Hmm… you know, this story seems to be turning into a series of oneshots about the MHA world, bouncing from character to character wherever my whims take me. It's a good way for me to resist a wider, connected plot.

I'll write about anyone, except probably Midoriya. Not because I hate him, but because he is the main character of the canon, so he already gets so much screen time I don't really feel the need to give him more, side characters tend to be more interesting to me anyway. Does anyone else feel the same?

Chapter 16: Inter-Academic Friends

S&DS&DS&DS&D

Jiro leaned back in the uncomfortable desk chair and started drumming her fingers to the beat of a song she liked as she waited for… whatever they were here for.

"You guys got any idea what this is about?" she asked the room at large.

"Nope." Sero yawned, stretching up his arms and leaning back in his desk. "All I know is Aizawa told me to be here. What about you, Tsu?"

The frog girl shook her head. "I'm as in the dark as you guys."

"Someone is approaching," said Shoji. The larger boy was leaning against the wall, multiple pairs of arms crossed with one morphed into an ear and pressed against the plaster. Moments after he spoke, the door opened and Ochaco stepped in.

"Hey guys." She smiled, waving one hand towards them.

"Sup, Death From Above," Sero grinned. "Aizawa tell you to come here too?"

The girl shook her head, "No, actually. I'm sort of the one who arranged this." She gestured to the four of them.

Jiro raised an eyebrow. "Then what's this about? Eraserhead said something about an extracurricular project?"

Ochaco nodded. "That's right. It's something I set up. I need all of your help with something."

"Really?" Sero asked. "I'd have thought you'd ask Midoriya or Iida for help. Aren't you lot the three musketeers?"

"There's a reason I couldn't ask them." The girl paused, shuffling her feet. "Um, is it alright if I start from the beginning? It's kind of a long story."

"Of course." Tsu nodded.

"We're all ears," Jiro said.

"You have my attention." Shoji said.

"Sure." Sero agreed, propping his head up with his hand. "You got my curiosity up."

Ochaco took a deep breath and started speaking quickly. "Alright, so my parents own a construction company. It's sort of small, but they do good work. And they are having trouble with a job and when they told me about it, I thought I could help, so I asked Aizawa if I could have some time off classes to help and then he talked with principal Nezu—"

"Uh," Sero interrupted. "Can you slow down? You're losing me a little bit."

Ochaco flushed. "Sorry, I'm just kinda nervous. Nezu agreed to let me have time off classes, but only by turning this into a project and he put me in charge of producing results."

"It is fine." Shoji said. "Why don't you start by telling us more about what the problem is."

"Right." The girl smiled. "Okay, so my parent's company are working on constructing a big library in the downtown area, but they are having some trouble with people trying to mess with the work."

"Vandals?" Jiro asked.

"Sort of." Ochaco answered. "See there's been some heated debate about the land plot they're building on."

"Ah, I believe I know of it." Shoji interjected, nodding thoughtfully. "Didn't some people desire to build a casino in the area?"

Ochaco nodded glumly. "Some really wealthy people, yeah. They weren't happy when a library was chosen instead." She scowled. "The casino people have been raising a big stink about it. But the city zoning board has already voted against them. So legally, there's nothing they can really do."

Jiro frowned. She had a feeling she could see where this was going.

"Construction has been underway for a few months, but it's been slow going because things keep going wrong. The concrete foundation isn't setting right and cracking, tools going missing, well-maintained machinery breaking down, that sort of thing." She frowned. "It's odd, because my parents have been working with these contractors for years and they've never had these kinds of problems."

"You suspect sabotage?" Shoji asked.

"That's what I think." Ochaco nodded. "All the stuff that's happening isn't really dangerous, but it is expensive." she spat the word like it was something she'd found crawling around in a gas-station bathroom. "If it continues for much longer, the project will go so far over budget that the whole thing will be scrapped. And guess who's going around suggesting that the whole library was a mistake?"

"The casino people?" Jiro asked.

"Yeah." Ochaco scowled. "They're pointing at all the problems and saying what a big waste of tax dollars it is and how, if they had just been allowed to build their casino, they could have bankrolled the whole thing and it wouldn't have cost the city anything." She looked away and spoke in a sickly-sweet voice. "Oh no, tut tut. What a shame it all is." Ochaco looked down, her hands curling into fists. "They're also saying that they could have hired some competent workers to do stuff. It's starting to hurt my parent's reputation, and believe me, that's really not good."

"And the police can't deal with this?" Jiro asked.

"There's no proof that anyone is actively doing it." Ochaco answered. "And nobody is being put in danger, so with all the other villain activity going on, the cops only put one person on the site at night to guard it. But I'm certain the sabotage is being done with a quirk and the cops haven't seen or heard anything."

"Ah." Shoji nodded. "I believe I am beginning to understand. You wish for Jiro and I to assist you because of our high-perceptions quirks."

"That's right." Ochaco nodded. "If someone is sabotaging the site, you two will be able to catch them in the act."

"Makes sense." Sero nodded. "But what about Tsu and me? Our perception is about as average as you can get."

"If we do find the people responsible it's important that we subdue them without hurting them. If they so much as get a bruise, the casino people would say that my parents hired kids as thug bodyguards or something."

"Really?" Shoji asked.

Ochaco shrugged. "Maybe, I don't want to give them anything more to criticize. But it's more than that, if it turns into a fight, it's absolutely critical that there be no collateral damage. So…"

"Ah." Sero nodded understandingly. "So that's why you couldn't ask Midoriya."

"There's a lot of expensive machines and materials around." Ochaco nodded. "Deku is a careful guy, but with his strength…"

"You can't have him leaving craters everywhere, gotchya."

"Whereas Sero and Tsu both have the ability to immobilize people quickly and quietly with limited potential for collateral damage." Shoji said. "A good fit for the required task."

"That was my thinking, yeah." Ochaco rubbed her hands together nervously. "So, um, what do you guys think? Are you willing to help me?"

"Of course!" Tsu answered instantly.

"I could use the extra credit." Sero agreed.

"Sure." Jiro nodded.

Shoji was quiet for a moment. "It is not that I do not wish to help," he said at length. "Nor do I wish to sound cold. But how long do you expect this to take? Are we expected to guard the site until construction is complete?" Jiro frowned at him, but didn't protest. He wasn't exactly wrong. They may be students, but their training was important.

"No, It's fine." Ochaco said quickly. "It's, well… I'm hoping that won 't be necessary. if we just spend a few nights on the site we can catch the ones responsible and maybe get them to fess up that the casino people put them up to it. That would be enough. Even if they don't confess, proving that someone is actively sabotaging the construction will take a lot of pressure off. It will prove that my parents aren't incompetent, and we can get the police more involved. I'm hoping it won't take more than a week."

"Hmm." The taller boy thought it over, then nodded. "Very well. I will give it a week, but then I will have to return to my other classes."

"Thanks." Ochaco smiled. "Let's meet up with me tomorrow afternoon, and we'll all go over to the site so we can get started."

"So… it's a jetpack?" Kirishima asked, standing still as Power Loader carefully secured two metal cylinders around his lower back. They weren't big, both being about the size of a thermos, but they felt solid.

"No." Power Loader answered. "But you can think of them that way, if you want. Just don't try to fly with it because it'll run out of fuel pretty quickly, and then you'll look like an idiot falling out of the sky."

"So, what am I supposed to use it for?" Kirishima asked.

Power Loader looked at him. "Kid, aren't you the one who came to me asking for help with upping your mobility? It's to give you a boost of speed moving forward, so that you can catch up with villains who would otherwise be running circles around you."

"Oh, I get it." Kirishima grinned. "With these, I can do a rocket punch."

"…Yes." Power Loader sighed. "You will become the rocket. And you will punch things. It is for rocket punches."

"They're kinda small." Kirishima answered, twisting his head around to try to get a better look. "How much speed will they give me?"

"You'd be surprised." The teacher answered. "They're supposed to be small. Since they're meant to upgrade your mobility, it would be a major design flaw if they were big and clunky." The teacher stepped back and examined his handiwork. "You can thank Yaoyorozu for the compact size by the way." He jerked his head to the side.

"Really?" Kirishima turned his head and stared at the girl. She was sitting behind a workbench staring at some papers, but looked up at the sound of her name. "Momo, you made these?"

"I made the cylinder shells." She answered. "Power Loader and Hatsume made the fuel tank and the engine."

"And she did a very good job." The teacher answered. "Getting this kind of metalwork done is expensive, but she managed to get it right in about an hour. She also managed to add a ceramic coating to the outside of them, so they don't heat up too much and ignite your clothes."

"Really?" Kirishima grinned. "That's good. If I'm gonna be falling out of the sky like an idiot, at least my pants won't be on fire. So how do I turn it on?"

"Here," the teacher held out a ring. "Put this on your index finger with this switch towards facing towards your thumb." He pointed to a silver bump on the side. "When you press it, the thruster will engage. When you take your finger off it cuts off. It needs to be pressed hard, so activating it by accident shouldn't be a problem."

"A ring…" Kirishima frowned.

"Something wrong?"

"Sorry, it's just, uh… I can't really do rings." Kirishima said apologetically. "It's my quirk. When I harden, my body expands a bit and it'll break."

"Is that right?" the teacher asked mildly. "Well, why don't you try that and see what happens."

Kirishima frowned at him, then shrugged. He took the ring and slipped it onto his finger. Activating his quirk, he blinked when he saw the ring flex, little grooves opening along it as it expanded with his skin. "Okay," he whistled. "That's pretty cool."

"Kid," Power Loader smirked. "Who do you think you're talking to? I make equipment for heroes, and despite what Hatsume may think, I'm damn good at my job. Also, since I know how heroes are, you don't need to worry about ring when you're hitting things. It's a flexible material that won't break and as long as you keep the side with the switch turned to the side, you won't have to worry about damaging it."

"Or activating it?" Kirishima grinned. "I'm having a sudden mental image of having the switch facing outward, punching a villain and activating the switch and then getting rocketed forward to body slam them…" his grin turned thoughtful. "Actually… I bet that would totally catch them off guard…"

"If that's how you want to use it." Power Loader sighed. "I mean, it's not like I just told you not to punch things with it like that, but whatever. If it breaks, I can make a new one… but I'll charge you for it." He added, wagging a metal-shod finger at him.

"I understand." Kirishima nodded. "So, we gonna test these things out or what?"

"Let's go to the testing room." Power Loader turned and moved toward the door. "You too, Yaoyorozu. You should see your work in action." He led them down a flight of stairs to a wide concrete room with several training dummies set up at the end.

"Well, have at it, kid." The teacher gestured at the dummies. "Get a feel for how it works. And make sure you keep your quirk on the whole time, because Hatsume managed to set most of the wall padding on fire yesterday and we haven't gotten around to fixing it."

"Alright." Kirishima cracked his knuckles. "Let's see how this works." He broke into a run, his skin turning rough as his quirk activated, pulled back his fist and leapt into the air. There was a flash of light, and fire bloomed from the cylinders strapped to his waste, he shot forward, flying right over the training dummy's head and slammed face-first into the wall beyond it.

"Seems about right." Power loader commented.

"Kirishima!" Yaoyorozu called. "Are you alright?"

"Fine!" he called back sheepishly, pushing himself to his feet and shaking his head. "That… was faster than I thought it would be."

"Told yah you'd be surprised." Power Loader smirked. "Still, at least we know its strong enough to propel him" he turned to Yaoyorozu. "From an engineering standpoint, that test could be considered a rousing success."

"Can we install some kind of brakes?" Yaoyorozu asked. "In case he misses like that in future."

"Not really." The teacher shook his head. "We want to keep it simple. Luckily, his quirk is well suited to this."

"Do I need to refuel it?" Kirishima asked, walking back towards them and rubbing one hand along his face to shake off the concrete dust.

"Not yet," the teacher answered. "It has got enough fuel for three blasts like that. But you shouldn't have held the button down so long. It's not really meant to make you fly, just give you an extra turn of speed to take villains with high mobility quirks by surprise." He crossed his arms. "Still, it's not going to be an easy thing to control. If you want to use something like this effectively, it's going to take a lot of practice, and it has limitations. Like, if you get into a fight on top of a building, you could accidentally propel yourself off the roof." He shrugged. "I'll understand if you don't want to keep using it."

"Are you kidding?" Kirishima gapped. "Of course I want it! My quirk is perfectly suited to this!" he grinned and cracked his knuckles. "Hard work and practice aren't enough to scare me off. I just gotta keep my eyes on the prize. Like the look I'll see on Bakugo's face when he tries to blast himself into the air above me to attack from above and I rocket up to punch his lights out." Kirishima smirked. "Give the guy a taste of his own medicine."

Power Loader stared at him, then shrugged. "Fine. If that's what motivates you, far be it from me to stop you." He turned. "I've got other stuff to work on, so I'll leave you to it. Yaoyorozu knows where we keep the fuel pods for when you run out. Try not to hurt yourself."

"Thanks teach!"

Shinsou strolled through the city, keeping an eye on the street signs as he followed the somewhat messy list of directions Miss Joke had given him. Apparently, he was supposed to be meeting up with some of her students for his mentorship thing.

He was pretty sure he could see the café she'd mentioned just down the block, he turned on the sidewalk and stared at the traffic signal, waiting for it give him the sign to cross. He shrugged his shoulder, trying to get a better feel for the outfit Aizawa had given him for the field work. It wasn't a hero costume, exactly, but it would function as one: Nondescript gray and black clothing, light but with some padding in case he took a tumble on the pavement. The binding cloth was wrapped around his shoulders and arms and he had his speaker on.

As the light turned green and he strolled across the street, he took a moment to try to quell the butterflies in his stomach. This was it. He was actually being given a chance to do field work in a hero capacity. It was a bit like he'd felt when he was standing at the gate of the entrance exam—which he'd failed completely because robots were dumb, but whatever. This time he wouldn't fail.

Well… maybe he would. But that was okay. Failing the entrance exam hadn't been the end, and this wouldn't be either.

Shinsou scowled underneath his speaker and gave his head a vicious shake. That sort of attitude was unhelpful. He would succeed this time.

"Hey! Shinsy!" he blinked, pulling himself out of his head. Oh, he was here. Miss Joke was sitting at a patio table with a couple of other people his age. She waved him over and gestured to the seat beside her. "Almost didn't recognize you out of the U.A. uniform." She laughed as he moved to join them. "But then I sensed the cloud of serious angst and knew Aizawa junior must be nearby! Anyway, everyone. This is Shinsou, Shinsou, these are my students." She gestured to the three guys sitting around the table. "Actually, there's one more. But Tatami had to use the bathroom. Speaking of," she pushed herself back and stood up. "I'll be back in a hot minute. You guys get introduced."

"Thanks." He said flatly taking his seat and casting an eye over the people examining him. One was blue, his face smooth like stone with no nose or ears to speak of, he nodded at Shinsou.

"Name's Shikkui." He said politely.

The next one had long black hair and a red scarf hiding half his face—it made him look a bit like Aizawa. "My name is Iterjiro."

"And I'm Yo." Shinsou glanced at the third boy; black hair and a friendly smile that didn't quite seem to match his eyes. "So, you're the first year from U.A. whose being given special treatment after they couldn't make the cut to even take the provisional license exam."

Ah, so that's what this was going to be. "Yes." He said, nodding. "I am, and I'm thankful for the chance."

"Isn't that nice? He's thankful?" Yo glanced at the other two.

"Yo." Iterjiro said. "Calm yourself. Miss Joke asked you to play nice."

"Fine, fine." Yo leaned back in his chair. "I'll just quietly help babysit this first-year student and not bother to comment on how dumb it is that he couldn't wait for his turn at the provisional exam like everyone else."

"I appreciate that." Shinsou said blandly, making the boy scowl.

"So." Shikkui interjected, "I've heard your quirk is brainwashing?"

"That's right." Shinsou answered, the change of topic was appreciated, although the new topic wasn't as much. But he might as well get it out of the way.

"I'm interested to see how you are going to apply it. My quirk is hardening."

"Hardening?" did he mean like Kirishima?

Shikkui reached forward and picked up a newspaper lying on the table, he rolled it into a tube and held it for a moment, then he tapped it against the table. The paper clunked like a bar of iron.

"…Dogs everywhere must fear you." Shinsou commented, unable to think of what to say. He winced internally. Wow, could he come across any more like a jackass?

"Hmm. I haven't actually heard that one before." Shikkui nodded, his face didn't smile, but his tone was light, so he probably wasn't offended. "Normally people just say 'that's nice' and ask the next person what their quirk is."

"Sorry."

"It's fine. I'm not touchy."

"My quirk is boomerang." Iterjiro spoke, picking up the newspaper and flicking it into the air, it flew upward, orbited around his head three times, before clunking back onto the table. "I can control the things I throw and, before you ask, yes, I am very good at darts."

"Sounds useful." Shinsou said. He glanced at Yo, who sneered.

"You'll see what my quirk is later, rookie."

"Uh oh. Yo's being grouchy again." Said a voice behind him.

Shinsou turned around and stopped. He stared.

There was a girl behind him. Or… half of one. It looked as though someone had their head pulled off and had it shoved onto a pair of legs cut off at the waist.

"Hi!" the face spoke from eye-level with him, a blond-haired one with a friendly smile. "I'm Tatami. Nice to meetchya."

"Uh…"

There was a click and he looked around. Ms. Joke was standing behind the pair of legs and holding up a phone in his direction. "Nice." The woman grinned, nodding appreciatively at the screen.

"Uh…"

The girl's body shook slightly, and Tatami's head shot upward, it was like watching someone pull themselves out of a diver's wetsuit. She jumped up and down slightly as she yanked her arms out.

"Her quirk is telescopic." Miss Joke explained. "Which means she can… well, you saw." She smiled. "Sorry about that, but I love getting pictures of people's faces when they first see her quirk."

"You should have seen hers." Tatami smirked, jerking a thumb over her shoulder at the teacher. "She looked like I'd smacked her with a fish."

"Rude." Miss Joke complained. "But anyway. Are you guys to ready to go on patrol?"

"Depends." Yo said. "How much do we have to hold his hand?" he asked, jerking his head toward Shinsou.

Miss Joke frowned at him. "While I do hope to see you all engaging in teamwork where ever you can, but strictly speaking, not at all. Out in the field, you'll often find yourself working alongside heroes you've never met. It's important to be able to learn how not to get in each other's way. So It's his job to learn to work with you. I'm not going to interfere in your efforts, but if any of you should start fighting or actively sabotaging one another." She glanced over them, Shinsou included. "I'll send you all on an hour long giggle fit. More if I think its warranted." Her students shuddered, and Shinsou swallowed hard, remembering when she'd used her quirk on him before. A full hour of that? No thanks.

"Well. Off you go." She waved her hands in a shooing motion. "Good luck everyone!"

S&DS&DS&DS&D

Yay new friends! But also one who is NOT interested in Friendship. He'll learn, or maybe he won't.

Yeah, this chapter was more a setup for the what's to come while also building on the bit with Momo.

Hope you all enjoyed, feel free to review.

Till next time!