Total Command

Chapter 6: And time yet for a hundred indecisions

"So," came the meek voice of Izuku, looking up to the rodent that ran the place, "you want to hire me as a janitor?"

"No, no Midoriya, you're going to do much more than that; such as carrying around shipments, helping with cooking- you're going to be an everyman, and in turn, UA will pay for all of your food needs, no questions asked," said Nozomi, something in her eyes making him wary.

"Uh, does this mean I'm accepted into UA already? Cause I can't- that's cheating I can't accept that," he said, still not believing his current predicament.

"Oh, on the contrary, young one." Her eyes sharpened; there was definitely an apex predator mixed into her genetics, he was certain of that. "I would much prefer to have you remain as a full time working employee, so if anything, you will be scored harsher during the entrance exam. Good luck."

She might not be human, but she seemed to have the concept of sadism down pat.

Oh boy.

"Izuku, hun, what is this?" Inko asked, worriedly looking at her son carrying what seemed to be a month's worth of food into the house.

He gulped. "I, uh, I got a job, Mom, and decided to buy groceries for the house. Hope you don't mind."

She was surprised, but couldn't help the motherly sense of pride bubbling in her chest. "Not at all. Here, let me help you with that."

"You gonna get a job brat?" Mitsuki asked, no real bite in her voice.

"Maybe at UA, hag. Why?" answered Katsumi.

"Just curious."

"Ș̒o, ̳͝I w̡̓a̰̎s ̠̆pr̟̚o̥̽c͙̎es̻̾s̻̀ḭ͠n̼̊ĝ̩ an̘d- " Mecha-Might hummed to life. " Wh̃͢y d̗ï͔d̙̒n't͈͐ h̭͋é͙ j̱̓u̞st ͈̊sh̿ͅow yo̦͆u ̘͂h̩̉i̜s̠͋ IḌ̉? Iț̓ sho̱̐uld ̤̕hav̘̈e̹̽ h͔̃is ge̡͋nd̬̈́er̉͜ oṅ̲ ̻̈i̖̋t."

Izuku slapped his forehead and Mei dropped her spot welder.

"It took you three weeks to come up with that?" he hissed, still blushing at the memory of that day.

"Ȉ͟t ̝̓wa̖͊s a͂͜ ͍͛ba̙͐c͓̀k͈ğ͎ro̦un̿͜d p̢̚roc̡͒ess̡̨̽̑" Mecha-Might said simply.

"It doesn't matter, I know he isn't lying about it," Mei said, picking up her dropped tool and checking for damage. "Why were you even processing that?"

"I was̳̄ ̞̍b̫͠o̟̎red, ̰̍a̮͌nḑ Y͙͑o̻͗un̹̑g M͖̄ȉ̪d̳or̛̪i͕̔yȃ̜ ̮̉i̪͡s̻̓ c̥͑o̩̕ming̩̈́ ̧́o͚̿veȑ̡ less ̞̈an͙̿d̳̕ les̠͋s̘͋...̟́" The machine looked down, his sculpted-on smile somehow looking sorrowful.

His heart clenched a bit at that; even through the warbled voice modulator, the pure emotion was palpable in Mecha-Might's words. "H-how did you program so much emotion in him, Hatsume?"

"Don't know- I was running on concentrated coffee and less than 5 hours of sleep while building him, remember?" she huffed, looking over at the mopey robot. "Pretty sure was seeing sounds too..."

"But he is right. Why are you coming over so little?" she asked, one eyebrow raising as she walked up to him, still holding the welder. it was usual for him to be sporadic with his visits, but nowadays the gaps were too big to ignore. Plus, she might be missing him a little .

"O-oh that's cause- uh...." Well she knows almost everything else... "I got a job at UA."

She pulled the trigger of the spot welder in shock. It sparked for a second then overheated and she dropped it before her hand got burned, but the moment it hit the floor and clattered, the lights went out.