After finally finishing the last bit of prep work, Midoriya Izuku wiped the sweat off his forehead and went to meet his classmates. But as soon as he arrived, Hado Nejire, who had come with Togata Mirio, grabbed him and shouted,
"This is Midoriya!"
"Huh?!"
Midoriya Izuku, totally confused, wondered what Hado-senpai was doing. Was she introducing him to everyone? But didn't everyone in the support department already know him?
Before he could even ask, a woman with an extravagant appearance stormed up to him, waving a fan and pointing it at him.
"So, you're the Midoriya that Hado Nejire mentioned? Then I must show you my true, magnificent power!"
"Oh-hohohoho!!"
Midoriya Izuku stood there, completely baffled. What was going on? Why did he feel like he was suddenly being targeted for no reason? He felt like he was carrying a burden he didn't deserve...
"Midoriya… could you help me out a little…"
Hado Nejire leaned close to his ear and whispered the reason. She had been cornered by this troublesome woman, Kenranzaki, and if she couldn't shake her off, she wouldn't have a peaceful moment all day.
"......"
Hearing this, Midoriya was speechless. Was he just dragged into trouble for no reason? He had only wanted to join the "Equipment and Gadget Showcase" peacefully, but now he was being used as Hado-senpai's shield...
"Um… Kenranzaki-senpai, Hado-senpai came here to see my new invention..."
Trying to dodge the situation and resolve it peacefully, Midoriya was cut off before he could finish. Kenranzaki pointed her fan at him and said in an exaggerated tone,
"No need to say more! Today's the perfect day, with the 'Equipment and Gadget Showcase' going on. Let's settle this with a competition—let's see whose invention is truly the most glamorous!"
"Oh-hohohoho~!!"
For today's support department event, participants were allowed to battle each other with their gadgets. In past years, students had argued over whose invention was better, and eventually, the tradition arose of settling disputes with a gadget battle, with a teacher acting as a judge.
"Alright then…"
Midoriya scratched his head. Kenranzaki's suggestion seemed reasonable, and he also wanted to test out the new equipment he'd developed with Hatsume Mei.
"So, Kenranzaki-senpai, what's your invention?"
"Of course, it's my dazzling, glamorous 'Kenran Model One'!"
Midoriya followed her pointing finger to see a gigantic robot with a flashy design. Just the appearance alone could be quite overwhelming.
"Uh… it really is… glamorous…"
Struggling to come up with a compliment, Midoriya Izuku thought about how unique Kenranzaki-senpai's inventions always were...
"Now, hurry up and bring out your invention~~ and face my 'Kenran No. 1' in battle~~!"
"Ohohohoho~!!"
"Uh… please wait a moment…"
Kenranzaki continued with her over-the-top laugh as Midoriya apologized and turned back to his workshop, where his latest creation was still waiting.
"Huh? Is Midoriya actually going to battle that flashy robot?" Ochako asked Togata Mirio in surprise. Bakugo Katsuki, who had come over for some reason, scoffed and said,
"That hunk of junk would blow up with one hit. What's so surprising about it?"
"Now, now, don't be so quick to judge."
Togata Mirio held up a finger, seriously explaining to his juniors,
"Despite her flashy style, Kenranzaki is actually quite skilled."
"No way~~ That flashy upperclassman doesn't look normal at all…" Takeyama Urei was a bit shocked. With those thirty-centimeter-long eyebrows, Kenranzaki definitely didn't look like an ordinary person. Then again, there weren't many "normal" people in the Quirk society these days. Still, making her inventions look just as strange didn't make her seem very reliable.
"Kenranzaki is called the 'Glamorous Queen.' Her unique style is just part of it—her skills are well-recognized, too,"
explained Hado Nejire, standing behind Takeyama Urei and resting her hands on her shoulders.
"Does that thing really have any fighting ability?" Todoroki Shoto wanted to believe his seniors, but looking at the bizarre appearance of 'Kenran No. 1,' he found it less intimidating than the "zero-point villains" they'd faced during the sports festival—at least those were over twenty meters tall and actually scary.
"I'm not sure… Kenranzaki's odd taste… it's hard to understand…" Tamaki Amajiki spoke up, which was rare for him. Though he looked stoic, he was extremely shy and found even talking to his juniors a bit stressful.
"I know about this! Kenranzaki-senpai is known as the 'Queen of Invention' in the third year. She's my role model!" Hatsume Mei shouted as she suddenly appeared, looking filthy and covered in black smudges from oil, as if she'd just come out of a heavy-duty workshop.
"Uh… what happened to you?"
"I just finished the last adjustments on my latest baby—didn't have time to clean up,"
Hatsume laughed. She was still wearing her work clothes, stained with all kinds of paint and oil marks.
"So, Midoriya went to get his equipment. What's he going to use to fight that robot this time?" Takeyama Urei asked curiously. Hatsume Mei grinned and said with a mysterious tone, "
"This is a 'baby' that Midoriya and I made together. It took a lot of time and effort."
"Even though I know you mean 'baby' as in equipment, it still sounds really annoying…
Takeyama Urei held her forehead in frustration, while Ochako nodded in agreement—Hatsume Mei's way of taking advantage of situations with her words was just too much.
"By the way, Hatsume Mei mentioned earlier that senpai is the 'Queen of Inventions' in the third year. Is she really that powerful?"
"It's not that she's powerful, it's that she's really good at inventing things!"
Correcting Ochako's misunderstanding, Hatsume Mei said seriously for once:
"The 'Zero Point Dummy Villain' in the entrance exam and sports festival was actually one of Kenranzaki-senpai's mass-produced creations."
"What?!!"
Ochako shouted in surprise. She clearly remembered the 'Zero Point Dummy Villain' she faced during the entrance exam; forget fighting it—she barely had time to escape before it trapped her under debris.
"So that's how it is… Upperclassmen really shouldn't be underestimated!"
Bakugo frowned deeply. During the entrance exam, he also struggled with the giant robot, and now he realized it was a mass-produced machine created by that flashy upperclassman.
"…Then, won't Midoriya be in big trouble?"
Todoroki looked slightly worried, but Hatsume Mei confidently patted her chest.
"No need to worry! I won't give up so easily either. For this final exam, both Midoriya-chan and I have put everything into our inventions!"
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