested those parts be procured for her and knowing Higari they're already sitting at her bench waiting for her." The mammal nodded with an interested hum. "An interesting contraption for sure. But why rush that one in particular when there are several others that would surely be more fun to build?"

"U-uhm. That's be-because of m-me.." Izuku cut in. "I-i was su-super inspired b-by the converter wh-when she sh-showed it t-to me. I h-have p-plans drawn u-up for s-several thi-ings u-using her con-converter as a b-base…" he ducked his head a bit, tugging on one of the curls framing his face. "Ah I see! A collaboration between friends! How exciting! I can't wait to see what you two have come up with!"

The hero then clapped his paws together. "Ah. That brings us to the first thing I wanted to talk to you about today Midoriya-kun! One of your inventions has already been requested for use by one of our staff members! Your hearing aids really caught Power Loader's eye during your presentation. He studied the blueprints after you left and was even more impressed by the proposed upgrades. He showed them to a fellow teacher who is hard of hearing, and said teacher immediately asked for a pair to be made for him since the design solves a lot of issues he has with his current hearing aids. To do that though we need to patent the design under your name and have you sign off on their use by Present Mic."