Cubicity

Chapter 19: Improving Oneself

"You're a strange person Midoriya-san," Mei said with a smile as she slapped Izuku's back. The boy didn't know if she was teasing him or if that was a compliment.

Power Loader then shouted from across the room, "And that's saying something when coming from you!"

Hatsume responded loudly, "Awww, thank you Maijima-sensei!"

The pro hero grunted before going back to his work.

It was currently Sunday, and Midoriya was with the two mechanics to see the construction of the additions to his suit. He had arrived about an hour ago, but they were busy working on another costume, so he waited patiently until they finished. Before Hatsume started the new soles for his boots, she asked why her guest had been coming the last two days.

Izuku felt indebted that she not only helped him come up with his new fighting technique but was helping build it as well. The last few days involved coming over and asking if he could help with anything, but now he somewhat regretted the idea. Mei strapped invention after invention to the poor boy to test them out, and more often than not they slightly injured or embarrassed him in the process. Luckily for him, Power Loader just asked him to help clean up, most of which was his student's mess.

Midoriya then asked, "What's strange about wanting to help someone?"

Hatsume explained, "Midoriya-san we make hero suit upgrades and redesigns all the time. More often than not we never even meet the person we're making it for and even if we do it's very brief. So for you to come here every day to help with other stuff is quite odd," she then turned and shouted over to her teacher, "isn't that right Maijima-sensei?"

Power Loader waved a hand lazily as he replied in a raised voice, "I'm not going to say no to help. Midoriya-san could become an honorary student of the Support Department if his sole job were to keep you occupied and cleaned up after you Hatsume-san."

Mei laughed before saying, "He's such a jokester. Honorary student? Whatever. I doubt you even know the difference between brazing and soldering," She continued to chuckle a bit before stating, "Well anyways, watch as I construct your new babies Midoriya-san!"

The next hour Izuku observed the pink haired mechanic craft his new shoe soles. Occasionally he asked a question about what she was doing, but eventually, she asked for silence, as she stated she works best when uninterrupted. When she finished, Hatsume then turned Midoriya over to Power Loader as she wanted to stress test the shoe soles in private.

The excavation hero was working on Midoriya's new gloves. They were thicker and longer than his previous pair. They also reached past the elbow. As the mechanic continued his work, the boy asked, "So do you two normally split the work?"

"Depends. If we have a lot of orders or requests then yes. I'll have my students share the work on the simple things. If not, then I do the work alone. Mei is an exception since she has the time to work on more difficult tasks. And right now we got quite a lot of work to prepare all the students that are trying to take the provisional license exam next Sunday. But when we do work together, I tend to work with the fabrics, and she does the metalwork," the pro hero answered.

Curious at how helpful she was, Izuku then asked, "Is Hatsume-san a good assistant?"

Power Loader paused to look at his guest and leaned in as he stated in a low voice, "Despite being high maintenance she's the best assistant I've ever had. But don't tell her that, it would bloat her head with more pride than I would know how to deal with."

"Yes sir," Midoriya stated with a nod.

The excavation hero looked back at his assistant before saying, "By the way, I appreciate you coming here. Hatsume-san needs some friends."