This Ain't A Scene

It's An Arms Race

Izuku Midoriya loved people, they just didn't seem to like him much in return. He had tried so hard, for so long, to be the beacon of light his childhood hero had been, but he had been met with so much resistance, he had come to the upsetting realization that Japan didn't want him to be the next Allmight, they really just wanted him to go away. He was quirkless, people said he was just as valuable as anyone else, but they said it with pity in their eyes. He hated when people looked at him with pity. Deku had wanted to help people, but after hundreds of rejection letters, he had decided he would have to do it in a less clean, less public way.

The first thing he manufactured was a suit of armor essentially, it had spring boots and some gadgets, he would go out in the streets and protect people, like that American bat guy. He had no idea how he had gotten from that to what he was doing now. He supposed it started when someone offered him some money for one of his inventions, they had seemed trust worthy enough, and he had been tired of choosing between food and heat, so he had given it to him. Apparently that guy had friends, and he had wound up getting requests pretty frequently, and they paid him well enough he could get a nicer place, he could actually feel human. He wasn't sure where they were taking his weapons, and he wasn't sure how much he cared. He told himself he cared a lot, and that he only sold things to people who seemed like good people. Friends, but the truth was, he was worried if an obviously bad person was to ask for his help, he wouldn't be able to say no. He didn't see the collateral damage that his lifestyle was built upon, so he didn't have to think about it, and so he didn't. Except on mornings like the one he met her.

Deku was quiet as he sipped his tea and watched tv, he was trying no to think about Katsuki Bakugo, how he had seen his childhood friend on the news, he had looked worried, he was asking for anyone who had seen a skinny man with green hair, green eyes and freckles. Deku felt like a dumb ass, of course Kacchan would know who Deku was, it was a nickname he had given him. He had known that if Kacchan ever saw anything he had made, with his logo he would recognize it, in fact part of him had taken some pleasure in the idea. Number one hero Dynamite, scared of quirkless, worthless Deku. But Kacchan didn't seem worried for the reasons he had hoped he would be. He seemed worried about Deku. Deku was doing good at ignoring the guilty voices in his head, until he heard something fall down in his lab. God fucking damn it, he knew he was a pain in the heroes' asses, but was he really worth this? He took his tea with him into his lab ready to start yelling when his expression softened, Uravity? Really? Kachan couldn't even come himself?

"This is my home. You cannot just come in here."

He laughed softly when she jumped, looking at his feet, but it broke his heart a little when he noticed the way she trembled.

"I'm not going to hurt you." He murmured as he shook his head and a self deprecating laugh left his lips

"I was just watching tv, and I heard a noise in here and I was worried something broke." He saw the invention he had been working on for months levitating, he laughed again, she was cute. He had had a bit of a crush on her ever since he first saw her on the news, but she would never be with someone like him.

"Why are you here? I haven't done anything in months. And that thing you almost broke, is just a toy for me. It's a jet pack. I wanted to see if I could fly." she wasn't listening, she was focusing on not breaking his stuff, which he appreciated. He went to take it and set it on the table again.
"Did you hear a word I said? Why are you here?"

"Dynamite wanted to make sure you're not working on anything that can hurt people, that's what he said anyways. I think he's worried you're dead or something. Being held hostage" She smiled at the ground "but you look like the kid he described."

"And if you want to fly I can help." she blushed, looking up at him.

His eyes lit up, Uravity was adorable inside and out.