Chapter 85

After showing Izuku to her room, an embarrassed smile developed across Melissa's face as she said, "Pardon the mess...". Her room wasn't actually disorganized, but as she had left some of her tools out and a half-finished invention on her desk, it wasn't as clean as it could have been.

Raising his brows, Izuku remarked, "It looks neat and tidy, though? You're a very organized woman..."

As Melissa used an insulated foam organization pad, keeping all her tools in tiny cutouts that perfectly conformed to their profile, there was nothing messy about her room. Her bed was made to a standard that would make a Drill Sergeant swell with pride, and all the projects she was working on or had finished were stored in neatly organized and labeled lock boxes...

"Thanks for the compliment," replied Melissa, smiling even though she believed Izuku was simply being nice. Then, after calling up her Status Window and giving it a quick once-over, she asked, "So, you're able to distribute a person's Free Attribute Points to help them get stronger and assign them Quirk-like 'Perks,' right? I'm starting to get excited..."

Adopting a somewhat sad smile, Melissa looked to Izuku as she revealed, "You probably already noticed it, but I'm part of the twenty percent of the population born without a Quirk. I've always dreamed of having one, even something as simple as my father's Squirmy Fingers, so thank you, Izuku. Thank you for allowing me to join your Party...even if it came with a pretty embarrassing Title..."

Shaking his head, Izuku adopted a faint smile as he replied, "I wouldn't have been able to invite you to my Party if you didn't trust me. Your Level and the amount of Free Attributes you possess are also the direct results of your training and effort. I'm just helping you to tap into your potential..."

"You really are humble," mused Melissa, exhaling a soft giggle before moving over to Izuku, standing closer than necessary as he helped her allocate her AP and select her Perks...

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Name: [Melissa Shield]

Title: Pleasantly Plump Pioneer(Vitality, Intelligence, Dexterity +20)

Quirk: N/A

Bond Level: 95

Current Level: 13

Effective Level: 53

[Attributes]

Strength: 13->20

Agility: 10->20

Vitality: 61->100

Intelligence: 258

Dexterity: 58->67

Luck: 199

Free Attributes: 0

[Perks]

[Healthy Body], [Breakthrough], [Prodigy]

[Healthy Body]: The user always feels mentally and physically refreshed. Drastically increases the functions of the immune system.

[Breakthrough]: Eureka! Focuses mental energies to make even the most difficult of problems a cinch.

[Prodigy]: Doubles Experience gains. Half as effective when in Experience Sharing range.

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"Oh, wow..." muttered Melissa, her face turning a little red as she hugged her body and embarrassedly remarked, "I didn't anticipate that having my attributes increased would feel so...pleasant..."

"That's normal when basically double your physical attributes," explained Izuku. "Healthy Body also ensures you feel refreshed, kind of like being on a Runner's High twenty-four/seven. It's not perfect, though, so don't overwork yourself. The effects diminish considerably when your Vitality dips below 50% of its base value."

"I'll keep that in mind..." replied Melissa, rubbing her cheeks to try and ease some of the tension and heat building within them. She really did feel amazing, so much so that she felt the urge to run around and scream at the top of her lungs, almost like someone who had just won the lottery.

After calming herself down, Melissa smiled from ear to ear as she said, "Well then, let's see just how effective the increase in my Strength and Agility are..."

Moving over to her workbench, Melissa picked up the heaviest wrench present, her eyes sparkling with excitement as it felt much, much lighter than normal. At the same time, Izuku explained, "Though it varies a little from person to person, largely depending on how much Vitality they have, each point of Strength approximates 5kgs of flat lifting power. You can lift around 20-30% more if you really push yourself, but the greater the strain, the faster your Vitality will decrease."

"So I can lift between 100 and 130kgs?" asked Melissa, her eyes widening at the notion she could lift more than twice her body weight.

Nodding in affirmation, Izuku answered, "Yeah, but try not to invest too many points into your physical attributes in the future. I know you wanted to test it out, but it's possible to acquire around 50 points in Strength and 40 points in Agility with physical conditioning. Most of the girls in my class went from 10-15 Strength to 30+ in just three months, so you should have no trouble doing the same."

Smiling awkwardly, Melissa wryly remarked, "I could stand to lose a bit of weight..."

Shaking his head, Izuku replied, "Training might help you slim down, but it will cause you to gain weight in the form of muscles. But that's beside the point. No one with a functioning brain would consider you fat, so try not to be too critical of yourself. There's a reason your father wants to keep guys away from you...quite a few, in fact..."

"Really...?" asked Melissa, combing back the hair on the right side of her face as she added, "Like what...?"

Holding up his hands like a child counting, Izuku used his fingers as he listed off, "You're beautiful, bespectacled, smart, fairly tall, incredibly busty, have a big butt, remarkably plump thighs, a good sense of style, limitless prospects, strong connections, and functionally endless wealth. You're essentially a holy grail in human form."

Not expecting such heavy praise, Melissa's mind momentarily drew a blank as she stared back at Izuku with a practiced smile. She expected him to simply say she was cute, maybe a little thick around the bottom, not list off all the things that made her a prize for whoever managed to 'obtain' her. It was gratifying, in a way, but incredibly awkward...

As Izuku had mentioned her glasses, Melissa pretended to ignore the rest of what he had said, asking, "Do you like girls who wear glasses, Izuku...?"

Nodding in affirmation, Izuku replied, "I do, but I'd rather not get into the reasons why. Instead, why don't you show me some of the support items you've been concocting here in your room? I'd also like to know how your pogo stick transforms into a watch. I've never seen anything like it."

"Oh, this?" asked Melissa, holding up the watch on her left wrist, smiling radiantly as she explained, "It's not just a pogo stick. It can transform into a variety of different support items, depending on the need of the user. As for how it works, how knowledgeable are you on Quantum State Memory, Photokinetic Conversion, and Atomic Shrinking technologies?"

"Never even heard of them," admitted Izuku, a wry smile marring his face as he imagined how different things might have been if he had become a student at I-Island Academy...

Adopting a far more earnest, unabashedly keen expression, Izuku added, "But I'd really like to. Can you teach me?"

Though she felt a little awkward when she heard Izuku's initial response, believing she might have embarrassed him inadvertently, Melissa beamed when he asked her to teach him. She didn't know much outside her fields of expertise, so she worried that things would become awkward once she and Izuku ran out of things to discuss. Fortunately, Izuku seemed to have a genuine interest in her work and the development of support items, two subjects she could prattle about endlessly...

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As Izuku and Melissa were nearly an hour late in returning, David had a conflicted, slightly disproving look as he asked, "Where have the two of you been? Toshi and I have been waiting for some time..."

Leaping to his young protege's aid, Toshinori exhaled a barrel-chested laugh, smacking David's back as he exclaimed, "Come now, Dave! You know better than anyone how easy it is to lose track of time! Let's not be too hard on the young ones!"

Though he furrowed his brows and cast a scrutinizing look Izuku's way, David decided not to press the issue. He and Toshinori had just spent the last hour discussing the possibility of Melissa relocating to Musutafu and becoming a Teacher's Assistant in the Support Department. Melissa had more than enough credits to graduate, and David knew she would have much more freedom conducting research within UA than if she stayed on I-Island. After all, even he, the so-called 'Greatest Inventor in the World,' was heavily restricted by the Board of Directors.

Exhaling a faint sigh through his nose, David forced a smile as he replied, "You're right, Toshi. As much as I wish it weren't the case, Melissa isn't a child anymore. I should trust her more..."

"Now there's the Dave I remember!" exclaimed Toshinori, giving his friend another firm pat on the back. The David he remembered was an incredibly free-spirited, borderline romantic optimist. The loss of his wife and joining I-Island's community of scientists had done a number on him, turning him from an idealist without fear of rebuke to a pragmatist bound by structure and bureaucracy. From Toshinori's viewpoint, it was heartbreaking to see the man his best friend had become...even more so since he hadn't been present to prevent it...

Not allowing himself to brood, Toshinori added, "Anyways, now that we're all together again, how about we grab a bite to eat? I'm feeling famished after our seven-and-a-half-hour flight, and I've been dying to try I-Island cuisine. I've heard it's among the best in the entire world!"

Nodding in affirmation, David replied, "You've heard correctly. Thanks to several advancements in the study of food-related Quirks and molecular gastronomy, there are restaurants on the island that can serve just about anything you can imagine. Quite literally, in some cases."

"Then what are we waiting for!?" shouted Toshinori before ushering the entire group out of the lab. A few minutes later, he wasn't the only one surprised when David showed them to a restaurant that had you attach brain-scanning electrodes to your head to determine precisely what you were most craving. Then, using a machine comparable to the 'Replicator' from Star Trek, it produced dishes that perfectly suited your preferences. For Toshinori, this was a family-sized bucket of fried chicken, while Izuku, somewhat amusingly, received a perfectly marbled pork butt. Fortunately, while it had 'butt' in the name, the cut came from a pig's shoulder, not its ass...

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With David and Toshinori having a lot of catching up to do, Melissa took it upon herself to give Izuku a tour of I-Island and its futuristic facilities. At least, that's what she planned until they entered the Academy's Exhibition Hall, encountering a group of girls in their Hero Costumes. Melissa initially didn't pay them any mind, but that quickly changed when one of the girls, wearing a pink and dark-blue costume with oversized boots and peculiar pink attachments on her wrists, perked up, waving her arm as she called out, "There you are, Izuku! Over here...!"

Blinking in surprise, Melissa asked, "Do you know these girls? Are they your classmates...?"

"They're more than that," replied Izuku, a wry smile developing across his face as he subsequently revealed, "They're my girlfriends..."

Opening her eyes wide, Melissa parroted, "They...?" before asking, "As in, all six of them...?"

Nodding his head, Izuku, while leading the way over to the girls, replied, "It's complicated, but yes, all six of them. And they aren't the only ones..."

Though Rumi had never acknowledged being his girlfriend, Izuku chose to believe they shared an unbreakable bond. Mei had also made it clear she intended to stay with him indefinitely, so while it was still a 'secret' from his male classmates, Izuku felt obligated to share the truth with Melissa. He got the impression she was beginning to crush on him pretty hard, so before things could get out of hand, he intended to make it very clear he wasn't the best boyfriend material for someone who wanted a traditional relationship. If she continued to crush on him after that, well...the girls did permit her as an 'exception'...

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(A/N: That Prodigy Perk seems incredibly broken. Also, sorry for the late chapter. I had some personal matters to attend to yesterday.)