Compulsion

Chapter 24: What You Wish For

Izuku left the dorms early in the morning – dressed in uniform and with a certain case in hand. He pulled his cap tight before heading towards the distant school. If he was serious about this, about Stain, he had some serious planning to do. "First of all, with all the trouble I've caused, I'm going to be treated like the black sheep..." In other words, if a vigilante suddenly popped up in Shiketsu's vicinity – especially one without a Quirk and with Shiketsu-patented gear – he would be the one correctly fingered at. "If my grades dropped in the process, or I was met with bouts of tardiness consistent with sightings, I wouldn't be able to hide..." Knowing this, he had one conclusion: he was going to have to operate within the lines. Of course, his goal didn't have to be stated, but his gear and position would need to be official. "Luckily, I have just the program – the Field Support study... Of course, the school might not be willing to support that... but I'll get to that bridge when I get there..."

Finding Stain was the other problem. "It's not like he's going to advertise his next target, but with nearly twenty victims, there must be some pattern... A link between victims beyond their jobs... Police files are sealed for the most part, but the Hero Fandom and the True Crime nuts somehow always find a way... Not to mention, since Heroes are celebrities, it'd be difficult to hide much..."

Izuku was through the doors of Shiketsu High, and the halls were practically empty with only stragglers here and there. Though, while he tried his best to pay them no mind, they certainly minded him – a stare, an odd whisper. The looks were strange enough, but the fact he heard his name uttered by complete strangers was worse. Media embargo kept his name out of the press, but not from the rumor mill evidently. He shook it off by the time he made his way towards the workshop. The light was red, unoccupied, but the door was open.

Izuku had recalled that students were allowed to access the shop an hour before class. There was a sign-in sheet, of course, and multiple cameras about the room. After dashing ink across a page, he quickly went to his station, abandoning his things, before going to the textile printer. He luckily found it unlocked and thus accessed an old file of his – sending it back to his profile. Pulling it up at his station, he accessed the designs of the body suit he created for the Maneuver Belt. He ditched his blazer and cap before rolling up his dress-shirt's sleeves.

The bulk of the design can remain: a base of spandex with a layer of straps meant to distribute his weight atop it; followed by a layer of Keprotec. Leather was used for padding and protection for abrasions, but clearly not very useful against swords. The replacement would be a layer of weaved Kevlar that would leave only the crotch, inner arms, forearms, inner knees, and calves uncovered. The empty space would be filled by extraneous hard armor: elbow-pads, shoulder-pads, gauntlets, and greaves.

There was also body armor. It would have a soft armor base of Kevlar and Nomex before hard armor would lay over his pectorals and upper back. He planned on using the same system as the Stein-Gauntlet to secure it. Around his abdomen, he'd have a total of four hard armor panels – segmented to ensure some form of mobility.

Of course, he'd need—

"Midoriya?" floated a voice – Uemura, the green-skinned girl with a beak and shell.

Okuma, the boy with orange freckles, hair, and eyes, exclaimed, "Holy shit – you're alive!"

"Yeah..." murmured Izuku. He only spoke to Okuma the one time, "Was that guy-talk...? Or was it girl-talk since he was talking about girls..." He took the adjusted file and sent it back to the printer.

"Yeah?" he echoed. "Dude, you're talkin' like you haven't been gone for three days! I heard you got attacked by the Hero Killer or somethin' – thought you died."