Iron Deku

Chapter Nineteen - Don't push yourself

"So I was all like, whapow, and then he was all like 'you don't work here', and then I was all like, skadoosh! and then-" Midoriya's hyperactive retelling of his escapades at UA were cut short by Mei giggling once more; watching as the genius bounced around their lab with a smile big enough to take on the sun and win. Hell he hadn't even landed before he had excitedly started to explain to her everything that had happened from the moment he had left the lab- and Mei was absolutely living for it; this was probably the most excited she had seen Midoriya ever since they had met.

Though, she could have done without the heart attack she had been given when Midoriya, looking like a missile, came barrelling into their lab; breaking the calm silence she had been working in for hours before he had arrived, and consequently causing her to break the invention she had been working on.

"W-What's so funny?!" Midoriya pouted, momentarily pausing to look at Mei.

"It's nothing Izuku! I'm really proud of you!" A gentle smile graced her face as she placed down her tools. Walking over to Midoriya, she quickly wrapped her arms around the boy; squeezing tight to make sure he could still feel her through his armour. After all, he was yet to take it off despite how damaged it looked.

"I- Wha..." Midoriya's eyes widened momentarily, before his pout was quickly replaced by a warm smile of his own; wrapping his arms around Mei in return; sighing out of content as he rested his head on the top of hers.

"So, how are your UA preparations going?" Midoriya questioned, replacing his head with his hand to play with her hair as he looked behind her to her work bench; taking note of the thousands of scattered machine parts that littered them. Sheepishly, Mei looked away.

"If I'm being honest, between helping you build your suits, reconnecting with my parents, and some other weird emotional stuff I'm dealing with... I just feel creatively drained... I'm seriously starting to doubt..." Sighing, Mei trailed off; her grip around Midoriya weakening whilst his tightened.

"Hey, you've got time; don't feel the need to rush yourself... Hell, if you need it, don't be afraid to ask for my help either; I'll always be here to help you!" Mei giggled once more, shaking her head as she attempted to ignore the red flush making its way onto her face.

"You flatter me 'Zuku, but if I get help from anyone with my submission, there's a large chance I wont be accepted into the Support Course; they're really strict about this stuff." Making a noise of acknowledgement, Midoriya kept a hold of Mei for a few moments longer, before allowing her to escape from his grasp.

"Well, if I can't help you with building, I can help you relax at least; you wanna watch a movie? You can tell me all about your 'weird emotional problems' as well if you want, just let me take this suit off first..." Midoriya chuckled, spinning away from Mei and walking back over to the grid on the ground that he had first put his armour on at.

"Aww, you're too sweet!" Mei chuckled, shaking her head as she made her way back over to her workbench; watching as the robotic arms that had been built to put on the suit came down once again, this time in reverse as they undid the armour and pulled it into the floor.

"Sir, I hate to interrupt, but I wish to ask exactly how you managed to damage the suit this much? I looks as if you were shot out of the sky by a tank!" Though he couldn't be totally sure, it sounded as if the AI was totally exasperated with him- and if he was being honest, Midoriya couldn't blame him if he was.

"Well, you were partially right... I was shot out of the sky but it wasn't by a tank, it was by Present Mic..."

"Wait, you met Mic?!" Mei coughed, her eyes widening with shock.

"Yeah, he works at UA; I also met Eraserhead and Vlad King!" Midoriya chuckled, finally being free of the armour as he left the grid on the floor; turning to face Mei.

"Oh, by the way Jarvis; there's a DvD in the chest compartment; do me a favour and extract it and convert it to be played on our tech, would 'ya buddy?"

"Yes, Sir!" Raising an eyebrow, Mei was about to ask why the boy he even had a DvD in the first place, however decided against it when she caught a glimpse of the anxious look that spread across his face when he mentioned it. After all, she knew that the boy would come to her about it if it was really bothering him.

"So anyway... movie? What do you want to watch?" Midoriya awkwardly chuckled, rubbing the back of his neck as he approached; his usual bright smile back on his face.

"I'm not actually sure to be honest, I was thinking we could just stick on Netflix?" Mei offered, pointing a thumb over her shoulder towards the glass doors of the lab. Thinking for a moment, Midoriya finally shrugged; smiling as he walked passed Mei and placed his hand on the identification pad.

"Sweet, let's go then; your parent's won't mind, right?"

Making their way out of the lab, Midoriya made sure to lock the door behind them as they entered the main part of the house.

"Nah, they wont mind... if I'm being honest they actually want to see a little more of you; you rarely ever leave the lab..." Mei commented, nudging his shoulder with her own.

"Really? I guess... I guess I just forgot that there are other people besides you that actually care about me now... I'm sorry if I've been ignoring them, even after they took me in..." Midoriya admitted, looking down to the ground as they walked.

"Hey, don't look so down about it! They don't blame you; they understand that you haven't really grown up with anyone other than Jarvis... It's like you told me back in the lab... Don't rush yourself!" Mei smiled, wrapping an arm around Midoriya's shoulders to pull him into a side-hug as they arrived in the living room.

"Alright, I'm gonna turn on Netflix, you just get comfy on the couch!" Mei added, sounding much like her usual upbeat self; removing her arm from Midoriya's shoulders and lightly pushing him over to the couch, before moving herself over to the TV; turning it on and grabbing the remote.