Hey guys! Hopefully this chapter doesn't take me 3 weeks, but who knows? Life is exciting nowadays, to say the least. spoilers it took me hella longer than that lol. holy shit this took me ages im so sorry dudes

Now I've been thinking about how I want to go about this story, and a reviewer had some pretty good ideas, that I'll probably follow, but definitely take into account. I just have to figure out how to write a little more complex stuff than I've been doing. I'm just really new to this whole writing thing, and am not confident on my ability to stray to far from canon. That's why I won't be implementing super complex ideas (at least to me), like giving everyone prana and the like. But! I will be revamping the way Izuku gets his "power-ups" a little, so it doesn't seem as forced. Hopefully everyone will like the small change! Note that I will not be editing past chapters, seeing as the revamp isn't to drastic, and the fact that the only power-up that Izuku has gotten so far is a way to use reinforcement.

With that out of the way, onto chapter 3, which I hope you all enjoy!

also dont roast me to hard, this type of writing is new for me.

It had already been a month since All Might had started training Izuku to one day inherit his quirk, and All Might had been marginally surprised by how toned Izuku's body was, seeing as the Aldera Middle School uniform didn't show muscle all that well. Thus, All Might had decided to expedite his "Aim to Pass: All American Dream Plan", and give Izuku harder workouts while cleaning Dagobah Beach, all without using the reinforcement to make the work easier. Something about how 'it doesn't matter that you can reinforce your body, if your body doesn't have anything to reinforce.' He had taken those words to heart, and worked as hard as he could each day to make his trainer proud.

Today would be one of those days, too. Izuku was lost in thought, carrying junk from the beach up to the sidewalk near the parking lot, where All Might would take it away later in the day. Speaking of, the number one pro hero was nowhere to be seen today, and that was a normal occurrence. All Might was a hero after all, and he couldn't dedicate all day every day to Izuku, no matter how much he wanted to.

The peace and quiet was interrupted when a loud bang, sounding like one of Kacchan's weaker explosions, rang throughout the beach. Snapping to attention, Izuku reinforced his legs and jumped over the imposing wall of trash. On the other side a column of smoke rose to the sky.

'Hang on, whoever you are! I'll be right there!' Izuku thought to himself, jumping on piles of trash to get over the wall faster. 'Man I am not going to enjoy taking this nightmare down later,' he thought idly as he made his way deeper into the fray.

When he got near to the area of the explosion, Izuku could hear someone's voice calling out through the field. Although, instead of nervous or scared, the voice sounded… angry? His curiosity piqued more than he could manage, and he rounded the corner that separated him and his mysterious visitor. When he laid his eyes on them, he was surprised.

It was a girl.

A very pretty girl, at that.

Her hair was the most striking part about her, the pink strands falling down her to her shoulders, looking almost like dreadlocks. On her head rested some odd looking goggles, the red frame contrasting with the bronze pipes that jutted out the back. Her eyes were a light gold, and the black cross hairs that decorated them contrasted against the light. She was wearing a black tank top, that didn't do much to hide her figure, went down to the end of her waist, which was wrapped by a dark green jacket. Under the jacket were a pair of similarly colored cargo shorts, and boots covered her feet.

Feeling that he was being a creep by staring, Izuku cleared his throat, earning him the attention of the girl. "H-Hey, I heard an explosion or something over here, and came to check it out," explained Izuku, who was mentally berating himself. 'Seriously dude, you start off with a stutter?! You can face down a villain, but one immensely pretty girl is to much for you?!' Izuku sighed at his internal battle, and then he heard a voice.

"Oh yeah, that was me. Sorry about that, one of my babies wouldn't work, and then it blew up on me. What're you doing here, anyway? This place is usually empty," asked the pink haired girl, staring at Izuku, the cross hairs in her eyes growing and shrinking.

"Ah, well, I'm training by clearing up the be- wait did you say babies?" The information the girl had given him finally caught up, and he snapped to attention. What was she doing with babies, and why were they exploding? The situation was almost laughable, if he weren't so confused.

"To answer your question, I'm Hatsume Mei, and I invent babies!" She exclaimed, excitedly pulling something out of her backpack. "Like this! This is one of my babies, one that can capture people in an instant!" With that, she tossed the ball towards Izuku, who yelped when the ball broke apart and light blue wires covered him. The ends of the wires had magnets on them, and when Izuku was secured, they got to work, capturing Izuku in a web of wires.

"You see, I got the inspiration for that from an old comic! Tell me, can you get out?" Mei asked excitedly, walking around him, her eyes zooming in and out rapidly. Izuku struggled, trying in vain to get out, even going as far as to reinforce his limbs, but it was all for naught. Sighing, he shook his head negatively. Mei cheered, and clicked a button on a remote she was holding, and the magnets demagnetized.

"So muscles, I never got your name." Mei called out when Izuku got free of the wires. They had conveniently gone back into the ball. "My names Midoriya Izuku," Izuku replied, blushing at his nickname, "and I'm here cleaning up this beach. Why are you here again?"

"This place has all the parts I need to make more babies, and best of all, they're all free!" Mei cackled, near visible energy buzzing off of her. "Of course, this baby," she kicked at the soot covered machine, "will have to be fixed." She sighed in an overly dramatic way. Hearing that, an idea popped into Izuku's head.

"Mind if I take a look at that for a second?" Izuku looked at her, reaching his hand out.

"Nah, go for it," she handed the machine over. He looked at it for a second, before placing his palm over what he assumed was the top.

"Trace." An outline of green light slowly ran down the machine, showing Izuku a mental blueprint of what it was supposed to be, and how it was supposed to work. "Hatsume, are you trying to build a jetpack or something?" He asked, taking his palm off of the supposed jetpack.

If it were possible, Hatsume's eyes gleamed even brighter, as her excitement grew to even higher levels. "Yeah! I'm trying to get the thrust down without overloading the fuel injectors, but so far its a bust. Oh, by the way, call me Mei. Hatsume make's me sound like my parents." Izuku took a moment to process what she was saying, and when he did, his face lit up a bright red.

"B-but Hatsume, that w-would be impolite! I just met you! I can't do that!" His hand's covered his face, hoping to hide the massive blush that was threatening his consciousness. Mei, catching onto Izuku's embarrassment, pressed her advantage.

"C'mon Izuku, just say 'Mei'. You know you want to~," she whispered into his ear, invading 10 layers of personal space in the process. Izuku's mouth gaped open, as his entire mainframe froze trying to process just what the heck happened.

Izuku jumped out of range of Mei's attacks, and stuttered out a response. "N-Now Hatsu-," he was cut off by a playful glare from Mei, "M-Mei, d-don't you think i-it's a l-little e-e-early for that?" he managed to gulp, looking anywhere but Mei. She took the hint, and eased up on the teasing a little. "But seriously, call me Mei. The formalities make me feel awkward."

"A-are you sure? D-do you f-feel comfortable with a s-stranger calling you that?" Izuku asked, perturbed by the pretense. Was this how people made actual friends? What a weird world.

"Yeah sure, you're helping me fix my babies, so you're good in my book." Mei called over her shoulder, already having a wrench out to fix the jetpack. "Now are you ever going to tell me what's wrong with this thing, or am I going to have to figure it out myself?"

Izuku just stood, stunned, but eventually snapped out it. He walked over and pointed near the middle of the pack.

"You gotta open up this plate.."

(line break here pepperonis)

Months passed by, and Izuku quickly found himself getting into a schedule. Every three days or so, All Might would stop by and check on his progress, and see if he had been keeping up with the Dream Plan, and give him pointers on how to use his reinforcement, as it was similar to One for All. The other days of the week were dedicated to clearing the beach, and hanging out with Mei when she was around. The weekends were dedicated to resting, and spending time with Mei, if she wasn't blowing stuff up. He had to admit, as weird as she was, she was his best friend, and he wouldn't change her for the world.

"Whew," breathed out Izuku, looking out at the near pristine beach in front of him. 'Just a few more days till the U.A. entrance exams.' It was true, and Izuku was right on schedule to clear the beach with a few days to rest. All Might had already congratulated him on getting the beach cleared, saying that it would've taken anyone just as long to get the job done. That was followed by a pat on the back that sent him flying face first into the sand. He was still finding bits of sand places even now.

"Hey!" shouted a voice behind him, followed by a slap on the back. He yelped in surprise as he was enveloped by what could only be described a very large air bag. Looking through the transparent material, he saw Mei, the girl he was beginning-'ok maybe not just beginning'- to crush on, cackling madly at his predicament.

"Mei, what the heck is this?!" he shouted from the confines of his plastic prison.

"It's a new baby prototype, one that'll keep villains contained until police show up. Just need to switch out the plastic with a stronger material, and then it'll be perfect!" Mei cackled out, already writing down materials that could be used instead of the thin plastic. "So, uh, how do I get out?" Izuku squirmed harder. 'I guess I can attest to this things strength should she need it. This things gripping me super tight.'

"Oh, that's just a test subject, you can break it if you want." she replied, calmer now, and grabbed something out her backpack. Izuku took the chance to trace Kanshou and Bakuya, cutting through the plastic as they materialized in his hands. As the coffin deflated, he climbed out and stretched. "So, uh, what're you doing here?" Izuku asked, genuinely curious.

"Oh, I need you to check a baby of mine. It should work, but your quirk should make sure of it." Mei replied, already handing him a spherical object. "If it doesn't work, then I'm going to have you help me figure out what's wrong and how to fix it."

Izuku pushed her hands away, and at the prompting of the confused look on her face, explained, "Yeah, today and the rest of the week leading up to the entrance exams are supposed to rest days, and I'm just finishing up here." Mei pouted, and Izuku had to control his face so it didn't clench. 'That is illegally cute, why is that allowed?'

"Speaking of, why don't you take a break with me today? We can go get lunch and do whatever for the rest of the day." Izuku paused, and then became an atomic cherry. 'How could I have asked her that?! Did that really happen?! Am I going to die of embarrasment?!' "I-I-I, uh, I obviously m-meant like-" "Yeah, sure. My parents got on me for staying the workshop for three days straight anyway."

"...What? Really, what about your babies?" Izuku couldn't fathom what he was hearing. She was willing to take time off of inventing, to go do stuff with him? This was definitely unexplored territory. Mei, already halfway to the stairs that connected the beach to the sidewalk, called out behind her, "What are you waiting for, lets go!"

'This is going to be a wild ride…'

(line break pepperonis)

The 'date' had gone well, and both Izuku and Mei had enjoyed their time together immensely. It was a new experience for Izuku, hanging out with a friend when they weren't working, but he enjoyed it nonetheless.

They had gone to lunch at a small cafe, really the only one Izuku had been to, and then made their rounds around the shopping district of Musutafu. Mei, of course, bought more tools, some that she had and needed to replace, and others she didn't. (Izuku offered to pay, but after looking at the total, decided to just try to split the bill). Izuku, on the other hand, bought more All Might memorabilia, and behind Mei's back, bought a bracelet decorated with gears.

After their walk down the shopping district, they found themselves back at the beach. The sun was setting over the waves, and the water was sparkling with light. It was really a sight to behold. They sat down on the sand, still warm from the days heat, and enjoyed each others company. Izuku was the first to break the silence.

"So, we're both going to UA, huh?" he asked, looking at her. She turned and looked back at him, "Yeah, we are. It feels weird that it's so soon. Hopefully their workshop is up to snuff." Izuku chuckled, then looked down at the sand.

"But we'll be in different classes."

Mei took a moment to reply, but eventually said, "Yeah, we will be. But that doesn't mean your out of the job. You and I are going to be at the top of the Support Item industry, whether you're a hero or not." Her voice was loud and strong, but then was followed up by a smaller voice.

"I'm going to miss you, though. We can't spend every day together anymore." Izuku took a deep breath.

"We will always have lunch together, whether it's in the cafeteria or in a corner of a workshop, if you haven't been kicked out by then," he joked, hoping to lighten the mood. "I also got you this, just to remember me by when we can't see each other."

Blushing, he looked away, at the waves, while he held out a box. Mei, her eyes zooming in and out, grabbed the box, and opened it. In it sat the bracelet, colored silver and bronze. Her eyes shot up.

"Izuku, when did you get this?"

"I got it while we were out shopping, and I thought you would like it. I wanted to get something for my best friend." Izuku's face burned hotter with each word he said, his eyes daring not look at her.

Mei, on the other hand, was burning up just as bright as Izuku, which was rare for a girl that could invade every layer of personal space a person could have. She took the bracelet out, and strapped it to her wrist.

"Thank you, Izuku."

(line break pepperonis)

so uh, sorry this is literally 2 months late or something. Lifes weird and I suck at writing slice of life, even tho thats my favorite manga genre. If u guys are still following this story, thanks. If not, again im sorry.

Anyway, this was a hard chapter to write, but I hope I can improve how to write this stuff. Hopefully it isnt to poorly written, but it is what it is, I can edit whatever complaints grammatically u guys have.

Next chapters gonna be the ua entrance exams, which should be easier for me to write, so expect that one out sooner than 2 months hopefully. Well see how life works, right?

Thanks for reading

oh yeah btw the next coming chapters should be a tad longer just because fight scenes, and thats where canon really ramps up.