It Can Only Get Worse

Chapter 5

I'd forgotten how loud the development studio could be. It was filled with the sound of metal on metal, electric sparking, all sorts of alarms going off, and machines whirring with life. I didn't know that so many students came there after school. It was like a river flowing after the flood gates were opened.

It didn't take me long to find Hatsume, especially considering that she was frantically bouncing up and down and waving her arms over her head. It looked like she was yelling, but I was too far away to be able to hear her. She didn't stop her motions until I was standing next to her, and even then the girl was extremely hyperactive.

"Deku!" She yelled over the noise and wrapped her arms around my upper arms, pulling me into a tight hug. "I'm so happy to get to see you!"

"Ah, you too," I told her and gave her a pat on the back. "What was it you needed me for?"

"Oh, yeah! I fixed some of mechanics in your boots. They won't be crushed under so much pressure now. Plus, I enlarged the sole and heel to make you look taller."

Okay then.

"Here, try them on." Her head popped up from behind a table and she threw the boots over to me. She then went to look at some of the blue prints on the table in front of her. "By the way Deku, have you seen one of my babies? The poor thing went missing a few days ago and I can't find it any where."

"What does it look like?" I asked as I slipped my feet into each of the corresponding boots. I stood and walked around a bit as she began her search.

"Um." Hatsume moved the blue prints on the table around and looked in the compartments below it. "Here it is."

Hatsume pulled a rolled up piece of paper from a shelf and set it to lay flat against the table. I recognized the shape but many of the parts were only partially drawn and there weren't any measurements on it.

"The blue print isn't done," Hatsume noted and sighed. "Power Loader told me it was too dangerous and stopped me."

"That sucks. What was it supposed to be?"

"It was meant to be used on villains. Either in spy missions or to subdue them. It could be attached to the collar of their shirt. Then it had little arm thingies that would wrap around the victim's neck, cutting off the oxygen to their brain, and they'd eventually pass out."

"Oh, I think I've seen it before," I said. "Earlier I was in Recovery Girl's office and I saw something that looked like it there."

"Oh no. If Power Loader sees that thing I'll be expelled for sure!"

"Maybe if you look for it when Recovery Girl leaves for the night, you can find it, and destroy it," I told her, then began rambling. "Then nobody will know that it ever existed. Though, if you really wanted to be precise about it, you might have to take the device apart piece by piece and spread them to other places."

"Oh Deku, you're so smart." She clasped her hands together and bounced on the balls of her feet. "Thank you, thank you, thank you!"

"Oh, it's no problem," I laughed nervously and shook my hands out in front of me as she tried to offer me things. "It was only a fraction of how I could repay you for everything you've done for me."

"You're so sweet. Hey, if you tried those boots on you can leave. I won't waste any more of your time."

"Okay. They fit perfectly Hatsume. Thank you."

With all of that said and done, I left. I was glad too. Between everything else I'm already trying to juggle, spending extra time with a lunatic like her could potentially push me over the edge.

"What did she have to tell you?"

"That's none of your business, Kacchan."

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