[U.S.J. Outside Entrance - Toru's POV]
"Metal! Where is Metal?!"
Toru turned her invisible head in another direction to avoid watching as a sobbing Hatsume tried to break free from the paramedics' grasp despite her broken arm and swollen wrist.
"Let me go! I have to see my b..a...b...ZzzZzzz..."
The injured girl went limp in the paramedics' arms after an imperceptible puff of pink mist slipped into her nose.
'I hope she gets better...' Toru thought as she watched the ambulance drive away for a moment before turning back towards her classmates.
"17...18...19..."
The man wearing a tan trench coat and matching fedora counted the students while glancing down from time to time at the list in his hands.
"All of you are here, mostly unharmed except for that girl with the broken arm and the plain boy with broken fingers."
The detective put the list into the pocket of his trench coat before addressing the class again.
"You all can go back to the bus. We're going to save the questions for later."
Kirishima took a step forward before speaking up.
"Is Mr. Aizawa going to be fine?"
"What about Thirteen?" Ashido said, with her hands clasped in front of her.
"Eraserhead suffered multiple fractures around the head alongside a broken nose. Thankfully, there was no brain damage, so he should recover. As for Thirteen, the damage to their costume seemed worse than the injury actually was, so they should also make a full recovery."
The man put one hand on his trench coat pocket while smiling softly at the students.
"They're both being treated by Recovery Girl in the infirmary. The other girl is also on her way there, but since she was resisting, it'll take her a bit longer to arrive. Nonetheless, all of them are in good hands, so don't worry."
"Detective, what about Metal?" Yaoyorozu asked, with her right hand slightly raised.
"Metal?... Oh, you mean the robot?" The detective adjusted his hat. "I was informed that Power Loader took its remains to U.A."
'So I didn't see wrong...'
Toru's hands clenched at her sides as the memory of Metal hovering in the air as that monster lunged after him.
"Um, Detective?"
The detective turned his head to look at Toru's face—or more like where he assumed her face was.
"Did they tell you if Metal will reco—... I mean, if he's going to be repaired?"
'He said Hatsume could repair any damage, right? So maybe...'
Bakugo scoffed before speaking up.
"That damn toaster turned into a wall decoration. I'm surprised there was something left."
"Bakugo! Have some tact!" Iida said while doing his signature arm motions.
'I-I'm afraid that if you get too damaged, you may go back to being just a robot instead of Metal...'
Toru shook her head to get rid of Hatsume's echoing voice.
"I don't really know about that."
The detective scratched the back of his neck while shaking his head slightly.
"All I know is that Power Loader will be contacting someone who can help with the robot. Sorry if that's not enough for you, kid."
"Ah, no, no, it's okay. Thanks..."
'Someone who can help?... Can Hatsume even work with a broken arm?...'
With that final thought, Toru followed the rest of the class onto the bus.
---
[U.A. - Nurse's Office - Mei's POV]
The small U.A. nurse spun in her chair beside Mei's bed before speaking up.
"Compound fracture of the humerus. Severe displacement, muscle tearing, and probable nerve involvement. Honestly, you're lucky the arm is still attached."
Recovery Girl's clinical tone echoed through the half-empty space while the older woman tapped the clipboard in her hand.
"My Quirk healed the worst of it, but you were already tired when you got here, so I'll need you to come back tomorrow even if classes are suspended for the day."
...
...
Bonk.
"Ayay!" Mei put her healed right hand on top of her head. "What was that for?!"
"Stop staring at the sheets as if they're going to solve whatever is going on inside your head."
Recovery Girl put the clipboard in a small folder hanging from Mei's bed.
"The school contacted your parents a while ago, so they shou—"
"What about Metal?"
'He will come back, he has to...'
The sound of an ear-ringing explosion echoed through Mei's head again.
'He promised...'
The pink-haired girl moved her right hand to her lap before gripping the white sheets.
The elderly woman's eyes softened slightly as she looked down at Mei's clenched fist for a moment.
"I don't know much about that stuff, but Power Loader took the remains to the workshop."
'Remains?!'
"Do you know which parts remained?!" Mei asked as her head turned quickly to stare right at Recovery Girl, slightly startling the woman with her sudden movement.
"I think it was the hea— Where do you think you're going?!" the nurse questioned as she watched Mei, who was already halfway through the door.
Mei glanced over her shoulder at Recovery Girl before responding.
"I have to see my baby!"
"Not while you're wearing that cast, young lady."
"Eh?..."
Mei slowly turned her head to look forward. Once she did, she found her mother blocking the exit while crossing her arms.
"If you're going to scold her or something, then get out of my office first."
Recovery Girl stepped down from her chair to grab something from a nearby cabinet before holding it out towards Mei.
"You have to wear this."
'Oh come on!'
Mei's face scrunched in distaste as she looked at the shoulder immobilizer.
---
[Hero's Gate Apartments - Miku's POV]
"Stop pouting, you have to wear that for your own good."
Miku said as she closed the apartment door behind her.
"It's not because of this stupid thing," Mei gestured with her right hand at the item covering her entire left arm. Tight straps crossed her chest and back, keeping her arm locked in place.
"I just wanted to see Metal. If the core is still intact, then I can fix him! I need to!"
Mei's hand grabbed the edge of her uniform shirt before clenching tightly.
"It's my fault anyways..."
The older woman looked at her daughter with concern before gently placing her hand on Mei's right shoulder.
"It's not your fault, sweetie. The only ones to blame for the attack are the villains, okay?"
Miku tried to pull Mei closer, but the girl stepped back.
"I'm not talking about the attack! I'm talking about Metal getting hurt!"
"That's not your fault eit—"
"It is!"
Mei looked straight at her mother's gaze as her yellow eyes began to fill with tears.
"I had time to make him stronger! I could have added extra upgrades, new weapons, changed parts for better ones, anything!"
...
'I want to stop her but... she needs to get it off her chest...'
The young girl lifted her right arm to try and wipe the tears falling from her eyes with her forearm.
"But I-I didn't... he always seemed so strong and unbothered by everything, always having a solution for anything. I felt like nothing could go wrong as long as Metal was around," Mei took a shaky breath through her mouth.
"I was so happy when he got first place on the entrance exam, it was the proof I needed to reassure myself that Metal is amazing! B-But it made me grow too confident in him, and then when I watched the recordings of his battle training, I thought: 'He's fine like this, I have time, I can work on other projects.'"
"And now," a choked sob escaped from the girl's mouth, "I don't e-even know if I can bring my baby back, and it's all because I chose to spend my time on useless things instead of making my son stronger!"
Mei gave up on trying to clear off her tears and just decided to hide her face with her hand.
"Mei, look at me..."
The girl shook her head while another sob came out of her mouth.
"Mei..."
Miku slowly moved Mei's hand away from the crying girl's face before gently placing both of her hands on the young girl's face.
"Not a single part of all this is your fault. There was no way for you to even imagine that villains would suddenly decide to attack one of the most prestigious schools in the country."
"T-That's not the point, I—"
"Ah-ah," the short-haired woman shook her head slightly. "It's my turn to talk now, so listen to me. There's nothing wrong with being confident in someone else, and there's nothing wrong with thinking you have time. You're very young, Mei, you're supposed to have time to do your own thing."
Miku gently moved her thumbs across Mei's cheeks to clear the tears.
"But if—"
"There is no 'if', sweetie. A girl your age shouldn't worry about the 'ifs'. I'm not saying it's a bad thing to worry about the future, but constantly living thinking about the 'if' only leads to rushing things, and can you remind me what happened last time a certain man rushed something?"
Mei sniffled slightly before answering.
"Metal's forearm exploded..."
Miku let out a soft hum.
"Exactly, and if something like that were to happen because you rushed things, then it would actually be your fault, but not this, okay? So don't cry anymore or you'll make Metal sad once he comes back, got it?"
"H-How are you so sure he will come back?"
Miku rolled her eyes before tapping Mei's cheek with her index finger.
"Where's that confidence you were talking about? If my little grandson could survive you, then there's no way some random villain that came out of nowhere will be the end of him."
Mei took a shuddering breath to calm herself down before frowning slightly at her mother.
"I feel like you just said something mean about me."
"I could never do such a thing. Now come on," Miku pulled her hands away from Mei's face before gesturing to the hallway, "let me help you change that uniform before I make you something to eat, okay?"
"I can change on my own, it'd be weird having you around..."
Mei said as she turned around to walk deeper into the apartment while her mother followed.
"Weird? Girl, I used to wipe your ass."
"MOM!"
"What?"
With her daughter successfully distracted, Miku allowed herself to let out a small tear before quickly wiping it away.
'You better come back, Metal. I still have to thank you for keeping my little girl safe... and you're not allowed to miss your own birthday.'
---
[U.A. Development Studio - Kyosuke's POV]
"This is everything?" Power Loader asked as he flipped through a notebook filled with gibberish he somehow understood.
"Yeah, that's everything my daughter has on Metal..." Kyosuke answered as he kept his eyes on the metallic head currently resting on top of a table.
'When did I get so attached to the little guy?'
The black-haired man asked himself as he felt a certain tightness in his chest the more he looked at Metal's damaged head.
"Ah! Found it!"
At Power Loader's exclamation, Kyosuke turned his head to look at the smaller man.
"Seems like your daughter did take some precautions. It says here that Metal's AI Core is inside his head, surrounded by a reinforced tungsten casing with four openings which should close automatically in case of an emergency."
The tightness in Kyosuke's chest lessened slightly.
'That's my girl!'
Power Loader closed the notebook before leaving it on top of a nearby crate.
"I guess we'll just have to break open the head to extract it."
With that said, the Pro Hero started gathering the equipment necessary for the task.
"Isn't there another way?..." Kyosuke asked as he turned to look at Metal's head again.
"Your daughter didn't mention anything about how to extract it in her notes, plus that head is already mostly scrap anyway. I'm more surprised you don't know."
"I was more involved when it came down to making Metal's body. Finishing him was all Mei's work."
"That's genuinely impressive. Are you sure she doesn't have an intelligence-enhancing Quirk?"
Power Loader then pulled out a giant electric saw from a crate.
"Nah, she's just built different."
Kyosuke tapped Metal's head with his knuckles.
'Sorry about this, kiddo.'
---
[Ten Minutes Later - Kyosuke's POV]
"That... took way longer than I expected, and I helped make most of the body."
Kyosuke said while removing his safety goggles before wiping the sweat off his forehead with his black shirt.
"It would have been faster if we used a laser, but I didn't want to risk damaging anything."
Power Loader put the giant electric saw away. Then the Pro Hero grabbed a hammer before smacking the top of Metal's head straight in the center.
CLANK!Hiss... Thud, thud.
Metal's head split open, making both halves fall to the sides, revealing a mess of wires, cables, and circuits interlocked across each other like a group of baby snakes.
'There's Hatsume Industries' signature...'
Kyosuke thought as he looked at the mess with slight amusement before focusing on the cube in the middle. It was a pink box small enough to fit in both hands without issue.
"So this is it, huh?"
Kyosuke grabbed the cube and pulled it out from the soup of cables.
"I expected it to be much bigger considering Metal's intelligence. Heck, the first model I made with Mei was much bigger than this..."
'Was I getting in the way back then?... No way... I hope.'
"Press the eight corners at the same time to open it."
Power Loader read the instructions right from Mei's notebook.
"Alright..."
The man adjusted his grip on the cube before pressing down on the corners with his fingers.
Hisss...
A small rush of hot air hit Kyosuke straight in the face. Making the black-haired male shake his head at the strong metallic smell before putting the now-opened box on a table.
"Not the design I had in mind," Power Loader said as he peeked inside the box before turning to look at Kyosuke.
"Can you get it out? I don't want to break anything with my fingers..."
Kyosuke nodded his head, then proceeded to gently stick his right hand inside the cube. Once he felt his fingers touch something, he carefully closed his hand around it before slowly taking out the object.
'That girl is mean,' Kyosuke thought as he held the metallic peanut-shaped object in front of his face.
It was as big as a tennis ball and had four cables attached between front and back, though they were cut off.
'I'll let it slide since she was a kid when she made this, but still...'
"How long did it take you to build the previous body?"
Power Loader asked as he looked with curiosity at the AI Core.
"A year thanks to Mei's help. On my own, it would probably have taken like three, maybe a bit less."
Kyosuke answered as he started looking around the workshop.
"Then it shouldn't take that long this time if we help her."
Kyosuke paused at the Pro Hero's words.
"You're going to help us?"
Power Loader turned his head to look away from the AI Core.
"Of course. If Metal ended up like this, it's because U.A. failed to protect its students. It would be unfair to just dump it all on you and your daughter."
"I truly appreciate it," Kyosuke bowed down slightly. "Metal means a lot to our family, so thank you."
Power Loader scratched the back of his neck awkwardly before giving Kyosuke a few pats on the shoulder, making the man return to his previous position.
"There's no need for all that. Metal is a U.A. student after all. I'm just acting as Recovery Girl, but for a robot..."
Kyosuke chuckled slightly.
"Yeah... I guess you can put it that way."
'Even with his help, it's going to take a while. I feel bad leaving him like this...'
Kyosuke thought as he focused back on the AI Core for a moment before looking around the workshop again.
Then his eyes focused on a very small exoskeleton sitting in a corner of the workshop.
"Hey, does that work?"
Kyosuke asked as he pointed at the small thing.
"Huh?"
Power Loader turned around to look at where Kyosuke was pointing.
"It should. It's one of the projects from the previous third-years, though from what I remember, it can barely move since the focus was just to make something as small as possible."
Kyosuke tapped his chin while thinking. After a few seconds of silence, the black-haired man snapped his fingers.
'That retro-looking store I saw on the way here... it could work as a fast solution!'
"Hey, I'll get you a beer if you stay up all night to help me with something."
"...Make it two."
"Deal."
---
[Next Day - U.A. - Nurse's Office - Mei's POV]
"Muah!"
Mei, still wearing her pajamas for some reason, tried her hardest to hold back a grimace as Recovery Girl's lips pulled back after giving her a kiss.
A warm feeling traveled through her left arm as a soft green light enveloped it for a few seconds before disappearing, leaving behind a drowsy Mei.
"Can I take this thing off already?..."
Mei asked in a sleepy voice while gesturing at the shoulder immobilizer.
The youthful heroine rolled her eyes at the young girl's impatience.
"Yes, but don't move the arm too much, and keep your cast on too. I'll remove it tomorrow just to be safe."
"Finally!" With the permission given, Mei started pulling off the straps wrapped around her.
"Thanks for treating Mei, Recovery Girl."
Miku said before she started leaning forward for a bow, though a cane shaped in a particular way tapped her ankle, stopping her.
"Nonsense, taking care of the troublemakers in this school is my job anyway. If you want to show your appreciation, just make my job easier and don't allow her to worsen her injury."
"Ah... Yes, of course." The short-haired woman nodded before adjusting her posture.
"Mom, some help please?" Mei said as she tried to reach for the strap on her back.
Miku stepped behind her daughter to assist her, though before she could start, the door slid open and in walked Kyosuke with dark circles under his eyes.
"He—"
Thwack!
"Ow! W-Why?!"
Kyosuke looked at his wife in confusion as he rubbed the back of his head with his right hand while keeping his left behind his back.
"Where were you the whole night? Hm?"
Miku, who seemed to have teleported somehow, asked her husband as she crossed her arms over her chest.
"I was working on something with Mei's teacher. I sent you a text!"
"Huh?" Miku pulled her phone out from her jeans pocket before checking it. "...Oops?"
'I had so much on my head last night that I didn't even notice Dad wasn't around...'
"Oi," Mei focused back on reality as her father stepped forward to stand in front of her, "you just thought about something mean, right?"
"No?"
Kyosuke scoffed at his daughter.
"And here I was being nice by bringing you a surprise..."
The young girl tilted her head slightly in confusion.
"Surprise?"
"Yep!"
Kyosuke quickly pulled his left hand from his back before holding the surprise in front of Mei.
"Say hi!"
...
...
"That's the ugliest p—"
---
sorry if the robotic terms sound weird but as you can guess i ain't no robotics major so yeah...i'll use google to try and make things sound "right"
also thanks to the people that's been pointing out the grammatical mistakes, I went back and fixed them (I hope so) if you think anything could have been said better then just tell me, i may not always changed it but i will keep it in mind for the future.
fun fact: i almost didn't drop this chapter because i got sick yestereday and i'm still sick but since i said i was going to drop a chapter todar well...funny, and in case you're wondering yes i write all this chapters the same day i release them because i'm fucking lazy so i only work under pressure, I'll go to sleep now and hope that i wake up feeling better since i want to go back to uploading daily chapters.