Chapter 40: Tactics and Gear

Aizawa stated dryly, "Stop pouting Hagakure-san."

"I haven't said anything yet. How can you tell my mood?"

"Your posture tells me enough."

Tooru softly groaned but said nothing more.

All Might approached the side of the podium as he stated, "Don't worry. This should be our only classroom Team Appreciation Club lesson for a long while. We'll be back in action next Monday."

Eraserhead was quick to add, "See? So just endure it."

A simple nod was all the girl gave in response through her hoodie, which she hadn't pulled back once inside the building. Hagakure then pulled the hoodie's drawstrings and tightened them until most of her head was encased in fabric. This got a chuckle from Uraraka but a facepalm from Ojiro.

Yagi rubbed the back of his neck as he stated, "Before we get to the heart of the matter, we need to address the progress made since we last met at the start of December." He then gave a gesture towards Uraraka before saying, "I must say your suit upgrades are quite ingenious. Your new grapple allows you to quickly cover the distance between your opponents, but has allowed you limited flight as well with its assistance."

"Well, the exact idea wasn't my own, but thanks."

Ida crossed his arms and had a look of slight discomfort plastered on his face.

Judging from his friend's reaction, Midoriya figured it was due to Hatsume's efforts from his trips to the workshop. Things were still sour between the two and were the prime reasons he was hesitant to ask the group about her proposal. Either way, Uraraka's suit had gone through quite a change. Her helmet no longer had its glass visor and had a new look. The belt was redesigned and reduced. And finally, her wristguards now contained a grapple. Hatsume was quite ecstatic to finally explain how it all worked once Midoriya had seen it.

Aizawa flipped through a few pages as he said, "Flexibility for Ida-san and planning ahead for Yaoyorozu-san. Something you both needed. Not much to add."

Both class reps nodded upon hearing this.

Izuku recalled them both explaining this on the first day of term. Though, of course, Eraserhead wasn't there to see. Whatever happened hadn't cropped up again since that night they talked. His homeroom teacher seemed back to normal. But it still made the student worry.

All Might then asked, "How goes the bojutsu training, Ojiro-san? We haven't seen you display it in class yet."

Mashirao rubbed the back of his head with his right hand as he answered, "Still a work in progress sensei. It's going to be some time until it's battle-ready."

Momo gave a concerned look at her boyfriend but looked away once she noticed Izuku had noticed her. Guess things are not going that smoothly, he thought.

Aizawa sighed before saying, "Fair enough. I would rather you have that attitude than being overconfident." He then turned to Midoriya. "It's good to see your control over that new power of yours wasn't a fluke."

"Thanks, but I still need to work on my endurance with it." A few seconds wasn't going to cut it on the battlefield.

"Better than exploding like before," Hagakure stated with sass.

Yagi coughed before turning to the female student saying, "I think his body has had enough of that." He then gave a more severe look before asking, "How goes these suit upgrades you submitted last month? The Stun Punch was quite impressive, and now I'm quite eager to see the others come to fruition."

"Oh, that. Well, Hatsume-chan's hit a snag in their development. I figured it would be a tall order, to begin with, so the delay doesn't bother me that much."

All Might nodded before saying, "Well, she's a tough one; I'm sure she'll come up with something."

She's actually quite stumped, Izuku wanted to say but only thought. There was the offer that Gou Inoue had mentioned two days ago, but he had no clue how legitimate it even was. Let alone how long it would be until it would come to fruition.

Eraserhead shrugged before saying, "No use in rushing complicated work." He stopped leaning into the podium so heavily and sat up a bit before saying, "Let's move on to the main focus for today."

Yagi reached over and pulled up the projector screen to reveal what was written on the chalkboard. It showed in large letters, "Team Tactics." Midoriya instantly recognized the style as his mentor's handwriting.

Aizawa exhaled before saying, "Team Tactics. That will be our focus for the rest of this semester." He then turned around and immediately began erasing the chalkboard. As the All Might frowned, Eraserhead continued by saying, "To start, we need to discuss team formation as it will be the backbone to any strategy you will develop in large groups."

Uraraka asked, "So, like our positioning?"

"Precisely. How your team arranges itself in situations is key to optimizing the effectiveness of your quirks and group dynamic."

Yagi then added, "Of course your formation isn't just one set in stone position. It will change based on what your objective is. You wouldn't want the same arrangement if needing to hold a position versus attacking a target."

Ida placed a hand on his chin as he said, "I see. So like while I might be required in the front of a formation during an offense maneuver, the same can't be said for me in a defensive situation."

The former pro hero nodded before replying, "Exactly Ida-san. The formation can also change in size and depend on what kind of area you are operating in. For example, a defensive formation would usually require you to be closer together, but the opposite positioning would most likely be more spread out unless in tight quarters."

"So there are lots of variables," Eraserhead stated as he finished his job on the chalkboard. "Starting next week, we will be testing out such formations, but it will be up to you to develop them on your own time."

"So homework," Hagakure stated with a groan.

Aizawa's patience looked to be at its limit, but Yagi stepped up and put a hand on the teacher's shoulder before saying, "It will be a group effort, and I'm sure if you work together, it will be quite quick and easy. We just don't want to spend too much time in these sessions theory-crafting them. Instead, we want to focus on you all experiencing them. We can then expand on them and work out the issues from the results of each battle."

Eraserhead seemed to have calmed down at this point. "For the first few weeks, each night will focus on a certain formation. For next week we will solely test you on offensive positioning. It doesn't hurt to brainstorm other scenarios beforehand, though." He then walked over to the far corner of the classroom to grab his sleeping bag. Without turning around, he stated, "That's all for tonight."

Tooru fidgeted in her seat, but a shake from Izuku's head got her to sigh and not comment about it. He figured she had to get back into battle training.

All the students, besides Midoriya, quickly left the classroom after saying their goodbyes. Aizawa looked confused at this but then gave a glance at Yagi before saying, "All for One training?"

All Might responded with, "Sorta. More going over our plan for the semester. Nothing serious." He had texted his student earlier in the day about staying after the TAC meeting. Though what for, Izuku didn't know until now.

Eraserhead gave a slight nod and left without pursuing the subject any further.

After the door closed, Yagi asked, "You didn't say anything to your classmates about staying behind?"

"Tooru has it covered. She came up with the idea to tell them you were interested in talking to me about the last day of my internship."

All Might gave a small grin before saying, "A good cover." He then cleared his throat before continuing with, "Well, anyways. I want us to set a time in the week to continue your training. These TAC meetings have been good to your growth, but since we discovered you possess additional quirks, this is no longer enough. We can get by having you display Black Whip, but this won't let you focus on improving One for All and learning how to use Float."

Midoriya gave it some thought for a few seconds before suggesting, "Friday could work."

"Friday it is then."

"So uh, by making One for All better, do you mean upping my percentage while under Full Cowl?"

"Indeed." Toshinori then sat down at the desk beside Izuku before asking, "What can you do right now with precise control?"

"Almost 30%."

"Not bad, close to third of the total power. And if you push yourself?"

"About 35%." Midoriya felt he hadn't been working on his absolute limit that much, as the fear of injury kept him from going too far.

"Well then, now that Black Whip is at least in a usable state, I would like for you to go back training that aspect of your quirk. Hopefully, in the process, they will allow us to unlock my master's quirk. Bakugo-san has already agreed to help, so that's a plus."

The boy tilted his head before asking, "He already said yes? But he couldn't have know it's happening on Friday."

"I asked him this morning. As long as it wasn't Saturday or Sunday, he said he didn't care."

Midoriya then pondered on why not on those days.

"However, with that out of the way, there is a much more important reason I asked you to stay behind tonight." Once Yagi noticed his student's surprise, he continued by saying, "It involves Inoue-san."

"Oh. Is this because of the meeting you had with him on Saturday?"

"Ah yes, he did mention you escorted him there. It makes sense he filled you in on the situation. Thanks for that. I didn't want to draw attention to his presence by meeting him at the gate, although I probably should have sent someone at the very least." All Might then gave a slight wave of his right hand before saying," Anyways, that meeting was for my curiosity. Ojiro-san assured me of a lot of things over the phone after I learned what happened, but even after talking with Aizawa-san about it, I still wanted to know more. So after some back and forth between me and the detective, I had it arranged that Inoue-san come see me here."

"I..I didn't think you would be that interested in the Vigilante Task Force." In Izuku's eyes, his mentor seemed pretty cautious about its existence. To go to these lengths to find out so much about it seemed odd.

"Well, now that their top asset is involved with my pupil, I sorta have no choice but to seek out more information about it."

"Sooo...what did you learn?"

Toshinori squinted his eyes as he replied, "Not enough to satisfy me, and it seems Inoue-san noticed. That's when he proposed an idea to get me to trust him. A plan that involves Hagakure-san."

Midoriya thought, wait, he didn't mean. He paused for a moment as the gears turned in his head before saying, "He told you about helping improve her gear?"

"Yes. It was quite out of the blue. However, his plan did intrigue me."

Izuku stood up as he asked, "What even is it?" All he was told was that Gou "knew people."

"He knows a talented off-the-books mechanic. They make gear and gadgets for people like him and even do unofficial work for pros sometimes, if by a different name. Inoue-san planned to have you accompany him to meet this person."

"What?! Why me?" This plan made no sense to Midoriya. Why did he have to be involved at all?

"To observe how he operates. If he truly is a "good" vigilante, we need to see it in action. I've only been told how resourceful he is, not seen. I, of course, can't accompany Inoue-san to meet this person. It would draw too much attention. So you and the others will be my eyes for this."

"Others?"

"Well, Hagakure-san's suit is quite advanced. The issue in upgrading it can't just be written and understood; it needs to be shown, by an expert in the field. So I'll have Power Loader accompany you. Is that alright?"

Izuku sat back down before saying, "Uh, yeah. Have you asked him yet?"

"I will in due time; however, I cannot see him saying no to me. Most of the faculty here seems to bend over backward for me. Bless them," All Might stated before sighing.

"Well beside Aizawa-san," Midoriya replied with a weak chuckle.

"With good reason. I haven't exactly made this year easy for him." Yagi then stood up before saying, "Regardless, it might be a while until we can set this up. So for now let's continue to strengthen One for All's new abilities together." He then extended a closed fist towards his student.

Izuku gladly bumped it as he proclaimed, "Yes, sir!"

Mineta brought his arms back and rested his hands behind his head as he stated, "Why are you so hyped about Valentine's Day Tsunotori-chan? It's still weeks away."

"But it means Spring is just around the corner! Plus, all the girls that could be getting confessed to. What's not to like? Maybe even I will get lucky!"

Midoriya, who was behind the two, then said, "America does it differently?"

Pony stopped to turn around and asked, "What do you mean? Is that not how it works here?"

The sudden halt made Koji flinch, who was at Izuku's side. It was Wednesday, after class. Midoriya's close friends had gone with others, so he decided to tag along with Mineta. Koda soon joined them and Tsunotori as well as they passed 1B's classroom.

Izuku explained, "Girls are the ones to give gifts to those they have crushes on or are already in a relationship with."

Minoru nodded before saying, "I mean yeah, there are some girls who will be on the receiving end, but it's mostly going to be boys. White Day is more in line with what happens where you're from."

"Now you're making stuff up Mineta-kun," Tsunotori stated with puffed up cheeks.

"U-Uh, he isn't wrong, Tsunotori-san," Koda stated. Once her attention was on him, he gulped and tried to explain. "W-White Day is on March 14th, and it's about girls r-repaying their Valentine's gift they received the month prior."

"But why is it called White Day?"

Midoriya chipped in this time and said, "When the tradition started, men gave white chocolate. Though it's changed since."

Pony pondered for a few seconds before saying, "So it's like splitting Valentine's Day in two different holidays. Weird."

Minoru crossed his arm and stated, "So everyone gives each other gifts and confesses to one another on the same day in America? Sounds cluttered."

The two then began to walk again. Izuku began to follow but noticed Koji wasn't following. He was looking down at his hands and both his index fingers were poking each other.

"You guys go ahead." Midoriya then approached Koda and asked, "Everything alright?"

Koji looked up in surprise and noticed the others had already left. "Oh s-sorry, I sorta spaced out there."

Izuku took a moment to inquire about this before asking, "Is something happening on Valentine's Day for you?"

"It's just a d-dumb thought, Midoriya-kun. Not worth talking about."

"If it's bothering you this much, then it doesn't seem dumb to me."

Koda sighed before moving forward. "We should at least walk as I e-explain."

Midoriya then nodded and followed beside his friend.

"Hanging out with J-Jiro-chan is becoming more and more difficult as the days go by."

"Did something else happen?"

"No. Not really. I mean, I wish we could go on another outing with Kaminari-kun, but that's not the issue." He then took a deep breath. "It's just becoming challenging to hold in my f-feelings for h-her."

"Oh." Izuku had thought things were back to normal between the two, but it seemed that wasn't the case. "So, the idea is to confess to her on Valentine's Day?"

"Even if it fails, yeah. Sounds dumb, huh?"

Midoriya pondered how to answer. Eventually, he said, "It's not. You just want your intentions known, no matter what happens."

Koji nodded and then said, "It's getting harder and harder to keep my cool around h-her with these thoughts in my head. I thought I could ignore it all and be happy enough to stay as her f-friend. The dumb part is I'm clueless on how to do it. Then there's the fact I don't know how Kaminari-kun would feel about this."

Right, I chose to talk to Jiro about this over Kaminari, Izuku thought. "Well, me having a chat with Jiro-chan last time set things straight. Maybe if I do the same Kaminari-kun, I can find out for you."

"That sounds more doable than me asking. It would be so unbearably awkward for me to ask if he did end up having feelings for her."

"I'll see what I can do," Midoriya stated with a thumbs up. "We'll work on how to confess later."

Mina chuckled, "You really are the love guru of our class Midoriya-kun."

Izuku dropped another empty box onto a pile as he said, "I'm just trying to be helpful."

"You mentioned advising Ida-kun, Ojiro-kun coming to you for months, and now you tell me you've been keeping things nice between Jiro-chan and Koda-kun."

"I'm just very supportive of my friends, is all."

"Just don't spread yourself too thin. There's only so much you can do on your own." Ashido then jokingly stated, "Ya'know, maybe you radiate love energy or something. You've infected almost half the class now."

Midoriya could only sigh at his friend's teasing.

It was Thursday, and Izuku was in Mina's room. He figured she became inspired to do some spring cleaning herself because of their last meet up. There was a lot less to do than last week, but Midoriya was still happy to help. Ashido's style of work wasn't as efficient anyhow the boy soon learned. He was currently making a pile of leftover boxes she had from her move into the dorms. Izuku couldn't believe she still hadn't done anything with them after all these months and had just left them in her closet.

Mina finished folding some blankets before asking, "So do you really plan on asking Kaminari-kun if he has feelings for Jiro-chan?"

"That seems like the only way to ease Koda-kun into confessing."

"But asking Kaminari-kun out of the blue? If anything, Koda-kun should be confronting him about it. They are already good friends, are they not?"

"I don't disagree, but confidence is not exactly Koda-kun's strong point." Midoriya knew Koda had come a long way since the first term, but there were still limits for him that were hard to shake.

Ashido sat down on a chair cushion and crossed her arms. "I just think if he's relying on others to solve all his problems dealing with a crush, don't you think that will make things even harder once he has a relationship? That doesn't sound fair to Jiro-chan, either."

She had a point, Izuku noted. Tenya had only asked for advice once. Mashirao, while having come to him multiple times, still figured things out on his own eventually. There was also the case of Sato, which Midoriya hadn't told Ashido about yet, but now he was Kendo's friend and almost the rest of 1B. Koda was a completely different story.

Izuku then stated, "Well, maybe I'll bring Koda-kun along then." He figured being around might help boost Koji's confidence.

Mina threw up a blanket as she proclaimed, "Then I want to go too!"

"Huh? Why?"

Ashido crossed her arms as she responded, "Well, I want to get on this matchmaking action for once. Not just hear about it afterward. Besides, I can help too!"

"Well, I do lack the perspective of a girl's point of view."

"See? I can be helpful to Koda-kun once we get this love triangle business out of the way."

Midoriya sighed before saying, "If we can get it out of the way. I don't have any idea what to do if Kaminari-kun does have feelings for Jiro-chan."

Mina started cackling, as she said, "Then it will be a battle royale for her affection from then on."

Izuku started to collapse the cardboard boxes as he stated, "I don't think that's how it works. Plus, they both don't seem like the type to do that."

"You never know how far boys will go for love."

"Let's hope it doesn't come to that. Anyways, if you want to tag along, when do you want to do this?"

Ashido looked lost in thought as she sat on her bed. Eventually, she said, "I want to talk to Koda-kun first. Make sure he is okay with it. If I showed up out of the blue, it wouldn't help the situation."

"Yeah, you would be quite intimidating."

"Am I really?"

Midoriya put up his hands defensively and answered, "Not you specifically, just girls in general for him."

"Even Jiro-chan? That boy is a mess sometimes." Mina then stood up on her bed, "Alright then. For the sake of Koda-kun, Operation Triangle Buster will soon commence!"

Izuku was hoping he hadn't added something too chaotic to this dilemma.

Ida spoke up as he asked, "So is everyone okay with the change in plans?"

The other five had no objection, though Uraraka turned to blank space beside and stated, "You might want to brace yourself before he goes top speed Hagakure-chan. Even I am not used to it yet."

"I'll be fine. I adore riding roller coasters, Remember? Besides, it will be just for a brief moment. He's only dropping me off at the other end of the building."

Aizawa's voice then came over their communicator. "You have ten seconds and counting."

As everyone got into their positions, Yaoyorozu then stated with glee, "Oh, we timed this perfectly."

Tonight was another Team Appreciation Club meeting, and the group was currently in an alleyway between buildings at Ground Beta. The current formation had Tenya in the front carrying Tooru, Izuku had his left flank and Mashirao the right, Momo took the rear, finally with Ochako in the middle.

All Might's voice then proclaimed, "Begin!"

Ida sped off at full speed around the corner to the left, while the others simply took a defensive position in the open street. In front of them were villain bots from their entrance exam. A dozen victory class bots (or one pointers) began to activate as the class president ran past them. He briefly stopped on the right corner of the next street to drop off Hagakure. By the time the bots had finally turned to focus on Tenya, he was already on his way back to the others. As he arrived between Izuku and Mashirao and said, "Here they come!"

Two bots lead the charge, racing forward on their one wheel at a blistering speed. Once in range, Midoriya performed a downward Detroit Smash on the machine to the left, obliterating it. Ida performed a sweeping kick on the right bot, which caused it to fall sideways, but before it could hit the ground, Ojiro brought down his tail on its head, crushing it. The three then hopped over the carnage and ran forward toward the next wave of seven bots. Three met the boy's charge, but the four others went to either side in groups of two.

"They're doing a pincer maneuver! Get ready, Uravity!"

Ochako was way ahead of Momo and had already applied Zero Gravity to the fallen bots and launched them to either side of her. One bot on the left had its wheel jammed by the shrapnel and ran itself into a wall. The other had its head knocked clean off. The last two evaded the attack, and side by side closed in on the Yaoyorozu. She then produced a large square magnet from her left hand and threw it with her right towards the head of the two attackers. The machines stopped in their tracks as their heads collided. The strong magnet was interfering with their hardware.

Hagakure's voice then came over the communicator. "All targets are shut down!"

Ida stomped on the last bot's head before saying, "Then let's proceed to the final objective, everyone." The boys had already handled all those that had remained.

The group returned to their formation before rounding over to the next street on their right. They continued forward, passing inactive six imperial class villain bots (or two pointers). Izuku then heard to his left, "Quick and easy."

Mashirao was quick to say, "Not this final part, though."

They all rounded the corner to the right to see their last challenge. Three Venator class villain bots (or three-pointers) stirred as they activated. Two were right at the start of the next street with a third in the far back. The nearby threats immediately started stomping the ground.

After everyone dodged and stepped back from the attack, Momo yelled, "Green team handles left, red right, and blue the one in the back." Tenya immediately sped off and began to pester the back bot, dodging its projectiles it had launched with ease.

Izuku veered left and rushed the bot, grabbing one of its arms. He then upped Full Cowl as high as he could muster to prevent it from running away. As it tried to back up, Ochako then used the opportunity to place her hand on the other arm. Midoriya then let it go as the Venator began to float upward, helplessly kicking its arms and spinning its wheels. The two then turned their attention to Team Red. Ojiro had just baited the robot to slam down once again, and he dodged no problem. However, as it attempted to lift its arm, it didn't budge. The other arm had been rendered just as obsolete.

Izuku began to ponder what was happening but lost his train of thought as Ochako ran over and placed a hand on the Venator.

Momo then stated, "Deku! Break the concrete near its arms!"

Midoriya nodded before rushing over to bust the ground in both places.

As the bot too began to rise in the air, Ojiro asked, "You got this Uravity?"

Uraraka nodded as she held her stance. "During the entrance exam, I was able to float one of these and three of the robots that Hagakure deactivated earlier at the same time. It was a struggle back then, but now even two of these are a breeze." She then looked up and stated, "This should be high enough. Everyone stay clear." Once everyone had moved away, she released both Venators to their doom.

Izuku looked over to Blue Teams' target. It was still on-going. He turned to Momo and said, "I'm going to give Ingenium some backup."

With a smirk on her face, the class vice president answered, "No need. it looks to be over."

Midoriya looked back to see the but slump forward before falling face first. He then heard a victory screech given by his girlfriend.

All Might's voice then came over the communicator. "Superb work, everyone. We'll be over in a few minutes."

"Welp, I'm glad that worked out," Ojiro stated before sighing. "I wasn't all too sure if what Hagakure-chan had observed was going to work."

"Or if Stun Punch would even be able to pull it off," Yaoyorozu stated.

Izuku spoke up and said, "Well, she did mention it's power got upgraded."

Mashirao shook his head as he stated, "Yeah, but it breaks apart if she uses the high setting. I can't see why her engineer would design their invention to intentionally break. Let alone be willing to make a new one each time."

Midoriya then thought, "Yeah, but that's precisely what Hatsume would do." The power upgrade for the Stun Punch was her desperate attempt to make some progress. It did remind the boy of the text he had received from Inoue yesterday, that Saturday the plan to seek help for Tooru's upgrades would occur. He would send more details as the date approached. Speaking of which, though, Izuku felt someone lean onto his side.

"Flawless if I do say so myself," Hagakure stated with pride.

Ojiro then asked, "What's the damage, though?"

A heavily damaged Stun Punch then appeared from then air from the girl's pocket. "Totalled, but hey, look at the bright side. I didn't get zapped when I punched the weak spot. I was more worried about that than if I couldn't bring that robot down."

Another precaution to have about Mei, Izuku wanted to say.

Tooru left her boyfriend's shoulder and said, "Uraraka-chan, I think I understand another reason why you could handle roller coasters so well even as a first-timer."

"Oh?"

"You weren't kidding about Ida-kun's speed. Considering you and him have been working on that Super Move for some time, that has to have helped."

Ochako rubbed the back of her head as she said, "Perhaps you're right. I have become used to it."

Tenya was quick to say, "I didn't hurt you in any way, did I Hagakure-chan?"

"Nah, you did fine. The shock of your acceleration is all that got me. I should have taken Uraraka-chan's advice seriously, so that's on me."

All Might's muffled voice then came from somewhere, saying, "Regardless, it truly was a brilliant plan."

The students looked around until they saw a manhole stir and move. First came the former hero, then Eraserhead. The latter said, "I will admit it preferred it over that little stunt at the end."

Hagakure then asked, "Uh, were you two actually in the sewers?"

Aizawa waved a hand nonchalantly as he responded, "It's where the monitoring systems are." He then surveyed the carnage in front of him and said, "Well, we made things too easy."

Toshinori added, "With plenty of time to spare too."

The focus for today's TAC lesson was an offensive formation. The group, over many lunches, devised a strategy that would have Izuku be front in center as he was the powerhouse of the group, and have Mashirao and Tenya on his flanks. Ochako would be the center to provide support and switch with any of the front positions if her quirk could be utilized. Momo would take the back to give commands, support, and long-range attacks if required. Tooru was to float between the other girls and provide protection if they were attacked. However, the nature of their assignment changed the initial plan once their homeroom teacher explained the objective.

Around this corner is a bunch of villain bots. Once you enter the street, the Victory-class bots will engage, and you will meet them head-on. Once dealt with, you then take the next road to the right and deal with some more powerful Imperial-class robots. Then once more with some Venator bots. You have five minutes to plan and ten minutes to fight them all.

Hagakure led the discussion first, asking Ida to carry her to where the Imperial bots were. She noted that the first two classes could not sense her and that everyone else fight the Victorys while she deactivated the Imperials so they could save time to focus their efforts on the Venators. After a quick and simple formation change, the rest of the discussion then focused on how to deal with the Venators. Yaoyorozu was the one that came up with the idea of them splitting up if the need arose.

Eraserhead then spoke up, "That was a strong magnet you used at the start there Yaoyorozu-san. Should I warn the cleanup crew when they clean this up tomorrow morning?"

"It's made with neodymium so it's quite good at its job. Just tell them to heat it up and it should come off easily, sensei."

"Noted."

All Might then asked, "I have to ask Hagakure-san, how did you know of the Venator's weakness?"

"Oh, I saw a girl during the entrance exam discover it. She had some lightning fist quirk and was wailing on one for some time until she hit it in the back of the head, and it instantly went down. Though she expended all her energy on just that one bot and ended up failing, I think. I haven't seen her since."

"I'll be sure to inform Power Loader of that then," Eraserhead stated as he scribbled down some notes. "However, try and work with that engineer you are working with to figure out a safer solution to a more powerful Stun Punch. That looked quite risky."

"Uh, yes sir."

Toshinori then turned to Yaoyorozu and asked, "What was that liquid you used to trap that one bot? I've never seen you use it before."

The vice class president beamed with pride as she explained, "It's a substance my father developed years ago. I've known about it for years, but he finally told me it's composition during the New Year's visit. I've been working on using it in battle for weeks now, and I'm so glad I was able to use it flawlessly tonight."

Midoriya recalled Mr. Yaoyorozu using the said substance to escape his wife's wrath by crawling out the window so many months ago. To think it would end up being used to such effectiveness by the man's daughter considering its original use almost had the boy chuckle.

Aizawa nodded in approval before saying, "Well, that might just come in handy in the next few battles."

Uraraka was quick to ask, "Uh, you mean there's more?"

"Why, of course. You don't think we waited this long and set this all up just to have one short skirmish."

All Might stated, "This last battle was quite open, but the next will be in much closer quarters."

"And considering how easy this one was, let's lower the planning time to three minutes and the objective to five minutes." Aizawa then grinned as he continued by asking, "How does that sound?"

Izuku sighed as he said, "Man, it's gonna be a rough night."

"So we waltz in, and I take charge. You will provide support where you see fit," Ashido explained as she walked beside Midoriya.

"Well, okay then. Are you sure Koda-kun is confident enough to do this?"

"He assured me he would after we chatted over the weekend. I think I got through to him."

It was late Tuesday afternoon, and the two were taking a path towards the main campus. Koda and informed the two that he would be with Kaminari at the patio outside the cafeteria.

Mina then asked, "Any idea why Koda-kun wanted to do this here?"

Izuku pondered for a moment but then considered Denki's tendencies and replied, "I bet they come here for the patio vending machines." Said machines had a variety of snacks and drinks and explained why anyone would meet here between meals.

"Ah, good thinking. Kaminari-kun does have quite a sweet tooth."

It wasn't long until they had arrived at their destination. Both boys were sitting at a table not far from the vending machines. Kaminari had two soft drinks and Koda, a bottle of tea. The former had a look of excitement at seeing Ashido and Midoriya make their approach, but the latter had a face of dread.

Izuku hoped Koji could keep his cool.

Denki asked, "Here for some treats too fellas? They just restocked, so the selection is excellent today."

Mina shrugged before responding, "Maybe later." She then pointed towards him and stated, "We got some business with you."

"Hey, whatever Mineta-kun did, I had no part in it this time. I swear."

Ashido's brow became furrowed as she asked, "Wait, did he do something recently?"

Kaminari looked confused before saying, "Uh, I guess not. Sorry, considering what you did to him after the joint training with 1B, I guess I got a little defensive."

Midoriya sighed at the reaction. While nowhere near the level of Mineta, Kaminari still had his perverted moments. Mina's punishment was still able to instill fear in Denki because of this.

Ashido walked over and placed a hand on Kaminari, "Just stay your usual spunky self, and you won't have to ever worry about that happening to you, okay?"

"Yes, ma'am," Denki promised with a hint of unease.

Izuku then spoke up, "Anyways were here to talk about Jiro-chan."

"And you two," Mina added as she used her free hand to alternate, pointing at both boys.

"Uh, about what?"

Koji then cleared his throat, which grabbed his friend's attention. He then took a deep breath before saying, "I have f-feelings for her."

Ashido then crouched down beside Kaminari's chair to get to his level and said, "And Koda-kun wants to confess to her but isn't sure if you like her."

"How long?"

Koda gulped before answering, "M-Months."

Kaminari rubbed his temple and exhaled before saying, "Bro, you should have told me."

Koji nodded but looked to his side and said nothing.

"Man, that must have made hanging out with us the worst if you were feeling like that." Denki then crossed his arms before saying, "But being straightforward about stuff has never been your thing." He then got up, walked over to his friend, and extended a hand, "So let's work together and get you to confess with Jiro-chan."

Ashido and Koda looked dumbfounded at the statement.

Midoriya then asked, "So you don't have feelings for Jiro-chan?"

Kaminari shook his head as he replied, "Not in the same way as he does. I mean yeah, I consider her my best friend but nothing more." He then gave more emphasis on his outstretched arm to his friend. "You're going to need all the help you can get. We both know she is one tough cookie."

Koji gave a soft grin and shook his friend's hand confidently.

Izuku turned to see Mina have a look of disappointment on her face. "What's the matter?"

"I mean, I guess this is the best possible outcome, but like I expected at least some drama, you know. Especially considering how much this was bothering Koda-kun."

Denki laughed before saying, "You really need to stop watching all those TV romance dramas Ashido-chan. It's rotting your brain."

Mina countered with, "You mean like how these sodas are yours?"

The two then got face-to-face, but Izuku was quick to come between them and say, "Guys come on. We're here for Koda-kun, remember?" The two often found themselves into antics together but still got on each other's nerves at times.

Ashido was quick to step back and head over to Koda. She took his arm and said, "You're right, so let's get to practicing pronto Koda-kun!"

"P-Practice what?"

"Confessing, of course. Using me as practice is the sure bet way to prepare for Jiro-chan. It wouldn't work the same trying with a guy."

Kaminari then asked, "But like, right now?"

Midoriya replied with, "Well, he wants to confess to her on Valentine's Day."

"And it's nearly the end of January, so we only have a few weeks to get ready! So we gotta work fast!" Mina then turned to Koji and asked, "You ready to capture her heart?"

Koda looked back to Kaminari, who gave him a shrug before giving a thumbs up. "Might as well do as Ashido-chan says. She'll be a valuable asset here."

Koji nodded and confidently stated, "Okay, let's do it!"

Mina then joyfully dragged the large teen away as Denki chuckled at the scene.

Izuku took a few moments to consider what happened before turning to ask, "Hey, so, you're not hiding your true feelings for Koda-kun's sake, are you?"

"What? No, man. Why would I?"

"Well, I kinda agree with Ashido-chan on the part of being surprised at how things went. I think we both expected you to have at least some romantic feelings for Jiro-chan."

Kaminari placed a hand on his chin and closed his eyes before saying, "Hmmm, how to best explain." He then paced back and forth for a few seconds before asking, "Do you remember the idea I pitched for the Cultural Festival last year?"

"Eh? Uh, you mean the maid cafe, right? What does that have to do with anything?"

"I'll get to it in a moment." Denki then took a seat by one of the tables before explaining, "You see, my main goal for doing it was to see the girls in our class in cute outfits."

Izuku started to glare at his classmate.

"Hey don't give me that look, I was only interested in the ones not taken at the time. So no Hagakure-chan and Uraraka-chan daydreaming, I can assure you." He then gave a confused look before saying, "Actually was Ojiro-kun already dating Yaoyorozu-chan at that point?"

It took Midoriya a moment to recall, but he answered back, "They had their first date two days before that."

"Oh, well, that's retroactively awkward," Kaminari stated as he rubbed the back of his head.

"You didn't know, so it's fine I guess, but my question still stands how this is prevalent."

"Well, I didn't imagine Jiro-chan in the maid outfit that morning."

"And why is that?"

"When I picture Jiro-chan, she's just like one of the guys to me, I guess. I couldn't visualize her as a maid. There was a similar feeling that time Mineta-kun and I tricked the girls into wearing those cheerleader outfits during the Sports Festival. It felt bizarre seeing her in it now that I recall that day."

As odd as it was, the explanation did seem to make sense to Midoriya. He did wonder if it was based on her looks or personality that drove him to such a viewpoint, but he was satisfied enough with the answer to not pursue further.

"Still though, I can't believe I didn't notice Koda-kun felt like that for her. It sure does explain a lot of things these last few months, though."

"I believe it's the same for Jiro-chan, so don't beat yourself up." Considering everything they had discussed before and how Kyoka acted now, Izuku felt she was just as oblivious.

"Any idea why he wants to confess on Valentine's Day? Isn't supposed to be the other way around?"

"I think the sooner, the better for Koda-kun. Waiting even longer for White Day wouldn't let him do that."

Kaminari then stood up and asked, "Think it will work out in the end? I'd hate to see this drive us apart."

"He told me he's already made peace with that possibility. Koda-kun just wants to let Jiro-chan know how he feels so he can move on."

"Still, I bet it will be hard for him."

Midoriya put a hand on his classmate's shoulder as he stated, "And that's where we come in to support him through it."

"Heh, I guess you're right. Until then, we should focus on helping him in any way we can."

Power Loader looked around before asking, "You sure this is the right place?"

Izuku double-checked his phone before saying, "It is, sir."

Mei then proclaimed, "Come on, you two, let's go!" She then pulled them forward towards the dimly lit door.

It was late Saturday night, and the plan to meet the mysterious mechanic was only moments away. Mei was tagging along with them cause once she learned what her the two were going to do, she begged to come. Izuku was glad to see her in high spirits once more.

In front of the trio was a dead end of an ally. There was a single door, there was nothing notable about it or of the surroundings.

Everyone was wearing casual clothing, as instructed by Maijima, through his conversation with Inoue over the phone days prior. The pro hero was wearing black jeans and a red jacket, and the same white gloves he wore on the Christmas date not so long ago. Hatsume wore some baggy grey pants, a dark blue coat with a hoodie, and a black backpack. Izuku was wearing blue jeans with a green sweater.

Midoriya looked around before asking, "Hmm, well, we're on time as told. So do we just go in or...?"

"You will wait for the final client to arrive before proceeding," said a metallic voice from above the door.

Power Loader then stated, "Great, we're being monitored." He then scratched his chin as he said, "So who's this final client."

"The one who set up your appointment."

"Hmm, I thought the one who called me was the mechanic."

Mei then asked, "They didn't tell you?"

"The instructions were so vague so I just assumed. I couldn't really question a call that All Might said for me to trust in."

Before Izuku could pull out his phone again to text Inoue, a voice came from far behind the trio.

"Well, well, this is quite a surprise to see tonight."

The voice was a distant memory, but the feelings it brought out of Midoriya still felt fresh. Before even turning around, he stated, "Mr. Compress."

The villain's clothing was subdued but still retained his style. His overcoat was much simpler in design and a light grey instead of orange. While he wore no hat or mask, his black balaclava still hid most of his face and all of his hair. He was sporting a black cane and boots instead of his usual white, and the latter only went slightly above his ankles instead of being knee-high.

"I'm surprised you recognized me simply on voice alone, Midroiya-san. We last met more than six months ago."

Izuku took a step forward and stated, "Hard to forget when you kidnapped my friend."

The man chuckled before saying, "Duly noted. Anger can be a great boost to one's memory." He then started to walk forward.

Maijima pulled off his gloves to reveal his claws before proclaiming, "I don't know what's going on in your thick skull, but if you haven't noticed, there's three of us and only one of you! And if I remember right, you aren't exactly a powerhouse when out solo like this."

"Oh, but I have nothing to fear, my good sir. If my hunch is correct, if you want to conduct whatever business you wish to have done here, you'll refrain from doing me any harm."

The metallic voice spoke once more and stated, "You are quite early. This is against protocol."

"My my, you really are as strict as they say," Mr. Compress stated as he stopped right in front of the trio.

Midoriya turned to Power Loader and asked, "Can we really not do anything?"

A different mechanical voice answered. "You can not. Those are the rules here." And from the shadows at the start of the ally out stepped Gou Inoue. He had a full set of hair, with dreadlocks. Izuku figured Gou was wearing a wig. The rest of his attire, baggy pants, and hooded jacket, was all grey save for a black face mask. Midoriya noted Inoue's voice wasn't the same as when in costume.

"This is starting to look like a trap," Hatsume stated with unease.

"Ah, the final client arrives. You are two minutes late. This is unlike you."

As Gou approached, he stated, "Sorry, I was sidetracked when I spotted this guy coming here as well."

The villain then stated, "I do believe we haven't met. Just who are you?"

"Doesn't matter. Just know I'm with these guys tonight."

Maijima cleared his throat before saying, "So you're the one I spoke to on the phone."

"Yeah, sorry about the vagueness of the instructions. It's just how it is here if we want to get anything done." Inoue then turned towards the door and asked, "So, how do we proceed?"

"Give us a moment."

Midoriya wondered what they meant by us. Either way, he turned to Inoue and asked, "Sir, why is this even an issue. Isn't our appointment first?"

Mr. Compress then spoke up and said, "I'm going to guess because I am a more important client in this circumstance."

Gou nodded before saying, "He's right. I'm only owed a favor, but this guy's paying for the service."

Power Loader then asked, "Why did you come this early anyhow?"

"A gentleman always arrives early. For you see, early is on time. On time is late. And late is quite rude. Such a standard is ingrained into my soul."

"However, that's not the protocol here," Inoue stated.

"Yes, yes, but even then, I was quite curious about this place." The villain looked around before continuing by saying, "Though I expected more."

"We have reached a decision. The early client, late client, and boy will enter."

Mei then shouted, "What?! We don't even get to go in?"

"Patience child. You both will enter with due time."

Hatsume grumbled under her breath as Maijima approached Inoue and whispered, "Should we be worried at all?"

"Everything is fine. They have this handled. We'll see you in a bit." Gou then motioned for Izuku to follow.

The door then opened. Purple tentacles were wrapped around the knob, but the rest of the body was unseen.

"Uhhhh...," was all Midoriya could muster to say before Inoue interrupted him.

"He's just the doorman, nothing suspicious."

The trio then entered the empty room. Upon entering, Izuku noticed an elevator on the far side of the wall. He then looked to the left to see who the appendages belonged to. A tall man with a squid as a face stood in the left corner. Each of his 'arms' had four tentacles. Midoriya wondered if his legs were tentacles as well or not. Either way, the cephalopod spoke up and said, "You in the back, you're first."

Mr. Compress sighed before stating, "If I must." He then stepped forward.

The squid man then raised his right collection of tentacles and wrapped them around the top of the villain's head before closing his eyes.

Izuku shot a look at Gou, who then explained, "He's got a mind-reading quirk. He uses it to tell a person's intentions."

"You're good. Next."

Inoue took a step forward as Mr. Compress began to rub his temple as he stated, "Well, that was an unpleasant experience."

Gou then stated, "Common side effect. It wears off after about a minute."

Izuku asked, "What does it do?"

The squid man released his arms on the vigilante before saying, "You're about to find out."

The experience was quite odd, Midoriya found out. It lasted only a few seconds, it started as a headache that progressed into what felt like a brain freeze.

"Everything clear?"

"Yes, ma'am. You can send the elevator."

Mr. Compress twirled his cane once before saying, "Ah, he never mentioned The Fixer was a woman."

"How did you come in contact with this place anyway? She never mentioned working with the likes of the League of Villains before."

"Well, she probably didn't know. Our broker was the one that set things up in the first place. Either way, it shouldn't surprise you; she would be willing to work with an organization like ours. Money can do wonders in making one bend their morals."

Inoue grunted at this but said nothing more.

The elevator then opened, revealing a woman with a mutation quirk that gave her an appearance of a tiger. She was even taller than the squid man.

Midoriya asked, "Is this her?"

Gou replied, "Nah. Just another bodyguard."

The trio then entered the elevator. It went down three floors before stopping. As it opened, Izuku gazed upon a workshop even more massive than the Development Studio at UA. In the back sat a man looking at several monitors. In the center stood a woman who was welding the lower torso of a robot that bore some resemblance to the villain bots at U.A., but it was smaller than even the victory class ones. The Fixer's face wasn't visible because of her back welder's mask, but her hair was. It was currently up in a bun and was red with a few strands of blond. She wore blue overalls with a white undershirt.

Mr. Compress was the first to approach. "Good evening, madam. I must thank you for finally answering my inquiry."

The Fixer stopped her work and looked at her guests but kept the mask on. "You should have let Giran come instead. I can, at least, trust him."

"He's quite a busy man as of late, so he asked me to come instead." The villain looked back at the two others before asking, "Is it possible we could get this done in private?"

The woman lifted her mask to reveal a stern look with green eyes. "You broke protocol Mr Compress. You were asked to come at the designated time, not an hour early. I do this so my colorful variety of customers don't encounter one another. So no, we do this here and now so I can focus on the others promptly, or we don't do this at all."

The man grunted before saying, "I'll note that for any future visits." He then started to roll the left sleeve of his up his coat as he stated, "Well, let's make this quick then." It soon revealed his metal prosthetic arm.

The woman groaned. "You've really roughed her up. That's a work of art you know."

Mr. Compress squeezed his shoulder, and the arm popped out. As he handed it to The Fixer, he explained, "I must apologize to have damaged such craftsmanship, but it was necessary for my boss. At first, it didn't bother me, but it's becoming stiffer and stiffer at this point."

"Well, let's assess the damage."

Midoriya was confused. The villain's arm was natural last summer. What happened for it to be completely gone?

The man looked back and noticed the expression on the boy's face. "Oh, this? Just a memento of our old friend Overhaul."

Inoue then asked, "What? I thought he was in jail?"

The villain approached the two before saying, "Oh, he is, with much thanks to Midoriya-san." He then stopped and gave a short bow. "You did well in taking that bastard down."

Izuku then asked, "Are you mocking me?"

The man chuckled before saying, "Tsk tsk. Of course not. That mafia hoodlum killed one of my teammates and did this to me. I couldn't be more serious, young man."

Midoriya didn't know what to make of this person. He was definitely more level headed than the other members of the League he had met so far, but he couldn't shake the feeling there was more to his current demeanor.

Mr. Compress then turned his attention to Inoue and asked, "Now, with that out of the way, I have the ask once more. Who are you in all of this? I recognize both people outside as a student and teacher at the boy's school. However, I've never seen the likes of you before."

Inoue shrugged before The Fixer's voice replied, "Don't heckle him for information. Or should I divulge some interesting facts about you? "

"Alright, alright. I get it. Confidentiality." The villain then focused his gaze on Midoriya and said, "I'm regretting not bringing backup now knowing that you are here."

"Why do you say that?"

Mr. Compress grinned wickedly as he answered, "Cause the one that wanted to come was Toga-chan. She does have quite a special obsession for you." The villain then returned to see the condition of his damaged arm before Izuku could respond.

Midoriya shook off the statement. The villain was just trying to unnerve him. He then whispered, "Can we really trust this woman?"

Inoue quietly responded back, "As far as I can throw her. She's never going to hand over nukes for villains, but she won't refuse cash from questionable folks if they want things like this." He then crossed his arms as he continued. "She is the only way people like me can get high-quality suits and equipment without stealing. It sucks, but it's just how things are."

"Why does she need all this money?"

"Research. She develops all kinds of weird doo-dads for the scientific community and private companies." He then pointed at the robot, "I recognize this one she is working on. She mentioned it as a prototype for some corporation that is interested in producing automated security robots."

"Can't she just be backed by the government or a university?"

"The Fixer hates being tied down to any authoritative group or the hero society in general. Hasn't really told me why but I tend not to pry too much. I'm just thankful I have had a way to get a suit and gadgets for my 'after-hours' work. Still I am cautious any time I have to deal with her. You can never be too careful."

Izuku took a moment to go over everything he just heard. He pondered, just how influential was this woman? The thought then also gave him more hope that she might be able to upgrade Tooru's suit.

About ten minutes passed before the prosthetic arm was fixed. Mr. Compress then exited through another door and was escorted out by a rhino man.

After The Fixer told the man in the back to send the other two in, she asked, "So do you have a problem with how things operate here, little man? Don't think I can't read your demeanour."

Gou gave a look of worry at Izuku, but he ignored it and stated, "Of course I do."

Inoue proceeded to cover his face with his palm and sigh.

"But I understand this is the quickest way to get my girlfriend the upgrades her suit needs. So, I'll deal with it for now."

"Well well, you have a bit of spine on ya." The woman then looked to Gou and said, " You never mentioned this kid was the invisible lass's boyfriend."

"I didn't think it was relevant."

"Romance is always relevant. In this instance, it gives a lot more value for me to do this." She then teasing said, "And this is why you have always been single."

Inoue just gave a confused shrug but said nothing.

The Fixer turned back to Midoriya and said, "Well, at least on this front, I'm glad I can help you both."

The door to the elevator then opened, and an ecstatic Hatsume and flabbergasted Maijima stepped out. The former immediately rushed over to the robot that was being worked on.

"I like her spunk," the woman stated with surprise.

Power Loader groaned before saying, "Don't encourage her."

The Fixer peered over the short man and stated, "I've never let a pro hero into one of my workshops before. Please don't make me regret it."

The teacher gave Inoue a look, who then stated, "I warned you she's like this."

"Right. Right." Maijima then yelled, "Hatsume-san, stop gawking over that scrap and show our host the goods."

Mei whined but then took off her backpack. She pulled out Tooru's suit and the Stun Gloves."

Izuku then asked, "Wait, does Tooru know you took those?"

Power Loader explained, "Yes. We met with her after classes today and said we needed a few weeks to make the upgrades."

Well, that explains her good mood today, Midoriya thought.

The Fixer looked over the suit and stated, "Fascinating."

"Just wait till you see this," Hatsume said as she took out a small plastic bag. She then opened it and placed some tweezers inside before bringing it to touch the suit. Within moments a small area around it disappeared.

The woman asked, "How did you do that, miss?"

"A few locks of the client's hair. It does the same when coming in contact with her skin."

The Fixer rubbed her hands together as she proclaimed, "Stupendous! Now let's hear about these improvements that need to be done!"

Bleh. Well, a new chapter is finally here, but before we get into the super ultra late release, some commission stuff.

Part 2 of MHA x Persona 5 Royal commission came out a while ago. Another huge thanks again to anush_arts (Twitter) for putting up with my crazy requests. Next, the birthday commissions continue, this time with Ojiro! On May 28th, my first multiple page comic commission ever was released to celebrate his birthday. I commissioned Safri (safri_riri on Twitter) for this fantastic piece. Next was a KiriKami birthday gift to a discord friend on June 11th made by Heuwell (heuwell_cheese on Twitter). And the latest was some IzuTooru art for her birthday on June 16th, who I commissioned a discord friend, Etto (JustEtto on Twitter), to make. The final birthday commission, for Izuku, will be coming in two weeks, so expect more IzuTooru art soon. A commission for Cubicity's 3rd anniversary on July 23rd is in the works and again will be two pages, the first being the new cover art and the second being a bonus.

Also, my birthday was last month. A long time discord friend of mine, Chumunga64, wrote me an IzuTooru fic as a present. The oneshot on Ao3 is called "Let's Hang Out!" and follows Izuku wanting to learn more about Tooru's quirk after some training. So check that out if you wish!

Now to the reason for the delay. First, restructuring. Upon writing, I soon learned that the manga's current events could drastically affect the story going forward. So I would need to course correct the timeline I had established to allow better things to be flexible. Nothing is getting thrown out, only rearranged or moved forward than initially planned. This required a lot of time to rethink how to go about this, which led to not starting to write this chapter until very late April. Second, writer's block rearing it's ugly head once more. This lasted the majority of May. And lastly, it didn't help that I also started to write an Iichako oneshot (set in the Cubicity universe) this summer. All just steamrolled into a very unproductive three months. The only positive is that it did allow the manga time to advance to what looks like the climax of the current arc, giving me more to work with.

And now on to the chapter itself! TAC meetings return and will be getting a lot of focus these next few chapters, which means a lot of battle scenarios to write. Joy... but needed. They will be short and sweet anyhow. It might work out well that I wanted to focus on these a lot in the 3rd-semester cause going into year two, as we don't know how things will be after this arc. So if things do indeed go south, at least the TAC will have gotten the spotlight I wanted even if it ends up being shelved for later.

We finally address Koda's situation once more, now with a mix of Ashido and Kaminari. The original plan was to have the Kaminari scene in 41, but I decided it would be better to do it now as I left the question of his feelings towards Jiro up in the air long enough as is. As I have said before in a previous author's notes, I can't just ignore the hints of KamiJiro in canon. Out of all the "canon" pairings, it has the most ground to stand on in my eyes. So I felt it needed to approached differently. I know I have already stepped on some toes going with Iichako and MashMomo route (and looking back, I could have had some more focus on their alternatives), so here's a different approach then I did prior. And the whole bit with Kaminari not daydreaming of Jiro in the maid outfit did actually happen in the manga. Though I understand this can have multiple meanings, for this fic at least, I used it as him not having romantic feelings for her.

The final scene turned out the easiest to write, even if it went through some heavy editing in the end. Either way, it was fun to write and it won't be too long until we see these new upgrades to Tooru's suit!

Night Foliage finished editing chapter 27 and 28, with oddly enough received 84 edits each. She is quite far along into editing 29 as well.

As I continue to get out of my funk, Chapter 41 will release on July 23rd, to celebrate the 3rd anniversary. I also plan to release the Iichako oneshot the same day. The idea of focusing on the other ships being standalone as oneshots will not end there. I also hope to do a MashMomo oneshot in the fall as well. Chapter 41 will have two more TAC meetings and then focus on Valentine's Day. 42 will be another side character focus, and 43 will then cover White Day. From there, I might jump straight into the current arc aftermath or have one more chapter before doing so. It depends on how this arc ends.

I hope you all have stayed safe and sane during these crazy times in the real world. I send good vibes your way for that to continue going forward!