บท 64: Tailor-made
Wednesday. After school.
Everyone gathered at the athletic field except for Kai. When classes had ended, he had gone off to get the armorer, as his first meeting with her had taught him that she was the type to get lost in her work. Not bad, but he needed her to meet with the people she would be outfitting.
But when he arrived with Hatsume in tow, he was surprised to see another face joining the crowd.
Ayako had convinced Shinso to join.
When asked, he said he was just there to watch, and didn't want to share anything about himself. After all, he was going to be competing against them once the sports festival started. His Quirk relied on them not being aware of it.
Kai allowed that, and even helped keep everyone from asking. Not that it was hard. Hatsume and her box of random tools and scrap metal and things that could have been either were far stranger and interesting than Shinso, who was pretty much the spiritual clone of Aizawa sensei.
Without so much as a word of introduction, she started bouncing between people, taking a close look at them, any physical part of their Quirks, and occasionally taking measurements. At a loss, everyone looked to Kai for an explanation. Unfortunately, all he could give them was her name and that she was as they saw. He also repeated Power Loader's warning about Hatsume's "babies."
Just in time, too, as she was about to push one onto Kaminari. Though it was a simple device, the warning that it could explode made him politely refuse.
"So, now that we have met our armorer, let's start with the drills! If Hatsume-san has a device ready for you, she can give you an opportunity to try it out and request anything for aesthetics and personal preferences. If you are worried about explosion or injury," Kai paused, summoning a changeling, "these guys are expendable and can do it for you."
That was more or less the deal that Kai had struck with Hatsume. He would provide test subjects for her projects (changelings were expendable if the worst happened), and she would provide products for Class 1-A.
The first to get new equipment, to the class' surprise, was none other than Bakugo. Out of Hatsume's box came a glove/gauntlet combo that was remarkably similar to his previous equipment that had been ruined by Kai before. However, this was a lone unit, and was not yet painted. Obviously, it was a work in progress, but nearly complete.
"This baby is my Aperture Glove and Blaster Gauntlet!" Hatsume said excitedly. "It passively gathers your nitro-sweat like your old things, but this baby has many more features!"
She slipped it onto herself to demonstrate. Unlike the previous thing, which was paired with basic gloves, the glove on this device was entirely made of metal. And on the palm was the titular aperture.
"With the Aperture Glove, you can concentrate your power into a smaller area for a longer ranged blast or open up the aperture all the way for a direct, close up attack!" She wiggled her fingers to control the opening, opening and closing it. "There is another aperture on the gauntlet that is controlled the same way! When you close your fist and detonate, you can light the stockpile! Just remember, if you want a short-ranged blast, open it up. If you want the blast to burn longer, close it up a bit, and you can just jet with it! Isn't this baby awesome?" she asked, rubbing the gauntlet affectionately against her face.
"Thanks for whipping this one up so quickly, Hatsume-san," Kai said, nodding with approval. After she slipped it off, he handed it to Bakugo. "Go on, see how it feels."
Bakugo hesitated for a little while. It was easy to guess what was going through his head- why was Kai being nice to him? He seemed to live to mock Bakugo.
"Nothing wrong with you being powerful, or having a powerful weapon," Kai said. "Times are coming where I think we could use someone powerful who's willing to kill."
Pulling back the gauntlet as if he wasn't going to give it to Bakugo, Kai's expression darkened.
"Just remember that you are a hero who is going to fight villains, not heroes, and sure as hell not 15-year-old hero students. If you try to kill someone without permission, you can keep the gauntlets, but you will lose the arms they would go on. Am I clear?"
Bakugo clicked his tongue in dismissal. Still, there was something in his expression that showed that he understood. More of an "of course, you don't need to tell me," rather than an "as if," kind of tongue click, then.
Oh well, nothing wrong with a little bit of pride. Especially on someone that could be easily crushed.
"Alright then, Bakugo." Kai went back to using his name properly and lowered the gauntlet into his hands. For now, it seemed that Bakugo had at least learned something about trying to kill people.
And hopefully, about being a hero or a decent human being.
Bakugo put the gauntlet on his arm and flexed his fingers. It felt good. It was lighter than the previous model, but still had enough weight to assure him of its durability. As Hatsume explained the movements that controlled the apertures, he practiced the motion, watching the device open and close.
"So, how's it feel?" Kai asked. He had given Hatsume the idea of the controllable apertures. There was to be a similar device in the works for Ashido to boost her range.
Of course, making sure it didn't dissolve if she sprayed acid was going to be a challenge. Then again, with Hatsume's personality, the difficulty was likely to just drive her into working through the problem even faster.
"… Good," Bakugo said reluctantly. He didn't want to acknowledge anyone, but this was soon to become a part of his power. He couldn't help but feel excited to try it out.
As if he read his mind, Kai grabbed a watermelon from a changeling's hands and lobbed it towards Bakugo. Instantly, Bakugo turned and blasted it. With the aperture narrowed, rather than blasting it away, the explosion instead ripped a hole dead center.
"Nice shooting. Let the design of this gauntlet be a lesson to you- without control, your courage is simply recklessness. But now, you can reach greater heights.
"Use it wisely."
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Tvrkm
Tvrkm I believe Kai has made his point with Bakugo. Bakugo might challenge him again, but he won't be the straight up idiot he has been before.
Basically, this is Kai making sure to give him the chance to show the better side we see later in the anime.
I mean, we all hated Bakugo at first, right? Pretentious prat.
Now everyone is going to be equipped faster than before. Dang, just realized I'm going to have to figure out A) how this changes things, or B) how things manage to not change. Or a combination of both. Probably both, but I'm guessing my mind will have a bit more of A than B.
Which will be more annoying.
Sigh.
Also- Bakugo's new equipment brought to you by Aperture Science. Cave Johnson, signing off.
(Imagine if Hatsume and Cave Johnson met- insane resources with complete disregard for common sense or legality meets insane inventiveness with complete disregard for common sense and safety. I'm not writing it, so tell me if someone else does.)