89

Izuku and Mei were in a construction tent that was currently doubling as Nedzu's office. 

"Do you think Nedzu wants to talk about the tunnels or the trebuchets?" Mei asked. "Ooh! Maybe he has a new project he wants us to work on!"

"I'm not sure." Izuku hummed. "Don't get too excited though. He probably just asked us to come so we could talk about logistics."

Nedzu's voice rang out behind them, "In a way, you are both correct."

Izuku and Mei looked to see Nedzu walking into the tent. 

"So….we have a new project?" Mei asked hopefully. 

"Of a sort." Nedzu said, taking a seat. "I"m sure you're aware that the provisional licensing exam for our hero students is mere weeks away."

"Yeah." Izuku nodded. "Do you want us to give everyone another analysis? Or maybe help them train one on one in preparation for the exam?"

"No." Nedzu smiled. "I would like you to take the exam."

The walk to the mochi shop was nice. It was a warm day and even though he didn't have to, Hitoshi held her hand the whole way. Ochako felt like her face was on fire and she really hoped her naturally pink cheeks disguised at least some of the blush but knew that was probably hoping for too much. 

Finally, Hitohi broke the silence, "What do you think of the new dorms?"

"It's kinda weird." Ochako said. "I just barely moved back in with my parents and now I'm gonna be moving out again, it's just a lot of moving." 

"Well, you're a teleporter." HItoshi smiled, "You're always going to be Ocha-going someplace or another."

Ochako shot him a playful glare and he laughed, nudging her slightly and they walked the last block to the Mochi shop in comfortable silence.

Izuku stared at Nedzu in disbelief, "What?!" We're not heroes, we're support. We don't want to be heroes."

"What Izuku said." Mei nodded. "I'm not abandoning my babies."

Nedzu held up his hand in a calming gesture. "We're not asking you to. You would still be primarily in support, but what with your prominent involvement in every villain attack we've experienced so far this year, not to mention the increased danger that will come now that your identity as Cheat Code is more widely known, it only makes sense for you to be able to defend yourselves, both in terms of skill and legality. And, of course, in order to do so most effectively, you would need hero licenses!"

"But we don't want hero licenses." Mei said simply. "Licenses mean work and time that I could be using to perfect my babies, so no thank you!"

"It also means using those inventions to help others." Nedzu pointed out. "Which you have already proven that you are capable of doing with great effect. The licenses would simply give you more freedom and resources to do what you have already been doing of your own perogative."

"But we don't want to be heroes." Izuku stood up. "And even if I did want to be a hero, which I don't, I can't. "

Nedzu tilted his head, "And why do you say that?"

Izuku looked at him incredulously, "Um, because I'm quirkless? I thought that was obvious by now."

"Ah," Nedzu looked at him sadly. "I suppose your reaction makes much more sense now, even if I do not agree."

Izuku stopped, "What?"

"The idea that a quirkless person cannot become a hero is, quite happily, incorrect." Nedzu chirped. "Of course, there will be more difficulties, but you excel at overcoming every obstacle in your path, so I have no doubt of your capabilities and there are no laws preventing it, so yes, I believe it is perfectly possible for you to become a hero."

Izuku shook his head, "Look, I gave up on that dream a long time ago…"

"Be that as it may," Nedzu interrupted, "getting licensed is still the best course of action. You may not have had any legal ramifications from your involvement thus far, but if you keep assisting as you have been and performing heroics without a license, that will not always be the case."

"But we're not performing heroics." Mei argured. "We're acting as support, which is what we want to do. That's why we came to UA in the first place."

"Yeah." Izuku agreed. "What we're doing isn't hero work."

"You are saving people." Nedzu shrugged. "I fail to see the difference."

"I've never wanted to be a hero." Mei said. "It would take my focus away from my babies."

"It would also give you better opportunities to advertise them." Nedzu smiled. "Imagine seeing a hero use their own inventions and trusting their life to them, how much more enticing would those inventions look, both to the public and to other heroes. Much more effective than a traditional commercial, don't you think?"

Mei bit her lip, "Well, when you put it like that…"

"How about I let you think on it?" Nedzu suggested. "You two can talk it over and tell me your decision by tonight. That way we can properly adjust your schedules for the upcoming semester. I assure you that you will still be primarily students of Class 1F, but you will be joining class 1A for subjects such as heroics and combat. You would be both support and heroes...support heroes, if you would."

Izuku and Mei shared a look. They had a lot to think about.

Hitoshi smiled as he overlooked the large variety of Mochi they'd ended up with, "You know, this is probably too much mochi for two people."

Ochako hummed, "That's what a coward would say. What, Shindig? Aren't you up for a challenge."

"Oh I'm always up for a challenge." Hitoshi smirked. "Otherwise I wouldn't have been able to catch a teleporter."

Ochako blushed and ducked her head, "I guess not."

"Oh..uh, my adoption papers are going to be coming through soon." Hitoshi said. "It's weird timing right when we're having to pack everything up for the dorms."

"How is that even going to work?" Ochako's eyes widened. "The dorms, not the adoption, obviously not. Oh my goodness. I am so sorry, uh, congratulations."

Hitoshi managed to hold back for a few seconds before bursting into laughter., "Well, for the adoption, you see when two men love each other very much…"

Ochako hit his arm, "Oh stunt up, you realize I can just leave right?"

Hitoshi gave her a cocky smile, "And yet you're still here."

Ochako raised an eyebrow, "I don't have to be."

Hitoshi smirked, "They're giving my adults an apartment on campus so they can hang around and respond if there's any issues in the dorm or whatever. I get a normal dorm like everyone else, but I'll also have a room at the apartment if I want it. It's just kinda up to me."

Ochako nodded, "It sounds like fun. I'm just glad you're in 1A now. It would be so weird if you had to live in the 1C dorm. I mean, it's gonna be weird enough with Mei and Izuku livinig in 1F. 

"Let's be honest," Hitoshi. Rolled his eyes. "Those two are going to be living in the tunnels. The rat's already practically adopted them, so they may as well just make their home in the maze."

Ochako laughed, "Yeah, they're probably there now."

Izuku paced back and forth in one of the few areas of the school that had been completed Mei sat on the floor working on her latest project as Izuku paced. "You're going to give yourself motion sickness.'

Izuku slumped down onto the floor with a huff, "What gives them the right to tell me I can be a hero now of all times, Mei-chan? I begged to be a hero for 10 years, that's a whole decade and everyone told me no, even my mom. But now that I've given up and found a new goal and am finally in a good place, now all of sudden, it was possible all along?! How does that even make any sense? What gives them the right to suddenly change their minds like that."

"In his defense," Mei said, "Nedzu was never one of the ones who told you that."

"My old principal did." Izuku argued. "And my teachers and Kacchan and everybody else. I finally accepted that it was impossible, Mei . I found a new dream and I even held a pity party for goodness sake! I threw a goddamn mental funeral for my old dream! What gives them the right to tell me I can be a hero after I put in all that work to come to terms with the fact that I couldn't?"

Mei put down her invention and reached for his hand, "You're being an idiot."

She turned away and started tinkering with her tools again while Izuku stared at her in shock, "Excuse me, I thought girlfriends were supposed to be supportive."

"Not when you're bing stupid." Mei said simply. "I put a lot of work into inventions that never work out, but does that mean I shouldn't try? No! Even if it blows up in my face, it was still worth the work I put into it because I learned something from it. You're just over there giving into the sunk cost fallacy, so no, I'm not going to agree with you. You're being stupid."

Izuku froze, "Oh…"

Mei snorted, "Yep. It doesn't matter what work you've already put in, you can't change that. What you can change is what you do now. I think Nedzu's right. Being heroes will give us a really great opportunity to market our inventions and give us more resources to do what we've already been doing, but you're my partner, so I'm not doing it without you."

Izuku took a deep breath and took Mei's hand before walking into the classroom. Aizawa greeted them with a nod and Hitoshi and Ochako smiled at them while the rest of the class exchanged glances of confusion. Izuku squeezed Mei's hand a little tighter and gave a little wave, "Hello everyone."

"Class, you already know Cheat Code." Aizawa said. "Shinso. Would you like to introduce us to our friends and explain a little bit about why they're here?"

"Yeah." Hitoshi stood up with a grin. "Everybody, these are my kidnappers, Izuku Midoirya and Mei Hatsume and they are going to be heroes."

Notes:

This fic has a Tv Tropes page and a Discord.

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I am fine with any translations or fanworks based on my stories. My only rule is that if you post something based on my writing, give me the link so I can enjoy it as well!