My Hero Automata

Chapter 25: Downtime

Summary: Dinner and Bikini Armor, what's not to like here?

Chapter 25: Downtime

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2B let out an oof of surprise two steps into the Midoryia penthouse apartment, as her teenage body was ambushed and hugged with far more power than Inko should be capable of producing. As always, she instinctively ran a calculation, before once again determining that the hug merely felt more powerful than it should be, rather than actually producing more force. It was minor mystery of the universe 2B had long since give up completely understanding.

"2B, sweetie! I've got a new recipe for you to try! I think you'll like this one!"

2B smiled, a somewhat rare expression for her, as she leaned into her pseudo-mother's embrace. Inko was a singular individual, one whom she owed much of her understanding of humans to. Unlike the many Quirk specialists, but very like her daughter, Inko had immediately seen 2B as a person, not a Quirk. It had bewildered 2B for a long time, her previous experiences completely at odds with the green-haired woman's decision to simply adopt her as a 'sister' of sorts to Izumi. At first, it had seemed ludicrous. 2B was a war veteran with all of YorHa's knowledge stuffed in her head. Yet, in the end, Inko had been the one that was right. For all of 2B's knowledge, she had to acknowledge, in retrospect at least, that she'd been emotionally stunted.

Having been told by her superiors that emotion was 'prohibited,' and with virtually all her actual experiences in her previous three years of activation being back-to-back combat operations, 2B had been a mess and hadn't even known it. Patient, ever patient and understanding Inko, had recognized the problem long before 2B had. She'd never treated 2B like a child, but she had treated 2B like she was a confused young adult. With so much knowledge about how the world should work, but very little experienced with how it actually did. She'd become something hovering between an older sister, a mentor, and a mother figure to 2B, who hadn't even known she needed any of those things. It had been Inko who had ultimately taught 2B how to be human, how to have hobbies, how to look after not just Izumi but herself as well.

Maybe that's why her hugs always felt more powerful than they should? Some people say emotions have weight. And 2B could even say she'd felt that herself, she was pretty sure. When a comrade died she'd felt heavy, when Izumi found happiness and joy with Momo after 2Bs own prodding, she'd felt lighter than air. Though she somehow didn't think her logic processors would ever stop trying to figure out a more scientific reason for it, 2B suspected they would fail. It was, she was pretty sure, something that had to do more with the soul than the mind. An area that had baffled humans and androids alike for eons. For now, she just accepted the hug from her second favorite human, and hummed a happy noise.

"Your food is always delicious, but I do enjoy trying new things."

Inko giggled and let her go, moving off to sweep her biological daughter into a hug as well.

"Of course, even if Izumi would prefer I always just make Katsudon. Still, I think she'll like this one too. It's Italian! I've been waiting to try it out until you were done with the upgrades!"

Both Izumi and 2B perked up at that. They'd discovered a mutual love for Italian food after Inko had found out 2B could actually eat, yet hadn't ever had much of a chance to actually do so. Certainly not properly cooked human food, since much had died off or been changed in the thousands of years of war on her Earth. Trying new foods had become one of 2B's favorite things, with Inko going farther and farther afield to give her pseudo-daughter new flavor experiences. It was a family bonding experience they'd all come to enjoy greatly, even when it didn't work out. Though 2B was such a glutton for any vaguely positive new experience that she personally never thought 'it didn't work out.' It was mostly Izumi and Inko that occasionally found recipes that didn't work well for them. Which wasn't to say 2B didn't have favorites...like Italian food.