Meet the Midoriyas

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How To Smile

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"Mister!" Avira barged into Izuku's lab while he was tuning up Samurai. His shouting resulted in Izuku fumbling his blowtorch. Luckily, he turned it off before dropping it.

Izuku lifts his welding mask and turns to Avira, crossing his arms. He shrunk away at his displeased gaze.

"Avira, please knock next time. I almost dropped my blowtorch." 

Avira frowned. "Sorry." And then he smiled again. "So, you wanna hang out?"

"After I'm done with this." Izuku answered as he got back to work.

"Okay!" Avira flips away.

*

Eri was wearing a set of new clothes Izuku got her. She was also watching TV in the living room with Metal Sonic when she felt a thud hit the couch.

It was Avira, whose body was flopped over the arm of the couch. He was smiling with his hands holding up his face.

"Hi." 

Eri visibly cringes. "Hey."

"Wanna hang out?"

Eri couldn't look at him when she answered, "No."

"Huh? Why?" 

"Don't wanna." She said firmly.

Avira was gonna press on, but he stopped himself. He would take Izuku's words to heart. 

"Okay."

Eri looked at him as he walked away, presumably back to Izuku. That idea displeased her immensely. She was gonna follow him, but...

No. She didn't want to be a nuisance. Izuku understandably liked Avira more than her, and if he wanted to spend his time with someone better than she was, then who was she to get in the way? Who'd want to spend time with a freak instead of someone as bright and adorable as Avira?

She found herself leaning on Metal Sonic, watching TV, and trying her best to shove her growing discontent away in her mind.

Minutes later, Izuku emerged with Avira in his arms. The boy was smiling as brightly as ever. Eri, however, scowled.

"Hey Eri." Izuku blinked when he noticed her face. She looked angry for the briefest of moments before she forced her face back to a neutral look.

Izuku wasn't as emotionally intelligent as he liked, but he was still emotionally intelligent enough to understand that something was wrong.

"Are you okay, Eri?" Izuku asked, sitting next to her.

"I'm fine." She answered. But she wasn't looking at him, so Izuku knew she wasn't.

Izuku frowned. "Do you trust me, Eri?"

Genuinely offended, Eri turns. "Of course I do!"

"Then you can trust me with whatever is bothering you." Izuku said. "Not only are you physically safe here, but you're safe here mentally, too. If something is wrong or if I have wronged you in any way, then you can tell me. I won't be mad."

Eri blinks. "You... do you..." Her mouth quivers. "Do you like Avira more than me?" 

Izuku was stunned but kept calm.

"I don't prefer either of you over the other. Why do you ask?"

"You're happier around him than you are with me!" She shouted, now crying. "Y-You do that... that mouth thing... you smile more when you're with him!" She points at Avira.

Izuku, saddened by the accusation, puts down Avira and hugs her. Eri cried into his chest.

"I'm so, so sorry I made you feel that way, Eri..." Izuku said somberly.

Izuku began to feel doubt in his capabilities. Taking care of children... he wasn't qualified for this. Not at all. This just wasn't his forte. 

He shook his head, squinting. No, even if he didn't believe in himself, he had to do it to the best of his ability anyway because no one else could. No one else had the courage or bravery or resources.

"Eri..." Izuku wiped her face with a handkerchief. "So you want the truth?" 

She looks up at him and nods.

"This isn't an excuse for making you cry, but I'm not a people person. My parents... had a warped perspective on things. And despite the fact that they're far away from me now, I can't help but feel that I can't get away from them. Like they're haunting me constantly."

Eri widened her eyes. That sounded very familiar. She listens intently.

"Again, this isn't an excuse. But... I can't believe I let them turn me into... THIS. This person... too angsty and dull to take care of his child, too stupid to not pick up on that perhaps smiling more would make his child happier... he's such an idiot that he can't even smile at all! He-" 

"His child?" Avira snapped Izuku out of his spiraling. Caught off guard, Izuku and Eri look at him. "You consider Eri your daughter?" 

Izuku turns red. "I-I-I didn't mean it like that! I'm too young! She's not my daughter!" Realizing his blunder, he addressed Eri. The unicorn child almost doubled back at how he grabbed her shoulders.

"I mean, you're not NOT my daughter! You're uh... my... my... why do I keep messing up the stupid words-"

Eri snickers. Her face. She was holding in laughter, her cheeks full of air, and her mouth curled upward.

He sighs.

"You're the best thing to ever happen to me, Eri. I'm so grateful that you're here, that you like me, everything. I may suck at showing it, but you make me happy. And I hope I succeed at making you happy, too."

Eri smiles tearfully, and Izuku smiles back at her. They were doing it on instinct, and it felt great.

"I love you, Mister."

"I love you too, Eri."

They sat awkwardly for a few moments while Avira beamed at their interaction.

"So... how about dinner? I can make us some apple pie." Eri perked up at the word 'apple', but she didn't recognize the other one. "Pie? What's apple pie?"

Izuku smiled again. This time, it was natural. "Trust me, you're gonna love it. It's a‐" He cuts himself off. "I'm not gonna ruin the surprise, but it's super good! Do you wanna try it?" Eri nods quickly. "Yes!"

Izuku picked her up.

"My mom is a terrible person, but I'll admit that she makes a mean Apple Pie."

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Your Deal

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"So..." Avira approached Metal Sonic. He inspected the enigmatic machine, looking it up and down. "What's your deal?"

"My... deal?" Metal inquired in a deep and (quite) robotic voice. 

"Yeah!" Avira points at him. "You help Mister around the house and stuff, right?"

Metal nods.

"But is that all you do?"

"Samurai saves humans and stops villains. Like a vigilante does." Metal looks forward. "Where as I..."

He pauses.

"There is one out there that I am meant to defeat. He is... troublesome. And I was made to rid him. And to protect my creator from harm. That is my deal."

"Ah." Avira says. "So, where is this troublesome guy anyway?"

"We do not know." Metal says. "But when he appears again, I will face him and destroy him."

"Cool!" 

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Hat

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"Um..."

Samurai looks down at the little girl next to him. Eri, was it? Yeah, Eri was her name.

"Mr. Samurai?"

"Yes, child?" Samurai responds.

"Can..." She taps her foot before loudly asking, "Can I try on your hat?"

Samurai fidgets from her wholesomeness for a bit before composing himself. Without speaking, he took off his hat and put it on Eri's head.

Eri looked around, barely able to see anything. The hat was covering her entire face, except for some aesthetic holes and tears here and there.

"Mr. Samurai?" 

"Yes, child?"

Eri took off the hat. "How do you see while wearing that?" 

"My immensely talented creator." Samurai responds fondly. "That's how."

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Mechanics

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Eri and Avira watched Izuku in the midst of his work. After Avira appeared, Izuku wanted to make something that could detect and alert him of intruders who lacked a presence, like those with invisibility quirks and the like.

He had been procrastinating in integrating the singular device he had that could detect invisible lifeforms into the house's overall security for a while now. Well, no more.

"Hey, Eri?"

Eri bites into her comically large Fuji apple and turns. "Yes?"

Avira flinched at the sudden appearance of the fruit. 'Where did she get that from?' But he asks... "Do you think we could make robots like Mister's one day?" 

Eri's comically large apple disappears, making Avira flinch again. "I think I would like to... but it looks hard."

"Yeah, but it's something to think about doing in the future. Maybe we should ask him about it someday."

"Yeah... maybe."

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A Looming Shadow

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Izuku stared up at his super computer. And while it was faint, there were small pings of a peculiar yet ominously familiar energy being detected by his systems.

Izuku frowns. "He's back already?"

"Metal!"

Metal Sonic appears, and as soon as he looks up at the computer, he appears surprised before rushing to leave.

"Wait!" Izuku says, stopping his magnum opus from rushing into a fight. "You did well against him last time, but you lost, and he got away. You need an upgrade. Something new that he won't be able to expect. Something that will prevent him from escaping again."

"And I think I have a way."