A Silent Kind of Strength

Chapter 52

The small mess hall buzzed with quiet conversations as they slipped in through the door. It was a large room with two long tables that went from the serving window to the windows that overlooked the loading bay. The tables weren't filled. But there were clumps of people sitting up and down their lengths, talking amicably. He noted several tablets being waved around, and watched as a stylus was used to bean someone with an opposing opinion in the side of the head for being insufferable. The young teen felt himself relaxing a bit, this honestly just felt like lunch time with the support students.

A waved hand caught the attention of his guide. "Oh! There he is! Alright Midoriya, let's get some food and then see how PL wants to play things this week." He stormed towards the service window, chatting amicably with the line cooks at the sides station. She giggled and served both of them a second cookie. When they both had their trays they walked over to the man who had waved earlier.

Power Loader looked weird out of his costume. He knew he had seen him in business casual once before during the entrance exam, but it was different somehow now that he knew who he was. The hero was in some tailored slacks, and the white shirt was perfectly clean. But it looked like the man had untucked it and pulled his tie free at the earliest opportunity. Which honestly was fair, Izuku found himself doing the same often enough once school let out for the day.

"Midoriya." He greeted with his normal kind smile. "Did you get the tour?" When his student nodded confirmation he continued. "Good. That means you can join Hikari's team this evening. They're having trouble with a bit of code and I think a fresh set of eyes might be just the thing. Just know that we have a patrol scheduled from 2-5 am so make sure you get some sleep and some food beforehand."

"I-i uhm, isn't that a weird ti-time for a patrol?" The pro snorted. "Kid. I have three jobs. All of my patrols are at weird times. I schedule hero work, consultations, AND studio time around UA so early morning patrols are normal." The boy nodded thoughtfully and took a bite of his nado.

They made small talk as they ate, multiple people coming over to chat with Power Loader, usually about one project or another. Izuku listened in, amazed at how much of the technical jargon he actually understood. It was weird to think that a little over a year ago he wouldn't have understood half as much.

When they were done eating the three of them stood and carried their trays over to the cleaning receptacle. Which was, on brand with a major support company, super high tech. They slid the tray in on one side and the machine buzzed and whooshed for a few seconds before the tray was spit out of the other side, being snagged and stacked neatly by a dexterous robot arm. Izuku buzzed with questions but was pulled away before he could completely lose control of himself.

Once they were back out the door and heading through the short hall to the lobby Maijima turned towards Kagami. "You still have calculations due Dreamweaver?" The younger man nodded. "Unfortunately boss, I was about 3/4ths of the way done when I got pulled from the desk."

Power Loader nodded with a grin. "Figured as much. Thanks for taking the kid under your wing for the afternoon. Tell The Dragon I said to give you an extension." Kagami waved a hand in dismissal. "It was no trouble. It's always fun to see what kind of talent catches your eye PL. And I'm probably going to be done with that assignment before morning. There's no need,  'specially if Mike decides to jump in in order to make me sleep."

The pro snorted. "Both of you boys probably need to sleep. But you do you, just make sure not to pass out in the hall again ok?" The apprentice engineer saluted with a smirk before wandering off towards the front desk, waving to Izuku as he passed, already sliding his tablet from its holster.

Power Loader ushered the teen to the elevator before he could think to properly thank his guide. He resolved to do it at some point in the week as the doors closed behind them. Instead he turned to his mentor and asked the most pressing question at the moment. "Dr-dreamweaver?"

returned wallet. But the captured dealer and buyer required a police pickup. Power Loader let Izuku make the call, after telling him what to say.

They waited at the mouth of the alley for the cops to pull up and Power Loader went over protocol and what forms would need to be filled out once they got back to the agency. The standard police car pulled up to them quietly and parked, two uniformed officers stepping out with a wave to the hero. "Hey Loader! How's your night going?"

The red haired man gave them a friendly nod. "It's been going pretty good so far. It's the kid's first patrol so we're hoping for a quiet run." This comment of course brought attention to the short figure standing beside the pro hero. Izuku lowered his hood and waved shyly. "Ah. A student from UA then?"

Maijima nodded. "Yup. This is Doryoku. Kid, these two are officers Yukino and Shihaiya." The teen gave a polite bow and returned their short traditional greeting. The rest of that interaction finished up quickly and Izuku was soon raising his hood and making sure his mask was pulled up over his mouth. He forwent the goggles, leaving them nestled in amongst his curls. He made a note to add night vision of some sort to them soon. As they wandered the streets he made several mental notes on things he could add to his costume for night patrols.

This week was already proving to me fruitful.